m 
 
 Hin 
 
 1 1 ! i IWI'l 

 
 m'-w^T 
 
 jfc* 
 
 $$fl 
 
 **ts* 
 
 t'iwW'T-jfc 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 .' "***?< 
 
 i 
 
 - , 
 
 aFt-if 
 
 ' si'^k . 
 
 :*%*;* 
 
 f*-. 
 
 TT4JW 
 
 '#-.f J v 
 
 -^>:^^^ ^ 
 
 W'-wS 
 
 :&< 
 
 ^:*^ 
 
 V:4.*.-;^ 
 
 W-i 
 
 i^y 
 
 ^.w 
 
 f4fea i/^ 
 
 ^: ^ 
 
 j 
 
 M 
 
 Sii'i: 1 ' 
 
 I ! - 
 
 
 
 
 
 '*>>**(.. 
 
 t *'^.' 
 
 
 
 ^

 
 /-
 
 SELECTIONS 
 
 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES 
 
 LETTERS, 
 
 PUBLISHED IN THE FREDONIA CENSOR AT VARIOUS 
 TIMES BETWEEN 1842 AND 1894, 
 
 BY WILLARD McKINSTRY. 
 
 FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION'. 
 
 FREDONIA, N. V. : 
 
 CI.NSOK PRINTING OFFICE. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1894.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In my more than fifty years of connection with the publication 
 of the Fredonia Censor, I have of course witnessed many changes. 
 I have lived to see my eightieth year, and a large part of these 
 years have been spent in this village. The Censor has from week 
 to week been the chronicle of these changes not only in our village, 
 but in the County, State, Nation and throughout the world. The 
 facilities of travel and exchange of thought have been marvelously 
 increased, and have caused a feeling of kinship that was unknown 
 or at least not realized a half century ago. Mind is triumphing over 
 matter with accelerated power, and the subserviency of the material 
 things of the universe to the comfort and convenience of the people 
 of the earth is growing more and more apparent as the years roll 
 on. The press as the vehicle of thought and progress now has a 
 diffusive power not dreamed of in former years. 
 
 During my more than fifty years of journalistic experience, I 
 have been a witness of some of this progress; though having but an 
 insignificant part in it, the observation has been none the less 
 opportune. I do not propose to give a history of the past half 
 century; that would require an effort far beyo nd my capacity and 
 ability. All I propose to do is to give selections of editorials on 
 various subjects presented at the time, with letters from various 
 parts of the country in which I have traveled, some of the important 
 events of local history which have transpired, and some other letters 
 which have been written to the Censor which I taink will interest 
 the reader. 
 
 I commenced the preparation of matter for this volume at about 
 the beginning of my eightieth year, and the reader will hardly 
 expect so much adaptation to the times in which we now live as a 
 younger person would manifest. Perhaps it will be attributed to 
 an undue amount of egotism that I have undertaken this work. As 
 I have undertaken it with the hope of pleasing some of my friends, 
 and not for emolument, I feel that a failure to meet the expectations 
 of the general public need not give me much concern. 
 
 The pages devoted to family genealogy, I have inserted for the 
 benefit of near relatives interested in the preservation of the data 
 given. The general reader can pass those pages by. 
 
 More than two generations have passed since the Fredonia Censor
 
 IV PREFACE, 
 
 was founded by the late H. C. Frisbee, in 1821. Not a single 
 original subscriber is now living. Probably those who remain 
 whose names were on the subscription list when I commenced, 52 
 years ago, would number less than a score. Not many were sub- 
 scribers before they were twenty-one years of age, and such would 
 now be past their three score years and ten. They were young 
 then, just entering on the scenes of active life, and now, if still 
 living, they are tottering on the verge of the grave, and children 
 and grand children are bearing life's burdens for them. 
 
 When the Censor was established in 1821, a large proportion of 
 the people in this county lived i;i log houses, located in clearings in 
 the wilderness. When I came to this county in 1839, it is safe to 
 say that more than half the land was mortgaged to the Holland 
 Land Company, and the remainder had but recently been purchased 
 by Wm. H. Seward and two partners. The hardy pioneers had in 
 large part come from New England by teams or on foot, to found 
 homes in the Holland purchase. They had but little money and on 
 their way had stopped at Batavia, then the county seat of Genepee 
 county, of which Chautauqua was a part, and taken articles of the 
 land to become homes for themselves and the families which were to 
 grow up around them. The land had been surveyed into townships 
 and lots, and the early arrivals found their allotments by 
 marked trees in the wilderness. Within thirty years from the time 
 of our arrival here, the mortgages given to the company, of 
 Hollanders had all been paid, and the people had mostly become 
 the owners of their homes without incumbrance. They had a 
 struggle which their successors little realize. 
 
 When I came to Fredonia, the village was the largest in the 
 county, and contained only 1200 to 1500 population. The road to 
 the nearest village, Dunkirk, was a considerable part of the way 
 through woods, and made passable in spring and fall through the 
 swamp intervening by a corduroy road. 
 
 Chautauqua Lake was mostly surrounded by dense iorest, where 
 now are pleasant resorts and splendid steamers convey thousands of 
 people to that Mecca of education in all the sciences, where learned 
 people from all the world come to give instruction in literature, 
 science and art. 
 
 Not a railroad existed within three hundred miles of us, and that 
 of a most primitive kind, laid with flat bar rails on longitudinal 
 timbers. Now we have more than two hundred and fifty miles of 
 railroad in Chautauqua county. 
 
 There were no friction matches here then, and the embers of the 
 huge back log were buried in the ashes to preserve the fire over 
 night, and if it failed x one of the boys was sent to the nearest 
 neighbor to obtain fire with which to cook the morning meal, or
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 else the flint, steel and tinder box, or the flint gun lock, were called 
 into requisition to supply the needed fire. 
 
 Then the scythe and sickle were used to cut the grass and grain, 
 while now the mower and reaper save the muscle and sweat of the 
 farmer. 
 
 Then the neighbors for long distances joined to roll up the logs 
 for the construction of their log houses, while now the house is got 
 in readiness in some shop where machinery prepares the material, 
 and a few men put the work together on the spot to be occupied. 
 
 No ocean steamer had then crossed the Atlantic, and some 
 four weeks were required to cross from Europe to America. Now 
 less than six days are required for the ocean grey-hounds to 
 accomplish the trip. Then the mails were mostly carried by stage 
 or on horse-back; and twenty-five cents was required for postage 
 for over 400 miles. Now a letter is carried for two cents from 
 Boston to the Pacific coast, and papers for a small fraction of a 
 cent each. 
 
 Then the spinning wheel and loom were the implements for most 
 household manufacturing, and the garments from wool and flax of 
 their own raising were produced in the home, and the seamstress 
 dressed the boys and girls in home-made clothes of superior lasting 
 qualities. Now the power looms and spinning jennies in large 
 factories do all this kind of work. 
 
 Then the boundaries of the United States were on the east of the 
 Mississippi, except Missouri, which was made a state the year the 
 Censor was established, and even when I commenced publishing 
 the Censor, the enterprising pioneers living west of the Mississippi 
 River, except those in Missouri, had their papers directed to 
 territories. Chicago was then but a little village grown up around 
 Fort Dearborn. That city now has more than a million inhabitants 
 and its territory stretches for miles from the shore of Lake 
 Michigan into the prairie. 
 
 Fifty years ago the wagons of the emigrants to the "New Con- 
 necticut"in Ohio, covered with white canvas and loaded with house- 
 hold goods and women and children, passed daily through our 
 village, occupying three or four weeks on their journey to their 
 western home. Now the railroad takes the emigrant and his goods 
 for a thousand miles farther west in as few hours as he then occupied 
 days in the transit. 
 
 Then droves of cattle, sheep and swine passed over our main road 
 by thousands, almost daily, to the eastern market. Now many more 
 already slaughtered, packed in refrigerator cars, are brought ready 
 for use to the families of the Eastern States. 
 
 Then there was scarcely any manufacturing done in this county, 
 but now two cities have grown up in our midst, one supplying
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 textile fabrics to millions of people in the country, and in the other 
 locomotives are made which traverse with the speed of birds of 
 passage from ocean to ocean, and the company is now supplying 
 the best locomotives to the largest and most powerful of the South 
 American Republics. 
 Then not an electric telegraph had conveyed information to the 
 
 newspaper or individual, and the mail by stage coaches was the 
 most expeditious method of communicating between friends or 
 doing business. Weeks would elapse befoie the result of a general 
 election could be known. No telephone had conveyed the human 
 voice for miles awav. Now no considerable village throughout 
 the vast country from the Atlantic to the Pacific is without this 
 wonderful instrumentality to' convey thoughts and voice of those 
 who wish for instantaneous communication between persons far 
 separated. No great event in any part of the civilized world can 
 take place without its being instantly known in the great centers of 
 population and business. 
 
 Then the railroad, rude in structure, had but recently commenced 
 its onward career, while now four prominent lines of railroad 
 connect the oceans east and west, and the continent is crossed, 
 from the southernmost bounds of California to the terri- 
 tory of Alaska, in about the space of one week, binding the 
 country together with bands of iron and holding the people as with 
 hooks of steel in one common interest and patriotism. 
 
 Fifty years ago our nation held but the territory of Oregon on the 
 Pacific coast and that was thought to be of so little value that only 
 by the effort of a missionary was it retained from British control. 
 Now by the cession of territory as the result of the Mexican war, far 
 more territorv than was owned by the United States in the original 
 thirteen States, has been added to our national domain, and there is 
 to-day more of the Pacific coast under the stars and stri pes than of 
 Atlantic coast. 
 
 Fifty years ago half of the States in the Union were slave States, 
 and the half devoted to Freedom were the common hunting ground 
 for fugitive slaves, and in our own Chautauqua the slave hunters had 
 free access and the fugitive slave law required our own free citizens 
 to assist in the capture of the fleeing fugitives. Now, thanks to the 
 Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, this horrible crime against 
 liberty has been abolished, and no slave now breathes under the 
 folds of the stars and stripes. 
 
 One-third of a century ago a great war for the preser vation of the 
 Union was going on and more than two thousand soldiers from 
 Chautauqua county volunteered to put down the rebellion. Many 
 laid down their .lives in the service of the country, while others 
 returned to their homes to receive the honors due to their patriotism.
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 Fifty years ago there had been no discovery of petroleum oil, and 
 the whale was pursued to hyperborean regions to get the oil for 
 lamps, or more commonly the readers of the Censor perused its 
 columns by the light of a tallow dip or by the blazing fire light, 
 while the snuffers and tray were on the candle stand to make the 
 light more luminous when the candle was burning low. Fifty years 
 ago more than 5000 sheep were slaughtered in this county for the 
 tallow and pelts, showing that light and warmth were then obtained 
 at great sacrifice. 
 
 But we are lost in wonder at the progress which has bee n made 
 in the last fifty years. Machinery has taken the place of hard labor, 
 and the loom and spinning wheel which were in the dwellings of 
 the pioneers, have gone into desuetude, or are found stored away 
 in the garret as curiosities of the olden time. 
 
 In view of the progress made in our country, and especially in 
 Chautauqua county, no pestilential pessimist has__a_mjeeal right to 
 b've here. A kind Providence has blessed our land above every 
 ^5ffier land. 
 
 The changes which have been wrought during the last fifty years 
 have mostly survived those who wrought them. The founder of the 
 Censor, Hon. H. C. Frisbee, passed away more than twenty years 
 ago. The pioneers, merchants and business men, have all gone to 
 the shadowy land. Another generation has taken their places. 
 No business man on our streets of fifty years ago is now here. 
 
 For more than fifty years I have had a weekly visit to families 
 in their homes, through the pages of the Censor. It is gratifying to 
 me to believe that I have been a welcome visitor. I have sought to 
 elevate and improve your households, by giving useful instruction 
 through the selections on the printed page. I have sought to make 
 the Censor "the tyrant's foe, the people's friend." 
 
 I came to Fredonia as a young man, and purchased the Censor 
 office at the close of the 2ist year of its publication. The acquain- 
 tances I formed when I came, have gone to their silent home. 
 Here I was married and reared my family. I was homeless when 
 I came, but a kind Providence has cared for me to an unexpected 
 extent. I was in debt for the office, and paid for it; ran in debt for 
 my home, and paid for that, and have been fairly prosperous. 
 
 In undertaking the publication of this volume, I desire to com- 
 memorate the friends of my younger days and the few who remain, 
 for whom I have a very warm regard. Their children and friends, 
 I hope, will appreciate this labor, and the descendants of the old 
 subscribers of the Censor of fifty years ago, may feel grateful for 
 this feeble effort of my octogenarian year in their behalf. I have 
 traveled some, north and south, east and west. My ability to do so 
 is due to a considerable extent to my good friend Samuel B. Jones,
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 now of New York city, a kind neighbor of mine more than forty 
 years ago, through whose influence with railroad lines I have 
 sought recuperation and rest in Southern climes. I am also indebt- 
 ed to Mr. Theodore Welch, of Montgomery, Ala., who kindly 
 aided me to extend my trip in the Gulf States. I am glad of this 
 opportunity to acknowledge their kindness. 
 
 To the N. Y. Press Association, of which I have been a member 
 over thirty years, I owe grateful acknowledgments for the 
 oppjrtunities afforded for pleasant meetings and delightful ex- 
 cursions. I have seen the Association grow from a small beginning 
 to nearly two hundred members, and have very pleasant memories 
 of its members and the annual reunions with them. 
 
 Wishing all these and other" kind friends who have aided me in 
 my work a happy reunion in the life beyond, 
 
 I am, Yours truly, 
 
 W. McKlNSTRY. 
 
 FREDONIA, N. Y. Dec., 1894.
 
 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 
 
 f Read before the Fredonia Historical Society, March 14, 1879, by W. 
 McKixsTBY, Pres.] 
 
 DIFFICULTIES IN PUBLISHING THE EARLY PAPERS SPARSITYOF POPU- 
 LATION MAIL FACILITIES RATES OF POSTAGE AN EDITOR PUT 
 IN JAIL FOR DEBT MANNER OF HOLDING ELECTIONS INCREASE 
 OF NEWSPAPERS IN THE COUNTY. 
 
 ' 'The world moves. ' ' In one sense its motion is the same 
 it was a million of years ago. In another sense it has an 
 accelerated motion, receiving a new impulse through 
 thought, discoveries and inventions, till all the elements of 
 nature seem to be harnessed to the work, and the mental 
 activity of millions is directed to its progress. The press is 
 the most available medium by which this progress is direct- 
 ed, and the multitude of forces brought into action. 
 Though born in a foreign land, in no other country has it 
 had such a growth and become so potent as in this. Through 
 its agency the ideas of historians, statesmen, philosophers 
 and poets permeate and mould society, and bring mankind 
 into one neighborhood of social interest, to share with each 
 other in the common benefits of civilization and progress. 
 
 When Benjamin Franklin commenced the publication of 
 his paper, his friends endeavored to dissuade him from the 
 enterprise, by assuring him that one paper was enough for 
 America. What would they have thought could they have 
 peered into futurity a little over one hundred years, and seen 
 the teeming millions of people including those from every 
 nation of Europe, for the most part having newspapers to 
 read, while the very electric current which he captured
 
 10 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 should be subjected to the service of carrying news from all 
 over the world, throwing off dispatches at the various sta- 
 tions in its progress, and scarcely stopping in its wonderful 
 speed when an ocean intervenes. If they could also have 
 foreseen the rapidity with which press work would be per- 
 formed and compared the machine on which he could with 
 much muscular toil print say 200 sheets in an hour, with a 
 modern cylinder press which can print ten miles of con- 
 tinuous sheet or say 30,000 newspapers in the same length 
 of time, and seen them distributed with railroad speed 
 throughout the country, they would scarcely have believed 
 the vision, and would have been overwhelmed with wonder 
 at the-grandeur of the spectacle. 
 
 Sixty two years ago, (in January, 1817) the first news- 
 paper was issued in this county. It was printed in this vil- 
 lage. Xt marked a new era in the county's history. Let 
 us look back to that time, and see the condition of develop- 
 ment which then existed, to warrant such an enterprise. 
 At that time there was but a sparsely settled population, im- 
 poverished by the war which had closed but two years 
 before, and a large portion of the people lived in log houses 
 erected by themselves in the dense primeval forests. Only 
 fifteen years before, the first white man had erected his cabin 
 within the borders of the present county, which was then a 
 town in the county of Genesee, with the county seat at Bata- 
 via. Twelve years before, every foot of land in the county, 
 except one farm, was owned by a company of Hollanders, 
 who had never seen it, and whose only interest in its ad- 
 vancement was in the increased demand for its land for 
 farms. 
 
 The county had been organized but six years ( 1 8 1 1 ) and 
 was then composed of two towns, with two members of the 
 Board of Supervisors, and the first town meeting in the town 
 of Pomfret was held but five years before the first press was 
 established. 
 
 The first county court was held in a log house, and the 
 grand jury room was the attic of the house which was reach- 
 ed by a ladder, and this being drawn up after the jurymen
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. II 
 
 had ascended, left them secure from intrusion without a 
 constable in charge of the door. The late Gen. Leverett 
 Barker, who afterward gave important aid in the establish- 
 ment of the first press, was the clerk of this jury. He re- 
 lated to me some years ago some very amusing anecdotes of 
 that first grand jury, and described the first indictment, in 
 which one of their number was charged with getting drunk. 
 All this occurred when there was no newspaper to chronicle 
 their inquests, or the proceedings of the august court. But 
 this was a want which was not long to remain unsatisfied. 
 
 In less than six years after the first court was held in the 
 county, a number of people in the hamlet then called 
 Canadawa, in order to induce the establishment of a press, 
 advanced from $10 to $30 each for the purpose, which was 
 to be an advance payment on their subscriptions. The 
 amount raised was sufficient to pay for the few materials 
 necessary in those days to start the paper. We may well 
 imagine that when Mr. James Percival made his appearance 
 in the hamlet with his materials and issued the first number 
 of the Chautauqua Gazette, there were many congratula- 
 tions, and the printer probably received considerable at- 
 tention. They might well feel that they were now to be 
 recognized as a civilized and progressive people, and the vil- 
 lage entitled to a place on the map of the State. But Canada- 
 wa, the name of the hamlet, was not high toned enough 
 for a village with a newspaper. A meeting of the citizens 
 was called, and the name of Fredonia was adopted at the 
 suggestion of Judge Jacob Houghton, and the first news- 
 paper bore that date. We can imagine, also, how it troubled 
 the printer, with his advance payments for years all invest- 
 ed in press and materials, to obtain a living for himself and 
 family. He endured his sufferings for a short tipie, when 
 he was compelled to resort to the generosity of the com- 
 munity to sustain him. Accordingly those who had loaned 
 him the advance payments of subscriptions for years, were 
 mostly persuaded to donate those loans and pay again each 
 year. Even this was scarcely sufficient. Within one year 
 the establishment was sold to Carpenter & Hull, and finally
 
 12 EDITORIAL, MISCELLANIES. 
 
 to James Hull, who continued the publication till some two 
 or three years after the Censor was established. None of 
 these parties made the publication of the Gazette a lucrative 
 undertaking. Paper and ink cost money, and though the 
 patrons might supply food and raiment, they did not enable 
 him to meet the cash expenses. These were often quite 
 embarrassing, and the honors of the editor hardly com- 
 pensated for the sufferings endured for the public good. 
 
 A wicked law of those times was in force in this State, 
 providing for imprisonment for debt. It may seem strange 
 at the present day, that the editor should be taken from his 
 humble sanctum and ruthlessly hurried away from his 
 family and business, to the county jail, because he could not 
 pay his debts. But this was- even so, and the publisher of 
 the first paper printed in Chautauqua county suffered from 
 this cruel law against the freedom of the press. Mr. Hull 
 became involved, subscribers did not pay, and an unrelent- 
 ing creditor sent him to jail! It would look like a very un- 
 reasonable law which would stop a person's earnings so as 
 to make him pay. But such was the law then, and the 
 printer was a law abiding citizen. But there was some 
 leniency even in that law. The debtor's friends could give 
 bail, which would give him the liberty of the limits, which 
 extended one mile each way from the jail. To pass this 
 limit would make the bail liable if process could be served 
 on him before the return of the debtor. But the blessed 
 Sabbath, on which day legal process could not be served, 
 here interposed its beneficent influence in j his behalf. To 
 this impoverished debtor at least it was a day of delight 
 The printer had friends whose kind offices secured to him 
 the freedom of the limits. He could visit his home and 
 friends on Sunday, and no legal process could be served on 
 his bail to make them liable for the debt if he should return 
 to the limits by 12 o'clock Sunday night. This he was sure 
 to do, as he was a man of honor and integrity, and would 
 not jeopardize his friends whose kind act had saved him 
 from incarceration in the gloomy cells of the jail. The 
 Gazette in the mean time still continued to be published.
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. 13 
 
 We may presume the faithful wife administered the affairs 
 of the office with skill and economy, and looked forward 
 with delight to the day of rest, and with it the return of her 
 husband from his involuntary exile. Thus once a week the 
 printer returned to the bosom of his family and joined with 
 them in the worship of the sanctuary. Previous to one of 
 these home visits, word was sent to him that the ink was 
 out, and the paper would stop unless some could be obtain- 
 ed. He had doubtless heard the unwelcome exclamation 
 from some subscriber, ' 'stop my paper, ' ' but if his paper 
 should stop, there would still be debts to pay and nothing 
 to pay with. At that time the Chautauqua Eagle, the 
 second paper in the county, was commenced at Mayville. 
 With characteristic sympathy the editor thereof loaned Mr. 
 Hull some ink, and procuring a horse and cutter, he started 
 on a cold, wintry Sunday morning, with the double purpose 
 of visiting his family and providing for the next issue of the 
 paper. Thus joyful at the prospect of getting out his paper 
 on time he proceeded homeward. But alas! on coming 
 down the hill at Salem X Roads, now Brocton, his cutter 
 was overturned in a snow drift, and the precious ink spilled 
 upon the driven snow ! Shades of Faust ! what a catas- 
 trophhe ! Where can consolation be found in such a dilemma ! 
 What would subscribers say if his paper failed to appear ! 
 But he was not to be baffled by this misfortune. He had 
 bravely met disappointments before, and was now equal to 
 the emergency. Quickly placing the overturned keg right 
 side up, he scooped up the adhesive ink from the blackened 
 snow with his hands and placed it in the keg. Just at that 
 time the religious services in the little log school house near 
 by were closed, and as the worshipers came out they were 
 astonished to find the editor with his hands besmeared 
 with ink. They could not extend to him the warm hand 
 of friendship without sincerely repenting the contact. Yet 
 they doubtless excused this apparent violation of the Sabbath 
 requirements, from the necessities of the case. So justified 
 by the higher law, he went on his way rejoicing, and the 
 Gazette made its appearance as usual.
 
 14 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 When the law to repeal imprisonment for debt was passed, 
 we were told that it would affect our business more than any 
 other. In one sense it was a relief, for when this relic of 
 barbarism was abolished, both publisher and patron were 
 placed out of danger. 
 
 Another of the difficulties connected with the publication 
 of the pioneer papers was the limited mail facilities and the 
 expense of getting news. Not more than ten years had any 
 mail facilities whatever existed in the county, previous to 
 which the nearest post offices were Buffalo on the east and 
 Erie on the west. The former was supplied from Albany 
 via Canandaigua r and the latter from Pittsburg. The first 
 mail route was from Buffalo to Erie, once in two weeks, and 
 the mail was carried by a man on foot or horseback. I have 
 heard Hon. A. H. Walker speak of the interest the early 
 settlers took in the first mail carrier, as he passed along in 
 the service of the United States, with his hand bag contain- 
 ing all the letters and papers to the settlers of the county. 
 Mr. Newell Gould says he went some miles, when a lad, to 
 see the mail carrier pass by. The first postoffice established 
 in Canadawa, now Fredonia, was eight years anterior to 
 the first newspaper. 
 
 In 1817 there were four post offices in the county, all on 
 the Erie road except that of Mayville. These were Sheri- 
 dan, Pomfret, and Westfield. In 1817 the percentage of the 
 Government for the ist quarter was $68.37, or at the rate of 
 $273.48 per annum. This would not.present an encouraging 
 outlook for the publication of a newspaper. j It will be recol- 
 lected, however, that at that time letter postage ranged from 
 6| to 25 cents, according to distance, and 52 cents a year on 
 newspapers, for whatever distance. At that rate the amount 
 of mail matter was comparatively small to produce this 
 revenue. Letter postage for each piece of paper sent was 6^ 
 cents for 30 miles or less, 12^ cents for 30 to 150 miles, i8f 
 for 1 50 to 400 miles, and 25 cents fora greater distance. 
 No envelopes were used, as that would double the postage 
 by the additional piece of paper. I have often seen a sheet of 
 folio post or double letter, written over except a space on the
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. 15 
 
 last page for superscription, so as to bring it within single 
 postage. The single sheet letter was folded and super- 
 scribed on the blank space left, and sealed with the wafer, 
 upon which the good housewife's thimble was impressed to 
 make the seal inviolable. To save the expense of postage 
 the traveler was often solicited to carry letters to friends at a 
 distance, and with the scarcity of money in those days, and 
 the rate of postage so high, this economy was not regarded 
 with disfavor. It will be observed that the postage rate was 
 for Spanish or Mexican currency, that being the principal 
 silver coin of those days. When the letter arrived at the 
 post office with the postage marked in large figures in red 
 ink, and the place and date of mailing written on the corner, 
 the postmaster examined it carefully and held it up to the 
 light to ascertain if more than one piece of paper was con- 
 tained in it, and if his suspicion was well grounded the 
 postage was doubled, which was paid, or the receiver might 
 open the letter in his presence, and thus satisfy him that 
 Uncle Samuel was not wronged by the person who mailed 
 the letter. Postage was seldom prepaid in those days. A 
 record of letters sent and received was kept on blanks pro- 
 vided at each office, and a copy sent to the department at 
 the end of each quarter, from which the commission of the 
 postmaster was estimated. 
 
 When the Chautauqua Gazette was commenced the whole 
 number of votes cast in the county at the previous election 
 was 612, of which Chautauqua had 98, Pomfret 148, Ellicott 
 96, Gerry 21, Hanover 112, Portland 30, Ripley 58, and 
 Harmony 49. These composed all the towns in the county. 
 All but seven of these votes were cast for DeWitt Clinton for 
 Governor. He was the great advocate of the construction 
 of the Erie canal, and this vote indicates the great interest 
 taken at that time in this great work. The vote cast, how- 
 ever, does not fully indicate the population of the county. 
 At that time only free holders could vote for Governor, and 
 the valuation of their real estate must be as high as $250. 
 Many of the farms were only articled to the occupants, by 
 the Holland Land Company, and thus many were excluded
 
 1 6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 from voting. This restriction was removed by the second 
 constitution, in 1821, which abolished the condition as to 
 white men but retained it on the colored, till it was removed 
 by the i5th amendment of the U. S. Constitution since the 
 war. 
 
 The Elections of those days were continued for three suc- 
 cessive days, and the polls were opened consecutively at 
 different places to accommodate the sparse population. 
 
 The late General Barker once related to me his experience 
 as inspector of election when the town of Pomfret comprised 
 substantially this (2d) Assembly District. On the first day 
 of election the polls were opened at Canadawa, and having 
 received the votes here the inspectors would proceed to 
 Sinclearville, where those in that vicinity would vote, then 
 proceed to the Rapids, (now Jamestown) and thence to 
 Forestville, where the voting for the town would be com- 
 pleted. In this way the scattered pioneers could express 
 their preferences for officials from President down with less 
 inconvenience of getting to the polling places. 
 
 In this connection it may be well to mention the political 
 status at the time the first paper was printed. James Madi- 
 son had been elected President to succeed Thomas Jefferson, 
 having received all the electoral votes but one. DeWitt 
 Clinton was elected Governor that year, under whose ad- 
 ministration the Erie canal was completed eight years after- 
 ward. The 2 ist Congressional District embraced substantial- 
 ly the present 8th Judicial district, - and had two members, 
 viz., Benj. Ellicott of Genesee, and John C. Spencer of 
 Ontario, afterward Secretary of the Navy. The Senate 
 District then embraced sixteen counties, and had 9 mem- 
 bers, of whom Jediah Prendergast of Chautauqua was one. 
 The Assembly District consisted of Chautauqua, Cattar- 
 augus, and Niagara, (Erie co. being taken from Niagara 
 four years later. ) This district had two members, but none 
 from this county till that year, when Jediah Prendergast 
 was elected. Two years later Judge Orton of this village 
 was elected, and three years later Judge Elial T. Foote was 
 the member. Hon. Zattu Gushing, the first County Judge,
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. 17 
 
 was then on the bench, and John C. Spencer, the Dist. At- 
 torney for the 8th Judicial District, discharged the duties of 
 that office in this county in connection with the other coun- 
 ties in the District. The Surrogate was Hon. Daniel G. 
 Garnsey, who succeeded Dr. Squire White. The Sheriff 
 was Eliphalet Dewey, who succeeded Capt. Jonathan 
 Sprague, two years before. The Supervisors of the county 
 were John Dexter of Chautauqua, Philo Orton of Pomfret, 
 John Frew of Ellicott, Selah Pickett of Gerry, John Brown - 
 ell of Hanover, Palmer Phillips of Harmony, David Eason 
 of Portland, and Thos. Prendergast of Ripley. Jacob 
 Houghton was Clerk of the Board the previous year. The 
 accounts audited against the town of Pomfret that year 
 amounted to $634.23, of which $250 was for roads and 
 bridges and $146.95 for schools. The total audits for the 
 Board of Supervisors were $3,623, including $246.86 to Asa 
 Hall, the Jailor. A comparison of these statistics with the 
 present will show the growth of the county during the past 
 62 years since the Chautauqua Gazette was commenced. 
 
 With all the discouragements attendant upon the publica- 
 tion of the first paper, it was continued for some years, and 
 finally, in 1821, had a rival in the Fredonia CENSOR, es- 
 tablished by H. C. Frisbee, by whose industry, tact, econ- 
 omy and perseverence it survived its competitor, and is still 
 published. In 1818 the Chautauqua Eagle was commenced 
 at Mayville, by Robert J. Curtis, who continued it about a 
 year. He had a branch office at Erie, Pa. , and supplied 
 papers for that village from his Mayville press. This paper 
 was called the Erie Reflector. Mr. Willard W. Brigham, a 
 worthy citizen of Dunkirk, worked as an apprentice on this 
 paper, and it was his business, after the Erie paper was 
 printed, to mount his horse, on which the papers were placed 
 in saddle bags, and proceed to Erie with them for distribu- 
 tion. This occupied some two days in going and returning. 
 Mr. Curtis with two sisters and young Brigham performed 
 the labor of issuing both papers. 
 
 When the CENSOR was commenced, Mr. Frisbee being
 
 1 8 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 desirous of obtaining assistance, and learning that Mr. Wil- 
 lard Brigham had experience in the art, sought him out and 
 found him engaged in clearing land. He engaged him for 
 one week, and at the close paid him six dollars. Brigham 
 did not disdain ' 'the dollars of the dads, ' ' but on the con- 
 trary felt well paid for his week's labor. 
 
 As I have stated, the "New York Censor," afterward 
 changed to the Fredotiia Censor, was started in April, 1821, 
 by H. C. Frisbee. Mr. Frisbee was at that time but little 
 over twenty years of age, but had obtained some knowledge 
 of printing in the office of the Chautauqua Gazette, while 
 printed by Mr. Hull, where he had worked two years. He 
 leased the material of the office of Mr. Salisbury of Buffalo, 
 with the privilege of purchase. With great industry, 
 economy and perseverence, he continued to publish the 
 Censor for 17 years, when he sold to E. Winchester, who 
 had seryed an apprenticeship with him. The press and 
 entire materials of the office, procured in Buffalo, made but 
 a small wagon load and the cost was about $200. 
 
 In 1824 the "People's Gazette" was published at Forest- 
 ville, by Wm. Snow, and was continued about two years. 
 
 1111826 the "Jamestown Journal" was commenced by 
 Adolphus Fletcher and though having changed proprietors 
 several times, is still published. 
 
 In 1826 the "Western Star" was commenced at Westfield 
 by Harvey Newcomb, and was continued two years. It was 
 afterward revived and published as the Chautauqua Phoenix 
 by Hull & Newcomb. 
 
 In 1826 the Fredonia Gazette was published in this vil- 
 lage by Hull & Snow, the subscription list of the People's 
 Gazette having been transferred to this paper. The Censor 
 in the meantime having become so well established, the 
 Gazette office was soon after removed by Mr. Hull to Dun- 
 kirk, where it was published a few months, and then re- 
 moved to Westfield and united with the Chautauqua Phoenix. 
 
 It will thus appear that within nine years from the 
 establishment of the first newspaper in this county, there 
 had been seven different papers published, of which two
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. 19 
 
 were at Fredonia, one at Mayville, one at Forestville, one at 
 Jamestown, one at Westfield and one at Dunkirk. Of these 
 only the Censor and Jamestown Journal survive. 
 
 Each locality took a deep interest in the press which gave 
 influence and position to the place which was thus favor- 
 ed. A helping hand was often given to the printer when 
 he worked off his edition. The ink was then beaten upon 
 the type by means of large balls made of wool and covered 
 with soft sheep-skin and fastened upon handles, one ball for 
 each hand, and the distribution made by beating them 
 together. These volunteers often beat the ink on the form, 
 while the editor pulled the Ramage press, requiring two im- 
 pressions, one on each page, with all the muscular power 
 he possessed. 
 
 Thurlow Weed and James Harper were having experience 
 in this manner of printing at about that time. Shakespeare 
 expressed this experience, by a variation of the punctuation, 
 when he said: 
 
 "There is a divinity that shapes our ends 
 Rough, hew them as we may." 
 
 The hardships of pioneer printers was narrated recently 
 to Mr. Smalley of the Cleveland Herald, by Mr. Edward D. 
 Howe, the founder of that paper. Mr. Howe is still living, 
 an octogenarian, at Painesville, O. He said he was 21 
 years old when he commenced the paper. On his way west 
 from his eastern home, he waited a short time in Buffalo, 
 Fredonia and Erie and then started for the Cuyahoga River. 
 He found, in what is now Cleveland, a small village of 200 
 inhabitants, with three taverns and two stores. Here he 
 found a printing office, with very poor appliances for even 
 those times. The editor, to eke out a subsistence, held the 
 office of weigh master. He occupied a small dingy room, 
 from which an immense lever projected outside, and when a 
 load was to be weighed, it was drawn to the side of the 
 building, chains were put under the axles, the load raised 
 by the lever and the weight .taken by the steelyards. Mr. 
 Howe had no money, but persuaded the owner of an office at 
 Erie to join him in the enterprise of starting the Herald.
 
 20 EDITORIAL 
 
 *., 
 
 He and his partner did all the work, and after the paper 
 was printed each week, he went to the surrounding country 
 on horseback, with saddle-bags filled with Heralds, supply- 
 ing subscribers and obtaining new ones. At the end of the 
 first year they had worked up a subscription list of 300,. 
 which was very satisfactory for their first year's labors. 
 That was the commencement of the Cleveland Herald, now 
 one of the leading papers of that State. There was then 
 only one other paper in northern Ohio, and that was the 
 "Warren Trump of Fame ! ' ' 
 
 The Western Democrat and Literary Inquirer was com- 
 menced in Fredonia in 1835, by Wm. Verrinder. He was 
 succeeded by Benj . Randall, Dea. May and others, who con- 
 tributed to its columns, and interested themselves in its 
 circulation. I was informed by the late E. A. Lester, that 
 "Dea." May took a deep interest in it, and when the first 
 number was issued took upon himself the duties of the 
 carrier boy, to distribute to the patrons, and in the next 
 issue of the Censor, Frisbee said the Deacon was ' 'the big- 
 gest devil he ever saw. ' ' Those who remember the portly 
 appearance of the "Deacon" will appreciate the force of the 
 joke. It was published two years, when the materials were 
 removed to Van Buren, then prospectively to be a city, and 
 used on the Van Buren Times, of which W. H. Cutler was 
 for a time the editor. 
 
 The Frontier Express was started by Cutler, Cottle & 
 Perham, in 1846. In 1849 it was changed to the Fredonia 
 Express, in 1850 to the Chautauqua Union, and in 1851 it 
 was purchased by Tyler & Shepard, who published it with 
 Levi L. Pratt, editor, as the Fredonia Advertiser, which 
 survives. 
 
 Of the early printers of this county, my personal knowledge 
 is somewhat limited, though most of them were living when 
 I came to this county, nearly forty years ago. Mr. James 
 Hull, who in 1818 printed the Chautauqua Gazette, after 
 some years of experience in Fredonia, Dunkirk and West- 
 field, finally went to Louisville, Ky., with four sons, all 
 educated to the business, and superior workmen. They
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. 21 
 
 printed a religious paper there for some years. Dnring each 
 summer of his later life, ha visited this place, where he had 
 many friends. He was a good man, much respected, and 
 deserved a rich reward for the patience with which he en- 
 dured the trials of his early life in the publication of pioneer 
 papers. 
 
 Of Mr. Curtis, who published the second paper in the 
 county, our information is derived from Mr. Willard Brig- 
 ham, who informs me that he was a man of considerable 
 ability, but unfortunately his habits sometimes incapacitated 
 him for the performance of the duties of the office. At such 
 times Mr. James H. Price, a lawyer at Mayville, also a 
 writer and poet, performed the editorial work, and though 
 addicted to the same infirmity could write with more than 
 ordinary vigor at such times. One of his poems, published 
 at the time, was republished in the Censor a few years since 
 from a copy furnished by Mr. L,evi Risley. Judge Sterrett 
 who was a contemporary with Mr. Curtis at Erie, informed 
 me that after leaving this vicinity he went to Wheeling, W. 
 Va., and published a leading newspaper there, and having 
 reformed in his habits, became very successful in business 
 and a prominent citizen and public man. 
 
 Of Mr. Frisbee it will be unnecessary for me to parti- 
 cularize, as we all knew him so well and he has so recently 
 passed away. His narration of his early experience on the 
 Censor was made the subject of interesting delineation at the 
 semi-Centeunial supper given him in Feb. 1871. It will 
 suffice to say that he was a man of untiring enterprise and 
 energy', and the greater the struggle the more he was nerved 
 for the contest. When his office was destroyed by fire while 
 he was away to New York and thence to New Haven to 
 make arrangements in person with Dr. Noah Webster for 
 the publication of his spelling book, his wife who faithfully 
 shared in his struggles and triumphs, managed the business 
 of the office, and on his return the paper was issued without 
 missing a number. We give the following extract from the 
 obituary notice: 
 
 "Mr. Frisbee was a self made man, with few of the
 
 22 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 advantages of early education beyond what was acquired by 
 his profession, with keen and appreciative wit; he wielded 
 a trenchant pen, and though not specially given to 
 controversy, the subjects of his sarcastic animadversions 
 usually came out of the controversy with trailing colors. 
 Though always decided in his political convictions, and 
 stern and inflexible in his devotion to them, yet he was 
 always so sincere and honest in them that those who dis- 
 agreed with him ever respected his convictions. He was 
 always able to give a reason for his political faith, and never 
 formed opinions upon mere impulse. He filled several 
 positions of public trust, always conferred without his seek- 
 ing, and discharged every duty with conscientious fidelity." 
 
 Mr. William Snow, who published the fourth paper in 
 the county, at Forestville r was an ingenious and skillful 
 printer and could make a good job with quite limited and 
 poor materials, a requisite very essential in those days. 
 The Mayville Sentinel office had seme years ago several 
 cuts which he had moulded and cast. Some forty years ago 
 he was a journeyman printer at Erie, where he lived some 
 years and reared a large family. I met him a few years 
 since in the Buftalo Courier office, and though then advanced 
 in years, he was still engaged in the profession of his youth. 
 He died some five or six years ago. 
 
 Mr. Adolphus Fletcher was the publisher in 1826 of the 
 fifth paper in the county, the Jamestown Journal. He 
 served his apprenticeship in the office of the Massachusetts 
 Spy, under Isaiah Thomas. This paper was commenced 
 before the revolutionary war, and is still published. It was 
 one of the patriotic papers which urgently pressed the 
 necessity of resistance to British tyranny. A copy of this 
 paper is preserved in a Boston Library in which enlistments 
 in defense of the colonies is urged in conspicuous type. Mr. 
 Thomas wrote and published a history of printing, which is 
 highly valued by the antiquarian. He also founded an 
 extensive library, which is still in existence and is highly 
 valued by the antiquarian and historian of early times. 
 Elihu Burritt, who has recently died, greatly enjoyed this
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. 23 
 
 library, Mr. Fletcher at first settled in Ashville, on a farm 
 and in mercantile business, where he remained from 1818 to 
 1824, when he was solicited by people of Jamestown to 
 remove there and establish a paper. The Journal, which 
 he established, is next to the Censor, the oldest paper in 
 this county. Mr. Fletcher had all the rough experience of 
 early printers. His sons and daughters, as they grew up, 
 assisted him in the work, and with industry and economy 
 he established the paper on a substantial and enduring 
 foundation. He was a most worthy citizen of the strictest 
 integrity, and one of the founders of the Congregational 
 church in Ashville. In the first years of the publication of 
 his paper, Hon. Abner Hazeltine furnished largely the 
 editorial matter, and later Hon. E. F. Warren conducted it 
 through a political campaign as well as contributing largely 
 to its columns at other times. Mr. F's three sons were all 
 printers, the oldest, J. W., publishes a paper in Illinois, A. 
 B., publishes the Chaut. Democrat and the youngest assists 
 in the office. Mr. Harvey Newcorrib, who commenced the 
 "Western Star" at Westfield, in 1826, after serving the 
 people by its publication two or three years, went to Boston 
 where he became extensively known as publisher of Sunday 
 School books. Many of our older Sunday School teachers 
 will remember the Union Question books, with lessons for 
 the year, by Mr. Newcomb. 
 
 Mr. Morgan Bates, in 1828, commenced in Jamestown 
 the publication of the Chautauqua Republican. It was 
 published in the support of the administration of Gen. 
 Jackson and in opposition to the anti-Masons, who had the 
 support of the Journal. He afterwards went to Michigan, 
 and was engaged in the newspaper business for some years. 
 I had the pleasure of meeting him in the office of C. W. 
 McCluer in Chicago in 1868. He was then Lieut. Governor 
 of the State. He was a cultured gentleman and able editor. 
 He has since died. 
 
 The Mayville Sentinel was commenced in 1833 by W. 
 Kibbe. In about a year after it was purchased by Beman 
 Brock way, who published it 1 1 years, and sold to J. F.
 
 24 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Phelps. Mr. Brockway served his apprenticeship in the 
 Northampton Courier office, where I also learned the art. 
 In about 1834 he came to this county and worked on the 
 Fredonia Censor, for Mr. Frisbee. After leaving the 
 Sentinel he went to Oswego, and published the Palladium. 
 He has since been a member of Assembly, Canal Appraiser, 
 and for a time was news editor on the New York Tribune. 
 He now with his two sons, publishes the Watertown Times 
 and Reformer, leading papers in the Northern part of the 
 State. 
 
 William H. Cutler, who commenced the Western Intel- 
 ligencer, at Forestville, in 1833, and was subsequently 
 connected with several papers in the county, was well known 
 as a writer. He wrote the letters of ' 'Ezekiel Brown' ' in the 
 Frontier Express and was also noted as a talented writer of 
 New Years addresses with which the carrier boy of former 
 times was wont to greet the patrons of the paper on New 
 Year's morn, and received ten to twenty -five cents for his 
 annual greetings. Mr. C. will be well remembered. He is 
 now a practicing lawyer in Buffalo. 
 
 Thompson & Carpenter commenced the Chautauqua 
 Whig, in Dunkirk, in 1834. Mr. Carpenter was a practical 
 printer, and his father was for a time associated with Mr. 
 Hull in the publication of the Gazette. Mr. Carpenter 
 some years after purchased the Dunkirk Journal, and has 
 since died. He was always held in high esteem by all who 
 knew him. Mr. Thompson published the Dunkirk Beacon 
 about forty years ago. He long since' retired from the 
 editorial chair. In early life he was a midshipman in the 
 navy, and went to Brazil under Commodore Perry. He is 
 now an octogenarian and retired from business. 
 
 About forty years ago Mr. C. J. Ingersoll came from 
 Greenfield, Mass. , to Westfield, and commenced the publica- 
 tion of the Westfield Messenger. He had met with losses 
 at Greenfield, and came west to recuperate from his disasters. 
 He was a pure and most conscientious man, with fair 
 editorial ability and great industry. After a few years
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. ^5 
 
 service in the publication of the Messenger, he returned to 
 his former home, where he died some years since. 
 
 Of the editors and publishers who succeeded the pioneers 
 we may mention Hon. F. W. Palmer, who served his 
 apprenticeship on the Jamestown Journal, and in 1848 
 became one of the proprietors. He exhibited unusual 
 editorial talent and was well appreciated. He was elected 
 a member of the Assembly in 1853 and again in 1854. He 
 removed to Iowa and was elected State Printer, and also 
 ably served his district two terms in Congress. He was 
 afterward editor-in-chief of the Chicago Inter Ocean, and is 
 now Post Master of that city. 
 
 Of the later publishers of newspapers in the county it will 
 be unnecessary to speak. Their names are more familiar to 
 us than many of the pioneer printers whom it was my design 
 to mention. Of those pioneers I may say there is a debt of 
 gratitude due to their memory of which we are scarcely 
 aware. Few of the present age can realize their priva- 
 tions, toils, self denials, and disappointments in the enter- 
 prise of publishing a pioneer paper in a sparsely settled 
 portion of the country. 
 
 It may seem surprising that more newspapers have gone 
 to untimely graves in this county than in any other in the 
 State, in proportion to population. In looking over the 
 record, we find that within the first half century more than 
 sixty newspapers have had an existence since the Chau- 
 tauqua Gazette was commenced. Of these only eight have 
 a present existence. Of the six started more than a half 
 century ago only the Censor and Jamestown Journal survive. 
 Of those commenced between twenty -five and fifty years ago 
 the Mayville Sentinel, Dunkirk Journal, Jamestown Demo- 
 crat, and Fredonia Advertiser survive. 
 
 The publishers of those early papers have mostly handed 
 in their proofs to the great Author, and it is to be hoped 
 with as few errors marked as falls to the common lot of men 
 of their age and generation. Of the influence those pioneers 
 of the press exerted on the minds and morals of their read- 
 ers, it is unnecessary to speak. Suffice to say that doubtless
 
 26 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 many of the present generation owe their own impressions 
 and their political proclivities to the inculcations of their 
 parents, who received their tenets from those early papers, from 
 selections as well as from editorial suggestions. These im- 
 pressions are immortal. Every individual has some part in 
 this progress, and he who promulgates ideas which enhance 
 the virtue, patriotism and happiness of the world, and 
 especially influences to the discharge of the duties of life 
 with reference to the future of our existence, is a benefactor 
 of his race. 
 
 Benjamin F. Taylor, at a meeting of the Press Association 
 of this State last year, gave the following poetic description 
 of a pioneer press, which would be applicable to those of 
 the early history of this county. It is entitled ' 'The Black 
 River Gazette:" 
 
 Ah, as fine and as clear as a sun-lit vignette 
 
 Is the office whence came The Black River Gazette, 
 And the editor, printer and pressman are dead, 
 And the "devil" withal. I have seen their low bed 
 
 Where the Lombardies sweep the sky clear of a cloud. 
 As in life the one jacket could button them round, 
 And with one hat at once they all could be crooned. 
 
 So in death they were laid in one coffin and shroud. 
 I stood in that room when a roundabout boy, 
 All my pockets a jumble with jews-harp and joy, 
 With small nibbles of sugar and fish hooks and strings, 
 A new Barlow knife, alley marbles and "things," 
 But my heart gave a tumble and I. gave a start 
 At the grim iron prince of that house ot black art; 
 At the Ethiop press with one elbow a-crook, 
 And its rigid round arm and its sinister look, 
 And its hand-o'rgan crank and its fire-dogs of legs 
 And its rations of ink in a couple of kegs, 
 And the eagle that caught its brass claws in the thing 
 And, made captive for life, could never take wing. 
 Tallow candles stood round,- lank, languid and limp, 
 Too dim for an angel and too light for an imp, 
 Maps of regions of darkness benighted the place, 
 But it shows through the past with an exquisite grace, 
 And the boy gazed about with a silent surprise, 
 For nothing was white but the whites of his eyes. 
 And the arm of the printer was dingy and long,
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS. 27 
 
 And the arm of the pressman was shaded and strong. 
 How that press came to life, if I only could tell ! 
 But whoever drew up in the bucket the star 
 That he leaned on the curb and saw shine in the well 
 
 When the hour was high noon and the night was afar? 
 
 Give the roller a run and the play is begun ! 
 Up with frisket and tympan and on with the sheet, 
 Down with frisket and tympan, dead, words to repeat, 
 Then a turn at the rounce and two pulls at the bar, 
 And the platen comes down on the face of the page 
 With its lines in relief like the wrinkles of age; 
 Then a whirl of the crank and a groan and a clank 
 And the words regimental in justified rank 
 
 To a late resurrection reluctantly rise. 
 
 And stand before men in their eloquent guise. 
 Then the sturdy-legg'd desk where the editor sat 
 With his hand in his hair and his mail in his hat. 
 And the inkstand beplumed as with ferns in a fen, 
 As if he raised geese from the slip of the pen. 
 But the toil and the moil were brightened and past, 
 For he made a man Member of Congress at last, 
 And honors were easy thfe Member made him, 
 And he said in his heart that dipped candles were dim, 
 
 And he bought him a lamp and a "devil" to light it, 
 
 And discovered a wrong and wrote "leaders" to right it. 
 Oh, dear old GAZETTE, not good night but good morn, 
 For I hear in the twang of thy carrier's horn 
 The prelude to bugles right royally blown, 
 That proclaim for the Press an Estate of its own.
 
 EDITORIAL 
 
 THURLOW WEED, 
 
 [Editorial published in the CENSOR in June, i882.J 
 
 In a recent visit to New York, we had a pleasant inter- 
 view with- this veteran journalist, whose name has been 
 intimately associated with the political history of the Empire 
 State for the past half century. It is several years since we 
 had met him. Though in his 85th year, his intellectual 
 faculties are well preserved , and his ready recall of the 
 events of more than three score years past r gave an im- 
 pression of a remarkable history in the political progress of 
 more than two generations. 
 
 His career as a journalist may well be pointed to with 
 pride by the profession, as showing the possibilities of success 
 from small beginnings, and contentions with obstacles which 
 Would appal many young men starting out in life as he did. 
 
 After two seasons of service as cabin boy on a North River 
 boat, he became an apprentice to the printing business at 
 Cattskill, when twelve years of age. Two years after, his 
 parents removed to Cortland Co., and he found employment 
 in the avocations of the then frontier, or in the pioneer 
 printing offices of the time. In 1818, when 21 years of age, 
 he engaged in the publication of the Agriculturist, at 
 Norwich, Chenango Co. This was not a financial success. 
 He subsequently went to Manlius, and published the 
 Onondaga Co. Republican, which was continued under his 
 charge some three years. He then, in 1822, went to 
 Rochester in search of work. He says he went into the 
 Telegraph office, and sought employment of Mr. Peck, the 
 proprietor. They had all the help they needed, and he was 
 recommended to apply at the other office in the place. To 
 this Mr. Weed objected, as he was a Clintonian, while the 
 Gazette was a "Bucktail" paper. Mr. Peck was surprised 
 that a ' 'Jour' ' printer should be particular about the politics
 
 THURLOW WEED. 29 
 
 of the paper on which he worked, and was so well pleased that 
 he consented to give temporary employment to the applicant. 
 After two or three weeks, Mr. Weed proposed to the pro- 
 prietor, who was a book-binder, and gave little attention to 
 the editorial work, that as he had some experience, he would 
 take home the exchanges and prepare matter for the paper 
 out of office hours. This proposition was accepted. Thus 
 far nothing had been said about wages, and it was left 
 entirely to the generosity of the proprietor. Mr. Weed pre- 
 pared the editorials and selections, and a marked improve- 
 ment was observed in the influence of the paper. Subscribers 
 multiplied and job work increased under the new manage- 
 ment, which was observed by the employer. After a few 
 weeks, Mr. Peck inquired of his new Jour what compensa- 
 tion he expected. Mr. Weed said he had not taken that 
 into account, and would leave it to his employer what his 
 services were worth. Mr. Peck, after a little deliberation, 
 asked him if $500 for a year would be sufficient. This was 
 more than he had expected, and it was cheerfully accepted. 
 As the editorial work was done without interference with 
 the mechanical part, which was not neglected in consequence, 
 both were well satisfied. Mr. Weed said that when the 
 year was out, Mr. Peck, without solicitation, made the 
 salary $600, which was continued three years, till he 
 purchased an interest in the establishment. It was during 
 his connection with that paper in 1826 that he took Geo. 
 Dawson, now editor of the Albany Journal, as an apprentice, 
 and into his family. Dawson was then a lad of eleven years 
 of age, who, under Mr. Weed's guidance, developed into 
 one of the most successful journalists in the State, and is a 
 most worthy successor of the retired veteran. For more 
 than fifty years they were most intimately associated in 
 shaping the political history of the State and Nation. As 
 his apprentice, foreman and partner, their relations have 
 ever been most intimate, cordial and confidential, and it is 
 pleasant to notice the tender interest these veteran journal- 
 ists feel for each other, now that the frosts of age have given 
 witness to the long service of these tried and true friends.
 
 /(? EDITORIAI, 
 
 Mr. Dawson, with whom we had a pleasant interview at: 
 Albany, is now in his yoth, year r and though only two years 
 our senior,, and eight years longer in the profession,, is well 
 preserved, bid& fair for several years more of service in the 
 cause of good government and the moral purity of our 
 politics. 
 
 In our conversation with Mr. Weed we referred to the 
 observation frequently made that he had controlled to a great 
 extent the nominations of our conventions. He simply 
 replied,. "We had good nominations,, didn't we?" We could 
 refer to only one exception, that of 1846. He said that John 
 Young's nomination for Governor was an instance in which 
 he had no voice in the convention,, having been absent in 
 Cuba with his invalid daughter r till just previous to the 
 State convention, and then he took no part in it. We refer- 
 red to the nomination of Gen. John A. Dix, in 1872, as a 
 happy solution of the contest between personal preferences, 
 which was attributed to his wise counsels. He then narrated 
 the circumstances of that memorable contest, and expressed 
 much satisfaction in its settlement. As we also participated 
 in that convention,, and enjoyed the tribute then given to 
 the veteran patriot,, the narration of its mode of consum- 
 mation gave us much pleasure. 
 
 Mr, Weed has never been an aspirant for office,, though 
 in 1825 and again in 1830, he represented Monroe County 
 in the State Legislature. While he exercised large influence 
 in making nominations, he never sought them for himself, 
 while as Gerrit Smith once expressed it, he was "Governor 
 of Governors;" he always sought to reflect or give direction 
 to public sentiment through the press rather than in official 
 position. The CENSOR once f nearly forty years ago, 
 suggested his name for the gubernatorial office, but the 
 response was a private letter urging us to desist. There has 
 never been any ' 'bossism' ' in his political career, in the 
 modern sense of the term. He has sought to impress his 
 views on those with whom he came in contact, personally 
 and through the press, and they were so clearly right and 
 judicious that a following was always obtained. He never
 
 THTJiaOW WEED, 31 
 
 Tailed 'to favor a government ' 'of the people, by the people 
 .-and for the people, ' ' and he sought, in the nominations 
 lie could influence, to secure fit and able men to carry out 
 this fundamental principle of true Statesmanship, 
 
 Perhaps the most noted service he rendered to the nation 
 was during the war of the rebellion. Our navy had block- 
 aded the Southern ports, and the cotton supply of the English 
 -and French manufacturers could not be obtained. Thousands 
 of operatives were in compulsory idleness,- in their manu- 
 facturing districts, and would find immediate relief if the 
 blockade were broken, and cotton brought to them in their 
 -own vessels. The sympathies of capitalists and operatives 
 were largely on the side of the Confederates, and the moral 
 questions in the contest were mostly lost sight of by them. 
 Confederate bonds, based on the cotton supply, were sold at 
 .a higher price than the Union bonds, and the argument was 
 made by a party which declared * 'the war a failure, ' ' that 
 the sympathies of European powers were against this country 
 as shown by the comparative estimation in which the bonds 
 were held. To cap the climax of a prospective collision 
 between this country and foreign powers, Mason and Slidell, 
 commissioners from the Confederacy to England, were taken 
 from a British vessel by a Naval officer of our government, 
 while on their way to negotiate for an acknowledgement of 
 their confederacy. This, added to the scarcity and high 
 price of cotton during the pending of the blockade, was a 
 tempting pretext for a rupture of neutrality and we were on 
 the very verge of war with England, while engaged with 
 rebellion already on hand. It was at this critical time that 
 President Lincoln and Secretary Seward sent Mr. Weed to 
 England and France to bring to bear what influence he 
 could to prevent such, a calamity to our struggling country. 
 His intimacy with the President and Secretary of State, gave 
 him a semi-official position and great influence with the 
 foreign governments. So determined had the government 
 of England become to take sides with the South, that it was 
 only by the most earnest endeavors of some of the friends of 
 this country that a delay was effected and the note which
 
 32 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 had been prepared and which would in all probability have 
 brought on a war, was modified so as to prevent this fearful 
 result. The skillful diplomacy of Mr. Seward and the 
 determination to surrender Mason and Slidell, aroused a 
 general protest throughout this country when it was first 
 proposed, and was acquiesced in only after a most powerful 
 presentation by Mr. Seward, in which it was shown that we 
 were acting only on the principle we claimed during the war 
 of 1812, when British vessels impressed thousands of 
 American Seamen into their service to fight against nations 
 with whom we were at peace. These were arguments which 
 had to be accepted, and which Mr. Weed cogently used 
 with the governmental powers of Great Britain. Mr. Weed's 
 arrival at this critical time, and his access to the leading 
 men of the country, and more particularly with those on 
 intimate terms with Prince Albert, was indeed opportune, 
 and then when the note with the Queen's signature, so 
 modified in Prince Albert's own hand writing as to be 
 acceptable to our government, was received, it sent a sensa- 
 tion of relief through the country, and prepared the way for 
 the favorable termination of the war. 
 
 Mr. Weed's arrival at Paris, was also timely, for Napoleon 
 had no favorable impression in favor of the Union cause. 
 His decision had been made in favor of the South as firmly 
 as had been England's and he was changed in his purpose 
 almost as abruptly and through the same kind of influence. 
 
 During Mr. Weed's editorial service in Rochester, as well 
 as elsewhere, he was a warm and earnest supporter of De- 
 Witt Clinton for Governor, and sustained him while in that 
 office. During his administration the Erie canal was built, 
 and thus, before there was a railroad in the world, a water 
 way was made between the great lakes and tide water, by 
 which the great West was developed "to become in the near 
 future the preponderating power in the Union. Then the 
 great Northwest consisted of indefinitely described territories, 
 the full development of which no prescient statesman could 
 foresee. The ' 'Star of Empire' ' was then but just beginning 
 to take its way toward the Pacific slope. The first great
 
 THTJRLOW WEED. 33 
 
 impetus to its onward progress was the opening of this work, 
 to which DeWitt Clinton gave his energies and far-seeing 
 statesmanship. Well may Mr. Weed look back with 
 satisfaction on the consummation of that most wonderful 
 internal improvement of the age, having such a grand effect 
 on the future growth of the country, in aid of which he gave 
 the best work of his pen and his press. 
 
 In 1827, in consequence of the excitement growing out of 
 the abduction *and supposed murder of Wm. Morgan, Mr. 
 Weed entered earnestly into the political contest arising 
 from it and published for three years thereafter, the Anti- 
 Masonic Inquirer. In those years as journeyman printer, 
 editor and publisher, he had shown a capacity for the work 
 which resulted in an invitation to* become the editor of the 
 Albany Evening Journal. 
 
 In that contest, Chautauqua county entered most heartily 
 and elected the entire And- Masonic ticket. In 1828, Abner 
 Hazeltine, of Jamestown, and Nathan Mixer, of Forestville, 
 were elected to the Assembly; in 1829, A. Hazeltine and 
 Dr. Squire White; in 1830, John Birdsall and Squire White ; 
 in 1831, Squire Wliite and Theron Ely; in 1832, Nathaniel 
 Gray and Alvin Plumb. Hon. A. Hazel tine's name appears 
 as one of the originators of the Evening Journal. 
 
 Mr. Weed, we have been informed, had no pecuniary in- 
 vestment in the Journal, and was employed on a salary. 
 Though his compensation was fair for the time, yet, though 
 simple and inexpensive in his habits, he was so generous 
 and sympathetic in his nature that little was saved from his 
 salary. The poor and needy always found in him a friend, 
 and many a poor lad received aid and encouragement from 
 him which has resulted in the acquisition of wealth and a 
 high position in State and National affairs. So unselfish 
 was he that we have been told by the late Gov. Patterson 
 that when the Evening Journal was elected a State paper, 
 which. brought to it large legal and official patronage, and 
 particularly the publication of all the bankrupt notices in 
 the State, by the national act of 1841, Mr. Weed's friends 
 had to insist that he should participate in the profits. To
 
 34 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 this Mr. TenEyck assented, and thus was laid the foundation 
 of his pecuniary advancement, which has rendered his 
 declining years so comfortable and pleasant. This success 
 enabled him to take a trip to Europe, and the charming and 
 instructive letters he wrote for the Journal are recalled with 
 much pleasure by those who perused them at the time. 
 
 At the time Mr. Weed entered upon the editorial charge 
 of the Journal, Gen. Jackson was President and the Albany 
 Regency at the height of its power and influence. These 
 he opposed with his powerful pen, as well as the succeeding 
 administration of Martin Van Buren, who proposed to 
 "follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor." 
 
 In 1838 Wm. H. Seward, then in the prime of mature 
 manhood, who, in connection with Messrs. Duer and 
 Robinson, had purchased of the Holland Land Company all 
 their interest in the lands of Chautauqua county, and had 
 located in Westfield in charge of this vast interest, was 
 brought out as the Whig candidate for Governor and elected. 
 It was largely through Mr. Weed's influence that this 
 selection was made, and the great success in after life of this 
 prince of executives and diplomats was due to Mr. Weed's 
 discernment of men and firm adherence to their support. In 
 this he never made a mistake. In this election and that of 
 1840, when "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" swept the country 
 with overwhelming majorities, the chief man at the helm, 
 guiding the ship of State through the seas of tempestuous 
 political commotion, was, conspicuously, Thurlow Weed. 
 
 By instinct a friend of equ ality in the exercise of civil and 
 political rights, and a protector of the oppressed, he entered 
 heartily into the combination of the Free Soil or ' 'Barburner' ' 
 Democrats with the ' 'woolly-head' ' Whigs and Abolitionists 
 to form the progressive Republican party, through whose in- 
 fluence the country and the world have made unprecedented 
 progress in the support of those principles which have truly 
 made this country the home of the oppressed and have made 
 actual the principles of universal liberty ideally expressed in 
 the immortal Declaration of Independence. The great 
 leaders of the hosts were Seward, Weed and Greeley. The
 
 THURLOW WEED. 35 
 
 advocacy of the ' 'higher law' ' which Mr. Seward boldly 
 advanced, and which his supporters throughout the country 
 so fearlessly maintained, placed the politics of the country 
 on a more elevated moral plane than had ever been occupied 
 before by any political party. Its final triumph in the 
 election of Lincoln to the Presidency, was the result of those 
 advanced political ideas and the needed higher moral tone 
 introduced into American politics. 
 
 In the campaign of 1840, the need was felt of the infusion 
 of new life into the politics of New York City and the 
 country brought under that influence. Horace Greeley had 
 already attracted attention while publishing the New Yorker, 
 by the terseness of his style and marked literary ability. 
 Seward and Weed sought him out, and as the result of the 
 conference the (< L,OG CABIN" was launched into being, and 
 became under Greeley 's guidance a vast power in the politics 
 of the country. At the subscription price of 25 cts. for the 
 campaign in clubs, its circulation ran up to hundreds, of 
 thousands. Its cogent presentation of the issues of the 
 campaign and the soul stirring songs published with the 
 music, inspired the old Whig party with an enthusiasm 
 never known before or since by any political party. The 
 result was a triumph greater than was ever dreamed of by 
 the most sanguine men of the party. After the close of the 
 campaign the New York Tribune was started by Greeley & 
 McElrath. With the prestige already acquired by the 
 ability with which the Log Cabin had been conducted, this 
 became the leading political paper of the country, and in 
 its palmiest days probably no man in the whole world had a 
 greater influence on the public thought shaping the minds 
 of men, moulding political ideas, and making every man a 
 freeman in thought as well as in vote. To Seward and 
 Weed in a great measure is due the development of Mr. 
 Greeley 's great political power and bringing it into the 
 service of the world. His agency for good has been felt to 
 the ends of the earth. It is greatly to be regretted that this 
 partnership, as Greeley styled it, entered into so auspiciously, 
 should have been dissolved. But Greeley had ambitions
 
 36 EDITORIAL 
 
 * 
 
 not suspected by Mr. Weed, and the thought that his 
 herculean labors in behalf of good government and party 
 success were not appreciated, led to the final dissolution. But 
 all have performed a work which will last to the end of 
 time, and in the future impartial history they will not be 
 divided. 
 
 Mr. Weed is enjoying a serene old age with every wish 
 anticipated by his devoted daughter, who in his growing 
 blindness is his amanuensis, and reads to him the news of 
 the day. A beautiful white pigeon flits around him in his room 
 like a messenger of peace, and it seems to trusting!}^ confide 
 in his love and good will. His mind is clear, and he recalls 
 and dwells upon the past, in which he has had such an im- 
 portant part in National questions as well as State, with 
 much interest. He recalls with evident pleasure his early 
 associations with the members of the Legislature from this 
 county, and mentioned particularly, Judge Hazeltine, Judge 
 W^arren and Judge Mullett, and dwelt especially on his long 
 and intimate acquaintance with Governor Patterson, an 
 intimacy which had existed for more than a half century, 
 Governor Patterson having been a member of Assembly 
 successively from 1832 to 1840, and afterward holding im- 
 portant public positions, and being the successor of Governor 
 Seward in the management of the affairs of the Holland 
 Land Company. 
 
 Mr. Weed informed us that in his intercourse with the 
 premier and high officials in England, which partook some- 
 what of an official character, he had obtained consent to 
 publish the particulars, the obligation of secrecy having 
 been withdrawn with the settlement of the questions of 
 diplomacy. 
 
 A letter from Hon. H. A. Risley, dated Colorado Springs, Col., 
 August 17, 1882, says: "I had a pleasant visit with Mr. Weed in 
 New York. He was much gratified by your notice of him."
 
 TEMPLE WORSHIP. 37 
 
 TEMPLE WORSHIP. 
 
 [Read before the Y. M. C. A. at Fredonia, 1868, by W. McKmsTRY.] 
 
 The idea of worship of a Superior Being is inherent to 
 man. It exists to some extent among all nations. The 
 more elevated their scale of existence, the more are they 
 devoted to the adoration of a Supreme Being the preserver 
 of their existence and of nations. Some spot is selected 
 more sacred than another for worship and the performance 
 of ceremonies supposed to be acceptable to the Being they 
 worship. The place selected may be a sacred grove, or an 
 enclosure set apart for the purpose, a rude structure of a 
 semi-barbarous people, or a gorgeous temple or cathedral 
 of the more civilized nations. 
 
 The remains of temples are among the most ancient monu- 
 ments in existence. They were doubtless the first public 
 edifices erected. They were in existence long before Israel 
 went to Egypt, and the wife of Joseph was the daughter of 
 a Priest to the Temple of the Sun at Memphis. 
 
 When Greece excelled all the other nations in the arts, 
 she had the most magnificent temples. She received from 
 Egypt:> Phoenicia and Syria, the arts which distinguished 
 her, in which she excelled them. The ruins of all ancient 
 cities furnish examples of the attention paid to temple 
 worship. The temple of Diana at Ephesus, was regarded 
 as one of the seven wonders of the world, and the sale of 
 shrines of the goddess made a profitable business at the time 
 the Apostle Paul visited that city. The kings of Asia 
 Minor had vied with each other in the richness of their gifts, 
 and its destruction was caused by ambition for fame. The 
 temple of Minerva at Athens, the ruins of which show that 
 it was of great magnificence and splendor, showed that the 
 cultivated Athenians were behind no others in their devotion 
 to temple worship, and the altar erected by the wayside to
 
 38 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 the Unknown God, showed that with all their devotion 
 to temple worship, they were not satisfied that the being 
 they worshiped was the being who controlled the pestilence 
 or the operations of nature. Each city had a particular 
 tutelary deity, and special honors were paid him to propitiate 
 his favor. To secure favor required bloody sacrifices. 
 These were offered by general consent throughout the 
 world, showing that the natural conscience craved a sacrifice 
 for sin and to propitiate the favor of the deity. The greater 
 the straits to which they were driven, the more costly must 
 be the sacrifice. Children were offered in extreme cases, as 
 during the siege of Carthage by the Romans. 
 
 It is believed that during the history of the first three 
 thousand years of the world, no temple of worship was 
 erected to the Great Jehovah. There was a regular suc- 
 cession of faithful men during all this period and the sacri- 
 ficial rites prophetic of the great sacrifice were kept up. 
 One of the greatest blessings pronounced on a branch of the 
 great human family, was that God should ' 'dwell in the 
 tents of Shem, ' ' not in their temples but in their families. 
 He appeared to the early patriarchs in their tents and pre- 
 served the true faith from generation to generation without 
 the aid of temple worship, for thousands of years. Moses 
 saw the manifestation of the great I Am from the burning 
 bush, in the land of Midian, and was told "the place where 
 thou standest is holy ground." So in all times since; the 
 holy place is where there is a manifestation of the divine 
 presence, whether in the cave where safety from persecution 
 is sought, the conventicle, the camp meeting, or wherever 
 true worship is given. 
 
 Up to the time of Solomon, the manifestation of the Divine 
 presence was in the tabernacles of men. A special worship 
 was given in the large tent where was kept the Ark of the 
 Covenant. The box or chest some 4)^ feet long by 2^ 
 wide and high, with handles by which the priests should 
 carry it, held the sacred archives of a chosen people. For 
 more than five hundred years, from near the commencement 
 of their wanderings in the wilderness to the close of King
 
 TEMPLE WORSHIP. 39 
 
 David's reign, this sacred ark and the tabernacle in which 
 it was kept, were the only objects of peculiar sacredness. 
 The precious little box was preserved with sedulous care, 
 and when captured by an enemy an aged patriarch ex- 
 claimed, "The glory has departed," and expired. 
 
 As the nation prospered, the humble tent for worship 
 became unsatisfactory to the king. Solomon had become 
 very wealthy and had by his alliance with the Phoenician 
 maritime power extended his commercial relations to the 
 Indies on the one hand, throughout the borders of the 
 Mediterranean on the other, and far into Africa. He desired 
 more splendor of worship and for the purpose he erected a 
 magnificent temple. It was not large, being about 90 feet 
 in length, 30 in width and 45 in height. It was built of 
 stone, and the best Phoenician artizans were employed in 
 its structure. It was highly ornamented and the precious 
 materials from distant lands were lavishly employed upon 
 it. On three sides were corridors rising one above the' other, 
 three stories in height, and containing rooms in which were 
 preserved the holy utensils and treasures. The front was 
 open, with a portico 15 feet in width, supported by pillars. 
 In the interior was a room 30 feet square, called the Holy of 
 Holies, where was the ark. To separate this from the other 
 part was the vail of the temple. It was this vail which 
 was rent at the great sacrifice which ended the priesthood 
 and the sacrificial offerings. 
 
 The Jews were jealous of the honor of their temple. When 
 captives to the Assyrians, they mourned over the desola- 
 tion of Jerusalem, and hung their harps on the willows by 
 the streams of Babylon, and could not sing the songs of 
 Zion in a strange land while the temple was laid waste and 
 Jerusalem desolate. On their return their first labor was to 
 rebuild the temple and the walls of the city. By degrees 
 their worship degenerated into forms and ceremonies and 
 they became so formal that they did not regard spirituality 
 as necessary for true worship. In process of time, though 
 the wealth of the nation was expended upon it and a Roman
 
 40 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 governor to please them and atone for his great crimes ex- 
 pended great treasures upon it, still it became a den of 
 thieves, of bankers, brokers and speculators. With all its 
 grandeur and magnificence, so richly adorned that the 
 Roman conqueror afterwards desired to preserve it as the 
 richest trophy of his conquest, the true faith, promulgated 
 by the Great Teacher, could only take root by its utter 
 destruction, so that not one stone should be left on another 
 that should not be thrown down. The kingdom of the true 
 faith was ushered in by a preacher clothed in a plain garb 
 of camel's hair, who gathered his food of locusts while their 
 wings stiffened in the early morning, and from the clusters 
 of honey deposited among the rocks. The crowds who 
 flocked to hear him proclaim the coming Kingdom which 
 should survive all others, were not greeted with oratory 
 from grand cathedrals, and with music from trained quartets, 
 but far in the wilderness they saw this plain man, whose 
 power was in the truths he proclaimed rather than in the 
 pomp and ceremony of their proclamation. 
 
 When the Great Jehovah was manifest in the flesh, it was 
 proclaimed by the hosts of Heaven. Shepherds watching 
 their flocks by night heard with joy the announcement, and 
 the astronomers of the far east saw a peculiar star, which 
 led them to the place where this manifestation of God in 
 human form was, and to offer Him true worship and their 
 treasures. No announcement of this great event was made 
 to those who are called by the world its great men. No 
 announcement was made from thrones, palaces and gorgeous 
 temples. Yet no purer worship was ever rendered than 
 from that humble place in the little village of Bethlehem. 
 
 The great conquerors of the world are those who first 
 conquer themselves. The succession of great men of whom 
 the world was not worthy, were usually unknown to fame 
 during their lives. They were persecuted, their lives' were 
 sought, and they were subjects of sorrow, suffering and 
 sadness all their days. But they had access to the throne
 
 TEMPtfi WOttSHfP. 4! 
 
 of the King of Kings, and their crowns will shine with in- 
 creasing splendor through the endless ages of eternity, while 
 those who persecuted them will be forgotten or their memory 
 only associated with infanry. 
 
 Centuries passed and a spiritual worship took the place of 
 the artistic forms of enlightened paganism, till gradually the 
 pure worship promulgated by apostolic preaching became 
 formal, and persecutions were waged under the Christian 
 name. A splendid chnrch edifice arose in Rome that ex- 
 celled all the splendors of heathen worship. To this day 
 the St. Peter's church is the wonder of the world for magni- 
 tude and beautiful architectural proportions. It has visitors 
 from all parts of the civilized world, who are profuse in its 
 praise. Yet within its influence no free gospel has been 
 preached for centuries and no true Christian liberty has been 
 enjoyed. No free use of the bible has been allowed fora 
 long period among the people or within the control of the 
 central hierarchial power which reigns there. Indulgences 
 were publicly sold in the streets of the cities of Europe to 
 raise funds for its erection. It was founded in the crushed 
 hopes of human liberty and a free conscience, while it made 
 merchandise of the souls of men. The very soil has been 
 enriched by the blood of the martyrs. The fires of the 
 auto dafc were kindled through its influence. The great 
 temples of the Pagan and Christian world have been filled 
 with dead men's bones. Men's minds have been fettered 
 by their behests. Even the influence which erected the 
 magnificent St. Peter's church at Rome made Galileo deny 
 with his own hand that the world moves on its axis, and 
 would make the sun travel three hundred and twenty 
 millions of miles every day to give us evening and morning. 
 But ' 'the world moves' ' notwithstanding these ecclesiastical 
 assertions to the contrary. With the continued revolutions 
 of the earth great changes are wrought. From the cloisters 
 in a German city light breaks forth. The magic types 
 spread this light. Revolutions succeed revolutions and the
 
 42 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 life throes of the nations in their struggles for freedom in- 
 crease the dawning light of the reformation. In due time a 
 little colony seeks on the bleak shores of New England, a 
 place where there is freedom to worship God. In mid- 
 winter, 248 years ago, their songs of praise went up to the 
 Most High on that bleak, wilderness shore. The light spread. 
 Freedom's banner has been lifted up in every part of our 
 land. From the convulsions of the old world a nation was 
 born. In its parturition struggles "the L,ord, the L,ord of 
 Hosts, mighty in battle' ' was invoked to its aid. In the 
 severe trials at Valley Forge the Nation's Chieftain was 
 known to retire from his camp, and in Nature's great temple 
 invoke the aid of the Great Being in whose hands are the 
 destinies of nations. Liberty prevailed and with it freedom 
 to worship God according to the dictates of our own 
 consciences had a constitutional guaranty, and is one of the 
 most valued heritages of this great nation. The foundations 
 of our government were laid in faith in God, and it is by 
 His blessing that this has become in its influences for good, 
 the greatest nation of the world. The church edifices and 
 the school houses dot our land as they do no other, and the 
 history of the world for six thousand years has never pre- 
 sented a parallel of National growth and prosperity with 
 ours. 
 
 But with all these blessings, though the freest nation in 
 the world, not all were free not all "called no man master." 
 The cry of the oppressed entered the ears of Him who gave 
 us a national existence. We were convulsed by civil war. 
 Every church and congregation throughout the land sent 
 its aid to those who were fighting the battles of the country. 
 Christian and sanitary commissions were sent out to the 
 soldiers, and treasures without stint were freely bestowed 
 that Freedom might live, and the experiment of a Free 
 Government might not be in vain. The prayers of faith 
 went up from the closet, the family altar, the church edifice 
 and the tented field, and by faith the nation was saved, to 
 be an example to the old world and to the latest generations. 
 No gorgeous powers of a State religion were employed, but
 
 TEMPLE WORSHIP. 43 
 
 the great National heart was moved. The proclamation of 
 our noble President calling a nation to prayer was not in 
 vain. Thousands of altars blazed with the true fires of 
 devotion throughout the land, and the Ark of the Covenant 
 was in every tented field. 
 
 On the shores of the James River, near where some 250 
 years before an English colon y had been planted, the great 
 Union army lay through the long and dreary winter months 
 of 1864-5. Opposite them was the enemy who sought to 
 make our experiment of free government a failure. More 
 than 200,000 men, the strength and vigor of the nation, 
 were on that tented field. Men who loved freedom more 
 even than their. father land, were there from other countries. 
 The great struggle was near its culmination, and the eyes of 
 the world were fixed anxiously upon them. In the midst of 
 a cluster of pines, four or five miles back from Petersburg, 
 were the headquarters of Gen. Meade. 150,000 men were 
 encamped in long lines to the right and left of him. A short 
 distance from his quarters a chapel tent was erected. On a 
 Sabbath morning just previous to the march of the 5th 
 corps to the battle of Hatcher's Run, the bugle call invited 
 to religious service. Some rough seats had been ex- 
 temporized, and a congregation of officers of the Union 
 army at the headquarters had assembled, when Bishop Lee, 
 Gen. Maade and several staff officers entered. No female 
 voices mingled in the responses or songs of praise. The 
 Bishop spoke of having held services in church edifices of 
 more pretensions of architectural style, but never before 
 where the place and occasion gave him so much pleasure. 
 At the same time, a short distance away, Bishop Janes, of 
 this State, was holding service, and throughout that long 
 line of army tents the chapels erected were filled with self- 
 sacrificing men, laboring faithfully for the welfare of the 
 whole army there encamped. For more than twenty miles 
 of front, the chapel tents were interspersed, and the bugle 
 called together an army of worshipers. To my eye, no 
 more beautiful houses of worship were ever constructed than 
 some of those unpretending chapels which the soldiers had
 
 44 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 erected. The stockade enclosure was roofed with a large 
 tent provided by the Christian Commission the contri- 
 bution of all the denominations in the land. No sooner 
 was the soldier encamped and his own tent prepared than 
 the chapel tent was erected, where faithful worshipers were 
 wont to assemble for devotional exercises. There were 
 earnest men in those assemblies, men of faith, men who 
 wrestled to obtain the blessing from the great Arbiter of 
 nations. So all along the line prayers and praises ascended 
 to the Most High, from that great army. If the prophets 
 of old could have looked down upon those scenes, they 
 would have exclaimed as did one nearly 4 r ooo years before,. 
 "How beautiful are thy tents r Oh Jacob, and thy tabernacles, 
 Oh Israel," Through faith the victory was won, and our 
 country is presented as it never was before, in its purity and 
 fidelity to principle as a model to the nations of the world. 
 The Young Men's Christian Associations throughout the 
 country performed an important work in accomplishing this 
 great victory. Many of its members were soldiers. Every 
 institution of learning laid upon the altar of the country her 
 choicest treasures. The world never saw before such an 
 army as ours, with so much moral power combined with 
 physical force. No other nation in the world has the material 
 for such an army. The influence of Christian faith among 
 churches of all denominations made it what it was, an in- 
 vincible army. 
 
 Peace and war alike have their victories. The armies of 
 those who fight the good fight of faith, are yet to conquer 
 the world, for in the prophetic visions the kingdoms of this 
 world are to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His 
 Christ, and He is to reign over them. The faithful army of 
 witnesses for the truth, in their several denominational ranks 
 and columns, are yet to conquer the world, for such is the 
 record of inspiration. 
 
 The victory will only be won after long and faithful 
 service in the field. The skirmishers are on every continent, 
 and on the islands of the ocean. It will be announced after
 
 TEMPLE WORSHIP. 45 
 
 centuries of toil and watchfulness that the conflict is over, 
 that the Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell 
 with them. In the beatitude of that period, there will be 
 no temple worship, "for the Lord God Almighty and the 
 Lamb are the temple thereof. ' ' The true worship under 
 the present dispsnsation is not at Mt. Gerazim or Jerusalem, 
 but is a spiritual worship, not confined to denominations, 
 localities or forms. In the true temple worship of the 
 spiritual temple, composed only of believers, "who shall 
 ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in His 
 holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." 
 "Lift up your heads Oh ye Gates, and be ye lifted up ye ever- 
 lasting doors, a,nd the King of Glory shall come in."
 
 46 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES.- 
 
 THE CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL,. 
 
 [From the account in the CENSOR of Feb. 8 T 1871.]' 
 
 You are respectfully invited to a supper to be given on 
 Wednesday evening, Feb. ist, to HON. HENRY C. FRISBEE, the 
 founder of the Fredonia Censor, on the completion of its fiftieth 
 volume. Supper will be served in Barmore & Ball's hall r at 7:30 
 
 o'clock. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 W. McKlNSTRY. 
 
 Fredonia, N. Y., Jan, 25, 1871. 
 
 In response to the above, the following; letters were 
 received: 
 
 From HON. FRANK W. PALMER M. C., of Iowa, formerly publisher 
 
 of the Jamestown fournal: 
 
 WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 1871. 
 
 Friend McKinstry: I am in receipt of your kind invitation to a 
 supper to be given on the first proximo, in honor of Hon. Henry 
 C. Frisbee, the founder of the Censor, on the completion of the first 
 fifty years of its publication. 
 
 Official duties here will prevent my attendance at your proposed 
 semi-centennial anniversary. May I ask you, however, to convey to 
 the honored patriarch of Chautauqua County journalism the 
 assurance of my most earnest sympathy and respect. For thirty 
 years I have known him as a citizen, and honored him for the high 
 character he had established as- an editor. When I -was an humble 
 beginner in editorial labor at the foot of Chautauqua Lake, the 
 height of my ambition was to make as good a paper as the Censor 
 had become under his administration. After nearly a quarter of a 
 century of journalistic experience, I can most heartily endorse mv 
 earlier admiration for our honored friend, and if some day my own 
 son should aspire to hurl thunder-bolts from the Olympus of a 
 village newspaper, I know of no better teacher than can be furnished 
 in the files of the Censor from 1821 to 1871. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 FRANK W. PALMER.
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 47 
 
 From HORACE GREELEY: 
 
 DEAR SIR: I should much like to attend your festival, but 
 must not. I first visited the Censor office, and was hospitably 
 entertained by Mr. Frisbee, in October, 1834. Chautauqua County 
 was then three-fourths covered with the primitive forest, through 
 which I made my way with difficulty on foot to Clymer, near which 
 my father resided. There were not then forty frame houses in the 
 County south of tne ridge and westward of Mayville. No public 
 conveyance then traversed that wild region. Mr. Krisbee was 
 somewhat younger than he is now, but perhaps no stronger, or more 
 keenly alive to all social and moral good. 1 rejoice that he has been 
 spared to see the (wig he planted become a stately tree, and hope 
 he may live many years longer to rejoice in the great reform which 
 has made us a free people, and of which he was so early and 
 faithful an advocate. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 HORACE GREELEY. 
 
 From Hon. E. T. FOOTE, Member of Assembly in 1826 and 1827, 
 
 and County J udge from 1824 to 1843: 
 Hon. HENRY C. FRISBEE, 
 
 My worthy old friend; The commencement of an acquaintance 
 and friendship continued through half a century is unusual. We 
 settled in Cbautauqua County at different periods, under similar 
 circumstances. It will be 56 years next Spring since I settled in 
 Jamestown. By industry and integrity you established the first 
 permanent newspaper in the County. All before it and many after 
 it were ephemeral. The Censor has had a gradual and healthy 
 growth, until it has become one ot the oldest and well established 
 papers in Western New York. You were never accused, while con- 
 ducting it, of sacrificing conscience and honor to sustain a candidate 
 by bribery and corruption. 
 
 What changes a kind Providence has permitted us to witness 
 within half a century! We are proud to look at the advance of our 
 beloved Chautauqua as it was, and now is, except the manner in 
 which her late political strife has been conducted, but the recent 
 election encourages a confident hope that a returning sense of honor 
 and integrity will hereafter mark the result. We have seen the 
 advance of liberty and humanity, and an unparalleled advance in 
 what is usually enumerated among the arts and sciences, but I have 
 no time or space to enumerate even prominent items. We should 
 rejoice in what we have been permitted to see. I feel that 
 comparatively speaking we have witnessed the advance and im- 
 provements of an entire century. 
 
 Where are your first patrons? Where are our pioneer friends?
 
 48 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 How few of them remain ! Had I space, I should gladly allude to 
 many of them. They are gone. May we be duly prepared by grace 
 to join them, while 
 
 'We nightly pitch our moving tents 
 A day's march nearer home." 
 
 As ever, 
 
 E. T. FOOTE. 
 New Haven, Ct., Tan. 28, 1871. 
 
 From A. W. McKiNSTRY, formerly associate editor of the Censor: 
 
 FARIBAULT, Minn., Jan. 27, 1871. 
 
 Dear Brother: Your invitation to attend the semi-centennial 
 anniversary of the Fredonia Censor is rec eived. I regret that 
 circumstances preclude me trom the pleasure of mingling with the 
 friends and patrons who will gather upon that occasion, to do honor 
 to the venerable founder of a paper which has in turn become 
 venerable with years. Rare indeed is it that the original editor and 
 publisher of a journal survives to rally with its friends around its 
 half century mile-stone, and it is well that so happy a conjuction 
 should not be passed without notice. 
 
 The thought of the occasion stimulates my memory to recall 
 the events of long buried years, and although there will be those at 
 your festival whose recollection goes back far beyond mine, I am 
 tempted to record some of the changes that have occurred since I 
 first entered upon my career as a disciple of Faust, in the old Censor 
 office, twenty-seven years ago. 
 
 Well do I recollect every feature of the two dingy apartments 
 which then served the combined uses of sanctum, composing room 
 and press room, and how the youthful illusions I had imbibed, 
 which cast a halo of glory around the press as the dispenser of light 
 and knowledge, faded as rapidly under the experience of blistered 
 hands, ink-smirched sleeves and face, and the lugging of wood and 
 water, as the fairy pictures traced upon the window pane by Jack 
 Frost are dissolved by the gleam* of the unclouded sun. Of the 
 patrons whom I then served in my weekly round as carrier boy, 
 how few are left ! The only man now in active business who was 
 then a business man upon Main street, I believe, is L. B. Grant, 
 then a member of the firm of J. Forbes & Co., who advertised their 
 place as "the old two door store," thus arrogating an aristocratic 
 distinction over all their one door cotemporaries. Of the others, 
 Gens. Barker and Risley, D. W. Douglass, Philo H. Stevens, N. 
 H. Whitcomb, Doctors White "and Clark, the bluff but genial post- 
 master, John Lamson, and others whose names I cannot stop to
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 49 
 
 recall, all now sleep with their fathers, and a new generation has 
 arisen who knew them not. Of the large-heartedness of the first 
 earned gentleman, as well as the Risley Brothers, the carrier boys 
 of that day had a high opinion, as they were always rewarded with 
 a quarter of a dollar for their New Years Addresses, The farthest 
 place in the suburbs to which I made a weekly pilgrimage with the 
 Censor, was the brick mansion of Thos. G. AbelL, Esq., then re- 
 garded by us as truly a palatial residence, and always approached 
 with awe, which was the only house upon Dunkirk street, or 
 Central Avenue, except the farm building upon or near the site now 
 occupied by the fine residence of R. Hay wood., Esq. The village 
 school was kept in a stone bastile, which has since been metamor- 
 phosed into the handsome residence of O. W. Johnson, Esq. Center 
 street extended only to Barker street, and was called Nassau, or 
 more commonly Nasty street, which unsavory designation was 
 applied in consequence of its narrowness, and livery and stage barn 
 associations. 
 
 During the political campaign of 1844, the Censor was edited by 
 Messrs. Henry Keep and B. F. Greene. The former is now one of 
 the "solid men" of Chicago, while the latter, atter winning honorable 
 judicial distinction, passed away too soon for his sun to have attained 
 its meridian splendor. As I was then but a neophyte in political 
 matters, and my native place had not been deeply stirred with 
 partisan strife. I can well recall the amazement with which I beheld 
 the strong feelings and rancor awakened between the two parties in 
 the memorable campaign of that year. How the Censor blazed in 
 double shotted columns, studded with exclamation points like brist- 
 ling bayonets, against the treacherous Tyler, since rendered 
 respectable by Andy's apostasy and the insignificance of the 
 statesman whom the Democracy had nominated from Ten- 
 nessee. The serio-comic events of that day are too numerous 
 to allow of more than a bare allusion to a few. How the 
 Whigs raised an ash pole, upon which the Democrats ran up a 
 defunct coon, and cut the halyards; how the Democrats raised a 
 hickory pole upon which the Whig boys ran up a horse "poke," and 
 tangled the halyards above the reach of the longest ladder; how the 
 Democrats organized a band to rejoice the faithful, and promote 
 enthusiasm with the melody of brass instruments, and how the 
 intolerapt young Whigs followed with a Calithumpian institution, 
 which overwhelmed the notes of the other with the mellow 
 dissonance of multitudinous tin horns, and the mellifluous cadences 
 of the horse fiddle; and then the crowning glories of the great 
 barbecue, when the crowd gathered trom far and near like the rush 
 of many waters, till there was such a multitude as no man had before 
 seen in Fredonia, and I don't know but we might safely add,
 
 50 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 greater than any since, when four speakers simultaneously poured 
 forth the lava of their eloquence from as many stands upon the 
 unfenced common; the gifted Mullett and the witty and caustic 
 Dudley Marvin occupying two of these, while the smoke of savory 
 rounds of beef mid piles of bread ascended from the barbecue 
 ground on the east hill, and the Democrats who came to scoff 
 remained to eat, are not all these events, with many more, fresh in 
 the memories of some who will gather around your festive board, 
 as well as of the writer's ? 
 
 But to return to the old Censor office. Among its staunch patrons 
 and constant visitors in that day, none were more frequent than 
 Hon. Alvah H. Walker and Judge John Crane, whose visits for the 
 sake of perusing the Albany Evening Journa t (dailies were not as 
 accessible then as now,) were as regular as the sun in its diurnal 
 rising, and the familiarity of the former with the names of all the 
 members of Congress, and the State Legislature, their districts and 
 majorities, was to us a never ending source of wonder. 
 
 Truly Yours, 
 
 A. W. McKlNSTRY. 
 
 From Hon. ROSCOK CONKLING, U. S. Senator from New York: 
 
 SENATE, WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 1871. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: I have the pleasure to acknowledge an invitation 
 to attend a supper to be given to the Hon. Henry C. Frisbee, in 
 celebration of his founding the Fredonta Censor fifty years ago. 
 The brevity of life, and the rapidity of its mutations, render it 
 remarkable that, begun so far away in the past, the paper should 
 continue, and with it the man who established it. This alone would 
 be the appropriate subject of notice, but when the man and the 
 paper add usefulness and integrity to length of life, the case is one 
 which public virtue and personal friendship should prosper with 
 their praise. 
 
 I should be glad to join the neighbors of Mr. F. in so agreeable 
 an occasion, and I am grateful for being remembered. It is, how- 
 ever, my duty to be in my seat, and I must forego the pleasure. 
 My best wishes, however, will go while I remain, cordially your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 ROSCOE CONKLING. 
 
 From MARK TWAIN: 
 
 BUFFALO, Jan. 28. 
 
 DEAR SIR: I thank you very much indeed for your kind 
 invitation to attend the celebration of an event which, in this 
 country, (yes, in any country,) is so unusual as to well deserve to be
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 51 
 
 termed remarkable and that, too, with emphasis the fiftieth 
 birth-day of a newspaper ! We are accustomed to contemplate the 
 seventy years of the New York Evening Post, and one hundred 
 and six years of the Connecticut Courant with a sort of awe-inspired 
 veneration, and here you come startling us with a half-century 
 veteran reared in a western village ! I doff my hat to the hale 
 patriarch, and record the hope that the Fredonta Censor may still 
 be hale at a hundred and fifty. 
 
 Sincerely regretting my inability to be present at the dinner, I 
 am yours truly, 
 
 MARK TWAIN. 
 
 From DAVID EATON, Esq., the first Clerk of the Board of Super- 
 visors. 
 
 PORTLAND, N. Y., Jan. 27, 1871. 
 DEAR SIR: 
 
 Your kind invitation to me to be present at a Supper to be 
 given at the close of the fiftieth Volume of the Fredonia Censor, 
 has been duly received, and I thank you most heartily for it. It 
 would be very pleasant to be present on that occasion, but the 
 infirmities of age forbid. If I live till the second day of February, 
 I shall be 89 years old. My eyes have become so dim that I can 
 hardly see to write, and my hearing is so impaired that I can seldom 
 understand a word of ordinary conversation. My footsteps are 
 feeble, and the death of the late Judge Mixer, (who was a school- 
 mate of mine in our boyhood days) forcibly reminds me of the 
 necessity of caution at every step. I therefore beg, most respectfully, 
 to be excused. I have outlived almost all my acquaintances of 
 fifty years ago, and it is highly gratifying to know that I am not 
 wholly forgotten by the few that remain. Please give my best 
 respects to Mr. Frisbee, and believe me, my dear Sir, 
 
 Yours, most truly, 
 
 DAVID EATON. 
 
 From DR. J. G. HOLLAND, (Timothy Titcomb.) 
 
 BRIGHTWOOD, SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Jan. 28, 1871. 
 W. MCKINSTRY, ESQ.: 
 
 Dear Sir: It would give me great pleasure to attend the 
 Supper to Hon. Henry C. Frisbee on the first proximo, but lam 
 too iar away. I thank you, however, for thinking of me, and you 
 will receive from me the sincerest congratulations on the news- 
 paper success which makes the semi-centennial of the Censor so 
 significant. The Censor is one of a limited class of papers in this
 
 52 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 country that seem to go on from year to year accumulating' 
 character, yielding prosperity to their owners, and establishing 
 themselves as permanent institutions. I should as soon expect to> 
 hear that Lake Erie was dry, or that Niagara river was running up 
 hill, as to hear that the Fredonia Censor had ceased to exist. It is a. 
 thing of the centuries. 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 J. G. HOLLAND. 
 
 Prom HON. A. H. WALKER one of the earliest merchants of the 
 village, and subsequently State Senator. 
 
 ST. JOHNS, Mich., Jan. 28, 1871. 
 W. McKiNSTRY, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir: I received your kind invitation to be present on the 
 evening of the first of February next, at the Semi-Centenial 
 anniversary supper to the Hon. H. C. Frisbee, the founder of the 
 Fredonia Censor, on the completion of its fiftieth volume. It would 
 give me great pleasure to be present on that occasion, and hold 
 converse with the friends, who remain, of my earlier years, and 
 contemplate the improvements that have been made in Fredonia 
 and its vicinity, since the commencement of the publication of that 
 paper. But I fear I shall be obliged to forego that satisfaction. 
 Since its first publication I have been a regular and interested 
 reader of the Censor, and, with many others, feel gratified with its 
 success and the success of its proprietors. I can in some measure 
 realize the satisfaction that Mr. Frisbee and his co-laborers must 
 enjoy in the contrast of the situation of your county in 1871 with 
 1821. Then you had little except a pleasant location which nature 
 had given your vicinity, with stout hearts and willing hands; now 
 you are surrounded with all the elements of refined enjoyment. To 
 the Censor and its management, in no small degree, is the com- 
 munity indebted for the pleasing change. There can be no greater 
 earthly pleasure than to see that your exertions have been successful 
 and have accomplished that which you intended at the commence- 
 ment. Integrity of purpose, intelligent use of the means within 
 your reach, with industrious perseverance in business, are sure 
 elements of success, and those who are to come after you may with 
 triumph appeal to the Censor and its conductors for the confirmation 
 of this principle. 
 
 I trust that the memory of the Censor may be cherished; its 
 precepts and principles adopted in the orange groves of the sunny 
 South, on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, on the parallels of its
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 53 
 
 latitude in the distant West; and wherever in our country it may be 
 read, and that its influence may continue to be felt for good. 
 
 Mr. Krisbee, yourself, and my other old friends, will please 
 accept my best wishes. 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 A. H WALKER. 
 
 From Hon. ABNER HAZELTINE, a member of the Assembly in 1829 
 
 and 1830, and of Congress from 1833 to 1837. 
 
 JAMESTOWN, Jan. 30, 1871 
 
 Dear Sir: I am much obliged to you and the other friends 
 who have so kindly remembered me, by inviting me to participate 
 in celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Fredonia Censor. It 
 would give me great pleasure to meet you and other friends, 
 especially my old friend FRISBEE, the Patriarch of the Censor. I 
 confess to a somewhat singular feeling in giving him that title. It 
 seems but only yesterday, that I read in the Chautauqua Gazette a 
 communication, written by a leading politician of the county, who 
 many years since departed this life, in which our now venerable 
 friend was spoken of as "little Henry Frzsbee," on account of his 
 youth. But this fling at the boy, as the writer then esteemed him, 
 did not prevent his becoming a man. 
 
 So much for the founder. I will now give my appreciation of 
 what he founded. And here I would say that I claim some right to 
 speak, having been myself a sort of adjunct of the newspaper press 
 of this countv on two occasions. First, 1 had something to do in 
 getting up and writing for the Chautauqua Eagle, the second news- 
 paper published in tne county; and afterwards and for a longer period, 
 I had something to do in conducting the Jamestown Journal. 
 
 My testimony in regard to the paper is, that it has ever been 
 respectable in point of ability, and has been conducted with uniform 
 courtesy and good temper. It has ever been a paper that could be 
 safely put in the hands of the young without any fear ot 
 detriment to their principles or morals. It has been singularly free 
 from that coarse vulgarity and slang, those miserable attempts at 
 wit, at the expense often of things sacred and dear to us all; and 
 those ribald attacks on private character, which in this age so much 
 abound, and mar so many publications. 
 
 I have said it would give me great pleasure to participate in 
 your festivities; but my age and the inclemency of the season will 
 hardly permit it. At a more genial season I might have felt at 
 liberty to unite with my old friends in doing honor to the occasion. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 A. HAZELTINE.
 
 54 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Prom THURLOW WEED, the founder of the Albany Evening Journal' 
 
 NEW YORK, January 31, 1871, 
 
 Dear Sir: The venerable founder of the Censor is worthy of the 
 honors you are about to confer on him. My knowledge of the 
 Fredonia Censor runs back through the whole fifty years that it has 
 been upholding good order and good government. During the 
 first forty years of its existence, its sentiments and sympathies, 
 politically and socially, were in accord with the Rochester Telegraph 
 and Albany hventng Journal. In the important and exciting 
 political campaigns from 1824 to 1857, I never failed, on any question 
 concerning the general welfare or affecting the State or Federal 
 Governments, to find prompt and efficient co-operation both in the 
 Fredonia Censor, and its neighbor, the Jamestown Journal. You 
 need not, therefore, be assured that I retain an affectionate 
 remembrance of those journals and their editors. 
 
 Nor does my interest in Chautauqua County stop here. In its. 
 earlier history I was closely and agreeably associated with its pnbhc 
 men. Chautauqua County, in its infancy, was not les ; fortunate in 
 the industry, intelligence and honesty of its inhabitants, than in the 
 ability, integrity and patriotism which distinguished its representative 
 men. With James Mullet, Jr., I formed an acquaintance in the 
 memorable Legislature of 1824, which ripened into a close and 
 enduring friendship. With Nathan Mixer, his worthy successor, I 
 was also intimately acquainted; and I recall with pride and plea'sure 
 the close friendships formed and maintained in succeeding years 
 with Abner Hazeltine, Squire White, John Birdsall, Elijah Risley, 
 Alvin Plumb, Orren McClure, Richard P. Marvin, Calvin Rumsey, 
 George A, French. Abner Lewis. Henry C. Frisbee, Charles J. 
 Orton, and other representative men from Chautauqua, whose high 
 intelligence and proverbial integrity would have reflected honor 
 upon any constituency. 
 
 You have also among you another old and cherished personal 
 
 and political friend, who has performed his share of public duty as 
 Member of Assembly, as its Speaker, and as Lieutenant Governor 
 of the State and performed it well. As a neighbor, a citizen, a 
 politician, a representative of the people, and a friend, I have never 
 known a more obliging, public spirited, consistent, upright, or 
 devoted man, than George W. Patterson. 
 
 Please remember me to Mr. Frisbee, and accept for yourself my 
 best wishes for your prosperity and happiness. 
 
 THURLOW WEED. 
 
 From Hor. R. E. FENTON, U. S. Senator from New York, and Ex- 
 Governor of the State, a nativeand resident of Chautauqua. 
 
 WASHINGTON. Jan. 30, 1871. 
 Dear Sir: Your invitation to the banquet you propose to give 
 
 in Fredonia on the ist proximo, in honor of the founder of the
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENXIAfc. 55 
 
 Censor on the completion of its fiftieth volume, finds me engaged in 
 public duties demanding my attention; and much pleasure as it 
 would give me to take Mr. Frisbee by the hand, and meet so many 
 friends on that occasion, I feel constrained reluctantly to forego it. 
 I beg you to believe, however, that I am not wanting in apprecia- 
 tion of the valuable service rendered by the Censor to every good 
 cause during the fifty years it has been published without interrup- 
 tion, of the intelligence and zeal which have characterized its 
 efficient advocacy of sound principles, of the honor due its venerable 
 founder, or of how much you and your worthy son deserve of the 
 public, for sustaining its high character, and conducting it with so 
 much prudence, courtesy and ability, since it has been under your 
 editorial charge. 
 
 Sincerely regretting my inability to be with you, with respect- 
 ful regards for all who may gather around your festive board, and 
 with sentiments of great respect for yourself personally, 
 
 I am truly yours, 
 
 R, E, FENTOX, 
 
 From MORGAN BATES, Lieut. Gov. of Michigan, formerly publisher 
 of the "Chautauqua Republican." 
 
 LANSING, MICH., Jan, 26, 1871. 
 \V. McKiNSTRV, ESQ. 
 
 My Dear Sir: I have known the Censor ever since it was 
 established, and my personal acquaintance with and friendship for 
 Mr. Frisbee, date back to 1826, when I started the Warren (Pa.) 
 Gazette. In January 1828, I removed from Warren to Jamestown 
 and commenced the Chautauqua Republican, the first Jackson paper 
 west of Buffalo. This placed me somewhat in competition and 
 rivalry with Mr. Frisbee, but in all my intercourse with him I ever 
 found him to be a true printer and a true gentleman, and there is 
 no one for whom I entertain a higher regard. 
 
 Please tender to him my best wishes, and say to my old Chau- 
 tauqua friends who may be with you on that occasion, that I 
 remember them all. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 MORGAN BATES. 
 
 We also received other letters of regret; among the writers 
 were Hon. Porter Sheldon, M. C., from Jamestown ; Dr. D, 
 J. Pratt, former Principal of Fredonia Academy and the 
 Assistant Secretary of the Regents of the State University; 
 Hon. E. Cowan, of Warren (Pa.) Mail; W. W. Hender- 
 son, Esq., Chairman of the Republican Co. Committee;
 
 56 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Hon. I. B. Gara, formerly editor of the Erie (Pa.) Gazette; 
 C. W. McCluer, of a prominent business firm in Chicago, 
 and in early life an apprentice in the Censor office; David 
 Gray, the talented editor of the Buffalo Cornier; Dr. A. R. 
 Avery, one of the oldest Physicians of the County, at 
 Forestville; Hon. A. D. Scott, State Senator; A. P. Durlin, 
 of Erie, formerly of Fredonia, an early newspaper editor in 
 that city; Hon. Jerome Preston, ex- Member of Assembly 
 of Chaut. Co; A. B. Fletcher, editor and publisher of the 
 Jamestown Democrat; and ethers prominent in the history of 
 the times. 
 
 At about half past seven o' clock Wednesday evening, the 
 guests began to assemble in Barmore & Ball's Hall, and a 
 pleasant company of about one hundred and fifty were soon 
 enjoy i-ng themselves amid general hand-shaking and social 
 converse. It was a happy reunion of many of the old 
 settlers of the town and county, and the advertising patrons 
 of the paper. The old settlers turned out brilliantly, and 
 remained through till the close of the proceedings with a 
 hilarity indicating that though bearing the whitened locks 
 and wrinkled brows of age, they were still young inside, and 
 retained all the warm attachments and exuberant feelings of 
 youth. Among those present whose names will be familiar 
 to our distant readers, who passed their earlier days in 
 Chautauqua, we note the following: ex Lieut. Gov. Patter- 
 son, Alvin Plumb and Austin Smith of Westfield; Walter 
 Smith of Dunkirk; Harlow Crissey of Stockton; W. W. 
 Fisher and Dr. A. P. Phillips of Casadaga; L/evi Baldwin 
 and E. I. Wilcox of Arkwright; J. A. Mixer of Forestville; 
 George W. Gage ofLaona; Jesse E. Baldwin of Sheridan; 
 Dr. H. C. Taylor and Lincoln Fay of Portland. Of this 
 town we had the pleasure of greeting, besides Mr. Frisbee, 
 in whose honor the supper was given, Dr. B. Walworth, 
 David J. Matteson, Wm. Risley, A. S. Moss, L. B. Grant, 
 A. F. Taylor, J. B. McClanathan, Dr. E. M. Pettit, and 
 others descended from pioneers who sleep amid the hills and 
 valleys they wore themselves out in clearing and preparing
 
 "CENSOR SEMT-CEN'TENNIAX. 57 
 
 Tor cultivation. Others who found themselves unable to 
 come sent regrets in letters. 
 
 It was a singular good fortune for the host that Mr. H. 
 A. Risley happened at home and consented to preside at 
 the entertainment. The graceful and appropriate manner 
 with which he conducted the exercises made the success of 
 the whole a certainty. His kindness in assisting in making 
 the arrangements as well as carrying them out, though 
 characteristic, was especially gratifying, and will not be 
 forgotten. 
 
 At about eight o'clock all were invited to take seats at 
 the tables, and after prayer by Rev. J. H. Tagg, about an hour 
 or more was devoted to satisfying the appetke for oysters, 
 cold meats, coffee, cake and ice cream. The President, Mr. 
 Risley, then said: 
 
 We are here, friends -and fellow citizens, not only to pass 
 -a social evening happily together, but to mark with proper 
 observance the close of half a century since the first publica- 
 tion of the Fredonia Censor, and to pay respect to its worthy 
 founder, yet with us in the ripeness of his years, adding 
 interest and inspiration to the hour. 
 
 The event we commemorate carries us back to an early 
 period in the history of the county, and is linked with 
 memories of old inhabitants, a few of whom survive, sharing 
 our reverent regard, but most of whom have been gathered 
 
 "Where the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep/' 
 
 The camp fires of the native dwellers in the forest were 
 still blazing when this beacon light of intelligence was 
 raised, and it was properly hailed with joyful acclamation. 
 It diffused information and knowledge among the scattered 
 settlers, encouraged their hopes, stimulated their efforts, 
 diverted their toils; and it is but just to say, it proved a 
 faithful chronicler of passing events, a judicious counselor 
 in whatever concerned the public interest and welfare; 
 and who can estimate its effect upon the settlement of the 
 county and the development of its resources, upon the 
 intelligence of the people and the character of their institu- 
 tions, upon the happy and prosperous condition, the culture 
 and civilization which we enjoy. 
 
 It would be interesting to trace the history of the struggles 
 and conflicts through which it has survived most or all its 
 cotemporaries, and attained its position of character and
 
 58 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 influence at home and abroad. We may at least bear 
 witness to the manly tone and bearing, the freedom from 
 defamation and sensational gossip, the calm temper and just 
 censorship, the discriminating praise and blame, which 
 have, with rare exceptions, characterized its columns, 
 challenging the respect alike of opponents and of friends. 
 
 And for you, Mr. Frisbee, in whose honor this festival is 
 given, I should fall short of the proper courtesies of the time 
 and place if I failed to express with emphasis, the universal 
 sentiment of those with whom you have lived for fifty years, 
 that you hold by many titles their unqualified respect. In 
 the even tenor of a life not brief or uneventful, you have 
 fittingly illustrated a character of active enterprise, patient 
 industry, prudent forecast, and sterling integrity. You have 
 been known and acknowledged always, and are now, when 
 all rivalries and animosities are forgotten, more than ever 
 esteemed, a plain hearted, straight forward, earnest, honest 
 man, without disguise, evasion or artifice; and whatever 
 may be the brightness that illumines the pathway of the 
 great, there is, and can be, no better radiance than that 
 which shines around a character like yours. 
 
 In behalf, then, of the gentlemen now filling with credit 
 and ability the place so long and honorably occupied by 
 you; in behalf of the generations represented here who have 
 profited by your example and been instructed by your 
 wisdom, I tender you this tribute of respect, cordially wish- 
 ing for you many tranquil years, and a happy close of your 
 useful, successful and honorable career. 
 
 And I propose for your approval, fellow citizens, this 
 sentiment: 
 
 Continued and deserved prosperity to the Fredonia 
 Censor. I/ong life and happiness to its honored founder, 
 HENRY C. FRISBEE. 
 
 After "Hail to the Chief" had been given by the Band, 
 Mr. Frisbee arose, greeted by a storm of applause, and 
 responded as follows: 
 
 MR. FRISBEE'S SPEECH. 
 
 Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Press, and Patrons of 
 the Censor: Since the founder of the Fredonia Censor has 
 survived the very flattering encomiums bestowed upon him, 
 you may expect something by way of response. But what 
 can I say ? Truly you will not expect a speech from one 
 who is now verging upon the three score years and ten, and 
 never made a speech in his life, and if there is any one thing
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 59 
 
 he has been desirous of escaping, it is a crisis of this kind; 
 for I know I stand before an intelligent audience, including 
 many gentlemen of the Press, and that they are often 
 disposed to exercise their vocation as remorseless critics. I 
 am aware the "chiel is amang us taking notes, and faith 
 he'll print "em." Why ! as brave a man as Gen. Grant 
 said he would rather fight half a dozen battles than make 
 one speech, and I am much of his opinion; albeit I should 
 want mine of that bloodless kind waged by you editors. 
 
 But, Mr. President, when my mind wanders back over 
 these fifty years, it instinctively calls up the names of those 
 then the pillars of the press in this state: Wm. L. Stone, 
 M. M. Noah, Mackey Croswell, Jesse Buel, Solomon South- 
 wick, Wm. Williams, James Bogert, James D. Bemis, one 
 of the best of men, Everard Peck, a man in whom was no 
 guile, Thurlow Weed, David C. Miller, Oran Follet, the 
 Salisbury s and David M. Day, and others that could be 
 named. Where are they ? ' 'Echo answers, where ?' ' to all 
 except that one Nestor of the Press, Thurlow Weed, now 
 pleasantly retired from the exacting labors of editing a daily 
 paper, but from whose pungent pen we hope ere lo'ng to 
 have the auto-biography of his active life. 
 
 But, Mr. President, my advent to this village dates four 
 years back of the fifty, when its name had just been changed 
 from Canadaway to Fredonia, and it was the day of small 
 things for newspapers. The Chautauqua Gazette, the first 
 in the county, had been started after much difficult}- only a 
 short time before. My father having died a few months 
 after settling here, the family broke up and returned east, 
 with the exception of myself, who was left without kith or 
 kin, comparatively a stranger among strangers, with only 
 the clothes I stood in, and the stern fact staring me in the 
 face that I had nothing but my own tact and energy to 
 depend upon. Having previously had a little experience in 
 type setting, I readily obtained employment in Mr. Hull's 
 printing office, and soon after made an engagement to work 
 for him three years for a yearly sum that would a trifle 
 more than board and clothe me; though by no means with 
 such clothes as are thought to be indispensable now-a-days. 
 Well, after remaining with him about two years, as it had 
 been from my boyhood a cherished desire to have a printing 
 office of my own and be an editor, this desire began to 
 increase and intensify. But a difficulty arose to my mind at 
 this time. A book had many years before been put out by 
 one Lindley Murray, which treated on such things as that
 
 "A verb must agree with its^ nominative case, in number 
 and person," ' 'Prepositions govern the objective case," etc.. 
 etc. , and I got the idea, as I was an entire stranger to the 
 contents of this book, that any one aspiring to be an editor 
 should have some acquaintance therewith;, therefore I. 
 induced my boss to take an apprentice,, and let me attend- 
 school about six months, working out of school hours to* 
 pay my board, during which time I became quite intimate 
 with Mr. Murray, and rather liked him,, albeit I thought him. 
 awful dry to begin with. 
 
 But -now another difficulty came up,, caused by my own 
 act, that I had not looked forward to,, and w^hich, shows how 
 unsuspectingly one's whole career in life may be shaped. 
 My education finished, I had intended to save up all I could 
 of my wages for the remaining six. months of my engage- 
 ment, to enable me to find some place in the West where I 
 could put Lindley Murray in practice editorially. But as 
 the apprentice, whose compensation was. less than half of 
 mine, had become sufficiently versed in the business to> 
 enable my boss to publish a small eight column paper, half 
 advertisements, and a job only about once a month, he 
 thought it would be a favorable opportunity to dispense with 
 my services, and he so informed me. I told him it would 
 be unfair to turn me off under such circumstances, but he 
 concluded to consult what he thought was his own interest, 
 and it was decided that I must leave. I then told him if he 
 took that course, I should endeavor to establish a paper in 
 opposition to him. This he deemed the height of presump- 
 tion, for one in n\y condition, and he told me I might if I 
 could. This put me on my mettle, and I determined to try 
 it. 
 
 I went a little out of the village, and obtained board at a 
 low price, of that good man, Elder Handy worked around 
 as I could get a chance remember working several days at 
 haying and harvesting for Judge Gushing, whose son, the 
 President of our village, is with us this evening, and from 
 whom we hope to hear scmething to add to our enjoyment. 
 Politics were running high then, as Bucktails and 
 Clintonians, and as newspapers of the former stamp were 
 scarce in the western part of the State, and none in this 
 County to aid them, I commenced a correspondence with 
 some of the leading politicians at the east, especially with the 
 Hon. Richard Riker, then Recorder of the city of New 
 York, (whose very name, I presume, would be familiar to 
 few here except Gov. Patterson) and finally got the promise
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 6 1 
 
 of some help if I would start what was then called a Re- 
 publican paper. It was also the case then, as now, that 
 some men wanted to go to Congress, and were anxious to 
 have the thing done. I learned there was at Buffalo the 
 remains of a printing establishment taken for a debt in Ohio, 
 that the owner would be glad to dispose of. I hired a span 
 of horses and wagon, and braving the then horribly "four 
 mile woods' ' beyond Cattaraugus Creek, reached Buffalo, 
 made a bargain with Smith H. Salisbury, the owner of the 
 apology for printing materials aforesaid, (one press now in 
 the Censor office would weigh down four loads just like that 
 whole concern, including press, types, cases and all;) obtained 
 the lease of it for three years, with the privilege of then 
 buying it for $300. Maj. John G. Camp of Buffalo, who 
 was one of the aspirants for Congress, went my security on 
 the lease, which instrument, drawn up with all the old 
 fashioned formality, I have yet. The materials were loaded 
 up, and o'n Town Meeting day in March, 1821, I came 
 trotting into Fredonia with them, feeling as important 
 undoubtedly as a Vanderbilt in a palace car; and just fifty 
 years ago to-day, (a few days before I was twenty years of 
 age, ) the Fredonia Censor was launched upon the world. 
 It was at first called New York Censor, being so near 
 Pennsylvania, and that State then supposed to be made up 
 mostly of thick-headed Dutchmen, I wanted to avoid being 
 thought located over the line. I hope my friend of the 
 Erie Gazette, now present with us, will excuse any reflec- 
 tions, for Pennsylvania had not then "struck ile." 
 
 But, gentlemen of the Press, you little know the rigid 
 economy it then required, not only to start a newspaper, but 
 to keep it agoing. To make my board come at a dollar a 
 week, I bought a second hand coverlid and straw bed and 
 lodged before the office fire, tucking them away in a little 
 closet in the day time. I had about fifty subscribers, ten or 
 a dozen of them paying in advance, but that was considered 
 as a donation (for to pay in advance for a newspaper at that 
 day was deemed the height of imprudence, ) but for the first 
 three weeks, not a paying advertisement. To add to the 
 unpleasantness of the situation, my old boss in the spirit of 
 the ' 'Turban' d Turk that can bear no rival near the throne, ' ' 
 had given out (at the instigation of his wife, who was the 
 more vigorous of the two) that should I get out of paper or 
 ink, and want to borrow, "he would not lend me a bit." 
 But to show what the whirligig of time brings about, and 
 the truth of the saying^ "let him that standeth, take heed 
 lest he fall." in just one year from that time he came to me 
 to borrow paper on which to print his last issue.
 
 6l EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 Well, before the first year closed the prospects began to 1 
 brighten. Paying advertisements, the very life blood of 
 country papers, made their appearance, subscribers and 
 friends increased, the promised aid from New York, about. 
 $150, paid the first installment on the lease, bought a little 
 stock and a few indispensable materials for the office, and at. 
 the expiration of the lease I was enabled to buy in the 
 establishment, and from that time it became not only self- 
 sustaining, bnt as profitable as a country paper could expect. 
 to be. One number,, only a month or two before I sold,, 
 contained five close columns of legal advertisements, mostly 
 mortgage and sheriff sales, and as many columns of 
 merchants' and miscellaneous advertisements,, but not in. 
 such big types and blank spaces as is common now-a-days. 
 
 Single handed, as a printer and editor,. I labored on it for 
 17 years, in Bucktail. and Clintonian times, during anti- 
 Masonic excitements, People's parties, Hard shell and Barn 
 burner democracy, hard cider and Abolitionism. But finding 
 this ceaseless application and close confinement wearing, 
 upon my health, and having an offer to sell at my own 
 price, I em-braced it. My immediate successors were Mr. E. 
 Winchester, who had formerly been an apprentice in this 
 office, and his brother Jonas Winchester,, of New York. Mr. 
 E. Winchester conducted it successfully some three years,, 
 when it passed into the hands of a Mr. Cunnington, a 
 somewhat inefficient man, and the concern was getting in a 
 rather bad way, when the present senior editor, then a 
 young, true New Englander of the old Plymouth stock, made 
 his advent among us, purchased the establishment and set 
 it again upon its successful career, and proved himself to be 
 the right man in the right place, by keeping it there, 
 increasing its size and influence, 'until it has attained its 
 fiftieth anniversary, which we are so agreeably gathered this 
 evening to celebrate. Truly is the present senior editor 
 entitled to the patriarchal mantle of the Chautauqua press. 
 
 But this is not all he has done. Exercising a wise fore- 
 thought for its future permanency, he early took one of the 
 fair daughters of Fredonia, a partner for life, and has raised 
 up a Censor junior who bids fair to give credit to the calling. 
 And, by the way, I like to see firms composed of father and 
 son. It looks like good training, good order and durability. 
 And the junior himself has made it manifest that he is not 
 unmindful of the duty of preparing for the future, and 
 certainly that he has a wonderful attachment for the very 
 name of his native village, for after having roamed over half
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 63 
 
 the United States, he has returned to Fredonia, joined 
 himself to the Fredonia Censor, and taken a partner for life 
 named Fredonia (Houghton, ) and is already blessed in the 
 line of succession, and although of the female order, he has 
 no reason to be discouraged, as I believe that long before 
 the occasion will call for it, she can claim a seat in the 
 editorial sanctum under the aegis of woman's rights. 
 
 And all those fifty years not one number of the Censor, on 
 a full sheet, has failed to make its appearance, notwith- 
 standing it has been twice burned out, once during my 
 administration, and again during that of my present worthy 
 .successor. 
 
 But what a wonderful change has come over the scene 
 since the advent of the Censor's first appearance, in the 
 manner of obtaining intelligence, that most eagerly sought 
 means of making a paper interesting. Then with only a 
 horse-back mail once a week, to while away the tedious 
 time awaiting its arrival, the frequent resort was the ' 'public 
 inn," (the Postoifice was then kept there by M. W. Abell,) 
 
 "Where village statesmen talked with looks profound-, 
 And news, much older than their ale, went round." 
 
 Now I can go to the postoffice and receive my evening 
 Buffalo Commercial, and at my own fireside, between the 
 hours of seven and eight, read the news under dates of one 
 and two o'clock of the same afternoon from London, Berlin, 
 Paris, (poor France, how are the mighty fallen, truly pride 
 goes before a fall,) and St. Petersburg. Genius and 
 enterprise have outstripped human belief. 
 
 And what paper in the land has acquired a higher 
 reputation than \.\\&New Yoik Tribune, with that Boanerges 
 of the press, HORACE GREELEY, for its founder, who, I 
 well remember, when he was a stripling boy of not very 
 prepossessing appearance, but w r hose independent air showed 
 he knew what he was about, called on me, some thirty-four 
 years ago, and ate and slept under my roof. Without a 
 classic education or the tongue of eloquence, what, except a 
 large share of good sense, and the ' 'clear grit, ' ' so forcibly 
 described by Rev. Robert Collyer, at our Normal School 
 Hall, the other evening, backed by indomitable perseverance 
 and Herculean labor never, Micawber like, "waiting for 
 something to turn up, ' ' but always turning up something, 
 has gained him the most enviable position in the editorial 
 corps has enabled him to say that he would rather be 
 remembered as the founder of the New York Tribune, than
 
 64 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 as having been President of the United States; and has 
 given his name to an embryo city of our great western 
 plains, that, for aught any one knows, may become as 
 renowned and enduring as Damascus of Syria. May his 
 life be spared to foster and witness what seems to be the 
 dear object of his heart, a World Exhibition, in our com- 
 mercial emporium, to celebrate the centennial anniversary 
 of our nation's birth. 
 
 I would like, Mr. President, to allude to a few of my 
 cotemporaries in the earlier years of the Censor. There was 
 Adolphus Fletcher, of the Jamestown Journal, deacon 
 Fletcher, we used to call him from his uniformly sedate 
 demeanor; not much s"nap in his editorials, but always 
 disposed to avoid everything that would injure the feelings 
 of others. Were all ihe fraternity governed by the same 
 characteristic there would be no Etonswill Gazette so 
 graphically described by genial Pickwick, either in this 
 country or any other. There was Harve) r W. Newcomb, of 
 Westfield, most noted for his zeal in the anti-Masonic cause 
 during that exciting period, but afterwards was engaged in 
 the more useful labors of writing Sunday School books. 
 Wm. L,. Carpenter, of Dunkirk, was held in esteem by all 
 acquainted with him. James Hull, notwithstanding the 
 difference between us that I have alluded to, and which 
 undoubtedly turned out for the best, I always regarded as a 
 good hearted and well disposed man, but not calculated to 
 give interest or success to journalism. These have all passed 
 away. 
 
 There was Morgan Bates of Jamestown, a wide awake 
 editor, who, after trying California life awhile, returned and 
 settled down in Michigan, where he has recently been 
 elected L,ieut. Governor. Frank W. Palmer, one of the 
 most esteemed and talented editors of the, Chautauqua Press, 
 has just been elected to a second term in Congress, from 
 Iowa. 
 
 I would also, Mr. President, like to recall to mind some 
 of my earliest friends and patrons among whom I have ever 
 ranked the Hon. E. T. Foote, who sent me the first and 
 largest list of subscribers, and was truly ' 'a friend in need' ' ; 
 of your own honored father, of whom I always felt it safe to ask 
 political advice; of your own good hearted father-in-law, 
 Dr. Orris Crosby, with whom I have enjoyed many a 
 pleasant hour, as a boarder in his family, during a period of 
 single blessedness. And when I think, Mr. President, that 
 many a time when your lamented wife (peace to her remains)
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 65 
 
 was a little prattling girl, I have dandled her on my knee, 
 and that two of her daughters have arrived to womanhood, 
 and are now in distant India doing a voyage round the 
 world in company with Chautauqua County's much esteemed 
 Statesman, Hon. \Vm. H. Seward, it forcibly reminds me 
 that I am truly in the sear and yellow leaf. 
 
 * ' * * # :;- * * * 
 
 And now, kind friends, thanking you for the flattering 
 evidence you have given me, that you have not been wearied 
 with my incoherent remarks, which has certainly brought 
 great relief to my mind, and asking your forgiveness for the 
 egotism therein, which my successor having been so personal 
 in his note of invitation I could not well avoid, I will make 
 way for the first and only historian of Chautauqua County, 
 Hon. E. F. Warren, hoping he may live to give us a more 
 enlarged edition. 
 
 Responding to this call, Mr. Warren said: 
 
 HON. E. F. WARREN'S REMARKS. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN I have prepared no 
 set speech for this occasion and shall not 'attempt to make 
 one. I propose to say a few things of the olden times and 
 the actors in them, and nothing more. 
 
 About a week ago, I asked the gentleman in whose honor 
 we are assembled, to lend me the oldest volume of the 
 Censor he had. He informed me that the first and second 
 volumes had been destroyed by a fire which consumed the 
 Censor office several years since. He brought me the 
 venerable , volume which is before me. Although unpre- 
 tending and comparatively diminutive in size, it is full of 
 interest to one whose recollection of events reaches beyond 
 its date, and I can assure you that its perusal has afforded 
 me the most unalloyed satisfaction. It was then the "New 
 York Censor." 
 
 On the first page, and in every number of the paper,' for 
 the entire year, the name of Col. Walter Smith, who now 
 sits before me, and who honors us by his presence, appears 
 in its advertising columns. He was then a merchant, young, 
 intelligent, enterprising and active, and evidently knew and 
 appreciated the advantages of advertising. In my bdyhood, 
 and I can remember him since 1819, I thought him a model 
 man. I have known him ever since, and have never 
 changed that opinion. In aiding to develop this then 
 wilderness, in opening roads, in affording assistance to those 
 who were struggling for a foothold and carving out new
 
 66 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 homes in the forest, in furnishing them the means of 
 subsistence and taking the scanty returns they could make, 
 in grain, black salts and ashes; and in his generous contri- 
 butions to every enterprise calculated to develop and improve 
 the country, he had no equal. He was instant in season in 
 every good work. 
 
 Among the other names found in this old record of the 
 past, are Todd & Douglass, M. D. & I. Harmon, McCluer 
 & Holbrook, as merchants; Asa Pierce was among them 
 and afterwards Postmaster and merchant at Kensington, 
 now in the town of Sheridan. Mosely W. Abell was Post- 
 master here. Houghton & Osborne advertised as partners 
 in the practice of the law, having an office here and another 
 at Mayville. The last named gentleman is still living, in 
 the enjoyment of a competency, the result of a laborious 
 professional life, and of the confidence* and esteem of his 
 fellow citizens. Daniel G. Garnsey also offered his pro- 
 fessional services through the columns of the Censor. He 
 was Surrogate and District Attorney, and twice represented 
 this district in the Congress of the United States, when it 
 comprised the counties of Erie, Niagara and Chautauqua. 
 The foundation of the well-known, successful and long 
 continued firm of Mullett & Crane was announced in these 
 columns, on the loth day of December, 1823. 
 
 Wm. A. Hart, Martin Damon, Wm. Norcott, and Shepard 
 & Buck advertised their mechanical pursuits, and were 
 located in the "Cascade Hamlet." How many are there in 
 this audience who know where or what the Cascade Hamlet 
 was ? For the information of those who never heard of it, I 
 will say, it was a long building, extending from about the 
 west end of the bridge at the foot of Main street, to near 
 the bank at the intersection of Hamlet street, filled with 
 machinery, propelled by the waters of the Canadaway. 
 How many stories high it was I cannot tell, but to me it 
 was a most imposing structure and one of the wonders of the 
 world. Gillis & Huesten advertised as tailors, Norton & 
 Howard as wool carders and cloth dressers here, and Bull 
 and Ford at L,aona. A. Fink advertised himself as the 
 manufacturer of cast steel axes, at Dunkirk, Geo. A. French 
 his merchandise at Gerry, now Sinclearville, and Budlong 
 & Babcock as merchants, and Fenn Deming as druggist at 
 Cross Roads, now Westfield. 
 
 The asperities of political strife were not then unknown. 
 This volume records the election of James Mullett Jr. to the
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL,. 67 
 
 Assembly, as the candidate of the Bucktail party, in 1823 
 and 1824. 
 
 ******** 
 
 Mr. W. then read an announcement of a military election, 
 at which Leverett Barker was chosen Colonel, Thomas G. 
 Abell, Lieut. Colonel, and Walter Smith, Major, and 
 subsequently of the appointment of Brigadier General Elijah 
 Risley Jr. to be "Major General of the 25th Division, com- 
 prising the counties of Chautauqua, Steuben and Allegany . ' ' 
 
 Mr. W. continued: 
 
 To give you some idea of the progress of events, and the 
 improvements in travel and transportation between those 
 times and the present, I read two extracts from these 
 columns, which appeared at short intervals, and which give 
 us a glimpse of the past, which we cannot fail to appreciate in 
 the light of the present. The first is an extract from the 
 New York Spectator, and the other original in this paper. 
 
 " Westetn Canal. The reader is referred to an advertise- 
 ment in this paper, announcing the departure of the canal 
 boats from Utica and Rochester. A gentleman now at the 
 west, in speaking of the inprovements in that part of the 
 State, says, 'the canal boats are more convenient than they 
 were last year, and the new boats are superior to anything 
 I expected to find. The distance from Utica to Rochester 
 is performed in two days. The captains are obliging, and 
 the table supplied with the best the country affords. The 
 stages on this western route are not surpassed by any in the 
 Union, and many persons in the south and east are enjoying 
 the advantages this western country affords. There has 
 be^n more traveling by the public stages this season than at 
 any former period. It is not uncommon to see a dozen 
 stages on the road between Albany and Utica, full of 
 passengers, either going or returning from "the West.' ' 
 
 ' 'Rapid Improvement. The line of stages now established 
 between Buffalo and Erie, Pa., has commenced running 
 three times a week, and arrangements will soon be made to 
 have the mail also carried three times instead of twice a 
 week. 
 
 "It is astonishing to witness the rapid improvements that 
 have been made along the shores of Lake Erie within a few 
 years. But two years ago, there was no such thing as a 
 stage between Buffalo and Erie, and the mail was carried 
 but once a week on horseback. Within this period, the 
 county of Chautauqua in particular, has received a large 
 and valuable accession of inhabitants of wealth and industry, 
 and the very superior fertility of its soil, its general healthi-
 
 68 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 ness and its proximity to the Grand Canal, are solid presages 
 of its future wealth and prosperity." 
 
 In this connection the following notice extracted from the 
 Buffalo Journal, shows the timidity with which its editor 
 announces the arrival in that village of an unusual number 
 of persons in one day, and to parry the imputation that he 
 might have taken lessons from Gulliver, he is careful to say 
 that some of them "were visitors to the Falls." 
 
 "On Thursday last there arrived in this village, seventy 
 persons, by stage, in the course of the afternoon and evening. 
 Many of these were emigrants for the west; others were 
 visitors to the falls, etc. The crowd cf strangers is at this 
 time much greater in our village than has been usual at so 
 early a period of the season. ' ' 
 
 And now, Mr. President and Gentlemen, I bring these 
 rambling sketches to a close. 
 
 I have attempted in this desultory manner, to present a 
 few only of the many gems which the volume contains, and 
 having occupied so much of your time and anticipating to 
 -some extent the rich things that are in store for you this 
 evening, I resume my seat after thanking you for the cordial 
 greeting which you gave me, and the interested although 
 not always silent attention with which you have listened to 
 my recitals. 
 
 Mr. Risley then read the following sentiment: 
 
 Chautauqua County with its fertile lands, its beautiful 
 and thriving villages, its prosperous, intelligent and patriotic 
 inhabitants. 
 
 And said, fortunately we have with us this evening, a 
 gentleman eminent for his virtues and public services, who 
 has filled many and high places of public trust, and always 
 adorned them, who has long been identified with the interests 
 and the people of our county, and may properly be called 
 on to respond to this sentiment. You know that I refer to 
 the Hon. George W. Patterson. 
 
 The Band played "Long, long ago," and the gentleman 
 called on arose amid cheers. 
 
 GOV. PATTERSON'S SPEECH. 
 
 Mr. Patterson said that he first saw Chautauqua County 
 in the spring of 1821, soon after the gentleman in whose 
 honor this bountiful entertainment is given commenced the
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 69 
 
 publication of the Censor. The county had been organized 
 but ten years, and a large portion of its territory was a dense 
 forest. Settlements were made upon the Erie road and upon 
 the shores of Chautauqua Lake, with a few pioneer settlers 
 in other parts of the county. The county was organized in 
 1811 with but two towns, Pomfret and Chautauqua. Hon. 
 Philo Orton was Supervisor of the former, and Matthew 
 Prendergast of the latter. At an election held three years 
 after the county was organized the whole number of votes 
 cast was but about 550. A large portion of the farmers 
 were living in log houses, while the few villages were 
 supplied with the cheapest kind of frame buildings. The 
 village of Fredonia had but about two hundred inhabitants, 
 while the village where he, Mr. P. now resides (Westfield) 
 was known only as the "X Roads." 
 
 What wonderful improvements have been made wnthin 
 these fifty years ! In 1821, there was not a post coach in 
 the United States west of Buffalo, and the mail was carried 
 through this village but once a week, on horse-back or on 
 foot. The great mail from New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 
 more and Washington, for Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville 
 and St. Louis, was lashed upon the back of a horse, while 
 the driver rode another, on which he carried the mail for the 
 small offices. 
 
 In 1822, Col. Nathan Bird of "X Roads," put on a two- 
 horse wagon, covered with tow cloth, and carried the mail 
 from Buffalo to Erie in two days, his son Ira being the 
 driver, while now the two sides of the continent are bound 
 together with bands of iron, and passengers are carried from 
 New York to San Francisco in a week, and we can now 
 read in our morning papers the occurrences in all parts of 
 Europe of the preceding day, and instead of one mail a week, 
 we get three a day and want more. 
 
 When first passing through this county, the greatest 
 curiosity to be seen was a famous blackwalnut tree that stood 
 near Walnut Creek, within the bounds of the present village 
 of Silver Creek. It was nine feet in diameter, and ran up 
 sixty feet to the first limbs. It was blown down in the 
 Spring of 1822, when about 14 feet was cut from the but, 
 dug out leaving the shell about three inches thick, an opening 
 made for a door and window, the inside furnished with a 
 circular table, shelves, &c, and a grocery was kept in it, 
 with "Cake and Beer for Sale." When the Erie canal was 
 finished in 1825, this grocery store was taken to Buffalo, 
 put on board the first canal boat that ever ran the whole 
 length of the canal, and down to New York, set up on the
 
 JO EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 Bowery as a grocery, where it remained a few years and was 
 then sent to London and put in the British Museum, as the 
 "great American curiosity.." 
 
 On my return to this county in 1822, I found the Censor 
 still alive, and under full blast, and while our friend Frisbee 
 was spreading the news of the day all abroad over the 
 county, I was trying to "raise the wind" among the farmers 
 by furnishing them with fanning-mills; and having located 
 at Ripley, I became a constant reader of the Cemor for three 
 years, by which I was made a wiser, if not a better man. 
 From the tact and ability exhibited by the editor at that 
 early day, I supposed that he must have been at least forty 
 years old, but it seems that I was entirely mistaken, for here 
 he now is with scarcely a white hair on his head, while I 
 am "as gray as a rat.,' 
 
 When I first saw Chautauqua, its now fertile fields were 
 mostly covered with the natural forest, the settlers were 
 generally poor, and it was with great difficulty they could 
 raise money enough to pay their taxes and the interest on 
 their land contracts; (very few had deeds.) Almost the 
 entire population were in debt for their land, and as late as 
 1841, when I took charge of the land office, there was a 
 debt due the Trust Company of about a million and a quarter 
 of dollars, and about ninety thousand acres of unsold land, 
 which is now all disposed of but about one thousand acres, 
 and there are more than twenty men within the hearing of 
 my voice who could pay the entire outstanding debt and 
 not feel it at the end of the year. A large portion of the 
 fertile lands of the county are under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion, and we have now more than forty thousand dairy cows, 
 and the amount received for butter and cheese will not vary 
 far from two millions annually, while the other products of 
 the soil will far exceed that amount. 
 
 Villages are dotted all over the county, and the log school 
 houses with their stick chimneys have given way to 
 comfortable frame buildings, and they in turn are yielding 
 to magnificent structures such as the one in this beautiful 
 village, built at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars, and 
 placed by the State under the management of the gentleman 
 at my left, (Dr. Armstrong) under whose care it is flourish- 
 ing beyond the most sanguine expectations of its friends. 
 
 No county in this State has a population of more 
 industrious, intelligent and patriotic people. Their industry 
 is shown by the improvements made in agriculture, manu- 
 factures and commerce, while in intelligence we need only 
 refer to the thousands of religious, literary, scientific and
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 71 
 
 political publications taken and read by our people, and 
 there is little for us to be ashamed of except some few of our 
 representatives in times gone by; but when we look back 
 and count the many thousands who went into the service of 
 the country from Chautauqua to suppress the rebellion, and 
 consider the quality as well as the number who went, we 
 have a right to speak of the patriotism of our people, and 
 when we can truly say that every dollar of the expenses was 
 promptly paid, we have a right to feel proud that we live in 
 such a favored spot. In conclusion, Gov. P. said: "I would 
 now call on your worthy Chairman, a native of your village, 
 well known to its citizens, who can speak of and for Fre- 
 donia as well as any gentleman I know." 
 
 Mr. Risley delivered the following beautiful tribute the 
 literary gem of the evening: 
 
 HON. H, A. RISLEY' s TRIBUTE* 
 
 If there is on earth one place where more than another, a 
 kind rememberance and cordial greeting would touch the 
 tender chords of my nature, it is here in my native village. 
 
 The scenes around are all familiar, and yet strange. 
 Here is the green on which my boyhood sported, but covered 
 with trees and adorned with fountains unknown to my 
 youthful days. The Arkwright hills loom up, as they did 
 then, but stripped of their forests and dotted with habita- 
 tions. I miss ancient land-marks and forms and faces that 
 I used to see. I read familiar names chiseled in marble on 
 yonder hill; and there, too, mourned and lamented friends 
 of my youth, and beloved kindred, rest. I cannot but love 
 Fredonia. The skies are brighter here, the summer verdure 
 is greener, the air more balmy, all nature seems more 
 beautiful and joyous than elsewhere that I go. Yes, Fre- 
 donia a lovely village. Its people are virtuous, intelligent, 
 prosperous and happy. Their hearts throb to manly senti- 
 ments and elevated aims as constantly as the waves of 
 yonder lake beat upon the shore. Thirty-five years, 
 momentous in the world's history, have gone by since this 
 village was my home. I often visit it in reality and oftener 
 in dreams. What future years, near or remote, may have 
 in store for us we cannot tell; but I indulge the hope that 
 by and by I may come back to this scene of rural beauty, 
 and here see gather around me the evening shades of life, 
 where I witnessed and enjoyed the brightness of its morning. 
 Though greatly changed, Fredonia is still the same in my 
 memory and affections. The Academy is indeed desolate
 
 72 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 and deserted. A more imposing edifice, that noble monu- 
 ment of your enterprise, towers up near it but not the old 
 Academy to memory dear. The companions of my youth 
 are scattered; many of them are out upon the silent sea, and 
 pensive memories come back to me unbidden; but most of 
 you are strangers, and few will care to hear recitals of the 
 past. 
 
 It is pleasant to be again in my early home. The wintry 
 blasts and shifting snows, even, are not ungrateful to me. 
 But more pleasant are my summer rambles in the hills and 
 groves, when I revisit youthful haunts and scenes* of joyful 
 pastime. Once more I am in that shaded retreat, sacred to 
 love, where now a unique cottage happily shelters early 
 friends, whose destinies are united. My steps lead down 
 the gentle hill-side to lovely Canadaway; 
 
 "I stand by the water where both of us stood; 
 There is but one shadow to darken the flood; 
 And the path leading to it, where both used to pass, 
 Now, the step of but one, takes the dew from the grass." 
 
 But I weary you with sad reflections when the occasion 
 should be one of joy, and I return to the purpose for which 
 I rose, to thank you for your generous greeting, and for 
 associating me in your sentiment and your song with ' 'days 
 ofauld lang syne;" and I say in conclusion, of Fredonia 
 and Fredonians, 
 
 "I've wandered east, I've wandered west, 
 
 I've borne a weary lot; 
 But in my wanderings, far and near, 
 Ye never were forgot. 
 
 The fount that first burst from my heart 
 
 Still travels on its way, 
 And channels deeper as it runs 
 
 The love of life's young day." 
 
 I propose a sentiment my sentiment/ if you please, for 
 your consideration: 
 
 The village of Fredonia with its schools and churches 
 its tasteful grounds and comfortable homes its peaceful 
 government thriving population intelligent and refined 
 society. 
 
 Mr. Risley, after reading this sentiment, called on Hon. 
 Addison C. Gushing, President of the village, to respond, 
 remarking that he was a son of one of the most distinguished 
 of the earliest inhabitants, a native Fredonian, who, unlike 
 good men of old we read of, is not without honor in his own 
 country.
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 73 
 
 The band played "Home Sweet Home," and Mr. Gushing 
 amid hearty cheers arose and responded.: 
 
 MR. CUSHING'S RESPONSE. 
 
 It seems proper that one should respond to the allusion 
 just made who by the kindness of his many friends occupies 
 the honorable position of President of the corporation of the 
 village of Fredonia, which has so long sustained and been 
 supported in turn and built up with and by that journal 
 whose semi-centennial growth we celebrate to-night. 
 
 It is not otherwise inappropriate that this should devolve 
 upon me to discharge in some becoming terms (if happily I 
 could find them) since the years of my life bear even date 
 with the existence of the Fredonia Censor, the place of our 
 origin and nativity the same, and where our joint course 
 has been wholly spent and is likely to run on together. 
 
 The columns of the Censor are associated with my earliest 
 recollections and knowledge of letters, which may almost 
 literally be said to have been acquired by me from its pages, 
 where those attractive rudiments of learning were displayed 
 in the largest types of those primitive days. 
 
 Fifty years ago the Censor made its debut into my father's 
 home, and from my earliest remembrance to the present 
 time it has been perused by me, and I have imbibed its 
 weekly stock of knowledge, wit and song until I may with 
 decent pride to-night assume to be a part of it, and to in- 
 corporate in myself some of the fruits of its life, which have 
 ripened at this hour. 
 
 One of the earliest forms of dignity which my memory 
 recalls, is that of the founder and first editor of this sheet, 
 who is familiarly but not irreverently named ' 'old Censor, ' ' 
 a citizen whose life has been one of labor and success in the 
 path chosen by himself, and to-night full of fruition not too 
 often realized by man. His days have been happily pro- 
 longed until the snows of three score and ten winters begin 
 to bleach his rugged head, but heaven yet lends proportionate 
 and seemly vigor to his mind and form. His ways among 
 us have become, like true religion, "ways of pleasantness, 
 and all his paths are peace. ' ' 
 
 A backward glance of my memory, almost cotemporary 
 with the life of the Censor, reveals a small hamlet, shut in by 
 the forest. Here nestled about five hundred people. The 
 shadows of the all embracing forest covered their feeble 
 settlement at morn, and mysteriously and noiselessly crept
 
 74 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 over the narrow fields and simple gardens, as the daylight 
 faded. 
 
 The strokes of the stalwart settlers hewing out these 
 homes of ours, echoed from hill and dale. Under their 
 sturdy blows, day by day these fields and meadows, now 
 spreading everywhere, grew, and rough, plenty and 
 abundant hospitality, with brotherly love, flowed like a 
 river. 
 
 The noble structures, and the beautiful and attractive 
 homes which now surround us, had no existence then, and 
 the long-cherished old Academy, whose first teacher is here, 
 which for so many years shed forth its glorious light of 
 knowledge, had not yet come to bless us. No church bell 
 broke the Sabbath stillness. No church then stood where 
 so many now rear their steeples heavenward, and even the 
 old stone school house, .called the "jail," did not exist. 
 There was, indeed, a school house on the common, of 
 primitive architecture, and another which then stood on the 
 site of the dilapidated brick structure, on what is called the 
 Houghton common, where the birch was judiciously but 
 soundly administered in the ancient and wholesome way. 
 Many names and forms, long buried, come before me. 
 They are the forms of the noble men and women, who, 
 with some yet among us, built up the total of this we see, 
 and made us what we are, and gave us our lot to be ' 'cast 
 in pleasant places. ' ' 
 
 ********** 
 
 But time and discretion bid me pause. The corporation 
 of Fredonia for which I have ventured to speak, and out of 
 whose abundant prosperity, gratitude and pride I might 
 speak much more at length and not exaggerate, will ever 
 cherish the memory and nourish the virtues of the men upon 
 whose labor our prosperity and homes have been reared. 
 They bore the brunt, we reap the fruit of their exposure 
 and toils. We shall not forget them. Let us at least be 
 reverentially kind and generous to those who yet remain 
 with us. They have bequeathed to us every facility for 
 comfort, education and knowledge. 
 
 In this work the Censor has been as a handmaid, recorder 
 and epitomizer of their acts. It is working with us to-day 
 for the common good. L,et its next half century be as able 
 and unselfish as the days of the old Censor, as true to 
 morals, patriotic duty and public virtue, and our beautiful 
 village, expanding over other hills and wider fields, may, 
 at its centennary jubilee, adorn the fortunate and worthy
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAI,. 75 
 
 successor of its founder with a civic wreath of praise which 
 
 shall honor them both, and be nobler than a golden medal 
 
 or trophy of some bloody fight. 
 
 The Chairman then gave the following sentiment: 
 
 The neighboring villages prosperous, enterprising, law 
 
 abiding, and abounding in privileges and blessings they do 
 
 honor to the State and nation. 
 
 Hon. J. T. Williams, of Dunkirk, being called for, 
 
 responded with the following interesting sketches of early 
 
 experience: 
 
 REMINISCENCES BY DR. J. T. WILLIAMS. 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen: 
 
 The lateness of the hour will, of itself, prevent any 
 extended remarks by me in response to the sentiment just 
 offered. As a life-long resident of Dunkirk, a village 
 immediately adjoining Fredonia, I may be permitted to say 
 a word. I well remember the years white the Censor was 
 under the control of the gentleman in whose honor this 
 banquet is given, when Dunkirk was struggling for an 
 existence, and your village was basking in the sunshine of 
 prosperity; when our mails, one a day, were carried on a 
 horse from this office; when all the pleasures of boyhood in 
 attending circuses, caravans and other shows were alone to 
 be found in Fredonia; and the great day, the day of all 
 others, to which we boys looked forward, was the annual 
 general training. Well do I remember the first one I ever 
 attended, when with but eleven cents to start with, I spent 
 the entire day with my youthful comrades in eating and 
 drinking, and marching up and down the hill. It has been a 
 day never to be forgotten by me. It was in the old Academy 
 here that a majority of my school days were spent, when 
 Mr. Palmer, and after him Mr. Redington, had charge; and 
 here I may be permitted to say, without detracting from the 
 merits of the very popular teachers now at the head of your 
 Normal School, that no abler gentleman ever occupied the 
 position of Principal of the dear old institution than Mr. 
 Redington. It was in those old days, when such a thing as a 
 daily paper was entirely unknown in our retired village, 
 that I used to count the days and sometimes the hours for 
 the coming of the Censor, and that my eyes first beheld a 
 genuine, true, live editor in the person of Mr. Frisbee. I 
 used to wonder how it was possible for him to possess and 
 retain all the knowledge contained in the Censor from week 
 to week. It was of Mr. Frisbee, as a bookseller, that I
 
 76 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 purchased my first school-books, and it is fresh in my mind 
 how, upc*i returning home one day from school, I stated to- 
 my parents that ' 'if all the people in Fredonia were as kind 
 and gentlemanly as Mr. Frisbee, it would be a delightful 
 place to live in. ' ' 
 
 And now, Mr. President, in closing, I cannot but express- 
 the wish that the double track of iron so closely binding our 
 two villages may but add to the growth and prosperity of 
 both, and I do not trespass upon the imagination in looking 
 forward to the day when we shall be united under our 
 corporate government, having an importance not surpassed 
 by any village in Western New York. 
 
 After the remarks of Dr. Williams, Mr, Risley said: "It 
 gives me great pleasure to welcome here to-night two- 
 eminent gentlemen from our sister village of Westfi eld, the' 
 only village we acknowledge as a rival in rural beauty and 
 attraction, the Hon. Austin Smith and Hon. Alvin Plumb, 
 and we feel the more pleasure and pride in their presence, 
 as we may claim them as early residents of Fredonia. Mr. 
 Plumb was connected with mercantile affairs here at a period 
 anterior to the founding of the Censot . Mr. Smith was the 
 first preceptor of the Fredonia Academy, loved by his pupils, 
 and honored for his scholarly attainments and many excel- 
 lences of character. Both of these gentlemen have served 
 the people with credit in the State Legislature, and enjoy in 
 an eminent degree the public confidence and regard. I 
 know you will be glad to hear from them." 
 
 Mr. Smith gave a pleasant account qf his experience as 
 first teacher in the Academy, and made a pleasing tribute 
 to the character of the people here, justly ascribing the 
 success of the schools and newspapers to the liberal support 
 always accorded by the community. Mr. Plumb responded 
 handsomely, and closed by reciting one of Mr. Frisbee's 
 early editorial squibs. 
 
 At this point Gov. Patterson stood -up and addressed the 
 Chair about as follows: 
 
 "Mr. President Our friend Frisbee is getting old, and 
 ought to have something to help him around. There's five 
 dollars; now let the other friends send up what they want
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 77 
 
 to, and you take it and get him a nice gold headed cane. ' ' 
 The result of this suggestion was a collection sufficient lo 
 furnish the veteran editor with a nice cane, properly in- 
 scribed, and with an engraving of the old Ramage press, like 
 that on which the Censor was commenced. Mr. McKinstry 
 was subsequently the recipient of a similarly inscribed cane, 
 as a memorial of the gathering. 
 
 Mr. Risley next read the following sentiment, remarking 
 that it was one for very grave consideration : 
 
 The Judiciary the safeguard of our liberties, the bulwark 
 of our rights, the guardian of the press, and of all w r e most 
 cherish in social life. 
 
 He proceeded to say: Many of you will remember that 
 nearly a quarter of a century ago there came to this village 
 a modest, discreet, intelligent young man, then recently 
 admitted to the bar, and established himself in the practice 
 of the law. It required courage and self-reliance, without 
 the patronage of powerful friends, to attempt to build a 
 professional business and reputation in competition with 
 many able lawyers, some of them distinguished. But by 
 his own unaided efforts, by industry, perseverance, courtesy 
 and honorable bearing, he made his way to a commanding 
 position among the leaders of the bar, and that unassuming 
 young man of twenty years ago, now in the prime of a 
 vigorous and honorable manhood, sh eds luster on a high 
 judicial station, and upholds with even hand the scales of 
 public justice. I know you will rejoice to hear him, the 
 Honorable George Barker, respond to the sentiment just 
 submitted. 
 
 Judge Barker said: 
 
 HON. GEO. BARKER'S RESPONSE. 
 
 Upon this social occasion, so pleasant and entertaining, 
 and which recalls to our minds personal reminiscences in the 
 lives and times of many of those present as well as those 
 departed, it seems demure and grave to introduce sentiments 
 pertaining to the Judiciary. 
 
 But while we are indulging in these festivities, and 
 delighting our hearts in celebrating this event so thought- 
 fully commemorated, it is perhaps prudent to bring before 
 our eyes the blind goddess, that we may be inspired this 
 evening to be fair to the present as well as just to the past,
 
 7# EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 aud deal out even handed justice to the honored guest and 
 to our generous host. 
 
 We, their friends, summoned as triers this evening, give 
 in our verdict that founder and successor justly merit all the 
 success they have attained in business, and the great honor 
 they have attained as citizens, that each is the equal of the 
 other, and that ' 'Mac' ' pay the costs. 
 
 Mr. President, the press is in a degree allied to the 
 Judiciary. While the Judiciary is a separate and independent 
 department of government, the press is an institution of the 
 country. Without both existing independent and intelligent,, 
 there can be no secure liberty. Since the art of printing 
 was invented, the system of jurisprudence which prevails in 
 this country has made its greatest progress, and attained its 
 highest perfection. Its advancement and the general spread 
 of its principles and learning is vastly due to this invaluable 
 art. It brings forward to these times for the study and use 
 of the lawyer all that is preserved and is useful of the laws 
 and commentaries of the British, Roman, Saxon, Danish 
 and Norman customs, of which the common law is a mixture, 
 and for this reason more complete in its axioms and 
 principles, and wise and liberal in procedure. The press is, 
 in return, indebted to the judiciary for the power it now 
 possesses, and the stability it enjoys as an institution in all 
 free communities. 
 
 The American system of jurisprudence is not novel. It is 
 inherited from our ancestors, who as citizens and subjects, 
 not as kings and rulers, originated, debated and promulgated 
 to the world through the unsilenced voice of the press, the 
 political ideas on which the foundations of the Republic are 
 laid. This judicature is capable of abandoning error, 
 adapted to reforms, and well answers the wants of a law 
 abiding, trading, and commercial people, and ever strength- 
 ening and replenishing the bench frcm the ranks of an 
 honored and learned profession. The Press, judging it as a 
 whole, and by its best examples, is like the people it 
 educates: ready, rapid, enterprising, independent and 
 successful, and to such a degree are the virtues and happiness 
 of the people influenced by its teachings, that all good men 
 implore editors and authors to a faithful and patriotic dis- 
 charge of duty. 
 
 Mr. Frisbee had by this time recovered his equanimity
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAI,. 7'9 
 
 sufficiently to return thanks for the testimonial so unexpect- 
 edly proposed for him. He made his acknowledgement with 
 feeling and in well chosen words. 
 
 ' 'The pioneer members of the bar of Chautauqua County" 
 was the next sentiment. Hon. O. Stiles was called on and 
 responded in a happy manner as follows: 
 
 HON. ORSON STILES RESPONDS. 
 
 Mr. President: I am quite sure you have made a mistake 
 in calling upon me to respond to this sentiment. I will not 
 refuse, however, for fear my cherished friend, Mr. McKinstry, 
 would conclude that I was not in sympathy with this 
 occasion, and did not appreciate his hospitality. But the 
 error in the selection consists in this, that the sentiment 
 alludes to men who are committed to a profession for which 
 I have no taste, and from which I improved the first 
 favorable opportunity to effect a divorce. This occurred at 
 my election to the clerkship of this County, and it was most 
 thoroughly done. 
 
 I have no hesitation in saying that \vhen I first became 
 acquainted with the profession here, no county of its popula- 
 tion had a stronger representation at the bar, with all that 
 variety of gifts and attainments which makes a bar complete. 
 I remember, sir, in gratitude, with what cheerfulness I was 
 adopted into their circle, and made one of their number. It 
 was on motion of that venerable man, Judge Hazeltine, 
 approved by Judge Mullett, that my name was allowed to be 
 subscribed to the roll, and that I was invited to a seat in the 
 circle of those learned and dignified men. Then unshaved, 
 and too young to shave, I was attracted to them by those 
 acts of warm welcome, and as by further intercourse I became 
 better acquainted with their capacities and their worth, my 
 first pleasant impressions grew and hardened into the most 
 positive admiration and respect. 
 
 ******* * 
 
 On my return from my first attendance upon a court at 
 Mayville, I was introduced to Mr. Sevvard at Westfield. 
 He treated me with great consideration, placed his warm 
 hand- upon me and welcomed me into a profession which he 
 himself adorned and dignified and beautified, and by way of 
 encouragement gave me the foreclosure of a mortgage from 
 the Land Office, and it was the first paper to which I had 
 the satisfaction of seeing my name appended, "Orson Stiles,
 
 80 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 att'y at law," and this was published in the Censor. Mr. 
 Seward was warm-hearted enough to do it, and sagacious 
 enough to know it was well to do it, knowing as he did that 
 boys will become men; and for a quarter of a century he 
 furnished me my political gospel, and it is unnecessary for 
 me to say to you, Mr. President, that I drank it in like warm 
 milk it was good. 
 
 ****** 
 
 And now, sir, it hardly becomes me to call these men by 
 name, and to speak particularly and distinctively of the 
 qualities which gave them their position and character. 
 Many of them still live. There were Hazeltine,. Marvin, 
 Brown, Lewis, Smith, Houghton, Mulletr, Tucker, Williams 
 and Burn ell, all good men, committed to all good enterprises, 
 and were identified with all those acts of Christian benevo- 
 lence and love which seek to alleviate human suffering and 
 to elevate mankind. They knew, and appropriated the 
 intelligence into practical living, that integrity must constitute 
 the big muscle in any round, well-formed and symmetrical 
 character, and it is enough to say of them, sir, that they 
 were all true men, engaged in a generous profession which 
 sympathizes with all the quarrels of all the world, and that 
 they have given to Chautauqua county the highest character 
 for legal strength and worth. That this is true is evidenced 
 by the fact that under our new judiciary system so many of 
 our lawyers have been called to the bench of the Supreme 
 Court, there to exercise the highest attribute of a freeman, 
 the attribute of justice; and, Mr. President, so well have 
 they filled these places that the impression remains still in 
 the district that Chautauqua county must fill up the vacant 
 places on the bench, and it is not immodest in me to say 
 that she is willing to do it, and can do it well. 
 
 [Mr. Stiles referred to some of his early contributions to 
 the Censor, reciting them in a humorous way, and con- 
 cluded :] 
 
 My heart goes back to them now in throbs of the purest 
 affection, and I stand here to-night to say that the Cense* 
 has been a triumphant success, and has survived half a 
 century because it refused to publish uncorrected my 
 "obituary" and my "Eternity," and because it has been 
 persistently plain and truthful, that in its uniform course, 
 dealing with simple and unadorned facts, and presenting 
 them in language unincumbered by rhythm or rhetoric, it
 
 CENSOR SEMi-CENTEisrNiAi,. 8i 
 
 has gained the highest position, and from that position it 
 sheds back the light of its triumph and its glory upon the 
 whitening heads of its editors. They will soon go to their 
 rest, and you and I will go with them hand in hand to the 
 grave, and the resurrection and the judgment, for it is true 
 
 "We're growing old we're growing old ! 
 How the thought will rise 
 When a glance is backward cast 
 On some long-remembered spot that lies 
 In the silence of tne past." 
 
 Mr. Risley then read the following sentiment: 
 The Free Press "the Tyrant's foe, the People's friend," 
 And said it gave him pleasure, as he knew it would all 
 present, to call for a response to this sentiment upon one of 
 your citizens distinguished for his literary culture, learning 
 and ability, Oscar \V. Johnson, Esq. Mr. Johnson said: 
 
 REMARKS OF O. W. JOHNSON", ESQ. 
 
 Mr. President The sentiment to which I am called upon 
 to respond "A Free Press The Tyrant's foe, the People's 
 friend" is the words which stood out in iron letters upon 
 the front of the press on which the Censor was originally 
 printed. This press was the first great light set up in the 
 wilderness of Chautauqua. But three such lights then 
 burned in the wide expanse between it and the Pacific. 
 The wilderness has gone; all but one of the original sub- 
 scribers of the Censor sleep in the grave; the log cabins 
 where it was read exist only in the memory of the aged, 
 who hallow them as childhood's home; yet the paper 
 continues to give its light, and will record the struggles, the 
 joys and sorrows of generations to come, as it has of those 
 which have passed away. No more sublime and com- 
 prehensive expression of the mission of the Press was ever 
 made than in those iron letters. It is the Press, more than 
 all other human agencies, that has in the last half century, 
 changed the slow and measured tread with which humanity 
 was moving forward, into a joyous quick-step. It belongs 
 to the world, for in all nations, in all languages, it spreads 
 and gives endurance to human thought. Its diffusion of 
 light makes it possible that the time may come when all 
 the children of men may have liberty, and a fair share of 
 the joys, hopes and opportunities of life. It is the medium 
 by which the dead speak to us it embodies the voice of all 
 the buried generations, and by it the living hope for 
 influence upon the future, and for immortality. It binds 
 the ages together in a holy sympathy, and to the last, man
 
 82 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 will carry the picture of the Paradise in which the first man was 
 placed. In the end it will embody the hopes, the struggles, 
 the triumphs, the green and the ripened fruits of humanity. 
 The human voice can reach but few; it dies out upon the 
 air; but the press makes a thought that touches the great 
 heart of humanity, the common inheritance of all genera- 
 tions. Twenty centuries ago the voice of John the Baptist 
 was heard in the wilderness of Judea, and to-day, in three 
 hundred languages, the Press carries his utterances to the 
 souls of men. While the Press has great power, it has 
 proportionate responsibilities; but when it is left free, truth 
 will, from its inherent power, ultimately triumph over error. 
 Grappling with the events that make the life of the age, 
 burning with all of its aspirations, its passions and its 
 impulses, infusing them daily into millions of souls, there is 
 110 measure of its power. The lightnings bring its material; 
 each night it has the world's history of the day, and the iron 
 horse, outspeeding the tempest, carries it to the homes of 
 men. The time is coming when from all the diverse points 
 that restless man has wandered, he can send his daily 
 greetings back to those who sit around the cradle of the 
 race. The Press is mightier than thrones. No despot dares 
 allow it to be free. All the temples and ships and homes of 
 the earth are not worth as much as the truth, the wisdom, 
 the words of inspiration and of cheer, the lessons of heroism 
 and self-sacrifice which the press has embalmed and made 
 the common treasure of humanity. Perhaps at the close 
 of another half century, when most of us have gone to the 
 grave, the centennial ol the Censor may be celebrated by 
 our successors, and we may fondly hope that with all the 
 active agencies for human progress, human life will then 
 have a beauty, a fullness and a glory of which we can only 
 dream. 
 
 The early pioneers of our village. They endured priva- 
 tions and encountered perils to lay the foundation of our 
 prosperit)^. 
 
 RESPONSE BY MR. C. F. MATTESON. 
 
 Mr. President: This assemblage, and the event which 
 we are here to commemorate, has brought to my recollection 
 the appearance which our village presented at or about the 
 time of the first publication of the Censor, and the actors 
 then upon the stage. 
 
 Just before sunset on the gih day of July, 1822, I first saw
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 83 
 
 Fredonia, as I emerged from the dense forest which then 
 lined both sides of the main road from near the present 
 residence of Judge Barker, eastward. 
 
 About the first thing that attracted attention was the men 
 of the village that day assembled raising the frame of the old 
 Academy, an institution within the walls of which you, sir, 
 and I and others present acquired the best part of our 
 education, in company with many others who have gone 
 from its halls, to do their part in the battle of life and who 
 have attained high rank in the pulpit, at the bar, on the 
 judge's bench, in medical science, in politics, as farmers, 
 mechanics and in all the various avocations of life. Fre- 
 douia in 1821-2 consisted of about 80 or 90 dwelling houses 
 and about 400 inhabitants, with scarcely a grey head among 
 them. It had no church edifices, but had 3 taverns, 3 
 stores, i grist mill, i saw mill, i cloth dressing shop, 3 
 distilleries, 2 tanneries, 3 blacksmith shops, i harness shop, 
 2 school houses, i ashery and some other small places of 
 business. The first sign that one saw as he came in from 
 the east was that of A. Fink, blacksmith, near where the 
 house of L. B. Grant now stands; he, however, moved to 
 Dunkirk in a year or two. Where Dr. Walworth now 
 lives, Arnold Russell had his home, and from the little 
 building which Dr. Walworth calls his office, Mrs. Russell 
 sold gingerbread or Training cake at 3 creases for a cent. 
 
 I well remember the first time I entered the office, a timid, 
 bashful boy, but having great curiosity. I had seen news- 
 papers, but had no definite idea how they were made, and 
 I went to see. I had formed a most exalted estimate of the 
 industry, skill and wisdom of a man who could make a 
 newspaper. It was publication day and I found the printer' s 
 devil with an ink ball in each hand, applying the ink to the 
 form, and the editor and proprietor hard at work at the 
 press. I saw the cases, type, ink, paper, press and all the 
 material of the office. I saw the printer and the rapidity 
 with which he multiplied the copies. I wondered at his 
 skill and knowledge, and as I looked "the more the wonder 
 grew, that one small head could carry all he knew." 
 He saw my curiosity, explained many things I did 
 not before understand, gave me a newspaper, and with 
 an eye to business told me to take it home and ask my father 
 to subscribe for it. With paper in hand I ran home delight- 
 ed, told my story, and was sent back with the subscription 
 price, and from that time to this, I have read the Censor
 
 $4 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES.. 
 
 almost every week. I have many volumes of it bound and 
 carefully preserved, and although it is many years since it 
 passed into other hands than those of its founder, I still read 
 it with pleasure, and occasionally recognize in its columns, 
 the familiar signature of H. C. F. It needs not, however,, 
 these letters to point out the author, for the terse style,, 
 caustic wit, pungent repartee and easy language are 
 characteristics not easily mistaken. 
 
 Mr. McKinstry, after referring to the founding of the 
 Erie Gazette by Judge Sterrett r (still living at Brie, ) a year 
 in advance of Mr. Frisbee's publication of the Censor, pro 
 posed the toast: 
 
 The Erie Gazette the pioneer paper of western Pennsyl- 
 vania. Long may it prosper and reflect honor on its pure- 
 and upright founder. 
 
 Mr. Gliddon, the present proprietor, was called upon, and 
 spoke in reply. He highly complimented the character of 
 the proceedings. 
 
 Next was the sentiment: 
 
 The Advertiser & Union a worthy co-laborer with the 
 Censor in furnishing a medium of public communication as 
 a party organ true to its principles, and firm, able and 
 earnest in maintaining them. 
 
 Mr. C. E. Benton responded briefly, testifying truly to the 
 pleasant nature of his intercourse with the printers of the 
 village and county. 
 
 Our institution of learning unsurpassed in excellence in 
 any section of the State or country. 
 
 Rev. J. W. Armstrong, President of the Normal School, 
 was called upon and Jesponded as follows: 
 
 Mr. President, L,adies and Gentlemen: I am sorry that I 
 was not born in Fredonia. Being almost a stranger in the 
 place, I have no recollections of olden times for this interesting 
 occasion. The schools of Fredonia, and of Chautauqua 
 county, have had their history, but I cannot tell it. Others 
 must recount their origin and progress, their discourage- 
 ments and hopes, their trials and triumphs. Like the village 
 and county, they have grown and prospered under the 
 affection and energy of the people and the press, until they 
 are covered with grateful and tender recollections. With
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 85 
 
 the Fredonia schools of to-day, I am better acquainted. I 
 cannot compare them with the past; but, if they are in any 
 degree superior, it is not because we of to-day are more wise 
 or competent than those who preceded us; but it is simply 
 because the world turns round. The revolution is slow, 
 but the sun of intelligence rises higher. Fifty years ago, it 
 gilded only a few of the highest peaks; now, many of the 
 lower ones are flooded with its light. True, the towering 
 mountains of the East still cast their shadows upon us, they 
 are not baleful, however, but rather like "The shadows of a 
 great rock in a weary land." The Western hills turn their 
 illuminated sides toward us, and light up our horizon with 
 many a brilliant and warming ray. Yes, the "world turns 
 round" and Fredonia turns with it. 'Tis your unparalleled 
 liberality and your enlightened and high toned Press which 
 have made your schools what they are. Since I have been 
 amongst you, the Fredonia Normal School has received the 
 hearty sympathy and co-operation of both the people and 
 the Press. I thank the Fredonia people; I thank the Fre- 
 donia Press. 
 
 The Press of Fredonia has gained its influence by truth, 
 and honor, and integrity. These are the bases of enduring 
 influence. When these fail, confidence goes with them. 
 
 May the Fredonia Press never be degraded by advocating 
 corruption and lies; but, rather may it continue to develop 
 those qualities which will make its career in the future even 
 more glorious than that of the past. 
 
 Next sentiment: 
 
 Agriculture the foundation interest in political economy, 
 and the primary- source of wealth. 
 
 The following is a portion of Mr. A. S. Moss' response. 
 
 A glance at the whitened locks around this festive board, 
 tells me there are those here who have a distinct recollection 
 of fifty years ago, when a strictly agricultural paper \\;> 
 scarcely known. More was. known about the press of 
 agriculture, than the "agricultural press." To hew down 
 the forests, to grow food for the hungry, was of greater 
 importance than to tell "What I know of Farming." 
 
 To-day the best men of the best talent are proud to be 
 among the advocates and exponents of Agricultural science 
 and progress. Though Liebeg and Lawes may stand 
 pre-eminent, there are scores and hundreds in the old world
 
 6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES 
 
 and new, with giant intellects and modern lore, giving all' 
 their energies to the development of agriculture. And well 
 they may. Where, we ask, in all the range of science is 
 there so vast a field, one so unexplored, one that so deeply 
 interests the teeming millions ? 
 
 Perhaps I ought not detain you any longer, and yet I 
 desire to allude briefly to the changes the introduction of 
 machinery has made in the house and on the farm. 
 
 That song of ' 'stitch, stitch, ' ' which used so much to 
 excite our sympathies, is about annihilated with one of Singer ' & 
 best. The old scythe and sickle are supplanted by the 
 mower and reaper, the old flail, sometimes called "poverty 
 maul," by the thresher; but time will fail us, and we will 
 only say, great are the changes in all departments of industry 
 within the memory of many of you here to-night, and none 
 have greater reason to be proud of their improvements than 
 the Agriculturists. We give credit to the press for a good 
 share of these honors. It gives wings to science and 
 knowledge: and when once on the wing they encircle the 
 world. 
 
 I give as a sentiment: "The Press and Plow Twin 
 Sisters and Handmaids to progress and civilization." 
 
 Hon. Li. Morris presented the following, to which he 
 would have responded had time permitted: 
 
 Our Host, Willard McKinstry, Esq. the successor of a 
 pioneer, the pioneer of his own success; may he long live to 
 pioneer his own prospective successor, and grace the 
 centennial anniversary of the Fredonia Censor to be given 
 in his honor, as he now gives this, in prodigal bounty, in 
 honor of its respected founder. 
 
 Our late civil war. While we honor living heroes, mourn 
 those fallen in battle, and rejoice in our success, let us 
 cultivate charity, respect and kindness for our Southern 
 brethren, and when they come among us, hail them as 
 friends sadly alienated for a time, but now happily re- 
 united. 
 
 Responded to by Rev. J. N. Fradenburgh and Rev. W. 
 L. Hyde, Chaplain of the ii2th N. Y. V. The speeches of 
 both were eloquent. 
 
 It was about one o'clock a. m. when Mr. Risley an- 
 nounced the closing sentiment as follows:
 
 UENSOR SEMI-CENTEXXIAX. $7 
 
 *'We have now, fellow citizens, reached the hour for timely 
 separation. We have enjoyed an evening of genial fellow- 
 ship long to be remembered. We shall part I trust with 
 tender regrets, mutual good wishes and, each for the other, 
 an affectionate farewell; and we shall cherish in grateful 
 remembrance the generous and deserving friend to whom 
 we are indebted for this handsome entertainments 
 
 "The character and life of a good and virtuous citizen, 
 whether his calling be humble or exalted, is properly held 
 a public benefaction; and when that character and life are 
 long conspiciously before the people in arduous and success- 
 ful labor for their weal and advancement, standing the 
 severe ordeal unquestioned and without reproach, we may 
 well cherish them as a precious boon, worthy of all honor 
 and reward. And such a character and life you will with 
 one accord ascribe to the present proprietor of the Censoi . 
 
 "I therefore submit for your cordial approval, this con- 
 cluding sentiment: 
 
 Willard McKinstry an upright citizen a capable editor, 
 a candid, judicious, reliable man." 
 
 Mr. McKinstry in reply to this sentiment spoke sub- 
 stantially as follows: 
 
 It is highly gratifying to me to see so manv of the former 
 and present patrons of the Censor present. About twenty- 
 nine years ago I came to this village among strangers, in- 
 experienced in the work of conducting a newspaper. It was 
 the height of my ambition that the Censor should maintain 
 the high standing which the Nestor of the press of this 
 county in whose honor we are assembled, had given it. 
 How far I have come short of my early aspirations it is now 
 useless to regret. Suffice to say that in my early struggles 
 the people here have been forbearing and kind, and all the 
 success which I have attained is due to their and your 
 kindness and substantial support. I came among you with 
 many misgivings, often overburdened with fear and 
 perplexities incident to the discharge of the responsible 
 duties I had ventured to assume. You have borne with 
 my inexperience, overlooked my many short comings, and 
 are now witnesses as to my faithfulness to the trust which
 
 88 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 I with so much hesitancy assumed. I feel, however, that 
 you have complimented me more highly than I deserve. 
 
 A new generation has grown up since I pitched my tent 
 in this pleasant village. It is gratifying to me to see the 
 same kindly feelings toward the publisher of the paper that 
 your fathers and predecessors manifested. I feel oppressed 
 with a sense of gratitude for the continued faithfulness of 
 numerous friends during the nearly tricennial period of my 
 connection with the Censor. 
 
 None but those who have had experience can realize the 
 struggles necessary to commence the publication of a paper 
 in an undeveloped section of the country. The fact that 
 more than sixty papers have been started in the county 
 since its organization, of which only nine now remain, will 
 illustrate the enterprise, perseverance and sacrifice necessary 
 to a continued newspaper publication during a half century. 
 The reminiscences of blasted hopes and the wrecks of 
 meagre fortunes may be recalled in every portion of our county. 
 
 The Censor is the oldest survivor, and Mr. Frisbee the 
 oldest editor now living, of all those who have aspired to 
 the editorial chair in this county. A kind Providence has 
 preserved him to survive nearly all his early patrons. As 
 he looks over ihis assembly of present subscribers and sees 
 how few of those who welcomed the first paper to their 
 homes and firesides, and him to his life of toil and struggle 
 to found and perpetuate the paper of a half century 
 existence, he and we are forcibly reminded that time is 
 short, and that the great proof reader will soon revise our 
 work. 
 
 Even during the time I have spent here great changes 
 have been witnessed. Only Mr. L. B. Qrant, of all those 
 who were in mercantile business at that time, remains in 
 trade now. Many of the firm supporters of my efforts to 
 publish the Censor have passed away. Memory gratefully 
 recalls the friendships of the Risley brothers, Gen. Barker, 
 A. H. Walker, John L,amson and others, who encouraged 
 me when desponding, endorsed my otherwise unavailable 
 paper for discount, gave me wholesome counsels and succored 
 me when in trial and adversity. When I forget their kind- 
 ness, "may my right hand forget its cunning." 
 
 My friends, the comparatively few who remain of the 
 efficient supporters of the Censor when I came to your midst, 
 and the still smaller number living whose patronage enabled
 
 CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 
 
 8 9 
 
 my worthy predecessor to found and perpetuate it, reminds 
 us that we, too, are mortal. That 
 
 "Time is fleeting, 
 And our hearts, though strong and brave. 
 
 Still, like muffled drums are beating 
 Funeral marches to the grave." 
 
 In the discharge of my duties as publisher of the Censor, 
 I have often required your forbearance. I could not hope 
 to please all and have not tried to do so. I have endeavored 
 to do my duty, and to prove faithful to my trust. How far 
 I have succeeded I leave to the indulgent readers and 
 patrons of the paper to judge. 
 
 I feel flattered by the complimentary manner in which 
 my name has been presented. I only wish that it was more 
 deserved. But the past is already on record, and the im- 
 pression once given by the type cannot be recalled. 
 
 With a heart overflowing with gratitude to you for your 
 kindness, to me and mine, during the years I have spent 
 among you, and with a heartfelt desire for your future 
 prosperity and happiness, I bid you all good-night. 
 
 Representation of the printing press on which the Censor was 
 first printed when founded in 1821. It is like the press that Ben- 
 jamin Franklin worked with in London.
 
 90 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE OLD SETTLERS' REUNION. 
 
 [There was a large gathering of the old settlers of Chautauqua 
 County at Fredonia, June u, 1873, about seventy years after the 
 birth of the first white child in the county. The following is the 
 editorial succeeding their gathering, taken from the Censor of June 
 18, 1873:] 
 
 No more delightful gathering has ever been had in the 
 county than that held on Wednesday last, to do honor to 
 the early settlers who remain to participate in the festivities 
 and reminiscences of the occasion. With four nonogen- 
 arians, 46 of those who had passed four score years and 
 about one hundred and fifty who had passed three score 
 years and ten, some of whom came to this county and 
 erected their rude log cabins in the wilderness, when it 
 comprised a single township of Genesee county, there was a 
 venerable appearance to the assembly never witnessed in 
 any other kind of gathering. It was a reunion of those who 
 in youthful vigor 'had felled the trees, some to build their 
 houses, cleared a small patch of ground for cultivation, and 
 raised their families amid the wilds of the forest. Here 
 they met to renew their old acquaintances, some of whom 
 had not seen each other for many long years. The jet 
 black hair of youth had passed away, and the white hair of 
 old age now crowned their venerable heads. Here they 
 partook of the good cheer which returned their youth, and 
 they were again lads and lassies together. True they had 
 not the elastic step which they had when they got together 
 more than half a century ago to assist each other in erecting 
 their log houses; but in their feelings of jo3^fulness in the 
 reunion they held all the vivacity of their earlier days, when 
 the gallant youth politely took the blushing maiden behind 
 him on horse-back to attend the social festival, perhaps 
 miles away through the woods, at the house of some 
 hospitable neighbor. Most joyfully they recounted the
 
 OLD SETTLERS' REUNION. 91 
 
 scenes of olden times, their hardships and sufferings, but 
 withal the gay times they had when with health and hope 
 they laid the foundations of our peerless county, where more 
 than 60,000 people now enjoy the blessings conferred 
 through their early labors and privations. 
 
 Well might the present generation do honor to these 
 venerable men, and regard no effort too great to show the 
 debt of gratitude due to them. 
 
 Prominent among the guests was the venerable Judge 
 Foote, who came from New Haven to this reunion. He has 
 truly said that he resides at New Haven but lives in Chau- 
 tauqua Co. No man living has been so laborious in pre- 
 serving the record of early times, as the files of the CENSOR 
 will show, and the examination of the documents he has 
 preserved showed that he had been very assiduous in his 
 labors. The older the county becomes the more valuable 
 are his records. A debt of gratitude is due him which the 
 present and coming generations will not be able to repay. 
 May he be present at many more reunions. 
 
 "Those who make history seldom write it." How true 
 this is of the old settlers of our county. Their deeds will 
 go down to posterity, but who shall record them, so that 
 those who come after will know to whom they are so greatly 
 indebted for the foundation of our prosperity ? Happily 
 these reunions will enable the press to preserve this valuable 
 history to future generations. 
 
 May there be many more such reunions, and may Heaven 
 bless the good old pioneers with health and strength to meet 
 again the friends of their youth on such joyful occasions for 
 years to come. 
 
 ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY ADDISON C. GUSHING, PRESIDENT 
 OF THE VILLAGE. 
 
 If out of the abundance of the heart the tongue always 
 found utterance, I might hope that my lips on this occasion 
 would be touched with a little of that inspiration, flowing 
 from earnest and profound feeling, which sometimes lends 
 eloquence to those who, like myself, possess neither utterance 
 nor the power of speech. 
 
 Friends of to-day, friends of former years, friends whose
 
 $2 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 venerable heads are now white with the snows of more than 
 seventy winters, friends who have clasped hands in genial, 
 companionship with our fathers, we bid you welcome here 
 to-day. If but few of those who started with you on the 
 march of life are left to extend their hearty greeting, we, 
 their descendants, w r ho stand in their places, receive you to 
 our homes and our hearts with grateful recognition, as the 
 representatives of a generation whose hardy virtues, courage 
 and endurance laid the foundation of all the advantages, all 
 the prosperity we now enjoy. It is the seed sown by your 
 hands in the solitudes of the forest amid hardships, privation 
 and toil, which we reap in the glorious harvest of a high 
 cultivation, surrounded by its comforts, its luxuries, and its 
 refinements. 
 
 And an honorable welcome, a welcome tender, kind and 
 true as their own brave, loving hearts, to the noble women, 
 who in those early years, stood side by side with husbands, 
 brothers and sons, sharing their hardships and ligntening 
 their toils with pleasant smiles and encouraging words 
 women as heroic and self-sacrificing as those whom poets 
 and historians have made immortal, although their virtues 
 are written only in the hearts of those who love them. 
 
 Some of you present to-day have wit jessed the wonder- 
 ful transformation which, within the alloted time of man's 
 existence, has changed the whole face of the county. You 
 retain vivid recollections of the early homes of the pioneers, 
 and of the struggles and privations they endured. You also 
 have pleasant remembrances of happy days and the warm 
 friendship existing between neighbors, though living miles 
 apart, and making visits through the woods with ox-teams 
 over roads marked only by blazed trees softer memories of 
 quilting frolics where they ate pumpkin pie and doughnuts, 
 and "courted their sweethearts pretty girls just fifty years 
 ago." But many of your number have not been spared to 
 note the march of improvement which has caused the 
 "wilderness and the solitary place to rejoice and blossom as 
 the rose;" has tracked the once pathless forest with roads on 
 which the iron horse obliterates distance; has raised beautiful 
 temples to the living God, where once stood the humble 
 meeting-house of the early worshipers; has built costly 
 edifices of learning, the elegance of the structures only 
 inferior to the grandeur of the objects to which they are 
 dedicated; has peopled the county with a busy and 
 prosperous population; has dotted it with thriving towns 
 and villages, the seats of wealth with all its attendant 
 luxuries and elegance; has broken the silence of the
 
 OLD SETTLERS' REUNION. 93 
 
 solitudes with the ceaseless roar of machinery, the blast of 
 the furnace, and the hundred inventions of science and art. 
 
 Yes, my friends, we are proud of our old Chautauqua. Her 
 hills and plains are dear to us. We love her clear lakes and 
 sparkling rivulets. Generous nature has indeed been 
 bountiful, and we feel that our "lines have fallen in 
 pleasant places." We modestly exult in the high character 
 for intelligence and enterprise borne by her people. Nor in 
 looking over the long list of names made prominent in our 
 country 's history, need we blush for the place held there by 
 Chautauqua county. Amid that array, in positions of high 
 trust and responsibility, stand honorably conspicuous many 
 of her citizens. Of offices of highest dignity and honor 
 bestowed by our State, she holds a full and worthy share. 
 Soms of her sons have been called to fill high and exalted 
 positions in the councils and conduct of national affairs. 
 She claims as hers the venerated names of some, who, having 
 dropped the harness of earthly toil, now rest from their 
 labors and sleep in honored and honorable repose. 
 
 We are assembled to-day in commemoration of the 
 merits and memories of these and such as these, the early 
 founders cf our county, to whose firm courage, perseverance 
 and energy we owe, under God, all the blessings with which 
 we are so richly endowed. To our departed 
 
 pioneer heroes we render not worship, but the affectionate 
 remembrance and profound veneration which their merits 
 and our deep obligations demand. To the veteran band, 
 whom it is our privilege still to retain in our midst, we can 
 only say, that the tribute of applause and grateful respect 
 which we tender to them and to their departed companions 
 in the perils and hardships of pioneer life, flows straight 
 from earnest hearts, and is the utterance of honest lips. 
 
 The establishment of an annual festival, which shall 
 call friends together in hospitable and pleasant reunion, we 
 conceive to be a happy idea, and a laudable attempt to keep 
 bright the links of social intercourse between those who 
 once may have been close companions, or old neighbors, but 
 are now sundered by the changes of time and circumstance. 
 Each passing year, we trust, shall again bring us together, 
 at the period of the Old Settlers' Annual Festival, and 
 tighten the bands of good fellowship and unity. Like the 
 patriarchs of old, we will spread our yearly "feast of fat 
 things," and, with old friends and neighbors, drink "the 
 wine of gladness. ' '
 
 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE OLD SETTLER'S LETTER. 
 
 [Written for their gathering in Fredonia, June n. 1873, by Miss 
 Helen Morton, a compositor in the Censor office, and a daughter of 
 an old settler.] 
 
 I've wandered through Chautauqua, Jim, I've been where stood 
 
 ths tres, 
 
 That in the days of long ago, oft sheltered you and me; 
 But few were left to greet me, Jim, and few on earth remain 
 Yes, fewer than the grand old trees- once covering hill and 
 
 plain 
 Are the dear forms we learned to love here on Chautauqua' s 
 
 soil, 
 
 Whose sympathies alike were ours in pleasure, grief, and toil. 
 Chautauqua's just as lovely, Jim, ah, lovelier too, I ween, 
 Than when We first pronounced it fair, fairer than we had 
 
 seen. 
 
 And what a change ! 'tis greater far, than we can comprehend; 
 Beyond the pictures of t >-day that fancy used to lend, 
 When we sat down to think and talk in our new settler's home, 
 Of what this country might be, Jim, in the long years to come. 
 For we were pioneers then, just from the old Bay State; 
 We left the old folks watching us beside the old farm gate, 
 But bye and bye, they too, set out, the long, slow march to take, 
 And "came out west to die," they said, "just for the children's 
 
 sake." 
 We pitched our tents here side by side, .o'erlooking Erie's 
 
 breast, 
 And thought to spend our days here, Jim, and go no farther 
 
 west; 
 And Heaven was kind and prospered us; we had our ups and 
 
 downs, 
 And fortune's share of smiles for us was interspersed with 
 
 frowns. 
 
 We did not have our coffers then filled yearly to the brim, 
 Somehow we didn't need so much as folks do nowdays, Jim, 
 For people did not live so fast in good old-fashioned days, . 
 And for their money didn't have so many thousand ways. 
 Our young folks little know, to-day, what toil or hardship 
 
 means
 
 OLX> SETTLERS 1 REUNION. 95 
 
 Compared with we old settlers, Jim; we've been behind the 
 
 scenes. 
 
 We struggled on when times were hard, and yearly, as a rule, 
 Contrived to spare some time and means to get the boys in 
 
 school; 
 
 For often we lamented that in old New England, Jim, 
 Our chances for book-learning there, alas ! were rather slim. 
 The old Academy still stands, where we our children sent. 
 And where upon commencement day, we country patroiis went. 
 Well, when our boys were grown-up men, the spirit of unrest 
 They caught, as we before them did, and settled in the west, 
 And so in time we followed on, our farewells loth to take, 
 And once more we were pioneers, "just for the children's sake." 
 Since then we've had a war, you know rebellion dark and 
 
 deep, 
 
 For four long years the contest was, which made a nation weep, 
 It slew an army of brave boys, and with them yours and mine 
 Laid early in the sacrifice their lives on freedom's shrine. 
 Some breathed their last on battle fields no friend or kindred 
 
 nigh, 
 And some were maimed forever, Jim, and some brought home 
 
 to die. 
 
 Others in army hospitals were dying sure but slow. 
 While some in rebel prison pens were starved to death, you 
 
 know. 
 Ah ! well ! we could not know that God our prayers would 
 
 answer thus, 
 
 That slavery in its fearful death would come so near to us. 
 Our flag ? new glory gilds the stars upon a field of blue, 
 The stripes baptized in martyrs' blood, wear deeper crimson 
 
 hue. 
 
 And we rejoice in our old age that we have lived to see 
 Columbia's banner o'er a land from dread oppression free. 
 But to return: my con. ing here the time how opportune ! 
 The gathering of Old Settlers of Chautauqua, here in June ! 
 Fredonia ! lovely, charming town, the pioneers' just pride 
 Her every home, and heart, and hand, and purse were opened 
 
 wide 
 
 To give the settlers welcome, Jim, in every place and way, 
 To make the old foltcs young again, just for a night and day. 
 On ample tables long and broad, a sumptuous feast was spread, 
 And with the modern dainties there, were loaves cf "mother's 
 
 bread." 
 The food was served on old-time wares with handles quaint and 
 
 lid,
 
 6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 To make the place look home-like, Jim, as mother's kitchen 
 
 did. 
 
 And if these relics gave us power the old times to recall, 
 Much more did ancient ornaments displayed in Union Hall. 
 In vases of the olden time were flowers our country maids 
 On summer evenings long ago twined in their curls and braids. 
 Old fashioned blossoms small, but sweet, were gathered with 
 
 the rest. 
 
 Like those worn in the button-holes of our old-fashioned vest. 
 With these, have you forgotten, Jim, how grand we were, and 
 
 gay, 
 
 To have a shilling all our own on General Training day ? 
 Or, with our sweethearts pretty girls, we wandered 'neath the 
 
 stars, 
 And parted slowly at the stile, or "kissed 'em through the 
 
 bars?" 
 
 And when beneath the old. home roof we wed our bonny bride, 
 We didn't sail for Europe, Jim, we took a horse back ride. 
 It's done my old eyes good to see, as well as heart to hear, 
 The smiles of joy that greeted me, the words of hearty cheer. 
 Then, too, at eve those dear old hymns and melodies were 
 
 sung 
 
 The very words we sang ourselves, when you and I were young. 
 There was a time, I'd blush to weep, so womanish ! and weak ! 
 But something, something from my eye came stealing down 
 
 my cheek; 
 Ah ! 'twas a tear-drop, not just one, there came a shower of 
 
 tears, 
 
 And mirrored in the liquid gems I saw the long gone years; 
 A hundred recollections, Jim, seemed forming into line, 
 A hundred strange emotions felt, I cannot well define; 
 I thought ot all the hopes and joys of youth's glad morning 
 
 brief, 
 
 Their memory filled my spirit with a kind of nameless grief; 
 I thought of those we hope to meet in that "sweet bye and bye," 
 Where we shall never weary be, and ne'er grow old and die. 
 It can't be very distant now, my senses fail me, Jim, 
 I scarce can find familiar texts or read my favorite hymn; 
 I love to think life's blessings.o'er, not far between nor few, 
 And one is, Jim, with all the change I've found no change in 
 
 you. 
 We've entered on life's winter and when dawns immortal 
 
 spring, 
 We'll join the glad reunion of the children of the King.
 
 TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM H. SEWARTX 97 
 
 TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
 
 Hon. Orson Stiles at the Old Settler's Gathering gave the 
 following worthy tribute to his friend Mr. Seward, who was 
 elected Governor of this State while a resident of this county 
 in 1838 : 
 
 I wish to say a single word of Willard H. Seward and his 
 connection with this county. He came into it in '36 and 
 when it was, in point of material prosperit)', in its infancy, 
 or at least in its early childhood, and just at that time when 
 it required just such a man with just such a head and just 
 such a heart to open to the county its great future and to 
 make that future great. Any man with his great gifts will 
 give character to the people with whom he associates and 
 that too in ordinary times. But coming here as he did 
 when there was an exceedingly strong feeling of unrest and 
 disquiet resulting in absolute violence amongst the settlers 
 upon the Holland purchase it gave him unusual opportunities 
 to exercise those qualities of character which he possessed 
 in, I think, a higher degree than any man who ever resided 
 in our county. You all know how readily he reduced the 
 troubled waters of public feeling to a dead calm and with 
 feelings of gratitude the people responded to his efforts to 
 substitute equity for law, and to assure settlers that their 
 rights should be fully protected and their homes preserved; 
 and many a family of Chautauqua county has been made 
 happy and wealthy by this timely interference with the 
 rough statutes by Mr. Seward. It was the first assertion of 
 his higher law sentiments, and to this assertion the people 
 all responded amen. 
 
 And then his ideas upon the subject of internal improve- 
 ments and general education and his great ability in present- 
 ing them to the public mind at once gave him position with 
 the people of the whole state and placed him where he could 
 put into actual practice his theories upon this subject. And 
 there is no doubt that Chautauqua county is occupying her 
 prominent position to-day amongst the sisterhood of counties 
 because of his ideas and their practial illustrations. The
 
 98 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 railroads which to-day cross our county in every direction, 
 whistling upon every hill-top and screaming in every valley 
 date back to .this influence, and that state munificence 
 which completed the N. Y. & E. road begat the spirit which 
 constructed these. 
 
 And although he came into active life through all the 
 schools, and although he enjoyed thereafter all possible 
 opportunities for cultivation, never would he smother an 
 idea in a flourish of rhetoric for a rounded sentence, but 
 plain truth in plain language, that was his logic, that was 
 the secret of his success. He knew too well that ' 'while 
 wit may please and buffoonry may excite ridicule and 
 laughter, it is the plain and simple gospel alone that will 
 shake the citadel of the heart." I admit he was guilty of 
 the weakness of ambition, and who is not ? and yet at that 
 point in his life when the political sign seemed to indicate 
 him as the coming president he showed himself entirely 
 equal to the great disappointment, and in a series of political 
 speeches which few men under the circumstances would 
 make, and none could make, he vindicated his own claims 
 to the gratitude of his country and the principles of the 
 party which was born of his loins. I speak of this as the 
 evidence of his greatness, for how many of the great men 
 have fallen here. His successful rival appreciated the value 
 of his services and signified his appreciation by appointing 
 him to the most important position in his cabinet. How the 
 duties of that place were discharged you all know well and 
 all the governments of the world know it well. 
 
 I have no doubt that Mr. Seward at the time of his death 
 was the best informed man living. I assent that this is 
 claiming very much for him, and yet the reader of his 
 travels round the world will be surprised to find his perfect 
 knowledge of all the people and all the governments under 
 the sun, and indeed many of them could learn of him their 
 past history, their present condition and their probable 
 future. We may look upon his like again, but we cannot 
 do it to-day; discharging every duty of life faithfully and 
 well and making for himself a name which cannot die he 
 has gone up to enjoy the Christian's rewards and the 
 Christian's rest for I adopt the utterance of one of village 
 pulpits the ' 'Christian is Christlike, the Christian is a man.
 
 MEMORIAL OF HANSON A. RISLEY. 99 
 
 MEMORIAL OF HANSON A. RISLEY. 
 
 [Died, in West Newton, Mass., Aug. 23, 1893, Hanson A. Risley, 
 a native of Fredonia, in his 8oth year. The following memorial 
 tribute is from the Censor of Sept. 6, 1893:] 
 
 The news of the death of Hon. Hanson A. Risley cast a 
 gloom over our village where he was born, and was held in 
 the highest esteem during his long and useful life, the early 
 r art of which was spent in our midst. He was greatly 
 attached to his native village, and in his later years hoped 
 to spend his old age among these scenes of his boyhood and 
 youth. 
 
 Mr. Risley was of noble pioneer stock. His grandfather, 
 Elijah Risley, senior, came to Fredonia, then Canadaway, 
 in 1807, when the whole county was a township of Genesee 
 county, and the County seat was at Batavia. He was a 
 soldier of the revolutionary war, and a pensioner till the 
 close of his life. Gen. Elijah Risley junior, the father, 
 came here when about twenty years of age, and commenced 
 in mercantile business in 1808, perhaps the earliest 
 merchant in the county. He was sheriff three years, from 
 1824 to 1827, and in 1848 was elected Representative in 
 Congress, and was also Major General of the State Militia. 
 In the early history of the N. Y. & Erie Railroad Gen. 
 Risley was a director. He died Jan. 10, 1870, aged 83 
 years. 
 
 Hanson A. was the second of a family of six children and 
 survived them all except the youngest. They \vere: 
 Florilla, who became the wife of Chauncey Tucker, Hanson 
 A., Sophronia, wife of C. F. Matteson, Laurens G., Delia, 
 wife of Hon. T. P. Grosvenor, and Minerva, widow of 
 Frank Gushing, Esq. His death removes the last of the 
 sons in this once leading family of our county. 
 
 Hanson A. Risley was in the highest type a perfect gentle 
 man. His polite and genial manners, scholarly attainments,
 
 TOO EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 honorable bearing and kindness of heart, won the highest 
 esteem of all with whom he became associated. 
 
 He was born June 16, 1814; was educated in the Fredonia 
 Academy and Hamilton College. He studied law in the 
 office of Judge Mullett, and while in that office married Miss 
 Harriet, daughter of Dr. Orris Crosby, in June, 1835. The 
 young couple went to board at Parson Smith's. The Parson 
 came from Auburn and while there had married Wm. H, 
 Seward to Miss Miller. When Gov. S. came from Auburn 
 to Westfield to take charge of the L,and office, he stopped to 
 visit his old friend Parson Smith, and there formed Mr. 
 Risley's acquaintance, and began a friendship which lasted 
 through life. Mr. R. shortly after commenced the practice 
 of law in the village of Dunkirk, and was appointed Master 
 in Chancery. 
 
 Miss Crosby, the young bride who shared with him the 
 struggles and triumphs of his early manhood, and was the 
 beloved companion of his maturer years, was a woman of 
 remarkable talent and lovely character. She died in Wash- 
 ington, Sept. 28, 1868. 
 
 He was prominently engaged in the Erie Railroad 
 enterprise from its beginning, and when the road was opened 
 through to Dunkirk in May, 1852, he had charge of the 
 ceremonies and entertained Daniel Webster and other 
 distinguished guests on that occasion. It was a great day 
 for Dunkirk. Prominent among- the visitors were Presi- 
 dent Fillmore and many of his Cabinet, 4 Benj. Loder, Presi- 
 dent 01 the Road, Wm. H. Seward, Thurlow Weed, Stephen 
 A. Douglas and other prominent men from all parts of the 
 country. Mr. Risley was also the first Secretary and 
 Treasurer of the Lake Shore Railroad when it was establish- 
 ed through Dunkirk. 
 
 In 1848, when his father was nominated to Congress, 
 after several ballots, the ten Cattaraugus delegates 
 were voting steadily for a candidate from that county 
 and the ten Chautauqua delegates were as firm supporters 
 of the candidate from this county. Finally the dele- 
 gates from the Western district of Cattaraugus agreed
 
 MEMORIAL OF HANSON A. RISLEY. IOI 
 
 to unite with Chautanqua and nominate Hanson A. Risle>'. 
 Mr. T. L. Higgins, one of the Cattaraugus delegates, was 
 designated to make the proposition, assuring Mr. R. that 
 there was no doubt of his nomination and election if he 
 would take it. He promplly rejected the proposition, say- 
 ing that he was a delegate in behalf of his father, and no in- 
 ducement could be presented for him to change. As a result 
 the father was nominated and elected. The dutiful son 
 went to Washington with his father and gave him important 
 assistance in the discharge of his duties, his father being in 
 poor health at the time. While there, on motion of Mr. 
 Seward, Mr. Risley was admitted to practice in the U. S. 
 Supreme Court. 
 
 In 1855 ne was nominated for County Clerk and such was 
 his popularity that he was elected, having by several 
 hundred the highest number of votes on the ticket. Only 
 one other candidate on the same ticket had a majority of 
 the votes. 
 
 In 1 860 he was elected Clerk of the Assembly at Albany 
 and held the office one term. 
 
 In 1 86 1 he was active in war work, and went to Wash- 
 ington with Capt. Wm. O. Stevens, whom he introduced to 
 Mr. Seward and Secretary Cameron, and was instrumental 
 in getting the Dunkirk companies into the Excelsior Brigade. 
 
 In 1862 he was appointed U. S. Consul to Jamaica, an 
 unsolicited honor. Later in that year he was called to 
 Washington by Gov. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, and 
 made Special Agent of the Treasury, a very important and 
 confidental position, which brought him into daily and close 
 association with Mr. Lincoln, from whom he received many 
 cards and notes asking him to come at once to the White 
 house for consultation. He was an invited guest of Mr. 
 Seward to the consultation held at Hampton Roads, between 
 Lincoln, Seward and Grant, with the Confederate com- 
 missioners, Alex. H. Stevens, Hunter and Campbell. They 
 sailed down the Potomac and the Chesapeake," and up the 
 James to where the memorable consultation was held.
 
 102 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 During this interesting period of the country's history, 
 Mr. R. formed many pleasant associations with the leading 
 men of the times Chase, Fessenden, Boutwell, Fenton r 
 Grant, Porter, Andrew, Colfax, and many others, including 
 his early friend Wm. P. Mellen. 
 
 Though not officially associated with his early friend Gov, 
 S'eward, their warm friendship seemed to grow with the 
 closer association in their years of anxiety concerning the 
 affairs of the nation during the war. The terrible affliction 
 which the nation suffered in the assassination of Mr. Lincoln 
 and the mutilation and suffering which befel Secretary 
 Seward, by the hand of a would-be assassin, seemed to bind 
 them still closer together. Though ill, Mr. R. was among 
 the first to fly to the side of the wounded secretary, the night 
 of the assasination. Mr. Seward was doubly stricken by 
 the death of his wife and only daughter, and Mr. Risley's 
 house became to the bereaved Statesman a second home, 
 where affection and kindly sympathy did all that could be 
 done to heal his wounds and assuage the grief of his sad 
 afflictions. 
 
 The death of Mr. Risley's father and his wife, shortly 
 after the sad events attending the assassination of the Presi- 
 dent, made the long friendship between him and Mr. Seward 
 still closer." The sympathy of such a friend in such a time 
 of trial was most welcome. L,ater on, Mr. Seward's life 
 seemed to depend on a change ol scenes, and absence from 
 a place where he had experienced so much sorrow. An 
 extended route of foreign travel was planned, and for his 
 companions on his long journey around the world he urgent- 
 ly requested the daughters of Mr. Risley, who was highly 
 gratified to have them go as a solace to such a kind friend. 
 As a result of these long years of close friendship, the elder 
 daughter assumed the name of Olive Risley Seward. She 
 was his faithful friend, took the place of his lost daughter, 
 and during the visit to foreign lands kept the record of the 
 journey which was subsequently published with the revision 
 of Mr. Seward as his trip around the world. 
 
 Mr. Risley married at Colorado Springs for his second
 
 MEMORIAL OF HANSON A, RISLEY. ID^ 
 
 wife Miss Elizabeth Rogers, of Massachusetts, an excellent 
 lady, who greatly aided him during his infirmities of 
 declining years. 
 
 Mr. Risiey went to Colorado in 1875 with Gen. Wm. J. 
 Palmer. He was the active editor of the Colorado Springs 
 Gazette for some time, and during recent years his name has 
 appeared at the head of the paper as manager. In 1878 he 
 was appointed Solicitor of the Denver and Rio Grande Rail- 
 road, and with all the changes in the company still con- 
 tinued his connection for some years. 
 
 The Colorado Springs Gazette thus accurately portrays 
 our deceased friend's character: 
 
 "The keynote of Mr. Risley's character was easy to find. 
 His nature was so open, so frank, his motives so transparent, 
 that no one who talked with him for half an hour could fail 
 to understand his character. He was inflexibly firm in 
 questions of right and wrong, very positive in his convic- 
 tions, but his prevailing characteristic was kindliness, and 
 the first word that came to everyone's lips in speaking of 
 him was 'lovable.' There was something about him that 
 drew affection irresistibly. His stores of knowledge were 
 great, his conversational powers were remarkable, his 
 manners were charming; but beneath and through all this 
 there was evident a warmth of feeling, a sympathy with all 
 that was good and pure and true, which led those who 
 knew him to do more than merely admire or respect him; 
 they loved him. 
 
 "He had lived here in Colorado Springs for nearly twenty 
 years, and everybody knew him. His loss will be felt by 
 the whole community. With especial force it falls upon us 
 who have worked with him, and known him intimately by 
 daily contact. We have lost a fatherly friend, a wise 
 adviser and guide; and the loss cannot be replaced." 
 
 Thus passed away one of the most talented and esteemed 
 gentlemen of the many who have gone from our village and 
 achieved distinction in wider fields. 
 
 In youth and in manhood as well as in the decline of life
 
 104 EDITORIAL, MISCELLANIES. 
 
 he had the respect and esteem of all who knew him. His 
 talent as a speaker and writer was early developed, and even 
 in his Academic days he won many laurels in his contri- 
 butions to the literature of the times. His Fourth of July 
 orations and addresses on various occasions were notable for 
 their lofty thought and fervent patriotism. His address 
 here on Memorial Day, May 30, 1869, was a beautiful 
 literary gem. His letters to the Censor, in which were 
 often woven interesting reminiscences of his early home and 
 friends of long ago, will be remembered with much pleasure 
 by our readers. 
 
 He leaves a widow and two daughters, Miss Olive Risley 
 Seward of Washington and Mrs. Harriet Rodman of Ded- 
 ham, Mass. They were all with him at the time of his 
 death in West Newton, Mass., at the home of Mrs. Risley's 
 brother, Aug. 23, 1893. 
 
 It is sad to realize that we shall not meet our long time 
 friend again upon the shores of time, nor receive more of 
 his ever kindly and interesting letters. He cannot come to 
 us, but we shall all go to him. 
 
 At the funeral in Forest Hill cemetery, where he was laid 
 beside his first wife, the following old friends acted as 
 honorary and active bearers: 
 
 From Fredonia Hon. Geo. Barker, Hon. L,. Morris, W. 
 McKinstry, O. W. Johnson, Hon. H. C. Lake, Col. D. S. 
 Forbes, Col. T. L. Higgins, Elias Forbes, George H. White, 
 Alexander Morian, P. H. Stevens and L^ouis McKinstry. 
 
 From Dunkirk Hon. J. T. Williams, Hon. F. S. Edwards, 
 Walter C. Smith, Geo. P. Isham, and Maj. C. K. Abell. 
 
 Mr. Wm. H. Seward of Auburn would have been present 
 at the funeral, but lately met with an accident in which he 
 twisted his knee badly. He sent the following telegram; 
 
 AUBURN, N. Y., Aug. 23, 1893. 
 
 Miss Olive Risley Seward: Pray accept our sincere sympathy. 
 Your father's death removes another of my father's most true and 
 faithful friends. I regret that lameness prevents my attending the 
 funeral. 
 
 WM. H. SEWARD.
 
 MEMORIAL OF HAXSOX A. RISLEY. 105 
 
 LETTER FROM OLIVE RISLEY SEWARD. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., Oct. n, 1893. 
 
 Dear Mr. McKinstry: I have looked for a long and quiet hour 
 in which to answer your most kind letter, and to tell you again and 
 again how thoroughly I appreciate your noble and gentle tribute to 
 my dear father. There is no one left in the world who knew and 
 appreciated him so well as you, and he loved you dearly. It seems 
 to me, as I read your notice of him over and over again, that it 
 could not have been better. The facts are all simply stated and tell 
 their own story. The praise is not fulsome, but that of a true, just 
 friend, who knew of whom he spake. It would be hard in any 
 poor words of ours to say just how beautiful his character was, and 
 his noble life now shows plainly to me a constant, daily preparation 
 for the Heavenly country toward which we are all hastening, and 
 where we may hope to meet all our loved ones again. 
 
 I shall sometimes wish to write to you, my father's dear old friend, 
 and I shall always look upon it as one of the greatest pleasures left 
 in life to see and talk with you. With love to your children, and 
 renewed, heartfelt thanks, believe me, sincerely yours, 
 
 OLIVE RISLEY SEWARD,
 
 106 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE MODERN MARTYR AGE. 
 
 [From editorial in the CENSOR, published some thirty years 
 ago.] 
 
 People are inclined to look back through eighteen 
 centuries to find the period of the martyrs, and to trace along 
 the lapse of time for centuries past, in the dark ages, to a 
 time when death and suffering accompanied the earnest 
 witness of the truth. But we need not go back so far to 
 find indomitable heroes, who endured persecution and even 
 death, as witnesses for a principle which was conscientiously 
 believed to be true, and which succeeding generations will 
 recognize as the spirit of martyrdom. There have ever been 
 choice spirits, from the days of the prophets, favored of 
 Heaven with clearer preceptions of the Divinity within, who 
 were ready to make sacrifices to sustain a principle which 
 leads to the establishment of justice and the amelioration of 
 the condition of their fellow men. 
 
 Liberty of conscience in religious worship has called forth 
 its many thousands of victims who offered themselves in 
 sacrifice to secure this for themselves and their descendants. 
 In one sense they were martyrs, for others must necessarily 
 participate in the blessings flowing from their sacrifices. 
 
 But the highest order of martyrdom is .the sacrifice that is 
 made for others, with no expectation of reward except the 
 consciousness of benefits conferred. The hired soldiery, who 
 go into battle simply because they are paid for it, with no 
 patriotic impulses to inspire them and no moral principle at 
 the foundation of their sacrifice, are no more martyrs than 
 those who lose their lives by accident on the railroad or 
 steamboat. It is the sacrifice of wealth, ease and the usual 
 sources of enjoyment by self denial, for the benefit of others, 
 that constitutes the spirit of martyrdom. It was this that 
 made the name of LaFayette and Kosciusko and others so 
 dear to the American heart. It was the sacrifice for the
 
 THE MODERN MARTYR AGE. 107 
 
 benefit of others which made them martyrs. Our National 
 history has on record a glorious roll of martyrs, who pledged 
 "their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor" to secure 
 the blessings of liberty to themselves and to succeeding 
 generations blessings which flow from the best government 
 in the world through their devotion to a principle which 
 triumphed by their bloody sacrifices. History will award to 
 them a crown which the conquerors of nations for annexa- 
 tion or mere political power can never wear. 
 
 But of all the martyrs of this century, none may wear a 
 brighter crown than those who made such great sacrifices 
 for the benefit of a helpless and oppressed people who for 
 two hundred years had worn the shackles of slavery. When 
 such men as Gerrit Smith and Wendell Phillips, cradled in 
 affluence and surrounded with all the comforts which wealth 
 can give, devoted their great talents, time and wealth in 
 behalf of the downtrodden and oppressed such men as 
 Garrison, L,undy, John Brown, the noblest martyr of the 
 century and scores of others, who gave themselves to the 
 cause of a people who were helpless in themselves, and 
 struck hard blows for those who could make them no return 
 but their gratitude such men will wear the martyr's crown, 
 and the brightest pages of history will herald their praise 
 and richest breathings of poetry will perpetuate their renown. 
 
 Some fifty years ago Miss Harriet Martineau visited this 
 country and was received with joyous welcome by statesmen 
 and scholars. She had by her powerful pen labored to 
 ameliorate the condition cf the poor and oppressed of her 
 own land. She saw here in all its deformity the effects of 
 the institution of slavery in brutalizing the moral sentiment 
 of the North, where apologists and defenders were found. 
 She returned home and years after wrote a book entitled 
 "The Martyr Age." Such men as Channing, Phillips, 
 Gerritt Smith, Lovejoy, Liggett, and scores of others were 
 eulogized by her powerful pen. They have all gone to their 
 graves, and the last, Wendell Phillips, the youngest and 
 most gifted and eloquent of them all, has just departed.
 
 IO8 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Some of them lived to see the shackles broken, but most of 
 them died without the sight. They have left, a rich legacy 
 of liberty to the oppressed and their memories will be blessed 
 through succeeding ages. They have h'eard the welcome 
 plaudit, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of 
 these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." They 
 occupied the highest plane of philanthropy vouchsafed to 
 man since the days of the early martyrs. Their actions were 
 in accord with the teachings of inspiration and they have 
 gone to their reward. In the cycles of the ages their souls 
 will be marching on, and the oppressed of all nations will 
 honor their memories. 
 
 DULL, CARES. 
 
 [Sung by Mrs. A. C. Russell, and elderly lady of Dunkirk, at 
 the Old Settlers' Reunion.] 
 
 Why should we at our lot complain, 
 
 Or grieve at our distress ? 
 Some think if they could riches gain, 
 
 They'd gain true happiness. 
 But alas ! how vain is all their gain, 
 
 This life is made of clay. 
 But since we're here with friends so dear, 
 
 We'll drive all cares away. 
 
 At life's decline old age comes on, 
 
 And we are young no more; ' , 
 Let's not repine at what we've done 
 
 Or grieve that youth is o'er. 
 But cheerfully as formerly, 
 
 Innocently with glee 
 While we are here with friends so dear, 
 
 We'll drive all cares away.
 
 THE OLD TIME SCHOOL. IOQ 
 
 THE OLD TIME SCHOOL. 
 
 [The following describes the school where the writer received 
 his rudimental education in his native place. He attended this 
 school from about 1820 to 1832, when his apprenticeship to the 
 printing business commenced.] 
 
 The Springfield (Mass.) Union publishes a letter from 
 Mr. W. McKinstry concerning the "The Old Red School 
 House on Chicopee Street, ' ' which may be of interest to 
 some of our older readers in recalling similar scenes of long 
 ago, while to the younger generation it mayimpart informa- 
 tion as to how their ancestors were taught and disciplined. 
 After describing the location of the schoolhouse, with its 
 benches on three sides and fireplace on the fourth, and how 
 the teacher "boarded around," he says: 
 
 The school .opened by the reading of a chapter in the 
 Testament; each scholar reading a verse till the chapter was 
 complete, and then their studies began. Writing was the first 
 exercise. Each pupil had a few sheets of foolscap paper 
 stitched at the back, covered with brown paper, and each 
 had a ' 'ruler' ' with lead ' 'plummet' ' attached by a string, 
 with which he ruled his paper for coarse or fine hand accord- 
 ing to his degree of progress. The teacher had set the copy 
 after school had closed the evening before, and this the boy 
 was required to imitate and fill the page with his work. A- 
 the pupil advanced in his work, the copies became more 
 sentimental: "Knowledge is power," "Washington was the 
 Father of his Country," and the like were required to be 
 written before graduation could take place. The old gray 
 goose (every household had more or less of them) furnished 
 the quills for the pens, which the teacher was required to 
 make or mend. The ink was made from the extract of 
 maple bark or of nut galls from the oak trees, which the 
 pupils prepared at home. '-'May I go to the fire to thaw my 
 ink?" is often asked of the teacher on cold mornings, while
 
 HO EDITORIAL 5IISCKIXANIES, 
 
 the half hour of writing is going on. "Mend my pen, sir ?"" 
 is frequently heard as the .goose quill is held toward the 
 teacher for the manipulation of his pen knife. Half a dozen 
 lads and lasses are 5 sometimes spending their precious time 
 waiting for their turns to have their pens mended. A book 
 like the writing, book was also used by the student in 
 arithmetic, in which he wrote out the problems in his text 
 book from his slate. Daboll was the principal text book in 
 arithmetic, but others were introduced soon after. They 
 were not annoyed by book agents in those days. 
 
 In geography more classification was admissible. Morse's 
 geography without maps and mostly descriptive of different 
 portions of the then known world, was superseded by Good- 
 rich's and Olney's, with accompanying atlas, by which 
 greater progress could be made. Geography lessons were 
 Very simple. Not a state existed west of the Mississippi, 
 and from Ohio west and north was a vast territory which 
 had been but little explored. L,ewis and Clark's travels 
 west to the Columbia river, on which expedition I think 
 they had been sent in Jefferson's administration, had given 
 some light to geographers on the Western unexplored 
 regions. The Hudson's Bay and Northwest fur companies 
 had also traversed the regions further north in their traffic 
 with the Indians for furs. Hennepin, LaSalle, Marquette, 
 Duluth and others had also explored around the head 
 waters of the upper lakes and the Mississippi. No one 
 dared to dream of the vast progress the West was to make 
 in a half century, and that the center of population was to 
 be transferred west of the then wild territory of Ohio, and 
 that cities were to grow up in the West larger than any that 
 then existed on the American continent. 
 
 The lessons were recited, the a, b, c's, taught, a-b ab's 
 spelled, the spelling lessons heard, till 10:30 a. m., when 
 "the boys may go out" was announced. Some 10 minutes 
 were allowed to them, when the girls had a like recess. At 
 noon they went to their dinners, and at i were required 
 to be back. In the afternoon the parsing lesson was labored 
 with. Murray's grammar was the text book. It was a
 
 THT2 OLD TIME SCHOOL, 111 
 
 "'hard road to travel." The pupils learned but little of the 
 principles of the construction of language. In the parsing 
 lesson the dictionary was considerably thumbed to find the 
 classification of words, but we could often guess right before 
 we got half way down the list from article to interjection. 
 We analyzed Pope's "Essay on Man," Milton's "Paradise 
 Lost," Pollock's "Course of Time," and various other works 
 in our parsing lessons. Like live Yankees we became expert 
 in guessing. The reading book of the advanced classes was 
 the English Reader, In it we had some of the best writings 
 of the golden age of English literature. Extracts from 
 Milton, Shakespeare, Goldsmith, Addison, Pope, Cowper. 
 Thompson, Young and others, furnished the theme of our 
 lessons. Of course the pupils who could read only hesitating- 
 ly and had to spell out the words before pronouncing them, 
 could not appreciate the beauties of this classic literature. 
 We were, however, filled with wonder over Goldsmith's 
 description of Niagara Falls, which he had never seen, and 
 we felt the inspiration of his glowing pen picture when more 
 than 40 years ago we first visited this wonderful cataract. 
 Though it did not come up to our expectations, we became 
 satisfied that no Indian in his bark canoe had ever ventured 
 down the seething abyss in safety. 
 
 But I must not fail to mention the discipline of the school. 
 It required a masculine teacher in the winter, to secure 
 respect and obedience from the larger boys. On the first 
 day of school he appeared before the pupils with a "ferule" 
 some two feet long, two inches wide and one inch thick, 
 with which he kept them in awe. It was his scepter of 
 authority. He was the sovereign in the school room and 
 ' 'his right there was none to dispute. ' ' A whisper without 
 permission, or any other act of disobedience, made the 
 transgressor liable to be called to the middle of the floor, 
 hold out his hand, and receive several strokes from the 
 implement of authority till the blisters rose, when, with the 
 promise of good behavior, he was permitted to take his seat. 
 The girls were not often punished in this way. They 
 behaved better. . But sometimes they were made to sit with
 
 112 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 the boys. Only think how dreadful that punishment ! 
 Think, too, how the poor innocent boy suffered when the 
 girl was compelled to sit with him. The boy was likewise 
 punished in the same way. We are inclined to think that 
 in later years such a juxtaposition was enjoyed by many of 
 them. 
 
 But a heavier punishment awaited those who remained 
 obdurate when the lighter punishment failed. There were 
 quantities of apple tree sprouts in Capt. Pease's orchard 
 near by. * Some of these were sent for, sometimes by the 
 boy who was to receive the castigation. They were warmed 
 before the fire so as to make them more flexible and service- 
 able, and the dust was made to fly over the back and legs 
 of the culprit, which was accompanied by "music and 
 dancing. ' ' 
 
 The recitation of the spelling lesson was the special scene 
 of rivalry. The "first class" came to the floor, where they 
 ' 'toed the mark. ' ' ' 'Attention, ' ' said the teacher, when every 
 head was erect. "Manners," every boy made his bow and 
 every girl a "curtesy." The words were then pronounced 
 trom the columns of the spelling book, and when one failed 
 the next in the class who succeeded went above. To ' 'leave 
 off at the head" was to win the laurels. So four or five 
 classes took turns in this exercise. 
 
 The etiquette of the school room is somewhat departed 
 from in these days. Then, when the pupil entered the room 
 the boy took off his cap and made a bow^ to the teacher and 
 the girl her "curtesy," and so on leaving the school room. 
 A passer-by on the street received like attention from the 
 children. The passengers in the stage coach were similarly 
 greeted. Age and gray hairs were always respected and no 
 token of disrespect was allowed by either teacher or' parent 
 to the passer-by, even though clothed in rags. The Chapin 
 blood gave dignity and self-respect even to boys and girls. 
 
 The period of attending school in those days was from 
 four to 1 7 or 1 8 years of age in winter, or to 1 1 or 1 2 in 
 summer, the older boys being required on the farm when 
 there was work to be done. Every Saturday forenoon the
 
 THE OXD TIME SCHOOL. 113 
 
 catechism was recited and most of them could answer "'What 
 is the chief end of man ?' ' etc. , to the end. At the close of 
 the term the parents came to see what progress their children 
 "had made. 
 
 Their writing books were passed around and a general 
 recitation of their studies and a little elocution presented. 
 
 "You'd scarce expect one of my age 
 To speak in public on the stage," 
 
 was generally given before the interested parents. Amherst 
 College, some 16 miles distant, furnished the teachers of the 
 winter schools, and students were glad to earn some money 
 to pay their college course. The teachers were mostly well 
 educated. 
 
 But more than six decades have passed since the scenes 
 here given transpired in the old red school house. The 
 school masters and school marms of the period have all 
 passed away. The lads and lassies of those years, if still 
 remaining on the hither side of the river, are now gray- 
 headed and have wrinkled brows. Their children are grown 
 up and grandchildren cling to their knees. They will 
 remember that no profane words were ever heard on their 
 playgrounds, and no obscene word from the lads caused the 
 fair girls to blush. Not one of those youths, so far as I 
 know, has become a drunken dabauchee. On the contrary, 
 they grew up to usefulness and respectability. Some of the 
 venerable and respected matrons of Springfield were among 
 those girls, those beautiful girls of the olden time, all neatly 
 attired in garments of their own or their mothers' make, so 
 modest in demeanor, so bright in their studies. Memory 
 fondly clings to the scenes of those early days, and fancy 
 pictures them as they were, when they joined in youthful 
 sports and vied with each other iii their lessons. We may 
 engage in the active business of life and grow old in its cares, 
 its joys and sorrows, but no subsequent friendships and 
 loving memories will cling to us like those formed when we 
 were children and youth together in our school days. 
 
 But I have said enough. Of blessed memory are the boys 
 and girls of the old red school house.
 
 114 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 AN ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 THE MANSE, RICHFIELD, O., April 10, 1887. 
 
 DEAR CENSOR : We are in an old town in Summit Co. , 
 the highest land in the State, but yet not so elevated but 
 that the fields are putting on their spring verdure, though 
 the blossoms and flowers are yet in the dormant buds. Two 
 weeks ago we were in sight of mountains covered with snow, 
 whose lofty peaks towered nearly 10,000 feet above the 
 Pacific ocean some 30 miles away. But between those 
 mountain peaks were the foot hills and valleys where were 
 perpetual verdure, with flowers of almost perpetual bloom, 
 and golden fruit pendant from the overburdened trees in rich 
 abundance. 
 
 At the manse here we have been looking over some books 
 of nearly two centuries past. Among them we find a 
 geography published in L,ondon in 1728. In it probably 
 my great grandfather got much of his knowledge of the 
 earth's surface. It is entitled "Geography Anatomized or 
 The Geographical Grammar, being a short and exact 
 Analysis of the Whole Body of Modern Geography" etc. 
 eleventh edition. It is dedicated ' 'to the most Reverend 
 Father in God, Thomas L,ord Archbishop of Canterbury." 
 
 Of the lakes in ' the world, the only pnes he mentions in 
 North America are ' 'the Iroquois, found in the South part 
 of Terra Canadenus. Of the great rivers of America, are 
 mentioned "In New Spain, none remarkable. " In New 
 Granada is Rio del Norte, unknown. 
 
 In Florida is Rio del Spiritu S. In Terra Canadenus, the 
 Great River Canada, The Connecticut, Hudson River, 
 Rivere de la Ware, the Susquaehanna, The Potomeck, all 
 marked unknown. The Mississippi, Missouri, and all the 
 other rivers now so well known, were not mentioned, and in 
 South America the Amazon is merely mentioned and marked 
 unknown.
 
 AN ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY. ^ 115 
 
 Of the countries of North America, Boston is put down as 
 the Capital city of Canadeus, and Santa Fee of Granada. 
 
 Among the Rarities of Florida is mentioned "a certain 
 Tree, the juice of whose Fruit the Natives used to squeeze 
 out, and therewith anoynt their arrows, being a rank sort of 
 Poyson. So strong a Poyson is this Tree that if a few 
 Handfuls of its Leaves are bruised and thrown into a large 
 Pond of Standing Water, all sorts of Beasts that happen to 
 come and drink thereof do suddenly swell and burst asunder. ' ' 
 "The Floridins are naturally white, but by annointing 
 themselves (both Men and Women) with a certain Ointment, 
 they still appear of an Olive color. ' ' 
 
 New England, it says, was taken possession of for Queen 
 Elizabeth, Anno 1558, is bounded on the East by a part of 
 the main Ocean, on the West by some of Terra Arctica, on 
 the North by Accadia, and on the South by New York. 
 Of the "Rarities' ' it says: ' 'In several parts of New England 
 grows a certain Fruit termed the Butter-Nut, so called from 
 the Nature of its Kernel, which yields a kind of sweet Oil, 
 that hath the exact taste of ordinary Butter." "Of many 
 rare birds in New England, the most remarkable is the 
 Troculus, about the Bigness of a Swallow, having very short 
 Legs, and hardly able to support himself. Nature hath 
 provided him with sharp pointed feathers in his Wings, by 
 darting of which into the Walls of a House, he sticks fast 
 and rests securely." 
 
 New York, discovered Anno 1608 by Mr. Hudson, is 
 bounded on the East by the main Ocean, on the West by 
 some Terra Arctica, on the North by New England and on 
 the South by New Jersey. 
 
 Two great American Islands are mentioned, viz: Cali- 
 fornia and New Found Land. Of California it says: This 
 Island was formerly esteemed a peninsula, but is now found 
 to be entirely surrounded by Water. Its North part was 
 discovered by Francis Drake, Anno 1577 and by him called 
 New Albion. The inland parts were afterward searched 
 into, and being found to be a dry, barren and cold country, 
 Europeans were discouraged from sending Colonies to the 
 same."
 
 fl6 ifDITORIAL 
 
 In a crude map given in the Apendix, California is 
 represented as an Island extending from, about lat. 22 deg. 
 North to lat. 42 deg. with the Red Sea dividing it from the: 
 main land. Florida embraces all the land South of Virginia, 
 and extends about half the distance West to the Red Sea, 
 which divides it from California. North of California is all 
 blank space, or art undiscovered region. 
 
 This Geography contains about 450 pages, is well printed 
 for the time, the title page illuminated with red letters and 
 fancy borders over the chapters, in the best style of the art. 
 But tew at the time were able to own such a valuable book. 
 'Fhey were doubtless greatly instructed by it, and had their 
 ideas of the magnitude of the earth's surface greatly enlarged, 
 as they were compared with the geographical knowledge of 
 the Romans and Greeks of the centuries before. 
 
 South America was better known at that time than North 
 America and scarcely any discoveries were made on the 
 Ea: tern side of the North Pacific. As is well known, the 
 charters of the Colonies extended west to the ocean, especial- 
 ly Massachusetts, New York and Virginia. A very in- 
 definite idea prevailed of the extent of territory given by the 
 English sovereigns to their friends who founded colonies in 
 America. 
 
 In South America all that portion north of the "Equi- 
 noctial Line" was called "Terra Firma. " Among the 
 rarities of this country is mentioned ' 'certain Trees called 
 Totock, remarkable for their Fruit, which is of so great a 
 Bulk and withal so hard that People can't with safety walk 
 among 'em when the Fruit is ripe, being in Danger every 
 Moment to have their Brains knocked out. ' ' 
 
 In speaking of the New Foundland Banks, this Geography 
 says: "So thick do the Fishes sometimes swarm that they 
 retard the Passage of Ships sailing over them." 
 
 The entire G2ography contains a great deal of matter 
 Which is quite interesting to modern students in this branch 
 of education. Perhaps two hundred years hence our school 
 books will be equally interesting and instructive. M.
 
 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. I 17 
 
 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 
 
 [From the CENSOR of July 5, 1876.] 
 
 To-day our Nation has passed the one hundredth year of 
 its existence. This is but a short time in the history of 
 nations, and yet it has been a marked era in the world's 
 history. It is but little more than one-thirtieth of the period 
 since Egypt, Babylon and Ninevah were the rival centres of 
 political power and civilization. It is less than one-twentieth 
 of the time which has elapsed since the Roman Empire was 
 in the zenith of its power and glory. It is less than one- 
 tenth the period since the papal power held control over the 
 sovereigns of Europe and what is called the Dark Ages 
 prevailed. And less than one-fourth the time since the 
 light of the Reformation broke over Europe and emancipated 
 many millions from the thraldom of religious bigotry and 
 superstition. Less than four hundred years ago the Turkish 
 Empire was the most powerful in the world, and Constanti- 
 nople was the seat of a government whose power had ex- 
 tended its conquests over the Eastern nations, Northern 
 Africa and part of Spain; and threatened Italy, Hungary 
 and Germany. 
 
 \Yithin the last hundred years no country in the world 
 has made the progress that has been witnessed in the United 
 States. From thirteen colonies of less than three millions 
 of people it has grown to be the leading nation of the world, 
 with a population of 45,000,000. It has acquired of territory 
 Florida from Spain, the Louisiana territory from France, 
 which embraced the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri. 
 Kansas, Nebraska and a vast amount of Indian territory 
 farther west. Also by annexation, Texas, of equal extent 
 to four states as large as New York, and by treaty New 
 Mexico, California and Alaska. The territory acquired by 
 treaty includes a much larger population now than the whole
 
 Il8 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 thirteen colonies. In the universality of education no 
 country except Germany is the peer of this. In enterprise 
 and development of natural resources this nation stands at 
 the head. In the arts and sciences, though nearly all the 
 world has progressed, none can show more rapid advance- 
 ment. 
 
 In the separation from Great Britain, the colonists appeal- 
 ed to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of 
 their intentions. An all wise Providence sustained them in 
 their appeal, and has made of them a great nation, with 
 influence for good on all the other nations of the earth; 
 whose history recommends to all people free government, 
 free speech, a free press. A government of the people, by 
 the people and for the people. For all of which and bless- 
 ings innumerable let thanks ascend on this day to the Great 
 Ruler of the Universe.
 
 THE CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION. 119 
 
 THE CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION AT PHILA- 
 DELPHIA. 
 
 The completion of one hundred years of our National 
 history is a fit time for an exhibition of the progress the 
 country has made, and by an international exposition, to 
 compare the progress of all nations in civilization and 
 progress of arts. The place is particularly appropriate. In 
 this city the instrument was signed by the representatives of 
 the 13 colonies declaring themselves an independent nation* 
 The hall where they met, the place where the historic 
 instrument was penned, the bell which announced its 
 proclamation, all are preserved as venerated relics. 
 
 Less than two centuries ago, Charles II granted to Wm. 
 Penn the charter which gave him the territory known as 
 Pennsylvania or " Penn 's Woods." Two years after, the 
 city of Philadelphia was laid out, the streets all in regular 
 and rectangular directions, and the city was commenced. 
 Now it is the second city in wealth and population on the 
 American continent. 
 
 The^ colonies were forbidden to manufacture for trade, and 
 now, after i oo years of separation, their manufactures find 
 a market in every country in the world, and in this city is 
 exhibited the evidences of skill in useful productions which 
 vie with the products of much older countries. 100 years 
 ago the mother country compelled the colonies to purchase 
 the glass, nails and products of machinery from abroad. 
 Now a successful competition is carried on with the products 
 of our manufactories in every land. Now all the nations of 
 the world are contributing of their skill to enhance the value 
 of the World's Exposition now in progress. Peace and good 
 will is manifested now by all the nations, and a friendly 
 rivalry is exhibited of their resources and skill. No sight 
 in the whole history of the world has ever been exhibited to
 
 120 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 compare with what is at this moment to be seen in this great 
 international exhibition. The youngest of the nations 
 invites those hoary with age and experience to compare 
 products and improve each other by the friendly competition. 
 
 The first sight on entering the main building, is grand 
 beyond description; and yet the more that is seen of it, the 
 more wonderful it appears. Here every nation may be 
 visited, their progress in the arts and sciences investigated 
 their natural resources seen, and the manners and customs 
 of the people shown at a glance. In this building, nearly 
 three-eighths of a mile in length, and more than 28 rods in 
 width, each nation has its portion of space, and in each the 
 best specimens of their products may be seen. India, China, 
 Japan, Australia, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, the several 
 nations of Europe from the Arctic ocean to the Mediterranean, 
 and of America from Alaska to Cape Horn, may be seen in 
 a day's travel through its eleven miles of aisles; but if a 
 month should be spent in the examination, something new 
 would be seen at every visit. Yet this is but one of the 
 several buildings to be visited. Machinery Hall, which is 
 85 rods in length and nearly 22 rods wide, is filled with busy 
 machinery, mostly moved by the Corlis engine, all exhibit- 
 ing the inventive powers of the nations, and each presenting 
 a world of history to the eye, bewilders the visitor as he 
 proceeds through the extended aisles. In this Hall, the 
 American inventive power is remarkably manifest, though 
 there are specimens of workmanship from Europe which 
 well deserve the highest commendation. 
 
 During the week spent in visiting the Exposition, we 
 could not examine in detail and much less can we describe 
 it. Just take into consideration the vast extent of buildings, 
 all filled to their utmost capacity with the products of all 
 nations. The eight exhibition buildings aggregate in length 
 5,562 feet, or one mile 282 feet, and average in width 293 
 feet. The exhibit from the several nations are grouped by 
 themselves; so that to pass from one nation to another is easy 
 and convenient. The several States have each large and 
 commodious buildings as headquarters of their citizens, some
 
 THE "CEXTEXXIAX EXPOSftlOSr. 
 
 of them with a creditable display of products. Kansas and 
 Colorado have a splendid show, the latter of precious metals 
 and ores representing millions of wealth, and -the former a 
 rich show of her golden harvests, tastefully arranged so as 
 to present at one view the greatest inducements for emigra- 
 tion to her fertile lands. In the U. S. Government build- 
 ings, the process of making .guns, complete in all their parts, 
 with the manufacture of cartridges, is seen in the building. 
 Also the huge cannon, and the turret of a monitor 
 -.vith its immense armament, a set of fast mail cars a display 
 of sea lions, seals, waJruses, and a .great variety offish are 
 exhibited. 
 
 In the Women's Pavilion may be seen a variety of looms 
 for fancy weaving the printing press and type setting, with 
 the publication of their newspaper, all operated by females, 
 -and a six horse Baxter engine, also with a lady for engineer, 
 which furnishes the power for the various industries, as well 
 as the fine show of handiwork, all demonstrating what 
 ivomen can do if they will. 
 
 The several buildings are located at various distances 
 from each other, and are reached by a three feet gauge 
 railroad, some three miles in length, double track, on which 
 are thirteen trains of cars constantly running. Five cents 
 pays for a trip, and nearly even- visitor takes a ride on the 
 cars. The Brooks locomotive Works of Dunkirk have one 
 of the locomotives run by John Dickinson, with whom we 
 had the pleasure of taking a trip on his engine. He takes 
 just pride in his machine and we should judge that no better 
 one was on the ground. The track curves around among 
 the buildings, making some sharp turns, and at one place 
 has over 200 feet grade. But John's machine does not seem 
 to mind the hard pull; it is always equal to the emergency. 
 
 The visitors during the week we were there, averaged 
 some 20,000 per day; this was quite a falling off, owing to 
 the warm weather. It is expected that in Septeriiber and 
 October there will be a larger attendance than ever. Vet it 
 is such a vast concern that financially it may not be a success i 
 As an enterprise to show the progress of the arts and the
 
 122 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 result of genius in inventions, it will be amply remunerative. 
 It will give to the world ideas and improvements suggested 
 by what is here to be seen, which will reach the remotest 
 bounds of civilization.. 
 
 The multitude who daily throng this .world in miniature 
 is well worthy of observation. Nothing is observable that 
 is offensive to the most refined. No drunkenness or profanity 
 nothing even trivial meets the eye. All seem intent on 
 learning something and come to carry away ideas. Some 
 are attracted principally to the mineral wealth displayed, 
 some to the fine arts, others to the curious or ponderous 
 machinery, and still others to the Agricultural and Horti- 
 cultural display. Yet there is food for all tastes, and every 
 want seems to be abundantly satisfied. "The half has not 
 been told," is the exclamation of the visitor. No one who 
 goes regrets it. All the Americans feel that it is our show, 
 with the whole world to help us. See what our nation has 
 done in a hundred years, and beat it if you can ! We 
 predict that the next International exhibit, by whatever 
 nation projected, will have hard work to follow copy, unless 
 they wait for years of improvement to take place as the 
 result of this national enterprise. 
 
 [The above was written eighteen years ago. The exhibition 
 was a great success, and toward the close there were on some days 
 more than 250,000 visitors. The whole loan from the government 
 of $1,000,000 was repaid, and the advances made by citizens were 
 all retnrned and there was money left..]
 
 EXPOSITION AT NEW ORLEANS. 123 
 
 THE GREAT EXPOSITION AT NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, April ir, 1885. 
 
 Yesterday was New Orleans day at the Exposition. It 
 reminded us more of the Centennial in the numbers in 
 attendance, than any other day in the two weeks we had 
 spent here. The number of visitors was estimated at 30, - 
 ooo though the average since we have been here is less 
 than 10,000. The schools were admitted at reduced price, 
 and it was a kind of holiday with the business people. 
 Mardi Gras day was the only one which equalled it since 
 the exposition opened. A concert with hundreds of children 
 was given in the auditorium, and in the afternoon also the 
 Mexican Band gave a concert, which attracted a large con- 
 course. The large organ fronting the auditorium, is handled 
 with great skill, but is not used as an accompaniment. 
 The band of 100 pieces is supported by the Mexican govern- 
 ment, which has erected extensive barracks for them and 
 those in charge of the Mexican exhibits. We noticed that 
 when "Dixie" was presented, the audience was wild with 
 excitement; shouting, cheering and waving of hankerchiefs 
 prevailed through the audience and the repetition was the 
 result. We northern people could not well object, as Lincoln 
 said we had captured the tune with the surrender of the 
 confederacy, so now it belongs to us as well as to the routh. 
 The auditorium seats 6,000 people, and the galleries will 
 seat 1,000 to 2,000 more. 
 
 All are surprised at the Mexican exhibit. The im- 
 pression that it is a semi -barbarous country is here 
 dispelled. In the art gallery it seemed to be the most 
 attractive, in the fruit and flower department it took the 
 lead, and in the main and government buildings the space 
 occupied by the Mexicans was large and interesting. \\\
 
 r-24 
 
 understand $25,000 was appropriated by that government 
 for the exhibit. 
 
 At 4 o'clock the Capt. Eads-ship railroad was operated,, 
 with explanations of its operations given. A model ship, 
 some 7 or 8-' feet long,, lay in a tank of water. An iron- 
 cradle with- self adjusting braces and supports was placed 
 under the ship, and by powerful hydraulic appliances it was; 
 raised bodily to the level- of the railroad tracks, which were 
 equal to six railroads side by side, and more than 100 car 
 wheels on each track. The ship was- then drawn across the 
 miniature isthmus y and placed safely in the Pacific Ocean. 
 The distance between New Orleans and San Francisco 
 would be short end by this R. R_ over the Cape Horn route, 
 {2,500 miles, and over the Panama R. R. 1,857. The 
 distance from New York to Hong Kong would be shortened 
 8,700 miles over the Cape Horn route. 
 
 With the increasing friendly relations' existing between. 
 ur country and Mexico,, we have no- doubt that the 
 Tehuantepec route, either by rail or canal, will be eventual- 
 ly adopted. 
 
 A railroad car, run by electricity, passes from near the 
 main building to the tront of the government building, and 
 is considerably patronized at one nickel per passage. 
 
 [This was the first electric car we had ever seen and it 
 could carry but four passengers at a time and the battery 
 had to be charged at every trip. What wonderful progress- 
 has been made in the last ten. years 1 Now every large city 
 has its lines of electric cars, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 No one would have dreamed it from this first beginning.] 
 
 One day last week was Chautauqua day. It seemed a 
 bit like home to see an audience of 5,000 to 6,.ooo listening 
 to the speeches and singing, and the more interesting, to be 
 1,500 miles from home, and to see such evidences of the far. 
 reaching fame of our own ChaUtauqua. But we missed the 
 excellent adaptation of the Chautauqua auditorium. In fact 
 \ve have never seen that equalled for ease in speaking to so 
 large an audience. The noise of the machinery in proximity 
 was a draw back, but the high room, with no elastic surface
 
 EXPOSITION' AT NEW ORLEANS. 125 
 
 to aid the voice, rendered it impossible for three-fourths of 
 the audience to hear distinctly. The reporters in next 
 morning's papers made the speeches available. A beautiful 
 poem, a tribute to the Liberty Bell, followed the speeches, 
 which I regret was not reported. It was presented by a 
 gentleman from Poughkeepsie. I think Chautauqua day is 
 voted a success. 
 
 MOBILE, Ala., April 19, 1885. 
 
 One month ago, Saturday, March igth, I left Dunkirk 
 for the South. I spent five days at Mobile on my way 
 down, and 16 days at New Orleans. I left the frost and 
 snow of winter, and found in the Crescent City the balmy 
 air and blossoms of Spring and foliage and vegetation of 
 Chautauqua June. I have returned here with a pretty good 
 idea of the magnitude of the Exposition. I went in the best 
 time to see it. The delays in preparation had been over- 
 come, and everything was now in place and in running 
 order. The cosmopolitan exhibits could now be compared, 
 and the indigenous products of the different countries, and 
 particularly of the American States, showed the capabilities 
 of American Republics when brought together by friendly 
 commercial relations. The far-seeing statesmanship of Mr. 
 Elaine, favoring a Congress of American Republics for 
 mutual trade and exchange of products, could be seen here. 
 
 But one observation will be made by the visitor who saw 
 the Centennial exhibit, that is that the buildings are mostly 
 too large for the exhibits and attendance. A large amount 
 of space was unoccupied, and the extent of travel to see it 
 might have been much diminished had the space been better 
 filled. Some idea of the miles of travel necessary to see the 
 exhibits may be had by the statistics of the size of the build- 
 ings: The main building, 1,376 by 905 feet. Government 
 building, 885 by 565 feet. Horticultural Hall, 600 by 194 
 feet. Art Gallery-, 250 by 100 feet. Machinery Hall 
 Extension, 350 by 120 feet, and then add the Mexican 
 exhibits, the Pagoda, Furniture Pavilion, and multiply 
 these spaces by numerous aisles lengthwise and crosswise, 
 and it will be seen that no visitor can avoid great weariness 
 in seeing it all. Yet it is a great educating exhibit and time
 
 126 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 spent by teachers and schools there will be of more service 
 to them than ten times as much in books. It is a vast 
 object lesson. But the rush from the North is all over. In 
 the first three months of the year, the trains were crowded, 
 four or five sections in each, on the five or six lines of road 
 reaching the city, all eager to see this grand Cosmopolitan 
 exhibit, and to enjoy the climate of the Sunny South. The 
 exhibit for the last and present month has been satisfactory, 
 but the cold rains and horrible streets have not been what 
 the visitors from the North had pictured of the city. Now 
 the trains from the North are light, but cheap fares are in- 
 creasing the attendance from the Southern states, though 
 the receipts at the gates are only about half what they were 
 six weeks or two months ago. The affair will wind up May 
 3ist and \vill be a financial failure, but as an educating 
 institution w 7 ill be a success, and perhaps that will be 
 sufficiently remunerative for the government aid. 
 
 [The finances of this exhibition were a greater failure than was 
 anticipated. The entire government loan was sunk, and the indivi- 
 dual loans to the exhibition were also unpaid. No premiums were 
 awarded except by an additional loan, and only a percentage of the 
 awards was paid.}
 
 ON TO RICHMOND. 
 
 ON TO RICHMOND. 
 
 RICHMOND, Va., April i, 1870. 
 
 DEAR CENSOR: The hebdomadal duties which have 
 occupied most of my time during thirty years past, are again 
 broken in upon. I am in the capital of the late Southern 
 Confederacy. When I left Chautauqua County on the 
 evening of the 24th ult., we passed through snowdrifts, be- 
 tween Dunkirk and Fredonia, which had obstructed the street 
 cars for weeks. Through the center of the State there was 
 a larger amount of snow than in Chautauqua, and at Albany 
 the mode of conveyance was mostly on runners. Saturday 
 morning, when we arrived in New York, there was no snow 
 to be seen, and as we neared Philadelphia fields were being 
 plowed for the spring crops, and in the vicinity of that city 
 gardens were being made. Arrived in Washington, the 
 grass was assuming its summer green, and the trees were 
 ready to open their buds for blossoms and foliage. On 
 Tuesday morning we journeyed down the Potomac to Acquia 
 Creek, and thence by rail to this city. At the boat landing, 
 the extensive piles which had been driven into the river 
 bank, supported very large storage houses during the war, 
 from which the supplies of Hooker and Burnside were 
 derived when the army moved on to Fredericksburg. The 
 buildings were burned on the evacuation by Hooker, and 
 the bare piles testify to the extent of the works when the 
 large army was fed and furnished from that base. There is 
 a wide wharf now standing, from which the Richmond train 
 receives the passengers and freight from the twice daily boat 
 from Washington. 
 
 $ $ $ # 
 
 After crossing the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, we 
 came in sight of the battle fields where so many of our 
 countrymen laid down their lives to purchase the integrity
 
 128 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 of the country. A Confederate officer who sat on the seat 
 next to us kindly pointed out the scenes of the dreadful 
 carnage. The intrenchments on the rising ground plainly 
 showed where were the fronts of the opposing armies, and 
 an elevated spot filled with graves, with the board head- 
 marks, showed where thousands of the nation's brave 
 defenders w 7 ere laid for their silent rest, after the sanguinary 
 conflict was over. There are some spots of ' 'sacred soil' ' in 
 old Virginia, and none more sacred than those consecrated 
 places where our brave ones laid down their lives, and rest 
 from the toils of the bloody strife, that our country might 
 live. About ten miles above here the gallant Col. Stevens 
 was killed, and Capt. Fay was captured and came near 
 being a victim to the barbarity of the rebels, but for the 
 solicitation of a Fredonian then at the South, who interfered 
 and perhaps saved his life. Here Sergeant Tate had a 
 narrow escape from death from rebel bullets, and was taken 
 prisoner and paroled. We trust the memory of these 
 vicarious offerings of the thousands of victims, for our 
 country's salvation, will never cease to be cherished while 
 our country has a history and a name. The consecrated 
 cemetery grounds of the nation's dead, the nation's pensions 
 and bounty money so worthily bestowed, the large number 
 of crippled and wounded soldiers in the employment of the 
 government, all testify to our national gratitude to the 
 memory of the dead and the great debt to the living. We 
 passed by the remains of the defenses of Richmond as we 
 neared the city, and in the suburbs the house where John 
 Miner Botts was born and lived many years. Our confederate 
 informant said Mr. B. was opposed to secession throughout, 
 to the end of his life, but was compelled to keep rather 
 quiet the most of the time. 
 
 It is a beautiful day that we are spending in this historical 
 city. Soon after our arrival we found our friend David 
 B. Parker, who now holds the office of U. S. Marshal. He 
 came into the city with our victorious army, and has remain- 
 ed here ever since in the service of the country, at first in 
 charge of the post office, and more recently in his present
 
 UN TO HICBMOKD. 
 
 office. He entered the service in Co. D. of the 3d Excelsior, 
 with many others from our vicinity, so many of whom have 
 filled honored soldiers' graves. He immediately left his 
 business, and procuring a carriage, went with us to nearly 
 every part of the city. We passed by the church where 
 Patrick Henry made his stirring speech fcearly one hundred 
 years ago in behalf of American independence. The church 
 -is retained in its original form and style, the effort being 
 made to preserve every feature of it as it then stood, when 
 its w r alls echoed his stirring eloquence. We passed another 
 church where Jeff Davis was attending service when he 
 received the news of his defeat, and left so hurriedly ; to be 
 ignominiously taken when arrayed in feminine garments. 
 The house where he lived when presiding over the Con- 
 federacy is now the Headquarters of Gen. Canby, who is in 
 command of the military power of the reconstructed State. 
 
 Richmond is a city of hills, and is well laid out for a 
 beautiful place. There was a large amount of wealth 
 aggregated in the city before the war, and the people must 
 have anticipated great national importance to it as the 
 capital of the Southern Confederacy. The State has furnish^ 
 ed more Presidents than any other, and this was the great 
 center of their political education. 
 
 We are stopping at Ford's hotel, and find it a well kept 
 house, largely patronized and beautifully located on the 
 corner of fine public grounds in the highest part of the city. 
 where are the court house and State house, built after plans 
 brought by Jefferson from Europe, and though of venerable 
 antiquity, they are of fine proportions and elaborate Grecian 
 architecture. The monument of Washington designed by 
 Crawford, exceeds in beauty and style of finish any that we 
 have ever seen. The granite pedestal has on the top a 
 bronze equestrian statue of Washington, and on lower 
 pedestals of hexagonal form are statues of Nelson, with a 
 front expressive of colonial times; Chief Justice Marshall, 
 with book in hand labeled "Justice;" Patrick Henry, in the 
 attitude of impassioned eloquence; Mason, with pen in 
 hand, labeled "Bill of Rights;" Jefterson with scroll and
 
 130 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 pen, labeled "1776." Erected in 1857. I n passing over 
 the city with our friend Mr. Parker, we came to a high bank 
 of the river overlooking Belle Isle, where our unfortunate 
 soldiers suffered so terribly in imprisonment. The place 
 where they were kept was stockaded in a low part of the 
 island, but little above the water, where the soldiers burrow- 
 ed in the ground, and the malaria of the climate and location 
 made many victims of cruelty. Belle Isle is a misnomer 
 now. One can scarcely see anything beautiful in a location 
 rendered infamous . by the cruelties inflicted on our poor 
 soldiers. Their guards were stationed on a bluff overlooking 
 them, where the dead line was in full view, and the deadly 
 missiles for encroachments on the fatal line caused many to 
 sleep their last sleep, as did the terrible malaria which 
 prevailed. 
 
 The equinoctial storm of last week has raised the river to 
 high water mark. The turbid waters rush over the falls and 
 spread far over the intervale lands, making the James river 
 a large stream at the present time. On the margin of the 
 river below the falls are the Richmond mills, which have 
 the capacity of manufacturing 3,000 barrels of flour per day. 
 The wheat crop has greatly diminished since the war, and 
 the mills are not now run to near their full capacity. The 
 celebrated Tredegar iron works, from which the Confederacy 
 obtained their cannon, are now in full blast, manufacturing 
 railroad iron. The coal and ore necessary for the work are 
 in convenient proximity, and the -mills are now engaged in 
 forwarding the development of the futufe prosperity of the 
 State and country. 
 
 Our window overlooks the beautiful square on which are 
 the State house, post office building and Marshal's office. 
 On one side is the gubernatorial mansion. These public 
 grounds are beautifully laid out with walks. The grass is 
 green. The buds of the trees are nearly ready to burst forth 
 their foliage. The air is clear and mild. Some darkies 
 from the State prison in striped uniform are scraping the 
 walks, while a guard stands over them with fixed bayonets. 
 
 The high hills across the river are in full view, and the
 
 ON TO RICHMOND. 13! 
 
 scenery is most beautiful. But between this and the beautiful 
 fields beyond the flood arrayed in living green, is the Libby 
 prison, where our poor soldiers were starved and suffered so 
 much. A feeling of horror came over us as we slowly 
 passed this infernal place. Some in our county, and among 
 them Capt. Fay, have a vivid recollection of this place, but 
 alas, how many never lived to return and tell of its horrors. 
 Yet how 7 many Copperheads there are in our own County 
 who claim that the Confederate prisoners were treated as 
 inhumanly at the North. But perhaps we ought not to 
 mention these things now 7 that they are all passed. Gladly 
 would we bury in oblivion the cruelties of the late fratricidal 
 war, but in view of the scenes of their enactment these 
 reflections will rise unbidden to the mind. Let us hope 
 that the reconstructed Old Dominion, one of the most 
 patriotic of states in the Revolution, will be one of the most 
 loyal of the reconstructed states. So mote it be. 
 
 ANOTHER DAY IN RICHMOND. 
 
 The Legislature is now in session. The Senate is 
 composed of 43 members, of whom 30 are "Conservative," 
 or more properly Democratic, and 13 Radical. Three of 
 them are colored men. The House of Delegates has 130 
 members, of which 19 are colored. Two of the colored 
 members are Conservative, and were elected by Democratic 
 votes. Not more than a half dozen members of the Legis- 
 lature have had legislative experience, thus laying all the 
 old politicians on the shelf. J spent a short time in each 
 branch of the Legislature. The colored members were 
 mostly by themselves, though a woolly head was sometimes 
 seen among the straight-haired legislators. A majority of 
 the spectators in the galleries were colored. They had tke 
 Registration bill under consideration, preparatory to the 
 coming election. The bill provided for separate registration 
 of white and colored men. To this the colored conservatives 
 objected, and claimed that there was to be no distinction. 
 The member of the c6mmittee who reported the bill said 
 many of the colored voters had the same name as their late 
 masters, and it was necessary to designate them to prevent
 
 EDITORIAL MIS'CEXLANIKSV 
 
 confusion. Upon this a colored Democrat remonstrated' 
 most vehemently against legislating away his name, but the- 
 motion to strike out the words white and colored did not. 
 prevail. 
 
 In the U. S. court room more than half the audience were 
 c'olored people, who seemed to have a deep interest in the- 
 result of the action. It must have been surprising to see 
 Gov. Wise their main defender against the usurpations of 
 the Democracy. But these are days of strange events. 
 The governor is as much of a secessionist as ever, and so- 
 elaims, but thinks it was acting in bad faith toward Con- 
 gress to be reconstructed, and then endeavor to overthrow 
 and thwart a provision of the constitution. 
 
 Under the new 7 Constitution, the division into townships: 
 and the supervisor system is being introduced. A new 
 judiciary system is also to take effect. The judges of the 
 county courts all over the State are to be elected by the 
 Legislature, and in fact that body is to do the work of 
 reconstruction almost as completely as if they had never had 
 a government. It is about like the change from the colonial 
 period to that of independence. It is certainly a new order 
 of things, and one of the great unlooked for results of the 
 War, that many of the important offices are now being held 
 by those who have been goods and chattels. One of the 
 colored senators is said to be quite able. In the U. S. 
 Court room, most of the assemblage outside the bar were 
 colored, (and the room was filled to its utmost capacity. ) 
 They take a deep interest in this matter, as they expect to 
 Vote in the election of mayor in May. The ballot has 
 worked wonders in their behalf. They are learning that 
 notwithstanding color of the epidermis, "a man's a man for 
 a' that." 
 
 In the library room a copy of the resolutions for secession 
 of the State is found. It contains the signatures of those 
 who joined in it, and among them- that of John Tyler. It 
 is suspended in the same manner, and near the fac simile of
 
 OX TO RICHMOND. 133 
 
 the Declaration of Independence. It represents the cause 
 of secession to be that the government had not kept faith 
 with them on the subject of slavery. To save that institu- 
 tion they risked all, and now the Old Dominion has twenty- 
 six of the colored race in her legislative halls, making laws 
 for the government of their late masters. Many years ago 
 Jefferson said, in view of the oppressions of slavery, "I 
 tremble for my country when I remember that God is just." 
 Now the oppressed are vindicated, and the employment of 
 our friend Dr. Pettit, as conductor of the Underground Rail- 
 road, is gone. 
 
 FROM RICHMOND TO CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 About 20 miles east of Lynchburg we passed Appomattox 
 Court House, where the memorable surrender of Lee's army 
 took place. It is 100 miles west of Petersburg, and not far 
 from the same distance from Richmond. Both armies start- 
 ed at nearly the same time, Lee's to reach the mountains of 
 the western part of Virginia, and ours to intercept them. 
 Gen. Sheridan "pushed things" in this march, intercepted 
 the retreating army of the rebels, and with but little conflict 
 of arms, the terms ol surrender were agreed upon under an 
 apple tree about a mile from the Court House. This sealed 
 the fate of the Southern Confederacy. There is great 
 respect entertained here for Gen. Lee, for whom eminent 
 ability is claimed as a strategist and leader of their forces, 
 and also as a high-toned gentleman. He appears to stand 
 much higher than Davis. Indeed, there is much to admire 
 in the devotion of the Southerners to their canse, and their 
 cheerful submission to hardships, the loss of property, and a 
 reduction from opulence to almost starvation for their cans- 
 while there was hope. In fact we at the North can scarcely 
 have a conception of what they have endured for the purpose 
 of establishing a Southern Confederacy. A gentleman on 
 the cars said he went to one of the battle-fields to get a 
 wounded son, and took him to a house where had been 
 abundance and affluence. On asking for sustenance for the 
 weak and dying boy, he was freely given the last mouthful
 
 T$4 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES". 
 
 in the house, and that a mere pittance of bacon, to sustain 1 , 
 him till- he could have other help. We may admire this- 
 self-sacrificing spirit, and only regret that it was called into 
 exercise to destroy the country instead of to preserve it. 
 
 Along the Appomattox: river, from- near Burkeville to 
 Lynchburg, are some fine farming lands, and tobacco culture 
 was the leading interest of the people in former times. There 
 have been about a dozen tobacco factories in Lynchburg, 
 but since the War but little of that product has been raised, 
 and the business of the place has greatly declined. We are 
 told that good farm lands can be obtained there at from $15 
 to $25 per acre. I judge it is better land than Eastern 
 Virginia. There has been a large emigration of colored 
 people from the State, estimated at over 30,000,. during the 
 past year, to the South. There has formerly been a large 
 traffic in that kind of labor with the south,, and the planters 
 made it profitable to raise this kind of property for the 
 southern market. Now the emigration is voluntary, for the 
 sake of increased wages. About forty of these laborers 
 were in a car on the train with us,, bound for Mobile, and 
 vast numbers have been sent to Texas. Agents are sent on 
 to engage them and take them to the southern plantations, 
 where labor is more in demand. On the train with us were 
 several members of the Virginia Legislature, with whom we 
 formed a very pleasant traveling acquaintance. In the re- 
 Construction of their State, their new constitution had been 
 modeled in a measure after that of New York. The State 
 had been divided into judicial districts, and justices of the 
 Supreme court had been elected by the Legislature for the 
 several districts. Three of our fellow travelers had been 
 elected to those positions, and two had vacated their seats 
 as members of the House of Deputies to enter upon the 
 discharge of their judicial duties. There had heretofore 
 been no division into townships, and their political organiza- 
 tion had been by counties, of which there were over a 
 hundred in the State. The division into towns, and the' 
 adoption of the system of a Board of Supervisors is so much 
 of a change from the system heretofore in existence that it
 
 will take a long time for the people to become familiar with 
 it. Gov. Walker is from our State, and we met a member 
 at the hotel where we stopped who was formerly from 
 Cayuga county. So many of the former public men had 
 been excluded from office by the iron clad oath, that most 
 of the officers are new men, there being only six members 
 of the Legislature who had before had any Legislative 
 experience. From the acquaintance we formed with the 
 newly elected judges, we should think a good selection had 
 been made, and that upright and intelligent -men had been 
 ^elected. Their salary is fixed at $2,000. 
 
 Near Lynchburg we came again to the valley of the James 
 river. There is abundance of water power here, and with 
 the facilities for obtaining coal and iron, this must eventually 
 become a very important manufacturing place. There is 
 more tenacity of soil as we approach the Blue Ridge, the 
 land grows more fertile in appearance, and the adaptation to 
 grazing improves. The peach trees, which were in full 
 blossom at Richmond, and which lined the railroad for more 
 than loo miles, growing from the pits which had been 
 thrown from the cars, and making a most beautiful flowery 
 way for the travelers, were less forward as we came into 
 more elevated and colder regions, the peach buds being 
 scarcely opened. Here we strike the great Southern Mail 
 Route from New York and Washington, being 406 miles 
 from the former city, and 178 from the latter. 
 
 From Lynchburgh to Bristol, 201 miles, we passed the 
 most of the way in the night, but are informed there is an 
 excellent soil there, and in some places extensive mineral 
 resources. The blue grass, which is so good for grazing, is 
 predominant. At Marion, 150 miles from Lynchburgh, are 
 large deposits of gypsum, which was mined for agricultural 
 and mechanical purposes. Ex-Gov. Bigler, of Pennsylvania, 
 is largely interested in these deposits, and was on the train 
 with us on his way to this place, with a view to greatly 
 increase the manufacture of Plaster of Paris by the erection 
 of extensive machinery for grinding. It is in convenient 
 proximity to the railroad, and as the deposits are inexhaust- 
 ible, tnere is a prospect of its becoming a large business, and
 
 136 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 a great benefit to the State and agricultural region. From 
 Lynchburgh we climbed the mountains and were now at 
 the summit. At six o'clock in the morning we reached 
 Bristol, on the line between Virginia and Tennessee. From 
 thence to Knoxville, 130 miles, we have a descending grade. 
 We strike Holston river, a branch of the Tennessee, near 
 Rogersville, and follow down near this stream and the 
 Tennessee river to Chattanooga, 1 1 2 miles from Knoxville. 
 The train makes rapid time on this grade, though there 
 being but one train per day the stoppages were frequent, but 
 short. Down this valley are to appearances as fine farming 
 lands as are to be found. We are told that from twenty to 
 twenty-five barrels of corn to the acre are not an uncommon 
 yield, and that the same crop is put in year after year, with 
 little deterioration of product. At L,enoir's, 22 miles from 
 Knoxville, we saw a cotton factory, which had been built 
 and running for many years. The proprietor had a thousand 
 acres of land in connection, which lies as finely as any we 
 ever saw. There is a red clay subsoil to most of the land 
 we saw after crossing the Ridge. The land having been 
 plowed for the coming crop, had a black mould appearance, 
 similar to what is seen on the prairies of Iowa. 
 
 We traveled a part of the day with Mr. Thomas McGill, 
 Southern Passenger Agent of the great Southern Mail Line 
 from New York, Baltimore and Washington, to Atlanta, 
 Ga. He gave us much information concerning the country 
 through which we passed. We found him very intelligent 
 and gentlemanly, and though "to the manner born," he 
 conversed freely on the situation, as did most of those whom 
 we met. He represented that the South was recuperating 
 rapidly since the war, and lands were already being held 
 much higher than they had been. The city of Atlanta he 
 represented as having the greatest growth of any city of the 
 South. At the evacuation of Gen. Sherman there was only 
 about 6,000 inhabitants, and now there are from 30,000 to 
 35,000, and it is still growing rapidly. He estimated that 
 at the present rate of progress there would be 75,000 popu- 
 lation within ten years. One iron establishment employs
 
 ON TO RICHMOND. 137 
 
 340 hands. These works were built since the war. About 
 i, 800 buildings were put up in the place last year. 
 
 Nearly every place we have passed after crossing the 
 mountains shows evidence of recuperation and progress. 
 All whom we have met express a desire for an influx of 
 immigration with mechanical skill and capital. Their tools 
 and skilled labor must come from the North, and they desire 
 that there shall be manufactories of different kinds started 
 among them. They have only the rudest kinds of imple- 
 ments of agriculture of their own manufacture, and improve- 
 ments of this kind will be greatly to their advantage.
 
 138 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 CHALMETTE CEMETERY. 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, March 6, 1887. 
 
 We have just returned from a trip to the National 
 cemetery at Chalmette, some eight miles down the Miss- 
 issippi, on the east bank. It seemed singular as we rode 
 along the batik, to see the water several feet higher than the 
 land over the levee, and to observe that should a crevasse 
 be made the river would overflow the adjacent land for 
 miles. In places we saw sluices through which the water 
 flowed for irrigation, the quantity regulated by a gate in the 
 sluice. The rice fields farther down are flowed in this way, 
 after being plowed, when a man on horseback rides around 
 in the water, scattering the seed, the horse drawing a long 
 drag w r hich covers it, and from which springs the crop. 
 When matured, the water is drained off and the rice crop is 
 harvested. 
 
 On our way to the cemetery we pass the incomplete monu- 
 ment erected to the memory of Andrew Jackson. It is on a 
 pedestal of brick, evidently designed to be faced with stone, 
 and is in form like Bunker Hill monument and is ascended 
 by winding stairs inside. It is some 75 feet high, and was 
 probably designed to be of more than twice this height. It 
 is many years since any work has been done on it. Here is 
 the place at which Gen. Jackson fought his memorable 
 battle, in which the British were defeated and Gen. Packen- 
 ham killed. A clump of live oaks a half mile below indicates 
 the place where Packenham died. A long line of earth 
 works indicates the line 01 battle which the Confederates had 
 placed in order to stop Gen. Butler* from coming to the city 
 in the late war, but which they hastily abandoned without 
 contest on the approach of his army. It is 71 years on
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 139 
 
 the 8th of January since the battle of New Orleans was 
 fought. Peace had already been declared in December 
 previous, but no steamships or cable telegraph then carried 
 the news, or the battle would not have been fought, and 
 Gen. Jackson never would have been President. The 
 people of New Orleans still celebrate the anniversary of the 
 battle of New Orleans, but on the equestrian statue of the 
 old hero on Jackson Square opposite the old French market, 
 the inscription "The Union must and shall be preserved" 
 was so completely obliterated by the rebels during the war, 
 that it cannot now be read. On the opposite side the in- 
 scription is perfect. 
 
 The National cemetery is a beautiful place, and shows 
 excellent care. Like all National cemeteries at the Sonth, 
 the Nation guards with jealous care the remains of the brave 
 men who sacrificed their lives in its defence. The Chalinette 
 National Cemetery was established in May, 1864. The 
 remains of the dead soldiers and sailors were gathered from 
 the forts and battle-fields for a long distance, and from the 
 camps and hospitals in the city during its occupancy by the 
 Union forces. There are 12,273 interments here, of which 
 the names are given on the small white head stones of 6,789, 
 while 5,484 are marked "unknown." Those known are 
 from all parts of the Union States, and speak sad memories 
 of departed ones whose families and friends gave them as a 
 costly sacrifice that the Union might be preserved. 
 
 A fine shell road is now being constructed by the govern- 
 ment from the U. S. Barracks to the cemetery, one and a 
 half miles distant, so that access to this sacred spot will be 
 easier and pleasanter. 
 
 STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY. 
 
 With a party of Northern people we have just visited the 
 "Straight University" for colored 1 students. It was founded 
 by Dea. Straight, of Hudson, Ohio. It is under the 
 patronage of the Am. Missionary Association, and has also 
 aid from the Slater and the Peabody funds. Prof. R. C. 
 Hitchcock, of Mass., is President of the institution, and has 
 a corps of eighteen professors and teachers, who take the
 
 140 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 pupils through all the grades to graduation in the highest 
 classical course. There are about 450 students, of both 
 sexes, who have more than the ordinary advantages of a 
 Southern school. The pupils come from all parts of the 
 South and the West Indies and Mexico. Some are of 
 wealthy families, but most of them are poor, and have to 
 struggle with indigence to obtain their education. It costs 
 $100. per year each for their tuition and board, each of the 
 girls, without regard to wealth, taking a part in the work 
 of the institution. In this way they learn all the mysteries 
 of successful house-keeping, which will be introduced into 
 the cabins of the former slaves, and as most of them will 
 become teachers, whole neighborhoods will be imbued with 
 the progressive spirit. 
 
 EL PASO, Texas, March 9, 1887. 
 
 Dear Censor, We left New Orleans Monday morn, yth, 
 and arrived here this morning. The trip over the ' 'Sunset 
 route' ' is a pleasant one, and particularly adapted to this 
 season of the year. In fact it has become quite popular. 
 Excursions go from New Orleans to San Francisco, with 
 stop-over privileges, for $60. the round trip. One of these 
 started on the 4th and another will start on the iyth. 
 Tickets are sold over this route at the same price from New 
 York as by other routes, and this enables one to enjoy June 
 weather the whole trip. At New Orleans we had all the 
 early vegetables, with strawberries,- and all through Southern 
 Louisiana and Eastern Texas we had the same pleasant 
 atmosphere and lovely skies. From New Orleans to the 
 Sabine river, the boundary between Louisiana and Texas, 
 about 260 miles, we had a succession of sugar, cotton and 
 rice plantations, similar to those we saw from New Orleans 
 to Baton Rouge, or nearly to Vicksburg. For some 200 
 miles in Eastern Texas the climate and productions are 
 similar. The soil is very fertile and productive, presenting 
 an appearance of fertility not unlike the Illinois prairies, 
 while the climate renders the growing of sugar and cotton a 
 great success.
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 141 
 
 The state of Texas is more than five times as large as the 
 state of New York, while the population is only about one- 
 fifth as great. In passing from the Sabine river to El Paso, 
 the extreme westerly point, we traveled about 800 miles. 
 Reached San Antonio, 577 miles from New Orleans, on the 
 morning of the second day. Here we found a city of 22,000 
 inhabitants, and extensive military barracks. The Post 
 Office receipts are the largest in the state except at Austin, 
 the capital. San Antonio is an old Spanish settlement, the 
 oldest in the state. We then passed into a desolate country, 
 nearly destitute of vegetation except of a most hardy kind, 
 and in appearance it would seem almost impossible to sustain 
 a bare subsistence for stock of any kind. They had no rain 
 for seven months. The sky \vas without a cloud, and the 
 blazing sun had no obstruction to its fervent rays. But the 
 state is so large, that though less than one-thirty-fifth of its 
 surface is cultivated, yet it ranks first in cattle and cotton, 
 second in sugar, sheep, mules and horses. 
 
 As w r e pass along westward, the indications of a former 
 civilization present themselves. We see the adobe abodes 
 of the Mexicans, in which large families are domiciled in a 
 house not more than ten or twelve feet square, with flat roof, 
 and often without a window, some cattle, horses and donkeys 
 obtaining a bare living from the stinted and dry shrubbery 
 around, and all the surroundings indicating but few of the 
 comforts of life. 
 
 When about 700 miles west of New Orleans, we came to 
 the Rio Grande, which forms the boundary between the 
 States and Mexico, from its mouth to El Paso. Here we got 
 our first view of the difficulties encountered in constructing 
 the Southern Pacific road. The railroad track is cut into 
 the shelving, chalky lime rock, which towers two or three 
 hundred feet above it, and looks as though it might topple 
 down and crush the cars like so many egg shells. Some 
 fifty or sixty feet below is the river, where destruction would 
 await the train and passengers should we be thrown from 
 the track. Now we enter a tunnel two or three hundred 
 feet long, and pass over an iron bridge that spans a gulch
 
 142 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 far below. At times we pass caverns of large size which 
 have been cleaved from the mural precipice high above the 
 passing train. Again the precipitous rock projects like 
 Titan's pier or the Giant's causeway, in horizontal strata 
 tier on tier to a dizzy height, all appearing as though a 
 slight trembling might jar the great masses to the depths 
 below. By what forces of nature these precipitous rocks 
 were piled upon each other in such apparently unstable 
 positions, was to us an unfathomable mystery. There were 
 1 8 miles of this over-hanging rock, through which the road 
 passes, upon which 3,000 men were engaged for 18 months 
 night and day, and the cost of the road was $100,000 per 
 mile through this canon. All this distance the road is 
 constantly ascending, till it reaches an elevation of over 
 5,000 feet. 
 
 On the morning of the third day from New Orleans, we 
 reached El Paso, 1,200 miles distant. Our friend Joseph 
 Shepard, of Chicago, gave us a letter of introduction to Mr. 
 Roman, the Express agent here, from whom we received 
 kind attentions and were shown over the city. It contains 
 some 6,000 population, about half of which are Americans 
 from all the different states, and the other moiety are 
 Mexicans, or descendants of Spanish and Indians who live 
 in adobe houses, as they have done for centuries past. The 
 Americans residents show a large amount of enterprise and 
 the city is growing rapidly. It is at the extreme western 
 eid of Texas, and is increasing in irnportance. The Rio 
 Grande is now a small stream here and could be easily 
 crossed by wading but it bears the marks on the banks of 
 being quite large when the snow melts on the mountains of 
 California, where it has its rise. The floods appear about 
 June, as it takes a long time for high water to reach here 
 from such a distance. There are fine stores here, some 
 half-dozen churches, court house, school houses, two daily 
 papers, and a good beginning for a prosperous city. The 
 railroad to the city of Mexico runs from El Paso, and also 
 the Atchison and Santa Fe route connects here. 
 
 The water works of El Paso are very fine. The water is
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 143 
 
 pumped up from the river to a high elevation far above the 
 city, and gives great pressure for fire purposes. The U. S. 
 barracks contain two companies of infantry. The buildings 
 are of adobe, nicely fhrnished, plastered and whitewashed, 
 and are very comfortable. The U. S. Consul on the 
 Mexican side also lives here in an adobe house. 
 
 We visited the Mexican city of El Paso del Norte, across 
 the river, which is reached by an international street rail- 
 road and cars passing every 15 minutes. The Mexican 
 Custom House officer invited Mrs. M. to open her satchel 
 when we crossed the river, to see that she was not smuggling. 
 He performed his official duties very politely by motions, as 
 he did not speak English. 
 
 We called on the Consul on the Mexican side, Judge 
 Brigham, with whom we had a pleasant chat. He says the 
 business between this country and Mexico is rapidly in- 
 creasing, and is now about ten millions a year, mostly in 
 silver bullion, hides &c. It had increased from three 
 millions since he came here. 
 
 This afternoon we took a carriage with Mr. Roman and 
 drove over the Mexican city, through all the pnncipal 
 streets, where some of the adobe dwellings and business 
 places presented a good appearance, though all were unique, 
 and showed that they were in a foreign country. The soil 
 is rich, and is made to produce largely by irrigation the 
 only way a crop can be obtained. The El Paso grape is 
 extensively grown and has a wide reputation. Numerous 
 goats are kept here for their milk, for they will live where 
 cows will starve, as but little forage can be obtained. We 
 visited an old Catholic church, which was erected some 350 
 years ago. It was made of adobe, the walls about lour feet 
 thick, tower and all built of the same material. The paint- 
 ings were not artistic, and the general appearance was far 
 less imposing than the old Cathedral in St. Augustine, 
 Florida. The timbers of the ceiling were ornamented, and 
 everything showed marks of great antiquity. The plaza is 
 not attractive, though judging from the large number of 
 seats around, it is evidently a place of considerable resort.
 
 i44 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Near this was the arena of the bull fights, which are in- 
 dulged in as in all Spanish countries. We were very glad 
 of the opportunity of visiting this ancient and renowned 
 Mexican city. It has many American residents, who cross 
 the river for church services and schools. Only one Catholic 
 church is on the Texas side, and that is of small dimensions, 
 and not well cared for. 
 
 SAN GORGONIO, Cal., March 12, 1887. 
 
 Dear Censor: We arrived here yesterday, a distance of 
 nearly 2,000 miles from New Orleans. The distance from 
 El Paso, Texas, through New Mexico and Arizona to this 
 place, which is some 80 miles from L,os Angeles, is about 
 750 miles. The highest point reached is 5,082 feet above 
 sea level, and is some 200 miles east of El Paso. New 
 Mexico has furnished since it became U. S. territory in 1846, 
 in gold and silver over twenty million dollars in value, more 
 than two thirds of which has been in gold. Santa Fe was 
 settled by the Spaniards more than 300 years ago, long 
 before New England was trodden by the feet of the Pilgrims, 
 and though abounding in mineral wealth, has had but a 
 slight development as compared with the bleak lands of the 
 East. This shows that something beside the precious 
 metals are necessary to make a nation rich and prosperous. 
 The population is about 120,000, of which some 10,000 are 
 Indians. The vast plains through which the road passes 
 present far from an attractive appearance. The cactus and 
 small shrubs are the principal products, though where the 
 land is susceptible of irrigation large crops may be produced. 
 The territory now contains more than 1,500 miles of rail- 
 road, all constructed since 1878. The valleys of the rivers 
 and streams where irrigation can be had are quite fertile, 
 but the vast extent of country over plains and up the 
 mountain sides presents no signs of verdure except the 
 stunted growth of shrubs sparsely scattered over the arid 
 plains. 
 
 From New Mexico we pass into Arizona, which was set 
 off from New Mexico as a territory in 1863. The Southern
 
 FROM N~E\V ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 14$ 
 
 Pacific passes about 350 miles in this territory, much of 
 which we passed in the night, but so far as we could observe 
 there was a sameness with New Mexico that was almost 
 painful. Sno\v on the mountains was seen on either hand 
 as we 'passed rapidly along, while on the plains where we 
 were traveling it was hot and dusty, and the scenery was 
 far from being attractive. Of its 80,000 inhabitants, 30,000 
 live by stock raising and farming. 
 
 On the fourth day of our trip from New Orleans we pass- 
 ed the Colorado River at Yuma, into Lower California. We 
 were now on the down grade, and the scenery began 
 .gradually to change. The breeze from the ocean was cool 
 and refreshing, and verdure appeared in the valleys and 
 mountain sides. San Gorgonio Pass is 2,560 feet above the 
 level of the sea. The valley which spreads out beneath is 
 one of the most attractive places we have seen for more than 
 two thousand miles. 
 
 Here we met Mr. Albert H. Judson and wife, who will be 
 pleasantly remembered by Fredonia people, and on whom 
 fortune has smiled benificently since they came to the 
 Pacific shore. He left Fredonia some fifteen years ago, 
 located in Los Angeles, and engaged in his profession of the 
 law, and in real estate business. His home here is near the 
 foot hills of the mountains about five miles away from the 
 railroad station, where he has about i , 700 acres of choice 
 land, where he cultivates the grape, the prune, and olive, as 
 well as grain, grasses and everything necessary for comfort 
 and enjoyment. From our room we see the mignonette, 
 marigold, verbenas, a variety of geraniums and other 
 flowers, which perfume the air with their fragrance, while 
 apparently not five miles away on either side are mountains 
 covered with snow, and altogether presenting a scene of 
 beauty which is indescribable. A vineyard of more than 
 twenty years growth, planted by the former Spanish settlers, 
 yields an abundance of fruit in its season. The vines are 
 not trellised like ours, but grow up about two or three feet 
 high and throw out their branches which are cut back each
 
 146 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 year after the fruit has matured. The climate is peculiar- 
 ly adapted to fruit, the limit of temperature being between 
 29 degrees and about 90. The most delicate flowers grow 
 in the open air without suffering from the frost. Mr. J. nas 
 ordered 500 olive trees, 500 almond, some pomegranates of 
 a fine variety, 1,000 cherry trees, fig trees, oranges, apricots, 
 etc., all of which do well here. 
 
 The olive is very profitable. It begins to bear in five 
 years from setting, and he mentioned a farm near Colton 
 which produced from $500 to $2,000 value per acre, in- 
 creasing as the trees attained their growth. All this valley 
 of San Gorgonio is well adapted to all kinds of fruit, and 
 the many thousands of acres hemmed in by mountains now 
 covered with snow, have perpetual verdure. We are now 
 about 100 miles from the ocean, about 2,500 feet elevation 
 above the sea, where the air is so clear that the snow covered 
 mountains, some ten to twenty miles away, appear as if 
 they could be reached by three or four hours walk. For 
 salubrity the climate is unexcelled. The wheat requires 
 sow r ing but once in two or three years, reseeding itself, the 
 "volunteer" being almost equal to the first crop. 
 
 SAN DIEGO, Cal., March 18, 1887. 
 
 Dear Censor: We arrived here from Colton on the evening 
 of the 1 6th. Having a little time we made a trip to River- 
 side, some seven miles from Colton, which is called the most 
 delightful place in this part of the state. It is celebrated for 
 its fruit .and the beauty of its grounds. The plan is laid out 
 most beautifully, and fine residences and artistic surround- 
 ings give a charm to the place. It contains about 3,000 
 inhabitants, and has had a rapid growth. The trip from 
 Colton to this city was a most delightful one. It is included 
 in the excursion by the sunset route at a small extra charge. 
 We pass through miles of canyon, with precipitous rocky 
 upheavals above and below us, the tortuous windings 
 veering to nearly every point of compass. A stream rushes 
 over the rocky bed, over which the track crosses several 
 times, with here and there a level interval, sufficiently large 
 for a dwelling and fruit orchard. The fruit trees are in full
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 147 
 
 blossom, and the wild shrubbery on the precipitous rocks, 
 presented a strange contrast with the scenery we had passed 
 through on the last part of our trip in Texas. After passing 
 several miles through this wild scenery, we emerged on a 
 broad plain of apparently great fertility. It was a large 
 ranch known as the Flood ranch, of many thousand acres, 
 on which it was said 40,000 cattle are kept. We soon came 
 in sight of the Pacific ocean, whose broad expanse was in 
 sight for many miles before reaching this city. 
 
 It was nearly eight o'clock when we arrived. Here we 
 met Col. Barrell, who had preceded us, and had kindly 
 engaged a place for our entertainment. We spent yesterday 
 in looking about the city. We were surprised at its modern 
 and progressive appearance. It is one of the oldest cities of 
 Western Mexico, but the old town is some three miles away. 
 This San Diego is entirely modern, has its large hotels, its 
 street car lines extending many miles, its churches and 
 school houses, large and commodious business houses, and 
 hundreds of temporary abodes to accommodate the rush of 
 people who will soon have more permanent domiciles, all of 
 which show its rapid growth and prosperity. In 1880 the 
 population was about 3,000. The census just completed 
 shows 11,307 of which the Union says 5,000 has been added 
 within eleven months. In every direction are new build- 
 ings, and the sale of real estate is lively. Fortunes are 
 being made by these transactions. It is anticipated that 
 there will be 18,000 to 20,000 population in two or three 
 years. They have just got a city charter and are preparing 
 for all the paraphernalia of a metropolis. 
 
 As a health resort, claims are made for this being the 
 best on the coast. The rain fall is only about 10 inches per 
 year, with an average of only 34 rainy days annually. 
 
 It is now two weeks since we came into the Pacific slope, 
 and we have not had what in Chautauqua County would be 
 called a cloudy day, only a few fleecy clouds appearing 
 toward evening on two or three days since our arrival. 
 
 The harbor of San Diego is one of the finest in the world. 
 A bay in crescent form indents behind a peninsula 22 miles
 
 -t^> EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 long/ where the largest ships may find safe anchorage. This; 
 peninsula is reached by street cars from the city to the ferry,, 
 then by steam ferry boat across the harbor, where a train 
 drawn by a dummy engine takes us across the land to the 
 pacific shore. These grounds are laid out into building 
 lots, intersected by streets and avenues, and all kinds of 
 trees and shrubbery planted. The U. S. Signal Service 
 reports that for ten years to 1886 there were only two days, 
 i-n any one month in which the thermometer marked over 85 
 deg. and the days in which it goes below 40 deg. are as few. 
 The soil is very rich, and one crop can always be obtained 
 without irrigation, but more than- that requires an artificial 
 supply of moisture. The Coronado Beach on the ocean side 
 of the peninsula, is said to have the most charming climate 
 in the world. The average temperature of the year is 70 
 deg. The average temperature for January for 1 2 years,, 
 was at 7 a, m. 48 deg., at 3 p. m, 60.4 deg. at n p. m. 
 52.6, July: 63. 5, 72.2, 65.6. A large hotel is being built 
 with 1800 feet front, with over 500 rooms, and to have 7*^ 
 acres of flooring. It is to be the Coney Island of the Pacific 
 coast. The company making these improvements is 
 organized with a capital of a million. Every kind of busi- 
 ness is lively, and real estate agencies are found on nearly 
 every street. The city is spreading rapidly, and buildings 
 are going up in every direction. Wages are high, carpenters 
 getting $3.50 per day, plasterers $5., and other skilled labor 
 in proportion, while unskilled labor commands $2. per day. 
 
 Among the former Fredonians we have met here are Miss 
 Emma Chapin, who will be remembered as a teacher in 
 Dist. No. 8, Jesse Tate, a former typo in the Censor office, 
 Mrs.' J. S. Wright, a sister of Mrs. H. P. Perrin, and also 
 from the county, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas of Jamestown, who 
 are on their way to San Francisco. 
 
 At Colton we met Dr. Hutchinson, who is practicing in 
 his profession there, and who has completely recovered his 
 health in that delightful salubrious climate 1,000 feet above 
 the level of the sea. We have seen many people since we
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 149 
 
 arrived on this side of the continent, who came for their 
 health, and mostly have had success. 
 
 SOUTH PASADENA, Cal., March 24, 1887. 
 
 Dear Censor: It is now nearly two weeks since we 
 arrived in the Sunset State and our expectations have been 
 more than realized. We get an idea here of the energy and 
 enterprise of the American peopie, and also of their power of 
 assimilation. By the treaty signed July 4, 1848, by James 
 K. Polk, President, and J. Buchanan, Sec'y of State, an 
 extent of territory equal to fifteen large states was ceded to 
 the United States, in addition to that previously annexed 
 from Mexico in Texas, which is equal to five states larger 
 than the State of New York, making in all more than the 
 territory of twenty large states taken from Mexico and 
 added to the National domain. The last accession was from 
 32 deg. N. latitude to 42 deg., the southern boundary of 
 Oregon, and about 15 deg. east and west, making 700 
 miles north and south, and 900 miles east and west, or 
 630,000 square miles of this vast territory. We find the 
 following in Mansfield's history of the Mexican war, publish- 
 ed nearly forty years ago: 
 
 "But will the greater part of this vast space ever be in- 
 habited by any but the restless hunter and the wandering 
 trapper ? Two hundred thousand square miles of this terri- 
 tory in New California has been trod by the feet of no 
 civilized being. No spy or pioneer or vagrant trapper has 
 ever returned to report the character of this vast and lonely 
 wilderness. Two hundred thousand square miles more are 
 occupied with broken mountains and dreary wilds. But 
 little remains then for civilization." 
 
 By the annexation of Mexican territory, our country has 
 become the greatest gold and silver producing country in 
 the world. In former times the coin of the country was 
 Mexican and Spanish, postage was collected in Spanish 
 currency, ranging at 6^ cts., 12)^, 18^, and 25 cts. all to 
 represent the silver coin then in circulation. Now the 
 great coin supply of the world is from the Pacific States and
 
 MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 territories, and much the largest from California, which, up 1 
 to 1883 supplied $726,000,000 to the U. S. Mint and assay 
 offices. In no part of the country has the population 
 increased more rapidly and improvements progressed faster.. 
 Even now the trains are filled with tourists and emigrants,, 
 most of them seeking homes in the new states. 
 
 So far as we have observed, every part of Southern Cali- 
 fornia is- having a boom-. People from the North are trans- 
 ported here from a hyperborean climate of snow and blizzards- 
 to a land of almost perpetual sunshine and verdure. The 
 transition seems almost magical. We have heard it said 
 that the western side of a continent is always milder than 
 the eastern. Whether it is due to the trade winds or to 
 other causes, the fact is obvious. The west of Europe has- 
 a far milder climate than the eastern side .of America in the 
 same latitude, and the shores of the Pacific are far milder 
 than the same latitude on the Atlantic coast. In coming 
 from New Orleans here, we find the fruit more tropical on 
 the Pacific coast than on the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico, 
 and a greater variety produced. The soil is also much more 
 productive than in Florida, and the climate far more uniform. 
 The Pacific slope w y here the soil is made by attrition of the 
 mountain sides, is very productive and inexhaustible while 
 the white sandy soil of Florida requires fertilization. The 
 orange trees here become productive in three or four years 
 from setting, and get in their prime in six or eight years. 
 They seem to yield a greater amount of fruit. We saw in 
 one field at Pasadena, yesterday, trees so loaded with 
 oranges as to require supports to keep them from breaking, 
 but we should guess more than fifty bushels were lying on 
 the ground and decaying, just as we see apples in the North 
 in the fall. 
 
 The West has greatly changed within a generation. 
 Our grand-fathers and fathers spoke of going west when 
 Western New York was the destination. Their children 
 spoke of the country west of the Lakes or the Mississippi as 
 the West, Now it means west of the Rocky Mountains. 
 The aboriginees of the country have been persuaded to go
 
 "FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 1J1 
 
 west, till but comparatively a small spot on the continent is 
 reserved for them, and the Mexicans who once had posses- 
 sion of this territory have become insignificant in proportion 
 to the present population. At no time in its history has 
 population flowed in so rapidly. Four lines of trans 
 continental railroad are engaged in carrying tourists, emi- 
 grants and products between the east and \vest. California 
 seems to be more congenial than Florida, and the tide is 
 fast turning in this direction. Excursion trains come in 
 freighted with tourists, who seek riddance of the snows and 
 storms of New England and the Northern States. The 
 Southern Pacific affords them a mild climate the whole 
 distance. Here they find fruits and flowers the year round. 
 \Vc are now having the verdure of May and June, and the 
 fruits of October and November. The orange trees are in 
 full blossom and at the same time loaded with golden fruit. 
 Vegetables can be gathered from the ground at any time, 
 and need no storage for winter. We hardly know the 
 season of the year from the climate, and must consult the 
 almanac to ascertain. 
 
 Last New Years' s about 400 lowans held a picnic in the 
 open air at Lincoln Park, near here where they had a gay 
 time in their ordinary summer clothing. Every house is 
 full and many are living in tents till more permanent dwell- 
 ings can be erected. The Raymond House, located near 
 here, is full, and some excursion trains fail to find accom- 
 modations for their passengers. It is situated on a beautiful 
 rise of ground, commanding a view of the sea, of snow 
 covered mountains and expansive valleys full of fruits, 
 flowers and verdure. It was built by a Boston gentleman 
 at an expense of $320,000 and we have been told that some 
 320 guests are now entertained there. Among these are 
 Judge and Mrs. Barker of Fredonia. The house is princi- 
 pally patronized by New England people, who come on 
 excursions to enjoy this hospitable climate. In every 
 direction new buildings are being erected, grading being 
 done, streets laid out] and the foundations^ laid for large 
 cities. Of course when land is sold for $ 1,000 per acre or
 
 152 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 more, it will hardly pay for investment for farming purposes. 
 The intention of the purchasers is either for speculation in 
 selling again or for a home in this healthful climate, with an 
 income from business here or abroad for support. It costs 
 no more to live here than at the East, except the expense of 
 a house or rent, which at present is much higher. 
 
 In all the places where we have been there is a boom 
 progressing. In San Gorgonio it had just begun, but there 
 is a fair inducement for it to grow. The high elevation of 
 2,500 above the sea, will always make sure a pure and 
 healthful atmosphere, while the slope toward the Pacific 
 will always make a semi-tropical climate a certainty. At 
 Colton, where Dr. Hutchinson kindly showed us the 
 beautiful and extensive orange groves, there is every prospect 
 of growth and prosperity. Colton is quite a railroad center 
 and cannot fail to grow. That it is a healthy place he 
 presents the best proof in himself, having tried Fredonia, 
 Florida, and Los Angeles, and finally finding the right 
 'atmosphere where he now lives, 900 feet above the sea. 
 San Bernardino, some five miles from Golton, is now having 
 a boom, and from being a small Mormon settlement of 
 seceders from the Joe Smith adherents, has become a place 
 of 6,000 population, and is growing faster than ever. 
 
 SOUTH PASADENA, March 28, 1887. 
 
 Dear Censor: It is one week to-day since we arrived 
 here. Each day the weather has been clear and pleasant, 
 no wind above a gentle breeze, and the air as clear and pure 
 as in a pleasant October day. Yesterday p. m. we climbed a 
 mountain where we had as fine a view of the landscape as 
 could be obtained from Holyoke or Nonatuck, but vastly 
 more grand. Far in the distance, say thirty miles away, is 
 "Old Baldy" 9,000 feet high, with a cap of glistening snow 
 extending far down its sides, and to the right still farther 
 away the Sanjacinto mountains, also covered with snow, 
 which will remain till June or July. Within six or ten miles 
 of us are mountains in every direction, with streams flowing 
 down the gorges which furnish irrigation to the fields below.
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 153 
 
 The Los Angeles and San Gabriel valley, extending many 
 miles up among the mountains, is one of exceeding fertility. 
 Within five or six miles of us is the city of Pasadena, which 
 five years ago was but a hamlet with here and there a Mex- 
 ican adobe house, and the fertile lands mostly unoccupied. 
 Now there are more than 6000 inhabitants, some ten miles 
 of street railroads, churches of every denomination, large and 
 elegant blocks of stores and business places, and land selling 
 by the front foot instead of by the acre. A lot for a dwelling 
 50 by 1 60, but within half a mile from the post office, sells 
 for $750 to $1,500. and lots are- getting higher ever)- day, 
 each rise heightening the expectations of the dealers in real 
 estate. 
 
 Scattered over the expanse for miles are groves of orange 
 trees now loaded with the golden fruit and covered with 
 fragrant white blossoms, the harbingers of the next year's 
 crop. It takes the oranges about one year to grow and 
 mature, hence fruit and flowers mingle in luxuriant pro- 
 fusion on the same tree. There are never any violent storms 
 of rain or wind to injure the fruit; oranges hold tenaciously 
 to the tree and are suffered to remain there till about April, 
 when they are gathered and shipped to market. There are 
 also large orchards of apricots, prunes, peaches, pears, 
 olives, and nuts, also large vineyards, all doing well. 
 Scattered here and there are large live oaks with low spread- 
 ing branches, furnishing delightful retreats from the warm 
 rays of the mid-day sun. One of these standing near Mr. 
 H. G. Wilson's residence we measured and found an 
 expanse of more than sixty feet of noonday shade. The 
 soil here is very deep, having been brought from the moun- 
 tain side for centuries, and has equal fertility if brought to 
 the surface for perhaps 100 feet below. 
 
 There are drawbacks in every location and this is not 
 without them. People from New England who settle on 
 the fertile prairies of the west long for a sight of the green 
 hills and mountain peaks, the sparkling rills and pebbly 
 brooks, and yet would not exchange their garden lands for
 
 154 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 the stone walled farms in New England. Beauty of land- 
 scape is often sacrificed for fertility of soil, and health of 
 people. But here the drawbacks are few. People die here 
 as everywhere, but the clear air and sunshine for more than 
 300 days in the year are favorable to those of pulmonary 
 tendency, and many people whom we have seen, who were 
 hopeless of recovery at the east, have become invigorated 
 and robust in this climate. We are constantly reminded 
 that "dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return." Six or 
 seven months in succession without rain and with very little 
 dew, is one of the drawbacks, but the people here are not 
 troubled with the lightning rod men, as there are no thunder 
 showers, which is some offset. Then they have to make 
 no cellars, which diminishes the expense of building. The 
 potatoes are dug from the ground as wanted in any season 
 of the year: We have had strawberries for some time and 
 learn that they are to be had every month till December. 
 Mr. Gates showed us two sweet potatoes which he had just 
 dug, which grew without care from last year's planting; 
 one of these measured 15 inches in length and 12 inches in 
 circumference. Once planted they grow voluntarily year 
 after year from the rootlets left in the ground. 
 
 The lumber used here is the pine from Oregon and the 
 redwood from this state. The coarse lumber costs about 
 $25 per m. and clear redwood from $30 to $35. It is brought 
 by vessels down the coast. There is scarcely any timber 
 suitable for sawing in this region, thougn the eucalyptus or 
 the Australian gum tree grows very rapidly. One on Mr. 
 Gates' premises set three years ago is over 30 feet high. 
 Fuel is quite high though but little is used. 
 
 It is the expectation that most of the eligible places will 
 be purchased for residences by eastern people who wish to 
 enjoy the California climate in winter. Many beautiful 
 residences adorn the elevated landscape and the profusion 
 of shrubs and flowers now in full bloom , gives a charming 
 appearance. Roses, geraniums, wtsteria and blossoms of 
 every kind, growing profusely without protection through
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA. 155 
 
 the winter, make a singular impression on those who have 
 been accustomed to overcoats, mittens and constant coal 
 fires for six months in the year. Here every day on the 
 open verandah is enjoyed, though the noontide heat is a 
 little oppressive. The nights are cloudless, cool and refresh- 
 ing, and the gentle breeze from the ocean is a restorative of 
 vigor from depressions of the heat of the day. 
 
 We were told yesterday by the editor of the 'Star' that 
 there is more wealth in Pasadena in proportion to popula- 
 tion than any other place in Caliiornia, and that more than 
 twenty millionaires are residents here. The beautiful 
 residences and spacious grounds laid out in artistic taste, 
 justify this opinion. People of large wealth and cultivation 
 come here to enjoy the mild climate, and bring large 
 possessions with them. The attendance at the churches 
 and the appearance of the audiences show a refined and 
 cultivated population, and the streets, walks, and street 
 railroads, and business places, show a large degree of public 
 spirit. 
 
 We are more than pleased with this our first visit to the 
 State.
 
 1 56 EDITORIAL MISCEXLANTESv 
 
 VICKSBURG. 
 
 , Miss., March 4, 1887, 
 
 A trip from New Orleans up the Mississippi Valley is a 
 tiiost delightful one. A distance of 250 miles takes us from 
 the largest city of the South to the largest in the state of 
 Mississippi, Soon after leaving the Crescent City, we pass* 
 the rice and sugar-cane fields, which are seen, in constant 
 succession for some fifty miles. The soil is rich and fertile, 
 and for miles away almost as level as a floor. The trees 
 and shrubs are already green with foliage, 'and the white 
 clover in full blossom shows an advance in the season of 
 fully two months over the shores of Lake Erie. We passed 
 thousands of acres of sugar plantations, and the darkey men 
 and women were out in full force in squads of 20 to 50, 
 preparing the ground for the coming crop. One wealthy 
 planter, by whose grounds we passed, had five sugar planta- 
 tions, each with machinery and faculties for the manufacture 
 of molasses and sugar, and with quarters for the colored 
 laborers all arranged in rows and streets, the cabins all 
 newly white-washed and presenting an air of comfort not 
 seen on the cotton plantations, and we presume the culture 
 is much more profitable. He makes from 4000 to 5000 
 hhds. of sugar per year. He pays his laborers 60 cents per 
 day and furnishes the cabins and rations of 5 Ibs. bacon and 
 a peck of corn per week. Also supplies each family with a 
 piece of ground for a garden, in which they cultivate vege- 
 tables on Saturdays, which they have to themselves. The 
 cane is usually planted once in three years, by laying down 
 and covering the stalk, from which at eachjoint the new shoot 
 springs up. New shoots from the stubble of the year before, 
 furnish the crop for two ye"ars after planting. The season 
 for grinding and boiling lasts for about three weeks, and is
 
 VICKSBURG. 157 
 
 a hurrying time; extra wages are then paid and the hands 
 are worked night and day. 
 
 The rice fields are flowed from the river by syphons over 
 the levees, and are kept flowed till the crop matures. The 
 State ranks third in the production ol rice, and first in sugar 
 and molasses. 
 
 In four hours from N. O. we reach Baton Rouge, the 
 State Capital. It is pleasantly situated on the bank of the 
 Mississippi, safely above inundation, and has a fair looking 
 State house, though not imposing. The population of the 
 city is less than 8,000. The legislature sits biennially in 
 even number years, and is limited to 60 days of session, and 
 yet the people have all the legislation they want. All the 
 Southern States have biennial legislative sessions, and 75 
 days is the longest period allowed to any of them for the 
 discharge of their legislative duties. Some of our Northern 
 States could learn a good lesson from them in this respect. 
 
 We reached Vicksburg at 6 p. m. making the entire trip 
 by daylight, and very pleasantly. Mr. Allein and family 
 gave us kind attention and made our stay in the city very 
 pleasant. This is a historic place, and will be long remem- 
 bered by the troops who invested it for months in 1863, and 
 the 4th of July of that year is a red letter day in more senses 
 than one. The location of the place high above the river, 
 indented by ravines among high hills, rendered it a complete 
 Gibraltar, which never could have been captured by front 
 attack. The surrender was a great relief to both armies, 
 and to the starving multitudes burrowing in caves for safety 
 from the shot and shell so constantly thrown against them. 
 The capture of Vicksburg and surrender of Pemberton's 
 army was the turning point of the war, and new hopes were 
 inspired throughout the Norlh, when soon after the 
 Mississippi flowed unvexed by hostile forces to the gulf. 
 
 Yicksburg is the largest city in the state and contains 
 about 14,000 inhabitants. The river channel was formerly 
 under its precipitous banks, and it was only by running the 
 gauntlet of its frowning guns that Porter's fleet got below.
 
 T58 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 and the army was enabled to beseige it from the rear, cut 
 off the supplies, and compel its surrender. An attempt was- 
 made to cut a canal across the peninsula, and thus avoid 
 the batteries, but it failed. The river has since cut across, 
 in part by Grant's canal, and now Vicksburg is left some 
 six miles away from the channel of the river, from which 
 its commerce may suffer some, but this will be vastly more 
 than compensated by the commercial value of the railroad 
 constructed parallel to the river, making a strong competition. 
 New railroad lines are being constructed each year over the 
 level and easily graded lands of the South, all centering in 
 New Orleans, as those at the Northeast at the great com- 
 mercial centers. No such splendid steamers as formerly 
 carried the passengers and commere of the West will again 
 be built for this trade. The Mississippi, like the Northern 
 lakes, will have to surrender a large part of her commerce 
 to the railroads, which will open up the whole country to 
 settlement and business, and diffuse wealth and prosperity 
 throughout the South. 
 
 Many of the older inhabitants of Vicksdurg pleasantly 
 remembered Dr. J. G. Holland when he had charge of the 
 leading public school of the city, and his wife was assistant. 
 We have heard him relate his experience there, and how 
 his return North was hastened by the serious illness of his 
 wife's mother, and as a result of his return he became 
 associated with the late Samuel Bowles in the publication of 
 the Springfield Republican, in which he wrote some of his 
 most successful books in weekly contributions. 
 
 A visit to the National cemetery at Vicksburg ought not 
 to be neglected by any one going there. It is laid out with 
 more taste and presents the most varied scenery of any of 
 the National cemeteries we have visited. It required great 
 engineering skill and taste to bring out so much beauty of 
 design from such broken and precipitous land. About 
 seventy-five acres are enclosed, and laid out in circuitous 
 drives and walks around the irregnlar plots of ground where 
 the dead soldiers are interred. An arched marble entrance 
 way of beautiful design and finishes passed to the beautified
 
 VTCKSBURG. 159 
 
 grounds. The high Kills Kave been terraced down for drives 
 and plots for burial. We keep ascending by these circuitous 
 drives, till we reach the summit, where is an elevation which 
 commands a view of the city and of the serpentine river for 
 miles away, and here is the monument which commemorates 
 the surrender of Gen. Pemberton and his army to Gen. 
 Grant, July 4, 1863. The marble shaft is about 8 feet high 
 and some 18 inches square at the base. It was originally 
 located on the place of surrender some two miles away. 
 Vandals and relic hunters had chipped off pieces of marble 
 till the inscriptions were partly obliterated, and it was 
 removed here for better protection. If one of the Egyptian 
 pyramids had been here, it would have all disappeared in 
 tKe tKousands of years it has stood, had relic hunters had 
 free access to it. 
 
 The people of the city have of course a vivid recollection 
 of the scenes of nearly twenty-four years ago, when t he 
 gigantic batteries were hurling shot and shell on the devoted 
 city, and when the inhabitants sought refuge in caves dug 
 in the sides of the hills, and toward the close of the seige 
 were on the verge of starvation. To most of them the white 
 flag seen on the morning of the 4th, after a residence of six 
 weeks in the damp caves, was a most welcome spectacle. 
 Some of them regretted, however, that the surrender should 
 have taken place on the day of the anniversary of our 
 National Independence.
 
 l6o EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE FALL, OF VICKSBURG. 
 
 [Written by W. D. McKinstry, Dunkirk Journal July 4, 1883.] 
 
 Twenty years ago to-day it was. No one who lived then 
 and had arrived at years when memory holds will ever 
 forget it. Over* two years the war that was to have been 
 finished in thirty days had dragged along and the cause of 
 the Union had only lost ground. A large party had declared 
 the war a failure and there was a growing sentiment for a 
 compromise. Blood and treasure were spent and no results 
 reached. The muffled drum and funeral dirge was heard in 
 every village as brave warriors were brought home and 
 buried under the echoes of the battle in the three volleys 
 fired over their graves, the soldier's last salute. In cottage 
 and mansion chairs stood empty. In the closets still hung 
 the clothes that the hero had cast off when he donned the 
 uniform and their places had not yet become accustomed to 
 their absence. The reality was upon the people. There 
 was no romance longer in the war. But the spirit of 
 patriotism did not fail. The girls wore the shields of the 
 Union on their bosoms and the skirts of their dresses was 
 the flag of the free. It wouldn't be a pretty dress to-day, 
 but it looked glorious then, for it had a meaning; and in 
 the churches and public halls the patient women were 
 gathered and busy fingers were picking and scraping lint 
 and rolling bandages and making little comforts for the 
 soldiers in the field, aye, and knitting stockings and making 
 clothing for their husbands, brothers and sons in the war. 
 On the streets were men with arms in slings or bandaged 
 heads or hobbling about on crutches, the heroes of the day; 
 and there was the copperhead, who fought with bitter 
 tongue the Union cause. How they were hated. But they 
 \vere pretty quiet about that time. Since then many of them
 
 THE FALL OF VTCKSBUHG. l6l 
 
 have developed as the true patriots, the real saviors of the 
 Union. 
 
 But the days were dark up to that Fourth of July, 1863. 
 Then the news came that the silent soldier had captured 
 Vicksburg, the Gibraltar of the Mississippi, and the river 
 was open from the Northland to the Gulf. It was the first 
 note of the victories which followed it rapidly, when Sherman 
 marched to the sea and the silent General crowned his achieve- 
 ments at Appomattox and peace had come. What wonder 
 then that the bells rang out and cannons boomed and the 
 North went wild with joy. It was the first gleam of hope 
 after years of waiting. It brought the assurance that the 
 war was not a failure and these dead had not died in vain. 
 
 Do you remember how the bells rang out here, how the 
 battery of parrott guns ran out of the old armory and carried 
 the news from their iron throats over the hills and valleys 
 of Chautauqua ? It cost some window glass and the batten- 
 in that day mostly spoke German; but what of that? every 
 one understood it. The flags streamed out from every house 
 top, impassioned orators spoke to crowded meetings. What 
 speeches those were. Orators had something to talk about 
 in those days. Listeners had something to think about. 
 Every one felt himself everyinch a man, and every woman 
 was a Joan of Arc. These dudish days appear tame as we 
 think of those days twenty years ago, when the news came 
 that Vicksburg had fallen. 
 
 And how was it in the beleaguered city on that morning 
 of July Fourth, twenty years ago to-day ? We were 
 recently talking with a lady who endured the hardships of 
 cave life during those weary days and this is her story: 
 
 There had been a year of danger. Long before, Porter 
 had brought his mortar fleet up to within range of the city 
 and for days would rain shells down upon us. All the 
 women and children ran to the country back of the city and 
 I well remember the scene on the old Jackson road that 
 early morning in spring when the bombardment commenced. 
 
 The flight was a panic. Many were in their night clothes 
 not daring to wait to dress when the bursting shells drove
 
 1 62 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 them from their beds. We lived in a negro cabin on one of 
 the great plantations back of the city, doing the best we 
 could to be comfortable, but thinking the hardship unbear- 
 able though it was comfort to what we were yet to endure. 
 But the encircling forces crowded us back into the city 
 again. From the Court House hill we could look down the 
 river to the flags of Farragut and Porter and up the river 
 the fleet was pressing down upon us. We built caves in the 
 hill. A neighbor kindly offered to share his with us, laugh- 
 ingly saying it would be a delightful residence. There was 
 no thought then that we should have to live in one, but it 
 was constructed as a temporary place of shelter should the 
 shells fly too thickly. It was a long, narrow cave in the 
 shape of a half moon, with two entrances, for if only one 
 entrance were left, a shell might fill it up and we should be 
 buried alive. We had frequent recourse to it on days 
 when the bombardment was severe but it was some time 
 before we had to take up quarters in it. It is, I believe, 
 still preserved, the 'only one now left in Vicksburg. We 
 became more indifferent to death as the siege progressed. 
 People do, you know, when it is so near them. Life is so 
 cheap when it is daily going. No matter, was the thought, 
 to-morrow we may be killed, and so life went on with no 
 calculations for the morrow. Confederate officers were 
 frequent callers at our home and sometimes it grew very 
 social under our roof surrounded by death. And then bang 
 would go the signal gun, the officers would fly to their posts 
 and we to our caves, for the bombardment had commenced 
 again. That was a gallant young officer who had command 
 of the signal gun. The}' brought him to our home one 
 night torn with a shell and he died in our hall- way, the first 
 officer who fell in the siege. Whistling Dick, the long 
 Whitworth gun which was the terror of the northern fleet, 
 was on an eminence near our home. It commanded up and 
 down the river and was the most destructive gun. We 
 learned soon to distinguish the sound of the different kinds 
 of shells from the fierce screeching of the great mortar
 
 THE FALL OF VICKSBURG. 163 
 
 shells to the almost musical tone of the James and Hotch- 
 kiss shells that rained down upon us. We heard and saw 
 them from our cave dwelling for many days. You have 
 never seen the grandest exposition of fireworks unless you 
 have seen a bombardment by night from mortars, the great 
 masses of fire criss-crossing over the city, bursting in mid 
 air and raining death below. We even noticed the grandeur 
 of it while knowing it might be a message of death to us. 
 
 One morning, during a lull in the firing we were seated 
 at the breakfast table which was not bountifully spread, 
 when a shell suddenly fell and exploded before the dining 
 room door. We rushed out to the cave. People were rush- 
 ing to the caves in all directions, and from it we did not go 
 again for forty-eight days. The federals had surrounded 
 the city entirely, the siege had commenced in earnest and we 
 were in the iron grip of Grant. Our cave was one of the 
 few completed and was crowded as full as it could hold. A 
 young bride came there who had been married that day 
 amid the din of war, the serenade of her wedding night the 
 boom of guns out at the front where her bridegroom stood 
 amid the ranks of death. Another bride of only two weeks 
 was* also one of our company. Poor girl, she went out in 
 the iron hail to meet her husband and was shattered by a 
 bursting shell and doomed to years of suffering before death 
 relieved her. Ah, what a night ! The batteries on the 
 shore belched shot and shell at the fleet, the fleet replied 
 with iron hail. The great guns on the hill tops roared. In 
 the rear of the city the field guns were at it; the volleyed 
 musketry quivered the air. There was battle all about us, 
 the air was full of death, the earth shook with the roar of 
 guns. 
 
 To the rear of the city stood two armies face to face. One 
 wore the blue and one the grey. In northern homes the 
 women were praying and working for the blue. In our 
 damp, close cave we were working and praying for the gray . 
 Why, I knew that in the ranks of the blue were school 
 friends of years before that I had known in a little tree clad 
 village of the north where I had spent happy school days.
 
 164 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 And I knew in the ranks of the gray there were those who- 
 only a few hours before had been under my father's roof,, 
 the friends of our house and home and companions of my 
 youth. And blue and grey were out there, the one giving 
 his life for his nation, the other giving his life for his home. 
 The blue wave dashed upward on the earthworks and the 
 blood crested wave rolled back again from the gray beach 
 of the human sea. Day after day the guns roared and 
 volleyed and the dead came back and the living went out. 
 Day after day we waited. A friend was brought in and so 
 great was the love of him that he was buried in the city 
 cemetery while the shells shattered the tombstones all about 
 the burial party. There was death in our cave, and a table 
 that was there was made into a coffin and near by we buried 
 her, the daughter of our clergyman. For food we had corn 
 meal and molasses and occasionally a rarity of meat. To be 
 sure it was mule meat, but then it was a luxury. At length 
 one day there came a lull in the storm. It was the third of 
 July. 1863. We were ready to bear all dangers to get a 
 breath of fresh air and stretch our cramped limbs, and with 
 my mother on whom fatal consumption had fastened itself in 
 the damp cave, we started for our home to find it pierced 
 with shells and shattered, but still habitable. A quarter- 
 master came riding down the street. "You can stay there 
 if you wish to-night," he said, "there will be no firing." 
 What did it mean ? We climbed a hill and looked toward 
 the army in the rear of the city. The smoke had cleared 
 away, the guns were silent. The silence seemed intense 
 and ominous and unnatural after the days of battle. A long 
 line of white flags were waving between the armies. A 
 truce was declared. Out from the caves poured the people, 
 wan, emaciated and some near death. A surrender was- 
 rumored and received with sullen denial. Death was pre- 
 ferable. But next morning the sun shone brilliantly and up 
 the streets came the tramp of marching feet and the hoof- 
 beat of cavalry. Between the lines of blue marched the 
 unarmed ranks of gray. There were sphinx like Grant and 
 stern Sherman and dark L/ogan on a coal black horse, and
 
 THE FALL OF VICKSBURG. 165 
 
 knightly McPherson at the front. The confederate flag still 
 floated from the Court House on the summit of the hill. 
 The troops marched on upward. The flag fell, the stars 
 and stripes floated there and Vicksburg was taken. We 
 kept close in the house that day as did all citizens, for the 
 streets were full of soldiers. Blue and gray strolled along 
 arm in arm and told their stories of the siege and sang 
 through the streets: "To-day we'll be friends and to-morrow 
 we'll fight." Union officers whom we had known before 
 the war came to bid us greeting, and confederate officers, 
 our neighbors and friends, came to bid us good-bye. And 
 many we had known came not at all, but out in the trenches 
 found peace in the din of war. And that was the Fourth 
 in Vicksburg, twenty years ago.
 
 )66 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 THE BAYOU TECHE. 
 
 Steamer Teche, on Bayou Teche, | 
 La.. April 12, 1888. j 
 
 Dear Censor: Having met Iowa friends in New Orleans, 
 who had just taken a delightful trip on the Steamer Teche, 
 and with an introduction to the gentlemanly captain and 
 clerk, we left the Crescent 'City on the jth at 5 p. m., and 
 were soon on our way up the "father of waters." For 
 some eight miles we circle around the crescent from the foot 
 of Canal street to Carrol ton, in view of the large business 
 wharves where commerce was making exchanges with 
 foreign countries, for the mutual benefit of those concerned. 
 
 The east side of the river contains a succession of sugar 
 and rice plantations, the former the staple production of the 
 state, outranking all others. The river is in high stage of 
 water, and from the deck of our boat we look over the levees 
 to the large plantations several feet below the surface of the 
 river, from which they are protected from inundation by the 
 levees. A breakage or crevasse in high water is very 
 disastrous to the planters, destroying their crops for miles. 
 
 We pass Baton Rouge, the State Capital, 130 miles by 
 river from New Orleans and about 85 by rail. It shows 
 pleasantly from the river, the state house and the deaf mute 
 and blind asylum being conspicuous objects of observation. 
 Eighteen miles above Baton Rouge we pass Port Hudson, 
 which was captured soon after Vicksburg, and was the last 
 obstruction to the federal forces to the free passage of the 
 Mississippi from its source to its mouth. The change of the 
 river has left the old fortifications quite a distance inland, 
 the willows have grown up thickly on the new made land, 
 and the view is now very much obstructed. At 160 miles 
 above New Orleans we pass Bayou Sara, an important com- 
 mercial point on the river.
 
 THE BAYOU TECHE. 167 
 
 At 200 miles above New Orleans we enter Old River, 
 probably the former debouch of the Red river, and after 
 passing 7 miles enter the Atchafalaya, which forms one of 
 the mouths of the Mississippi, being formed from waters of 
 this and Red river, and finding its outlet in the Gulf of 
 Mexico about 80 miles west of New Orleans by rail, and 335 
 by water. % 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the circuitous water com- 
 munications in Louisiana, from the fact that though the 
 State is only 300 miles in breadth east and west, and 240 
 miles in length, yet it contains 2,500 miles of navigable 
 water. In our trip we have another illustration in going 
 nearly 900 miles in the round trip, and the point where we 
 commenced to retrace our steps is only about 30 miles from 
 the Gulf. This trip on the Teche is nearly as long as the 
 one we made from Cincinnati to New Orleans. 
 
 We pass down the Atchafalaya, which with high water on 
 the Mississippi has now a current of some six miles an hour. 
 The banks are mainly cypress swamps, where aligators 
 during the warm weather have a pleasant resort. For some 
 90 miles we pass through this wilderness, with very few 
 human habitations. We pass the Texas Pacific iron bridge, 
 which swings open at our approach. We pass through 
 Grand river, bayous and lakes, to Grand Lake, which is 
 30 miles long and 1 2 wide, which is but a widening of the 
 river, to the lower Atchafalaya, and thence to Bayou Teche, 
 which we traverse some 90 miles to St. Martinsville, when 
 we commence our homeward trip. 
 
 The Bayou is a wonderful body of water, a kind of long 
 lake without current except what is produced from the tide 
 on the Gulf of Mexico. It is so narrow that the boat, 200 
 feet long, could not be turned around in it, and so circuitous 
 that a slow rate of speed is required and a constant move- 
 ment of the wheel to keep it from running into the bank. 
 The overhanging limbs of the trees often rake the upper 
 works of the boat, and the cypress boughs and gray Spanish 
 moss litter the deck. The long spreading branches of a live
 
 1 68 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 oak early one morning made considerable work for the 
 carpenter in making repairs. 
 
 But what was our surprise, after passing more than 100 
 miles through forests, lakes and swamps, to find on the 
 Teche some of the most fertile and eligibly situated land for 
 cultivation to be found in the South. On each side of the 
 Bayou were constant successions of sugar plantations and 
 rice fields, where the cane produces 25 tons per *acre, pre- 
 pared for the crushing mill, and where the manufacture of 
 sugar is carried on by the use of most perfect machinery, 
 and the best results obtained. 
 
 We pass by the place where Gen. Banks met defeat from 
 the attack of Gen. Dick Taylor's troops and retreated to the 
 Red river, where his boats came near falling into the hands 
 of the enemy, and were only saved by the construction of a 
 dam by which the water was raised and the boats floated 
 down on the tide. 
 
 On the Teche we pass through the land of the Acadians, 
 whose migration is celebrated by Longfellow's poem of 
 "Evangeline." They are not a prosperous people, though 
 the land is of unsurpassed fertility, where the cane, rice, 
 corn, oranges, figs and tropical fruits can be raised in great 
 abundance. Their buildings are mostly dilapidated, and 
 they show little evidence of thrift or enterprise. The best 
 plantations have passed out of their hands, and are owned 
 by Northern people, who have introduced the most perfect 
 machinery and are rapidly changing the mode of cultivation 
 and manufacture, while the natives retire back to the prairies 
 and abandon the competition to the Northern invaders. 
 Very few of the Northern people live here, but have their 
 agents to care for their property while they live in the 
 Northern cities and enjoy the fruits of their enterprise in 
 their distant homes. 
 
 It is nearly 1 50 years since the Acadians were driven from 
 their homes in Canada and sought refuge from persecution 
 in this land of flowers. They still preserve their religious 
 faith, and the simplicity of their habits. At St. Martins- 
 ville there is a convent to which we paid a short visit. The
 
 THE BAYOU TECHE. 1 69 
 
 place contains about 3,000 population, and has a very large 
 church. This convent is their only school, and even this 
 has been established only about six years. There are six 
 teachers, who are thoroughly devoted to their work and 
 doubtless do much good. The lady superior informed us 
 that there were but five or six families of Protestants in the 
 place, and they were of the Episcopal persuasion. A large 
 live oak tree was pointed out to us under which it was said 
 Evangeline slept when on her weary journey in search of 
 her lover. The people all speak the French, somewhat 
 corrupted, and retain their old habits and customs. Those 
 on the boat with us speak broken English, difficult to under- 
 stand, but in conversation with each other talk in their 
 native language. 
 
 We also pass the lands of a tribe of Indians, who live in 
 rude shanties and cultivate small patches of land. They 
 are far from being a prosperous people. About ten miles 
 from us is the plantation of Joe Jefferson, who enjoys an 
 ample fortune made by the presentation to the public of that 
 charming story of "Rip Van Winkle." 
 
 A few miles out from the line of our trip on the Teche, is 
 a salt mine discovered since the war; it has an inexaustible 
 supply. The saline water had been boiled 'for salt a long 
 time, and in boring to get more strength to the water, they 
 struck a salt rock at about 30 feet, which is now opened 
 more than 100 feet deep; the solid rock blasted with 
 dynamite. Pure rock salt is raised to the surface and sent 
 off by the carload. 
 
 H: 3f :fc - * H 5 sfc sfc 
 
 We must speak a word about our good boat, ' 'The Teche. ' ' 
 It was built about two years ago at Louisville, Ky., is 200 
 feet long, 40 feet beam, and has a capacity of some 700 tons, 
 with 7 feet draft. Capt. Muggah is a chivalrous, southern 
 Christian gentleman, who makes his passengers welcome and 
 at home, and contributes in every way possible to the enjoy- 
 ment of the trip. The clerk, Mr. Belt, is an intelligent 
 gentleman, well posted in political affairs, and whose 
 acquaintance the tourists will be pleased to make. The
 
 1 70 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 boat is as quiet as a home. No bar has ever been kept on 
 the boat, and never will be so long as Mr. Belt, the pro- 
 prietor, and Capt. Muggah control it. If any of our friends 
 at the north visit New Orleans, we would advise them to 
 take a trip on this boat. It costs no more than to stay in 
 the city, and one will be surprised at the amount of enjoy- 
 ment to be had from it. 
 
 We are now nearing the city and I must close, leaving 
 many matters of observation for another letter. 
 
 ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 April 12, 1888. For the day our boat had been stemming 
 the flood from the Atchafalaya and Red River, making its 
 way to the Gulf. The waters were turgid and the current 
 swift, except when it had broadened into lakes or swamps. 
 The banks were low and the cypress and willow preponder- 
 ated in the thick forests. The Mississippi was now twenty- 
 eight feet above low water mark, and of course made a swift 
 current in this most northern outlet. At its junction with 
 the Mississippi is an island of many acres, which constitutes 
 the prison of the State Convicts. The lessee has charge of 
 all State prisons, and a part are hired to railroad contractors 
 or for the public works, and the less able-bodied raise cotton 
 on this immense plantation. No prison walls guard them, 
 but they are watched with vigilance and guarded with rifles 
 and blood-hounds. If any escape they are hunted with the 
 hounds and returned and made to wear the ball and chain 
 for the attempt. 
 
 Whites and blacks work out their sentences together, in 
 the striped garb. Some of the convicts have been men of 
 wealth and influence, like some of our northern embezzlers 
 and speculators, Who have robbed other people of their 
 money in operations of chance at the stockboard. We were 
 told of one man, once a prominent merchant, who, for a 
 crime was sentenced for a term of years. His wife procured 
 a divorce and married again, and when his term was out, he 
 had no desire to meet his old companions and mingle in 
 business, but remained there, keeping books and doing busi-
 
 THE BAYOU TECHE. 171 
 
 ness for the institution. He has his liberty, and often visits 
 the city in the purchase of supplies for the State. 
 
 In going up the river, our boat went near the shores, so 
 as to have the advantage of the eddies and less current. 
 But now, on our downward trip, we take the swiftest 
 current, which adds five or six miles an hour to our speed 
 at this high stage of the water. 
 
 As our boat approaches the city, we have an example of 
 the gambling propensities of the darkies. Some fifteen or 
 twenty are engaged only for the trip. They load and unload 
 at the landings, which on the round trip must be nearly a 
 hundred. It is very laborious work, and as the landings are 
 made at all times of the night and day, they have no regular 
 time for rest. They receive one dollar per day for the trip, 
 so that some seven dollars cash are paid to them at the close 
 of the trip. They come to the clerk's window and receive 
 their money in silver. No sooner do they get their hard- 
 earned money, than they are seen squatted on the lower 
 deck; one is throwing dice, and the others are shaking their 
 money. They commence with dimes and end with dollars. 
 In about an hour after they are paid, some of them have 
 lost every dime and are then ready to repeat the operation 
 another trip. They are clothed in rags, some without shoes 
 and the comforts of life, and instead of going on shore 
 and getting clothing and comforts, they gamble it all away. 
 
 Lotteries and gambling are the great curse of the south, 
 and it is not surprising that the dusky inhabitants should be 
 inculcated with the prevailing spirit. The Louisiana lottery, 
 with headquarters in this city, has its patrons all over the 
 country, and Gen. Beauregard at its head, lives in affluence 
 on the large income it gives him. 
 
 THE SCENERY OF THE TECHE. 
 
 [We have received a copy of the New Orleans Picayune, 
 with the following contribution by Miss Harriet McKinstry. 
 of Painesville, Ohio, who accompanied her uncle, the senior 
 editor of this paper, in a trip through the Teche country of 
 Louisiana made one year later. She gives a charming and 
 vivid picture of that region of Acadian settlements, made
 
 172" EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 famous by Longfellow's romantic poem, the story of 
 Evangeline :] 
 
 There is an undefinable pleasure in turning away from 
 the well-known highways of travel into picturesque and 
 beautiful by-paths, and when these paths are already famous 
 in romance and song the pleasure is vastly enhanced. 
 
 A few days sail over the "golden stream of the broad and 
 swift Mississippi" brings one into the land of the "true, 
 strange stories of Louisiana" and of the gentle maiden with 
 "God's benediction" upon her w r hose departure seemed like 
 the "ceasing of exquisite music." 
 
 We would enjoin upon all visitors to the land of perpetual 
 sunshine along the gulf to add as a crowning enjoyment a 
 trip up the Bayou Teche. If one is so fortunate as to secure 
 passage on the steamer Teche, pleasure and comfort in the 
 neat and convenient appointments will be increased by true 
 courtesy of the genial Captain Muggah, who is ever ready 
 to answer questions and afford information, never forgetting 
 to point out places of interest and beauty. The unfailing- 
 politeness, also, of Mr. Belt, the clerk of the steamer, and 
 of the other officers, as well as the attention of steward, 
 stewardess and waiters, makes one feel at ease and at home. 
 
 Leaving New Orleans, with its old palaces, cathedrals and 
 quaint French houses on one side of Canal street, and on 
 the other its broad avenues and beautiful flowers, its fine 
 residences and lofty blocks, the steamer takes its way, now 
 past the fine old plantation homes with Abroad galleries and 
 lofty columns, the white-washed cabins gleaming in the 
 distance, and ' 'now through rushing chutes among the green 
 islands, where plume-like cotton trees nod their shadowy 
 crests;" then winding by w r ay of the Old river into the 
 Atchafalaya, and thence through a series of lakes the bayou 
 Teche is reached. 
 
 To one accustomed in April to the icy blasts and barren 
 trees along the shores of lake Erie, the delight experienced 
 in the luxuriant foliage, the exquisite and varied green of 
 these topical forests, is beyond expression. The gentle 
 swaying palmettos, the tall stumps clothed with a garment
 
 THE BAYOU TECHE. 173 
 
 of three-leafed ivy, the grand oak and dark cypress, garland- 
 ed with trailing moss and the ' 'mystic mistletoe, ' ' make a 
 picture impossible to paint in words. 
 
 So as we sail along through the lakes and the Atchafalaya. 
 we feel purselves almost cut loose from the world. The 
 "seal of silence" is scarcely broken save by the hoarse caw 
 of the crow, the flap of the buzzard's wings or the howl of 
 the alligator, while one morning a bald eagle flew across 
 our way. After long stretches of unbroken forests we may 
 suddenly come upon the vine covered home and apian- of 
 some lone bee-raiser, or we may reach a little group of rustic 
 houses, some "happy town;" at the front are silently stand- 
 ing a cluster of artless children, while at the opening at the 
 side a large herd of goats lift their bearded heads. 
 
 On the bayou Teche the plantations are large and fine, 
 the sugar-houses equipped with every facility for making 
 the finest sugar; the pumps for flooding the fields of growing 
 rice; in the distance the large fields devoted to cane, cotton 
 and rice, and in the front the pleasant homes shaded by the 
 branching live oak are suggestive of comfort and luxury. 
 
 These rich plantations, varying in size and attractiveness, 
 are all along the bayou, but between these houses and 
 skirting the water's edge are such lofty trees and such a 
 dense mass of vegetation as to cause us to feel transported 
 to some far away tropical realm. This country has been 
 called the Eden of Louisiana it might fittingly be called 
 the Eden of America. 
 
 One may hunt the world over and never find another 
 bayou Teche; it is a gem dropped in Paradise. In width it 
 varies from 400 feet to 50 feet, and in depth from 25 feet to 
 5 or even 3 feet, and in the evening with the electric lights 
 ofvthe steamer casting a vivid light over the green of the 
 banks and the sheen of the water, bringing out weird and 
 wondrous shadows, one feels as if in a phantom ship in a 
 fairy land, while the gentle sound of the wheel may be the 
 breath of some sea dragon propelling us on our mysteriou- 
 way. 
 
 Everywhere one is reminded of Evangeline, as we follow
 
 174 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 her in her search for Gabriel from the mossy bank upon 
 which the wearied maiden slept while the restless lover 
 urged on the course of his light boat all ignorant of his fate,, 
 beyond the town of St. Maur (New Iberia), even to the 
 very St. Martin. It was just at sunset when we reached 
 this quaint old Acadian town, and passing gable-roofed 
 houses dating back nearly 200 years we find our way to the 
 old cathedral and enter its sacred precincts. The ancient 
 water jars at the entrance, filled with holy water in whose 
 depth is revealed a silver cross, the old paintings, one 
 representing St. Martin giving his cloak to a beggar, the 
 sacred grotto, the stained glass windows with their cross of 
 white, but add to the solemnity of the place. In front of 
 the cathedral is a fine bronze statue ol Pere Jan, erected by 
 a grateful people to the priest who had given his life to their 
 service. The old cemetery, the bridge across the river, the 
 beautiful Acadian woman passing along the streets, the 
 tolling of the bell reminding one of the scene depicted in 
 Millet's "Angelus, " complete the picture gallery in a never 
 to be forgotten trip.
 
 "WASHINGTON IN 1855. 175 
 
 WASHINGTON IN 1855. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. March 30, 1890. 
 Washington is quite a different city from what it was when 
 we visited it the first time thirty-five years ago, and the 
 facilities of reaching it are very much improved. Then we 
 went to New York on the N. Y. and Erie, a new road just 
 completed through to Dunkirk. We then took a steamer to 
 the Perth Amboy road, and thence by that road to Phila- 
 delphia, crossing the Schuylkill on a ferry. Thence by rail 
 to Baltimore, where the cars were drawn by horses through 
 the city. At Havre de Grace a large ferry boat on which 
 the train of cars was run, conveyed them across the bay, 
 and the night train ran to Washington. There was no 
 sleeper on any of the roads, I think, at that time, and all 
 railroad appliances were very crude as compared with the 
 present. Washington was then a small and dirty city, cursed 
 with slavery, and a slave market was located where the city 
 market now stands. The capitol building was not more 
 than two-thirds the present size, the wing or the House of 
 Representatives having but recently been commenced. Mr. 
 Frisbee, the founder of the CENSOR, was with me, and this 
 was his first visit here. We met Horace Greeley at the 
 capitol building, and in the Senate Gov. Seward. This was 
 before the noted firm of "Weed, Seward & Greeley" was 
 dissolved, and the meeting between the noted men was very 
 cordial. "There were giants in those days" and the "irre- 
 pressible conflict' ' was commenced in earnest, which has 
 resulted in the freedom of the country from the curse of 
 slavery. At that time the main effort was to abolish slavery 
 in the District Columbia, and to prevent its spreading into 
 the territories. It was a long and fierce struggle long before
 
 176 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 the clash of arms came. John Quincey Adams, Joshua 
 Giddings and Ben Wade were then making a gallant fight, 
 but there were few on the side of freedom in those days. 
 The great mass of the Democratic party was with the South ; 
 "woolly head whigs" were few in number then. Little did 
 they then dream that in a few years more than a million of 
 men would be contending for the cause of which they were 
 then but the meagre advance guard in the grand contest for 
 human rights. It was then contended that the discussion 
 of the slavery question would prolong slavery, and that the 
 southern states would abolish the institution of themselves, 
 state by state, if left alone. The colonization society were 
 also active in their deportation to Africa, apparently not 
 considering that not all the navy of the country would be 
 sufficient to transport even a small portion of the increase. 
 
 The whole country was governed in the interests of 
 slavery, and no candidate for President could be nominated 
 by either of the great parties with any chance of success 
 without the sanction and support of the South. Gen. 
 Harrison was nominated and elected in 1840 on the question 
 of protection and financial reform, and being a Virginian by 
 birth, the slavery question was ignored, and he was elected. 
 On his death the government passed under the control of 
 the South, in John Tyler's administration, and continued 
 until 1848, when Gen. Taylor was elected, on substantially 
 the same issues as prevailed eight years before. He was a 
 planter in Mississippi before the Mexican war, and was 
 selected as a Whig candidate on the suggestion of Thurlow 
 Weed, because he was a protectionist, and would wear no 
 clothing of foreign production. 
 
 The progress of the free soil sentiment was rapid during 
 the discussion of the Wilmotpr viso, and in 1856 the gallant 
 Fremont would have been elected President had the state of 
 Pennsylvania stood by him; but state pride gave the vote to 
 one of her own statesmen, Mr. Buchanan. 
 
 The great triumph came in 1860 when Lincoln was elected, 
 and during his administration the shackles were removed
 
 THE BAYOTJ TECHE. 1 77 
 
 From every slave never to be replaced. It was a costly 
 sacrifice which procured this result, but its benefits are for 
 .all time. In old times no free state could be admitted to the 
 Union without a balancing slave state, but now four new 
 states have been admitted in one year, all free. ' 'What 
 hath God wrought." 
 
 Fifty years ago a leading newspaper in New York city 
 had what was called a pony express, and had relays of 
 horses every twenty miles, from Washington to New York, 
 and when the message was delivered the courier started on 
 horseback with this document, and at the distance of twenty 
 miles met another courier with a fresh horse, who took it to 
 the next relay, and so on at the rate of ten or twelve miles 
 an hour, night and day, till the city was reached. It was 
 put in type as speedily as possible, the hand-power 
 machinery started and the message delivered to the anxi- 
 iously waiting readers. From this paper the others copied, 
 till in the course of two or three weeks the message was 
 received and read in most of the central places throughout 
 the country. In all the smaller places the first copy received 
 was put in type and printed at once. 
 
 We well recall how the mails were watched for the first 
 copy of the message the tallow dips were all lighted and 
 on the cases, the copy cut in short "takes," and at the early 
 dawn, perhaps, the old hand-press began to creak with the 
 ponderous forms of solid matter, and the message was 
 delivered to the waiting readers.
 
 178 EDITORIAL, MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE SCOTTISH LAKES. 
 
 BY W. D. M. 
 
 A Fourth of July spent among the Scottish Lakes and 
 mountains, is a day to be remembered. Liberty is always 
 associated with mountain air, and on that day, when one'.s 
 thoughts are on the nation across the sea where the spirit 
 enkindled in these mountain fastnesses found its complete 
 fruition, the scenes amid which Wallace led his brave High- 
 land clans, where Bruce stood for Scotland's freedom, where 
 .freedom and liberty had battled tyrants from age to age, is 
 doubly inspiring. The martial spirit breathing through 
 these lakes and mountains is akin to that which nerved the 
 hearts of the farmers of Lexington, who "fired the shot 
 heard around the world." One feels on such a day, in such 
 a scene, the glow of highest patriotism; one's heart throbs 
 with purer devotion to the sacred cause of liberty. 
 
 There were ten of us who left the Cockburn Hotel in 
 Glasgow at eight o'clock in the morning for a tour through 
 the lakes and mountains. There was a New England 
 lawyer, and a New York scribbler, one who from the Con- 
 necticut Valley had gone out to fight for the Union, and one 
 from Virginia who had fought for the South. There was 
 an adopted German citizen from Indiana, a genuine 
 American from Pennsylvania, two ladies and a young mid- 
 shipman, but whether from north or south, east or west, all 
 Americans to-day, in thought and deed, and feeling that the 
 anniversary in a foreign land brought them closer together, 
 
 Soon down the shores of the river Clyde the cars Carried 
 us past Dunbarton's castled rock and by the banks of the 
 Leven to Balloch, the foot of Loch Lomond. Here we 
 take the little steamer "Rob Roy" and sail out on the placid 
 waters of Loch Lomond and enter the enchanted land of 
 the great magician, Walter Scott.
 
 THE SCOTTISH .LAKES. 179 
 
 > 
 
 The characters of fiction are often-times more real to us 
 than those of history. We read of kings and queens who 
 had actually lived, but they mean no more to us and often 
 not as much as those creations of the romancer's brain, with 
 whom we have walked and talked in our youthful years 
 when the fresh young imagination has given them life and 
 form. 
 
 And so in this land of lakes and mountains, there is a 
 glamour thrown over every object, associated as it is with 
 the figures the great magician has called before our youthful 
 fancy. We do not see it as it is at all, but like the countries 
 seen in dreams it is peopled with vague forms. There are 
 Highland warriors, dark-haired maidens, knights in armor, 
 the pageants of courts, the clash of tourneys and deeds of 
 chivalry. One is looking through the poet's eyes and not 
 his own, if he would thoroughly enjoy the scene. We creep 
 up Loch Lomond by inches, for each isle is an Inch- 
 something, and there are a hundred of them through which 
 we wind. Each tuni opens up some delightful view and 
 brings to mind some legend. Soon Ben Lomond lifts his 
 bald round head which to-day has on a cap of clouds, and 
 in the distance the Cobbler or Ben Arthur lifts up his ragged 
 crest. The mountains come down to the shores of the lake, 
 leaving here and there some pleasant vale where wealth has 
 placed a home. Lomond is 30 miles in length and, at the 
 lo\\er end and broadest part, some six miles wide. The 
 boat stops at Luss where we might spend a pleasant day in 
 its romantic glen; at Rowardennan where those disembark 
 who are to climb 3,000 feet up Ben Lomond's side; at 
 Tarbet where the lake begins to narrow and where there is 
 a romantic looking castellated hotel, that is the watering 
 place of the lake. Finally we land at Inversnaid, five miles 
 from the head of the lake, and near beyond Rob Roy's 
 cave, where the outlaw chief had his home. He was 
 nothing but a bold cattle thief after all, but we only 
 remember his heroic virtues as given by the novelist. A 
 pretty waterfall comes tumbling down from the pass of
 
 EDITORTAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Arcle and dashes into the placid waters of the lake; up this 
 romantic glen would be a pleasant walk, but instead we- 
 climb into a coach after taking a furtive glance around to 
 see if Wordsworth's sweet highland girl is among the 
 pretty faces on the hotel piazza, and start over the pass for 
 Loch Katrine.- The smooth road winds upward, and back- 
 ward glances show Loch Lommond spread out like a 
 panorama of beauty beneath us. Across, Ben Voirlich 
 lifts his head, king of the neighboring mountains, dividing 
 the honors with Ben Lomond. On one side of the road 
 are barren fields where sheep graze among the rocks, and 
 on the other the glen of the Arcle that empties the pretty 
 little Loch Arcle, by whose shores a pretty little cabin is 
 pointed out as the birth place of Helen Macgregor, Rob 
 Roy's warlike spouse. Reaching the crest of the pass we 
 see before us r Ben Venue rising in majesty among the 
 neighboring peaks, and soon descend by a lovely sylvan 
 road to the Stronachlacher hotel by the shores of Loch 
 Katrine. 
 
 Waiting for the little steamer which is to carry us the ten 
 miles to the head of the lake, our party is gathered from 
 woodland walks and pretty nooks by the lake into the 
 sitting room of the hotel, where a brief but hearty celebration 
 of the glorious Fourth is held with the aid of half a dozen of 
 champagne that was so bad as not to encourage the vice 
 of intoxication. The folks at home, Geo. Washington, our 
 foreign relations in the perspn of our courier, were all 
 toasted, and the soldier who fought with Lee and the soldier 
 Who fought with Grant, congratulate each other over a 
 restored union- But outside, on the tiny steamer that soon 
 carried us out under the shadow of Ben Venue, all present 
 things vanished under the spell of the Lady of the Lake. 
 Still in imagination echoed the war cry "Roderigh Vich 
 Alpine, dhu ho I ieroe ! as when Clan Alpine came rowing 
 down the lake. We sweep up by Ellen's isle and by the 
 silver strand, on to the "narrow inlet still and deep" 
 
 "Where the rude Trossach's dread defile 
 Opens on Katrine's lake and isle."
 
 THE SCOTTISH LAKES. l8l 
 
 It is a scene of beauty surely, this little cove arched over 
 with its trees, so still, so peaceful, so secluded, guarded by 
 the beetling rock called Roderick's Watchtower. One 
 would linger here and dream and see again the fiction which 
 the poet weaves about the fairy vision. But coaches are 
 waiting and down the steep defile, full of quick windings, 
 on one side a precipice and the other a cliff, the coach rushes 
 with a wild speed, that, while it deprives one of power to 
 take in all the rugged beauty of the pass, adds to the stirring 
 emotions of adventure that befit the place. On, past Lanark 
 Mead and Loch Achray "until the brig of Turk is won," 
 by "Duncraggan's huts," where "Venachar in silver flows," 
 to Coilantogle Ford and the round hill of ' Bochastle, on 
 which are some remains of Roman fortification, and which 
 mark Clan Alpine's outmost guard. We have come back- 
 ward up through the scene of James Fitz James' ride and no 
 one will ever dare attempt to describe it, after reading Scott's 
 matchless description in the Lady of the Lake. We know 
 the poem is a fact, the characters all real, for we have seen 
 the very spots their feet have trod. We have even had 
 pointed out the very rock that James Fitz James swore 
 should fly, "from its firm base as soon as I," and far up the 
 slope of Ben A-an the coachman pointed out a white spot 
 which he said was the snow white steed of Snowdoun's 
 Knight, that had remained where it fell in the chase. We 
 believed that too, and would have believed in the echo of 
 his bugle horn if that had been produced. 
 
 Ben Ledi veiled its head in a thunder storm as we crossed 
 the Teith and saw Callendar before us, where we left the 
 coach and took less romantic cars for Sterling, sixteen miles 
 away up the beautiful valley of the Teith. 
 
 A strong mixture of a modern and antique town is Stirling. 
 On its main street is much good modem architecture, but 
 you have only to commence to climb the cliffs towards the 
 castle's hight when you lose yourself in little narrow crooked 
 streets that were evidently not laid out for carriage drive-. 
 The castle stands on a spur terminating the north-western 
 corner of the town. There was always a castle at Stirling
 
 j3'2 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES".. 
 
 from the days before the Romans. It was a royal residence' 
 of James I, and his son James II who killed the Douglas,, 
 was born here, James III erected the parliament building, 
 and James IV, who,, having had his father disposed of at a 
 hunting party,, lived here in magnificience until Flodden's- 
 fatal field. James V, the hero of Scott's poem of the L,ady 
 of the L/ake, was born here in 1512,. and added a palace to< 
 the fortress, and his daughter Mary, was crowned Queen of 
 vScots here in 1542, and her son James VI of Scotland and 
 First of England, was crowned in the old Greyfriars church 
 close by. His school room where his tutor, the historian 
 George Buchanan, tried to make a man. of him, is still, 
 shown, but having poor material only produced a well 
 developed hog. 
 
 The castle stands on an elevation 340- feet above the plain. 
 Reaching the esplanade a statue of Robert Bruce stands, 
 sentinel, looking toward the field of Bannockburn. Cross- 
 ing the empty moat now used for athletic games by the 
 garrison, we pass under the portcullis arch, by the batteries 
 and reach another archway which lets us through to the 
 lower square on which fronts the palace with its richly 
 carved exterior. Through the upper square one side of 
 which is the parliament house, another the royal chapel, we 
 pass on through another portal out through a garden and 
 ascend the ramparts. All the interiors are now used for 
 armories and barracks for the garrison and we only get an. 
 outside view of anything but what is known as the Douglas 
 room where, 
 
 "A Douglas by his sovereign bled." 
 
 From' the ramparts is the fairest scene that one can ever 
 hope to look upon. On one side stretches the fair vale of 
 Mentieth, down which winds the Teith from the lakes. A 
 fair plain stretching to the mountains; the cultivated fields 
 of grain look from the hight like the richest carpet; away 
 in the distance rises Ben L,omond. Beneath is the castle 
 park. To the left in the distance is the field of Bannock- 
 burn. In old times the long stretch of level land was a 
 hunting park, where the nobility chased the deer. Right
 
 THE SCOTTISH "LAKES. i%$ 
 
 tinder the walls was a tourney ground, where a mound and 
 ifine display of foliage gardening marks what is known as 
 King Arthur's round table. On the plain beyond is a camp 
 of the volunteer regiments of the district and as we see the 
 regiments wheeling back and forth, it is not hard to carry 
 one's self back to when James IV marshalled his army here 
 before the fatal fight at Flodden. To the north-east the 
 silver links of the Forth spanned by old Stirling bridge, the 
 4 'key to the highlands," wind through the rich valley which 
 is the field of Wallace's victory, and in the distance, a 
 monument to the hero, like a Cathedral tower, looks over 
 the plain where the battle was fought, recalling bloody 
 Kirkpatrick and the fearful scenes that used to make our 
 youthful locks stand up when we read about them in the 
 gory pages of "The Scottish Chiefs," 
 
 Between us and the town is the old Greyfriars church 
 where John Knox thundered maledictions, and in the 
 cemetery about it is a pyramid in memory to the Co- 
 venanters who fell for their faith. A beautiful marble 
 group, an angel bending over two girls, commemorates the 
 Virgin Martyrs, Margaret and Agnes Wilson, who > during 
 the persecuting reign of James II were tied to stakes at low 
 water and drowned by the rising of the Solway tide for 
 refusing to renounce the Covenant. Grandest of heroes are 
 those who have died for their faith, whether it was pagan, 
 puritan or papistic, and all broke finally that intolerance 
 which no sect had been free from. Fitting is the inscription: 
 
 "O Scotia's daughters ! earnest scan the page, 
 
 And prize the flower of grace, blood-bought for you." 
 
 In the Douglas room of the castle is an interesting collec* 
 tion of antiquities. It was in this room that the eighth earl 
 of Douglas, being invited to a conference by James II and 
 refusing to make certain concessions to his royal master, 
 was cowardly stabbed by the monarch, and his body thrown 
 from the window. Queen Victoria has memorialized the 
 deed of her treacherous ancestor by puttihg in a stained 
 glass window bearing the Douglas arms and motto. Nearly
 
 184 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 four hundred years after the event, the skeleton of a man in 
 armor was dug up beneath this window, and was probably 
 that of the unfortunate Karl. 
 
 Mar's Work is a fine old ruin of the i6th century. It is 
 said that the Karl of Mar commenced it as a palace, taking 
 the stone from Cambuskenneth Abbey. It was predicted 
 that no good would come of the sacrilege, and sure enough, 
 the Karl was struck dead while the work was going on. 
 No one cared to take the risk of ghostly vengance, and so it 
 is a ruin of a building that was never completed. He 
 seemed to understand the p2rils of high position, for among 
 the inscriptions by the portal is this: 
 
 "The more I stand on open hight, 
 My faults more subject are to sight." 
 
 Above the entrance are the royal arms of Scotland, and on 
 either side those of the Regent Mar and his Countess. 
 
 The streets of Stirling were full of soldiery as we descended 
 from the castle hill. They were the volunteers of the 
 district and the noise of bands and groaning of bag pipes 
 filled the air, as the camp was broken that day and the 
 soldiers were scattering for their homes among the high- 
 lands. 
 
 In honor of the day we had procured a small American 
 flag in Glasgow. It had floated from the car window to 
 Loch Lomond, streamed from the bow of the steamer to 
 Inversnaid and passed like the cross of fire clear up through 
 Clan Alpine's ground. For a shilling we had captured 
 Stirling Castle and planted our banner on Snowdoun's 
 towers. We furled it at ten o'clock in the evening in 
 Kdinburg, "Kmpress of the North." We had been at 
 some trouble several times to explain our seeming eccen- 
 tricity, with a history of Independence day, and at Stirling 
 caused some wonder as to what new Highland Clan had 
 come into the muster with a banner of which Scottish 
 heraldry spoke not. But it was Fourth of July and we had 
 a right to exercise our independence. We would have 
 captured "Dun Kdin's steel girt brow" if it had not been 
 so late.
 
 'HAMPTON ROADS. 185 
 
 HAMPTON ROADS. 
 
 OLD POT XT COMFORT, VA., April, 1890. 
 
 It was a beautiful morning when we arrived here by the 
 Potomac steamer from Washington ; the air was as balmy 
 as June, and the light ocean breeze gave a peaceful exhil- 
 aration most welcome to the traveler. \Ve land near the 
 Fortress, where a large hotel stretching along the shores of 
 the beach gives entertainment to nearly a thousand guests. 
 \Ve. however, go to the Sherwood, more central iu the 
 village, where every want is assiduously attended to, and 
 with a smaller crowd. 
 
 In the fort are all the requisites of defence which would 
 seem sufficient to withstand the most powerful fleet in the 
 world. 
 
 It was twenty-five years ago in February when we first 
 visited this place. It was about six weeks before the 
 surrender. Large .guns were frowning from the parapets, 
 and ships of war were lying at anchor ready to be sent on 
 errands of destruction. We had just arrived from Baltimore, 
 and were taking breakfast, when a gun from the flag ship 
 broke the silence. On looking out the ship was arrayed 
 with flags from stem to stern, and a messenger hastily entered 
 saying "Port Fisher is taken." Then there was cheering 
 and congratulation, but our rejoicing was somewhat modified 
 by the fact that the brave boys of the ii2th were there and 
 some would be victims of the attack. 
 
 In passing out that morning en route to City Point then 
 the headquarters of the army of the Potomac, we passed the 
 rebel ram Merrimac sheathed with railroad iron in the form 
 of a roof of a house, thus made invulnerable to the heaviest 
 cannon shot, but which the little turreted Monitor succeeded 
 in capturing. We soon after passed a schooner, with raking 
 masts, sunk to the top of her main mast. She had been a
 
 1 86 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 rebel cruiser, and took refuge in Brazillian waters. A 
 captain in our navy cut it out from its protection, and took 
 it to Hampton Roads. The Brazilians of course protested 
 against our violation of neutrality, but a steamer going out 
 from the port carelessly struck her midships and sunk her so 
 there was no more talk of her restoration after that. We 
 afterwards met at Erie, Pa., the brave captain who had 
 violated the neutrality. He was discharged from command, 
 but did not seem to have much regret about having captured 
 one of the swiftest rebel cruisers, and thus saving many 
 lives and much property. 
 
 In the fortress are several highly finished cannons and 
 mortars, captured from the British in the Revolutionary 
 war, and one or two from the French in the French war. 
 They show that great progress has Jae,en made since that 
 time in warlike munitions. The engraving showing the 
 history of their capture was very interesting. 
 
 From the fortress a ride of half a mile or so brings us to 
 the Soldiers Home, located in one of the most beautiful 
 spots on the face of the globe. It is laid out in flower beds, 
 walks and drives of exquisite taste and beauty. The build- 
 ings are in excellent taste and would give the old veterans 
 a homelike feeling. In one of the buildings is a library and 
 a nicely furnished hall, seated in opera manner with a large 
 stage, where services are held on Sunday and lectures and 
 theatrical performances are given on other days of the week. 
 They have exlellent services from preachers of different 
 denominations from the cities, who visit Old Point. The 
 arrangement for worship and amusement in the same build- 
 ing is a good idea. 
 
 From the Soldiers Home we proceeded about a mile 
 farther, when we came to Hampton School, under direction 
 of Gen. Armstrong, where some 600 Indian and colored 
 youths are acquiring the rudiments of education, and at the 
 same time fitting themselves for usefulness in agricultural 
 and mechanical avocations. The yearly attendance of 
 colored youths is ^from 400 to 500; boarders from the 
 neighboring states and in the Whittier (preparatory) school
 
 HAMPTON ROADS. 187 
 
 are some 300 more. The government sends from the 
 western tribes 120 Indians, paying $167 each for their board 
 and education per annum. At the present time there are 
 139 Indians (44 girls and 95 boys, ) of these the Sioux have 
 the largest number, 68, Oneidas, (Wis. ) 21, Omaha and 
 Winnebagos each 10. 
 
 There are 15 tribes in this school, including one student 
 from the Onondagas in this state. The support the govern- 
 ment gives to these Indians barely pays board and instruc- 
 tion. Their own industry makes up the balance. The 
 Thomas Indian Orphan Asylum at Versailles has 100 pupils 
 provided for by the State, at $100 each. They are taught 
 as thoroughly in domestic duties as in Hampton, but have 
 not the facilities for mechanical instruction. 
 
 Gen. Armstrong is entitled to great credit in the manage- 
 ment of this institution and particularly in combining the 
 support of the two races in the same school. They are in 
 separate classes but have the same care and control and 
 development of faculties for becoming citizens. 
 
 It is said that very few of these after a period of education- 
 al development as in Hampton and Carlisle, return to the 
 habits of barbarism, while some have intermarried and 
 become the teachers of home civilization in their respective 
 tribes. On the whole, judging from the report recently 
 made, no more civilizing influence could be exerted by the 
 government, toward preparing the Indians for citizenship in 
 their respective tribes. It is alike philanthropic and 
 patriotic, and will tend to do away with the heathenish idea 
 that "there are no good Indians except dead ones." No 
 one can visit these schools and see the progress made in 
 development without admiration for the course taken by our 
 government for a few years past in making good and useful 
 citizens in these wards of the nation. 
 
 We must not fail to mention that among the branches of 
 mechanical progress is the printing office. Here is a well 
 appointed establishment, under a competent foreman, where 
 a power press is in use, which prints "The Southern Work- 
 ing Man," a paper published here, which is ably conducted
 
 I'8# EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 and keeps pace with the progress of the age. It publishes 
 the annual reports, and blanks, circulars etc. required by 
 this large institution, the work of which is done by the 
 students in a very creditable manner. We regret that we 
 had not more time to visit in detail this interesting institu- 
 tion. 
 
 We visited the National cemetery here which contains, 
 the mortal remains of 6,167 Union soldiers, whose sacred 
 dust is in the care of the Nation, and where skillful over- 
 sight makes this a delightful spot for the repose of those 
 who gave their lives for that of the nation. 
 
 In a ride through the town, we visited an old church built 
 about 250 years ago, of brick brought from England: It 
 has been enlarged and improved much since, but the original 
 part could be readily discerned by the appearance. The 
 bricks of the original structure are larger and harder, pre- 
 senting a virtified appearance like that in the church at 
 Alexandria where Washington was a warden and had charge 
 of its construction. 
 
 Hampton is beautifully located and is well designated as 
 "Old Point Comfort." The old church here was used as- a 
 hospital during the late war of the rebellion, as were all the 
 churches in Virginia where actual war prevailed. Every 
 church in Alexandria when we were there in March, 1865, 
 was used as a hospital except the one where Washington 
 worshipped and three or four colored churches which were 
 supposed to be loyal. Churches made excellent hospitals 
 with the seats all removed and cots put in their places. The 
 descendents of the old cavaliers who settled in Virginia 250 
 years before had prepared these churches for a different pur- 
 pose, but their successors having become traitors they were 
 used lor a better purpose than the propagation of treason 
 against the government. 
 
 The vicinity of Hampton Roads has been of great historic 
 interest in the last fourth of a century. It was here that 
 the memorable interview took place between Lincoln, 
 Se\vard and Grant, on the side of the Nation, and A. H. 
 Stevens, Judge Campbell, and R. M. T. Hunter, on the
 
 HAMPTON ROADS. 189 
 
 part of the confederates, to close the war without further 
 bloodshed. The confederacy was in its last stages of 
 existence, and they sought for an easier death than was in 
 store for them. They had sought for an interview previously 
 at City Point, but our government would not consider the 
 status of the rebels as a government, so the credentials were 
 rejected and they returned without the interview. Some 
 few days later they met on a dispatch boat which brought 
 the President, Mr. Seward and Gen. Grant here from Wash- 
 ington, their credentials this time not requiring a recognition 
 even by implication of the existence of the confederate 
 government, but simply as belligerents. But the greatest of 
 statesmen and warriors of the century, Lincoln and Grant, 
 were firm that there should be no capitulation different from 
 that demanded by Grant at Fort Donaldson, that of uncon- 
 ditional surrender, and the truce between the belligerants 
 ended. Fort "Hell" and its counter fort on the rebel side 
 then resumed their sulphurous detonations till Petersburg 
 was captured on the second of April. The fair minded 
 Stevens could not tail to approve of this conclusion in his 
 innermost convictions. 
 
 A sail of some two hours on a New York steamer brought 
 us up the James to Portsmouth where the United States" 
 ;. Yard is located. Here one of the new line of battle 
 ships, the "Texas," is being constructed, the keel is laid 
 and she is now on the stocks. The old war ship Brooklyn 
 is anchored here, having been condemned and is to be 
 broken up. It seems a pity that this old ship which had 
 bore such a gallant part in the capture of New Orleans and 
 Mobile should be destroyed. 
 
 A SKCOND VISIT TO TIIK PKXINSULA. 
 
 RICHMOND, Va.. April, 1890. 
 
 Dear Censor: Our route from Norfolk toward Petersburg 
 lay through the northern part of the Dismal Swamp, which 
 extends from North Carolina into Virginia. It was a 
 desolate looking region, mostly treeless and shrubless. the
 
 [gO EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 standing or sluggish water on each side of the track making: 
 a desolate appearance. We passed through Petersburg on 
 toward evening and we found quite a contrast with twenty- 
 five years before. In March, 1865, there were 150,000 men 
 wishing to go into the city, and the people inside with their 
 friends of the confederacy as determined that they should 
 not. Now the railroad train with several car loads of 
 passengers go^s in without any kind of trouble, the whistles 
 shriek and bells ring to announce our arrival, and not a 
 hostile man opposes our approach. What has made this 
 change ? Simply that then we were at war r and now at 
 peace. Then there were miles of earthworks and rifle pits r 
 forts lined with abattis (trees fastened at the butts in the 
 bank and the limbs projecting down the sides with sharpened 
 points) sentinels watching every point of defense, ready to 
 shoot the intruder. Now the earthworks are grown over 
 with trees, and show but little indication of the bloody 
 strife which was then going on. 
 
 We were ambitious Jo see Petersburg then, but had not 
 the courage to venture in. We had a glimpse over at the 
 tops of the buildings, and tall chimneys, but it was only a 
 glimpse. Our quarters were with the 5th Corps, Gen. 
 Meade commanding. One day soon after our arrival, CoL 
 Erastus D. Holt, commanding the 49th N. Y. Reg't, came 
 to the tent in our absence and left word that unless we 
 visited him soon he would shoot us. Not liking the penalty 
 we in two or three days visited him and the boys in blue 
 Under his command, many of whom were of our village. It 
 Was a pleasant meeting. After dinner the Col. proposed 
 that we should take a ride nearer the front, and mounting 
 our horses we made our way to an elevation where our 
 picket lines were, and some forty rods away were the lines 
 of the rebs, all in plain sight of each other and in the inter- 
 mediate space they often met to exchange newspapers, coffee, 
 tobacco, etc. A tall pine tree stood by our lines, in the 
 sides of which holes were bored and rounds put in to 
 facilitate climbing. 
 
 Col. Holt said "Mack; by climbing that tree you can get
 
 HAMPTON ROADS. 1 9! 
 
 a sight of Petersburg." \Ve thought that would be a sight 
 well worth seeing, and so dismounting we climbed up, and 
 were just enjoying the view, when the colonel observed a 
 suspicious movement on the part of a rebel picket, and 
 called to us to come down, as "that fellow may get a shot 
 at you." So we concluded that we had rather climb down 
 than fall down, for the fall might hurt us. So we did 
 not see any more of Petersburg till now, after a lapse of 
 over twenty-five years. 
 
 In about four weeks from the time we met Col. Holt the 
 brave army of the Potomac broke through the line, (April 
 2d ) and captured the city, and seven days after the capture 
 of Petersburg Gen. Lee and the confederate army under 
 him was captured at Appomattox. But Col. Holt was 
 killed in the capture of the city. Thus the life was lost of 
 one of the bravest and most patriotic men who ever wore the 
 blue. That day on which we visited him was the last time 
 we saw him. His regiment had seen hard fighting in the 
 Shendoah Valley, and was reduced from 1,000 strong when 
 it first went to the field, to about 400 men. Col. Holt had 
 once been severely wounded, and came home on a furlough 
 to recover, and returned to the field as soon as he was able 
 to endure the inarch. No more appropriate name could be 
 given the G. A. R. Post of Fredonia than that commemorat- 
 ing the heroic bravery and true patriotism of Col. Erastus 
 D. Holt. 
 
 Col-. Holt first enlisted in the 6th Massachusetts regiment 
 so as to be early in the field. He resided in Hamilton, 
 Canada, when the war broke out, where he could have 
 escaped conscription, but he hastened to the defense of his 
 country. He was one of those who marched through 
 Baltimore in those perilous times when the government 
 troops were fired upon in that disloyal city. After enduring 
 the toils and privations of four years of war, that he should 
 have lost his life so near its triumphant close seems inex- 
 pressibly sad. How happy would he have been could his 
 life have been spared to join with the victorious army in
 
 192 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 that grand review at Washington, amid the acclaims of 
 millions of rejoicing people. 
 
 But though he died when victory was nearly achieved, 
 yet his memory will be kept green in the hearts of a grateful 
 people and especially in his old home, where he was so long 
 a highly respected citizen, and where his patriotic devotion 
 to his imperiled Country was so well known. His honored 
 grave in Forest Hill Cemetery will ever receive the most 
 beautiful tribute of flowers which his devoted sisters and a 
 grateful people can bestow upon it on each recurring 
 Memorial Day, while patriotic valor is honored and tender 
 affection weeps for the loved and lost. 
 
 DEATH OF A NOBLE PHILANTHROPIST. 
 
 News is received of the death of Gen. S. C. Armstrong, 
 who died at the Normal Institute of Hampton, Va., on the 
 nth of May, 1893, aged 56 years. 
 
 Ever since the war he has devoted his life to the manual 
 training of the young colored people and Indians of both 
 sexes. He often had as many as 1,000 under his care. 
 Gen. Armstrong was born at Honolulu, Hawaii, of mission- 
 ary parents. The son of a missionary and Minister of 
 Education, he aspired in his youth to devote himself as his 
 father had done, to some humane work. The American 
 Civil War diverted him temporally from his purpose, 
 although he agreed with John Bright in declaring the battle 
 for the emancipation of a race the most righteous warfare in 
 history. At the close of hostilities after he had distinguish- 
 ed himself by his gallantry in the field and his privations in 
 prison, his real work in life began at Hampton, where the 
 school for negroes and Indians remain as his monument. 
 No missionary in foreign service ever labored with greater 
 devotion than Gen. Armstrong for this educational founda- 
 tion. Year after year its resources were dependent upon his 
 success in enlisting the support of the Virginia Legislature, 
 the United States Congress, and humane men who respected 
 his earnestness and had not the heart to refuse their aid. 
 
 His arduous work in the end wore him out, but not until 
 he had the satisfaction of knowing that it had been crowned 
 with success, and that the Hampton School had im- 
 measurably improved the social religious condition of two 
 neglected races. [CENSOR of May 17, 1893.]
 
 ABOUT NANTUCKET. 
 
 ABOUT NANTUCKET, 
 
 NANTUCKET, Mass,, Sept, i,<i88o. 
 
 The longer one stays on this Island the more interesting 
 does it become. We are here carried back into the dim 
 past by the relics of former years as no other place can carry 
 us. Last Sunday we attended church, in the rear of which 
 stands the first church edifice erected on the Island. 
 The timbers were of white oak, then growing plentifully 
 here, and showing into the room. It was built in 1716. 
 Like the other ancient buildings, it was shingled all the way 
 down. The high pulpit and sounding board over it, and 
 the high square pews, are removed, but to those who have 
 seen these quaint old edifices, the imagination readily 
 restores it to its primitive arrangement. But what scenes 
 has it witnessed? Here the men and women who lived 
 nearly two hundred years ago, assembled for worship, clad 
 in the fashions of the times, the men wearing the cocked 
 hat, under which the queue was neatly tied and hung down 
 upon the back, or looped up to the back hair, and wearing 
 garments which their wives and daughters manufactured 
 from the flax and wool of their own raising, the women in 
 winter carrying their foot-stoves, and each family sitting in 
 the square pew facing each other, and only on one side 
 facing the pulpit. They were people of stern virtues, and 
 no doubt the influence of their example was greatly felt in 
 that community for the nearly two centuries which have 
 passed since they were the regular attendants at this old 
 church edifice. In the old French war, many a sincere 
 prayer was offered here for the success of the mother country 
 against the people who had slain the Huguenots or driven 
 them from their shores, and whose whole governmental 
 power was on the side of Papacy against Protestantism. 
 And those who joined the New England forces and par- 
 ticipated in the battle on the plains of Abraham, under Gen.
 
 194 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Wolf, went forth with many prayers offered in their behalf 
 from these venerable walls. And again when the news of 
 the battle of Lexington was carried to these shores, and the 
 call was made to resist taxation without representation, the 
 stamp tax and all other acts of British aggression, the call 
 was here promptly responded to, and the hardy seamen 
 engaged most heartily in the contest to save the country, 
 and no doubt the God of Nations was most earnestly im- 
 plored within these venerable walls to guide the struggling 
 colonies to success, and that heartfelt thanks were rendered 
 to the Great Ruler of the Universe for the blessings of peace 
 and independent nationality vouchsafed to the country. 
 
 A visit to the Cemetery where the dead of two centuries 
 have been buried told a story of sorrow for the loved ones 
 departed, and their virtues were recorded with a loving 
 remembrance. The older grave stones could not be readily 
 deciphered, but one of about sixty years ago, erected to the 
 memory of a young married lady, who died Oct. 7, 1820, 
 aged 20 years and 7 months, is as follows: 
 "Beneath this stone doth lie, 
 As much of virtue as could die, 
 Which when alive did vigor give 
 To as much beauty as could live." 
 
 Many such have no doubt lived on this Island whose 
 virtues are unchronicled. 
 
 Another place of interest is the jail. It was built in the 
 primitive style, of oak logs hewed square and shingled over 
 on top and sides. It was two stories ifi height, and would 
 accommodate a dozen or so of prisoners. There was one 
 window to each room, over which strong iron bars were 
 spiked, so as to prevent egress through them. It is now 
 tenantless and has been so most of the time for many years. 
 The jailor's residence was near by, and he kindly showed 
 us through the rooms, which were neatly whitewashed over 
 the hewn logs and looked comfortable. He receives $50 
 per year for keeping the jail, and we presume there is little 
 competition for the appointment. When there are prisoners 
 he receives $2.50 per week each for their board. We were
 
 ABOUT NANTUCKET. 195 
 
 informed that some years ago a prisoner was allowed to 
 board at home, and returned regularly from his meals to 
 the jail. The jailor informed us that this was incorrect. 
 The prisoner had his meals sent to him from his home, and 
 the county paid his family for his board. The tenantle&s 
 jail showed the prevailing honesty of the people, and every 
 indication in this quaint old place showed the pervading 
 purity of character of the old Puritans who settled here. 
 The Poor House had about 40 tenants, who were well cared 
 for. The building was more attractive to occupants. 
 
 The early attention to education is shown by the fine 
 school buildings and the general intelligence of the people. 
 We inquired of a bright lad who was blacking boots at the 
 hotel, about the schools, who informed us that he attended 
 the Coffin school, and during his vacation performed such 
 service as he could get to supply his clothes. The Coffin 
 school was established in 1826, by Admiral Coffin of the 
 British navy, who had been a member of Parliament. He 
 was born in Boston, but his parents were from this Island. 
 He visited here about that time, and gave 250 pounds 
 sterling to found the school for the family. The lad said 
 his grand-mother was a Coffin and he was entitled to the 
 privileges of the school, which now had some 90 pupils. 
 
 It must be saddening to the older inhabitants to see the 
 general decay of business in the Island. The war of the 
 revolution and of 1812 greatly depleted the business, each 
 reducing the fishery enterprise, and now the kerosene oil 
 discovery has nearly used it up. In 1840 there were 70 
 vessels engaged in the whale fisher}', and valued at $6,000,- 
 ooo. They had five long wharves, ten rope walks, 36 
 candle factories, with sail lofts, cooper shops, etc., to match. 
 Now these have mostly disappeared. In 1846 a terrible 
 fire destroyed over $1,000,000 of property, from which it has 
 never recovered. Farms can be bought at $i to $5 per 
 acre, and slow sale at that. As a place of resort, during 
 the warm summer months, it will recover some of its former 
 prosperity. It is some thirty miles from the main land, and 
 always has a sea breeze. An influx at this season of one or
 
 ig6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 two thousand people makes business for the time, and blue 
 fishing is rare sport for the visitors. The old captains of 
 whale ships, who are ever ready to render their sendees, 
 make this a source of great enjoyment to the visitor. We 
 greatly enjoyed one of these trips. For variety the skipper 
 will take his party outside the bay and take sharks. We 
 did not have any of this amusement, but saw two hauled up 
 on the beach, one of which was nine feet long, and would 
 weigh about 450 pounds. We despoiled him of some of his 
 teeth, but would not like to be so near him were he alive. 
 
 There are two newspapers printed on the Island, which 
 during the warm season are well supported. The Inquirer 
 & Mirror is a neatly printed paper with about '1300 average 
 circulation. There are two mails a day in the summer, but 
 in winter sometimes access to the Island is difficult. The 
 editor informed us that winter before last, at one time, they 
 were twenty-one weeks without a mail from the outside 
 world. It must have been a job to read up the avalanche 
 of papers which would be received when the blockade was 
 broken. About one-third of the circulation is by mail to 
 all parts of the world. 
 
 Among those who have resorted to the Island this season, 
 are Cha's O' Conner, of New York, Burdett, of the Burling- 
 ton Hawkeye, CrofFuth, of the New York Tribune, E. F. 
 Underbill, formerly of our county, and others of note. 
 
 The hotels are good, the people quiet and pleasant, and 
 as a place of resort and recuperation, np place can be better 
 suited for the purpose.
 
 THOUSAND ISLANDS. 1 97 
 
 THOUSAND ISLANDS. 
 
 August 8, 1884. 
 
 Dear Censor: A ride of 18 hours from Buffalo, via. 
 Niagara Falls, Charlotte, Oswego, and along the shores of 
 Lake Ontario, brings one to Watertown, one of the most 
 beautiful, enterprising and prosperous cities of the State. 
 Here I was met by Beman Brockway, of the Watertown 
 Times, and L. L. Pratt, formerly of tne Fredonia Advertiser. 
 Fifty-two years ago we three were apprentices together in 
 the Northampton Courier office. In due time we all went 
 West, long before Horace Greeley gave the sage advice. 
 At times we have been separated, but now we are together 
 enjoying the unparalleled beauties of the Thousand Islands 
 a region never thought of as a place of resort, and 
 scarcely mentioned by tourists in our younger days. Forty 
 years ago I had been to Niagara Falls and seen that 
 wonderful cataract, noted in the old English Reader, our 
 text book at school, in which Oliver Goldsmith described 
 its awful grandeur, and how the Indians in their bark 
 canoes shot its seething rapids in safety; but the Thousand 
 Islands had no such place in English literature. 
 
 These Islands of the St. Lawerence present a most charm- 
 ing picture of natural scenery; and it is not surprising, 
 when their beauties are known, that they should become 
 the resort . of the men of letters for a rest from their long 
 brain labor, to the men of business who seek respite for a 
 few days or weeks from the turmoil and strife of commercial 
 life, to the educator who has assiduously labored for nine 
 months in training the young ideas in intellectual archery, 
 and the mechanic wh6 puts off the greasy habiliments of 
 daily toil to spend a little time in recreation, and to the
 
 1 98 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 professional man who seeks rest in communion with nature 
 from the weary preparation of mental pabulum, and perhaps 
 to the relief of his more weary congregation or clients. 
 
 But we are wandering, and that is what we came here 
 for. We took the large and elegant steamer St. Lawrence 
 at Cape Vincent for Alexandria Bay, about 30 miles down 
 the river. We passed very many beautiful islands, where 
 wealth and taste had fitted up elegant summer residences. 
 Some of these islands are so small that but a single house 
 occupied the whole. One of these is where Gov. Alvord 
 recreates, receives his friends and catches the finny occu- 
 pants of the deep waters. The river varies in width as we 
 proceed down, from a mile to ten miles, meandering among 
 the thousand gems that lift their heads above the blue 
 waters, the islands varying in size from two or three square 
 rods to miles in length, with thousands of acres of arable 
 land, or with beautiful groves, in the midst of which are 
 neat cottages where families are enjoying sweet com- 
 munion with each other, free from care and anxiety, and 
 the little ones have no restraint of the stern teacher to 
 compel them to get their lessons, and when text books are 
 cast aside as so much rubbish and bidden not to interfere 
 with their enjoy mehts, 
 
 From Alexandria Bay we totfk the steamer Island 
 Wanderer, visited several of the islands, and landed in early 
 evening at Westminster Park, ' on Wells Island. This 
 Island is about nine miles long somewhat longer than the 
 Island of Nantucket on the east of which are the Pres- 
 byterian grounds. The "Westminster Assembly," we may 
 as well call it, has 500 acres of beautiful grounds, a large 
 hotel and annex, a fine chapel, numerous neat cottage resi- 
 dences, and well is laid out roads and grounds, with beautiful 
 views from every direction. A sunset view over the broad 
 waters of the bay, the puffing steamers as they go on their 
 winding way from island to island, the light row boats with 
 the Ike Waltons returning from their sport of capturing the 
 finny tribes, form one of the scenes that will be indelibly
 
 THOUSAND ISLANDS. 1 99 
 
 impressed upon the mind. The area of the Park is laid out 
 into lots of about 40 by 80 feet, and several hundred are sold, 
 many of them built upon, and excellent and refined society 
 is thus formed in this delightiul retreat. A relative of 
 Fighting Joe Hooker, who was a native of old Hadley, 
 Mass., built a costly and delightful mansion on the bluff 
 adjoining the hotel, where his sisters now reside. We were 
 pleasantly entertained at the hotel, where 500 guests can 
 find ample accommodation. 
 
 Our next stopping place of interest was at the Thousand 
 Island Park, farther up the river, but on the same island. 
 This enterprise, somewhat similar to Chautauqua in many 
 respects, is under the patronage of the Methodist denomina- 
 tion. It is the largest and most prosperous of the Island 
 resorts. It was commenced nine years ago, when a company 
 purchased 1,000 acres of the land at $i6per acre. They 
 proceeded to lay out a part of the grounds for cottage sites, 
 graded about ten miles of road, and built a splendid summer 
 hotel, with accommodations for 500 guests, at a cost of some 
 $40,000. The Association has sold $80,000 worth of lots, 
 40 by 80 feet $24,000 worth last year. They sell at an 
 average of about $80 per lot. There is now a resident 
 population of about 5,000. A farm of 600 acres of rich soil 
 supplies garden vegetables, with wood, grain, hay and 
 pasture. The milk of 150 cows is used on the grounds. 
 About twenty steamers arrive and depart daily at this and 
 the other places of resort, besides innumerable yachts and 
 boats of all descriptions. A grocery store sold $25,000 
 worth of goods during the season. We are greatly indebted 
 to Rev. M. D. Kinney, President of the Association, for 
 kind attention and a pleasant drive over the grounds. 
 
 Our next stopping place was at Round Island Park. 
 This is under Baptist auspices. We did not observe, how- 
 ever, that the people took to the water more readily than 
 the other islanders. In fact, all have to get to the outer 
 world by water. The plan of this resort is like the others. 
 The ground is plotted, lots sold, and an intelligent and
 
 200 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 agreeable community gathered. The grounds are delight- 
 ful, the views of the river and other islands, charming, and 
 might lead one to wish to stay on this side the river rather 
 than take the chances of enjoying the "green fields beyond 
 the swelling flood." The Association is a stock company 
 with $50,000 capital; 441 lots and 42 avenues were laid out. 
 The avenues were named after Baptist Colleges and 
 Academies, Presidents, etc. A fine hotel, markets and 
 restaurants are conveniently located and every accessory of 
 comfort and rest are provided. The cottages in this and all 
 other places of resort on the islands, are in advance of those 
 at Chautauqua. The lots are larger, and the architectual 
 taste of a higher order. The gay and variegated colors of 
 the neat cottages, the large and roomy verandas, the outlook 
 for miles over the river and numerous islands and the distant 
 shore, all lend a charm that is entrancing to the sight. The 
 Baptist brethren are not at all exclusive in their cozy island 
 all are welcome, and we are told that more Episcopalians 
 resort to this place than any other denomination. All these 
 islands of resort are under the stars and stripes, and like the 
 characteristics of our government, all denominations are 
 welcome to their hearts and homes. 
 
 And now that we have visited the three denominational 
 places, if asked which we liked best it would be hard to 
 answer. 
 
 It may be surprising, but it show r s how like birds of 
 passage the American people are becoming. When we state 
 that probably 50,000 people seek the resorts of the Islands 
 and shores of the* St. Lawrence for their summer vacation 
 when it is taken into account also the numbers who visit 
 Chautauqiia, the Springs, the sea shore and other places of 
 resort, and that the number is constantly increasing, the 
 progress of the age in this direction will be more obvious. 
 And then when 100,000 people from the North go to Florida 
 and the shores of the Gulf in winter, to escape the inclem- 
 encies of a more hyperborean latitude, it will be seen that 
 this migratory habit is of equal benefit to the South. This
 
 THOUSAND ISLANDS, 2OI 
 
 inter change is fast making our nation a unit, and make it 
 more impossible to sever the Union. 
 
 We have seen something of our great Nation and its 
 diversified interests, and beautiful, grand and picturesque 
 scenery. By the wilderness of the Northern Pacific, the 
 angry rush of waters in the Dalles of the St. Louis, by the 
 palm lined banks of the placid St. John, where the water 
 turkey rests in the sedges, and the herron skims through the 
 moss-bannered oaks; by the sombre cedar-covered isles of 
 the Apostles, and the Sault St. Mary, where the Indians in 
 their birch canoes brave the torrent, and in the placid Bay 
 of Mobile by tha forts that Farra^ut passed to undying 
 fame; by Pensacola's sandy shore, where the ships of all 
 nations gather; by New England's lovely valleys, and the 
 boundless prairies of the West; north, south, east and west 
 have we wandered, but we feel that this most delightful trip 
 among the islands of the St. Lawrence is the climax of them 
 all. Here nature blends with mental delights her choicest 
 scenery, and here in these retreats is held so much of the 
 intellectual culture that flies here to commune with itself, 
 where nature is in harmony with the highest aspirations.
 
 202 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 FROM LAKE ERIE TO LAKE SUPERIOR. 
 
 STEAMP;R BADGER STATE, 
 LAKE HURON, Aug. n, 1890. 
 
 Dear Censor. We left Cleveland last Friday evening for 
 Detroit. The city of Cleveland is a large and fine boat 
 coasting between that city and Detroit, leaving in the even- 
 ing and arriving every morning at Detroit. Our friend Mr. 
 Stevens had arranged for our passage, and as the departure 
 of boats was somewhat deranged by the breakage of a lock 
 on the Sault St. Marie canal, the boat was two days late in 
 her regular trip, and made no stop until Detroit was reached. 
 This left the day in that city which was w r ell improved in 
 going 'through the principal streets and excursions on the 
 river. The most attractive of these trips is to Belle Island, 
 of some 500 acres, which the city owns and has laid out 
 most beautifully, and to which boats run every 20 minutes 
 during warm weather. We passed through the principal 
 avenues by electric cars, and on Woodward Ave. saw many 
 delightful residences, large and handsome churches in the 
 process of erection, fine public buildings, a grand soldiers' 
 monument on the public square, and every evidence of an 
 opulent and prosperous population. The large riverfront 
 affords unrivalled facilities for commerce, and the numerous 
 vessels on the river show that it is improved. 
 
 The Badger State is one of a line of eight steamers of the 
 Lake Superior Transit Co. , of which Stephen D. Caldwell, 
 a former resident of Fredonia, is President. These steamers 
 are of first class, three of them of iron, and usually occupy 
 "about six days on the trip each way. The distance from 
 Buffalo to Duluth by the usual route of the line is 1,300 
 miles, but our steamer took a more direct course this time, 
 and makes the trip of noo miles in 4^ days. 
 
 Our ship is a very pleasant one. The officers are gentle-
 
 FROM LAKH ERIE TO LAKE SUPERIOR. 203 
 
 manly, and agreeable. To the ordinary landsman, the 
 art of navigation is one of much interest. The details of the 
 chart, speed of the boat, dead reckoning, and the accuracy 
 with which every movement is recorded in the log book, 
 were explained by the gentlemanly captain, and made the 
 trip a source of information that we could not have obtained 
 otherwise. 
 
 The passage up the St. Clair river and through the canal 
 excavated through the middle of the lake, and the scenery 
 of the banks of the river was very pleasant. 
 
 In going by lake from Buffalo to Duluth, we pass through 
 Lake Erie 270 miles, Lake Huron, 270 miles, and Lake 
 Superior 380 miles, making over 900 miles in all of lake navi- 
 gation, and about 200 miles of river, St. Clair and St. Marie, 
 and several small lakes, making the trip 1 100 miles, which 
 with usual stoppings and detours to reach ports on the line, 
 makes about 1300 miles. 
 
 We reach the "Soo" on Monday evening, in time to lock 
 through into Lake Superior before dark. The passage up 
 the vSt. Marie river was most delightful. We pass several 
 summer and fishing resorts, where the occupants seemed to 
 be enjoying themselves with entire abandon. On the 
 western side of the St. Marie for miles we passed an Indian 
 reservation, occupied by small and comfortable dwell- 
 ings, and there are large lumber establishments, where 
 the employes appeared to be Indians who were loading 
 lumber on vessels. The large mill was supplying the 
 transportation for the eastern market. 
 
 SAULT ST. MARIE, AUG. 12. 
 
 Near the locks on the "Soo" has grown up a thriving 
 little city of some 6,000 inhabitants, and improvements are 
 progressing rapidly. When we were here some 18 years 
 ago, there was but a small hamlet of rude houses indicating 
 anything but thrift. Now large blocks of buildings are 
 erected, the "Iroquois" a large and imposing appearing 
 hotel, a National Bank building, and blocks of stores, many 
 of them of red sandstone somewhat similar in appearance to
 
 204 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 the brown stone fronts of eastern cities. We understand 
 this stone is obtained in this vicinity in great abundance. 
 The streets are lighted with electric lights, and electric cars 
 pass over them. They are being paved with Macadam. 
 The water works obtain a bountiful supply from the pure 
 soft water of the lake, A single lock of some 18 feet rise 
 lifts the vessel to the level of the upper lake r and the time 
 required to pass through is less than half an hour. So great 
 is the commerce concentrated here, in the passage between 
 the lakes, that a breakage of the locks, some two weeks 
 ago, which took some three days to repair, caused an ac- 
 cumulation of 175 vessels and various crafts which were 
 detained by the accident. The government is now con- 
 structing a new and larger and deeper lock, which will 
 admit the larger vessels and more at a time. The Canadian 
 government is also constructing a lock on that side of the 
 river, so as to be independent of our government works for 
 their transportation. 
 
 We are now on the ground visited by the French Mission- 
 aries, Marquette, L/asalle, Duluth, and others 220 years ago t 
 and here they made a settlement, the first made in the 
 limits of the present state of Michigan, and called it St. 
 Marie. From here they went in their missionary work to 
 Marquette, LaPointe, Duluth, St. Paul, St. L/ouis, and other 
 points still designated by the names they gave them more 
 than two hundred years ago. They were a noble and 
 enterprising people, actuated by a sincere desire to propagate 
 and extend their faith among the native red men of the 
 forest, and some of the same faith may still be found among 
 the descendants of these aborigines. The French then 
 held a vast territory, almost surrounding the colonies of the 
 old thirteen states, all then in the infancy of their existence. 
 Canada, ceded to Great Britain by the conquest of arms in 
 the old French war, nearly 150 years ago, and the southern 
 portion known as the Louisiana purchase, nearly 90 years 
 ago, deprived the French of a vast empire in extent of 
 territory, and left them without a foothold on the continent.
 
 FROM LAKE ERIE TO LAKE SUPERIOR. 205 
 
 As the conquest of Canada was made mostly by the arms of 
 the Colonists, Ly right it ought to belong to us as a patrimony 
 of the valor of the soldiers of the old French war, when the 
 brave Wolfe fell near the walls of Quebec, and was con- 
 soled in his dying moments with the word that Montcalm 
 and the French forces were flying from the field. 
 
 LAKE SUPERIOR, AUG. 13. 
 
 We are now on the dark blue waters of Lake Algoma, 
 and are moving along at the rate of about 10 knots an 
 hour. The propeller of the Badger State moves quietly 
 with but little jar and we write without disturbance. We 
 donned our flannels while on Lake Huron, and now we 
 have added our overcoats to protect us from the chilly air. 
 We are in latitude 47 degrees 30 minutes. The sky is 
 overcast with dark clouds, and the wind from the south 
 \\vst is freshening. The captain has given us instruction in 
 the chart, and the curious little "log" has been examined 
 which shows that we are running at the rate of over ten 
 knots an hour and at the same rate will arrive at Duluth at 
 about 1 1 o'clock to-morrow. Thus far we have been pass- 
 ing along quietly with but little rough weather except the 
 day we passed through Lake Huron, when the roughness 
 caused a scarcity of passengers at the supper table. It was 
 only a pleasant episode in the monotony of lake travel. We 
 steam along the southerly shore of the lake and look off on 
 the hills where untold wealth of ores is stored, and where 
 iron and copper are mined in immense quantities, and trans- 
 ported to the more eastern states to be wrought into all 
 manner of useful and beautiful implements and articles of 
 commerce. The copper made into brass, supplies all the 
 Connecticut clock makers with the material to keep the time 
 of the world, and time the movements of sun and planets. 
 What would the world do without these materials? Just 
 now we are abreast of the noted Hecla mines, where the 
 smoke of the tall chimneys shows that the rocks are being 
 tortured to yield the precious metals which are held with 
 tenacious grasp in their composition. Forty -seven years
 
 2O6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 ago a young Fredonia man, Dr. Douglass Houghton, lost 
 his life in his search for the hidden minerals held in the 
 rocks on these shores. He was a natural scientist, and had 
 penetrated into the mysteries of geology, then a comparative- 
 ly new science, and as a result the greater development of 
 valuable metals has been made, till California has given 
 forth still more valuable minerals by which the world has. 
 been enriched. 
 
 The commerce of Lake Superior has been wonderfully 
 increased in a few years, and although railroads are stretch- 
 ing east and west on both sides of the lake, yet such is the 
 progress of the commerce that the lake transportation is 
 constantly increasing. It is stated that the daily tonage 
 passing through the St. Marie Canal is greater than that 
 passing through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea to the 
 Mediterranean,- while that canal connects continents densely 
 populated for three thousand years. The canal connecting 
 Lake Superior with the lower lakes is of comparatively 
 recent construction, and was completed by the U. S. govern- 
 ment in 1 88 1. The first canal was built by the State of 
 Michigan, 
 
 The Indian name "Algoma" should have been preserved 
 to this vast body of water, 380 miles long and averaging 
 over roo miles wide, with an altitude above tide water of 
 600 feet, and a depth of 900, or 300 feet below sea level, 
 giving magnificent proportions, and the head waters of five 
 great lakes of more than a thousand miles in length and an 
 average of roo miles in width. No country in the world can 
 boast of such large bodies of "inland seas." 
 
 DULUTH AND SUPERIOR CITY. 
 
 DULUTH, Minn., Aug. 14, 1890. 
 
 Dear Censor: Yesterday morning the far famed city of 
 Duluth was sighted from the Badger State, as she was 
 steaming at the rate of ro knots an hour towards the port of 
 destination. The appearance of the city has greatly changed 
 since we saw it, eighteen years ago. We had come over 
 the railroad from St. Paul, mostly through a wilderness.
 
 M LAKE ERIE TO LAKE SUPERIOR. ~2CfJ 
 
 155 miles. It then contained about 4,000 inhabitants, all 
 'intent upon making it the Chicago of Lake Superior. Three 
 daily newspapers were booming in the city, and real estate 
 was held at fabulous prices. The Northern Pacific Rail- 
 road was pushed forward with great energy and had been 
 constructed, being opened for traffic as far west as Brainard, 
 and Jay Cook was doing his best to push westward the Star 
 of Empire on this northern line. The contest was sharp 
 between Superior city on the easterly side of the St. Louis 
 river in Wisconsin, and Duluth for the termination of the 
 road, but Duluth had prevailed, and eastern capital, largely 
 from Boston, was flowing in to secure sites for business 
 blocks, elevators, and homes for the anticipated thousands 
 of people about to occupy this embryo city: 
 
 While the boom was going on, Superior city, some 6 or 7 
 miles distant across the bay, was brooding over the dis- 
 appointment, and her 200 to 300 population were in mourn- 
 ing over the disaster which the railroad magnates had caused 
 them in not making their place the terminus. Minnesota 
 Point, a long stretch of land extending nine miles out into 
 the lake, made a most commodious harbor on the Superior 
 City side but it was a long distance around the point, and 
 the detour was not often made. A few years later a canal 
 was cut across the point, making the river and commodious 
 harbor accessible* this has transferred the shipping to the 
 southern side of the point. The canal is 1,200 feet in 
 length, 250 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The panic of 1873, 
 the next year after our first visit, dashed many expectations 
 and visions of a great city, and overflowing commerce dis- 
 appeared as a baseless fabric. What was our surprise on 
 our second visit to find a city ol 40,000 inhabitants, with 
 fine graded streets, large and fine churches, large and 
 splendid hotels, street cars, and the harbor filled with ship* 
 ping, and three railroads centering there. Dwellings are 
 being perched on the hill sides on the steep grades from the 
 lake, large school houses erected in several wards, and a 
 general air of prosperity is presented. 
 
 A ride of two hours about Duluth with friend StevenH
 
 208 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 was a revelation to us. A populous city on such an un- 
 propitious site, seemed impossible. This Is located near 
 the 47th parallel, shut out from the rest of the world by 
 water communication for several months of the year by a 
 blockade of ice, with no desirable farming land for miles 
 away, yet here we find large lumber mills using the rafts of 
 logs floated down the St. L,ouis and from the regions border- 
 ing the lake, a blast furnace, large elevators, and a larger 
 grain transportation to the east than Chicago has. This is 
 one of the wonders of the west. 
 
 There are some very fine hotels at Duluth and among 
 them the Spaulding has the credit of being first class in 
 every respect. It is spacious, 7 stories high, and has a 
 most delightful dining room on the 6th floor, commanding a 
 view of the harbor and its extensive shipping and of the 
 lake as far as the eye can reach. The incoming and out- 
 going of vessels are in plain view, and in warm weather the 
 cooling breezes from the lake are very welcome. The 
 kitchen is on the floor above. A capacious and quick 
 moving elevator conveys guests from the different floors, and 
 we doubt if any more delightful place of refreshment was 
 ever invented. The clerk, Mr. J. H. Langton, was former- 
 ly a newspaper man in Salamanca, and his Cattaraugus and 
 Chautauqua friends will find in him all the good qualities 
 ever found in a first class hotel clerk. 
 
 J 
 
 By invitation of C apt, Smith, we took a small passenger 
 steamer to Superior City. This is a rival to Duluth, but is 
 far behind it now. Since the cutting of a canal across 
 Minnesota Point it is much more accessible, and it has a 
 large tract of level country more convenient for business 
 places and dwellings. A ride of three miles on the 
 electric cars, passes blocks held at city prices and awaiting 
 purchasers and occupants. L/arge lumbering establishments 
 are located here, and steel and iron works, which give em- 
 ployment to hundreds of people. It is dividing the boom 
 with Duluth, and the expectations are very high. Three 
 years ago there were but 200 population, and now 14,200 
 are reported by the recent census. They are putting in
 
 FROM LAKE ERIE TO LAKE SUPERIOR. 209 
 
 water works and are spending $250, ooo on them and their 
 distribution in the city. They are also grading and paving 
 streets, and we would judge were making taxes very heavy. 
 They expect to have eastern capitalists buy the land and 
 help pay the taxes. Duluth is spreading about four miles 
 southward, where there is room to build on more level 
 ground, and the two cities will eventually come nearly 
 together. A new kfnd of steel boats are being built here, 
 in cigar shape, which greatly diminishes the price of con- 
 struction per tonnage, and is expected to grow into an im- 
 portant industry. We saw one of these leviathans in tow 
 when we came up the lake. It looked very much as though 
 an immense whale had been caught. 
 
 St. Paul, Aug. 15. At 8:303. m. we left the "Zenith 
 City of the unsalted seas," taking the train for St. Paul. 
 The road has been straightened since we passed over it be- 
 fore, and we lost all the view of the Dalles of the St. Louis, 
 which were a rare attraction then. This river divides 
 between Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the swift current 
 leaping from rock to rock in most fantastic forms, makes a 
 beautiful series of cascades. The change of road has taken 
 away all the romance of the journey. The distance is 155 
 miles, mostly through lightly timbered land, of which the 
 white birch predominates in the northern portion. Large 
 saw mills are making havoc with the timber. We passed 
 ral pretty lakes, of which White Bear is the largest. 
 This lake is a great place of resort for St. Paul people, and 
 the numerous beautiful lakes scattered along the route are 
 much resorted to for hunting and fishing and recreation. 
 The wonderful growth of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been 
 a surprise to the world. 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS. 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Oct. 10, 1885. 
 
 Dear Censor: A half hour's ride from St. Paul brings us 
 to one of the most wonderful cities of the world for growth 
 in population and wealth. Railroads from Dakota and the 
 Northern Pacific, Lake Superior, and the vast wheat raising
 
 2IO EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 counties of Minnesota, bring in immense quantities of 
 wheat, and the Mississippi and tributary rivers supply vast 
 amounts of lumber, and the falls of St. Anthony furnish a 
 water power unsurpassed in the West to manufacture these 
 products. We had high anticipations, but the half had not 
 been told. We had the good fortune to meet Mr. R. C. 
 Hay wood, who spent some days with his father Mr. Albert 
 Haywood, in Fredonia, last summer, and who very kindly 
 showed us over the city. We have here in a bird's eye 
 view, the results of Western enterprise and energy. The 
 Father of Waters, here a stream of some sixty rods in width, 
 has a fall of about 50 feet in one mile, and with wing dams, 
 the water is conveyed into canals on each side, where the 
 motive power is furnished for lumber and flouring mills, 
 which give employment to a large population, and contribute 
 much to the supply of the world with bread. Our friend 
 first took us to the largest of the Pillsbury Mills, a mammoth 
 five story stone building, filled with machinery from base- 
 ment floor to roof, where 300 men arc employed in the 
 manufacture of flour. This mill, the largest of the five 
 owned by the Pillsbury Co. has a capacity of 6,200 barrels 
 per day, and the five mills have a capacity of three million 
 barrels per year, or 9,500 barrels per day. The mill which 
 we visited is the largest flouring mill in the world, grinding 
 24,000 bushels per day. The roller grinding process is 
 chiefly used. The wheat used by these mills is equal per 
 day to the production of three thousand acres, and the yearly 
 consumption of 12,000,000 bushels is 4 equal to the produc- 
 tion of about one million acres, or the entire agricultural 
 acreage of the State of Massachusetts. 
 
 No strikes have ever taken place in these mills. The 
 employees had the option of a certain amount of wages and 
 a percentage of the profits, or a little higher wages with no 
 percentage. Most of them accepted the percentage of 
 profits, and as a result some $28,000 was recently divided 
 among them. Of course the most faithful service is render- 
 ed and a mutual interest between employer and employee is 
 maintained to the entire satisfaction of both.
 
 MINNEAPOLIS. 211 
 
 There are eighteen flouring mills in the city, and among 
 them the Washburn mills, which are of large capacity. It 
 will be seen that the flouring business is a very large one. 
 The flour is shipped by car loads to the Eastern market, by 
 way of Duluth, and thence down the lakes by Milwaukee, 
 Chicago, and all rail transportation, to the eastern states 
 and the continents abroad. We read in an ancient book of 
 "two women grinding at the mill." They had no roller 
 mill, bolts, bran dusters or any of the modern appliances. 
 Large nations were supplied with bread by this process. 
 Now the work of two women all day in those times would 
 be much better accomplished in any of these large mills in 
 less than a second of time. 
 
 The lumber business of Minneapolis is of im- 
 mense importance. The logs are floated down the 
 Mississippi and its tributaries for hundreds of miles, and 
 when they are hauled up into one of these mills and put on 
 the saw carriage, it seems to take but a moment to square 
 them, and for a gang of saws to cut t'.vo logs at a time into 
 boards, and the other machinery to trim and split them, 
 make the slabs and trimmings into lath, ready for market. 
 We were informed of the amount of these products, but we 
 do not dare to trust to our recollection of figures for it was 
 in many millions of feet. From the elevated position where 
 we could see the whole operation it would seem that it would 
 take but a short time to use up a whole forest. 
 
 But about the city. A place in which over 3,000 build- 
 ings are erected in a year, or say ten each working day, will 
 of course look like business. And yet they are all wanted 
 by the rapidly growing population. People from all parts 
 of the world are found here, but the increase is mostly of 
 the most enterprising people of this and other States. A 
 growth of over one hundred thousand people in twenty-five 
 years, or from less than twenty thousand to about 130,000 
 has no parallel in the world. Of course there is a rapid rise 
 in real estate. What was farming land a few years ago, is 
 now covered with dwellings or business blocks, and in many
 
 212 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 cases lands have risen from $50. an acre to several hundred 
 dollars per front foot, of say 80 feet deep. The new build- 
 ings are in good taste, nicely painted, lawns in good shape, 
 and present a fine appearance. Unlike the oldest portion of 
 New York, Boston, Albany, (where the streets are narrow 
 and crowded,) the streets here are wide and nicely paved 
 with cedar blocks; and are at right angles, showing that in 
 the original plan it was intended for a city. A striking 
 contrast is also presented with the cities of the South. Take 
 the city of New Orleans, for example, where we spent some 
 three weeks last Spring at the Great Exposition. That 
 city has been more than one hundred years in growing to 
 its present size and everything is at a stand still. No build- 
 ings being erected, and no growth of population for the past 
 ten years, though surrounded with fertile cotton and cane 
 lands, it presents at a glance the difference between the 
 enterprise and energy of the North with the aristocratic 
 element of the South. 
 
 The water power of the Mississippi at Minneapolis is 
 taxed to its utmost capacity in low water for hydraulic 
 power, and steam is supplemented in some cases. But a 
 system of reservoirs on the upper Mississippi is projected 
 where lakes are found or natural ones raised by dams to 
 hold the water in reserve for a dry period. Five of these 
 reservoirs are provided for by legislative enactment, and 
 three of these are already constructed. It is estimated that 
 in low water the capacity will be doubled by these reservoirs, 
 and the navigation of the river be greatly improved thereby. 
 
 There has been considerable rivalry between St Paul and 
 Minneapolis, and the census is watched closely to see which 
 is the larger place. But the recent census decides in favor 
 of Minneapolis, which had 129,200, to 111,397 in St. Paul. 
 This preponderance will be kept and increased. 
 
 A drive over the city showed a large accumulation of 
 wealth among the capitalists. Ex-Gov. Washburn's palatial 
 residence with ten acres of ground and bani with improve- 
 ments cost about half a million of dollars. For two or three
 
 MINNEAPOLIS. 213 
 
 miles out the sightly locations are being occupied by large 
 and beautiful residences, and the grounds are laid out with 
 much taste. 
 
 The West House, in the central part of the city, is one 
 of the most magnificent hotels in the world. It has a 
 capacity of 1,200 guests, and has all the appliances for 
 comfort that can be found anywhere. It cost $1,600,000 
 more than half a million more than the Ryan house in St. 
 Paul. Of course this city would not be behind its rival in 
 hotels or anything else. 
 
 It may appear a wonder how there should be such a rapid 
 growth in places so far north that the mercury often freezes 
 during the winter, and where for many days at a time the 
 thermometer does not get up to the thawing point, while at 
 the South where vegetation has almost perpetual growth, 
 the population is nearly at a stand-still.
 
 214 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
 ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 9, 1885. 
 
 Dear Censor. A trip of about 50 miles from Faribault 
 on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul R. R. brought us to 
 this noted city, the Capital of the State of Minnesota. Like 
 many other western cities it has had a rapid growth, nearly 
 100,000 having been added to its population in the last 25 
 years. It is on the east bank of the Mississippi and the 
 head of continuous steam boat navigation from the gulf of 
 Mexico, at a distance of about i , 600 miles from the gulf by 
 its tortuous course, but only about i, 100 miles by direct line. 
 
 The falls of St. Anthony at the foot of which is situated 
 the city of St. Paul, was visited by French explorers in 
 1680, and their names, Du Luth, Hennepin and La Salle 
 are given to cities, streets, rivers, and places of prominence 
 in Northern Minnesota. They ascended the St. Croix river 
 from Lake Superior (Indian name Algoma) and crossed to 
 the Mississippi at the falls of St. Anthony. The French 
 discoverers extended their expedition down the Wisconsin 
 and Mississippi, to the Gulf. De Iberville, the first Gov- 
 ernor of the Louisiana territory, then had his seat of govern- 
 ment at Mobile. 
 
 Fort Snelling was the military station, established soon 
 after the war of 1812, and continues to be the principal 
 station for troops, from which they are ordered to the far 
 west to subdue the Indians when they become turbulent. 
 It is located on a high bluff near the intersection of the 
 Minnesota (formerly St. Peters) river with the Mississippi. 
 Its high walls of heavy masonry made it invulnerable to 
 attack at the time when it was constructed, but would not 
 be so formidable with the present means of attack. This 
 military station has doubtless had an important influence in 
 the early development of the neighboring cities of St. Paul
 
 ST. PAUL. 215 
 
 and Minneapolis. St. Paul has a beautiful location, and 
 the high bluffs adjacent give commanding positions for State 
 Institutions and palatial residences. The State House is a 
 plain building, but neat and commodious. The former 
 State house was destroyed by fire some five years ago, 
 while the Legislature was in session, and the members and 
 occupants had to beat a hasty retreat to escape the flames. 
 The present State House was built on the same site and has 
 a very substantial appearance. We met Gov. Hubbard, 
 who is a popular man, and has the confidence of the people. 
 The Legislature has biennial sessions, and this year it is 
 very quiet about the State House. The sessions are limited 
 to sixty days on alternate years. The Senate is elected for 
 four years and the House for two years. Biennial sessions 
 were adopted by a large majority of the people some four or 
 five years ago and the plan is very popular with them. The 
 politicians were not much in favor of it, but were impelled 
 by the popular demand to submit the question to the 
 sovereigns, and now it will be impossible to get the annual 
 sessions resumed. The Legislature makes appropriations 
 for two years, and the laws passed are of a general character, 
 nearly all special legislation being done away. 
 
 One is surprised to see such large wholesale houses, and 
 blocks six, seven and eight stories high, constructed of stone 
 and brick in a most substantial manner. The Hotel Ryan 
 built by an Irishman who commenced in poverty in the 
 mining business of the west, who amassed a fortune and 
 spent a million of dollars on the hotel which bears his name. 
 Real estate of course bears fabulous prices and new build- 
 ings are going up in every direction.
 
 2l6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 FLORIDA. 
 
 PENSACOLA, Fla., April 5, 1883. 
 
 Dear Censor: We are now on the borders of the Gulf 
 of Mexico, in an old Spanish city, which has an important 
 history. After leaving Montgomery we continued for a 
 time in the cotton region, and then struck that of the 
 Southern pine. For miles we pass through the region 
 where the trees are barked and scarred to cause the 
 exhudation of the pitch, and then we pass a manufactory 
 where it is distilled for the turpentine, and the resinous 
 residue barreled for transportation. Again we pass large 
 lumber mills, where the timber is worked up into boards for 
 siding and flooring for buildings. One can get but little 
 idea of the extent of this industry without statistics. We 
 have no such pine in Western New York. It is full of 
 pitch, much harder in texture than the white pine of the 
 North, and hence more durable. There is a large extent of 
 territory where it is indigenous, including East Virginia 
 the Carolians and parts of Georgia, Alabama and Florida. 
 But the extent of its use will eventually exterminate it, not- 
 withstanding the wide spread region of its growth. 
 
 The lumber business produces almost a cosmopolitan 
 trade. There were shipped from Petisacola to the ports of 
 Great Britain alone, in a year to Oct. 31, 1882, in 263 
 vessels, more than ten million cubic feet of hewed and sawed 
 timber and fourteen millions of superficial feet of sawed 
 lumber. 
 
 In addition to this there were 26 vessels from Holland, 46 
 from France, 19 from Germany, 18 from Italy, 5 from Spain, 
 and also transportations to Portugal, Belgium, Australia 
 and Africa, in all more than two and a half million dollars 
 in valuation. It may appear surprising that an old Spanish 
 place like Pensacola should become so energized into new
 
 FLORIDA. 217 
 
 life in these modern times. But there is but little of the old 
 Spanish element left in it. It is to all intents a thoroughly 
 American city, though its trade is cosmopolitan. With a 
 splendid harbor, easy of approach, and connected with the 
 interior by railroads, it has had a wonderful commercial 
 activity, especially when it is taken into account that it has 
 no river facilities of communication. 
 
 Florida, as is well known, is an old Spanish possession. 
 The' town of Pensacola was settled by Spaniards as early as 
 1696, nearly 200 years ago, at a time when France, Spain 
 and England were competing for colonial possessions on 
 this continent. The French soon after captured it, and in 
 a short time it was recaptured by the Spaniards. In i 764 
 West Florida was ceded to Great Britain, but 16 years after, 
 (1780) it was captured by the Spaniards, in whose 
 possession it remained till purchased by the United States 
 in 1819. While the English were in possession they named 
 all the streets in honor of English statesmen, but the 
 Spaniards restored the names formerly given which are still 
 retained. These are now Ferdinand II., Plaza, Zargossa, 
 etc. There are but few old Spanish buildings ' here now, 
 and they are readily recognized by the wide portico under a 
 projecting roof, and the general antiquity of the appearance. 
 The city has been scourged with several large fires, which 
 have swept away many of the venerable relics of its earlier 
 civilization. We saw some of the iron cannon left by the 
 Spaniards, now used as street corners, and four are used as 
 anchors to the flag staff on the center of the Plaza. 
 
 It is surprising what a large amount of business is done in 
 Pensacola in view of the population. We were told that 
 more than 200 vessels were seen at one time last year in the 
 bay, nearly every nationality being represented. 
 
 The climate is delightful, and though not below the frost 
 line, most of the shrubs and plants which require protection 
 at the North, here flourish in the open air. 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE. 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE, Apr. 16, 1883. 
 Dear Censor. We* are now in the oldest settled place in
 
 2l8 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 the United States. It is a quaint old town, and would 
 suggest to one that he is on foreign soil. The town is 
 situated on the ' Matanzas river, which separates it from 
 Anastasia Island, beyond which is the ocean. It ordinarily 
 contains about 3,000 inhabitants, but in winter, with influx 
 of tourists and health seekers has a much larger population. 
 It is accessible from St. Johns River by railroad from Tocoi 
 22 miles, where boats connect. 
 
 Ponce de Leon is supposed to have landed here in 1512 
 when in search of the fountain of youth. The place was 
 settled in 1565, which was 55 years before the Pilgrims 
 landed at Plymouth, and 32 years before Virginia was 
 settled at Jamestown. Spain was then the greatest power 
 on earth, but the conflicts of the ages have greatly changed 
 the comparative greatness of the powers of the old world as 
 well as the new. The French Huguenots had three years 
 previously settled at Port Royal, but were subsequently 
 massacred by a force from St. Augustine. The whole 
 history of the place for more than a century, was one of 
 conflict and persecution, and the Spanish success was due 
 more to perfidy than to bravery. The Huguenots w r ere 
 slaiightered "not as Frenchmen, but as Lutherans." 
 
 In 1586 Sir Francis Drake captured and pillaged the 
 town, burning a large part of it, taking 2,000 Pounds from 
 the treasure chest of the fort. Gen. Oglethorpe in 1741 and 
 in 1743 attempted to take the fort, but did not succeed. 
 
 The first place that attracts attention on arrival at the 
 city, is the old Cathedral, which is the quaintest looking 
 structure in the city. It was finished in 1793 at a cost of 
 over $16,000. It has a quaint Moorish belfry with four 
 bells, and underneath a clock. In entering this venerable 
 structure, one seems to be set back more than a century. 
 'One of the bells has a date of 1682. The building is of 
 concrete, or coquina, composed mostly of shells. Several 
 pilasters ornament the sides, also columns on each side of 
 the door. Rich paintings are on the walls, the most noted 
 of which is a large one with the following inscription :
 
 FLORIDA. 219 
 
 First mass at St. Augustine, Florida, Sept. 3, 
 1565, at the landing of the Spanards, 
 
 Under Pedro Menendez. 
 
 With religion came to our shores civilization, 
 arts, science and industry. 
 
 It represents the landing of the Spaniards and their 
 celebration of mass. Crucifixes, the Virgin and several 
 saints are represented in the pictures. 
 
 The governor's palace is now used as a Post Office, and 
 is built of concrete. On a piazza, in front of the Cathedral is 
 the old slave market, in form like the hall of philosophy at 
 Chautauqua, but is not so large. In passing up the narrow 
 streets one is interested in observing the general style of 
 buildings, with projecting roofs, and the streets so narrow 
 that two persons can span them. 
 
 In passing down St. George street we soon come to the 
 city gate with towers on each side, and the gate keeper's 
 cell within the towers. The city walls extend on each side 
 but a short distance, though once perhaps they surrounded 
 the place. 
 
 Towards the river from the gate we come to the most 
 noted place it is the old Spanish fort. It is regarded as a 
 fine specimen of military architecture. The walls are 21 
 feet high, bastions at each corner. It was begun in 1696 
 and completed in 1756. It occupies about four acres of 
 ground, and like the walls of the city and the ancient houses 
 is built of coquina. The Appalachian Indians were em- 
 ployed sixty years in its construction. It is capable of 
 mounting one hundred guns, and a thousand men would be 
 required to man it. No guns are now mounted. 
 
 On entering the fort we come upon the parade ground, 
 100 feet square, surrounding which are 27 casemates 35 feet 
 long and 18 wide; opposite the sally port is the chapel with 
 a niche for holy water and an altar. Large and gloomy 
 dungeons are found in the fort, and formerly it is said iron 
 cages and human bones were found. During the Seminole 
 war several Indians were confined here and one chief made 
 his escape. The tribe was finally persuaded to emigrate
 
 22O EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 beyond the Mississippi. The moat is about 12 feet deep 
 and protected by a finely constructed seawall, which extends 
 through the front of the town, about one mile in length. 
 
 We can only give an outline of the famous old structure. 
 The coquina of which the walls of the fort were built, is 
 obtained from Anastasia Island, nearly opposite the fort, 
 perhaps a mile distant. It is composed of minute shells, so 
 soft that the excavation can be made with a spade. It is 
 made into blocks and hardened by exposure. The walls 
 are well preserved, and appear to be as durable and as 
 e ffective for defence as granite blocks. The old houses are 
 built of the same material, and have stood the ravages of 
 time 250 and 300 years. By one of the oldest houses stands 
 a date palm. 
 
 The barracks for the fort are about a mile distant, the 
 main building of which was formerly a convent. The 
 location is more healthy than the fort. Near by is a 
 cemetery, containing the remains of the soldiers who were 
 killed in the Seminole war. 
 
 But what a scope for the imagination is presented in 
 visiting this old place ! Here once trod Ponce de Leon in 
 his search for the spring of perpetual youth here Sir 
 Francis Drake endeavored to root out the Spanish power in 
 this region the valiant Huguenots attempted here to plant 
 the Lutheran faith and to establish a colony where the op- 
 pressed of their people should find refuge from the persecu- 
 tions of the papal powers of France. ' The proud Castilian 
 to whom the Vatican had given the continent, jointly with 
 conquest sought to propagate the faith of the Holy Catholic 
 Church. Who could then have anticipated the changes 
 which have taken place, and which have made Spain one of 
 the weakest powers of Europe ? They doubtless looked 
 forward to the time when Spain should control the new 
 world which had been discovered less than one hundred 
 years before. But they knew just as much of the future of 
 nations as we do now. Our dreams of empire may be 
 as futile as theirs. They had their social enjoyments, their
 
 FLORIDA. 221 
 
 gay circles, with all the vicissitudes of life, its joys and dis- 
 appointments, which seemed so important to them then. 
 But the present is going through the same transitions, and 
 three centuries hence the busy thronging multitude will care 
 as little for us as we do for them. So the world moves, and 
 generations go down to the dust and are forgotten. 
 
 UP AND DOWN THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER. 
 [W. D. McKinstry wrote for the Dunkirk Journal.] 
 
 PALATKA, Fla., April Qth, 1883. 
 
 Dear Journal. There is no use of stopping in Jackson- 
 ville any length of time. It is a Yankee city of fine resi- 
 dences and fresh paint. It is pretty, to be sure, with its 
 wide orange shaded streets, its parks of tropical plants, and 
 looks inviting to eyes unaccustomed to rank foliage and 
 sunn}- skies at this time of the year, but after all it is not 
 the South. There is too much Yankee push and thrift, and 
 besides the small pox is raging just now and there is a 
 profuse decoration of yellow flags. Let us go up the river, 
 the lovely St. John's, which winds wherever it wills between 
 palmetto fringed banks and swamps and pine forests away 
 down or up the peninsula until it nearly empties into the 
 sea again at the wrong end, like an angle worm w T ith a 
 mouth at both extremities. The steamer De Barrie is just 
 starting out. All aboard, and we glide out on the smooth 
 surface of the St. John's. There is a cosmopolitan crowd 
 on board, from north and west' and east and the middle 
 states, and w r e meet the Yankee everj'where and rarely a 
 native. They have three crops in Florida, they say, 
 oranges, vegetables and Yankees. The last is the most 
 profitable. 
 
 We soon pass Mrs. Stowe's plantation where the author 
 of Uncle Tom's Cabin is resting from her work which had 
 such an effect on the nation, and whose pen has done much 
 toward creating this Florida craze in the northern tourist. 
 Every few miles a big hotel looms up on the river bank, 
 starting out from the wilderness of palmettos and pines, 
 and is lost again as we push on up the stream. The St.
 
 112 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 John's disappoints us at first. We had imagined a narrow 
 crooked river,, where the boat hardly had room to push up 
 through the tangled swamps; where the banks were lined 
 with alligators and the thick foliage overhung the narrow 
 channel. But the lower St. John's is very wide and passes 
 cultivated plantations. It is a pleasant trip but different 
 from the pictures. It is a series of lakes, some of which 
 stretch out until you hardly see the farther shore. On board 
 the talk is of orange culture and the fortunes to be made in 
 it. The real estate agent is there. He is everywhere. He 
 thrusts pamphlets and maps into your face in Jacksonville. 
 He follows you up the river. He interviews you at all the 
 hotels and he demonstrates how in a few years you may 
 become a millionaire. He is the one to give you a romantic 
 picture of south Florida, with sunny skies, streams full of 
 fish, trees laden with fruit the year round, delicious vege- 
 tables that grow themselves, of flowers and lovely lakes, 
 until he makes you despise your cold northern climate and 
 wonder why all the people do not come to Florida to live. 
 He says nothing of weary waiting of years for an orange 
 grove to commence bearing; nothing of mosquitoes and 
 gnats and snakes; nothing of sweltering heats and malarial 
 fevers. And he is very successful. There is a large im- 
 migration into Florida, and of course every one that invests 
 encourages the belief in its value to keep his property from 
 depreciating. The orange fever is much like the oil fever 
 of a few years ago. You hear it everywhere and it is the 
 same speculative spirit except the nomenclature is changed. 
 Instead of leases, royalties, sands and belts, you hear of 
 high hammock, low hammock and shell hammock lands; 
 of possible production and how much such a one will make. 
 I judge there will be a reaction after a time and bearing 
 orange groves can be bought cheaper than at present. As 
 near as I could find out, at the prices bearing groves are 
 now held, it would be hard to get the interest of the money 
 invested back again. And to take wild land, one has to 
 wait ten or fifteen years for any return. Land can be had 
 from $1.25 per acre up to fabulous prices, but it is nothing
 
 FLORIDA. 223 
 
 but sand. Even- man has the best land in the State. It 
 never has a frost, it is perfectly healthful, and it produces 
 immensely. It seems to me that I sould as soon try to raise 
 a crop on the beach of lake Erie. But they have great faith 
 in fertilizers. I suppose you could put soil on a bare reck 
 and make it produce in time, and that is about what they 
 have to do here. I don't think a poor man could do much 
 at orange culture, he has to wait so long and has not 
 much to live on while he is waiting. If he has a good trade 
 he might live off that. Carpenters get $3.50 a day here 
 and are in great demand for building cities for watering 
 places. A company buys a piece of swamp, lays it off in 
 lots, puts up a big hotel and a few houses, makes a beautiful 
 map of it with drives and lakes and groves, and sells it off 
 to deluded ones who buy by the map and are apt to be 
 disappointed when they find their purchase. 
 
 We stop at Palatka over night so as to see the upper St. 
 John's by day light. Past lake George, which spreads out 
 like a sea, the river narrows down again. Ah, this is what 
 we have read about. This is what we came to see. The 
 steamer sends its waves away into the forests on either hand. 
 The tropical luxuriance of foliage springs from the swamp 
 lands on either bank. The palmetto and pine vie with each 
 other in graceful outline. Water oaks and magnolia, willows 
 and tangled vines line the channel. The Spanish bayonet 
 reaches out its sharp blades, the Florida moss swings its 
 banners over head. Water turkeys and ducks fly along the 
 reedy marshes, and white herons and blue herons rise from 
 the low lands as we go up the St. John's. Birds of bright 
 plumage start up here and there, and now and then an eagle 
 keeps watch from the top of some dead pine tree. Great 
 turtles lie sunning themselves on the logs and roll lazily off 
 as the boat goes by, and it is as we imagined it would be 
 except lor alligators. We miss those alligators. They 
 belong to all the pictures of the St. John's. They are not 
 handsome, and we have seen tanks full of them back at 
 Jacksonville, from eight inches to eight and ten feet long, 
 but we want to see them in their native places. We scan
 
 224 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 the shore closely, and do see one or two on the whole trip, 
 which shows that they are not a myth of the river. The 
 fact is that tourists have driven them off by constant shooting 
 from the boats. This practice is not now allowed. Up the 
 Ocklawaha, which empties into the St. John's nearPalatka, 
 the alligator may yet be seen in his native beauty. 
 
 The scenery of the upper St. John's reminds one very 
 much of the outlet of Chautauqua lake in its crookedness 
 and wildness, but added are the semi-tropical verdure and 
 birds. At Sanford, 200 miles up the river, we stop, as only 
 smaller boats go farther up, and the next morning start back 
 again, arriving at Jacksonville the next morning after that. 
 The steamers are neat little side-wheel boats with good 
 cabin accommodations, and the rivalry of lines has reduced 
 the price so that the trip of nearly 400 miles only costs $7.50 
 including berth and meals. It is about the only thing that 
 is cheap in Florida. Hotel rates are high and accommoda- 
 tions poor. South Florida raises samples of almost every- 
 thing, but ships it all to northern markets. If you want to 
 eat of Florida products, the best place to go for them is to 
 New York city, where you can get them better and cheaper. 
 They grow oranges here but you have to pay 5 cents for 
 them when you get them in New Yo.ik for 20 cents per doz. 
 Bananas cost more and we rarely find strawberries on the 
 hotel tables. Good milk is not to be had and butter is made 
 by New York city oleomargerine factories. It is a little 
 different from what one expects in the Land of flowers. Old 
 Ponce de L/eon missed it when he thought to find the 
 fountain of perpetual youth in Florida. Here are lakes but 
 no fountains. There are only mosquitoes, alligators, malaria 
 and death in their brackish waters. Ponce didn't get away 
 from here I believe but died in his search for eternal life on 
 earth. 
 
 Florida is a nice place to come for the cold months of 
 winter but not a place to live in; but no one expects to do 
 that. They think to get an orange grove started, sell it at 
 a fabulous price to some other fellow and go back north to
 
 FLORIDA. 225 
 
 live, only coming here as winter shuts down on the higher 
 latitudes. 
 
 Down the St. John's. The river is like a sheet of glass 
 and we seem sailing in the air. The palmettoes and 
 magnolias on the river's brink are reflected in the water, 
 making a double picture of tropical beauty. We can hardly 
 discover where the shore and river join, so perfect is the 
 reflection. It is getting toward evening and the cool breezes 
 from the ocean come across the sandy waste of palmetto and 
 pine and fan us as we sail down the river. The boat twists 
 and turns in the tortuous channel and now leaves the thick 
 forest and winds out into the low prairie lands where the 
 river doubles and twists through the tall marsh grasses. 
 The shadows are long. The sun goes down leaving a brief 
 twilight and the shadows thicken in the dark recesses. A 
 most lovely, weird scene it is as over the fenlands a flock of 
 wild ducks go skurrying away, and only a solitary heron 
 perhaps, standing out against the flat landscape, make the 
 favorite plaque scene with a stork, that you have seen so 
 many million times, and always made you lonesome when 
 you saw it. 
 
 The night comes on and the stars come out and the moon- 
 light changes the picture. We glide over a glass floor 
 jewled with stars. The tourists on deck are silently drink- 
 ing in the beauty of the scene. The bright stars above, the 
 starry river below, the fringed and bannered shores, no 
 sound except the puffing of the steamer going easily down 
 the stream or the plaintive cry of some wild bird as it starts 
 from the marshes and goes flying into the dark recesses cf 
 the forest. It is weirdly, almost painfully beautiful, like a 
 trip in fairy gondola on the streams of dreamland. A time 
 of revery and content and pleasant recollections and building 
 of castles in the air. Tum-to-tum-tum ! Blazes ! there is a 
 party of boarding school girls on board and one of them has 
 gone to the piano and started ' 'Silvery Shores' ' and misses 
 every sixth note. Let us turn into our berth and draw the 
 curtains tight. We will be in Jacksonville in the morning 
 and hear the locomotive whistles screech. The young man
 
 226 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 on the port side need not be afraid the young lady he is 
 holding so tightly will fall overboard as a dainty lunch for 
 alligators. They never do. Good-night. 
 
 TALLAHASSEE. 
 
 TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Apr. 6. 
 
 We have been four days in the State, and have seen much 
 to interest us. We left Pensacola yesterday morning, on 
 the Pensacola & Atlantic Railroad. It connects with the 
 Louisville and Nashville road. It has just been completed, 
 and like all new roads, passes through a sparsely settled 
 region, mostly pine lands, and not promising of bountiful 
 harvests when they shall come under cultivation. We 
 arrived at Chattahoochie River at about two o'clock. Here 
 we were ferried across, and were delayed some three hours 
 in all. The ferry boat passes up the river some three miles, 
 where the bridge is in process of construction. While here 
 a double deck steamer from Columbus, Ga. comes in and 
 discharges cargo and passengers. She makes regular semi- 
 weekly trips to Apalachicola Bay on the Gulf. The river is 
 now high and the current strong. A small steam engine 
 transferred the freight in small cars up an inclined plane 
 from the boat to the R. R. platform. 
 
 We arrived at Tallahassee at about 8 o'clock p. m. and 
 were taken to a fine hotel, where we spent the following 
 day. 
 
 This being the capital of the State, we thought it would 
 not be showing proper respect to the Flowery land, not to 
 spend some time here. This place has a population of some 
 4,000, has many fine residences, and a general aspect of 
 comfort and refinement. Like all southern places the dwell- 
 ings have wide and spacious verandas and fine yards, in 
 which the figs, grapes, pomegranates, pears, plums, or 
 oranges and semitropical fruits are seen, and such a propor- 
 tion of beautiful flowers that one is reluctant to leave them. 
 We greatly desired to send some north, but the home we 
 left, amid a snow storm and frozen ground, is not yet ready 
 for them. We visited the State house, which like that at 
 Richmond and Nashville is constructed in Grecian style
 
 FLORIDA. 227 
 
 and presents a fine appearance ^to the eye, though the inside 
 finish is not costly or elaborate. 
 
 When it is remembered that the State was a territory* less 
 than forty years ago, and with its large area has only a 
 population to entitle it to two members in Congress it can- 
 not be expected that such pretentious State buildings would 
 be found as in some of the older and more populous states, 
 tho ugh it is a better building than that at Richmond, and 
 about as spacious. This place was once the residence of a 
 prince a son of one of Napoleon's bravest marshals. We 
 visited the cemetery where his ashes repose, and found the 
 grave surrounded by a low brick wall. The monument is a 
 plain marble obelisk on which is the following inscription : 
 
 Departed this life 
 
 April 1 8, 1847. 
 CHARLES Louis NAPOLEON 
 
 ACHILLE MURAT 
 
 son of 
 the King of Naples 
 
 and 
 Caroline Murat 
 
 Aged 47. 
 This monument is dedicated 
 
 By his wife Catherine 
 \ In perpetual memory 
 Of her love. 
 
 At the side of this monument a similar one is erected to 
 his widow, inscribed as follows: 
 
 In Memory of 
 PRINCESS C. A. MURAT 
 
 Widow of 
 COL. CHAS. Louis NAPOLE"ON 
 
 Achilles Murat. 
 Died Aug. 6, 1867 
 
 Aged 64. 
 None knew her but to love her. 
 
 In the afternoon we were kindly invited to ride, by Mr. 
 Dyke, the editor of "The Floridan," the principal paper 
 published here. He has been connected with the paper 
 some 42 years. We found him a gentleman of rare in- 
 telligence, and great versatility of attainment. We rode 
 some ten or twelve miles, and were greatly delighted with 
 the general appearance of the country'. He has a large 
 plantation, on which a German family is employed, and the 
 account he gave of its productiveness was marvellous. The
 
 228 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 early vegetables are raised for the New York markets, and 
 being some two months earlier than our home productions, 
 of course command the highest market price. The trans- 
 portation costs 90 cents per barrel of three bushels. The 
 country is rolling, clear streams of water wandering through, 
 the valleys, the sail is mellow and easily worked, and with 
 proper fertilization, such as a Northern man would sustain, 
 would give much larger returns. One advantage of this- 
 locality is its elevation, being some 300 feet higher than the 
 gulf which is 23 miles distant. The South wind, which 
 comes up at night, is cool and refreshing, and though the 
 thermometer stood at 85 degrees in the middle of the day, 
 there was little inconvenience from the heat. Sweet potatoes 
 are grown here at the rate of 400 bushels to the acre, and 
 Irish potatoes yield some 250 bushels. The upland rice is 
 flow introduced from Japan, and bids fair to become an 
 important crop. Mr. D. also showed us a pear orchard of 
 about 1,000 trees, from cions from California, and which 
 promise to be exempt from the blight that is so destructive 
 to Northern pear 'culture. The stock looks much better 
 here than among the pine lands of Middle and Southern 
 Alabama, and we saw some Alderney cows which looked 
 very fine. They need the northern grasses to give increased 
 results to this branch of agriculture. 
 
 In front of the State House stands a monument to the 
 confederate dead, a worthy tribute to the brave men who 
 lost their lives in the war. The inscription was modest, 
 simply mentioning the battle fields in which the Florida 
 troops were engaged. In the rear of the speaker's stand, 
 enclosed in a glass case, are the flags of the regiments which 
 were engaged in the war, but more conspicuous than all and 
 above all, was the glorious flag of the Union, which now 
 waves over all the States reunited. The brave men who 
 died in the confederate service were just as dear to their 
 families as those who died for the preservation of the Union 
 from the North; and though their cause was lost, the be- 
 reaved ones would be less than human, not to cherish the 
 memories of the dear departed ones.
 
 FROM ALABAMA. 229 
 
 FROM ALABAMA. 
 
 MOBILE, Ala., April 20, i.s<s; v 
 
 Dear Censor. Those who have ever lived in New 
 Kngland are inclined to magnify the effects of the early 
 civilization planted on their shores at Plymouth, and in 
 some respects their claims are entitled to respect. But in 
 age the Spanish adventurers under Ponce de Leon and 
 < -tliers, who possessed Florida and the East, and the French, 
 who sought to found an empire which for extent of territory 
 far exceeded any now existing in Europe, except Rr.- 
 have more venerable claims. 
 
 , Mobile was once the noted seat of Empire. Here Bien- 
 ville first established the capital of Louisiana, within the 
 territory of which was embraced both the eastern and west- 
 ern borders of the Mississippi, and held a chain of forts 
 extending northward to Fort Du Qnesne (now Pittsburg) 
 then to Le Boeuf and Presequile (now Erie) with trading- 
 stations at Detroit, Mackinaw and along the Southern shores 
 of Lake Superior ( Algoma) to the upper Mississippi. What 
 magnificent dreams of empire ! What a grand spirit of 
 adventure inspired those early pioneers of civilization. But 
 the old French war, which took place only about 140 years 
 ago, terminated these dreams of greatness. Thus Mobile, 
 once the center of government of the Louisiana territory, 
 .iding from the Gulf to the Great Lakes on the North, 
 and embracing the vast North West territory, passed into 
 the possession of the English, and by the settlement of peace 
 as the result of the Revolutionary war, became a part of the 
 United States. 
 
 one passes through the streets of Mobile, and see> 
 remnants of French and Spanish houses interspersed in some 
 portions of the city, he feels that he is treading on historic 
 ground. Over its battlements have floated the fl ::;* of
 
 230 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 France, Spain, England and the United States, and for a, 
 short time that of the Southern Confederacy. All of these 
 still float in their respective countries and are recognized in 
 the family of Nations, except the last named which is now * 
 folded forever. "Man proposes, but God disposes." Not 
 a man living within the last century had a hand in shaping 
 these vast schemes of colonization and empire which have 
 had such great results in the destiny of the country. 
 
 France held the Louisiana territory and controlled the 
 mouth of the Mississippi, till the United States obtained 
 peaceable possession by purchase under the administration of 
 Thomas Jefferson. Eight millions of dollars was paid for 
 this territory, which opened to commerce the vast region 
 tributary to the "father of waters" without passing through 
 a foreign territory. Many opposed the purchase at the 
 time, when but little progress had been made in the pay- 
 ment of the debt contracted by the Revolutionary war, as^ 
 others did the purchase of Alaska by Seward; but in both 
 cases the result has fully justified the purchase. 
 
 Mobile contains some 32,000 population. It is at the 
 head of Mobile Bay, into which a short distance above, 
 empties the Alabama andTombigbee Rivers, both of which, 
 before the construction of railroads, brought large quantities 
 of cotton for shipment coastwise and to foreign countries. 
 This port was formerly only third in the country in the 
 exportation of this staple. The situation of the city and 
 environment is charming for winter resort. So near to the 
 gulf, and within seven degrees of the tropical line, the 
 agreeable temperature is scarcely exceeded in any other 
 place of resort. The jutting points in the Bay, where large 
 boarding houses are erected, and also numerous places inland 
 whose elevations give them the gulf breeze, and salubrity 
 of climate, attract many health seekers and tourists. We 
 met several Chautauqua people in the city, and among them 
 our friend John A. Hall, of the Jamestown Journal, and 
 wife. We are pleased to state that his health has been im- 
 proved by his stay here. 
 
 We desired to make a trip down the Bay. The oppor-
 
 FROM ALABAMA. 23! 
 
 tunity was presented by an excursion in behalf of the Pres. 
 ; on S. School. Our friends provided an abundance of 
 the picnic supplies; We accompanied about 300 excursion- 
 ists down the Bay to Fort Morgan, 40 miles distant, which 
 was the scene of the great Naval engagement in which Com. 
 Farragut won immortal honors. As we pass down, the Bay 
 widens to some 12 to 15 miles. We pass two or three places 
 of summer and winter resort, where pleasure and health 
 seekers avail themselves of the soft breezes of the gulf. Fort 
 Morgan is reached at about one o'clock. The party land 
 and wander up the grassy mound and around the fort. In 
 size and general form it is not very different from the old 
 Spanish fort at St. Augustine, though modern science has 
 shown that dependence must be mainly placed on earth 
 works rather than stone and brick walls. The fort is un- 
 occupied now, only a single sergeant being left there to man 
 .the huge guns and keep off the foreign foe. But he is as 
 good as a thousand men, in time of peace. Were invasion 
 threatened, a thousand men -would shortly be gathered 
 there, and the huge 'peacemakers' would frown over the 
 fortification. There is some large ordnance here, 1 6 inch 
 and less, and though many of the guns are not mounted, 
 the fort could be placed in a condition of defence in a short 
 time. We were accompanied in our stroll around the fort 
 by Ex-Mayor Duffie, of Mobile, who was the projector of 
 the excursion, and who gave us much information with 
 regard to the locality of the great Naval battle, and where 
 lay the Tecumseh, one of our iron-clads, sunk by a torpedo, 
 and still the tomb of the victims who sank in her, where 
 they will remain till "the sea shall give up its dead." 
 
 As we stand on the high embankment of the fort, in 
 imagination we are carried back to the scenes of carnage 
 enacted on Aug. 5, 1864, more than half a generation ago. 
 In the distance stands Fort Gaines, on Dauphin Island, and 
 the two forts were supposed to command the channel of 
 entrance into Mobile Bay. But on that eventful day, one of 
 the most hotly contested naval battles of the war was fought. 
 Conr Farragut, with his fleet, pushes his way past the forts
 
 I 
 232 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 and hotly engages the enemy's fleet, regardless of the storm 
 of shot and shell from the forts. The brave old admiral is 
 lashed to the mast, while the signal officers give his com- 
 mands to the fleet. On they push their way, in more fear 
 of the sunken torpedoes than the missiles of the enemy. 
 The Confederate ram Tennessee, and the fleet of gunboats 
 are in line, confident of success in opposing the entrance of 
 the federal fleet into the Bay. The flag ship Hartford is in 
 front. The Tennessee, confident of her invincible strength, 
 pushes on to the battle, while the shot from the vessels 
 bound against her iron clad sides as harmless as peas. A 
 lucky shot finally closes a port, and soon after she is compel- 
 led to surrender. With her loss the main dependence of the 
 Confederates is gone and the victory won. Now all is quiet 
 and peaceful here, and our picnic party present a marked 
 contrast with the scenes of 19 years ago. 
 
 The soil in the vicinity of Mobile is a sandy loam, so 
 porous that it is soon dry even after the heaviest rains. 
 Vegetation starts quickly, and even now in the middle of 
 April, immense quantities of cabbages and early vegetables 
 are being shipped northward. The air is redolent with 
 blossoms from trees and shrubs and the Japan plum is 
 ripened and is sold on the streets. 
 
 At the close of the war there was a partial suspension of 
 commerce by way of the gulf. The numerous torpedoes 
 sunk in the bay rendered navigation unsafe. But now, after 
 a lapse of some 19 years, it is rapidly gaining. The channel 
 has 23 feet of water, which has been increasing in depth by 
 the action of currents, and now the harbor presents a very 
 respectable show of shipping. A large amount of the ship- 
 ping is in lumber, some 20 mills being tributary to it, and 
 some 32,000,000 feet having been shipped last year. The 
 Louisville & Nashville, and the Mobile & Ohio railroads 
 give constant communication with the North, and the former 
 connecting with the vast coal and iron regions of Alabama, 
 cannot but greatly stimulate manufacturing industry here. 
 
 On the whole, we have found no pleasanter place in all
 
 FROM ALABAMA. 233 
 
 4 
 
 our trip, both as to climate and agreeable people than here 
 at Mobile. 
 
 MONTGOMERY. 
 
 MONTGOMERY, Ala., May 12, 1878. 
 
 This place was reached on our trip to Florida. We spent 
 some four days pleasantly here. The next morning after 
 our arrival, we had a call from Hon. W. Brewer, formerly 
 of the Haynesville Examiner, and now State Auditor. He 
 was the guest of Senator Morris, when the Alabama editors 
 visited our village. We are under great obligations for 
 his kind attentions during our stay. He gave us much 
 valuable information relative to the city and State. He also 
 recalled pleasant memories of their visit to Fredonia, and 
 had many inquiries of those whom he had met on that visit, 
 We also had a pleasant interview with Mr. Screws, of the 
 Montgomery Advertiser, 
 
 Montgomery is a nicely laid out city of some 12,000 in- 
 habitants and is located in a rich agricultural region, 
 particularly of cotton, of which it is the great commercial 
 center of the State. The State house is an imposing edifice 
 in a sightly location, from the steps of which, fronting the 
 city, Jefferson Davis made his address when inaugurated 
 President of the Southern Confederacy. There are many 
 memorials of the fearful struggle here. Then there were 
 fond dreams of empire, embracing the entire Southern States 
 and accessions beyond the Mississippi, which should far 
 overshadow the North; and the Government here, then 
 inaugurated, it was fondly hoped would go down in history 
 as the great nation of the American continent. From this 
 place the Southern heart was fired to deeds of valor and 
 devotion to their country, which, in a better cause, would 
 have made the names of those connected with this great 
 event the subject of imperishable honors. Here Yancey 
 gave vent to his burning eloquence, and amid general re- 
 joicing the Confederacy was inaugurated. Little did they 
 anticipate the extent of the fearful struggle, the sore trials, 
 the sad bereavements and terrible disappointments in store
 
 234 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 >.-- 
 for them. In the length of time and the great loss of life, 
 
 the North experienced the same bitter disappointments. 
 
 We visited the cemetery, where repose the mortal remains 
 of some of the most conspicuous in this fratricidal struggle. 
 There is the grave of Yancey, a pure and honest man in his 
 personal character, whose name is held in great veneration 
 by the people of the South. A portion of the cemetery is 
 devoted to the soldiers of the Confederacy. A monument 
 erected by the ladies of the city marks this consecrated 
 ground where "The Confederate dead" rest from the con- 
 flicts of war. The annual decoration of their graves shows 
 that their memory is cherished by those in whose behalf 
 they laid down their lives. A portion of the cemetery 
 separated by an evergreen hedge is occupied by Israelites, 
 of which nation are many of the residents of this city. 
 Manj* of the monuments are very fine, and the inscriptions 
 in Hebrew. So far away from the ancient home of their 
 people, }*et preserved by an overruling Providence as a 
 distinct race, scattered among all nations, they are a remark- 
 able fulfilment of prophecy uttered thousands of years ago. 
 Their enterprise, industry and prosperity, in this far off land, 
 is a wonderful exhibition of the preservative power of their 
 faith. No other people could have been preserved so 
 distinctly with all the persecutions of two thousand years 
 heaped upon them by the nations of Europe, from whom, 
 from time to time they have been driven by the edicts and 
 anathemas of those nations. They are a great acquisition 
 to this country, where the laws make no distinction which 
 can militate against them. 
 
 In this Congressional district the colored people are largely 
 in the majority, and their recent member of Congress was 
 Jerry Haralson, a colored man, and formerly a slave. The 
 colored people are now divided, as I learn they are all over 
 the South, and the dominant political party is controlled by 
 the whites. I have no doubt this is better for the blacks as 
 well as whites, though the ballot is a great source of protec- 
 tion to them. There is no special reason for the color line 
 in politics any more than civil rights.
 
 THE SUGAR PLANTATION. 235 
 
 THK SUGAR PLANTATION. 
 
 On the Bayou Teche, April, 12, 1888. 
 
 The universal use of sugar in civilized countries makes its 
 production one of vast importance, so important tKat France 
 and Germany have given encouragement to its production 
 from the beet by subsidiary awards. But the greatest 
 amount of sugar used in the world is from the cane, which 
 can be grown profitably only in tropical or semi-tropical 
 climates. Hence but a small portion of this country is 
 adapted to its cultivation. The plant was originally obtained 
 from Egypt by the Moors, in the i4th century. It was 
 introduced in the I5th century by the Spaniards and Portu- 
 guese into the West Indies and South America. It is propa- 
 gated mostly from cuttings, as the seasons are not long 
 enough in Louisiana for the seed to ripen. A furrow is 
 plowed for the rows, about six feet apart, the cane stalks 
 laid in pieces along in the furrows and covered; the joints 
 produce roots and shoots, irom which the cane grows. The 
 cane grows to a height of 8 or 10 feet, and when in right 
 condition for the most sacharine production, is cut near the 
 roots, as corn is cut in this region, the leaves trimmed off, 
 and it is carried to the mill, where heavy iron rollers crush 
 out the juice, from which sugar and molasses are made. 
 The cane springs up again from the stumps, and thus three 
 years' crops are obtained from one year's planting. In 
 Cuba, one planting, owing to longer seasons, lasts six to 
 eight years, and the season for manufacture lasts longer, 
 hence, in connection with slave labor, its production is 
 cheaper there. The climate of the West Indies and the 
 central portions of America make it the great sugar pro- 
 ducing country- of the world. Next to flour, in this country 
 sugar is most universally used. 
 
 A sugar plantation which we visited on the Bayou Teche,
 
 236 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 will give a good idea of one of these large plantations, found 
 in Southern Louisiana. Mr. Belt, the gentlemanly clerk 
 of the steamer Teche, gave us an introduction to Mr. C. 
 P. Binnings, the agent of one of these large plantations, 
 who received us with most cordial hospitality so character- 
 istic of Southern gentlemen, and gave us a very interesting 
 description of the culture and processes. As all our 
 subscribers, and nearly all the rest of the sixty millions of 
 people in the United States use sugar, a description of this 
 plantation may be of interest. 
 
 The DeL,ignes plantation consists of some 5,000 acres of 
 rich alluvial soil, and well adapted to cane culture. Of this, 
 2,000 acres are under the plow, and devoted chiefly to sugar 
 production. He had 860 acres in cane, 700 in corn and 
 peas, (the latter is cultivated mainly for fertilization, and 
 plowed in while green, ) and 450 acres of rice. We were 
 there about the middle of April, and the cane was then 
 about a foot high, and the rice was being sown and spring- 
 ing out of the ground. The average yield of rice is about 
 3,000 pounds to the acre. The average yield of the cane is 
 about 15 tons to the acre, as stripped of its leaves and tassels, 
 and ready for the mill. He employs 90 to 100 people to 
 perform the labor on this plantation, and about an equal 
 number of mules. He has four miles of narrow gauge rail- 
 road to carry the cane to the mill, and they have a lively 
 time during the manufacturing season. The extent of the 
 mill may be better understood by the fact that $40,000 was 
 expended last year in improvements, jand he expects to 
 expend $70,000 this year for the same purpose. The im- 
 proved machinery and process has greatly increased the 
 products of the cane per ton. By the old process from 140 
 to 1 60 pounds of sugar was extracted from a ton of cane, 
 and on this plantation some 2,500,000 pounds of sugar was 
 produced last year. This year he expects to manufacture 
 4,000,000 pounds by what is called the "diffusion" pro- 
 cess, which adds 20 to 25 per cent, to the production, and 
 will repay in one year the $70,000 expended in improve- 
 ments. About 200 pounds of sugar to the ton of cane is
 
 THE SUGAR PLANTATION. 237 
 
 obtained by this process. The purchase of cane of the small 
 producers, has been partially adopted of late years. The 
 darky by purchasing or renting of a few acres of land and 
 raising the cane can always find a ready m a rket for the 
 product. Last year $4 per ton was paid for the cane deliver- 
 ed at the mill, and it is liable to command as high as $6 per 
 ton this year. At an average of 15 tons to the acre and $4 
 per ton will give the producer about $60 per acre, and with 
 ten acres, which one man can cultivate and care for, will 
 give him $600 per year, and still more as the price increases. 
 The mill owned by Mr. John Baldwin of Berea, Ohio, which 
 adjoins this plantation, is conducted entirely in this way, as 
 the cane is all purchased from the producer, just as grain is 
 by the miller at the North. This divides the risk of a poor 
 crop and relieves the manufacturer of care and responsibility 
 in the production of the crop. There were other very fine 
 sugar plantations along the picturesque borders of the Ba} - ou 
 Teche, but this establishment was one of the most complete 
 that we saw. The homes of these planters have a peculiar 
 charm. Situated back a few rods from the Bayou, surround- 
 ed by lofty live oaks, from which the moss hangs like 
 draper^' to near the ground as the gentle breeze sways it to 
 and fro the beautiful plats of flowers, with every variety of 
 tint, and many kinds of roses, the like of which cannot be 
 seen in our inhospitable climate, the rich red pomegranate 
 then in bloom, and flowers innumerable, such as are grown 
 here only in hot-houses, or in pots taken in the house during 
 the winter, and all with a thrift and exu berance of growth 
 showing adaptation of soil and climate to these beautiful 
 flowers, all give a charm to their places which fix them 
 indellibly on the memory of the visitor. 
 
 Mr. B. called our attention to a field of oats which we 
 passed on the way to the train. It was the nicest field we 
 ever saw, standing some four feet high, and nearly ready 
 for the harvest. The yield would not be less than 
 fifty bushels to the acre. This was about the aoth of April. 
 It shows not only the great fertility of the soil, but its 
 adaptation to other products beside the cane culture.
 
 238 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 The sugar producing business is bound to grow. There 
 is a large amount of land adapted to its culture, but it re- 
 quires a large amount of capital to successfully carry it on. 
 We have been told that some nine tenths of the sugar manu- 
 factories are owned by northern capitalists. This iseasily ac- 
 counted for. The nice machinery necessary is quite expensive. 
 There were but comparatively few skilled mechanics or 
 large machine shops at the South adapted for the production 
 of such work, till the iron and coal regions of Alabama, 
 Georgia and Tennessee were developed. The increase of 
 products to the amount of 25 or 30 per cent by improved 
 machinery and scientific manufacture adds fortunes to the 
 manufacturer, which only skill and enterprise can obtain. 
 In addition to this, the sugar imported is in a crude state, 
 and requires a refining process. These large establishments 
 now have machinery that gives to the market all grades of 
 sugar, but largely of the finest and best quality, the 
 products of which fill the coffers of the manufacturer. The 
 severing of the connection between the cultivation of the 
 cane from the manufacture is a process which will. go on till 
 the manufacturer will no more think of raising the material 
 for sugar than the miller would of raising the corn or wheat 
 for his mill. One draw-back at present is the bulky 
 character of the cane, which makes transportation to the 
 mill expensive, but this will be overcome by railway ap- 
 pliances, running to different plantations, and thus bring 
 the products nearer to the mills.
 
 DEATH OF GEN. GRANT. 239 
 
 DEATH OF GEN. GRANT. 
 
 Died, at MacGregor, N. Y., July 23, 1885, Gen. U. S. Grant in 
 his 64th year. Born at Mt. Pleasant, O., April 25, 1822. 
 [From the Fredonia Censor July 2gth, 1885.] 
 
 In no period of the history of our country has the death 
 of a citizen cast such a universal gloom over the country 
 and world as that of Gen. Grant, though other great men 
 and patriots have died, and their memory has been enshrined 
 in the National heart and their lives and works have made 
 the world better for their having lived in it. Three great 
 men stand out preeminently in the history of our nation. 
 Washington' the father of the country, Lincoln the martyr 
 President and author of the Emancipation Proclamation, 
 and Grant, the victorious General whose military skill and 
 genius saved our country in its integrity when assailed by a 
 formidable foe within and enemies abroad. 
 
 It was one hundred years from the declaration of Indepen- 
 dence, when Gen. Grant retired from the Presidential office, 
 where for eight years he had occupied the highest position 
 in the gift of a grateful people, and became a private citizen. 
 He came prominently before the people in the early part of 
 the war. His energy, persistency and bravery were con- 
 spicuous in his first battle. All through the long struggle, 
 when the fate of the nation seemed at times to hang in the 
 balance, his calm, cool, persevering determination made 
 victory possible. Plain and unostentatious in manner, 
 determined in purpose, reticent in speech, he won the 
 confidence of the nation, and became the foremost military 
 chieftain in the world. 
 
 In his death, the nation mourns; north and south, east and 
 west, among his devoted followers in the army and those 
 who surrendered to his victorious arms, and who received 
 the evidence of his clemency all unite in feeling a sense of 
 bereavement in his death. And not only in this country,
 
 240 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 but throughout the civilized world his name is known and 
 the work he accomplished has won for him imperishable 
 honors. In his trip around the world, no American before 
 ever received such honors. Hon. Wm. H. Seward, the 
 Secretary of State while he was fighting the battle of his 
 country and who after the war went around the world, was 
 received with the highest honors that foreign nations had 
 ever given to a foreign visitor; but those bestowed on Grant 
 were still greater. 
 
 But it is not man worship that calls forth such demonstra- 
 tions of regard. There are noble traits of character which 
 made him a distinguished man. It was not bravery alone 
 which made him conspicuous. He was a true American in 
 every impulse. He never sought popularity it has all 
 com'e without his seeking. He served his country because 
 he loved it, as well as from a sense of duty. He had a 
 remarkable insight into the characteristics of men in military 
 life, and seldom made mistakes in his choice of those who 
 were co-laborers with him in the movement of the armies. 
 
 In his civil life he was the same quiet man, devoted to the 
 best interests of the country. No one seemed to doubt his 
 integrity of purpose, but gladly yielded to him all the honors 
 due to his high position. 
 
 It might be expected that bitterness of feeling would 
 prevail throughout the States which were conquered by 
 Gen. Grant's army. On the contrary, no more sincere 
 admirers of the man who tempered victory with so much 
 kindness to the fallen foe, can be found than among some of 
 those who laid down their arms at his feet and acknowledged 
 him as the victor. They had been conquered by his kind- 
 ness to them in their sore distress. 
 
 SERVICES AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 
 
 [W. D. McK. was present at the services at Westminster Abbey, 
 and gives the following description.] 
 
 LONDON, Eng., Aug. 4, 1885. 
 
 At three o'clock this afternoon, corresponding with the 
 hour of the funeral services in the linked States, West- 
 minster Abbey, where is written in sculptured monument
 
 DEATH OF GEN. GRANT. 241 
 
 and dust of the dead, England's history for nearly a thou- 
 sand years, was crowded with Americans and sympathizing 
 English cousins to do honor to the memory of America's 
 greatest General. 
 
 This was no ordinary tribute. It was more than respect 
 for the memory of a man: it was a tribute more to a living 
 ideal than to a dead hero. It was a sanction by the English 
 authority of the principles of individual freedom and equality 
 which had edged the sword of the soldier and controlled in 
 the executive chair and which was by the will of the people 
 -embodied in this man now dead. 
 
 It was this as much as the feeling of personal regard 
 which Gen, Grant won on his visit to England scarce eight 
 years ago, that prompted the generous offer by the Dean of 
 Westminster of the use of the Abbey for funeral services. It 
 was to show an admiration for this American idea by which 
 the Galena tanner had become the head of a nation that 
 brought so many English of all classes to do honor to his 
 memory. Even royalty felt it, and the Queen, the Prince of 
 Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh sent representatives, 
 while the Duke of Cambridge and Princess Louise were 
 personally present. Then there was Gladstone, grander in 
 defeat than his opponents in power, the steady friend of 
 America in its distress, and Lords and Sirs of the English 
 Peerage mingled with Americans in the service. In the 
 centuries since the foundations of Westminster were laid no 
 such service had been held except for English heroes. The 
 vaulted nave and arches of the cloisters had echoed first to* 
 the chanting of the priests as some brother monk was laid at 
 rest in an unmarked grave in the cloister walk; the doors 
 had opened to admit regal processions as Kings and Queens 
 had come in royal state to receive their crowds, and had 
 been opened again as their dead and sometimes headless 
 bodies had been borne in and to the music of solemn dirges 
 laid away in sculptured marble tombs; Crusaders from Holy 
 Land fighting for the Cross lie recumbent in sculptured 
 effigy in their marble tombs, above which float their tattered 
 banners. This tomb says a baron and his lady sleep beneath.
 
 242 EDITORIAL, MISCELLANIES. 
 
 That inscription speaks of a prince who lost his head, and 
 this of Henry of the many wives. "What did you do ?" is 
 the involuntary question as you stand before an emblazoned 
 tomb. The past sends back no answer. 
 
 "Their arms are rust, 
 Their bones are dust, 
 Their souls are with their 
 God; I trust." 
 
 No sculptured monument reminds us of Grant; but what 
 did he do ? echoes through these old walls to-day, and from 
 across the sea comes the answer from a race, he set us free ; 
 comes an answer from a mighty nation, he saved a govern- 
 ment of the people, by the people and for the people, from 
 perishing from the earth. 
 
 These are the thoughts that came over me as entering at 
 the archway at the north transept I looked over the crowd 
 which had already gathered notwithstanding it was an hour 
 before the services. By dint of patient waiting I at length 
 found a position near the pulpit where a good view of 
 chancel and choir could be had. Near where I stood was a 
 statue of Disraeli, the cynical leader of conservative thought. 
 Next, that other chancellor, Lord Palmerston, who in our 
 civil war hoped for the dissolution of the Republic, and but 
 for Prince Albert's kindly friendship and the victories of 
 Grant would have lent England's aid to the enemies of the 
 Union. And near the entrance was the figure of Pitt, who, 
 in our earliest struggle declared that if he were an American 
 he would never lay down his arms until independence was 
 accomplished, and saw as a prophet a mighty nation of the 
 future. 
 
 How Pitt would enjoy this sight of the two nations in 
 common sympathy, for even in the sadness of the presence 
 of death there was a glory over it all. 
 
 Beyond, where the oriel window threw subdued light into 
 the poet's corner, I see the tablets of the men of letters. In 
 a niche a new marble bust of Longfellow looks over where 
 a slab in the pavement bears Charles Dickens' name. One 
 reads name after name familiar to us all. These are the
 
 DEATH OF GEN. GRANT. 243 
 
 men who have done something. They have knit all English 
 speaking people to a common thought. To America no less 
 than to England they all belong. 
 
 Shortly before 3 o'clock, the Duke of Cambridge and 
 representatives of the royal family having arrived, a pro- 
 cession of the clergy of the Abbey entered the choir and to 
 the muffled strains of Schubert's funeral march proceeded to 1 
 the chancel, when the opening sentences of the beautiful 
 burial service and the goth psalm having been chanted by 
 the choir, the Dean read impressively the usual texts begin- 
 ning "Now is Christ risen from the dead." The remainder 
 of the service was choral, the splendidly trained choir giving 
 with most impressive effect the sad sweet dirges to the dead. 
 All this, not alone in memory of the man, but in memory of 
 an idea embodied in a man. An American looking up the 
 vaulted roof where banners of old chivalry are hung, or 
 glancing on sculptured stone, or looking on representatives 
 of living royalty gathered there, could not help a feeling of 
 intense pride at the triumph of that American idea of the 
 equality of all men and the American nobility of labor; 
 pride of that land where the brain and muscle and toil of 
 the humblest individual can raise him to the level of kings. 
 What saw these sculptured monuments ? They saw royalty 
 bowed in honor to a tanner of a little western town. 
 
 As Canon Farrar ascended the pulpit and looked over the 
 silent congregation, such thoughts must have been crowding 
 upon his mind. Strange words, it seemed in the presence 
 of dead and living representatives of feudal ideas, were the 
 words he spoke. After sketching Grant's humble early 
 life, he said: "But such careers are the glory of the 
 American continent. They showed that the people had a 
 sovereign insight into intrinsic force. If Rome told with 
 pride how her dictators came from the ploughshare, America, 
 too, might record the answer of the President who, on being 
 asked what would be his coat of arms, answered, proudly 
 mindful of his early struggles, 'A pair of shirt sleeves.' 
 The answer showed a noble sense of the dignity of labor, a
 
 244 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 noble superiority to the vanities of feudalism, a strong con- 
 viction that men are to be honored simply as men and not 
 for the prizes of birth and accident. ' * 
 
 The fact that such words might be spoken in Westminster 
 Abbey, under the banners of old feudalism and before the 
 representatives of the tottering feudalism of to-day, shows 
 how Bnglish thought is advancing, and how, half confessed 
 it is, even in these shades, that America is right and in the 
 van of the nations in progressive thought. I cannot forbear 
 giving the conclusion of the eloquent arch-deacon's address, 
 as it must find a responsive chord in every American heart. 
 
 "We are gathered herein England to do honor to his 
 memory. Could we be gathered in a more fitting place ? 
 We do not lack here memorials to recall the history of your 
 country. There is the grave of Andre; there the monument 
 raised by grateful Massachusetts to the gallant Howe; there 
 is the temporary resting place of George Peabody; there is 
 the bust of Longfellow; over the pean's grave there is the 
 faint semblance of Boston Harbor. We add another memory 
 to-day. Whatever there may be between the two nations 
 to forget and forgive, it is forgotten, it is forgiven. "I will 
 not speak of them as two peoples, ' ' said General Grant in 
 1877, "because in fact we are one people with a common 
 destiny, and that destiny will be brilliant in proportion to 
 the friendship and co-operation of the brethern dwelling on 
 each side of the Atlantic. ' ' Oh ! if the two peoples, which 
 are one people, be true to their duty, true to their God, true 
 to their I/)rd, who can doubt that in their hands are the 
 destinies of the world ? Can anything short of utter 
 dementation ever thwart a destiny so manifest ? Your 
 founders were our sons; it was from our past that your 
 present grew. The monument of Sir Walter Raleigh is not 
 that name-grave in St. Margaret's; it is the State of Virginia. 
 Yours and ours alike are the memories of Captain John 
 Smith and Pocahontas, of the Pilgrim Fathers, of General 
 Oglethorpe's strong benevolence of soul, of the apostolic 
 holiness of Berkeley, and the burning zeal of Wesley* and 
 Whitefield; yours and ours alike are the plays of Shake-
 
 DEATH OF GEN. GRANT. 245 
 
 speare and the poems of Milton; ours and yours alike are 
 all that you have accomplished in literature or in history 
 the songs of Longfellow and Bryant, the genius of Haw- 
 thorne and of Irving, the fame of Washington, Lee, and 
 Grant. But great memories imply great responsibilities. It 
 was not for nothing that God has made England what she 
 is; not for nothing that ' 'the free individualism of a busy 
 multitude, the humble traders of a fugitive people, ' ' snatch- 
 ed the New World from feudalism and bigotry; from Philip 
 II. and Louis XIV.; from Menendez and Montcalm; from 
 the Jesuit and the Inquisition; from Torquemada and from 
 Richelieu, to make it the land of the Reformation and 
 Republic of prosperity and of peace. "Let us auspicate all 
 our proceedings in America," said Edmund Burke, with 
 the old Church cry 'Sursum Corda.' " But it is for 
 America to live up to the spirit of such words, not merely to 
 quote them with proud enthusiasm. We have heard of. 
 "New times, new climes, new lands, new men, but still, 
 "The same old tears, old crimes and oldest ill." 
 
 It is for America to falsify the cynical foreboding. Let her 
 take her place side by side with England in the very van of 
 freedom and of progress, united by a common language, by 
 common blood, by common measures, by common Jnterests, 
 by common history, by common hopes, united by the 
 common glory of great men, of which this great temple of 
 silence and reconciliation is the richest shrine. Be it the 
 steadfast purpose of the two peoples who are one people to 
 show to all the world not only ' 'the magnificent spectacle of 
 human happiness, ' ' but the still more magnificent spectacle 
 of two peoples which are one people, loving righteousness 
 and hating iniquity, inflexibly faithful to the principles of 
 eternal justice which are the unchanging law of God." 
 
 Only the time and place prevented the utterance of hearty 
 applause which came involuntarily to the lips at passages of 
 the eloquent address. 
 
 After the benediction by the venerable Dean, the mighty 
 organ sounded through the arches the solemn Dead March 
 in Saul. The congregation did not move until the muttering
 
 246 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 thunders of the dirge, over which broke now and then 
 the smooth sweet strains of hope and peace, had died away, 
 English prince and peasant, Americans, both from the 
 North he led and the South he conquered, stood with bowed 
 heads and seemed to hear in the solemn vibrations of the 
 organ the story of his troubled life and the troubled times of 
 the past. It seemed like the thunder around Vicksburg 
 and the hymn of peace at Appomatox. The thunders of 
 war, the angry passions, the j ealousies of the past all soft- 
 ened and blended in the distance to the harmonies of peace- 
 ful chords. In the cloister shadows the muttering thunder 
 tones sounded with weird effect, as of a dirge to old times. 
 They seemed to come with a moan from Edward the Con- 
 fessor's chapel and from about the tombs of Elizabeth and 
 her hapless victim, Mary Queen of Scotts; they echoed back 
 triumphant from Cromwell's empty grave. It called up 
 pictures of past struggles. Over it all floated that sweet 
 hymn like light breaking through the darkness, reminding 
 one of Grant's words, "Let us have peace." In such a 
 place and time one could hardly help thinking of those lines 
 of Walter Scott on Westminster Abbey: 
 
 "Here, where the end of earthly things 
 
 Lays heroes, patriots, bards and Kings; 
 
 Where stiff the hand, and still the tongue, 
 
 Of those who fought and spake and sung; 
 
 Here, where the fettered aisles prolong 
 
 The distant notes of hqly song, 
 
 As if some angel spoke again, 
 
 'All peace on earth, good will to men; 
 
 If ever from an English heart, 
 
 O, here, let prejudice depart."
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING. 247 
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING. 
 
 A COLLAPSED SCRIBE THE PASSES OF D'AXTERNE AND 
 THE BREVENT FROM SIXT TO CHAMOUNIX. 
 
 SIERRE, Switzerland, Aug., 1889. 
 
 The Scribe has bidden farewell to the Parson and the 
 Professor at this little Swiss village in the valley of the 
 Villais, noted for its wines. We have come by coach from 
 Chamounix, over the Tete Noir pass to Martigny, and so by 
 rail to this point. After a substantial lunch the Parson and 
 Professor girded on their knapsacks and aepenstocks in 
 hand, started for St. Luc, up the valley on the way for a 
 steep climb to Zermatt. The scribe accompanied them over 
 the river to the entrance of the valley and waved them fare- 
 well. He had experienced sufficient of Alpine climbing and 
 found the pace of his comrades too much for his own too 
 great burden of flesh, and feared from effects so far ex- 
 perienced that another day such as he had gone through 
 would leave a Scribe laid up in some mountain chalet; and 
 having a desire to be buried in his native land, he concluded 
 that discretion was the better part of valor, and a mule's 
 back, coach, or railroad train, the better way to see the 
 beauties of Switzerland. But I will tell you about it. 
 
 From Geneva a dummy engine and a train of open cars 
 took us to Annamasse, and a coach along the beautiful level 
 road to Samoens. Here knapsacks were shouldered and 
 the Parson, the Professor and the Scribe started for Sixt, 
 from whence we were to climb over the Col d' Anterne and 
 Col Brevent, so scaling the mountains which rose between 
 us and Chamounix. It was a beautiful walk of two hours, 
 on a white, hard road, winding through vineyards and finely 
 cultivated fields, and then through a gorge in the mountain 
 where the rushing Giffre breaks through and goes to join the 
 Arve.
 
 248 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 I wish to digress again on the subject of Swiss . roads. 
 Here were by-paths, country roads off from main lines of 
 travel, and yet as hard and smooth as a floor, and curbed 
 and guttered like a city street. Of course we cannot expect 
 that all over our comparatively new country such roads are 
 possible, for these have been the work of centuries. But it 
 certainly is time we made a beginning. 
 
 Along the way the men and women were working in the 
 fields, ^t this time mostly mowing the short grass, for they cut 
 the grass short and often in these little fields. By the wayside 
 were frequent shrines, a crucifix, a rude carving, and then a 
 niche in which were figures of the Virgin and child. The 
 most of these wayside shrines I judge have been erected by 
 private bounty and are in memory of some friend who has 
 passed to the spirit land. The passer-by is asked to pray 
 for the soul of so-and-so, in whose memory this cross was 
 erected. And so, between the poetry of woods and mount- 
 ains and streams and waterfalls, the element of religious 
 poetry, these relics of the age of faith come in and add a 
 charm to the picture. The peasants in the fields would nod 
 so pleasantly as we passed, and give us "Bon jour" so 
 smilingly, that one could not help thinking that they must 
 have received some store of comfort from the wayside shrines 
 where in the evening twilight they might kneel and pray. 
 
 And this makes me take a side path again on the subject 
 of manners on the road. We Americans are generally 
 afraid to even say "Good morning," without its being 
 preceded by a formal introduction, and rarely speak as we 
 pass by. It is a cold sort of a thing to do. Of course, in 
 town or city, people cannot go greeting each other in crowds, 
 and they do not here. But out on the country road, the 
 pleasant greeting sounds welcome and sweet. And the 
 groups of little girls and boys which one may meet, will 
 courtesy and duck their heads with a merry "Bon jour, 
 Monsieur, ' ' that calls for a similar kindly response. And 
 when the dead pass by, whether through the crowded streets 
 of city or the quiet country road, all, rich and poor, and 
 high and low, stop and raise their hats in respect and
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING. 249 
 
 sympathy. I have seen the bodies of some of the greatest 
 of America's sons borne in state through the thronged 
 streets of cities and hardly a hat lifted as the funeral car 
 passed. But in Paris, one day, I saw passing the funeral of 
 a poor child. Four kindly neighbors bore the plain little 
 coffin on their shoulders, and behind walked the priest and 
 the parents and a group of friends. On they plodded 
 through the busy, crowded street, but the workmen in their 
 blue blouses, and officers in their gaudy uniforms, and all 
 ranks, doffed their hats and bowed to Death, the great 
 leveler. You could see the wave of human sympathy swept 
 through the streets in the raising of hats as the body of the 
 little child passed through. 
 
 ''A Sixt?" inquired the Parson, not being sure of the 
 road. "A Sixt," he was answered, as the smiling peasant 
 pointed forward, and so we went our way to where the road 
 between river and mountain winds through a gorge, and 
 then breaks out into the Horse Shoe Valley, as it is called, 
 at one end of which is Sixt. Mountains all about us, and 
 ice-capped Buet in the distance as we came into this amphi- 
 theatre where the gods do contend with the lightnings and 
 the storm, and passing through the village street with its 
 usual fountain where the the women wash all day and spread 
 the dirt more evenly through one's linen, we came to the 
 Hotel du Fer a Cheval. I use the French because I can copy 
 it easily out of the guidebook. The English of it is the 
 Horse Shoe House. It was formerly a monastery, but the 
 abbots are dead and the priests have fled these many years 
 gone by. I tried to install the Parson as the abbot of the 
 institution, but you can't in any way make an abbot out of 
 a Presbyterian minister. The Professor agreed that the 
 Scribe had the best figure for an abbot and so I said, "Pax 
 Vobiscum," and we went to bed with clear consciences and 
 the wicked fleas, and the Scribe dreamed of procession of 
 monks in the cloisters and chants and vesper bells, and then 
 of inquisitions and tortures, and that he, a heretic, had been 
 discovered by the spirits of the monks occupjing their sacred 
 rooms, and they put him to torture by pinching his flesh
 
 250 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 with red-hot pincers. And then he would awake to find it 
 was only the flees, and then sleep to dream again. 
 
 It was five o'clock in the morning when the new brother- 
 hood turned out and absolved themselves in the wash-bowls 
 and partook of a substantial breakfast in the refectory. The 
 landlord had by this time got his wits about him so as to 
 make the bill amply large enough. He was drunk the 
 night before when we arrived, and spoke cross-eyed in 
 English, French, German and native, whatever that was. 
 The Parson understands German perfectly, and a little 
 French, while the Professor can easily read the classic Greek 
 and Latin, and the Scribe understands English, or at least 
 United States English fairly, but none of us could make out 
 the mixed jargon of the landlord's talk. His breath was very 
 distinct, however, and so was the bill he presented in the 
 morning. 
 
 Leaving the cloister shadows, with the pictures of old 
 saints and Latin maxims on the walls, we passed out by the 
 brawling stream, white and foaming as it comes from the 
 glaciers far up on the mountain tops, and through the 
 village street where the women had just appeared at the 
 fountains bringling their baskets of soiled linen and their 
 goitres with them. The goitre, even when set off with 
 Alpine scenery, is not beautiful. It is a swelling of the 
 neck, extending the chin down in a great baggy form. It 
 is usually worn over the collar, and it seems as if it would be 
 more convenient to carry it on the back. The goitre is a 
 peculiar disease and its cause does not seem to be well 
 understood. It will be almost universal in some of these 
 mountain valleys and entirely absent in others. In this 
 Vallee des Fonds, a Valley of Milk and one may say of 
 honey,* also, for the valleys of Switzerland literally flow with 
 milk and honey, the principal food of the people, the goitre 
 seemed to be a common ornament. Some say it is the 
 absence of sunlight; the majority of authorities, however, 
 say the constant use of glacier water, so cold, and full of 
 ground rock, is the cause of it. When the Scribe and Pro- 
 fessor learned this they were glad they had not exposed
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING. 251 
 
 themselves seriously, and declared they would drink no 
 more water in Switzerland ; for one might get glacier 
 water by mistake, and if the Parson cared to run the risk of 
 getting a goitre he might, but they didn't want to bring 
 home any such baggage, especially when good wine was 
 only 20 cents a quart. 
 
 But this is a digression. In fact, the first thing we did 
 this morning, after walking around several goitres and 
 drawing the above conclusions, was to make a digression in 
 our walk. We passed over an old glacier bed, where great 
 rocks were tumbling about and loose round stones rolled 
 under the feet, and the path was obliterated. On the other 
 side we came to two paths, the one a rugged, narrow, stony, 
 sharp ascent, up the side of the mountain, \vhere the sun 
 beat down unchecked. The other was a broad, smooth and 
 level walk along the banks of a brawling stream, where the 
 grass was green and flowers bloomed, and the trees gave 
 grateful shade. After discussing which was the right path, 
 the beauty of the latter decided us that if it was not the 
 right one it ought to be, so we entered in the flowery way 
 that brought us toil and disappointment. It was a delight- 
 ful walk of half an hour, following the winding stream. 
 Occasionally we would see the other path far above us. 
 Finally we came to a bridge where we met a peasant woman 
 resting herself from her great pack and knitting as she 
 rested seated on a rock by the wayside. "Col d' Anterne?" 
 inquired the Parson, pointing onward. "Non, Monsieur, 
 la !" said she, pointing upward, toward the rugged road we 
 had despised. There was nothing to do but retrace our 
 steps and take a new start on the rugged narrow path if we 
 would reach the upper heights, the goal of our desires. 
 The path across the bridge and through the woods looked 
 more attractive than ever. A group of peasants came down 
 the path, laughing and singing, in spite of the heavy 
 burdens they were bearing to the village beyond. It was a 
 scene of pastoral beauty, but we turned our backs upon it 
 and trudged back to the rock strewn avalanche course
 
 252 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 again, and with a struggle scrambled up the path which led 
 over the mountain side. 
 
 If you would rise to grander hights, said the Parson, and 
 enlarge the horizon of your life to take in all humanity, and 
 nearer gain heaven, stick to the rugged narrow path. Be a 
 partisan, said the Scribe, and stick well to the beaten path,, 
 and don't go fooling away your time on side issues. And 
 the Parson will probably use the illustration in a sermon and 
 the Scribe may work it into an editorial. 
 
 The Horseshoe valley, up whose sides we were now 
 climbing, abounds in waterfalls, cascades which come 
 tumbling down from the mountain peaks, and dashing across 
 our path, go foaming far down into the valley below. One,, 
 especially beautiful from the mountain side opposite us, 
 broke in long perpendicular falls three times before its final 
 plunge, so far that it was all spray and mist before it reach- 
 ed the bottom, and reflected rainbow tints and waved back 
 and forth in the breeze like a bridal veil. These tumbling 
 mountain torrents looked like skeins of flossy silk hung over 
 the mountain sides and added grace to the rugged scenery 
 of rock and bare mountain peaks, and a new charm of color 
 to the gray and purple shadows of gorge and cliff and the 
 green of the valleys, broke here and there, also, with the 
 stone-weighted roofs of the cattle chalets far up the mountain 
 sides. 
 
 Away in the distance, towering up into the sky, where 
 the mountains seemed to hem the valley in, rose a battle- 
 mented peak. Inaccessible, it seemed 1 , as in form like a 
 jagged double tooth it stretched up into the sky. "I hope 
 we don't go that way" said the Professor, "I wouldn't take 
 that job for $500." The Scribe agreed with him, and the 
 Parson said nothing, and toiled on. 
 
 The air seemed rare and more rare. The Scribe puffed 
 harder and harder. How dry one gets in this Alpine climb- 
 ing. Sucking and puffing this dry, thin air through the 
 mouth, as the Scribe had to do to get enough to keep his 
 lungs working, the mouth and throat get parched, and the 
 tongue rattles around like a dry pea in its pod. The
 
 ALPINE CUMBING. 253 
 
 mountain torrents looked most refreshing, and the Scribe 
 felt that he could stand under one and let the whole cascade 
 down his throat. Indeed, he did dry up several and spoiled 
 several sections of scenery in quenching his intolerable 
 thirst. Bye and bye the path commenced to zigzag up the 
 perpendicular sides. We had been going straight up stairs 
 before, but these zigzag paths to the top are most dis- 
 couraging. You toil and stumble for an hour and then you 
 can toss a stone to the place you started from. And the 
 worst of it is that the angle of every zigzag looks as if it was 
 the top ol the mountain, and when one has with an inspira- 
 tion born of this hope, struggled up to the angle, there are 
 zigzags reaching upward still beyond. "Oh Mamma !" 
 exclaimed the Professor, yearning for that sympathy which 
 in childhood had helped him over his sorrows and struggles. 
 And the Scribe sympathized with him, but the Parson only 
 smiled in a sort of aggravating way, and made his alpen- 
 stock beat time more rapidly on the cold, unfeeling rocks. 
 
 But by and by even he was was willing to stop a moment, 
 and then, by looking around, the Professor exclaimed, "By 
 the immortal George Washington, if we are not right on 
 that peak which I wouldn't ascend for $500. "And we 
 were. Right over our heads rose the jagged, battlemented 
 crest of the Dent d'Anterne. 
 
 "It is by keeping straight on, steadily putting one foot 
 before the other," said the Parson, that we accomplish sun- 
 kissed heights which seem impossible from the vales below 
 where the shadows prevail." "Oh, put that on ice," 
 grumbled the Professor, as he looked toward the ice-clad 
 peak of Buet. Another struggle upward, with many dis- 
 appointments that the top if the pass did not appear, and 
 then three crosses were seen on a ragged edge of rocks. 
 
 It is the top, said the Parson. One cross was for him, 
 one for the Professor, one for the Scribe. 
 
 The Scribe felt that he had borne his all the way from 
 Sixt and it belonged to him. Way back in the distance, in 
 the smiling valley we could see the village of Sixt through 
 the opening of the mountains and could trace the path by
 
 254 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 which we had come. The frowning mountains, wreathed 
 with cascades, the smiling green valley dotted with groups 
 of chalets, the purple shadows, the grays, the greens, the 
 wooded slopes, the long perspective w T here the sunlight and 
 shadows made varying tints of color, all made a picture well 
 worth an effort to see. On the other side of us was the 
 valley of the Diosaz, where the cattle were feeding in the 
 pastures, and beyond rose the Brevent, 8,000 feet, over 
 which we were yet to climb that day. It was a lovely 
 prospect back, for we had accomplished it, but it looked 
 mighty weary ahead. The guide book said we were 7,435 
 feet above the sea. The professor estimated it at 20,969 
 feet. The Scribe said that Baedeker was evidently wrong. 
 He could take his oath that he had climbed up over 50,000 
 feet. The Parson stuck by the guide book. He believes 
 in the guide book as he does in the Bible. 
 
 The Scribe was utterly exhausted. He begged five 
 minutes for a nap, and it was granted. Unslinging his 
 knapsack, he put it behind his head against a rock and 
 closed his eyes. In a second the scenery did not interest. 
 
 THE VALLEY OF DIOSAZ A STRUGGLE ON THE COL 
 VENT A NIGHT IN A CATTLE CHALET VICTORY 
 AND DEFEAT. 
 
 SlERRE, Aug. 1889. 
 
 Five minutes is up, said the Parson , as he roused the 
 Scribe from his nap, and taking a last look at the scenery 
 behind with the foreground of the little blue lake of 
 D' Anterne way up here on this height, we turned our faces 
 toward the Col Brevent which loomed up over 8,000 feet 011 
 the opposite side cf the valley. Over it we could see the 
 glittering dome of Mt. Blanc rising through the clouds, 
 itself like a great white cloud far up in the sky. Between 
 the Brevent and the Mt. Blanc range, we knew, was the 
 narrow valley in which was the village of Chamounix, which 
 was our destination.
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING. 255 
 
 We descended rapidly the narrow, steep zigzag path 
 which led down into the valley of Diosaz, but not so rapidly 
 as a party of chamois hunters we met at the top of the Col 
 d' Anterne. Col, by the way, means mountain pass, in 
 English. These chamois hunters in their velveteen jackets 
 and pluaied hats added a nationality to the scenery. It was 
 provoking how easily they would scamper up the steepest 
 places and climb rocks and peer cautiously over to get a 
 sight of the game. They paid no attention to zigzag paths, 
 but holding their guns over their heads and half squatting, 
 they would put their feet together and toboggan down the 
 steepest places for hundreds of feet, where you would swear 
 they would never stop until they reached the foot of the 
 mountain. Springing from rock to rock, hanging on the 
 side of precipices, they seemed as sure-footed and nimble as 
 the game they pursued. 
 
 We would have liked to have done it that way, but didn't, 
 as we feared to muss up the valley thousands of feet below 
 or blaze a way down with our bones. So zigzag down we 
 rushed, twisting and turning the sharp angles to the Chalet 
 des Fonds, where, as the name indicates, we could get a 
 glass of fresh milk, then across the valley to commence the 
 ascent of the Col Brevent. It was a discouraging outlook to 
 the Scribe. He was about used up already by the long 
 walk from Sixt since five o'clock in the morning, until past 
 mid-day, nothing to eat and one more mountain to cross. 
 Worse than that, one could see, stretching away up the side 
 of the valley, at an angle of 45 degrees, the weary path he 
 must follow, a mere shelf in the side of the cliff with the 
 mountain straight up on one side and the abyss straight 
 down the other, going to thousands of feet in depth as one 
 ascends and in the distance the tops of the range over which 
 one must cross. But it must be done if one would get out 
 of the valley, and there were no places except a group of 
 rude chalets at which to stop, so the Scribe set his teeth 
 together and followed on after the Parson and Professor, 
 walking on his nerve. We did very well for some time and ac- 
 complished a good distance, coming to some cattle chalets about
 
 256 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 a quarter of the distance to the top. The Savoyard cattleman 
 offered to carry the Scribe's knapsack over the pass for a 
 small compensation, but the offer was scorned and the pro- 
 cession moved on. But soon we struck those discouraging 
 zigzag paths again, and the Scribe began to weaken, a 
 circumstance which the cattleman had evidently figured on, 
 for he appeared again and his offer was this time accepted. 
 But it did no good. The pack on the back was easily* 
 carried. The Scribe wished he could only put his stomach 
 in the pack and get that carried, and then, as he toiled 
 onward, he thought he could make the pass if he could take 
 his flesh off and get that carried while he walked over in his 
 bones. If he could only take his tired legs off and carry 
 them under his arms, it would be a relief. Perspiration was 
 rolling from him. His clothing was saturated with it, and 
 the path behind him was slippery where he larded it as he 
 dragged himself along. It was about half way between the 
 cattle chalets and the top where the Scribe collapsed. He 
 threw himself down on a flat rock by the side of a cool 
 mountain torrent, and told the Parson and Professor to go 
 on and he would follow after a brief rest. But he didn't 
 intend to do any such thing. He meant to die right there, 
 he was so utterly exhausted. The Scribe lay thinking how 
 easy it was to die, anyway. Only a flutter and life would 
 be gone. But after a time of rest, it didn't seem quite the 
 thing to do. His body would be found and it would make 
 an account in the newspapers and .his biography would be 
 published full of mistakes with his name spelled wrong, and 
 he concluded to live to get out of the valley in some way. 
 
 While thinking of these things the attention of the Scribe 
 was attracted to a bit of green-sward near by which looked 
 as if a painter had scattered his brightest colors over it. 
 There were thistles, and dandelions, dasies and harebells, 
 common flowers enough, but one would hardly expect to 
 find them up here near the edge of eternal snow-drifts, and 
 the colors were so brilliant and so varied. The dandelion, 
 for instance, its stem grown wiry instead of tubular as in 
 our fields, has innumerable tints, from deep red orange to
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING. 257 
 
 brightest gold, and the thistle blossom glows in dark purple, 
 and th? golds. i hearted daisy seems more vivid in its colors, 
 while the delicate blue of the harebell, mingling with the 
 other gorgeous dyes, flecked the deep green grass with 
 color. Painted, one would never believe that it was nature, 
 but way up here, where the breath from the snow-drifts 
 fanned the blossoms, old Nature has put against the dark 
 gray rocks, these marvels of bright colors and in these soli- 
 tudes kept her choicest tints and most brilliant flowers. 
 And then the sun went down behind the peaks or across the 
 valley, and soon beyond, where the ice-clad tea :s of the Mt. 
 Blanc range showed above the intervening mountains, the 
 rosy tints of sunset commenced to show. They deepened 
 into a glow as if the snow peaks were on fire, and from peak 
 to peak leaped mysterious lights, and crept down their 
 snow-clad sides. It -was a cresm of color and light; a 
 beauty beyond the artist's brush. 
 
 A halloo above brought the Scribe back from the moun- 
 tain peaks to a knowledge of immediate surroundings, as he 
 saw his Savoyard scrambling down toward him with a bottle 
 in his hand. Hope revived and help was near. But as the 
 Savoyard came up, the Scribe saw that the bottle was 
 empty and despair followed. In quesr French patois of the 
 mountains the cattleman told the Scribe that it was then too 
 late to make the top of the pass before night would set in; 
 that we might walk cffa precipice or die in the snow-drifts. 
 So I had better go back with him to his chalet and spend 
 the night. The Scribe thought so too. There was but one 
 regret about it. Thousands of feet below, half way down 
 to the valley, he could see the tops of the chalets. When 
 he thought of the toil and pain he had experienced in 
 getting up to this point, he felt as if a pile of energy would 
 be wasted in retracing his steps to come over the same weary 
 road in the morning. But there was only the choice of 
 staying on the mountain all night, and a fair chance of a 
 thunder storm or even a sprinkle of snow, so back down the 
 path he scampered with his Savoyard guide. 
 
 We came after a time to where the cattle and goats were
 
 258 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 browsing on the upland pastures, and as it was milking 
 time the cattle tender called them, as we passed along, in his 
 musical Savoyard speech, each by name, and down the 
 mountain sides they came, the goats leaping from rock to 
 rock, and their musical bells making a sweet harmony from 
 cliff to mountain dell. A CDW bell, by itself, is not a re- 
 markably sweet musical instrument, but when there are a 
 number of them, for each cow is provided, and you have 
 distance to soften and blend the tones, and the tinkle of the 
 bells on the goats is intermingled, you get a rich harmony 
 echoing through the mountain pastures. 
 
 The affection of the brutes for their keeper was manifest. 
 They would struggle for a place by his side and rub against 
 him, and the goats seemed to pity the Scribe and rub their 
 noses in the palms of his hands for sympathy, although 
 perhaps it was for salt. And so we went scrambling dow r n 
 in procession to where the chalets stood by the side of a 
 mountain torrent that came darting from far above on its 
 way to the valley. 
 
 Now a chalet may be an elegant mansion, with wide, 
 overhanging roofs, and pleasant galleries and outside stair- 
 ways, the first story of well-built stone wall, and the second 
 of timbers. But a cattle chalet is nothing but rough stone 
 piled up in the form of a square, with a roof over it, the 
 shingles being held with heavy stones instead of being 
 nailed. The stones held the chalet down, or otherwise an 
 avalanche might come along and move it on to the 
 neighbor's farm next below. The doors of the cattle sheds 
 stood open, and each cow evidently knew where to go, for 
 they filed into their respective houses like soldiers. 
 
 The Scribe bathed himself in the mountain stream and 
 went into the chalet where the cattle man lived. It was a 
 little better than those which held the cattle. No window 
 except the open door, two or three stones in the corner made 
 the fireplace, a board on sticks made a table and a board on 
 lower supports a bench to sit on. Apart of the mountain 
 stream poured in at the corner of the room, and falling in a
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING. 259 
 
 trench passed out under the wall. This was the bath. The 
 rafters and sides were ornamented with cow and goat skins 
 made into cloaks for rainy or rough weather, and short 
 stocked, long lashed whips and other necessaries of the 
 cattle tenders. 
 
 The Savoyard heated some milk and produced a loaf of 
 black bread and some cheese for the Scribe's supper. The 
 milk was readily taken, but the bread could not be mastered 
 even after soaking it. It was as if blasted out of the 
 mountain side. But the best they had was freely offered, 
 and the Scribe was duly grateful and he paid liberally for it. 
 A kindly set were these Savoyards, real gentlemen, every- 
 one, and in their pleasant way were most kind to the 
 stranger who had become their unexpected guest. Supper 
 over, the Scribe wished to retire, and asked to be shown to 
 his bed-room. He was conducted up a ladder over the 
 cheese room which tormed the rear apartment, and there 
 were blankets spread upon the hay. He didn't wish to 
 disturb the regular arrangements or deprive any one of their 
 bed and so asked for the guest's chamber. The Savoyard 
 hollowed out a place in a fresh mow of hay, and the Scribe 
 crawled in and was soon unconscious, rousing a little as the 
 men came in from the pastures and half dreamily hearing 
 their conversation, which was probably about the stranger 
 asleep in the mow. The loft must have been filled. A 
 thunder storm, which, echoing from peak to peak, seemed 
 as if all of heaven's artillery had broken loose at once, made 
 the Scribe glad he was not up on the mountain side. 
 
 With the first streak of dawn the cattle-men were out 
 again, and by five o'clock, when the Scribe crawled out, 
 but two were left. What hard lives for a mere existence ! 
 And yet, even here they get more than that out of it, and 
 seemed a happy set of fellows. 
 
 After a breakfast of a bowl of warm milk, the Savoyard 
 having done the morning work of milking the* cows and 
 goats, the Scribe and he started to drive them to the 
 pastures which were on our way over the Brevent. Leaving 
 them where the grass was good, we climbed over the path
 
 260 EDITORIAL . MISCELLANIES. 
 
 where the Scribe had toiled so painfully the day before. 
 The top of the pass was shrouded in clouds as we reached it, 
 and it was a wilderness of great rocks as big as a city block 
 tossed about. There were numerous snow-drifts which we 
 passed through, and the Scribe pelted the guide just to say 
 he had snow-balled in August. Then down the other side 
 toward the vale of Chatnouinx, on the other side of which 
 rose the great white peaks and the dome of Mt. Blanc. 
 
 One cannot describe the effect these great mountains have 
 on one. You look up among the clouds where you expect 
 the top of the mountain might be, and then look twice as 
 high, and there Mt. Blanc sticks its dome through the 
 distant clouds. A man feels himself shrink to the dimensions 
 of an insect as he looks on these wondrous works. 
 
 It is a mighty mean path down the Brevent. It is narrow 
 and steep and with sharp angles. It appears as if you could 
 step off into Chamottnix in the valley below. But 8,000 
 feet is too far to step comfortably straight down. The guide 
 kept the outside of the path and the Scribe was willing he 
 should, and scrambling down for an hour, we reached the 
 Chalet du Plan Piaz a third of the way down, perhaps, and 
 by the steepest part of the ascent. There the Scribe found 
 the Parson and Professor in bed, roused them out to give him 
 a chance, wrung a pailful of perspiration out of his shirt and 
 hung it out to dry and then took a nap. 
 
 After breakfast we climbed Mt. Blanc with a telescope, 
 which was on the level in front of the chalet. That is the 
 best way to climb a mountain. The view is grand from 
 this point, face to face with the monarch's of the Swiss Alps, 
 and with the great blue glaciers, which wind down their 
 sides, with the pleasant, smiling, green valley of the Arve, 
 and the white ribbon of the river between . 
 
 It was a long but easy road down to Chamounix. So 
 near it seemed and yet it was so far. But finalty the valley 
 was reached, and a short walk through the meadows brought 
 us to the village street. 
 
 The Parson had laid out a walk over the Mer de Glace 
 and so on over the Col de Balm to Marti gny for that day.
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING. 26 1 
 
 But the Scribe said he was through with the walking busi- 
 ness and would pay for a coach to Martigny. The Professor 
 was glad. The Parson didn't allow that he was, but 
 he made no objection. It was a grand ride over the 
 Col Forclaz and the Tete Noir pass, and for a nervous 
 person, a slightly uncomfortable one too, as the coach rushes 
 down the winding road and threatens to slew over and dump 
 the passengers into the river so far below that it is but a 
 thread. And so we came down into Martigny, where the 
 railroad was reached which brought us to Sierre, and there 
 the Parson and the Professor, still not satisfied, bade fare- 
 well to the Scribe.
 
 262 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 EDINBURGH AND SURROUNDINGS. 
 
 BY W. D. MCK. 
 
 I like to poke off by myself when in a place of historic 
 interest and in some sheltered place, undisturbed by 
 conversation which continually calls one back to the present,, 
 to go back in a dreaTy" way to the old days of romance, and 
 people the surrounding scenery with the personages and 
 events which were familiar to it in years that only history 
 tells of, or, to let the fancy again picture the scenes of fiction 
 that the novelist has placed in these surroundings. With 
 such a purpose I climbed Calton Hill toward the close of the 
 long Scotch gloaming, that peculiar half light that reaches 
 far into the night, and while it obscures nothing throws a 
 softened shadow over everything, and best suits the purposes 
 of a dreamer. I sat on the carriage of one of the cannon r 
 trophies of the Crimea that are planted about the base of 
 Nelson's monument, and the city arid all for miles about lay 
 like a panorama about me. 
 
 Edinburgh is a city of nearly 300,000 inhabitants. Its 
 new part is a bustling modern city, active with trade and 
 commerce and the unromantic details of pushing, vigorous 
 modern business life. This is not what we came to see; we 
 came to see the city of youth's imaginations, where chivalry 
 held its show of pomp, where beautiful Mary had passed so 
 much of her troubled life, where the long line of Scottish 
 Kings had held Court and which Scott had glorified in song 
 and story. That "City of Palaces." 
 
 "Flinging her white arms to the sea, 
 Queen of the unconquered North ! " 
 
 The hum of business life faintly comes up here, 344 feet 
 above the plain below. Near by, on the crest of the hill is 
 a half finished model of the Parthenon, its white pillars 
 gleaming like a broken harp against the sky. It is more 
 picturesque than if it were complete. Another Greek 
 looking building is the royal observatory, and several monu- 
 ments also adorn the hill. To the north is the gleaming 
 Firth and the busy port of Leith connected with this hill
 
 EDrNBX'RGH AlSTD "SURROUNDINGS. 
 
 by a carriage road built on the top of a line of old earth- 
 works; farther around to the east, on the shores of the 
 Firth, is Portabello, a pleasant watering place, and then onf 
 view is cut off by the side -of Arthur's Seat which rears its 
 lion like form 822 feet above the sea, its lion head looking 
 at the city over the Salisbury Crags on the precipitous side 
 of which a road called the Queen's Walk goes by an easy 
 .grade up to the summit. At its foot lies the plain of the 
 Queen's Park, back of the palace of Holyrood where a 
 ruined chapel shows the landscape beyond through broken 
 arches and graceful window frames of carved stone; from 
 that a steep sided ridge rises to the north and terminates 
 abruptly in a promontory 380 feet above the plain, crowned 
 with the castle. Up the back of this ridge, from Holyrood 
 to the castle, runs old Canongate street, and on this steep 
 ascent is the old town of history and romance with its 
 buildings which tower from the rear in many stories to get 
 & foot hold for two stories on their fronts; of crowded closes 
 where steep flights of stone stairs lead from one street to 
 another, and where St, Giles' airy dome marks the old 
 parliament square; at the east of this ridge a deep ravine 
 where once flowed the waters of a lake is now laid out in 
 beautiful gardens and its nearer bank rises less abrupt and 
 high to a level plateau, stretching to the Firth, on which 
 stands the new town with its handsome modern architecture, 
 delightful parks and noble monuments. 
 
 But it is the old town which most interests the tourist: 
 the old town that was walled in between its precipitous 
 sides, where Holyrood sleeps at its feet aud the castle girts 
 with steel its brow; the town of Knox, the stern covenanter 
 preacher, of Regent Murray and his schemes, of stern 
 inconoclastic Covenanters and catholic Cavaliers; of 
 beautiful Mary and timid Rizzio and treacherous Darnley 
 and ambitious, traitorous Both well; of Jack Porteous and 
 Rob Roy and sweet brave, Jennie Deans, and of James V. 
 atid his merry court, and of the Douglas and of the chivalry 
 of old. As the day darkens and lights begin to flash out 
 from the ridgy spine of the old town, and far off, seeming
 
 264 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 like stars, the lights shine through the loop holes of the 
 castle towers, visions of the days of old crowd on one as he 
 looks from Calton Hill. The busy commercial life of the 
 present fades with the fading day, the progress of the years 
 is forgotten, the roar of railway trains is the march of 
 armies, the fact of the telegraph and printing press dis- 
 appears. A bugle call comes faintly from the castle walls 
 and w r e imagine a train of knights on richly caparisoned 
 horses going down old Canongate to Holyrood. 
 
 After all, to an American, surrounded only by a few 
 marks of history reaching back a short hundred years, it is, 
 in spite of his reason and knowledge of the present, almost 
 a disappointment to find that there has been progress in 
 lands with which he is only acquainted through the pages 
 of old histories, the fascinating scenes of romance and story, 
 or in stirring minstrel songs of deeds of valor. He has, 
 someway, always imagined a land as it is pictured to his 
 childhood's fancy, and these old tales crowd first upon him 
 in spite of daily papers and cable dispatches. He cannot 
 repress a lurking, unacknowledged disappointment that 
 everything of life, costume and custom is not even now just 
 as he has read about it, and so far as he can, he will see it 
 all through the eyes of old poets and seers. No tourist 
 ever writes of the busy commercial city of Edinburgh as it 
 now exists, for that would be like the story of any other 
 commercial town in America or any other country, but he 
 reverses his opera 'glass and throws his .picture to distant 
 times; times not really to be admired, and yet with strange 
 inconsistency admired the most. We know that the days of 
 chivalry were really the most unchivalrous of all days; 
 that foul murder, treachery, low, mean ambitions, and narrow 
 minds were the leading features; that brother could not 
 trust brother and that fathers had to guard against their 
 sons; that the highest deeds of emprise were brought about 
 in trying to steal a neighbor's cattle, and that those good 
 old days were damnable in every way, and the heroes of the 
 times were none of them unstained with deeds of darkest 
 treachery, and cowardly conspiracies. There is not a man
 
 EDINBURGH AND SURROUNDINGS. 265 
 
 or woman, real, honest and true all through in all the 
 history of the kingdom of Scotland, unless it be sweet St. 
 Margaret, Malcom Canmore's gentle queen, who ruled her 
 warlike husband and herself, or maybe, stern John .Knox, 
 who was so upright and manly that he never feared the face 
 of man. But the savage is still in us and respect for brute 
 force is still a controling power, and against reason and 
 conscience we look back and would like to have seen, as a 
 spectator at least, the brave daj-s of old, when each man 
 held his right at the point of his lance. So only the old 
 city comes out in the twilight from our place on Calton Hill. 
 Bathed in the moonlight is fair Holyrood, Was that a 
 woman's scream from the tower nearest us? Fair Man- 
 Stuart has a supper to-night in the little cabinet off her bed- 
 room; up the narrow winding stairway from Lord Darnley's 
 room below, creep the conspirators and Ruthven's hands 
 are bloody with Rizzio's blood. There is a riot on High 
 street where the Douglases and Haniiltons struggle for the 
 mastery; keep watc"h your sentries on the castle walls, for 
 Randolph is scaling the cliffs; right at our feet there is a 
 tournament and a horseman dashing down the steep hillside 
 seems to win favor from lovely Mary by his daring deed. 
 It is Bothwell of infamous memory. They had stormed the 
 Heart of Mid Lothian and Jack Porteous is carried by the 
 mob to his death in the Grass Market, that square which 
 has so often run with blood of many executions. That 
 window high up in the castle wall looks out from Queen 
 Mary's bed chamber where the young James Sixth of Scot- 
 land, First of England, was born and let down in a basket 
 by the beetling cliff; they bear him away to Stirling to 
 protect the feeble royal life just begun. Yonder rises St. 
 Giles' airy crown where Jennie Geddes so promptly threw 
 her stool and knocked the Episcopal liturgy out of the 
 Scottish church. Round the shoulder of Salisbury Crag, 
 still stands the cottage of Jennie Deans, and the paving 
 stones formed in the shape of a heart, marks by St. Giles 
 square the spot where the old Tolbooth stood.
 
 266 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 A FEW DAYS IN HAVANA. 
 
 BY L. MCK. IN CENSOR. 
 
 MARCH 5th, 1886. 
 
 Havana is a quaint old city. Several of our fellow 
 passengers who have been all over Europe, declare they 
 found more of novelty in Havana than in any of the cities 
 they visited abroad. It is even more Spanish than many of 
 the cities in Spain, and clings to its ancient customs and 
 styles with religious constancy. The whole aspect of the 
 city reminds one of oriental scenery; the flat-roofed buildings 
 all plastered on the outside, the narrow streets, the horses 
 and mules bearing immense panniers filled with tropical 
 fruits, and the lofty palms standing out so still against the 
 sky. The principal business streets, Obispo, O'Reilly and 
 Cuba, in fact all inside the ancient wall, are only about 
 twenty feet wide, barely allowing teams to pass between the 
 sidewalks which are only wide enough for one person; much 
 of the way awnings are stretched from one side of the street 
 to the other. All kinds of business are conspicuously public, 
 whether reputable or disreputable, and the large open door- 
 ways show many strange sights. The Cuban homes on the 
 other hand, are extremely private, and a great building 
 with cracked and dingy plastering on the outside may be 
 all marble floors and richly frescoed walls within, with 
 galleries around the central court where the signoras and 
 signoritas lounge in their light draperies and dream away 
 the day, cooled by rippling fountains amid the luxuriant 
 plants, flowers and vines. 
 
 Outside the old city wall the streets are wider but the 
 same style of buildings continues, the hotels and public 
 edifices being remarkable for their very high ceilings 
 and great arched openings and halls which admit the refresh- 
 ing breezes to the central court. The windows have shutters
 
 A FEW DAYS IN HAVANA. 267 
 
 and iron bars, but no sash or glass, and the shutters are 
 generally open. 
 
 It is the diurnal sea breezes that make Havana not only 
 tolerable but delightful. Thermometer may mark 80 to 84 
 from 12 to 3 p. m., but the morning and evening zephyrs, 
 without a particle of chill, so soft and cool and refreshing, 
 alone would make life a delight to the refugee from Lake 
 Erie's piercing gales. 
 
 For sight seeing in Havana, the first day you are entirely 
 satisfied to sit in the hotel doorway and watch the passing 
 specimens of Spaniards, Cubans, Negroes and Chinese, with 
 their various intermixtures, the great carts and long strings 
 of horses and mules, laden with the products of the country, 
 and the miserable beggars that infest every street. You 
 will be surprised to see so many working people, even 
 Chinese, riding in carriages, and when you find how cheap 
 the cab hire is you readily decide to do as the Cubans do, 
 and quit walking. ' There are probably 2,500 of the little 
 cabs or victorias in the city, each drawn by one horse, and 
 the fixed rate for either one or two persons to ride anywhere 
 in the limits is only 4 reals in paper money about 16 cents 
 in gold. The little Cuban horses are a marvel, so smart 
 and tough. Wherever you go, you have only to wait a 
 few minutes before a victoria will come along; give a hiss, 
 and the driver turns up to the curb stone, and you and your 
 companion can ride an hour for 60 cents (our money) if you 
 wish. 
 
 The Cathedral is a natural place to seek the second day, 
 and as ) r ou come in sight of the weather beaten front and 
 gaze up at the verdigris covered bells, you can well believe 
 in its antiquity. The building was begun in 1656 and 
 finished in 1724. The venerable Sacristan takes you im- 
 mediately around through the chancel and there in the wall 
 are said to be sealed the bones of Columbus, the tablet 
 bearing an appropriate inscription is stately Spanish verse. 
 
 There seems no reason to doubt that the bones of the 
 great Admiral were deposited here in 1796, brought from 
 San Domingo where they had rested since 1536. He died
 
 26S EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 in Spain only 30 years before his remains were brought to 
 San Domingo. On the opposite side of the chancel is a 
 little oil painting of a company of soldiers kneeling before 
 a shrine, dated 1473. It is said to have been on the .ship 
 with Columbus when he made his first voyage over the 
 unknown sea to the westward, bound as he supposed for the 
 East Indies, But the vestments of the priests are the great 
 sight in the Cathedral, especially to the lady visitors. In 
 the robing room are cases of great drawers, and they reveal 
 such wealth of silken robes embroidered stiff with gold and 
 precious stones as cannot be seen elsewhere on the western 
 hemisphere. Pearls, rubies, topaz, sapphires and emeralds,, 
 worked in the beautiful scrolls of golden has relief, attest 
 the patience and skill of deft fingers in old Spain, genera- 
 tions ago. 
 
 For early morning walk, visit the great Tocan Market, an 
 immense building occupying a whole square. Every 
 vegetable which we have in midsummer, we saw in pro- 
 fusion there, and many strange tropical productions which 
 we never saw before. The great carts drawn by oxen with 
 the yoke strapped to the horns, come in piled high with a 
 ton of bananas, and the long strings of horses, each horse's 
 halter tied to the tail of the horse ahead, while a boy on 
 the leading horse guides the line, reveal from their spreading 
 panniers such golden, sweet oranges as we never eat in our 
 latitude. Pass through the long line of fish stalls and see 
 exquisite hues of the various salt water fish on sale, then 
 glance at the beef and poultry counters, and you will admit 
 that here is an epicure's market. 
 
 One of our pleasantest rides was out to the Captain 
 General's summer residence, thence to the cemetery, and 
 back by the sea shore. The large garden of the Capt. 
 General is well kept and comprises every tropical tree and 
 shrub and flower you ever heard of. By the roadside our 
 driver kindly picked roses and oleanders till madame had a 
 gay bouquet. In the old cemetery at Havana, the remains 
 were all deposited endwise in the wall, the tiers of openings 
 resembling a long line of pigeon holes, where bodies were
 
 A FEW DAYS IN HAVANA. 269 
 
 filed away and properly labeled awaiting the final inventory. 
 In the more modern enclosure lots are purchased and each 
 lot covered with masonry about three feet high, within 
 which the coffins are deposited. Many beautiful monu- 
 ments of imported statuary commemorate the bereavements 
 of wealthy families. A Spanish funeral is a novel sight to 
 the American visitor. After the prayer at the church, or at 
 the house, only the men take the body to the grave. We 
 saw several long processions in the cemetery, the gentlemen 
 evidently of good station in life, but not a lady present. 
 There is no ceremony at the grave. The coffin is lowered 
 into the brick vault, two or three barrels of lime poured 
 over it, the cover of the opening replaced, and all return to 
 the office at the cemetery gate, where the mourners stand 
 upon the step while the friends pass in line and each tenders 
 his condolence with a grasp of the hand. Spaniards are 
 naturally solemn and stately, and the bearing and attire of 
 all were most genteel and appropriate. 
 
 The ride back via the boulevard which skirts the blue 
 waters of the Mexican Gulf, may be excelled somewhere 
 along the shores of the Mediterranean, but to one from a 
 northern clime in February, the soft airs from over the 
 gently rippling strand, children playing on the beach in all 
 degrees of nudity, the sloops and ships sailing lazily along 
 outside, and the wave worn walls of old Morro Castle in the 
 distance, presented a scene sufficiently enchanting to make 
 him long for the artist's gift and brush. 
 
 We realized the evenness of the climate more when we 
 visited a printing office. There was an open court with a 
 large tree in the center, on one side was the press room, 
 another side the compositors were at work, and the editor's 
 sanctum and counting room where he could look across the 
 open space and see all that was going on. Columns sup- 
 ported the roof, but there were no partitions or windows, 
 and the work is practically done out of doors. The printing 
 material is all brought from the States and the Hoe presses 
 were very good. We are under many obligations to the
 
 2 JO EDITORIAL MISCEIX ANTES'. 
 
 proprietor,. Mr. Spencer, for our very pleasant and interest- 
 ing visit to his establishment. His father was an Americans 
 from Baltimore, 
 
 Here let us remark that whatever drawback there may be 
 to Spanish ways and character, the treatment thej^ accord to* 
 strangers is very gratifying. If you wish to inquire }*our 
 way, or obtain any information, any Spanish gentleman you 
 meet will stop and often go quite a distance with you to put 
 you right. They are very polite people/ and life runs with 
 very little friction;: disorder, violence and intoxication being 
 rarely seen. Bandits and pick-pockets are said to be plenty, 
 and the general state of morals very low in Havana, but 
 they make very little disturbance about it. 
 
 Among other places of interest in Havana do not forget 
 the Casino Espanol, a large club house occupying a whole 
 square. It has 2,500 members; the rooms are adorned with 
 paintings of Spanish history, and include a school for 
 fencing and a school where drawing, languages, book-keep- 
 ing etc., are taught. The kind politeness w T ith which we 
 were shown through the building was very agreeable. 
 
 The Plaza de Armas is a pleasant square adorned with 
 flower gardens, on one side the Captain General's palace, on 
 the opposite a little chapel which marks the spot where 
 Columbus celebrated the first Mass on the island, in 1519. 
 Once a year on the anniversary day this chapel is opened 
 and the historic mass repeated. 
 
 Our hotel party made an assault on MOTTO castle but did 
 not get in. Spain is strengthing all her fortifications since 
 the trouble with Germany over the Caroline islands, and 
 fears that We might have among us a German spy in dis- 
 guise, kept us out. There is not much to be seen there 
 except the splendid 'view from the walls, but we afterwards 
 had its counterpart from the heights of Cabinas. There is 
 a part of Morro castle which is of tragic interest, but no 
 visitor ever sees it. Way down beneath the fort are 
 dungeons hewn out of solid rock, where prisoners are con- 
 fined to wear away their lives. Political prisoners from
 
 A PEW DAYS IX HAVANA. 27! 
 
 Spain are brought here, known simply by a number, and 
 there within hearing of the waves of the beautiful bay, but 
 forever shut out from human intercourse, even the bright 
 sunlight denied them, they die in despair, their identity 
 unknown even to their jailors. 
 
 Separating the old part of the city from the new is the 
 broad Prado, a park three miles long and bordered with 
 India Laurel, a nice evergreen tree with leaves similar to 
 our blue plum trees. The Prado is brilliantly lighted with 
 gas lamps (for some reason the electric light does not take 
 here ) and in the Parque Central the band plays two even- 
 ings in the week. It is a good place to see the ladies and 
 gentlemen of the city, as many drive up to the curb stone 
 and sit there in their carriages to listen to the band and 
 greet their friends. The ladies dress in excellent taste, have 
 rich dark eyes such as poets write about and artists love to 
 paint, and shade their faces with a Spanish lace scarf very 
 gracefully, but they are not often beautiful in feature and 
 have a listless, languid way as if life had very little interest 
 for them. The gentlemen^ average far better looking. 
 
 We parted from all our hotel friends with regret, and yet 
 it seemed mighty good when we boarded the Saratoga* 
 After a ship has been your habitation for even a few days of 
 storm and sunshine you acquire a sort of home feeling which 
 the hearty greeting of the officers does not diminish. 
 
 The lighters were busy coming to and going from the 
 ship when we went aboard Thursday afternoon, and as the 
 lightermen passed in the bales of tobacco they sang out the 
 numbers, "Una, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco talle," till about 
 eight o'clock. Meanwhile the sun had set behind the city, 
 and we had taken a last look at the ancient Cathedral 
 towers, church spires, and oriental battlements that 
 surmount the lofty roofs, saw the fronds of the great palms 
 imprinted against the sky, heard the great gun from Morro 
 castle above the roar of the carts and victorias on the rough 
 pavements, noted the crimson rays of the setting sun, and 
 then in five minutes it was dark. No twilight in the tropics. 
 But the lights of the great steamers and ships at anchor,
 
 272 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 and those which encircle the city like a coronet, came out as 
 suddenly as the sunlight had disappeared, and we steamed 
 out of the harbor in water so still that the 1 stars and lights 
 in the depths below pictured a nether world as beautiful as 
 that above. "Now watch for the Prado," said pilot Brown 
 and in a few moments we were looking the length of its 
 miles of lights and walks and trees, up to where the Tacon 
 theater, the L,ouvre and hotel Inglaterra shine out upon the 
 Parque Central, all thronged with the life and gayety of a 
 people blessed with perpetual summer. Why shouldn't 
 they be good natured, with never a stove to lift in or a stove 
 pipe to swear at? "That is always my farewell look at 
 Havana," said Mr. Brown as he turned away, but most of 
 the passengers remained on deck till the long line .of 
 twinkling lights which border the sea shore drive had dis- 
 appeared, and only the great light upon Morro remained to 
 indicate the location of the lovely Isle of Cuba. With a 
 free government and American population, what a paradise 
 it would be. 
 
 VISIT TO A SUGAR PLANTATION, WITH A FEW PRELIMI- 
 NARIES A HAVANESE SUNDAY HIGH MASS 
 COCK FIGHTS AND BULL FIGHTS. 
 
 It seems superfluous to mention that it was a fine day, for 
 all days are fine in Cuba except in the rain} 7 season, which 
 principally holds sway in October and November, and to 
 some extent in April. The other nine 4 months . of the year 
 you are greeted each morning with the same soft sky and 
 fleecy clouds and gentle breeze, and after four o'clock the 
 breeze again. Even in the middle of the day the mercury 
 will not reach 90, but it is better not to walk much in the 
 sun. We were told that there had been no rain for four 
 weeks prior to our visit, yet the grass in the park was green 
 and neither trees or vegetation anywhere presented a parch- 
 ed appearance. This is because of the very heavy dews 
 that lall before morning, often so they drip from the 
 awnings. What a comfort to never hear the weather
 
 A FEW DAYS IN HAVANA. 
 
 mentioned, nor be greeted with the idiotic question: "Is 
 this cold (or hot) enough for you?" At home it seems 
 sometimes as if half our conversation were wasted in weather 
 talk. Even- bod}- here assumes and expects a fine day, and 
 nobody takes cold, and hence on that one topic each Cuban 
 saves breath enough to run an auction. So please pardon 
 the digression and consider that every day was a fine one. 
 including Saturday, February 27, when we set out fof 
 Marianao to visit the sugar plantation ' 'Toledo. ' ' 
 
 Perhaps this is a good place to mention the Cuban meal 
 customs. Coming down stairs any time from 6 till 8 in the 
 morning, you will find the long table set with plates and 
 coffee cups, bread and oranges. Everybody eats oranges 
 and their great abundance does not diminish the Cuban 
 appetite for the delicious fruit. They simply cut off the top 
 a little way down, across the grain, and then suck out the 
 pulp. We get no such oranges north as these picked ripe 
 from the trees. After oranges, coffee and bread, and then 
 wait till ten o'clock for breakfast. Before breakfast is a 
 nice time to take a ride or do shopping, and you will see 
 the Cuban ladies in their carriages before all the stores > 
 examining goods. The}' never get out of the carriage, but 
 have the goods brought out to them. Breakfast is a good 
 square meal, oranges, eggs, fish, meats fried, stewed and 
 roasted, coffee, guava jell}-, and pine apple. Dinner comes 
 at 5 and is a full course meal from soups to cheese. Some 
 of tlje Spanish dishes we did not like too much garlic but 
 the meats, fish and fruits were very fine. This will 
 explain why starting right after breakfast did not mean a 
 very early start. In fact it was after eleven o'clock when 
 our pleasant party, all of them fellow passengers on the 
 Saratoga, took cabs for the R. R. station. On the road we 
 passed the last of the morning milk peddlers driving his 
 cows home not to be milked but to be replenished. Much 
 of the peddling of milk and vegetables in Havana, is done 
 from an old horse, the spreading pannier loaded with either 
 milk cans or garden truck as the case may be, but the best 
 milk is drawn from the cows in front of the customer's door,
 
 274 EDITORIAL .MISCELLANIES. 
 
 and all the morning, on every street, may be seen these 
 droves of cows followed by their calves muzzled, sedately 
 walking along among the rattling carts and carriages, and 
 stopping at the proper places to be milked. A northern 
 farmer would say that the cows would soon dry up in that 
 kind of service, but they look well and we were told give 
 good yield of milk. As each customer sends out his own 
 milk dish, and the servant stands and watches the operation 
 of filling it direct from the udder, it is a dead shut on water, 
 chalk or any other adulteration. 
 
 The railroad to Marianao passes through a beautiful 
 country, the soil all rich and tillable, cattle fine, and except 
 for the strange foliage, especially of the palms, one might 
 think he was gazing over any gently rolling farm country 
 north. The carriage ride to the plantation was equally 
 pleasant over the smooth macadam road, past some fine 
 country homes, all in the Cuban style of architecture already 
 described. Soon we were among the immense cane fields, 
 the road bordered with bananas, and occasionally a cocoanut 
 palm. The "Toledo" sugar mill has very fine machinery, 
 all made in the United States. The . large boilers are fed 
 with the crushed cane, which supplies steam enough for the 
 engine and for boiling. The great carts are unloaded 
 alongside the long carrying belt which is about six feet 
 wide and conveys the cane to the great crushing rolls. 
 Thence the crushed cane is conveyed to another set of rolls 
 for a second squeeze which has been found to yield a 
 profitable amount of additional juice? It is a hot place 
 where the long rows of vats are bubbling and frothing, but 
 all the conditions are nicely adjusted and when the cooler 
 syrup is found at the end of the building, it is ready to 
 "sugar off. " The latter process is accomplished by means 
 of centrifugals which whirl the liquid sugar into crystals in 
 short order. The whole makes a busy scene, some 350 
 negroes being engaged at the mill and in the fields. All 
 are now free except about ten per cent, who will be free in 
 the next two years. Regular hours are worked and fair 
 wages paid; and to the credit of Spanish laws it may be
 
 A FEW DAYS IN HAVANA. 275 
 
 said that the cruelties formerly practiced are now unknown. 
 The refuse molasses is distilled into mm, and all the opera- 
 tions are conducted with economy and skill. The cane now 
 being gathered is very fine. It was planted last May; 
 grinding began about February ist, and will be over in 
 April. Immense fortunes have been made at the business, 
 but the government taxes, U. S. duties and freight charges 
 bring the price realized by the producer down to about three 
 cents per pound, and with the large production of beet 
 sugar in Europe the outlook is not promising. The Cuban 
 rebellion which lasted some ten years, devastated a large 
 portion of the island, and of course the business of handling 
 the product at Havana is diminished accordingly. But for 
 the immense cigar industry, the 250,000 inhabitants in that 
 city would hardly keep alive these days. The fact that 
 every Havana cigar that can be made, finds a ready market, 
 makes them independent of the sugar business, but there 
 are no such flush times as when this business was equally 
 flourishing. To hear the Havanese describe how things 
 were "before the war" reminds one of the prevailing lament 
 in our own southern states. 
 
 From Toledo sugar plantation a delightful drive of five 
 miles took us to a pine apple grove. This designation led 
 us to look for the pine apples on trees, but they don't grow- 
 that way. The plant consists of a bunch of dagger shaped, 
 sharp edged leaves radiating from the root, occupying some 
 1 8 inches space when ready to produce fruit. The apple 
 grows from an upright stalk in the center not over a foot 
 above the ground, and the blossom is a handsome scarlet 
 and pink flower. The large field was neatly tilled and set 
 with plants at different times so as to have a continuous 
 crop. 
 
 But Sunday is the great day in Havana High Mass in 
 the morning, cock fights all day, bull fight in the afternoon 
 and opera in the evening. We attended mass in the 
 beautiful church La Merced and also in the old cathedral. 
 There was not a large audience in either, but they were 
 strangely mixed, all races and colors. There seems to be
 
 11 6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 no particular prejudice against colored people here, though: 
 class distinctions are rigidly maintained. In Catholic' 
 churches- we see all classes mingling and kneeling together,, 
 and the varieties of garb are frequently picturesque. One 
 fairly dressed workingman came into the Merced leading a 
 little three year old curly headed boy with nothing on him 
 but a cotton shirt, and that garment rather scant. Not 
 much trouble to dress children in this climate, black ones of 
 considerable size being frequently seen without a rag on.. 
 The organ and choir at La Merced were very fine. 
 
 At the cathedral the Bishop and all the priests and choir 
 boys enter in a grand procession, the Bishop walking under 
 a canopy upheld by six young men. To many the various 
 genuflections, intonations and crossings seem ridiculous, but 
 they are only the full development of the tendencies of all 
 sects with age. Even our own evangelical churches in 
 many places read responses, celebrate Christmas and Easter, 
 and sing chants, and who can tell what they will come to a 
 thousand years hence ? 
 
 THE COCK FIGHT AND BULL FIGHT. 
 
 We will let our Boston friend tell about the subsequent 
 Sunday amusements because he seemed to take it all in and 
 get it down so exact on his little note book. Mr. B. of Boston 
 is a middle aged gentleman, very deliberate and methodical, 
 reminding us of our former townsman Bailey. You can't 
 learn such men in a minute, but they bear acquaintance 
 well, and the more we all knew Mr. B. the better we liked 
 him. Before coming he read all about Cuba and noted it 
 all down, so that when he arrived he could say, "I've got a 
 little list, and nothing shall be missed." At night he 
 checked off the list so far as he had seen, and entered any 
 fiew items he heard of, and he stayed until his book was all 
 checked out. Therefore the following account from him 
 may be relied upon as critically exact: 
 
 ' 'This way of spending the Sabbath goes dead against the 
 grain of my bringing up," said Mr. B., "but the cock fight 
 and bull fight were both on my list, and I was bound to see
 
 A FEW DAYS IN HAVANA. 277 
 
 out the program. I went to the rooster performance first. 
 Imagine a circular pavillion about 30 feet across, surrounded 
 by rough seats from the ten foot ring or pit in the center, 
 receding to the roof. I should estimate there were 250 men 
 and boys, all colors, in and around there, and such a din 
 you never heard in all your life. The cocks were a peculiar 
 breed with light wings and various body colors, their heads 
 and necks bare of feathers and fire red not a pretty bird to 
 look at. After weighing to see that one bird was not 
 heavier than the other, the owners carried them around the 
 ring for inspection and offered to bet, but the confusion 
 began with the fight. I saw nothing more exciting about 
 the fight than I have seen at similiar encounters in our old 
 barn yard. The fowls fought courageously, but they were 
 young, had on no metal spurs, and the blood did not show 
 on their red necks. But the way their trainers followed 
 them around the ring, down on all fours, making all sorts 
 of gestures, and yelling their bets, was funny enough. Then 
 nearly every man on the seats was yelling what he wanted 
 to do, shaking his digits and rushing from one backer to 
 another, till the confusion was equal to that in the New 
 York stock exchange during a panic. I was told that large 
 bets are often made at these cock fights; no money is put 
 up, but all go around and settle as soon as the fight is over, 
 and I witnessed no disputes. There was an intermission of 
 about ten minutes between the fights, during which bets 
 were settled, oranges eaten, fresh birds weighed and passed 
 around, and new wagers taken. 
 
 ' 'Once in a while a rooster would run around the ring 
 pursued by the other, and many would bet against the fugi- 
 tive, when suddenly that rooster would turn and knock out 
 his pursuer in a few passes. I learn that such roosters or 
 4 'wheelers' ' are trained to do this to run when the trainer 
 makes a certain motion and attack on signal, and it is 
 generally safer to bet on the "wheeler." As the fight 
 approaches the close, large odds are offered on the winning 
 bird, which will be accepted because the honors of the battle 
 sometimes shift at the last moment, by a lucky stroke on the
 
 278" EBrrbKiAL MISCELLANIES: 
 
 part of the one' apparently beaten. The birds are generally 
 ready for another fight in a few days. I am convinced that 
 the betting is the chief attraction rather than the spectacle,, 
 and the Cuban who has yelled himself hoarse all day and 
 goes home with: a few extra pesos in his pocket, no doubt 
 feels as well as some of your New York brokers who whoop' 
 and run from one stock to another on the floor of the ex- 
 change,, and finally get off a hundred shares at an eighth of 
 one per cent, profit. I don't believe, however, that a 
 northern crowd could be roused to such a pitch of excite- 
 ment over a couple of roosters. 
 
 '"'There was more style about the bulf fight. In fact it is 
 a state occasion. The Captain General of the island ap- 
 points one of the district Governors to attend and preside,, 
 and the whole performance is under his control. When he 
 enters his box with its insignia of royalty, the crowd all. 
 cheer, and when the procession of torreros, banderilleros,. 
 picadores and matadors come in, they halt before him and. 
 have quite a little ceremony of asking permission to let out 
 the bulls. I could but notice the extravagance of these 
 people in their amusements. They say it is hard times in 
 Cuba, but although one could save a dollar in gold by 
 sitting on the sunny side of the bull ring and holding an 
 umbrella, there were very few on that side. The shady 
 side was packed with 2,000 to 3,000 people, and in the 
 boxes which formed the upper tier I saw a number of 
 American ladies, but mighty few Spanish women, and their 
 presence indicated their reputation, 
 
 "Of course the President gave his consent, and out came 
 the bull, a big horned Mexican. I have heard that they 
 don't give the bull any chance, but I must say I wouldn't 
 like to stand where some of those torreros did and shake a 
 blanket while the bull charged at it. Many a time the 
 sharp horns would just pass the fellow's leg as he stepped 
 to one side. Then the banderilleros. How in the world 
 they can stand and reach over the bull's horns as he charges 
 head down, stick the barbs firmly in the animal's shoulders 
 and still jump clear of the horns, is a mystery to me. They
 
 A FKW DAYS IX HAVANA. V^ 
 
 tried to get the bull to charge the horses, but I was glad 
 they did not succeed. True, the horses were so old and 
 poor that it would be a niercy to kill them, but I cannot 
 understand the desire to see them gored to death. The 
 .President had a bugler in front of his box, and when he 
 wanted the banderilleros to come forward he had the signal 
 given, also when the bull was to be killed. When the latter 
 .-signal sounded the Matador stood out in the ring facing 
 the President's box, took off his hat and gracefully asked 
 the privilege of killing the bull. Once this afternoon a 
 young Spaniard stepped in from the audience and asked the 
 privilege (it is considered a great honor if successfully ac- 
 complished by an amateur and I understand it is sometimes 
 granted to a young fellow who appears pretty smart) but 
 the crowd saw he was intoxicated and shouted No ! No ! so 
 the Matador did it. 
 
 "How was the bull killed? Well, the whole troupe were 
 fine looking, muscular men from Andalusia in Spain, and 
 the Matadors were the princes of the part}-. As one stepped 
 out to meet the bull pawing across the ring, enraged by 
 darts and barbs, he carried in his right hand a sharp pointed, 
 slender sword about two feet and a half long, in the other 
 "hand a red banner about two feet square. Then he began play - 
 ing with the bull, holding the red flag first one side and then 
 the other, and jumping just out of the way as the sharp 
 horns struck it; the fatal stroke followed in an instant. The 
 Matador is not allowed to stab the bull except standing in 
 front, and it is really a scientific thrust. As the bull charges 
 full upon him, head down, he inserts the point of his rapier 
 in the side of its neck just forward of the shoulder, pushes 
 it down, down, till it reaches the heart, and in a few 
 minutes "el toros" is dead. Then the mules are brought in 
 and drag the victim out with a burst of music from the 
 band, and shouts from the multitude. There is no inter 1 
 mission; a fresh bull comes prancing in immediately. 
 
 All through the performance the crowd was shouting at 
 the fighters, complimenting them on a skillful attack and 
 escape, and jeering at them when they were awkward of
 
 280 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 timid, in language that was not very nice our interpreter 
 said. All sorts of advice is also given the Matador, and 
 "Ahora ! Ahora ! " (now ! now !) is yelled at him when 
 they think the time has come to make his thrust, but he is 
 a mighty cool individual and chooses his own time. Five 
 bulls were killed this afternoon in the manner I have 
 described. It was not regarded as a first class exhibition 
 because the bulls were tired from their voyage, but the) r 
 were fiercer than I should care to approach with anything 
 less than a rifled cannon. 
 
 "I am told that the secret of the profession is in learning 
 the ways of the animal. That a bull in charging tosses his 
 head one side or the other as he strikes the object, and he 
 indicates which way he will throw his head b)- the position 
 of his ears. An enraged cow, they say, is much more 
 formidable because she throws her head both ways and has 
 no method in her madness. I don't know how reliable 
 this information is, but I do know the agile fellows always 
 jumped the right way and just at the right time. 
 
 ' 'Was I horrified ? No. Perhaps because I was fairly 
 braced up in expectation of being shocked, but really I was 
 mostly absorbed in noting the skill of the performers. As 
 for blood, it was not a circumstance to the Chicago stock 
 yards. There you see cattle knocked down, hauled up by 
 the heels, throats cut, skinned, disemboweled and quartered 
 before they have time to die, at the rate of three a minute, 
 the atmosphere sickening with fumes of blood and the half 
 naked butchers working like demons of slaughter. That's 
 what I call horrifying. Perhaps I am not a fair critic, 
 however. The fact is I hate bulls. Was chased by one 
 once and thought all the afternoon how thankful I would 
 have been if these Spaniards had happened along with their 
 blankets and banderilleros and supple swords. 
 
 "I filled out my Sunday," continued our Boston friend, 
 who was now warming up in the recital of his experience, 
 "by attending the opera L,a Favorita in the evening. I- 
 concluded this Sunday was so utterly desecrated that I
 
 A FEW DAYS IN HAVANA. 
 
 Couldn't break it any more and I would take it in. The 
 Tacon is a large building, with five tiers of boxes, and will 
 seat 3000 people. The singing was by amateurs, some of it 
 very good, and they fairly loaded the prima donna with 
 flowers, gold and silver presents and testimonials. I went 
 to see the Spanish ladies. Not many pretty ones. They 
 throw on face powder by the handful, but dress exquisitely 
 and wear magnificent jewels. 
 
 "Do I like Sundays spent this way? No, indeed! 
 Vividly and often amid the din of the cock fights and the 
 shouts around the bull ring, came the thought to me of the 
 contrast presented in our quiet northern home. Our neatly 
 dressed neighbors walking to church at the call of the 
 chiming bells, the pleasant family gatherings, or quiet visits 
 with friends, the hour with a favorite author, and the little 
 stroll or ride towards twilight. Such a Sunday humanizes, 
 elevates and glorifies a people. These Spanish Sundays 
 have much to do with making the people what they are, 
 subjects of oppression, regarded by their rulers as fit only to 
 be taxed and amused. I was thankful as never before for 
 my Puritan ancestry. No matter if in some respects our 
 religion is cold and unsentimental, there is the school house, 
 the Sunday School and the home, and from these emanate 
 the influences that tend to civilize the race and make the 
 world fit to live in. Yes, gentlemen, thank God that you 
 belong to the Anglo Saxon race, which includes all the 
 aggressive and progressive powers of the age, and whose 
 hands alone uphold the banners of liberty wherever they 
 float on the surface of the globe. ' ' 
 
 \Ve all responded "Amen, Boston .'" and thus ended our 
 first and last Sunday in Havana.
 
 282 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 IN SOUTHERN ITALY. 
 
 NAPLES AND ITS BAY VISIT TO 'POMPEII HERCULANEUM 
 AND MT. VESUVIUS A LOOK AT GARIBALDI. 
 
 NAPLES, Italy, March 26th, 1875. 
 
 Naples is called "the star of Italy," and I am sure you 
 would think it rightly named if you could see the view 
 which meets our eyes this bright, beautiful morning. 
 Diamonds are not warm or brilliant enough to compare with 
 the sparkling waters of this lovely Bay ; while to say the 
 scene is like a picture, would give you no idea of it what- 
 ever. Away to the south is the Island of Capri, which 
 looks like a bank of purple clouds against the horizon, 
 while the two points of main land which guard the entrance 
 of the harbor seem to be reaching out to join it. In the 
 evening when the countless lights on the shore make a 
 golden border for the silvery sheet of water, and the little 
 boats of the fishermen are passing to and fro past the old 
 castle which stands way out in the water like a stern 
 sentinel, the bay seems to be worthy of a whole constellation 
 instead of one little star. 
 
 Back of the Bay and the city rise the bluffs, while on the 
 left is Mt. Vesuvius, puffing out his dark clouds of smoke 
 as if by fiery contrast to enhance the peaceful scenes below. 
 This is the first place in Italy where I have realized the 
 truth of the poet's ravings over this "sunny clime," or the 
 artist's dreams of perfect bliss in a land of music and beauty. 
 The people are noted for their love of sunshine, and I think 
 they stay out in it all day, and, indeed, but few of them 
 seem to have anything else to do. The poorer classes 
 perform most of their domestic duties, as well as their 
 toilets, out by the front door, which is a very sociable way 
 of getting along. They can talk about their neighbor's
 
 IN SOUTHERN ITALY. 283 
 
 affairs and do their washing, or arran ge their hair, at the 
 same time, and thus enjoy all the privileges of a modern tea 
 party without leaving home. I am sorry to detract from 
 my enthusiasm over the beauties of the situation of Naples, 
 etc., by stating that it is the dirtiest place I have yet been 
 in; but such is the sad ^uth. Nature has done so much 
 and man so little, though I think in time it will be improved 
 like the rest of the Italian cities, as their government 
 increases in strength and stability. There seems to be so 
 much poverty here among the people, and you long for 
 bags full of sous to distribute to the miserable looking 
 objects that are constantly appealing to you for alms. That 
 is, at first you feel sorry for them, but after you have been 
 among them a while and find that they make begging a 
 profession, you -lose your sympathy and your temper with 
 it. A shake of the head or a cross look does not discourage 
 an Italian beggar in the least, and a party of six or seven 
 children will follow your carriage for hah an hour, crying 
 all the time for one sou to buy maccaroni with, because they 
 are dying of hungej. The very fact of their living out of 
 doors so much makes their misery all the more noticeable, 
 as you see the worst side of it at the first glance without 
 having to enter the dwellings. 
 
 I was going to tell you about a ride we enjoyed the other 
 day, when I began, but I wandered off on to that beggarly 
 subject very naturally, as we were all the time surrounded 
 by them. We went to Baiae, a place about twelve miles 
 from here, which, owing to its fine scenery and situation, 
 used to be a great resort in the time of the ancient Romans, 
 and now contains remains of villas of Nero and Julius 
 Caesar, besides some ancient temples. The route thither is 
 vi-ry fine as we follow the shores of the Bay, which are 
 constantly indented with smaller bays. Under the water in 
 some places are found the remains of old gardens and 
 houses, which prove the fact that the water inundated this 
 portion of the country when it receded from Pompeii after 
 the eruption. We pass also the villa of Virgil, and go 
 through a long tunnel cut through the mountain, and reach
 
 284 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 Pozzuoli, a small town where St. Paul rested three days om 
 his way to Rome. Mt, Nuovo r near Pozzuoli, was formed 
 by an eruption of 1538? when it compelled the abandonment 
 of the city. A few miles further on are some celebrated 
 grottoes, which seem to be over the vein of volcanic fire 
 which extends through these rnountains. The vapor is 
 constantly escaping from openings in the ground, and here 
 they have baths for the benefit of rheumatic people, while 
 in another grotto the smell of ammonia is over-powering- 
 Another cave is- very warm with hot vapor, which is mixed 
 with carbonic acid gas, and when a dog is put in it is soon 
 brought out insensible. I don't think I should like to live 
 in these 1 places. 
 
 Every one says r "have you been to Pompeii ?" and I 
 answer, "yes,, of course, I went there the first thing." Then 
 the next question is sure to be, "well, what did you think 
 of it ?' ' and then I do not know what to say, I was so lost in 
 wonderment, in being able to visit a city and walk around 
 it when it had been entirely buried from the year 79 to 1748,. 
 when it was first discovered. The streets are regularly laid 
 out and paved, and you can walk around with the greatest 
 ease and follow the tracks of the ancient chariot wheels still 
 Visible in the stones. The stores for wine and oil are 
 designated by the large earthen jars which are standing on 
 the store counters, unbroken, and some even with the covers 
 over them. Then the bakery contains a large brick oven 
 where we found many loaves of bread, which are still shown 
 in the museum, but as they were baked nearly two thousand 
 years they are too well done to be eatable. Near another 
 oven is the skeleton of the poor cook who presided over the 
 region where she died. The houses seem to be all built 
 upon the same plan and have but one story, that being 
 lighted from holes in the roof, as glass was then unknown 
 or very rare indeed. They all seemed built around a court 
 where were a fountain and tables, whither I presume the 
 gentlemen used to resort for their coffee and cigars, if they 
 had such luxuries in those days. Around this was arranged 
 the dining room on one side with the sitting room opposite,
 
 IX SOUTHERN ITALY. 285 
 
 while the tiny bedrooms and kitchen were on the sides* 
 between them. The handsome pillars and remnants of 
 Mosaic floors and frescoed walls testify to the former 
 magnificence of these dwellings, and indeed I believe they 
 have not yet found the quarter of the city \vhere the poorer 
 people lived. The houses of Glaucus and Diomede are 
 among the finest, and in the cellar of the latter seventeen 
 skeletons were found. Among these was the skeleton of a 
 young girl on whose neck they found the chain with her 
 name upon it, "Julia Diomede," and in this way they 
 identified the house. The street of tombs is lined with 
 them on each side, and on the walls of some the inscriptions 
 can still be read. The forums with their crumbling 
 columns, tell where the judges used to sit, or where the 
 people used to meet for consultation, or where merchandise 
 was exposed for sale, as there were different ones in different 
 parts of the town . 
 
 The Temple of Isis has many fine pillars left standing, 
 but the statues have all been removed. The altar for 
 sacrifice is in perfect preservation, and has bas reliefs on the 
 base which are handsomer than many seen in modern 
 temples. The theatres are more desolate looking than most 
 of the other buildings. The baths are comparatively perfect, 
 and from their handsome rooms for hot or cold baths, gym- 
 nasium and waiting rooms, besides the private suites, one 
 can form some idea of the luxury in which those ancient 
 inhabitants lived. In one room the ashes are still to be seen 
 in an old bronze kind of a table made for the purpose of 
 holding coals to warm the people with after the bath, and 
 here were found several skeletons, and in this same room in 
 niches in the wall were found cases of pomade and per- 
 fumery. All of the houses now are of course roofless, and 
 the broken walls and pillars with the bare looking streets 
 are all that make the city of the present. Yet, with the 
 sun shining through the streets it does not look so desolate 
 as old Roman remains, and I should not have been surprised 
 or frightened to have met an old resident of Pompeii and
 
 286 fiDlTORlAt MISCEXtANTE'S'. 
 
 have him ask me if President Grant did not want a third- 
 term. 
 
 I saw one house that had only been unearthed eight days,. 
 and the frescoes were nearly as bright as those of the present 
 day. The excavations are still going on with the greatest 
 care, and new treasures are daily being found,, which will 
 probably be greatly increased, as only about one third of 
 the city has yet been exhumed. The government appro- 
 priates about 80,000 lire a year to carry on the work, and a 
 much larger sum to Herculaneum. This latter city is 
 directly beneath the present city of Resina, so it cannot be- 
 fully explored without disturbing the people above it. We 
 went with candles in hand down one hundred feet into the 
 caverns, beneath which were formerly the corridors of the 
 theatre, and could trace out the stage and seats with, 
 difficult)-. Another portion of it is uncovered and several 
 of the houses and streets have been cleared, but it is much 
 more difficult to get at, as Herculaneum was buried in a 
 stream of lava which became solid when cold, while Pompeii 
 was covered with pumice stone and cinders, which are much 
 easier to loosen and also caused less destruction. 
 
 While we are talking of these buried cities, and people,. 
 and desolated homes, we may as well look to the source, 
 the foul destroyer, the Mount Vesuvius, though I believe 
 the one now smoking is not the one that did the mischief in 
 seventy-fiine. The path by which the road ascends is very 
 winding, and seems to almost double* itself as it turns back 
 and forth. At each turn you see the most beautiful pano- 
 rama spread at your feet that one can imagine, including 
 the bay, cities, rivers and mountains united in one picture, 
 which nature alone can produce. The mountain sides are 
 covered with lava in different places, and one can trace the 
 Various currents as they divided and ran in different courses, 
 carrying desolation with- them as they descended. As the 
 lava cooled it formed a kind of crust, and the molten mass 
 beneath made it into all kinds of queer shapes and figures 
 like a picture, looking, as one of our party observed, like
 
 IX SOUTHERN ITALY. 2'S; 
 
 Michael Angelo's "Last Judgment." x All colors of lava are 
 found, from pure white to deep black, and the people make 
 it into ornaments and jewelry, that is, the better qualities of 
 it. The pictures of the people ascending have not been 
 overdrawn, for nothing can look more ridiculous than to 
 see an old woman ascending the cone, with one man pushing 
 her and another pulling, while she helps herself all she can 
 with a long stick, which she plants firmly in the deep sand 
 and cinders. It requires an hour and a half to mount from 
 the observatory to the crater, while one can descend in -five 
 minutes. In this observatory they keep a peculiarly con- 
 structed instrument by which they can foretell eruptions, and 
 it is the business of the man who lives there to inform the 
 inhabitants of their peril so they may be able to escape. It 
 seems as if there were land enough in this World for people 
 to live upon without their trying to cultivate a volcano; but 
 3'ou see houses built at the base of the mountain and some 
 quite a distance up the sides. They will doubtless think it 
 a very cruel dispensation of Providence when a few years 
 or months hence they are driven from their homes, when 
 really they seem beckoning for the danger to overtake them, 
 and rushing on to meet it. 
 
 The museum here is filled with antiquities and interesting 
 objects which have been obtained in Pompeii or Hercu- 
 laneum, and it is interesting to see how similar our different 
 tools, furniture and utensils are now to those used so many 
 centuries ago. The toilet articles of ladies were found, con- 
 sisting of combs, powder, etc., besides looking glasses and 
 hand glasses, which were of polished metal. The bronze 
 lamps, vases and ornaments found, are very delicate and 
 graceful in design, and are neatly covered with fine carvings, 
 as are also the tripods found in the temples. Some of the 
 choicest pieces of sculpture are preserved here, as well as 
 frescoes and pictures, jewelry and -precious stones, all 
 mementoes of that ruined city of the dead. 
 
 To return to the present. I had quite an honor after I 
 wrote to you from Rome, and ' that was the honor of seeing
 
 288 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Garibaldi, the Italian patriot and general. He looks exactly 
 like the pictures I have seen of him, only very pale and 
 feeble, and I am afraid he will not live to carry out the 
 benevolent project he now has in view, that of enlarging 
 the Tiber and improving the drainage of Rome, thereby 
 rendering it more healthy and free from fever. The General 
 walks upon crutches and seems to be nearly paralysed, 
 though I think he is able to enjoy the many honors which 
 his countrymen are bestowing upon him, and which he so 
 richly deserves. May his strength return with his glory, 
 and enable him to enjoy his rewards for many years to 
 come. 
 
 We hear the English language spoken on every side now, 
 and nearly every other person you meet is either English or 
 American, so it is homelike for one who is unfortunate 
 enough to belong to either of these classes. I am proud to 
 belong to the latter, and wonder why people on this side of 
 the Atlantic do not go over in greater numbers to see the 
 great American wilderness, which they seem to think exists. 
 
 The weather is the principal topic of discourse here, as 
 well as in more civilized parts of the world, and all agree 
 that ' 'it has been an unusually severe winter. ' ' It has not 
 reached Naples, however, and we can buy two oranges for 
 a cent, so we are still happy. 
 
 ANNA McK. 
 
 VENICE VISIT OF THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA A GALA DAY 
 CANALS GONDOLAS, ETC. 
 
 VENICE, Italy, April 8, 1875. 
 
 As we approach Venice we travel over marshy grounds, 
 and we finally seem to be on the water, as we do after we 
 get here, and it seems as if we would soon float away. It 
 was such a strange experience for me to get into a gondola 
 at the station and start on a street of water for the hotel, 
 that I could not help laughing though of course I leaned 
 back and tried to appear as if I had always been accustomed 
 to riding in a gondola. We came here just at the time 
 when every one else was coming and consequently found
 
 IN SOUTHERN ITAtY. 
 
 She city very crowded with people who were waiting for the 
 grand event of the season, or the coming of Francis Joseph, 
 the Emperor of Austria. On Monday morning f April fifth) 
 the grand canal, which is the fifth avenue of Venice, 
 presented a very gay appearance when down the whole 
 length of it from every window and balcony were streaming 
 banners and bunting of every color and description, while 
 flags were floating from every staff, our own dear stars and 
 stripes among the rest. The large ships which lay at anchor 
 in the Bay, at the head of the canal, were also gayly 
 trimmed from stem to stern with banners, while the little 
 gondolas that plyed back and forth, each bore a flag of 
 some kind. At eleven o'clock the royal party appeared in 
 the municipal boats which numbered fourteen, and were 
 each manned with eight rowers. These were very large 
 and most graceful in design and seemed to be made of solid 
 gold, while each was curtained and draped with silk, no 
 two being of the same color. The different crews or 
 gondoliers wore costumes very prettih- made and correspond-- 
 ing in color to the trimmings of their boats, and the glisten- 
 ing armor of the officers and the sparkling of the Waters 
 were doubly bright in contrast with the gay colors. As 
 this group of gondolas moved gently down the stream, the 
 people shouted and fired salutes with the canons, while the 
 band played and the bells rung, furnishing a scene and a 
 welcome worthy the "Bride of the sea," never to be for 1 
 gotten by one spectator at least. There were also number^ 
 less gondolas for officers or citizens that were arrayed in 
 different styles, as the private liveries are varied and 
 according to the person's taste, but all Were very handsome 
 and displaying flags. After this the people flocked to the 
 Plaza St. Mark, which is a square surrounded on three 
 sides by the municipal or king's palace, where the emperor 
 was entertained and where they packed themselves in and 
 waited for a sight of his highness. This was finally granted 
 to them, as he appeared on the balcony for a few moments 
 only. He is of very fine figure and face, with light com- 
 plexion and blue eyes, and presents a perfect contrast to
 
 2QO EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 King Victor Emanuel, who is very dark and homely, if I 
 may be allowed to express my candid opinion. There was 
 music in the afternoon, and in the evening when the crowned 
 heads were enjoying (?) a crowded ball, the city was 
 illuminated. From every terrace, turret and tower colored 
 lights were beaming, while the canal streets were brilliantly 
 lighted. Besides these colored lights the ships had 
 hundreds of chines'e lanterns hanging from masts and rig- 
 ging, while from sea and shore the rockets and fireworks 
 were ascending, making the heavens as brilliant as the 
 earth. Then the reflections in the water of the brightness 
 and the colors, doubled the magnificence and rendered 
 together a sight that can be better imagined than described. 
 The next day they had a review of the troops at Padua, 
 and an opera in the evening, which was the closing of the 
 Emperor's visit, as he departed the next day for his home. 
 They say an Italian crowd is always good natured, which is 
 saying a great deal for the dispositions of these people, as a 
 crowd is sure to develop any unpleasant characteristics a 
 person may possess. They do not seem to be very demonstrative 
 as even the sight of their king did not call forth much en- 
 thusiasm, but they appear to me to be a quiet, well-doing 
 people, perfectly happy if they have enough of macaroni 
 and sunshine. The latter seems absolutely necessary for 
 their well being, and I think it penetrates through to their 
 hearts and natures. 
 
 It seems very strange to be in this city of the sea and to see 
 all the transportation of either people OF merchandise done 
 by water instead of carriage. You do not realize how great 
 a part of the life of a city is due to the animals, until you 
 reach a place where there are no horses, and then you miss 
 them, and would welcome the sight of even a donkey, which 
 in Italy are more numerous than horses. Then there is 
 that lack of vegetation too, and I should think the in- 
 habitants would tire of this continual "water scape," and 
 long for some yards and gardens, and fields of green grass. 
 However, there is but one Venice in the world and her 
 specialty is her charm. It is like a dream to float through
 
 IX SOUTHERN ITALY. 291 
 
 her winding streets, past the loft}' palaces and under her 
 arched bridges, and you are constantly asking yourself 
 r, -here you are and what you are. There are narrow streets 
 where people can traverse the entire breadth of the city on 
 foot if they wish by crossing bridges, but the popular mode 
 of navigation is by water. I was somewhat disappointed in 
 the gondolas, as I thought they would be gay in color and 
 design like those we see on the lakes at Central Park, New 
 York. On the contrary they are universally black and 
 homely excepting a few private ones which are handsomely 
 fitted up, but they still retain the graceful shape and motion 
 that is peculiar to the Venetian gondola. 
 
 The "Bridge of Sighs" leading from the palace to the 
 prison, is yet an object of interest in Venice, and with the 
 sun shining upon its graceful proportions spanning the 
 stream so far beneath, I could not make it synonomous with 
 Hood's beautiful poem so full of sadness. Yet Venice is a 
 city of beautiful visions, and its dwellers must live a kind of 
 dream life and when rudely awakened I do not wonder that 
 one was "weary of breath." ANNA McK.
 
 FROM ATHENS TO MARATHON. 
 
 [Miss Harriet E. McKinstry writes to her uncle, of the Censor, &. 
 description 1 of a trip to the Battle Field of Marathon.] 
 
 Greece is not only beautiful in its art,, but beautiful in its. 
 situation. 
 
 "Yet are thy skies as blue, thy crags as wild; 
 Sweet are thy groves,, and verdant are- thy fields-, 
 Thine olives ripe as when Minerva smiled, 
 And still his honied wealth Mymettus- yields;. 
 Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but nature still is fair," 
 
 Early one bright morning we started from- Athens for a 
 fide of eight miles- to the monastery at the base of Mt. 
 Pentelicon. The ride was charming, and it required self 
 control to keep our places in the carriage and wait for our 
 return ere we plucked the red poppy, the nodding asphodel,, 
 and the rich scarlet aenemoiie which lined the roadside. 
 Our driver did kindly break off for us- branches laden with, 
 the loVely pink almond blossoms. 
 
 At the monastery we left the carriage, and with a few 
 modern Greek Words and many gestures had soon bargained 
 for a guide, a donkey f and a boy to manage his majesty. 
 The native saddle made of strips of wood was not easy, but 
 our shawls helped to render a seat comfortable. At first our 
 path led along the bank of a pretty stream, but soon we 
 began the ascent. Our way was literally strewn with 
 millions of pieces of marble which cut our shoes and hinder- 
 ed our progress. Frequently we would come upon pieces 
 of tinted crystal with which we filled our pockets. We rode 
 in turn, because it was not restful either to ride or walk long 
 at a time. The others thought I completed the picture 
 when I rode holding over my head an umbrella as a protec- 
 tion from the fierce rays of the sun, my lap filled with bits 
 of marble, and with the drapery of my dress covering the 
 little donkey like the trappings of the horses at a French 
 funeral.
 
 FROM ATHENS TO MARATHON. 293 
 
 We found the crevices filled with deep snow, as pure as 
 the pentelic marble which lay so near. We had no alter- 
 native but to wade, as the donkey refused to stir in the 
 snow which came up toward his neck, and so lay down, for 
 the guide and boy to pull him through with a rope. 
 Fortunately the warm sun quickly dried our garments after 
 such an experience of which we had several. 
 
 After two hours hard work we reached an extensive 
 grotto in which were fine stalactite and stalagmite forma- 
 tions, and at one side a shrine to Demeter with remains of 
 ancient frescos. In the center of the grotto we found 
 delicious cool water dripping into a basin in the rock which 
 it had worn for itself. After resting we started on. The 
 path grew more and more difficult and the danger of losing 
 our footing correspondingly greater. We would reach one 
 peak and find another and another still higher beyond. At 
 last after an hour the dreadful thought flashed through our 
 minds that perhaps the guide had not understood what we 
 wanted, and was just leading us about from one peak to 
 another with never a prospect of reaching the top of Pentelicon 
 itself.supposing we were climbing merely for a day's amuse- 
 ment. We hastily plunged ahead, and reaching the guide 
 quite in advance, shouted, "Marathon." The guide 
 turned, smiled, nodded his head and pointed at the peak in 
 front. Wavering between doubt and fear, we sped along, 
 until at last the peak was reached, and there, Eureka ! 
 spread out before our eyes lay far below "The battle field 
 where Persia's victim horde, first bowed beneath the brunt 
 of Hellas' sword." Breathless we sat down to wait for the 
 others. Then going to a point at the right where a still 
 better view could be obtained we three Americans sat for an 
 hour feasting our eyes upon the beautiful picture presented. 
 
 We had climbed 3,600 feet, but the fatigue was all 
 forgotten. At our feet lay the beautiful plain and bay with 
 only a mound to recall the days when "Marathon became a 
 magic word." In front lay the lofty Euboean mountains 
 with their snow covered peaks, and the sparkling waters of 
 the gulf. We could locate Eretria, hidden behind the
 
 mountain now famous because of the finding by the 1 
 American school of Archaeology of a rich tomb which the- 
 inscription indicates may be that of Aristotle, 
 
 With a glass we could see off two hundred miles to the 
 right whefe lay the island of Milos where the beautiful, 
 statue of Venus de Milo was found. Reluctantly we 
 commenced the descent which was- much more rapid than, 
 the ascent. When riding the umbrella was no longer 
 carried, and instead the saddle was grasped firmly, front 
 and back. As the saddles ate never fastened on tightly one- 
 does not have a very secure feeling, especially when master 
 donkey one half way down a smooth boulder down which 
 he has been sliding, suddenly decides to stop and eat a small 
 bite at the side, at the imminent risk of your flying over his 
 head. The monastery was again reached and now w r e were 
 whirling back to Athens which we entered just as the sun. 
 was casting a rosy gk>w over the beautiful marble of the 
 Parthenon. We felt as proud of our day's- work as if we 
 had conquered an army. 
 
 Our other mountain trip was of a much less difficult 
 nature though the enjoyment was perhaps as great. 
 
 When visiting in Carrara our host took us to some of his 
 quarries' which are far up on the mountain. We went up 
 by the railway which is a marvelous piece of engineering, 
 We went round some five miles to get up eight hundred 
 feet. lyooking over the edge of the precipice we could 
 realize how fearful would be the plunge should an accident 
 occur. The way is devious and the tunnels many; the 
 longest tunnel is one and one-half miles long drilled right 
 through the solid marble just think of passing through, 
 not marble halls, but marble tunnels ! There is no masonry 
 about the tunnels except blocks of marble placed at the 
 entrance/ The engines are strong and we were soon at the 
 top. A blast had just been made and we could see the huge 
 blocks of marble which had been broken off. The blocks 
 quarried are enormous in size, some of them are cut into 
 four pieces before being shipped; and in some cases weigh 
 as much as twenty tons. The marble of Carrara is noted
 
 FROM ATHENS TO MARATHON. 
 
 Tor its exquisite purity and for its fine grain, though colored 
 and blue marble are also found in these mountains. Sculp- 
 tors are fond of this marble because with its wonderful 
 whiteness, there is also a life like glow which appears as it 
 is worked. We noted the difference in the closeness of the 
 particles between the Pentelic and Carrara marble, a block 
 of the former which we could readily carry away, of the same 
 size of the latter we could scarcely lift. Our descent of the 
 mountain was rapid and most of the way without an engine. 
 Due precautions have been taken -against accident; should 
 the train start to run away, the switches would turn it up 
 the mountain side and it would soon spend itself. 
 
 \Ve went down to the port to see the ships being laden 
 with the marble which is ever}- where. Marble is so 
 common that the finer new houses are being made of stucco 
 instead, though marble is still used for door and window 
 casings. Carrara has a fine school building all of marble 
 and an Academy where the young boys are trained to draw 
 and chisel, so that it is not strange that when they are grown 
 their workmanship is so perfect. We went into the studio 
 of our hostess' brother, who has been knighted by the king 
 in recognition of the excellence of his work. 
 
 Mr. Doran took us to his new saw mill, one of the largest 
 of the city, and we were astonished to find marble could be 
 cut in layers as thin as paste board. Even," one is interested 
 in marble; there are about 400 quarries, aud it is an arm)' 
 of laborers who go forth in the morning for a day's work, 
 each with a huge piece of bread in his basket for lunch. 
 
 Carrara is a city of about 20,000 inhabitants with 30,000 
 more in the suburbs. The mountains towering above are 
 imposing and beautiful in their grandeur. We wish all 
 travelers might have such an opportunity as we had of 
 seeing the marble industry of this Italian city.
 
 296 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 MEMORIAL, OF HON. BEMAN BROCKWAY. 
 
 [Read by W. McKinstry before the N. Y. Press Association at the 
 annual meeting, Saranac Lake, June 28, 1893.] 
 
 This veteran journalist passed away at his home in Water- 
 town, N. Y., December 16, 1892, after a short illness, caused 
 by the removal of a cataract from his eye, which had 
 threatened to produce total blindness. This infirmity had 
 been growing upon him for some months, so that his ability 
 for editorial work was much diminished. He survived but 
 a few days after the operation. Thus closed the mortal life 
 of one who from humble beginning had attained to the front 
 rank of his profession. 
 
 He was born in Southampton, Mass., April 12, 1815, the 
 oldest of five children. When fifteen years of age he became 
 an apprentice in the printing business, in the office of the 
 Northampton Courier, of which Winthrop Atwill was the 
 editor and printer. In 1834, when 19 years of age, he came 
 to Mayville, N. Y., and engaged in the Mayville Sentinel, 
 and from that time to the close of his life he was almost 
 unremittingly engaged in newspaper work, a period of 
 more than 56 years. Like most of the journalists of that 
 time, he could set the types, impose the form, fly the frisket 
 and prepare the editorial matter for the paper. 
 
 His early home was on a rock-ribbed mountain farm. 
 Not far distant, in a rude school house at the cross roads, 
 he got his early rudimental education, working on the farm 
 in summer as soon as he was large enough to be useful, and 
 attending school in winter till he left home to learn his 
 trade. Hence his fitness for his future editorial life w r as 
 mostly acquired in the printing office. 
 
 While Beman was an apprentice his father sold his 
 Massachusetts farm, and moved to Clymer, Chautauqua
 
 ^MEMORIAL OF HOX. BEMAN BROCKWAY. 2Q7 
 
 County, then a wilderness where most of the few dwellings 
 were constructed of logs. 
 
 So in 1834 the son took a vacation to visit his father in 
 Westein New York. Taking a stage at Northampton for 
 Albany he had a long day's ride of 87 miles; from Albany 
 he took a line boat on the Erie Canal to Buffalo and from 
 that place a steamboat to Dunkirk, the whole journey 
 occupying a little more than a week's time. A Packet, as 
 the fast boats on the canal were called, would have made 
 the voyage two days quicker, but the fare would be four 
 cents per mile, while on the line boat it was only two cents, 
 board included, and he could spare the extra time easier 
 than he could the extra fare for what was then called quick 
 passage. From Dunkirk he walked most of the way to 
 Clymer, a distance of thirty miles. He was still an ap- 
 prentice and expected money from his employer to return to 
 Northampton, but the proprietor was short, as was often 
 the case, and could not send the necessary money to return, 
 so he assisted his father on the farm for a time, taught 
 school in the winter and in the spring secured work in the 
 Fredonia Censor office for a few mouths. The village of 
 Clymer is on the southern line of the County and State, and 
 only two miles distant across the Pennsylvania line resided 
 the parents of Horace Greeley. Here the families became 
 well acquainted, and in after years, when Mr. Greeley 
 visited his parents, he would walk from Dunkirk to Fre- 
 donia, where his sister Esther (afterwards Mrs. J. F. Cleve- 
 land,) lived, then to Mayville, and call on his friend Brock- 
 way, and then proceed to his father's home. 
 
 While Mr. Brockway was assisting his father on the farm, 
 he received a letter from Mayville, inviting him to come 
 and work on the Sentinel. He accepted gladly, as he had 
 earned no money for some time. The paper had recently 
 changed hands, and been bid off on sheriffs sale to satisfy 
 the board bill of his predecessor. Three gentlemen were 
 the purchasers, all devoted to the snpport of Gen. Jackson's 
 administration. He was made foreman of the paper, and
 
 298 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 soon after purchased the establishment and at twenty years 
 of age became a full fledged editor in his own sanctum. 
 The Sentinel office consisted of a Ramage or wooden press, 
 with stone bed, a well worn font of long primer, and also 
 one of brevier and a few fonts of well worn job letter. 
 
 His early experience as a pioneer printer was paralleled 
 by many others of the time, who could fly the frisket as 
 well as write editorials and put them in type. Thurlow 
 Weed, Horace Greeley, Geo. Dawson and many others who 
 combined editorial work with manual labor to sustain and 
 support the press in those early times were then or had been 
 prepared for future fame and influence in this way. 
 
 While in Mayville Mr. Brockway early made the ac- 
 quaintance of Reuben E. Fenton, a bright young politician 
 of the same political party, some four years his junior, who 
 had been elected supervisor of his town, and was thus 
 brought to the County seat on official business. It was a 
 life long friendship and was of much service to him in after 
 years. He also made the acquaintance of Wm. H. Seward, 
 then in charge of the Holland L,and Co.'s office at Westfield 
 in the same county. Though opposed in politics they were 
 personal friends. 
 
 While he was in business at Mayville, in May, 1837, 
 having just passed 22 years of age, Mr. Brockway was 
 married to Miss Elizabeth Allen Warner, of Northampton. 
 The acquaintance and attachment was formed when he was 
 an apprentice in the Courier office and she a school girl 
 living near where he boarded. She was an accomplished 
 lady, of lovable disposition and well adapted to make a 
 happy home. She died in Sept. 1854, greatly lamented by 
 a large circle of friends and acquaintances. 
 
 Mr. Brockway published the Sentinel ten years till 1845 
 when he sold out at a large advance, due in part to the im- 
 provements he had made, but mostly to the greatly increased 
 patronage. In this time he had saved some $5,000, with 
 which to go into business in a larger place. He purchased 
 the Oswego Palladium. After successfully publishing that
 
 MEMORIAL OF HON. BEMAN BROCKWAY. 299 
 
 paper some eight years and a paper in Pulaski for a time, 
 he went to New York and was for some two years with his 
 friend Horace Greeley. He was the Tribune news editor, 
 but had some share in the editorial work in connection with 
 his other duties. 
 
 Mr. Brockway was private secretary- to Reuben E. Fenton 
 during the term of the latter as governor, acting as Albany 
 correspondent of the Tribune at the same time. 
 
 During Gov. F.'s administration a vacancy occurred in 
 the office of Canal Appraiser, a kind of Court of Claims, and 
 Mr. Brockway was appointed to that office, which he held 
 for some five years. At the close of his term of service he 
 was persuaded to purchase an interest in the Watertown 
 Times and Reformer. He subsequently purchased the 
 interest of his two partners and became sole proprietor. 
 
 He continued his connection with this paper till near the 
 close of his useful life, some 30 years later. Here he had 
 opportunity to expand his editorial capacity, and bring into 
 larger use the experience of his earlier years. It was a 
 growing city in which he located and he took a position of 
 usefulness and exercised large influence in political circles. 
 The contrast between his position here and that on the 
 Mayville Sentinel was most marked. Instead of an old 
 Ram age press, and an office in an unfinished room over a 
 store, he erected a four-story printing office, and with a 
 double cylinder Hoe press propelled by steam, and with all 
 the best improvements of the art, his enterprise and business 
 capacity had an apt illustration. 
 
 During the last few years of his life he wrote a series of 
 articles entitled "Rummaging in the Past." The articles 
 appeared weekly, in all 72 numbers. They embodied a 
 history of the time from the commencement of his life as a 
 journalist, giving his estimate of the prominent men of that 
 time and the political events with which he was more or 
 less connected. The public read them with much interest 
 and he was persuaded to put them in convenient book form 
 to which was added a brief biography. The book was
 
 3"O<j EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES-. 
 
 published about a year before his death and was regarded! 
 as a valuable and entertaining history. 
 
 Originally a Democrat, Mr. Brockway in the dissensions 
 of 1847-48 become a Barnburner, as the free soil Democrats- 
 were termed, who sustained the Wilmot proviso, which, 
 opposed any extension of slavery. 
 
 On the formation of the Republican party they very 
 naturally drifted into it, as it was composed of "Woolly 
 Heads' T or Seward Whigs, free soil democrats, abolitionists, 
 and all opponents of slavery, and this combination prepared 
 for the great political victory of 1860 and the election of 
 Abraham Lincoln. The new party brought many hard 
 fighters in the former political fields into unison. Such men 
 as Ben Wade, J. R. Giddings, Salmon P. Chase, Martin 
 VanBuren, John P. Hale, James G. Birney and many others 
 became allied with Wm. H. Seward in the "irrepressible 
 conflict,"' conquered the rebellion and gave the country 
 peace. 
 
 These stirring events, in all of which Mr. Brockway as an 
 editor had a prominent part, made a fertile field for his 
 reminiscences of Fifty years of Journalism. 
 
 During his active political life he held no legislative office 
 but once and that was unsought. In 1858 he was elected 
 to the legislature from Oswego County, and served one term. 
 He was a useful member, honest and true to his convictions 
 and sought the good of the people rather than personal gain. 
 As an editor and as a citizen he hated shams and wrote and 
 spoke as he thought. When at Mayville where his party 
 was largely in the minority in the county, more than two- 
 thirds of his subscribers were politically opposed to him, and 
 even in the exciting campaign of 1 840 when ' 'Tippecanoe 
 and Tyler too" overwhelmed all opposition, the)' still stuck 
 by his paper, giving him credit for the sincerity and honesty 
 of his convictions. 
 
 While Mr. Brockway was an apprentice in Northampton 
 there were two other apprentices in the office, and when 
 separated they always kept up a correspondence with him, 
 although for some years it cost 25 cents to send a letter,
 
 MEMORIAL OF HON. BEMAN BROCKWAY. 301 
 
 which was quite an expense when they were working for 
 $30 per year and board. L,. L. Pratt, one of these boys, 
 followed editorial life for some years in Fredonia, N. Y., 
 was Postmaster under Gen. Taylor and Fillmore, and for 
 some years past has been in the Times office with Mr. 
 Brock way, reading proofs and taking charge of the weather 
 predictions. The other, the writer of this tribute, worked 
 for his friend B. two years on the Sentinel, from 1839 to 
 1841, and shared with him in the experiences of early 
 printers in that county. He went to Fredonia in 1842 and 
 for 51 years has been publisher of the Censor, a paper 21 
 years old when he purchased it. 
 
 But, brethren of the press, we are passing away. Yen- 
 many have gone to the land of shadows since Mr. Brockway 
 became associated with you. In years and experience he 
 was the oldest survivor. 
 
 He was a true man, true to his friends through life, and 
 tolerant to those who dissented from him, and with "malice 
 toward none and charity toward all" he put off the armor 
 of his life struggles. He died with the respect and esteem 
 of all with w^hom he had ever come in contact. He has left 
 his "footprints in the sands of time," and humble beginners 
 will take heart by his example. 
 
 We cannot more appropriately close this humble tribute 
 than by quoting from the editorial of his successor in the 
 Watertown Times: 
 
 "He did not believe in death, as it is commonly under- 
 stood, and never used the word in reference to any of his 
 friends who had gone to the other country. The closing 
 paragraph of his Autobiography best gives his views. He 
 says: 
 
 " 'Though enjoying a fair degree of health, I understand 
 that I am an old man. I use the term old as commonly 
 employed. I have occupied the tenement in which I now 
 reside a good while, and I shall have to vacate the same 
 sooner or later. When I have done so, people will say I 
 am dead, because they have been taught to think so, and
 
 302 EDITORIAL MISCEU^ANIES- 
 
 consider death as a serious matter. I do not so regard it. 
 It is simply one of life's changes. I look upon what is 
 termed death as a laying aside of worn out garments, and 
 cannot help feeling that the unseen force which animates 
 them, which propels and guides the pencil now employed in 
 putting these words on paper, will be provided with new 
 and superior ones;, and that it will live on through the 
 unending ages of eternity. So the future has no terror for 
 me, expecting, as I do, to resume work in the spirit world 
 when I have reached that plane of existence; and I trust 
 that the progress I have made while inhabiting the mortal 
 body will be of some service to me when I take possession 
 of the immortal one. I cannot think that I have lived 
 wholly in vain.' 
 
 "No, not in vain, for no word spoken by him but has 
 had a purpose to purify, to help, to uplift humanity. Into 
 what hearts they have fallen and given better impulses, into 
 what lives they have come and strengthened, no one knows. 
 The editor, through 58 years of daily toil, has striven to do 
 good. What the results are he cannot tell, he only knows 
 his purpose. As one whom this old editor knew, and whom 
 he now meets in the glow of ' 'that light which never shone 
 on sea or land," * has written: 
 
 Like some workman, he, who plies 
 
 His chisel with swift, patient hands, 
 And shapes the plan a greater hath designed, 
 The rugged marble fronts him, and behind, 
 The invisible Master stands, 
 To whom alone 
 The secret of the block is known. 
 
 The time is long, the watcher's eyes wax blind, 
 
 And weary is the worker, toiling dumb; 
 But at the last, before him there is grown 
 A figure of the fairer age to come ! 
 The image of the Master's mind, 
 
 Girt with Beauty's perfect zone, 
 Looms living from the stoue ! 
 *The late DAVID GRAY, editor of Buffalo Courier.
 
 MEMORIAL OF HOX. BEMAN BROCK WAY. 303 
 
 ^Mr. Brockway wrote the following letter to Mr. Mc- 
 Kinstry, in reply to an invitation to dinner on his yoth year 
 birthday :] 
 
 TIMES AND REFORMER OFFICE. 
 Watertown, N. Y., May 7, 1885. 
 
 Willard McKinstry, Esq. My Dear Cousin: Your card 
 asking me to dine with you May 9 is at hand, I wish I 
 could do it. Not that I care for the dinner, though I have 
 no doubt it will be a good one; but it would afford me great 
 pleasure to meet with you once more, and to congratulate 
 you upon attaining the age of three score and ten. I reach- 
 ed that point twenty-seven days ahead of you. I state this 
 as a fact, and not as a matter to be boasted of, for I find as 
 one grows old he is not half as ambitious to talk of his age 
 as when younger. Yet I realize that I am no longer a 
 young man. I cannot perform the labor I once could, and 
 understand I must finish my work and be ready fo join the 
 multitudes inhabiting the spirit world, where I expect to 
 complete the tasks commenced in this life. I am in no haste 
 to go, but do not wish to remain when I can be no longer 
 useful here. That you may yet see a goodly number of 
 birthdays, and stay upon earth as long as you will care to 
 remain, and that your last days may be your happiest ones, 
 is the sincere desire and prayer of your affectionate cousin, 
 
 B. BROCKWAY.
 
 304 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 
 
 DEATH OF A PROMINENT CONDUCTOR. 
 
 [From the FREDONIA CENSOR of May aoth, 1885.] 
 
 Dr. E. M. Pettit died in this village May 13, 1885, at the 
 age of 83 years. 
 
 A painful sense of bereavement pervaded Our village on 
 Wednesday evening, as the news rapidly spread from house 
 to house of the death of Dr. Pettit. It was so sudden, and 
 took all by surprise. And yet every one seemed to say in 
 thought or word, as the news was broken to them, "blessed 
 are the pure in heart. ' ' He expressed regret at not being 
 able to enjoy a social gathering on Saturday at the house of 
 a septuagenarian friend. It did not seem possible that he 
 was so near the shore from which he was so soon to pass to 
 the other side. But an All Wise Providence had numbered 
 his days without the usual premonitions attending such a 
 departure. 
 
 Dr. Eber M. Pettit was born in Pompey, Onondaga Co., 
 May 5, 1802. He had just passed his 83d birthday when 
 the summons came. At an early day he came to Fredonia 
 with his father, Dr. James Pettit. . When still a young man 
 he went to Versailles to engage in business, where he lived 
 for many years. 
 
 Dr. James Pettit, the father, had compounded an Eye 
 Salve which proved to be an excellent remedy for sore eyes 
 and local inflammations, and which the son manufactured. 
 It was found so meritorious that it finally attained a world - 
 wide reputation, and gave a competence to the manu- 
 facturer. 
 
 More than sixty years ago he became a prominent agent 
 and conductor on the Underground Railroad. Many a 
 fleeing fugitive from slavery has found an asylum and safe
 
 THE TJNDEHGROrXD RAILROAD. 305 
 
 con duel to liberty through his instrumentality. On the one 
 of the four principal lines with which he was connected, 
 many fugitives were aided when on their way to Canada., 
 numbering on all the lines to some thousands. His position 
 was often attended with peril. The fugitive slave law of 
 1850 imposed a fineof$i,ooo for selling or giving away a 
 meal of victuals to one of these fugitives. Some of the 
 noblest and purest men iii the country suffered these 
 penalties, and even death, for violation of this inhuman law. 
 Dr. P. never suffered any of these severe penalties, though 
 he has often said that if the law had been enforced against 
 him, he would have been bankrupt many times over. 
 
 About five or six years after the war, when his com- 
 mission in this service of humanity had expired by virtue of 
 the Emancipation proclamation, the company broken up and 
 the stock "divided among the passengers," he was im- 
 portuned to write out the history of some of these most re- 
 markable escapes. The history of ' 'The Underground Rail- 
 road" was written, in a series of numbers of the Fredonia 
 Censor. They were charmingly written, and attracted 
 much attention. Some years later, in 1870, the sketches 
 were published in a small volume, and man)- copies dis- 
 tributed among his friends, who will keep them as choice 
 memorials of his philanthropy and self-sacrificing nature. 
 
 He also took a deep interest in the welfare of the Indians, 
 on the borders of whose reservation he resided for many years. 
 He was their trusted counselor and friend, and aid^d to 
 procure the necessary legislation for the protection of the 
 Reservation and the preservation of their rights. He was 
 the projector of the Reservation school and the Superinten- 
 dent over twenty years. He chase for teachers those who 
 took an interest in their welfare and progress. 
 
 In the Thomas Asylum, organized for the care and 
 education of the Indian orphans in the State, he took a 
 deep interest. He was one of the originators of the institu- 
 tion and a trustee and treasurer for twenty-nine years from 
 its commencement. He served faithfully and without pay, 
 and was regarded by all the beneficiaries with almost filial
 
 306 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 affection. It is one of the best eleemosynary institutions in 
 the state, and reflects great credit on its management. 
 
 In every work of philanthropy when he had opportunity, 
 his heart and hand were engaged with heartfelt earnestness. 
 In this he was no respecter of persons. In his benevolent 
 work his best services were rendered without regard to 
 distinctions of race or color. His kind heart and hand were 
 ever open to the needs of humanity. No one, we venture 
 to say, in his large circle of acquaintances, ever knew a 
 nobler or more unselfish man. In his unostentatious 
 charities to the poor, he was most exemplary. Very often 
 the recipients were unaware who was the giver. 
 
 Early in life he became a member of the Baptist Church, , 
 to which he was fervently devoted, and )-et with a liberality 
 that recognized the image of the Master under all circum- 
 stances, in all walks of life, without regard to creed or de- 
 nominational name. 
 
 There was integrity of principle manifested through all 
 his long and useful life. He dared to do right though he 
 should stand alone with all the world 'against him. He 
 would be true to his conscientious convictions ' 'though the 
 heavens should fall." He was a firm believer in "the 
 higher law." His life was one of faith and trust, and his 
 death that of the righteous, and to their reward he has gone. 
 
 The fleeing fugitive from slavery, the red man whose 
 cause he championed, the poor who received aid from his 
 bountiful hand, the philanthropist in whose circle he was 
 such a conspicuous example, the Christian who has "respect 
 to the recompense of reward" in the life beyond, will all 
 enshrine Irs memory in their inner hearts, and will mourn 
 his departure with heartfelt grief, and yet will rejoice that 
 the great Giver of all good has vouchsafed to them such a 
 friend. 
 
 The following is from the introduction to the Underground 
 Railroad sketches by W. McKinstry: 
 
 Slavery in the United States after the Fugitive Slave law 
 was enacted, assumed its most hideous aspect. When in 
 colonial times it pervaded more or less all the colonies, it 
 was not regarded as a special source of profit, and the value
 
 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 307 
 
 was but little more than nominal. After the adoption of 
 the Constitution, State after State provided for its abolition 
 till it was filially limited to the States south of Mason & 
 Dixon's line and the Ohio river. The invention of the 
 cotton gin and the profitableness of the culture of cane and 
 cotton enhanced the value of slave property, and so far in- 
 creased the demand for this kind of labor that the raising 
 of slaves for the Sonthern market became a large source of 
 income to the northern Slave States. In process of time 
 they were held as mere chattels, without legal rights, and 
 could not make bargains, marriage contracts, or perform 
 any act whatever in which the law granted them any pro- 
 tection. In the eye of the law they were as much property 
 as horses and cattle. This legal ownership enabled the 
 masters to supply the slave auctions with human chattels, 
 and caused great anguish to the poor wretches who were 
 subject to sale and separation of kindred with no legal re- 
 dress against any cruelty which might be inflicted. In the 
 District of Columbia was a large slave mart, but it was so 
 repugnant to Northern sentiments that finally the traffic was 
 abolished there, but was continued at Alexandria, which 
 was re-ceded to Virginia. 
 
 At an early date the moral sense of many of the people of 
 the North was aroused to the enormity of the crime of 
 slavery and measures were taken for its abolition. The first 
 slaves brought to this country were sold from a Dutch vessel 
 at Jamestown, Va., in 1619. There were twenty of them. 
 From that time up to 1776 three hundred thousand were 
 imported. In the Continental Congress it was resolved that 
 no more slaves should be brought to this counntry, but on 
 the adoption of the Constitution, Congress was prohibited 
 from abolishing the slave trade till 1808. In the meantime 
 Anti-Slavery Societies' were formed in several States, and 
 Benj. Franklin was President of such an organization. The 
 Quakers persistently protested against human bondage, and 
 petitioned the Convention to provide in the Constitution for 
 its abolition. It was supposed at that time that human 
 bondage would cease in a few years. In this philan- 
 thropists were disappointed, as its rapid growth will show. 
 In 1790 as seen by the census the slaves numbered 697,897, 
 which was more than double the number at the commence- 
 ment of the Revolutionary war. 
 
 In 1800 there were 893,000. In 1840 there were 2,487,455. 
 
 " 1810 1,191,364. " 1850 3,204,313. 
 
 " 1820 1,538.035. " 1860 3,952,608. 
 " 1830 " 2,009.043.
 
 $08 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES', 
 
 In 1.861 the war commenced between the Northern and 
 Southern States, which resulted in the abrogation of all 
 property title to more than four millions of human, beings in 
 the United States and territories. 
 
 As one after another the Northern States abolished 
 slavery, they became an asylum for fugitives from the 
 institution in the Southern States. On the 4th of July, 
 1827, all slaves held in the State of New York were set at 
 liberty by an act passed in 1817. Thereafter all the States 
 bordering on the lakes and rivers between the United States 
 and Canada were free States, In all these States were found 
 friends of the oppressed race, who desired their emancipation, 
 and the fugitives from slavery found assistance and pro- 
 tection among these philanthropists,, a large number of 
 whom were Quakers who had always earnestly protested 
 against human bondage. Still the refugees from slavery 
 were not safe in the free States. The Constitution provided 
 for their surrender, and the U. S. laws designated the 
 manner of procedure. Rewards were offered for their 
 return, and many people were found who for the pecuniary 
 inducements were willing to participate in this business. 
 The fugitives were not secure till they reached the soil of 
 Canada. An effort was made for a treaty with Great Britain 
 .to secure their return from Canada, but without success. 
 
 After the passage of the fugitive slave law, the danger of 
 capture was enhanced and many left the free States for 
 greater safety who had long been residents in them. 
 
 Notwithstanding the rewards and penalties of the law, 
 fugitives still continued to escape, and endured untold 
 suffering in pursuing their trackless course, often through 
 an unbroken wilderness, guided by the north star to the 
 land of freedom beyond the dominion of the stars and stripes. 
 
 For some forty years these pilgrims to ,the land of liberty 
 made their way through the Northern States and across the 
 border. Scattered through the country were humanitarian 
 people who believed in the "higher law," and that the 
 complexion of the individual should not exclude him from 
 the enjoyment of his "inalienable rights." These people 
 protected the fleeing fugitive, secreted him from his pur- 
 suers, and conducted him from station to station till he 
 was landed in Canada. The secrecy with which they 
 managed the matter and the certainty of the delivery of the 
 passengers on their line, gave by common consent the name 
 of the Underground Railroad. The number of those who 
 escaped is a wonder, in view of the difficulties encountered.
 
 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 309 
 
 It is estimated by a prominent refugee from Kentucky, who 
 made his escape in 1836, that full}- thirty- five thousand 
 fugitives have reached Canada from the Slave States. As 
 would be expected, only the shrewdest, able bodied and 
 most enterprising would succeed. They secured land in the 
 home of their adoption, became successful fanners and 
 mechanics, and an important acquisition to the Queen's 
 dominions. 
 
 The success of the Underground Railroad in transporting 
 colored men to Canada presents a striking contrast with 
 that of the African colonization scheme. The Colonization 
 Society was organized in 1816 man}*- years before the 
 Underground Railroad was instituted. From the time of 
 that organization to 1857, a period of forty years, there were 
 9,502 emigrants sent to Africa, of whom 3,676 were born 
 free, 326 purchased their own liberty and 5,500 were 
 emancipated on condition of being sent to Africa. It will 
 thus be seen that nearly four times as many emigrated to 
 Canada as to Liberia, and in developing the soil, building 
 churches, schoolhouses, manufacturing establishments, and 
 the surroundings of comfortable homes, and the facilities for 
 the enjoyment of ' 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, ' ' 
 the Wilberforce Colony will compare favorably with Liberia 
 and Sierra Leone, though it is not doubted that African 
 colonization has exerted a beneficial influence on the dark 
 shores of the African continent. The Underground Rail- 
 road, it will be seen, has done much the greatest work in 
 behalf of human liberty. 
 
 The conductors on this route were some of the noblest, 
 self-sacrificing men the world ever saw. No civil penalties 
 dismayed them. They boldly proclaimed by deeds of moral 
 heroism and self-sacrifice their faith in the higher law, 
 before which human statutes . were impotent when human 
 liberty was at stake.
 
 3TO EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 FREDONIA ACADEMY. 
 
 [Letter from one of the early Principals of the Academy.} 
 
 CHICAGO, May i, 1890. 
 
 No peiiod of my life has absorbed so much thought as the 
 years spent in Fredouia Academy. 
 
 No period has afforded so much pleasure as reports of the 
 well doing and prosperity of my former pupils. In their 
 sorrows and bereavements I have felt a desire to share. To- 
 meet one of them, as occasionally occurs after a separation of 
 nearly half a century, is an indescribable pleasure. 
 
 Watching their progress in their varied callings as 
 opportunity afforded, I have been led to exclaim "what a 
 grand army has gone from that unpretending structure to 
 fight the battle of life each in his or her respective calling ? 
 What clime where their influence for good has not been 
 felt? 
 
 North America from Victoria to the everglades of Florida; 
 South America from Mexico to Brazil; Europe, Asia, 
 Africa and the islands of the seas have in one form or 
 another been recipients of their good works. 
 
 A governor of the Empire State, whose patriotic services 
 to the Union in the Senate during the Nation's conflict with 
 treason, has clad his memory with immortelles; Members of 
 Congress and legislators in many state's; Judges of the 
 various courts; ministers of the Gospel; instructors in all 
 departments of science; soldiers who surrendered their lives 
 to the cause of the Union and universal freedom; mission- 
 aries at home and in heathen lands; and last, but funda- 
 mental in the list, the producers of the staff of life and its 
 accompaniments, including the modest lad from Shumla and 
 his twelve hundred acre wheat field in the N. W. Without 
 such the world would still be the home of wild beasts and 
 savages. Such are some of the results of the work of the 
 hardy pioneers who erected the Academy building.
 
 FREDOXIA ACADEMY. 31 1 
 
 The youth who occupied those hard benches and demon- 
 strated their ancestry in carving the desks with the omni- 
 present jack-knife from Yankeedom, in later years have 
 carved for themselves a place in the annals of this wonderful 
 nation. 
 
 The history of the eleven thousand who attended the 
 Academy and their offspring during the sixty years of its 
 existence, will find no end till the close of time. The moral 
 stamina and graces of departed fathers and mothers will 
 remain with their children and be transmitted to the last 
 generation. 
 
 To the dear old Academy which faithfully sheltered its 
 occupants for sixty years, we say farewell, hoping its 
 successor may attain as good record during sixty years to 
 come. 
 
 F. A. REDINGTON. 
 
 NOTE. The Academy building was demolished in 1890 to give 
 place for the new Village Hall.
 
 312 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. 
 
 [From a lecture delivered at Academy Hall, Fredonia, Dec. 12, 
 1860, by W. McKiNsTRY.] 
 
 The transition from a state of intolerance and bigotry to 
 one of toleration and liberty, is of gradual accomplishment. 
 The tree, of liberty reaches not its maturity in a day, nor 
 spreads its branches over the land in a single revolution. 
 Years of patient toil are requisite to plant the seed and for 
 it to become firmly rooted in a genial soil. However 
 favorable apparently sudden changes of government may be 
 to the progress of liberal principles, time is necessary to 
 make them permanent and enduring in their results. In 
 fact, a revolution in governments is but the outward mani- 
 festation of what may have been progressing for centuries 
 in the minds of the people who effect these political changes. 
 
 It is only by contrast of the present with the past, that we 
 are enabled to judge of the progress which has been made. 
 Like the floating of a vessel on the tide, we perceive not 
 that we move only by comparison with objects within our 
 view. Revolutions do not go backward. Those which are 
 permanent in their character, and are rooted in principle, 
 are effected without the din of arms or clashing of steel. It 
 is the silent, powerful struggles of giant jiiinds, in contact 
 with like forces only, that produce the real revolutions. 
 How few nations there are who are fitted for a free govern- 
 ment, yet this lack of fitness is entirely of a mental and 
 moral character. 
 
 There are ahvays those who have so much veneration for 
 the practices and usages of the past, that the) T often question 
 whether real progress has been made and who would have 
 the ecclesiastical policy of the dark ages give the creeds and 
 usages of the present. To some the past seems to look 
 brighter the more distant it recedes; and the farther back
 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. Jlj 
 
 they can trace their system of belief, the more confidence 
 they appear to have in the correctness of their views. This 
 is true of many politicians as well as theologians, who 
 oppose reforms and innovations, of whatever character. We 
 \vho are full of hope and hail innovations and the relinquish- 
 ment of former superstitions as the harbingers of better and 
 brighter days, can throw a broad mantle of charity over the 
 persecutions for opinions enacted by our ancestors. We are 
 ready to excuse much of their bigotry and intolerance on 
 account of the age of ignorance and superstition in which 
 they lived, and the consequent bias of their education. Had 
 they the light of the present day, and "the full enjoyment of 
 a free press and free speech which are now so jealously 
 guarded, we readily concede that they would have refrained 
 from the deeds of darkness and illiberality which history 
 records of them. 
 
 Of superstition and bigotry our ancestors, both in England 
 and this country had their full share. I propose to present 
 some of the facts of history, a contrast of which with the 
 present will better enable us to appreciate the progress 
 which has been made within the last 300 years. 
 
 By the assumption of ecclesiastical power in England 
 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, prelates were appointed 
 by royal authority alone. By it ecclesiastical councils were 
 summoned, regulated, prorogued and dissolved; and with- 
 out that authority the canons of the church had no force. 
 In 1661, during the reign of Charles II. the Commons 
 resolved that every member should on pain of expulsion, 
 take the sacrament, according to the forms prescribed by the 
 old liturgy, and the covenant should be burned by the 
 hangman. An act was passed declaring that in no 
 extremity could the Houses be justified in withstanding the 
 King by force, and every officer was required to take an 
 oath that he held resistance to the King's authority to be in 
 all cases unlawful. A peculiar form of ordination was made 
 an indespensable qualification for church preferment, and 
 for non-conformity, two thousand dissenting ministers were 
 driven from their benefices in one day. It was made a crime
 
 3H EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 to attend a dissenting place of worship. A single justice of 
 the peace might convict without a jury, and might for the 
 third offence pass sentence of transportation beyond the seas, 
 and to other countries than New England, where dissenters 
 would find friends. A return before the expiration of the 
 term of banishment was a capital offence. Those ministers 
 who were deprived of their parishes for non-conformity, and 
 who refused to take the test imposed upon them, were pro- 
 hibited from coming within five miles of any incorporated 
 town or one which was represented in parliament, or where 
 they had resided as ministers. "The jails, " says Macauley, 
 "were soon crowded with dissenters, among whom were 
 some of whose genius and virtue any Christian community 
 might well be proud." 
 
 In 1575 an act of Parliament was passed providing that 
 "all persons who do not come to church or chapel where 
 common prayer is said according to the act of uniformity, 
 shall forfeit 20 shillings per month to the Queen, and shall 
 suffer imprisonment till it is paid." Those who should be 
 absent twelve months, in addition to their former fines, were 
 required to give bonds, with two sufficient securities, with a 
 penalty of 200 shillings for future compliance. Every 
 school teacher who should not come to common prayer, was 
 to forfeit 10 shillings per month, be disabled from teaching 
 school, and suffer a year's imprisonment. 
 
 In 1593, a law was passed providing that any person over 
 1 6 years of age, who obstinately refused for the space of one 
 month to repair to some church or chapel, or- usual place of 
 common prayer, or who at any time, by writing, printing, 
 or expressing words, should dissuade others from coming to 
 church, or who should be present at any unlawful assembly 
 or conventicle, under color of any pretence or any exercise" 
 of religion, should be committed to prison without bail till 
 he should yield, and till he should make a full declaration 
 of conformity. A refusal to yield within three months, 
 exposed the accused to perpetual banishment. For a 
 refusal to depart from the realm within the time prescribed,
 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. 315 
 
 or to return without license, the penalty of death, was in- 
 curred, without the benefit of clergy. 
 
 I might quote many other proofs of the bigotry and in- 
 tolerance of that age of twilight between the dark ages and 
 the more effulgent light which eventually followed the 
 Reformation. But these will serve as specimens of the 
 attempts to control the mind and conscience during those 
 periods when the work was in progress which was to 
 develop the benign results that followed the landing of the 
 Pilgrims on the bleak shores of New England. 
 
 This favored county, though by far the most free and 
 liberal in the world, has not yet reached that climax to 
 which she is destined. There are subjects in some parts of 
 our own land, which may not be discussed under penalty of 
 tar and feathers, banishment, or the gibbet. The abolition 
 of slavery has long been a prohibited subject. True it is, 
 that the line of demarkation between that freedom w r hich 
 tends to enlarge the mind and correct our errors which 
 receives innovations without prejudice or condemnation on 
 account of their origin, and that conservatism which rejects 
 everything that has not been tested by the experience of the 
 fathers in ages past, is a point very difficult to define. No 
 man, or body of men, can rightfully claim infallibility, and 
 none in whatever position of honor or trust they may be 
 placed, are above the jealous scrutiny of their fellow beings. 
 The most absurd ideas have had able defenders. Legislators 
 and ecclesiastical bodies have recklessly trampled on 
 inalienable rights, which course more enlightened successors 
 have condemned. While we abhor the intolerance of our 
 less enlightened ancestry, we should more cheerfully concede 
 to them those stern and unswerving principles which have 
 induced progress step by step, to a more liberal and 
 enlightened period. We all condemn the fanaticism of those 
 who put to death the unfortunate beings charged with 
 witchcraft, in the early days of New England, though in 
 doing thus, they pursued the same course that was practised 
 in the country from which they were driven, but with far 
 less severity. We loathe the illiberality which drove Roger
 
 EDITORIAL MTSCEZL ANTES'. 
 
 Williams into exile for holding sentiments so far in advance 
 of his age, but we can still admire as we reflect how readily 
 his persecutors- abandoned their course when a more en- 
 lightened public sentiment prevailed, and adopted the very- 
 principles for which, this pioneer of freedom suffered in 
 exile. True, they tenaciously held to their errors for a long 
 time; but the change has been tlie more radical and per- 
 ceptible. From being as intolerant, perhaps, as any of the 
 colonies, we now see in them the most perfect exemplifica- 
 tion of the spirit of liberty and. toleration in the world. It 
 is the willingness to receive truth, the cheerfulness with 
 which all prejudices are abandoned, principles and innova- 
 tions examined on their own intrinsic merits, which should 
 command our admiration: We behold them driven by in- 
 tolerance from the homes, and graves of their ancestors, and 
 undergoing privations to secure an asylum where they 
 hoped to be able ' 'to worship God with none to molest or 
 make them afraid," with no fear of the spy entering their 
 assemblages for worship, or the torture of friends to extort 
 an exposure of their places of meeting. They wished to 
 enjoy those privileges, to them so precious, because so dearly 
 bought, in peace and quietude. It is not strange that they 
 looked with a jealous eye on the intrusion of those of a 
 different faith, into the circle they had perilled so much thus 
 exclusively to enjoy. But they were far in advance of the 
 mother country in the promotion of the principles of liberty, 
 and theirs is the land where freedom is most zealously 
 guarded. Maryland and Pennsylvania, settled by the 
 Catholics and Quakers, at a later date, were more tolerant 
 than New England with regard to other sects, and to the 
 Romanists must be credited the establishment of the first 
 tolerant colony on our shores. The other colonies, except 
 the above named and the Providence Plantations, were as 
 bigoted as any of those of New England. Virginia and New 
 York, had their full share of illiberality, which is to be 
 traced to the same causes which prevailed in New England, 
 and are entitled to the same mantle of charity which their 
 more enlightened successors so cheerfully yield to them.
 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. 317 
 
 In 1618 a law was enacted in the colony of Virginia, that 
 every person should go to church on Sundays and Holy 
 days, or be a slave to the colony the following week. For 
 the second offence he was to be a slave for a month, and for 
 the third, a year. In 1642 a law was passed forbidding any 
 other than an Episcopal minister to officiate in the colony. 
 One clergyman was forbidden to preach under a penalty of 
 500 shillings and a year's imprisonment. It was against 
 this kind of intolerance, at a later day, that the thunder 
 tones of Patrick Henry's eloquence were heard. Three 
 Baptist clergymen were indicted at Fredericksburg for 
 preaching contrary to statute. Henry, hearing of this, rode 
 15 miles to volunteer for their defence. Such was his 
 burning eloquence and power of argument, that they were 
 discharged. 
 
 But I have alluded sufficiently to the past. It is not wise 
 to dwell on the errors of our ancestors save with a view to 
 avoid them ourselves. We may better guard against the 
 introduction of error into our social system, by witnessing 
 the results of similar errors in the past. 
 
 L/iberal principles in the masses do not necessarily keep 
 pace with the government. The constitutions and laws may 
 most strictly guard them, and yet many of the practices of 
 society may be very intolerant. They are not entirely the 
 result of an enlightened intellect and cultivated moral 
 faculties. History shows that a man may be learned, and 
 yet be a bigot; he may suppose himself a strictly conscien- 
 tious man, and yet be very illiberal and narrow-minded. 
 The habit of taking enlarged and liberal views of subjects, 
 depends much on early education and the state of society in 
 which the young and plastic mind receives its early biases. 
 
 True toleration regards all mankind as one brother- 
 hood. That is intolerant which limits the kindly feelings of 
 our natures by the bounds of mountains, rivers, lakes or 
 oceans, or stultifies generous emotions towards those of a 
 different language, country of birth, or complexion, merely 
 from those circumstances. In fact, whatever tends to 
 trammel the free action of the mind, in religious belief,
 
 EDITORIAL 
 
 whether by creeds, covenants, or other tests unauthorized! 
 by the word of Truth, or religious rites and ceremonies where 
 the authority is a matter of question, tends to limit or bias' 
 the free action of an ingenuous inquiry after truth. All 
 opposers of innovations, merely as- such, though generally 
 deemed discreet and cautious, too frequently throw obstacles"' 
 in the way of the advancement of society. The disenthral- 
 ment ol mind from the influence of error, often requires the 
 strongest evidence, and the clearest and most cogent argu- 
 ment, to overcome existing predilections and prejudices.- 
 This is one of the great causes of the slow progress with 
 which liberal views obtain in the world. We now wonder 
 at the bigotry and superstition of our ancestors; and future 
 generations may look with equal wonder at our tardy per- 
 ceptions of truth. Yet those conservative persons who- 
 guard so jealously the customs of former days- are useful in 
 their place. Without them society might run to that excess- 
 which characterizes the most fanatical associations that 
 spring up in- this enlightened age. The natural activity of 
 the mind is constantly developing new theories,, and new 
 proofs of old ones, which are not to be received because of 
 their novelty, or rejected because they were not thought of 
 in the days of Solomon. We are to receive with caution, 
 judge with candor, and scrutinize with care. Free dis- 
 cussion is the crucible in which the merits of innovation, 
 are tested. Our government is an innovation, and 
 its failure to answer the purposes for which it was 
 tormed r has long been prophesied by the Conservatives of 
 the old world. Every new power diffused among the people 
 is an innovation, and is attended thus far by the happiest 
 results. Our free schools, and inventions and improvements 
 of every kind, testify to the activity of the mind, ever eager 
 to try or invent something new. 
 
 Freedom of thought is the mainspring of all progress, 
 religious, political and mechanical. Truth never shuns the 
 light, or asks for a limitation of free discussion. Freedom 
 of speech and the press are the bulwarks of our free institu- 
 tions. He who opposes these, strikes at the pillars upon
 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONTFLICT. 319. 
 
 which the liberties of our country rest, prepares for the 
 reign of terror, and the rekindling of the fires of the auto- 
 da-fe over the graves of our free institutions. True tolera- 
 tion requires candor toward an opponent, whatever may be 
 his views, and a readiness to adopt them when sufficient 
 reasons are .presented. He who maligns the motives of 
 others merely because they hold to different views, or judges 
 of their tenets merely by the sources from which they 
 emanate, has little reason to mourn over the obstinacy of 
 the Mohammedan, or the incredulity of the Chinese, on 
 account of the tenacity with which they adhere to the 
 manners and customs of their ancestors. 
 
 With candid minds, party and sectarian divisions are 
 productive of good. They serve to bring into action the 
 latent energies of the mind to awaken a spirit of inquiry 
 which is essential to the advancement of society. Change 
 of opinion, when there are honorable reasons for it, indicates 
 candor and honesty; while a blind adherence to one's views, 
 contrary to argument and reason, though often looked upon 
 as an evidence of firmness and constancy, too frequently 
 evinces a degree of obstinacy that is invulnerable to the 
 penetration or perception of truth. 
 
 Whatever prevents the free action of the mind which is 
 the natural prerogative of every individual, even though he 
 be in the minority against the whole world, is inimical to 
 the stability of our free institutions, and the general progress 
 of truth. Diversity of political and religious views are a 
 necessity of mental activity and investigation. They are a 
 necessity to free institutions. We can find uniformity of 
 political views in Turkey, in Russia, in Egypt, and in a 
 great part of Asia, and other parts of the world, and in no 
 country such a diversity as in our own. Nearly the same 
 difference exists also in religious tenets. Yet who would 
 exchange the free institutions of this country for those 
 where there are no political parties or sects ? The ultraisms 
 of the day which spring up spontaneously owe their success 
 not so much to the liberty of conscience as to the opposition 
 they frequently meet with by the intolerant and illiberal.
 
 32O EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 A calm and considerate examination of the Utopian theories 
 so frequently presented by the lovers of novelty, would 
 divest fanaticism of its power, by depriving it of the 
 martyrdom which it costs to give its theories importance and 
 popularity. 
 
 For wise purposes we are so constituted that we cannot 
 all think alike. We may, however, exercise forbearance 
 and liberality towards those who differ. Through the 
 exercise of this heaven-born principle, all may fulfill the 
 object of their existence without compromising the great 
 principle of freedom of thought. We all owe allegiance to 
 that revealed truth which we cannot lightly regard without 
 incurring the displeasure of its Author. Each individual 
 may carry out his own views, so far as is consistent with 
 that word of truth, and none may rightfully impugn his 
 motives or throw obstacles in his way. No social organiza- 
 tion can say, because you do not conform to our customs and 
 ceremonies, you are therefore without the pale of the 
 mercy of Heaven. No such prerogative is committed to 
 mortal man. 
 
 The states in this confederacy are bound together by a 
 common constitution, and yet on such general principles 
 that a great degree of latitude is given to the minor com- 
 pacts, in the formation of their several constitutions and 
 laws. One state cannot say to another, because you uphold 
 an institution which we do not approve, we cannot fellow- 
 ship you in the Union or to another because you do not 
 adopt our free school system, or the rights of suffrage in the 
 manner which we have established, we cannot remain with 
 you in the Confederacy. The redemption of the nation 
 from foreign oppression was wrought by the toils, suffering 
 and blood of patriots of our common country, and its 
 privileges can be exclusively claimed by none. They framed 
 the government, and dedicated the country they had 
 ransomed to liberty liberty of speech, of the press, and of 
 worshiping our Creator according to the dictates of our own 
 consciences. They made no provisions for subjects which
 
 THE IRHEFRESSrBLE CONFLICT. 321 
 
 anight not be discussed. "Liberty and Union," said they. 
 Libetty the descendants of the Puritan stock will have, with the 
 
 I 'nion if they can, without it if they must. 
 The weapons of truth are not those of war and bloodshed. 
 
 It asks no penal statutes for its protection, though 
 hecatoms of victims have been offered at its shrine, when 
 the arm of political power has been arrayed against it. 
 '"Let truth and error grapple," only let the field of contest 
 be free and open and we need not fear the result. "The 
 toleration of error is safe, if truth is left free to combat it. ' ' 
 Let mind clash with mind in irrepressible conflict. Let the 
 whole mass of intellect be brought into free and unrestrained 
 action. Let the schoolmaster be sent abroad to develop and 
 awaken its latent powers, and the press teem with new 
 thoughts, thrown forth for examination and investigation. 
 Let the mind be free and we cannot be slaves. He whose 
 soul is in bondage to his passions and prejudices is the most 
 abject of slaves. Then let us cherish freedom of the mind, 
 as the basis of civil and religious liberty ever remembering 
 that "whom the truth makes free is free indeed."
 
 322 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 A YEAR OF NIGHT. 
 
 [The following true story was written for the Springfield (Mass.) 
 Union some years ago. It describes an event which occurred dur- 
 ing the apprenticeship of the writer, about 1835.] 
 
 Norwood was one of those pretty villages, ' 'the loveliest of 
 the plain, ' ' which has been historic for many years. Nearly 
 200 years before, the hardy and enterprising pioneers had 
 pushed their way westward from the sea coast and had 
 commenced a settlement here. The wide valley of the river 
 spread out for miles along its course, and with the annual 
 overflow had given great richness of soil, and the alluvial 
 depth made tillage easy and remunerative. Those who 
 founded this village were men of no common character. 
 The foundations were laid in deep religious thought and 
 principle, which ever remained as a guiding star to their 
 development and progress. 
 
 At the time of which I speak it had been for many years 
 a central place of business and influence in the politics of the 
 State. Here had lived a governor, who had exercised wide 
 influence throughout New England during the war with 
 England, which closed some 17 years before; two college 
 presidents had gone from here, Jonathan Edwards to Prince- 
 ton, and Timothy Dwight to Yale, to assume the respon- 
 sibility of molding the plastic youth of those early times to 
 take part in giving character to the nation, and many of 
 those under their influence have acquired a world-wide 
 reputation for good or evil. Here a United States senator 
 was living at the time, also a physician whose name is 
 familiar, in connection with medical science throughout the 
 civilized world. A distinguished American historian issued 
 the first volume of his History of the United States while a 
 resident here and on the hills a little to the west, lived one 
 of the greatest of American poets whose "Thanatopsis" and 
 other poems were first published in the village paper.
 
 A YEAR OF NIGHT. 323 
 
 The surroundings of this beautiful village were particularly 
 charming. About two miles away, on the opposite side of 
 the river, a mountain peak reared its craggy head nearly 
 1,000 feet above the valley, from whose summit the meadows 
 with their varied crops presenting different colors to the eye, 
 were spread out like a magnificent carpet of variegated 
 velvet appearance. Not far distant was Oxbow village, 
 which the majestic river nearly encircled, and a wide street, 
 straight as an arrow, and level as a floor, shaded with 
 gigantic elms, crossed the peninsula on which the village 
 was built. This was a beautiful place not unknown to 
 fame, where the good parson, with insticts of liberty derived 
 from the Cromwellian time, secreted two judges who had 
 condemned to death Charles I of England, and who, on 
 restoration of Charles II, had fled to the colony of Massa- 
 chusetts Bay to avoid arrest and the infliction of the death 
 penalty for adjudging a tyrant worthy of death. At about 
 this time a distinguished bishop, and a noted general of 
 Lookout mountain fame were spending their boyhood days 
 in this lovely village. 
 
 A little way north of Oxbow village, on a conspicuous 
 elevation, were college buildings where the youth of the 
 central and western part of the state, and from other states, 
 were fitted for professional work and "which eminent clergy- 
 men, statesmen, lawyers and physicians have looked upon 
 as their alma mater. A little way south from the mountain 
 peak was subsequently located a seminary for the education 
 of women, whose founder was greatly aided in her enter- 
 prise by the good president of the college, who made appeals 
 through the press of the village for aid in the great work of 
 the education of girls, many of them from the humbler 
 walks of life. 
 
 Here the venerable parson could be seen daily upon the 
 streets, leaning upon his staff, dressed in continental garb, 
 with long stockings fastened at the knee, with his silver 
 plated shoe and knee buckles glistening in the sun, while 
 his long queue, nicely braided and tied with ribbon, hung 
 gracefully over his coat collar, and his broad-brimmed hat
 
 P4 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 made him the observed 'of observers, presenting a picture of 
 the continental period. He was too old and infirm to> 
 perform all of the pastoral duties, but on every Sabbath he 
 was seen going to church, and passing on to the pulpit,, 
 which was ascended by several steps, taking his seat under 
 the large sounding board suspended from the ceiling over 
 his head. With faltering voice he read the notices the 
 requests for prayer for the sick, or thanks from those who> 
 had recovered from sickness all of which were remembered 
 in the prayer which followed. 
 
 At this time there were four boys employed in an establish- 
 ment located opposite the church r learning the printing 
 trade. To the youngest of these our .story principally 
 relates. He was from, a neighboring town, and his parents 
 being in straitened circumstances, though very respectable,, 
 had placed their son here, at eleven years of age r to acquire 
 the means of self support when he should arrive at man- 
 hood. He was a bright appearing lad and acquired great 
 dexterity in his business. His employer was unmarried and 
 placed him, with the other boys, under the charge of a 
 widow, who took a motherly care of him, watched over him 
 solicitously and saw that he attended church and Sabbath 
 school regularly, and that his lessons were well prepared. 
 Her only son had gone from her a few years before. He 
 was a wayward boy, and the last she heard of him he had 
 gone on a whaling trip to the Northern Pacific ocean. The 
 boy now in her charge seemed to take the place in her 
 home of her own lost boy, and was guarded as tenderly as 
 if he had been her own son. 
 
 As he grew to manhood he became what might be called 
 an attractive young man. He' had brown hair, dark eyes, 
 a ruddy glow of health in his features, and a fine appearance 
 altogether which won the admiration of his companions of 
 the gentler sex. His employer was an austere man who 
 had little social intercourse with the boys under his charge, 
 though in after years he took much interest in their success. 
 In those days apprentices w y orked for their "board and
 
 A YEAR OF NIGHT. 325 
 
 clothes," and Henry's wants in the way of clothing were 
 not provided for so that he could appear in a presentable 
 way to his lady friends. He was scantily clothed in winter, 
 and what was worn was mostly the discarded garments of 
 his employer, which his kind foster-mother had adapted, so 
 far as she could, to his use. To a person of his sensitive 
 nature, so anxious for the good opinion of others, especially 
 of his young lady friends, this was a severe trial. Time 
 passed on, and social attractions grew upon him. He greatly 
 enjoyed society and longed to look as well as other boys 
 whose parents were wealthy and with^ some of whom he 
 associated. How could his ambition be gratified ? 
 
 At length, a series of robberies took place in the village. 
 Such an occurrance was very unusual in that quiet place 
 and created great surprise. A jewelry store was broken into 
 and watches, jewelry and money had been stolen. A few 
 nights after other stores were entered and all the money that 
 could be found w r as taken. Who could the depradator be ? 
 Some surmised that there must be some professional thieves 
 abroad as no trace was left behind by which any clue could 
 be obtained. The transaction seemed to be shrouded in 
 mystery. Some time afterward a ride was proposed by the 
 young people of the place, to the mountains on the opposite 
 side of the river, some two miles distant. It was a steep and 
 rocky ascent, and in those days a little more than half the way 
 up could be made by teams, while the steepest part was 
 ascended by winding foot paths among the rocks and shrubs, 
 where the endurance of the pedestrian was well tested be- 
 fore reaching the summit. Henry (the young man of whom 
 mention has been made), and his "best girl" were of the 
 part}-. They lingered on the mountain top looking at the 
 beautiful scenery. The iTieandering river flowing by the 
 foot of the mountain formed another oxbow just before leav- 
 ing the lovely valley, where it poured swiftly through a 
 gorge in lonely solitude. The swift currant now forms the 
 motive power to a thriving city where the hum of industry 
 furnishes employment to thousands of busy operatives, and 
 the peninsula made by the winding river is no longer there,
 
 MISCELLANIES'. 
 
 t-he stream, having broken over the sandy barrier and with a 
 straight course passes to its work of moving the machinery 
 of a busy manufacturing city,, while a railroad with its long, 
 serpentine trains- now passes over a portion of the river bed 
 which curved so gracefully through the grassy meadows.. 
 The party f after enjoying a golden sunset on the distant 
 hills and valleys, prepared to take their departure from the 
 mountain peak to the village below. Just before starting,, 
 Henry was observed by one of their number to take a gold 
 w r atch slyly from his pocket. Nothing was said about it 
 then, but in a day or two it had leaked out. Those who- 
 had met with losses had interviews, and proposed a visit to 
 his room to see what discoveries could be made. They 
 went, supposing him to be at his daily employment. What 
 was their surprise to find him in r with the spoils spread out 
 on a table before him, engaged in their examination. 
 Being slightly deaf he had not heard their approach, till the 
 door was opened. Hastily putting his plunder back in a 
 box, he tried to make his escape, but the news rapidly 
 spread and a search for him was begun. He was soon 
 caught and brought back a captive and committed to jail. 
 Bells were rung and there was much rejoicing that the thief 
 had been discovered. But there were some sad hearts when 
 the news was confirmed that the bright and fine appearing 
 young man, who was so highly esteemed by his companions, 
 had been found to be a criminal. It was particularly sad to 
 the old lady Who had exercised a mother's care over him so 
 long, and was heartrending to the fond mother when the 
 sad news reached her that her darling boy was a thief. 
 About the same time she heard of her son's disgrace, she 
 had news also of the death of her husband, who had gone 
 to a Southern State on business* and had taken a fever and 
 died. Thus a double sorrow had come to the now widowed 
 mother. She hastened to the village where her boy was 
 confined in a felon's cell, and, with the one who had been a 
 foster-mother to her Son, went with sad and sorrowful steps 
 to the jail, each giving vent to the grief which the occasion 
 called forth. When they came to the prison the keeper
 
 A YEAH OF NIGHT. 327 
 
 opened the heavy iron dcor, and the son whom she had so 
 often clasped in her arms, her loved and beautiful boy, stood 
 before thsm. How could he look them in the face again, 
 when he had brought such overwhelming sorrow to their 
 hearts ? He scarcely raised his eyes, which were suffused 
 with tears, when the mother, hardly able to articulate the 
 sad news, said, "Your father is dea-d !" Th words seemed 
 to shock him more than his own terrible downfall. "Is 
 he ?" exclaimed the boy, and burying his face in his hands, 
 turned away so overcome that nothing more escaped 
 his lips. Sadly the two widows returned to their homes, 
 while the boy prisoner remained in his cold and dismal cell, 
 thinking of the great error he had committed, the friendship 
 lie had lost, and the remarks that would be made about him, 
 but most of all of the grief he had brought upon hts mother, 
 and the lady whose kindness had placed him under such 
 great indebtedness to her. At night he could not sleep, for 
 "nature's sweet restorer" would not come to his relief, and 
 his fellow prisoner was awakened by a shriek, and heard the 
 words: "'Father! Mother! Persis!" Then all was still and 
 silent as the grave. In the morning it was found that reason 
 had been dethroned and there was no more consciousness 
 than that possessed by a little child. His eyes were dazed 
 and he took no more notice of his surroundings than an 
 idiot, having to be fed and cared for in the same way. This 
 continued for several weeks. At length the time arrived 
 for his trial and he was taken to the court house and led to 
 the prisoner's place. The case was called and the indict- 
 ment read, but he gave it no attention. Old acquaintances 
 pressed around him but he was as indifferent to them all as 
 a statue. There appeared not be the slightest spark of 
 intellect or consciousness left. To try him while in that 
 condition would be like trying a block of marble ; it was 
 therefore abondoned and he was remanded to his cell. 
 Months passed away and there was no change. He required 
 the same care and showed no more interest in his surround- 
 ings. Not a sound was heard from his lips and nothing 
 indicated any intellectual life whatever. More than a year
 
 328 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 thus passed in imcorisciousness. It was a year of night a 
 complete vacuity, with no recollection of passing events. It 
 w r as a perfect blank. At length he was observed to move 
 about in his cell of his own accord, and to show some signs 
 of returning consciousness, like a little child when intellect 
 begins to dawn upon it. Suddenly he put his hand to his 
 head and exclaimed, "My head aches!" These were the 
 first words he had uttered in more than a year. He now 
 began gradually to recover his senses, and this fact was soon 
 noised around. His acquaintances began to go to see him, 
 and among others, his employer. To the latter's question, 
 "When did you see me last?" he replied, "Sunday night." 
 It was true, but the Sunday night was more than a year 
 before, and all the intervening time had been a long night 
 to him. 
 
 At the next sitting of the court after his reason was 
 restored, he was brought to trial, and although a strong plea 
 of insanity was urged by an able lawyer, the jury took the 
 position that he was not insane at the time the act was com- 
 mitted, and he was convicted. Such was public sympathy 
 in his behalf that the judge, all of the jury, members of the 
 court and leading citizens of the place united in a petition to 
 the governor for his pardon. It was granted and sent as 
 soon as the mail could carry the papers. The long night of 
 mental darkness through which he had passed created a 
 general feeling of sympathy, and instead of regarding him 
 as an outcast, he was cordially received by his old friends. 
 Instead of going out as a wanderer to places where he was 
 not known, he returned to his former employer to finish his 
 apprenticeship. He was very expert in his profession and 
 his exquisite taste made his services very desirable. He 
 became foreman with an interest in the proceeds of the 
 establishment. He was frugal and industrious, formed new 
 acquaintances and married a very estimable young lady. 
 . A change of proprietors made a change in his business, 
 and he found it advisable to remove to a town a hundred 
 miles distant, where he again entered into business, in which 
 he became fairly successful. After varying vicissitudes of
 
 A YEAR OF NIGHT. 329 
 
 life, he became a victim of that insidious disease consump- 
 tion. He labored as long as his strength would allow, and 
 then passed peacefully away, with the consciousness that the 
 error of his youth was not remembered against him, going 
 to that tribunal where the erring ones, though sinful, 
 receive a cordial welcome from the sinless One who knows 
 so well how to sympathize with the tempted. 
 
 But what of Persis? Hers was the last name which fell 
 from his lips at the commencement of that year of darkness. 
 From the time of the mountain ride hers was the bright 
 image in his mental vision. Soon after his mind became 
 obscured, her father and mother moved west and settled 
 near a beautiful lake, which some forty years later became 
 a resort of pilgrims to the "Saint's Rest," where a few 
 weeks are annually spent in the acquisition of moral and 
 intellectual pabulum. Many thousands take up their tempo- 
 rary abode in this academic grove where science and 
 literature are taught. Except in mental vision, Persis never 
 saw Henry again after that memorable ride. She afterward 
 married a kind hearted deacon considerably her senior and 
 they removed to a place near the shore of Lake Erie, known 
 by the aboriginees as Canadaway. Here the gentle and 
 saintly life of Persis was spent in rearing her family, and 
 here she passed away but a few years since, loved and 
 esteemed by all who knew her. She was buried with her 
 kindred in a delightful spot in the beautiful cemetery, where 
 the tall hemlocks, fanned by the breezes from off the lake, 
 give forth their mournful requiem over those who rest in 
 that hallowed ground. Robert J. Burdette a few years since 
 visited this village and gives the following description of the 
 last resting place of Persis : 
 
 "In the paths and over the graves in 'Forest Hill' the 
 snow lies deep and soft and white. My footsteps make no 
 sound in this silent city of the dead ; the winds are sleeping 
 and no whisper of their sighing steals through the leafless 
 oaks or the somber cedars. As I enter the gate, the first 
 stone bears a name that is very familiar to me 'Robert J.' 
 I have seen that name I remember, in the windows, on the 
 bulletin boards, on the circulars of lecture associations. And
 
 330 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 here at last I can see how it looks in the marble. But it is 
 the son of 'Robert J. Wrixon' who is sleeping here. And 
 then under the white mounds farther on the old people are 
 at rest. Capt. Asahel Kingsley, 94 years old, and Abigail 
 Kingsley, 75. And here lieth Jonah Starr, close beside his 
 old neighbors. Ninety years old he was, and his good old 
 wife Phoebe was 88, when she renewed her eternal youth. 
 John Stevens saw 88 years come and go before he went to 
 his long home, and Harry Truman lingered in this world 
 just long enough to find a grave in it and left it, in two 
 short months. I look from the grave of the baby over 
 toward the mound where Asahel Kingsley sleeps. Two 
 months here, and there 94 years. Ah, to what heights of 
 manhood might not the baby have climbed in the ripening 
 suns of 94 years ? Not so high, by infinity, as he soared in 
 two short months. 'Persis P., wife of J S .' Persis; 
 What a pretty name ! As 3^ou look at it, you think that a 
 beautiful face and a soft, low, musical voice must have gone 
 out with that name. But face and voice have" more of beauty 
 and a sweeter music now. And here under one stone sleep 
 the four children : Julia, Clara, George and Hattie. How 
 the old reaper mows down alike the bearded grain, and the 
 nodding daisy and the wild rose blushing in the sun." 
 
 W. McK.
 
 QUEBEC. 331 
 
 QUEBEC. 
 A NOTED HISTORICAL CITY. 
 
 [The following letter was written from notes of a trip from the 
 Adirondacks to Quebec at the annual N. Y. Press Association 
 meeting in 1892, by Grace E. McKinstry, of Faribault, Minn.] 
 
 Four points of interest in the earl)' settlement of this 
 country are prominent in historical annals, each presenting 
 peculiar characteristics: St. Augustine, Fla., settled by the 
 Spaniards in 1575, a walled town with its strong fort made 
 of coquina, and presenting a formidable obstacle to conquest; 
 its cathedral, built of the same material as the fort ; its 
 narrow streets, none in line with an)^ other, so that no 
 artillery could sweep continuous thoroughfares ; its city 
 wall ; ' all presenting a different aspect from any other 
 early settlement in the United States, and notably Spanish 
 in its appearance. 
 
 About thirty years later in 1608 the French, with 
 Champlain as their leader, took possession of a high promon- 
 tory on the St. Lawrence, called by the Indians "Quebec," 
 signifying a narrowing of the river. This became the seat 
 of empire to a tract of country immense in proportions, 
 extending up the chain of inland seas to Duluth, with settle- 
 ments and forts at Detroit and Lake Pepin, and down the 
 Mississippi to St. Louis and New Orleans, with possessions 
 at Fort DuQuesne, LeBoeuf, Presque Isle, Mackinac, St. 
 Mary's and many other points, which made the original 
 thirteen English colonies insignificant in domain. 
 
 At about the same time the Cavaliers of England planted 
 a colony at Jamestown, Va. For reasons well known, this 
 colony never became a success, and is now a ruin. 
 
 Thirteen years later in 1620 the Pilgrims landed at 
 Plymouth. They sought no natural defenses, and built no
 
 33.2 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 formidable forts, but, instead, erected school-houses and 
 churches. 
 
 Thus four orders of cizilization were introduced into the 
 borders of what now constitutes the United States and 
 Canada. At the settlement of St. Augustine, Pensacola, 
 Mobile and New Orleans, Spain was the most powerful 
 empire in the world, and as a naval power was only broken 
 by the destruction of the Armada, which attempted the 
 subjugation of England. France had exhibited the most 
 enterprise in establishing her authority on the borders of 
 the Lakes and along the Mississipi valley. In all this vast 
 territory Quebec was mostly the central location from which 
 emanated the mandates of authority governing a territory 
 large enough to be an empire. From this point the heroic 
 missionaries went forth to conquer and civilize the aboriginal 
 inhabitants, and by trading with them to bring them to their 
 aid. In the old French war in 1745, the Indians became 
 their powerful allies. In Gen. Braddock's attempted capture 
 of Fort Du Quesne now Pittsburg where Washington had 
 his first military experience, the Indians shared in the glory 
 of the defeat of the Knglish forces. Washington, it will be 
 remembered, was rebuked for his temerity in suggesting to 
 the English Gen. Braddock a better way to attack French 
 and Indians than to meet them in serried ranks, according 
 to British discipline and tactics. 
 
 The visitor at Quebec is struck by the natural defences, 
 which would seem to make it the Gibraltar of America. The 
 citadel stands 350 feet above the river, with frowning fort 
 surrounded by some three or tour miles of perpendicular 
 walls on which are heavy guns, commanding the river for 
 a long distance. The river St. Charles debouches into the 
 St. Lawrence a short distance below. Outside of the walls 
 are the Plains of Abraham, where the forces under Gen. 
 Wolf and Montcalm met in deadly combat, resulting in the 
 death of both commanders, Sept. 12, 1789. General Wolf 's 
 forces 700 strong had ascended to the heights above the 
 city by a narrow defile, and the French sallied out and met
 
 QUEBEC. 333 
 
 them. Our guide says if Montcalm had remained inside of 
 the fortifications the place could not have been captured. 
 That was his great mistake, and Quebec, the seat of a new 
 empire of France in America, passed forever from under its 
 sceptre. A monument to both chieftains marks the historic 
 ground, bearing the inscsiption : 
 
 "Valor gave them a common death, 
 
 History a common fame 
 And Posterity a common monument." 
 
 Canada was ceded to England in 1763. Again, in 1775, 
 after the British had retained possession seventeen years, an 
 attempt was made to capture Quebec by the New England 
 colonists. Gen. Montgomery and Benedict Arnold raised 
 an army to take it. The attack was made on a dark night, 
 Dec. 31, 1775, in hope of carrying it by surprise. A sentinel 
 gave the alarm, and a charge of grape-shot mowed the 
 assailants down and defeated them. Gen. Montgomery was 
 killed and Arnold wounded. Had he remained faithful to 
 the American cause, his fame would have been linked in 
 history with that of the patriotic Montgomery. But his 
 treason to Washington and the cause of the colonies obliter- 
 ated the gratitude won by his daring and sacrifices during 
 his previous career, and he went down to the grave despised 
 and execrated by the country, whose cause he had sold 
 himself to betray. Had the forces led by Montgomery and 
 Arnold succeeded, Canada might have become a part of the 
 Union, and there would have been an early disposition of 
 the question of annexation. Still the loss of Canada to the 
 French may have had some influence in inducing that nation 
 to send its fleet to this country to take part at a critical time 
 in the capture of Yorktown and Lord Cornwallis. The 
 little word "if" sometimes suggests mighty changes in the 
 history of the world. Had Benedict Arnold's wound proved 
 fatal, he would have been honored as was Montgomery, 
 whose monument in front of St. Paul's church in New York 
 attracts the attention of the passers-by. Such are the 
 changes of fame.
 
 334 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Quebec is historic ground. For 285 years it has been 
 important in the history of the American continent, and the 
 whole town seems to bear that impress of the personality of 
 the people which only comes from long occupation. 
 
 The town is divided into upper and lower Quebec. The 
 upper town lies on a high promontory, from whose loftiest 
 point, 333 feet above the river, frowns grandly down the 
 most impregnable fortress in North America. The whole of 
 the upper town is surrounded by a thick wall of masonry, 
 but the fine picturesque old gates have been removed. Three 
 of them have been replaced by beautiful modern archways 
 and turrets. From the upper to the lower town the descent 
 is precipitous, and there are long flights of stairs leading- 
 down in many places. The town was built before the days 
 of straight, right-angled boulevards, and the streets follow 
 the old forest paths in a delightfully picturesque and 
 bewildering fashion. 
 
 At the foot of the precipitous rock which the citadel 
 crowns, is Dufferin Terrace, the finest esplanade the world 
 can show. It is 1,500 feet in length, and lies on the very 
 brink of the river whose swift current flows 182 feet below. 
 
 There is a wonderful view embracing the straggling, 
 picturesque old town, with the curve of its fine harbor, the 
 broad, majestic river, and miles away a blue distance of hills. 
 
 Memories of the city's stormy days rise again, for not far 
 below lies the low island where the forces of Gen. Wolfe 
 were encamped for months, and opposite is.Point L,evis, where 
 they landed one dark night and then floated down with the 
 tide to the Heights of Abraham. And, there to-day rises a 
 granite shaft, with the simple words which tell so much : 
 
 "Here died Wolfe, victorious." 
 
 The old Cathedral of Quebec was commenced in 1645, and 
 consecrated in 1666. The French government and the early 
 inhabitants appropriated the proceeds of 1,250 beaver skins 
 to the building of this church, which furnishes striking 
 evidence of the power of the faith that impelled these hardy
 
 QUKBEC. 335 
 
 trappers to endure severe toil and long wilderness excursions 
 to secure the means for the erection of a place of worship. 
 
 The churches of Quebec are numerous now, and in them 
 are found many of the rarest art treasures of America, 
 including pictures that were brought from France during the 
 Reign of Terror. The inhabitants are about as quaint as 
 the town, as they jog about in their droll two- wheeled 
 caleches, and chatter away in a French patois. 
 
 There is a refreshing unlikeness to all things American in 
 the whole place, which seems like a bit of old France trans- 
 planted to these barren heights. 
 
 It impresses one as does no other spot in America for the 
 mingled pathos and glory of its story, and for the unrivalled 
 grandeur and picturesqueness of its situation.
 
 336 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 MEMORIAL DAY. 
 
 [From the Fredonia CENSOR of May, 1878.] 
 
 The 3oth of May has become a red letter day of the Re- 
 public. On this day the memories of the martyrs for our 
 National existence is publicly commemorated by the decora- 
 tion of their graves with the beautiful blossoms of the 
 season. The 4th of July commemorates the Nation's birth, 
 and the heroism and devotion of the fathers to the great 
 Declaration, the support of which made the colonies a 
 united nation, should never be forgotten, but should be a 
 commemorative day through the history of the country 
 to all future time. But not less should be observed the day 
 which commemorates the heroism and sacrifices of those 
 who gave their lives that the nation might live. 
 
 More than half a generation has passed away since the war 
 of the rebellion was commenced. More than half of those 
 who participated in the great struggle for continued National 
 existence, have bivouacked where there is no waking till 
 the jxidgment day. The beautiful Spring flowers are 
 tenderly laid over the resting place of the silent sleepers, 
 and they know not the fragrance and beauty of the blossoms 
 so tenderly placed over the sleeping dust. The place of rest 
 to many of them is in the vicinity of fearful battle scenes, 
 where rifle and cannon shot carried terrible slaughter among 
 the brave men who fought under the flag of the country, 
 and where their life blood was poured out as a sacred 
 libation on the altar of sacrifice in the country's behalf. It 
 is hallowed ground where they sleep. Over the white head 
 stones which mark their place of rest the flag of the country 
 constantly floats to designate the sacredness of the place. 
 The many thousands of graves in our National cemeteries 
 serve to give some idea of the cost of our national life, but 
 it is not all. The cemeteries all over the land contain the
 
 MK MORTAL DAY. 337 
 
 mortal remains of man}- thousands of heroes who perished 
 in the fearful struggle, or have since "folded their tents" 
 and passed over the river. How appropriate that Decora- 
 tion Day should be observed that succeeding generations 
 may learn from its recurrence what it cost to preserve our 
 national life, and better appreciate the value of our blood- 
 bought country. Those who have but recently come to 
 adult years, will have but little recollection of the time when 
 the banner of the rebellion was unfurled and the fearful 
 struggle began. They have no recollection of the thrill of 
 horror which passed \vith electric speed to the extremities of 
 the land when Jefferson Davis and his coadjutors in Congress, 
 in the Cabinet, in the army and navy, commenced their 
 work of treason. They may have some recollection of their 
 fathers, brothers and neighbors going to the fearful conflict, 
 and the terrible news of carnage and death which carried 
 sorrow 7 and mourning to so many households. But it is by 
 the recurrence of the days of tribute to the memory of the 
 martyred dead that we are all brought more appreciatively 
 to a realization of the perils through which we have passed, 
 and a higher tone of patriotism is being extended in the 
 observance of this beautiful commemorative day. 
 
 It is now more than thirteen years since the victorious 
 arm)' returned to their homes to again engage in the peace- 
 ful pursuits of life. Scarcely had the din of fratricidal 
 strife ceased from over the land, when a traitorous hand laid 
 low the Nation's Chief, and the joys of returning peace 
 were turned to mourning over a national bereavement. 
 
 Since that time the band of brave defenders of the nation 
 has been constantly diminishing on the hithei side of the 
 river, and growing larger on the other side. The heroes of 
 1776 have all gone to rest, and those of 1812 have nearly 
 all passed a\vay. It will be but a few years before the 
 living witnesses and participants in the great struggle of 
 1861-5 will be few, and their gray hairs and tottering limbs 
 will speak eloquently to succeeding generations to stand by 
 the old flag, 1 and a nation's gratitude will tenderly bear 
 them in the embrace of patriotic devotion, and cherish their
 
 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 memory, when they depart to the unseen shore, with 
 paternal affection. Then let us, while we may, bring the 
 fresh and beautiful flowers as a grateful tribute to the 
 memory of those who laid down their lives in our behalf, 
 and thank Heaven that w 7 e may ever in this beautiful 
 manner express our gratitude to the noble men who have 
 periled their lives to protect the old flag under which our 
 fathers gained our independence and constituted our national 
 existence. Let us hope that the observance of this day will 
 be a perpetual memorial to all future generations, from sea 
 to sea throughout our broad domain. May even the flowers 
 on the graves of the martyred dead be a fitting rebuke to 
 those who would make our national unity, like a rope of 
 sand, powerless to protect its citizens in all the rights of 
 citizenship which it has cost such precious blood and 
 treasure to establish. By the blood of our country's 
 martyrs, may it be the resolve of every patriot that every 
 portion of the land shall constitute one country, with equal 
 protection to every citizen over whom the old flag floats. 
 
 [From the Fredonia CENSOR of June 3, 1885.] 
 Last Saturday, the day set apart for the commemoration 
 of the dead who laid down their lives to save the Nation, 
 and of those who survived the fearful ordeal and have since 
 been laid to rest in honored graves, was generally observed 
 throughout the loyal States, and to some extent in the 
 South. It is appropriate to set apart a day to commemorate 
 the sacrifices of the dead heroes. Twenty-four years ago 
 the notes of fratricidal war were sounded by firing on Fort 
 Sumter. Twenty years ago the war closed, after the battle- 
 fields had been drenched in blood. Again the flag of the 
 Union floated in every State and Territory of the Union, and 
 ours was a nation of freemen. This great achievement was 
 accomplished through the valor of our soldiers. It is a 
 national duty to remember the sacrifices that have been 
 made that the nation might live. But for these sacrifices 
 we should have had to-day no nation, but a severed Union,
 
 MEMORIAL DAY. 339 
 
 on the one side with slavery' as its foundation, with a 
 thousand miles of frontier, and standing armies on each side 
 of the line to prevent the escape of fugitives on one side, 
 and the inroads of slave hunters for their captives on the 
 other.- Our national capital and the remains of the Father 
 of this Country within the seceded territory foreign com- 
 plications constantly engendered by the jealousies of the 
 different sections and the still more embittered hate of the 
 contending armies extending to succeeding generations, 
 presents a picture from which the patriot recoils, and which 
 ought to lead us with unanimous voice and heart to bless 
 the memory of those whose patriotism led them to present 
 themselves as a living sacrifice to avoid such a catastrophe. 
 
 It is meet that the graves of the departed soldiers should 
 be strewn with flowers. They will not restore to life the 
 patriotic men who laid down their lives for the country, but 
 will be as balm to the hearts of the living who have made 
 the sacrifice of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons in this 
 great cause. 
 
 "To die for one's country is to die indeed, but it is to live 
 in immortal fame. Each year the ranks of those who live 
 to tell the story of the heroic past grow less and less. Each 
 year adds to the nation's appreciation of its defenders and 
 makes it an all sufficient commendation to say of a man, 
 'He fought for his country.' The dead are in peace. It is 
 for the living to remember, not the coffin and the shroud, 
 but that the Union is saved and that its salvation was bought 
 with the blood of its noblest men. Not alone on decoration 
 day, but every day, a soldier's grave should be a place for 
 flowers and not a place for tears. ' ' 
 
 Not many years will pass when there will be but few of 
 the vast army which saved the country left to pay the 
 tribute of respect and affection for the comrades who have 
 gone before them to the shadowy land. Only the older 
 people now remember the band of gray headed revolutionary 
 soldiers, who used to participate in 4th of July celebrations. 
 In a few years but a little band will annually gather to
 
 340 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 strew flowers on the graves of those who fell or participated 
 in the war for the Union. But their services will not be 
 forgotten. The children and youth of the present genera- 
 tion should be taught this patriotic duty, and the choicest 
 flowers of spring should be annually gathered to strew upon 
 the graves of those who gave themselves to secure the 
 blessings of liberty and peace which we so abundantly 
 enjoy.
 
 NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 341 
 
 NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 
 
 [From the Fredonia CENSOR of Nov. 25, 1885.] 
 A day of Thanksgiving is peculiarly American, and till 
 about fifty years ago was a New England institution. More 
 than 200 years ago the Governors of the New England 
 colonies were accustomed to appoint the day of Thanks- 
 giving in their respective colonies. The celebration of the 
 day is one of the heirlooms of the States from the New 
 England colonies. Twenty-two years ago the observance of 
 the day was made National by the proclamation of Abraham 
 Lincoln. The nation was in the midst of a bloody war. 
 But the tide of events had been turned, and under the 
 command of Gen. Grant important victories had been won. 
 The noble and CDiiscientious President attributed these 
 successes to a Kind Providence in ordering the events, and 
 called upon the loyal nation to give thanks to the Great 
 Ruler of the Universe for the great blessings vouchsafed. 
 It is so appropriate in thought and language that it will be 
 well worth repeating every year. The old pi Igrims could 
 give thanks over the parched corn from the scant)' fields, 
 and the wild game taken from the forests. The nation 
 was called upon to give thanks for the fruitful fields, 
 abundant crops, and the reward of toil throughout the land, 
 in shop and field, and especially for the success of our 
 armies in the preservation of a free government. 
 
 But if the Pilgrim fathers could be thankful for their 
 blessings won by privation and hard toil from a sterile soil 
 in an inhospitable climate, if the Nation could be thankful 
 when pressed by treason, and the heart blood of the people 
 flowed for the protection of our Nationality how much 
 more ought we to be thankful in view of the blessings which 
 have been lavished with unstinted hand since the first 
 proclamation of the Martyr President for a day of thanks- 
 giving to the Great Giver of all blessings.
 
 342 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Since twenty-two years ago, the greatest war of modern 
 times has been closed and the unity of the nation restored 
 and confirmed. Four millions of slaves have been made 
 free and changed from chattels to citizens. Constitutional 
 amendments have been passed which carry out the spirit of 
 the Declaration of Independence. A currency has been 
 established which is equalby good in every part of our 
 country. A period of unexampled growth and prosperity 
 throughout the vast extent of our country has prevailed. 
 Schools and the facilities for education have wonderfully 
 progressed. No country in the wide world has been blessed 
 as ours has. The earth has yielded abundant harvests, 
 with a large balance after supplying our own wants for 
 other parts of the world. We have been at peace with all 
 other nations. The large army of a million of men have 
 returned to the peaceful pursuits of life, and all rejoiced in 
 a restored peace and prosperity. 
 
 It is appropriate that the whole nation should join in 
 "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." 
 
 The absent members of the family should be gathered on 
 this day to join in the feast. Those in want or affliction 
 should be remembered. It should be ' 'the day of all the 
 year the best" the day of pyful festivity and thankfulness, 
 the day for family reunions and pleasant reminiscences. 
 As far as possible the gathering should be in the old home- 
 stead, where the old and young should share in the festivities 
 of the day. 
 
 The pulpits should speak on* this day' of the bounteous 
 gifts of Heaven not only of fruitful seasons, and prosperous 
 husbandry, but of the blessings of a free government, a 
 free pulpit and press, and freedom from despotism which 
 our form of government has made possible. 
 
 [From the Fredonia CENSOR of Nov. 29, 1893.] 
 
 The annual return of a day for giving national thanks to 
 
 the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, for the continued 
 
 blessings of peace and good will to men, indicates a people 
 
 recognizing the rule and authority of the Creator of all
 
 NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 343 
 
 things, and our daily dependence on Him for all the bless- 
 ings of this life. We are as a nation blessed above any of 
 the nations on the earth. The voice of God through the 
 people is recognized as the highest authority in the world. 
 This government of the people, which has so dist'nguished 
 us from all the nations of the earth, is derived from resistance 
 to tyrants, and became permanent through the Pilgrim 
 Fathers, who resisted monarchical power and the divine 
 rights of kings, nobles and ecclesiastics who were the 
 oppressors of the nations of the old world. 
 
 As a nation we ought to be especially thankful that we 
 have been preserved by a kind providence from disintegra- 
 tion by a rebel power, that the manacles of slavery have 
 been broken, and that no American citizens throughout all 
 this land can rightfully call any man "Master." More 
 especially ought we to be thankful for the evidence recently 
 presented by the overthrow of political "bossism" that the 
 sovereign power of the people has been so wisely guided for 
 this accomplishment. 
 
 A national thanksgiving day first proclaimed from the 
 Presidential chair by a man who rose from the humblest 
 walks of life to be the chief executive, is recognized by every 
 State in the Union, and thus homage is paid to the virtues 
 of the Pilgrim fathers who laid the foundation of its 
 observance on the bleak New England shores, when temporal 
 blessings were few, but when the spirit of liberty was an 
 ever shining light which ^shines more and more unto the 
 perfect day. 
 
 In all the perils to which the country has been exposed, 
 the desire for a monarchy has not been one of the purposes 
 of any large portion of the American people. The spirit of 
 liberty is pervading all the nations with which our inter- 
 course abroad has brought us in contact. In France, the 
 nation which stretched out its strong hand in our behalf in 
 our revolutionary struggle, the Republican form of govern- 
 ment has become so firmly fixed that it cannot be moved. 
 On the American continent the system has become pervasive,
 
 344 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 and an increased intelligence and more familiarity with the 
 system will give each nation a more perfect fruition of the 
 blessings of popular government. 
 
 Peace has prevailed throughout our land, and with the 
 smallest standing army in proportion to population of any 
 civilized nation in the world, we are yet the strongest. 
 Peace on earth and good will to men is the righteous 
 foundation of our government, and as the world progresses 
 from age to age, may it not be hoped that the Sun of 
 Righteousness, with healing in its beams, will bring all the 
 nations into harmony with a government of the people, by 
 the people and for the people, that the sword shall give 
 place to peaceable arbitration, and that the policy of all the 
 earth shall be "the greatest good of the greatest number." 
 
 Our land has brought forth abundantly of food for all the 
 lands, so that there is plenty for all the people if all were 
 equally provident and industrious. 
 
 The World's Fair, which has been the greatest success of 
 any undertaking of the kind in the world, and held in a 
 place where half a century ago was but a hamlet surrounded 
 by the solitudes of primeval nature, and now the second city 
 of the nation, has shown to the world that we are not behind 
 the most progressive of them in the arts of peace. Here 
 too, the religious systems hoary with the age of many 
 centuries, have been presented by their own advocates, and 
 have been received with courteous attention, and their 
 advocates listened to with consideration and candor. This 
 presents a new era in the history of the world. 
 
 The most formidable engines of destruction and sub- 
 jugation of nations were at the Fair, as harmless as the 
 playthings of children, and as useless, except to convey to 
 the beholders an object lesson of an art which in the onward 
 progress of the world, will go down to succeeding genera- 
 tions as the battering rams and engines of war of the old 
 Roman conquerors come down to us. 
 
 The electric car, the telephone, and a thousand and one 
 processes by which the development of science has been
 
 NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 345 
 
 manifested since the Centennial year, show a progress un- 
 dreamed of even a century ago. Not one-fourth the manual 
 labor of half a century ago is now necessary to produce the 
 same amount of the comforts of life then required. Mind 
 supercedes muscle in the accomplishment of great plans, 
 and muscle is only an adjunct. In the 1 10 years since the 
 close of the Revolution not more than seven have been spent 
 in devastating war; the last served to rid the nation of 
 slavery and destroyed the market for the souls and bodies 
 of men. The Lord of Hosts has wrought marvelous things 
 for our land. The fields have yielded their increase, and 
 the scourge of famine and pestilence have been warded from 
 the nation. This nation has grown as no other nation has. 
 Its glory is in its happy homes, and to-morrow how many 
 joyous families throughout the land will be gathered around 
 the festive board to give thanks for the blessings of the past 
 year. Let all join in heart if not in vocal song: 
 
 "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."
 
 34 6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 CHRISTMAS, 1884. 
 
 The celebration of Thanksgiving among the Puritans of 
 New England took the place of Christmas festivities in the 
 old countries, but of late years the celebration of Christmas 
 has been added to the festival observances of the descendants 
 of the Puritans. The following is from the Fredonia CENSOR 
 of Dec. 24, 1884: 
 
 The celebration of the most important event in the history 
 of the world takes place this week. It is no less than the 
 special manifestation of the Divinity in the human form. 
 All moral and intellectual intelligences partake more or less 
 of the divine nature, in proportion as they make the 
 elements subservient to their use. The more elevated 
 human beings are above the brute creation, the nearer they 
 approach to the Divine. The moral development of our 
 being generally precedes the developments of civilization. 
 Nations and individuals progress in all that enhances the 
 prosperity and happiness of the race in proportion as they 
 recognize "the Divinity that shapes our ends" the over- 
 ruling Providence that directs the affairs of the Universe 
 the world, nations, communities and individuals. 
 
 The great impetus given to the world's progress was 
 consequent upon the great event which occurred 1884 years 
 ago, when the Angelic hosts proclaimed "Peace on earth 
 and good will among men." The world had already pro- 
 gressed in civilization and the arts for four thousand years, 
 but even the tender mercies of the best of them were cruel. 
 But this great epoch in the world's history was the com- 
 mencement of a more complete reign of righteousness, which 
 has shed an increasing light on the progress of the world, 
 and this enlightenment has brought increasing peace and 
 happiness. Well may men rejoice in the day which has 
 been constantly bringing deliverance from the sadness which 
 vice and crime have entailed upon the world.
 
 CHRISTMAS, 1884. 347 
 
 A glance at the results of this special manifestation of the 
 Divinity among men, which took the form of the lowly and 
 homeless child, born and cradled in poverty, though destimed 
 to be a king, the glory of whose reign was to eclipse and 
 supersede the greatest of the kingdoms of the world: Since 
 that event the world has been growing better, and its 
 miseries ameliorated. Then the greatest delight of the most 
 refined and advanced of the nations was seen in the glad- 
 iatorial shows, where the victims of war were slaughtered 
 for the amusement of the assembled thousands of the 
 conquerors. Then there were no institutions for the 
 amelioration of the condition of the unfortunate no asylums 
 for the poor, the blind, the deaf, the sick and the crippled 
 no swift ships to carry relief to plague stricken countries far 
 away no angels of mercy to hasten on wings of love to 
 visit and alleviate the sufferings of strangers in a strange 
 land, where disease was slaying its thousands or devastating 
 fire had made multitudes homeless. In war. women and 
 children were massacred or carried into slavery, the country 
 devastated and the victois returned laden with the spoils 
 taken from once peaceful homes with happy families. Now 
 the blessings of Christian civilization crowd the Christian 
 countries with institutions for the alleviation of misery in 
 every form. Even cruel war is bereft of its greatest horrors. 
 Private property is protected the prisoner is cared for and 
 fed, and if sick is provided for in hospitals rules of warfare 
 established between nations by which the soldiery are pro- 
 tected after surrender, and few of the hardships of ancient 
 times experienced. 
 
 These blessings of a Christian civilization are the results 
 of the teachings of Him who took upon himself the frailties 
 of humanity and experienced trouble and sorrow that He 
 might compassionate its sufferings in his own and all 
 succeeding ages. 
 
 Well may there be rejoicing over the advent of this great 
 Pioneer in a faith which should bless all the nations ot the 
 earth, and well may children hail with delight the anni- 
 versary of the great event which has made so many happy
 
 348 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 homes and the lives of the little ones a blessing to themselves 
 and the world. And especially in view of his coming as a 
 little child, partaking of all the trials and sorrows of poverty 
 in his lowly home in Nazareth. 
 
 True there is much suffering in the world, but it prevails 
 most where there is the least Christian influence. 
 Christianity blesses the world in proportion as its benign 
 influences prevail. And when the kingdoms of the world 
 become subject to the pervading influence of a truly 
 Christian civilization, then will be fully realized the Angelic 
 proclamation of "peace on earth and good will among men. "
 
 MEMORIAL OF PORTER C. BLISS. 
 
 MEMORIAL, OF PORTER C. BLISS. 
 
 [A dispatch from New York of Feb. i, 1885, says "Porter C. 
 Bliss, one of the best known men in New York, died to-night." 
 The following is from the CENSOR of Feb. 4, 1885.] 
 
 Mr Bliss was eminent as a journalist, traveler, scholar 
 and diplomat. His death was the remote result of injuries 
 inflicted by the infamous Lopez, Dictator of Paraguay, who 
 tortured Bliss to extract State secrets from him while he was 
 Secretary of the United States Legation under Minister 
 Washburne. 
 
 His life here, where he made his start in the world as a 
 student of Fredonia Academy, was always gratefully re- 
 membered. He. was always grateful to the kind friends 
 here who took an interest in him as a scholarly boy. The 
 late Dr. C. E. Washburn and wife were especially kind to 
 him and he boarded with them some time, taking care of 
 the Dr's horse for part payment. He was the son of Rev. 
 Asher Bliss, a missionary to the Cattaraugus Indians, and 
 was born on the reservation and familiar with the Seneca 
 tongue. In later years he was adopted into the Seneca 
 tribe. His early life no doubt gave him his taste for 
 exploration among the Indian tribes of Mexico and South 
 America, which led to his remarkable excursion thither. 
 
 Mr. Bliss fitted to enter Yale CDllege at this Academy. 
 His agency in obtaining subscriptions to periodicals in New 
 England, and sketches from old people of revolutionary and 
 other early historical incidents, led to his employment by 
 the Historical society, and their interest in his behalf to get 
 him a position in the Indian country west of the Mississippi, 
 where the remnants of the Eastern tribes had removed. 
 But the war of the rebellion coming on, frustrated this plan, 
 and he took the position of private secretary to Col. James 
 Watson Webb, who was appointed Minister to Brazil. 
 
 We met Mr. Bliss at the White House in Washington, in
 
 35 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 April,. 1 86 1. He was waiting with Senator Sumner for am 
 introduction to the President, with a view to his appoint- 
 ment in the Interior department, to go among the Indians- 
 of the Western territories, and learn their traditions with 
 regard to their early history. The old tribes of 
 Pequods, Narragansetts, and other tribes inhabiting New 
 England, where the settlers from the Mayflower arrived,, 
 were then represented by their descendants in the territories,, 
 and Mr, Bliss having spent his boyhood among the Indians, 
 was well adapted to that work. He showed us his ap- 
 plication to the President, signed by all the U. S. Senators, 
 and leading literary men of the country, such as Bancroft , 
 Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Homes. He was appointed,, 
 but the war coming on, he did not go to his work beyond 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 The New York Times gives his history thereafter, en- 
 titled "A .Remarkable Career/' from which we extract as 
 follows: 
 
 Gen. James Watson Webb was made Minister to Brazil, 
 in the latter part of 1861, Mr. Bliss was appointed his 
 private secretary. In 1862 when Gen. Webb surrendered 
 his office, Mr. Bliss, instead of returning with him, made a 
 trip to Buenos Ayres, and three days after arriving there he 
 was commissioned by the Argentine Republic to explore the 
 Indian country known as the Grand Chaco, an immense 
 desert inhabited by Indian tribes. He spent eight months 
 in this service, and during that time acquainted himself with 
 various Indian dialects, and studied the antiquities of the 
 country and the habits of the natives. The results of his 
 explorations were published by the Government, and are 
 standard authorities on the Indian tribes of the Grand 
 Chaco. 
 
 For a short time after Mr. Bliss edited a monthly 
 periodical in Buenos Ayres, which was called the River 
 Platte Magazine. Then he went to Paraguay, where his 
 friend Charles A. Washburne was serving as United States 
 Minister. Mr. Washburne made him his private secretary 
 in 1866, and he was appointed by President Lopez to write 
 a history of Paraguay. While this work was in progress, 
 Lopez declared war , against Brazil, Uruguay, and the 
 Argentine Republic, and from this event the trouble of the
 
 THEMORIAI, OP PORTER C. BLISS. . 35! 
 
 young historian began. Knowing that he had come from 
 Brazil, the Paraguay detectives suspected him of hostility to 
 Lopez, and his footsteps were dogged for weeks and months. 
 Finally the archives of the Government were closed to him 
 and he was informed that his contract was at an end and 
 that he would not be paid for his work. Minister Wash- 
 burne in the meantime had offered his mediation between 
 Lopez and the enemy, and secured a treaty \vith the under- 
 standing that if Lopez would leave the country his life 
 should be spared. This Lopez declined to do, and the 
 enemy bombarded the city, Mr. Washbunie had resigned 
 his position as Minister, and a boat was prepared to take 
 him away. Mr. Bliss started for this boat, but was captured 
 by the police of Lopez, with a Mr. Masterson, and thrown 
 into a dungeon until night, when both were strapped to the 
 backs of mules and carried to the army headquarters, a 
 day's journey. Here they were scourged and tortured by 
 Avant of food and per ecuted in every conceivable way to 
 force them to confess that they had conspired against Lopez 
 and his Government. Mr. Bliss's head was tied to his feet 
 for hours at a time, and as an even more cruel form of 
 torture he was laid on his face and a terrible pressure was 
 put on the small of his back. He had been arrested on 
 Sept. 10, 1868, and it was Dec. 10, a period of three months, 
 before he was finally relieved from imprisonment and 
 persecution, on the demand of the United States Govern- 
 ment, enforced by an American squadron. 
 
 When Mr. Bliss reached Washington, after his rough 
 experience in Paraguay, he was made translator to the State 
 department, a position which his extensive knowledge of 
 languages qualified him excellently to fill. He had learned 
 Spanish in three weeks, and he had a remarkable talent for 
 acquiring languages and dialects. At his request the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House investigated the 
 charges made against him in Paraguay by the Lopez Govern- 
 ment and declared them unfounded. After serving a few 
 months as translator he took editorial charge of the Wash- 
 ington Chronicle, in the winter of 1869, and held this position 
 until July, 1870, when President Grant appointed him 
 Secretary of Legation to Mexico. In this capacity he served 
 until July, iSj4, two years under Minister Thomas H. 
 Nelson, of Indiana, and two under the Hon. John W. 
 Foster, now Minister to Spain. Here, while attending to 
 his clerical work as Secretary, he found time to study and 
 write on the history, geography, and condition of Mexico 
 and on American enterprises in that republic. He served
 
 352 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 as interpreter between Gens. Rosecrans and Palmer, the 
 first prc moters of an American railroad in Mexico, and the 
 Government of the country, and did a great deal of clerical 
 work for England, France, and Spain, who had no 
 representatives in Mexico at the time. For three months at 
 the close of 1872 he served as acting Minister or Charge 
 d' Affaires in the absence of the Minister. He became the 
 active member of the Mexican Geographical and Statistical 
 Society, and was Chairman- of the Committee on Archaeo- 
 logical Explorations, in which capacity he visited and 
 excavated the sites of the most remarkable ruins in the 
 Valley of Mexico, reports on which were published in the 
 bulletins of the society. In the midst of all these arduous 
 duties he still found time to do something for humanity's 
 sake. He succeeded in saving from execution three 
 prominent officers of the insurrectionary forces headed by 
 General, now President, Diaz, in the revolution of 1872. 
 These officers had been captured, tried by a drum-head 
 court-martial, and condemned to death within 48 hours at 
 the city of Puebla. One of them, a Col. Meyer, was an 
 Argentine by birth, and had rendered distinguished services 
 to the Union Army during our own civil war, and the State 
 Department on this account had once before interceded for 
 him and secured his release from imprisonment. Mr. Bliss, 
 after spending an entire day fruitlessly in the attempt to 
 interest the Cabinet officers in the late of the condemned 
 men, finally, at n o'clock at night, when they were to be 
 shot at daybreak, almost forced his way into the presence 
 of President Juarez, and succeeded in getting the execution 
 suspended by a telegraphic order. President Juarez died 
 himself within two weeks of that time, and the officers were 
 released. For this service Mr. Bliss received the personal 
 thanks of Gen. Diaz. 
 
 In the summer of 1874 Mr. Bliss came to this city and 
 became one of the office editors of Johnson's Encyclopedia, 
 taking charge of the biographical department and contributed 
 largely to several of the others. Over 1,500 of the 
 biographies in this work were written by him, and the 
 larger and more important ones bear his signature. He also 
 contributed articles on Sanskrit and Portuguese literature, 
 and on many other subjects requiring special preparation 
 and learning. When the Encyclopedia was completed in 
 1877, Mr. Bliss undertook as editor and part proprietor the 
 management of a literary periodical which he called the 
 Library Table, but the time was unfavorable for such a 
 publication and the venture proved disastrous. In 1878 he
 
 MEMORIAL OF YORTEH C. "BLISS. ,o,> 
 
 wrote for Hubbard Brothers, publishers, of Philadelphia, a 
 history of the Russo-Turkish war which ended that year, 
 entitled "The Conquest of Turkey," and later in the same 
 year became one of the editors of the JSTew York Herald, 
 having charge at first of the biographical department, 
 and writing matry hundreds of biographies of living men of 
 note for future use. He also wrote editorials and geo- 
 graphical, historical, and statistical sketches, for which his 
 great range of information especially fitted him. In 1879 
 he again visited South America for the Herald, going this 
 time to the west coast as war correspondent at the beginning 
 of the war between Chili, Peru, and Bolivia. He spent a 
 greai deal of time at Arica and Tacua, the headquarters of 
 the Peruvian and Bolivian armies, and became a great 
 favorite with Presidents Prado, of Peru, and Daza of Bolivia, 
 During this visit to South America he had several notable 
 adventures, one of which was sustaining by himself a bom- 
 bardment 133- the Peruvian monitor Hauscar, while inside 
 the hull of the abandoned man-of-war Wateree, which had 
 been carried inland nearly a mile by the great tidal wave 
 which accompanied the earthquake of 1869. Mr. Bliss had 
 walked out to the Wateree to inspect her. Just as he 
 was about to enter the hull he heard a loud report, and a 
 shell whizzed by him. Turning toward the sea he saw that 
 the Hauscar was engaged in target practicing and using the 
 Wateree as the target. With the instinct of the correspon- 
 dent he scrambled into the hull and remained there two 
 hours, until the bombardment ceased, accurately timing the 
 shells and writing a report of his sensations. 
 
 For many years he had been a diligent and enthusiastic 
 student of Oriental antiquities, particularly relative to 
 Assyria, Babylonia, and Egypt, and has more than once 
 been on the point of undertaking an expedition to those 
 regions, but was prevented by unforseen circumstances.
 
 354 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 FARIBAULT. 
 
 FARIBAULT, Minn., Oct. 6, 1885. 
 
 We are now in one of the New States a part of the 
 country designated in our early Geographies as the Great 
 North Western territory, with no State west of the Mis- 
 sissippi or north of the Ohio River till the year 1821. All 
 this region from Fort du Quesne (now Pittsburg) west .vc id, 
 including the West Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico, 
 and bordering on the gulf to Florida, was under the French 
 Government, whose enterprising subjects explored this vast 
 region, and gave French names to the oldest places, which 
 are still retainedi 
 
 By the decisive battle on the plains of Abraham, and the 
 subsequent treaty with France, it became English territory, 
 and by the results of the Revolutionary war, it became 
 United States territory, and the southern portion, called the 
 lyouisana territory, became a portion of the United States by 
 purchase from Napoleon, in 1808. By the ordinance of 1797 
 this territory was forever dedicated to Freedom, and by the 
 results of the war of 1861-5, the southern portion also 
 became free. 
 
 Twenty-four years ago, when the slave power undertook 
 to sever the Union, no braver or more faithful defenders 
 were found than states formed from the Northwest Territory. 
 It had been consecrated by the fathers to freedom, and well 
 did they maintain the consecration, though, when it w r as 
 made, not one of these States was born, and the large cities 
 like Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, St. Louis, were 
 unknown, except perhaps as French Trading posts. 
 
 To reach here, we pass along the shores of Lake Erie, 
 through a portion of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
 and Iowa to Minnesota, making five States which were 
 unknown even in territorial name when we commenced to
 
 FARIBAULT. 355 
 
 study Geography. This State was organized as a territory 
 in 1849, and in 1858 became a State in the Union. Its 
 growth has been most marvelous. From a population of 
 150,000 when it became a State, to nearly 800,000 in 1880, 
 it now reaches 1,418,486, as shown by the recent census, an 
 increase in five years of 639,713. Of the population of 1880 
 only about 200,000 were born in the State; 200,000 in other 
 states and territories. The foreign population was over 
 300,000, of which over 100,000 were Scandinavians, 80,000 
 Germans and 80,000 English, Irish and Scotch colonists. 
 The vital statistics of 1880 show 25,300 births to 9,802 
 deaths, showing that prolific races occupy the State. Of 
 the total population, 47,000 were born in the State of Xe\v 
 York, which is a larger number than came from any other 
 State. Wisconsin comes next with 44,000, Illinois 16,000. 
 Vermont 8,000, Connecticut 2,000. 
 
 The State of Florida, after more than 300 years of settle- 
 ment, contains less than 300,000 inhabitants, showing less 
 growth of population in 300 years than Minnesota has in the 
 last five years-. The States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico 
 were settled by the most powerful nation in the world at 
 that time. It is as true as ever that "Westward, the Star 
 of Empire takes its way." 
 
 But I will now say something about Faribault. When 
 here fourteen years ago, it contained about 2, 500 inhabitants. 
 It is now a city of some 7,000. It is the shire town of Rice 
 County, and has fine county buildings, churches and business 
 blocks. It has also several State institutions, for the in- 
 struction of the Deaf and Dumb, the Blind and the Inbecile, 
 each of which have very fine buildings, erected by the State, 
 and are creditable structures. 
 
 It is the fifth place in size in the State, Minneapolis 
 being the largest and St. Paul second. Bishop Whipple 
 has his residence here. The Seabury Divinity School, the 
 Shattuck School and the St. Mary's Seminary, under the 
 auspices of the P. E. Diocese, located here, are all prosperous. 
 
 This place is nearly 200 miles south from Duluth, and 45 
 miles south from St. Paul and Minneapolis. Minnesota is
 
 $56 EDITORIAL MISCEI,L ANTES. 
 
 known as the "'gopher state. " Its name is of Indian origin, 
 after the river Minnesota, which signifies whitish or sky 
 colored water. Two hundred and ten years ago the French 
 explorers visited this region, arrd Hennepin and La Salle 
 have left a record of their adventures by the names given to> 
 places in this vast region. Fort Snelling was built in 1819,. 
 and is still one of the most important military posts. The 
 state of Minnesota is almost twice as large as the state of 
 New York and comprises 83,365 square miles. Its size 
 north of the parallel of Duluth is almost as large as the 
 state of New York. It is noted for the wonderful, rapid 
 growth of its cities, and the excellence of its schools. 
 Though there is a large foreign population, consisting of 
 Germans, Swedes and Norwegians, they mostly own farms 
 and are successful cultivators of the soil. The beautiful 
 lakes interspersed through the state, where fish and water- 
 fowl are found in abundance, afford recreation to the worn 
 out business man. 
 
 This state has high license and local option, which are 
 said to work w r ell. In this city, and all places of this or 
 smaller size, the license is fixed at $500. The number of 
 licenses is about one third of those of the former plan. At 
 St. Paul and Minneapolis the price is $1,000 for each. 
 
 Wheat is still the staple product of the state. The reaper 
 and binder leaves the sheaves bound with twine on the field 
 ready to be shocked. It makes us regret that we ever spent 
 so much time in reaping rye in New England by hand and 
 often cutting our fingers with the sickle. But without that 
 experience we would not know how to appreciate the 
 advantage of machinery at the present time. And then to 
 see the steam thresher separating the grain at the rate of 
 about 100 bushels an hour, delivering the clean wheat in 
 the half bushel at the side of the machine, makes us regret 
 that we wasted so much time in our younger days, threshing 
 on the barn floor with the flail, about six bushels of rye in 
 a day, and separating it by dropping slowly from the shovel 
 while the wind through the barn carried the chaff away. 
 We are quite sure we would not do it now, and no farmer
 
 FARIBAULT. 357 
 
 would laboriously work in the manner it was done more 
 than sixty years ago. 
 
 About one-third of the population of the state is foreign, 
 but this is of the best class, being largely from Sweden and 
 Norway. They make good farmers and useful citizens, 
 vastly superior to the hordes of Polanders and Italians who 
 invest our eastern cities. 
 
 A ride westerly by rail of some sixty miles, brought us to 
 the city of Mankato, on the Minnesota river. Immense 
 stone quarries are worked there, and a very nice building 
 stone is found in the quarries on the river. It is sent to St. 
 Paul, Minneapolis, and other growing places, and used for 
 building immense blocks of stone and public buildings. A 
 large factory for making pails, milk pans, cuspadores, wash 
 basins, etc. is doing a large business here. The fibre of flax 
 is used for the construction, which is ground into pulp and 
 some 500 pails per day are made. The fibre is tough and 
 the articles made are quite durable. They are painted, 
 baked and polished, and finished so nicely that the material 
 would not be suspected by the observer. 
 
 Mankato contains some 9,000 population, and is a thriving 
 city, with fine hotels and business blocks. In 1862 it was a 
 frontier town, where the Indian massacre took place, and 
 some i , 200 pioneers lost their lives in the inhuman butchery. 
 Thirty-eight red men were hung here at one time for par- 
 ticipating in the murders. The death warrant was signed 
 by Abraham Lincoln, who would give his signature only 
 for those who were proved to have actually killed white 
 people. Many still hold that the only good Indians are 
 dead ones.
 
 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 A "PERSONATION/' 
 
 [Prepared lor Fredonia Literary Club, April 19, 1879, by L. 
 McKinstry. Published in CENSOR of Akil 30, 1879,} 
 
 I have not the story of a renowned career to tell, but 
 simplj 7 one of "the short and simple annals of the poor,"' 
 and yet, perhaps its recital may touch a sympathizing chord 
 in some of my hearers,, and point a moral in favor of patient r 
 persistent endeavor to do one's best, even though the results 
 be far from brilliant, 
 
 I trust there is not one present among these listeners 
 whose earliest recollections are those of unhappiness, and I 
 presume that none of you had a childhood upon which you 
 look back with a shudder, yet such was my unhappy lot. 
 My father died before I can remember. My mother, left 
 with limited means, married again, but her second husband 
 was a ne'er-do-well, who gradual! 3- wasted his own little 
 property and hers, then took to drink and finally went away, 
 leaving her penniless, with a dependent family. She and 
 my sister older did washing and worked out for a living, my 
 brother older was apprenticed to a printer in a neighboring 
 town, and I, at the age of six years, was "bound out" by 
 the town poor-master to a being in the form of a man whom 
 I cannot conscientiously designate otherwise than as an 
 incarnate devil. This was less than sixty years ago, and in 
 the heart of our boasted Empire State, yet in all the tales of 
 African slavery which we have read with such holy horror, 
 I have yet to learn of a Southern taskmaster treating a 
 young chattel with the cruel meanness which I then suffered. 
 The poorest ragged clothing that would cover me was all I 
 had. I slept in a garret, hardly ever had enough to eat, 
 never looked into the door of a school or a church, and was 
 worked to the utmost of my strength, literally under the 
 lash. I will mention one incident. I was in the barn feed- 
 ing the cattle, when this man's wife's boy came in and found
 
 A "PERSONATION'."" 359 
 
 a hen's egg which he dropped. Hopper came in and the 
 boy told him that I broke the egg. He seized me and 
 pounded me with an ox-gad from my head to my heels, to 
 make me confess, until finall)- in my despair and terror I 
 consented that I did do it; then he flogged me again the 
 harder for having lied to him. 
 
 This is the life I endured, I hardly know how, during 
 what are usually called the tender years of childhood, from 
 6 to 10, and then I resolved to escape. I ran away to my 
 mother's house, two miles distant, in the edge of the w r oods 
 and back from the highway at the end of a long lane. I 
 was standing at her door relating my story when Hopper 
 came up, whirled me around and bade me go back. As we 
 went down the lane he cut a limb from a tree and struck me 
 across the back every step I took, while my mother was in 
 sight and screaming for mercy. 
 
 A few months afterward I again ran away and mother 
 began to cry as soon as she saw me approach, begging me 
 to go back for fear he would follow and kill me. I said I 
 should appeal to Captain Felt, the Poormaster, and asked 
 where he lived. She pointed to a hay field in sight and 
 said, "there he is now, at work." I went there and said: 
 "Please sir, are you the man that binds out poor little 
 boys ? If so you must get me another place for I shall not 
 go back to Hopper's." While I was narrating my wrongs, 
 Hopper came up. The Poormaster gave me no encourage- 
 ment that he would do anything, but he did go to one side 
 and talk with Hopper, then returned and said: "You better 
 go back and be a good boy and he will do well by you." 
 I had no alternative, and was really more hopeful when I 
 was allowed to go to bed that night without a flogging. 
 There was a sort of negative improvement all that winter, 
 that is, I was not struck and kicked so much, though my 
 fare and general treatment were no better. 
 
 One Sunday, the following spring, Hopper and his wife 
 went visiting. An old cat which he had frequently com- 
 plained of and "wished somebody would shoot," attracted 
 my attention, and I slaughtered that cat with the double
 
 360 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 purpose of making a whip-lash from the hide and pleasing 
 my guardian. When he returned that night and saw what 
 I had done he was the reverse of pleased, swore like a 
 pirate and sent me to bed supperless with the promise of an 
 unprecedented flogging . in the morning. While he and 
 three hired men were eating the Monday morning breakfast, 
 he occupied the whole meal with horrid oaths and threats 
 against me, as I stood by waiting for the crumbs. ''I'll 
 come back from the coal pit in time to tan your hide for you 
 this noon," he said, and kept repeating the threat with all 
 the variations he could think of. He set me to making an 
 onion bed and then want off with the men to the charcoal 
 pit, the last words I heard from him being oaths and similar 
 threats. 
 
 Soon afterward, to my great joy, his wife and boy went 
 visiting, and I was left alone. '"Now," I resolved, "if he 
 whales me again he will have to do it when I am running. ' ' 
 I found one extra shirt that was clean, rolled it in a hand- 
 kerchief, wrapped in it a chestnut whistle I had made, my 
 only toy and treasure, saw that the sixpence which consti- 
 tuted my whole cash assets, was safe in a sort of purse, and 
 started to go to my mother in her new home in Buffalo, 
 whither she had recently moved. It occurred to me that I 
 would need more money, and I searched the house and 
 found five Spanish quarters. Then I thought, ' 'he will follow 
 me to the end of the world for that money and perhaps he 
 wouldn't to get me, "so I put back the five quarters and 
 with my one shirt and little chestnut wliistle in a bundle, 
 and a solitary sixpence in my pocket, I made my third run 
 for liberty. ' 
 
 I shall never forget that May morning. How beautiful 
 the sun shone ! Not a cloud was in sight, all nature was 
 putting on the lovely hues of summer, and many a tree was 
 white with blossoms. What I have always regarded as a 
 very strange circumstance in this connection is, that not- 
 withstanding the day was so bright and beautiful, and all 
 out of doors so pleasant and attractive, not a soul saw me as 
 I passed along the road through that farming settlement.
 
 A "PERSONATION." 361 
 
 I had been sent with loads of charcoal toBushnell's Basin, 
 eight miles distant on the Erie canal, and thither I decided 
 to go, intending to follow the tow-path from there to Buffalo 
 and mother. One man passed me with a team, and I said, 
 "'Please sir, may I ride?" "No, you little rascal, you are 
 running away," was his rough reply, and he drove on out 
 of sight. I stopped by the brooks and pla}*ed in the water, 
 and wet my whistle and blew it for amusement, so it was 
 about dusk when I reached Bushnell's Basin, and as I 
 walked out on the bridge over the canal and thought ot my 
 hunger and destitution, and the hundreds of miles between 
 there and Buffalo to be tramped over with my bare feet, I 
 wept bitter tears. 
 
 I finally mustered up courage to knock at the door of an 
 humble wood colored house on the bank of the canal, and 
 when the door was opened I timidly said, "Please ma'am, 
 will you give me some supper and let me stay all night ? I 
 have had nothing to eat since morning." I shall never 
 forget that angelic woman's reply: "Bless your heart," 
 said she, "of course I will. Come in." The family had 
 had their supper, but she cooked meat and potatoes especial- 
 ly for me and . gave me such a meal as I had never had 
 before in all my life; then she put me in a comfortable bed 
 with a kind good night. Next morning I told her my '.vish 
 to go to Buffalo, and inquired for work to earn some passage 
 money. She sent me to a man back on the hill who wanted 
 a boy to make garden, and I was hired at two shillings a 
 day and board. I was working hard and doing my best, 
 when about nine o'clock he sent me to the village for a jug 
 of whisky. By noon he was beastly drunk and abused me 
 so that I asked him to pay me for what I had done and let 
 me go. He refused with drunken rage. I said "Good day. 
 sir," and started. That night I was in Rochester. 
 
 Another kind woman lodged me there, and next morning 
 earh- I was trotting along on the tow-path, westward. A 
 passenger boat overtook me just as a young man on deck 
 shot a red-headed woodpecker. I caught the wounded bird 
 as it fluttered to the ground, and threw it on board. Said
 
 362 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 a man at the bow, "Boy, where are you going?" "To 
 Buffalo, sir," I replied, still running along side. "Wouldn't 
 you like to ride?" There was but one answer to that 
 question, and obeying his direction to run ahead to a certain 
 place, he brought the boat up near the bank and I jumped 
 on. 
 
 Four days on the packet, running night and day, brought 
 me to Buffalo, where I began inquiring for mother as soon 
 as I stepped off the boat, and continued my search all day. 
 Nobody could tell me anything about her. The idea that I 
 should be in her arms as soon as I reached Buffalo had 
 sweetened my whole journey; no other contingency had 
 occurred to my boyish -mind, and now when the shades of 
 night began to fall and I realized that I was practically as 
 far from her as ever and in a strange city, without a friend 
 or acquaintance, I confess that I made no attempt to 
 control or conceal my utter desolation of heart. But blessed 
 be the Maker of us all, kind hearts and noble natures do 
 not depend upon any refinement of matter that comes from 
 cultivated intellect or accustomed wealth. A number of 
 poor workmen gathered around me and, learning my dis- 
 appointment, began awkward but sincere attempts to console 
 me. Bach one gave me a little piece of money and one 
 finally said: "The L,ord knows I am poor enough, and 
 have family enough, but I'm agoin' to take the little feller 
 home with me till he can find his mother. ' ' I stayed with 
 that man all summer, finding no . trace of her, though I 
 afterwards learned that when I went to Black Rock to catch 
 fish to sell, I was frequently within 30 rods of her house. 
 
 That Fall my good Samaritan sent me to his relative in 
 Dunkirk, who was a mason by trade, and equally poor, but 
 kindly gave me shelter through the winter. Needing some 
 shoes I went to that excellent man, Mr. Seth S., and he 
 agreed to make me a pair for two cords of hemlock bark 
 which I peeled from fallen trees in the rear of the lot where 
 the Dunkirk central school house now stands, and drew it 
 with a borrowed team. As I was unloading the bark, Mr. 
 S. said, "Wouldn't you like to come and learn my trade ?"
 
 A "PERSONATION." 363 
 
 "I would like any thing, sir, to earn my living," I said. 
 I became a member of his family and there received the 
 first religious instruction I ever had, and in Mayville, where 
 he sent me to work for his brother the Fall afterwards, I 
 had my first and only term of schooling, after I was fourteen 
 years old. Previous to that age I did not know how to read 
 a line or write my own name. 
 
 The rest is soon told but I cannot forbear mentioning with 
 some satisfaction the temporary misery which came to the 
 heathen from whom I escaped. He returned to the house 
 before noon and ahead of his men, the day I left, to give 
 me the flogging he had so fiendishly portrayed and promised 
 me that morning. I' was gone; and when the men came in 
 he could not tell what had become of me. The most 
 vigilant inquiry in every direction failed to find a neighbor 
 who had seen anything of me. Although I had walked 
 away openly, upon the highway, and in the bright sunlight 
 of a mild May day, as I have mentioned before, not a person 
 in the settlement happened to witness my flight. The hired 
 men repeated Hopper's threats addressed to me that morning 
 at the breakfast table, and his purpose in going to the house 
 from the woods before noon, and the conclusion was im- 
 mediately arrived at that in his rage he had killed me and 
 hid the body. His most solemn protestations that I was 
 gone when he returned to the house and he knew not where 
 I was, were of no avail. His violent temper and previous 
 cruelty to me were well known and, coupled with his threats 
 made in the morning, satisfied the community that he was a 
 cowardly murderer, and so he was branded for more than a 
 year. My older brother notified him that he should 
 advertise for me, and that unless I was found, a criminal 
 prosecution would be commenced, and the miserable wretch 
 meanwhile passed his time in trembling fear of the gallows. 
 Finally Mr. S. saw a paper with the advertisement for 
 information of my whereabouts, and he wrote to my brother, 
 who then wrote to my mother at Black Rock and thus was 
 I put in communication with her.
 
 564 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 The personations you have had this winter have all related 
 to famous characters in history,, and I sympathize in your 
 disappointment that this does not culminate in the recital of 
 some world -renowned triumph achieved, or thrilling deeds 
 performed,, and yet to you who have known me as I have 
 pursued my humble calling among you the past forty years,. 
 I feel that I can confidently appeal for testimony that I have 
 made creditable progress from a most sad and ill-starred 
 beginning, I have been an ordained preacher for thirty 
 years and am frequently complimented upon my correct 
 forms of expression, although I do not know a rule of 
 grammar. Learning to read after I was fourteen years old, 
 I have spent 25 years studying the Bible, and venture to 
 say that not even your theological graduates are more 
 familiar with its teachings-. I have been the author of a 
 number of published doctrinal "essays, and even those who 
 disagreed with their conclusions have had no criticism to 
 make on their logical arrangement and clearness and vigor 
 of style. 
 
 But I have not aimed at fame in these directions. I 
 simply claim to have followed the right as God has given 
 me to ses the right, and feel thankful that I was endowed 
 with those tendencies. Although my income has not 
 averaged over $300 a year since I began business among 
 you, I have been able to satisfy all my necessities, have 
 acquired a comfortable home and other property, owe no 
 man aught but good -will, and no man has ever lost a dollar 
 by me. I trust it will be said that the 'world is none the 
 worse for my having lived in it. "I have fought the good 
 fight; I have kept the faith." Notwithstanding my early 
 sorrows and later afflictions I feel that I have been greatly 
 blessed, and in the words of another:* "Looking calmly, yet 
 humbly, to that close of my mortal career which cannot be far 
 distant, I reverently thank God for the blessings vouchsafed 
 me in the past; and with an awe that is not fear, and a 
 consciousness of demerit which does not exclude hope, I 
 * Horace Greeley.
 
 A "PERSONATION." 365 
 
 await the opening before my steps of the gates of the 
 Eternal World." 
 
 [From the Fredonia CKXSOR of May 7, 1879.] 
 
 The subject of the "Personation" on the fourth page of 
 our last issue, was readily guessed by most of our village 
 readers, Elder Charles W. Low having been so long a 
 fellow citizen that more or less had been learned of his 
 history by many of his neighbors. It is but justice to Mr. 
 Low to state that the article was not prepared at his 
 suggestion, in fact he knew nothing about it until after it 
 had been read in the Literary Club. The facts were learned 
 by the author in a casual conversation one evening and 
 without at that time any purpose of reporting or printing 
 them. The events narrated in this rather romantic and 
 pathetic story, were all actual occurences, and the compli- 
 mentary comments on the attainments and honorable 
 position achieved by the gentleman "personated," we 
 believe to be entirely just and deserved. There was an 
 error in calling the conveyance on which young Low came 
 to Buffalo, a 'packet." It was one of the "line boats" on 
 board of which the captain so kindly invited him. These 
 boats were drawn by horses on a walk, which accounts for 
 four days being occupied in going from near Rochester to 
 Buffalo. The regular passenger packets w r ere drawn by 
 horses frequently changed and kept at smart trot, and being 
 given the preference at the locks, made the whole distance 
 from Albany to Buffalo in four days. When Mr. Low came 
 to Dunkirk fifty-one years ago last Fall, there was scarcely 
 a house east of Center street or south of Third street. Mr. 
 Seth Starr's shoe shop where he went to w y ork was on Front 
 street, facing the lake and some distance west of the corner 
 of Center street. When he went to Mayville to work for 
 Joseph Starr, 51 years ago next Fall, he walked by way of 
 Fredonia and Westfield on Thanksgiving day. The road to 
 this village was nearly all through the woods, and much of 
 the way from here to Mayville was bordered by the primeval 
 forest.
 
 366 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES, 
 
 TO ALABAMA AND RETURN 1874. 
 
 EDITORIAL EXCURSION OF NEW YORK EDITORS IN 
 RESPONSE TO INVITATION OF THE EDITORIAL AS- 
 SOCIATION OF ALABAMA. 
 
 Several Alabama editors visited with the N. Y. State 
 Association at Watertown in 1872, and were greatly pleased 
 with their reception. Their State Association reciprocated 
 the kind attentions and invited our State Association to visit 
 them in their Southern homes. The invitation was accepted, 
 and H. N. Beach, of the Brockport Republican, and Edgar 
 Parker of the Geneva Gazette, were selected as leaders. 
 
 The party converged from the different railroad lines in 
 the State at Salamanca, on the evening of May 12, 1874, 
 and was composed of 48 editors, of whom 13 had their 
 wives making 61 pec/ple in the party. The following is a 
 partial list of those who wrote up the trip for their 
 respective papers: 
 
 H. N. Beach, Republic, Brockport; B. G. Berry, Tele- 
 graph, Norwich; J. N. Bailey, Independent, Auburn; C. 
 E. Benton, Advertiser, Fredonia; A. W. Ferrin, Republican, 
 Little Valley; A. H. Hall, Times, Watertown: S. G. 
 Hamlin, Union, Schenectady; Henry Humphries, Indepen- 
 dent, Mexico; E. M. Johnson, Herald,, Oneonta; A. C. 
 Kessinger, Sentinel, Rome; C. H. Keeler, Record, Owego; 
 O. H. P. Kinney, Advocate, Waverly; H. J. Knapp, 
 Journal, Auburn; R. S. Lewis, Batavian, Batavia; W. 
 McKinstry, Censor, Fredonia; J. E. Member, Standard, 
 Fishkill; S. R. Morgan, Mercury, Middletown; Edgar 
 Parker, Gazette, Geneva; A. S. Pease, Sun, Saratoga; J. 
 A. Place, Times, Oswego; A. P. Ripley, Advocate, Buffalo; 
 W. A. Smyth, Times Owego; John W. Slauson, Press, 
 Middletown; D. D. Waite, Advocate, Batavia; J. Wilson, 
 Courier, Newark. 
 
 J. N. Abbott, of the Erie road, took charge of the party 
 as far as Cincinnati. Pulman cars had been furnished our
 
 TO ALABAMA AND RETURN 1874. 367 
 
 party, and every appliance for our comfort was provided. 
 Cincinnati was reached in the early morning, and the day 
 pleasantly spent there at their best hotel and in pleasant 
 rides, and at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce to 
 which we were invited, and where speeches of welcome 
 were made and responded to. The next morning we were 
 taken to Louisville, w r here the day and night were pleasantly 
 spent with headquarters at the Gait House. Col. Theodore 
 Welch, of Montgomery, Ala., was designated by the L. & N. 
 R'y Co. to take charge of our party. He is a most courteous 
 gentleman, and won the esteem of all and provided a special 
 train much of the way to the Southern limit of our trip. 
 Col. C. A. Powell, Mayor of the city of Birmingham, joined 
 our party to that city, some 400 miles distant. 
 
 Our next stopping place was at Cave City, from which 
 we were taken by stages like the old Ohio stage line, to the 
 Mammoth Cave. It was a very rough road and some three 
 hours of jolting over the rocks and through mud holes 
 brought us to the mouth of the cave. Here several hours 
 were spent, each with a lamp, in exploring the labyrinths 
 of this subterranean wonder. Some four hours were spent in 
 rambling through this remarkable wonder of nature, re- 
 turning in time to resume our railroad travel so as to reach 
 Nashville in the early Sunday morning, all highly pleased 
 with our nocturnal ramble. 
 
 Preparations had been made for our reception at the 
 capital of Tennessee, and we were hei e treated with a taste 
 of Southern hospitality, which was continued through our 
 whole trip in the South. We were taken to the Maxwell 
 House and committees were in readiness to conduct our 
 party to the several churches of our choice. In the after- 
 noon there were over 100 of the colored people baptized in 
 the Cumberland River, while more than 10,000 lined the 
 banks to witness the ceremony. On Monday carriages 
 were provided and we were taken to the State House, the 
 residence of the widow of President James K. Polk, where 
 we were pleasantly received, and also to the residence of
 
 368 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 Mrs. Brown, widow of the Postmaster General during 
 Buchanan's administration. 
 
 From Nashville our party proceeded to Biimingham, 
 then a new city, laid out with taste, and planned for a city 
 of many thousand people, which it has since become. Here 
 we met the Alabama Press Association and spent the day 
 very pleasantly with them. We then went to Tuscaloosa, 
 the former capital of the State, and had a delightful recep- 
 tion in that beautiful city known as the Athens of the 
 South. At Montgomery, where Jeff. Davis was inaugurated 
 President of the Southern Confederacy, we had a delightful 
 time and were shown many remarkable places of interest. 
 Other places visited were: Anniston, Ala., an iron town, 
 Rome, Ga., and Atlanta, the finest city in the South. A 
 very interesting- visit was made to Chattanooga, including 
 the battlefield of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. 
 A very pleasant time was also had at Knoxville, Tenn., 
 once the home of Parson Brownlow. From there train was 
 taken for Washington where the party was received by 
 President Grant, and all the places of interest were visited. 
 At Philadelphia Mr. Geo. W. Childs, editor ot the Phila- 
 delphia Ledger, entertained the whole party in splendid 
 style. 
 
 The whole trip remains in the memory of every participant 
 as one of the most delightful experiences of life. Full 
 accounts were written in all the papers represented, which I 
 have carefully preserved in a scrap book. The following 
 extract is from an editorial in the CENSOR, of June 10, 1874, 
 after our return, entitled "To the South and Back:" 
 
 In our trip we passed through ten States, six of them 
 south of Mason and Dixon's line, and during all the trip 
 south we were the recipients of unbounded hospitalities and 
 every facility afforded to ascertain the true condition of our 
 sister States of the South. We had pnblic receptions at 
 Nashville, Tenn., Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Selma, and 
 Montgomery in Alabama, Rome and Atlanta in Georgia, 
 Chattanooga and Knoxville in Bast Tennessee. We found 
 a kind of fraternal feeling existing wherever we went, and
 
 TO ALABAMA AND RETURN 1874. 369 
 
 not only a readiness to "shake hands across the bloody 
 chasm, ' ' but scarcely a ' 'chasm' ' remaining. The South has 
 accepted the situation and in all the addresses of welcome 
 which our party received, the most fraternal feeling was 
 expressed. Considering how demoralized they have been 
 by slavery and its attendant dearth of enterprise and 
 industry, we were surprised at the recuperative power 
 exhibited in their leading cities. The war left them im- 
 poverished and comparatively helpless. They could no 
 longer compel labor, and must now depend on their own 
 resources. Yet we saw cities like Atlanta, which had been 
 entire!}' devastated by the fortunes of war, and left almost 
 without an inhabitant, now springing into new life as by 
 magic; hotels, business places, churches and schools erected, 
 which would do honor to any northern city, and the people 
 happy and prosperous. While formerly ignorance was the 
 rule with the colored population, and no free schools for the 
 whites, we now see education encouraged among all classes 
 and conditions, and equal division of the school fund 
 between whites and colored, and an air of appreciation of 
 the value of American citizenship, which we had not hoped 
 for from a people so recently engaged in an effort to sever 
 the Union. In fact, in three several visits to the South 
 since the war, we have never met an individual who would 
 acknowledge a wish that slavery should be restored. They 
 now generally look upon the institution as having been the 
 bar to Northern enterprise, to the manufacturing interests, 
 and the development of their natural resources. In view of 
 the sparsity of their population, their poverty in mechanical 
 industries, and all the resources necessary to carry on a war 
 against double their number fully equipped for belligerent 
 action, it is surprising that they were enabled to endure a 
 contest of four years with so much valor, and with so much 
 success on many a hard contested field. Now that we are 
 a reunited people, we may well be proud of their valor as 
 well as of our own faithful heroes who fought and died for 
 the protection of the old flag, and throughout the South, 
 where the garnered dust of the brave men who fell in the
 
 370 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 fratricidal contest reposes, the blue and the gray have alike 
 received the tribute of respect which a chivalrous people 
 bestow on the brave . 
 
 In business circles all "roots of bitterness" are fast dying 
 out. The mingling of people from all parts of the country 
 with each other has produced this result. As the comming- 
 ling of the best seed of the old world has made ours the 
 most powerful and prosperous nation in the world, so the 
 mixture of population from all portions of our own country 
 will develop a prosperity which can be attained in no other 
 way. For the attainment of the highest results there must 
 be no sectional differences in the family of States. Enter- 
 prise and industry must have an untrameled course in all 
 the States, and American citizenship should be a passport 
 to all the rights and privileges of the several States. We 
 have great faith that our Union is cemented more strongly 
 by the result of the past differences, and the more the 
 several sections see of each other the greater will be the 
 mutual regard and respect. In this view we cannot but 
 regard the visit of representatives of the press from all parts 
 of the State as fraught with good to us and them. The 
 fraternal feeling has been greatly enhanced, and whenever 
 any of our friends whose princely hospitality we shared, 
 shall visit the North, they may be assured of a most cordial 
 reception and welcome.
 
 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. 37 1 
 
 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. 
 
 O fortunate, O happy day, 
 When a new household finds its place 
 Among the myriad homes of earth, 
 Like a new star just sprung to birth, 
 And rolled on its harmonious way 
 Into the bo mdless realms of space ! 
 So said the guests in speech and song, 
 As in the chimney, burning bright, 
 We hung the iron crane to-night, 
 And merry was the feast and long. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 CHICOPEE, MASS., May 23, 1882. 
 
 DEAR CENSOR: It is fifty years since I left the family 
 hearthstone for a residence of four years at Northampton to 
 learn the printer's art. There was literally a hearthstone 
 here then, for the broad fire place, with brick oven, and 
 receptacle for ashes underneath, the large crane, where 
 pots and kettles were wont to hang over the blazing fire, 
 were then realities, and when my parents some eighty years 
 ago had commenced housekeeping, "The Hanging of the 
 Crane," so beautifully described by Longfellow, was a 
 realization to the then youthful couple who commenced life's 
 journey together. In process of time eleven children were 
 born in that humble abode, of which nine grew to mature 
 years. Two summers ago, seven of these nine children 
 gathered at the old homestead, some with children and 
 grandchildren, and one with a great grandchild. But the 
 youthful couple of eighty years ago, had long since departed 
 to the other shore to await the arrival of those who were to 
 succeed them and take up life's burdens where they had 
 left them. Many of the houses along the street are occupied 
 by strangers.
 
 372 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 One hundred and thirty years ago, my grandfather, then 
 four years from Yale College, was invited to a life settlement 
 over the second parish of Springfield. He was then un- 
 married. The house to which he took his youthful bride 
 (a descendant of the Chapins) is standing, but the crane, 
 the trammels-, and the huge fire place around which were 
 gathered the children who grew up around them, have all 
 passed away, as well as those who more than one hundred 
 years ago had their youthful sports around the hearthstone 
 and enjoyed the merry Thanksgiving season there. 
 
 In his settlement it was provided that he should receive 
 as a salary 40 per year, and a load of pine knots by the 
 light of which he could pursue his studies and the prepara- 
 tion of his sermons. As the insignia of his office, he wore 
 a wig with flowing curls coming down over his shoulders, 
 which is now preserved in the town library of Chicopee. It 
 was provided in his settlement that his salary should be in- 
 creased after his marriage, which was a presumption that his 
 family expenses would be increased. The church building 
 in which he preached was a venerable looking structure, 
 with galleries on three sides, the pews square so that the 
 family sat facing each other, and full half of the occupants 
 sat with backs toward the preacher. The clapboards which 
 covered the building were of riven oak, about three inches 
 wide and three feet long, and beaded on the lower edge. 
 Over the windows were ornamented caps projecting, in 
 which the martins, swallows and bats had comfortable 
 houses. There never was a fire in the building, but in cold 
 weather the good housewife carried her foot stove filled with 
 live coals from the glowing fire place at home, which was 
 passed around to the different members of the family so 
 that all might have a share in its warmth. The good 
 deacon, w r ho sat opposite the minister in the gallery, pitched 
 the tunes with a pitch pipe, a kind of adjustable whistle, 
 and the tunes of olden times, like Dundee, Mear, Durham, 
 Old Hundred, etc. , were very impressive as the inspired 
 hvmns of Dr. Wattts were rendered in the music of those
 
 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE. 373 
 
 days' The "tythingman," an official of those days appoint- 
 ed at the annual meeting of the parish, had charge to keep 
 order, and well do we remember the chagrin of the thought- 
 less lad who should smile or make a noise during the 
 service, when the dignified official would rap on the front 
 of the seat and with a stern look of disapprobation point to 
 the unwitting lad, who became the talk among the other 
 better behaved lads and was the subject of discipline when 
 he should return home. The preaching was supported by 
 tax on all who lived in the parish, and the salary was raised 
 by assessment on property like any other town or local tax. 
 The pulpit was an elevated structure, reached by some 
 dozen stairs, and over it the .sounding board, an ornamented 
 conical structure covered on the under side with a resonant 
 ceiling, which should throw the sound of the voice directly 
 at the audience. The praises of the choir, however, could 
 ascend without interruption. This venerable church edifice 
 was removed about fifty years ago and a more modern 
 structure erected. There are very few of the old time 
 edifices now left in New England. The old South Church 
 in Boston is among those saved. 
 
 There is a historical interest connected with this portion 
 of the beautiful valley of the Connecticut, now known as 
 Chicopee street. Here the six sons of Dea. Samuel Chapin 
 settled some 240 years ago and raised families the descendants 
 of which are now numbered by thousands. They were men 
 of nerve as well as moral power. Of the church over which 
 my grandfather settled, all were Chapins but two. No one 
 then made a mistake of name when meeting a person in 
 calling his name Chapin. At the Chapin gathering in 
 Springfield some twenty years ago, Dr. Holland delivered 
 the poem in which was set forth with graphic power the 
 virtues gnd patriotism ot this noted family, whose names are 
 interspersed among the teeming millions of the country's 
 vast domain. 
 
 No doubt a deep interest was felt in the political history 
 of the times. At the time my grandfather came here the 
 French war was in progress, and one of his deacons was at
 
 374 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 the capture of L,ouisburg. The Indian wars were mostly 
 over, and the purchase of the lands of the Indians had been 
 peacefully accomplished. In the Revolutionary War doubt- 
 less his church and congregation took an active part, as the 
 Congregationalists of New England were active in securing 
 that liberty of conscience and freedom from taxation without 
 representation, which was the basis of political action in New 
 England. The adherents of Cromwell who gave the best 
 government England had ever had up to that time, had 
 flocked to New England on the Restoration, and that 
 influence made the establishment of a free and tolerant 
 government in the colonies possible. 
 
 When Charles II. sent his emissaries to capture the fugitive 
 judges who had condemned his father, (Charles I) to the 
 block, the three fugitives, Goff, Whalley and Dixon, found 
 protection in the colonies, and though relentlessly pursued, 
 finally died a natural death, two at New Haven and one at 
 Boston. Ezra Stiles, classmate and chum of John Mc- 
 Kinstry, afterward President of Yale College, wrote the 
 history of these fugitive judges who came to the colonies, 
 and doubtless during their college days they often- discussed 
 these matters in their room, and considered their bearing on 
 the cause of freedom of conscience in those early days. The 
 New England clergymen of those times did not hesitate to 
 present the cause of the oppressed colonies in their Sunday 
 discourses. The)^ were the leaders of public opinion in 
 those days. 
 
 The Shays Rebellion took place while ' Mr. McKinstry 
 was pastor of the parish, and the army spent two days on 
 Chicopee street on their way to capture the U. S. Armory at 
 Springfield. W. McK.
 
 SCOTCH- 1 RISK IMMIGRATION. 375 
 
 SCOTCH-IRISH IMMIGRATION. 
 
 [The following history of this important class of immigrants 
 to the Colonies, was written by Hon. William Willis, of Portland, 
 Me., as an introduction to the genealogy of the McKinstry family. 
 He was a descendant of Rodger McKinstry, of Scotland, who came 
 to Ireland in 1669, and President of the Maine Historical Society.] 
 
 The McKinstrys originated in Scotland. The first of the 
 name who emigrated to Ireland was Rodger, who had lived 
 in the neighborhood of Edinburgh, and emigrated thence to 
 the north of Ireland about the year 1669. I propose, as a 
 preliminary to the history of this family, to give a brief 
 account of the Scotch emigration to Ireland, and from that 
 country to America previous to our Revolution. 
 
 During the Irish rebellions in the reign of Elizabeth, the 
 Province of Ulster, embracing the northern counties of 
 Ireland, was greatly depopulated, and it became a favorite 
 project with her successor, James I., to repeople those 
 counties with a protestant population, the better to preserve 
 order, and introduce a higher state of cultivation in that 
 portion of his dominions. To promote this object, liberal 
 offers of land were made, and other inducements held out in 
 England and Scotland, for persons to occupy this wide and 
 vacant territory. The project was eagerly embraced; 
 companies and colonies were formed and individuals without 
 organization were tempted to partake of the advantageous 
 offers of government. A London company, among the first 
 to enter upon this new acquisition, established itself at 
 Derry, and gave such a character to the place as to cause it 
 to be afterwards and forever known as the renowned city of 
 London deny. 
 
 The first emigration from Scotland was chiefly from the 
 Highlands, where agricultural resources were scanty and 
 often wholly cut off, and where the fruits of labor were 
 gathered from a stern soil. Sir Hugh Montgomery, the 
 sixth Laird of Braidstone, a friend and follower of King 
 James, was among the earliest to obtain possession of 
 forfeited land in the county of Down, and laid his rough 
 hand upon many broad acres. The coast of Scotland is 
 within twenty miles of the county of Antrim in Ireland, and 
 across this frith or strait flowed from the northeast a popu- 
 lation distinguished for thrift, industry and endurance.
 
 376 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 which has given a peculiar and elevated character to that 
 portion of the emerald island. It is said that the clan Mc- 
 Donald contributed largely to this emigration, and was 
 among the first of the Scottish nation to plant upon its 
 shores. The)' scattered chiefly in the counties of Down, 
 Londonderry and Antrim, and greatly assisted to build up 
 Newry, Bangor, Derry and Belfast, the principal cities of 
 those counties. 
 
 This was the first protestant population that was intro- 
 duced into Ireland, the Presbyterians of Scotland furnishing 
 the largest element; and they have maintained their 
 ascendancy to the present day, against the persevering 
 efforts of the Episcopalians on the one hand, and of the 
 Romanists, bigoted and numerous, by whom they were 
 surrounded, on the other. The first Presbyterian church 
 established in Ireland was in Bally carry, in the county of 
 Antrim, in 1613. 
 
 The clan Alpine, otherwise called the McGregors, in the 
 latter part of the lyth century, had made themselves very 
 obnoxious to government and the neighboring clans by a 
 wild and reckless course of life. Argyle, the chief of the 
 Campbells, their inveterate enemy, who was high in court 
 favor, procured a decree of extermination against them, 
 extending even to the obliteration of their name and place 
 of residence. Heavs^ penalties were proclaimed against all 
 \vho bore the badge of the clan. To avoid this withering 
 persecution, many sought refuge in the neighboring islands; 
 many changed their names and fled to remote parts of their 
 own country or to other countries. Descendants from this 
 clan are now found in the United States and elsewhere, 
 under the names of Grier, Greer, Gregor, Gregory, &c. , the 
 Mac being dropped. Thus we shall probably find that a 
 distinguished Judge of the Supreme" Court of the U. States, 
 residing in Pennsylvania, Judge Grier, derives his origin 
 from the same wild tribe, which, under the guidance of 
 Robroy McGregor, was the terror of the high and low lands 
 of his native soil. Nor was the change of name confined to 
 that clan; for we are assured that the Mackinnons, from the 
 isleofSkye, are now McKenna, McKean, McCannon; that 
 McNish has become McNiece; Meness, Munniss, and Moniss; 
 and Graham is Graeme, Grimes, Groom, &c. 
 
 Although the rebellions of 1715 and 1745, against the 
 House of Hanover, made large additions to the Scotch 
 population in the north of Ireland, yet by far the largest 
 accessions to this colonization were occasioned by religious 
 persecutions in the time of the latter Stuarts. That fated
 
 SCOTCH- 1 RISK IMMIGRATION. 377 
 
 race, blind to the dictates of justice and humanity, and 
 devoted with sullen bigotry to their peculiar notions in 
 religion and politics, pursued a system of measures best 
 calculated to wean from their support subjects the most 
 devoted to their cause. The Scotti h race was bound to the 
 Stuarts by a national prejudice and a sincere affection. But 
 they were imbued with a religious enthusiasm, inspired by 
 Knox their great apostle, which ruled their consciences, and 
 rendered the sanctions of a higher law superior to their 
 patriotism, or their attachment to their native sovereigns. 
 Rather, they believed that true patriotism consisted in 
 maintaining the religion transmitted by their 'fathers. 
 
 When, therefore, the Charleses and James II. endeavored 
 to introduce prelacy among them, and to force it upon their 
 consciences by arbitrary laws and the iron hoofs of the 
 dragoons of Claverhouse, very many of these hardy, per- 
 sistent and enduring Presbyterians, having suffered to the 
 bitter end of cruelty and oppression, abandoned the land of 
 their birth, the home of their fondest affections, and sought 
 an as)-lum among their countrymen in the secure retreats of 
 "Ulster, or fled across the ocean. They carried their house- 
 hold gods with them; and their religious peculiarities 
 became more dear in their land of exile, for the dangers and 
 sorrows through which they had borne them. 
 
 Presbyterianism was transported from Geneva to Scotland 
 by John Knox, who composed the first Book of Discipline, 
 containing the substance of his intended policy, in 1561. 
 In 1566, a general assembly approved the Discipline; and 
 all church affairs after that time were managed by Presby- 
 teries and General Assemblies. They did not at first 
 formally deprive the bishops, who had ecclesiastical juris- 
 diction, of their power, but they went on gradually and 
 steadily doing it, as they acquired confidence and strength. 
 In 1574, they voted bishops to be only pastors of one parish; 
 in 1577, they decreed that bishops should be called by their 
 own names without title; and the next year they declared 
 the name of bishop to be a nuisance. In 1580, they pro- 
 nounced with one voice, in the General Assembly, that 
 diocesan episcopacy was unscriptural and unlawful. The 
 same year, King James and his family, with the whole 
 Scotch nation, subscribed a confession of faith, embracing 
 the "solemn league and covenant," obliging them to 
 maintain the protestant doctrine and presbyterian govern- 
 ment. Thus in the space of twenty years, grew up this 
 formal, extensive and powerful institution, twining itself 
 over the Scottish mind with stern and inflexible bands.
 
 378 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 which death only could sunder; and for which, home, 
 country, life all things beside were freely given up. 
 
 James had hardly become secure and easy on his English 
 throne when he began his attack upon the religious system 
 of his early life, and of his native country, and his successors 
 followed it up with a pertinacity worthy of a better cause. 
 The attempts to establish the church of England over Scot- 
 land, and destroy the religious system so universally 
 established and so dearly cherished by that devoted people, 
 was pursued by the Charleses and James the 2d, by persecu- 
 tions as mean, as cruel, and savage, as any which have dis- 
 graced the annals of religious bigotry and crime. And they 
 did not cease until they had greatly depopulated Scotland, 
 and were stripped of their power by the happy revolution 
 under William and Mary, which restored repose to a 
 distracted and long suffering people. 
 
 Scotland, a country no larger than Maine, with a popula- 
 tion at the close of the seventeenth century of a million, and 
 in 1800 not so much as the present population of Massa- 
 chusetts and Maine;* with agricultural and other resources 
 by no means equal to ours of which a writer in a recent 
 number of the Edinburgh Review, on the Highlands, says, 
 "at the end of the i yth century the chief social feature of 
 the Highlands was famine, and another was emigration." 
 Yet this country has contributed largeby, by emigration, to 
 furnish numerous and prominent settlers for many other 
 lands; to the nation with which she is connected, profound 
 statesmen, brilliant writers, and men the most renowned in 
 every department of scientific and philosophical research. 
 
 This is the race, composed of various tribes flowing from 
 different parts of Scotland, which furnished the materials of 
 the Scotch-Irish immigration to this country. By their 
 industry, frugality and skill, they had made the deserted 
 region into which they had moved, a compartaively rich 
 and flourishing country. They had improved agriculture 
 and introduced manufactures, and by the excellence and 
 high reputation of their productions had attracted trade and 
 commerce to their markets, so as to excite the jealousy of 
 government in the reigns of Anne and the first George, 
 notwithstanding that by their efforts and example the 
 prosperity of the whole island had been promoted. The 
 patronizing government began to recognize them, in the 
 shape of taxes and embarrassing regulations upon their 
 industry and trade. The same jealousy controlled that 
 
 *The area of Scotland is 3 1,324 square miles, that of Maine is 
 31,766. The population of Scotland in 1851 was '2,889,742; of Massa- 
 chusetts and Maine in 1860, 1,859,501.
 
 SCOTCH-IRISH IMMIGRATION. 379 
 
 government afterwards, in regard to the American Colonies, 
 by which the commerce and enterprise of their subjects on 
 this side of the ocean, were, in like manner, hampered and 
 restricted, so that they were hardly permitted to manufacture 
 articles of the most common necessity, but were driven to 
 import them from the mother country, as glass, nails, hats, 
 cloths, &c. 
 
 These restrictions occasioned general distress, not only in 
 the north of Ireland, but throughout the whole island. 
 To this, Douglass says, "was added an extravagant 
 advance in rents by landlords, whose long leases were now 
 expired. ' ' The energetic and self-willed population of the 
 north of Ireland, animated by the same spirit which subse- 
 quently moved the American mind, determined no longer to 
 endure these oppressive measures; and they sought by 
 another change to find a freer verge for the exercise of their 
 industry and skill, and for the enjoyment of their religion. 
 
 One of their spiritual leaders, the Rev. David McGregor, 
 in a sermon which he preached on the eve of the departure 
 from Ireland, assigned the following reasons for their 
 removal to America: i, to avoid oppressive and cruel 
 bondage; 2, to shun persecution; 3, to withdraw from the 
 communion of idolaters; 4, to have an opportunity of 
 worshipping God according to the dictates of conscience and 
 his inspired word. He looked at it chiefly from a religious 
 point of view; others from a material and commercial stand- 
 point. It was undoubtedl)- suggested and promoted by a 
 variety of motives gradually operating upon the mass of the 
 population, which brought them to the determination, solemn 
 and painful, to sunder the ties which had bound them firmly 
 to their adopted country, and impelled them to seek new 
 and doubtful homes in a wild, unexplored, and far-distant 
 land. 
 
 The first immigration of these people to this country was 
 to the Middle and Southern Colonies. As early as 1684 a 
 settlement was formed in New Jersey, and in 1690 small 
 groups were found in the Carolinas, Maryland and Pennsyl- 
 vania. It seems to be well established that the first Presby- 
 terian church in the United States was formed by a company 
 of Scotch immigrants in Upper Marlborough, Maryland, 
 about the year 1690. Another about the same time at 
 Snowhill in the same State. In 1692, two churches of this 
 denomination were established in Freehold and Woodbridge, 
 in New Jersey, one composed of Scotch, the other of Scotch 
 and New England immigrants. But it was not until the 
 reigns of Anne and George I. that large numbers, driven by
 
 3#a EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 oppressive measures of government and disastrous seasons;, 
 were induced to seek, even in the wilderness, a better home 
 than their old settled region could give them. Gordon says, 
 "Scarcity of corn, generally prevalent from the discourage- 
 ment of industry, amounted in 1728 and the following year 
 almost to a famine, especially in Ulster. Emigrations to- 
 America, which have since increased, drew about 3000' 
 people annually from Ulster alone." Dr. Boulter, after- 
 wards Archbishop of Armagh, who labored strenuously in 
 1728 to divert the horrors of famine in Ireland, wrote to the 
 English ministry, March 7, 1728, that there were seven 
 ships then lying at Belfast that "are carrying off about 1000 
 passengers; most of them carj neither get victuals nor work 
 at home." He also says, "3100 men, women and children 
 went from Ireland to America in 1727, and 4,200 in three 
 years, all protestants. " The principal seats of these 
 emigrations were Pennsylvania and the Middle States. New 
 England was found not so favorable to their farming and 
 other interests. Douglass, who wrote at Boston in 1750, 
 says, "at first they chose New England,, but being brought 
 up to husbandry, &c., New England did not answer so 
 well as the Colonies southward; at present they generally 
 resort to Pennsylvania." By Proud' s history of Pennsyl- 
 vania, we find that in 1729 near 6000 arrived in that Colony; 
 and before the middle of the century nearly 12,000 arrived 
 annually for several years. These were protestants and 
 generally Presbyterians; few or no Catholics came, until 
 some time after the Revolution. 
 
 In the summer of 1718, the first organized company of 
 this class of immigrants, of which we have any knowledge, 
 left the shores of Ireland in five vessels, containing 120 
 families, for the new world, and arrived safely in Boston, 
 August 4, 1718. Here all was new, the wilderness and the 
 world before them. Imagine this little colony, strangers in 
 a strange land, seeking new homes and not knowing whither 
 to turn. There they lie at the little wharf at the foot of State 
 street in the town of Boston, which then contained about 
 12,000 inhabitants, taking counsel where to go, and how 
 to dispose of themselves and their little ones, to begin the 
 world anew. With their wonted energy, they were soon 
 astir. One brigantine, with a company of twenty families, 
 sought their fortunes at the eastward, among whom were 
 Armstrong, Means, McKean, Gregg; they spent a hard 
 and long winter in Portland harbor, and then fled westward, 
 most of them, to join their companions in founding their 
 new Londonderry. Another portion went to Andover and
 
 SCOTCH-IRISH IMMIGRATION. 381 
 
 its neighborhood, led on by their pastor, McGregor; another 
 to Pelham, Mass., under the lead of the Rev. Ralph 
 Abercrombie; another remained in Boston, under their 
 pastor, the Rev. John Moorhead; and still another sought 
 refuge in Worcester and vicinity-. Wherever they went, 
 this devoted people first of all planted the Presbyterian 
 church, adopting the discipline and usages of the church of 
 Scotland. Mr. McGregor and his flock finally established 
 themselves at Nutfield, N. H., and built up a town' which 
 they called, from their venerated city in Ireland, London- 
 derry 1 . Here they founded a colony, which like a fruitful 
 mother, has been sending forth from its prolific bosom men 
 and women, of their h >rdy and enlightened stock, to instruct 
 and adorn society. And here were gathered the McGregors, 
 McClintocks, Starks, Reid, Bell, Morrison, Anderson, Mc- 
 Kean and others, who have given vigor to our varied insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 The society in Boston established the Presbyterian church, 
 which continued for more than half a century to worship in 
 their meeting-house on the corner of Long Lane, now 
 Federal street, and Bury street, where Dr. Gannett' s church 
 stood until 1759, under the pastoral care of Rev. John Moor- 
 head, familiarly called Jonny Moorhead, whose ardent and 
 impulsive temper often led him into embarrassments, but 
 who faithfully ministered to his people until his death in 
 1773. He was succeeded by the Rev. Robert Annan, a 
 Scotch presbyter, who occupied the pulpit until 1786, when 
 the people cast off Presbyterian ism, assumed the Congrega- 
 tional form of government, and, in 1787, settled the excellent 
 and learned Dr. Jeremy Belknap. In April, 1745, Messrs. 
 Moorhead, McGregor, Abercrombie, with James McKean 
 and others, met at Londonderry and established the first 
 Presbytery in New England, consisting of twelve churches, 
 called the Presbytery of Boston. 
 
 This company introduced into Boston the cultivation of 
 the potato, which had not before been known in the country, 
 and the flax spinning wheel, the familiar domestic instru- 
 ment of their native households. The latter had quite a run 
 in Boston; schools were established to teach the art of 
 spinning, and ladies of the first quality were found among 
 the votaries of this useful art. 
 
 The party which went to Worcester fared worse than any 
 other; they encountered a severe persecution, and were not 
 permitted to erect a house of worship of their peculiar order. 
 In one attempt of the kind, the structure was entirely de- 
 molished by a mob. A great prejudice was enlisted against
 
 382 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 them, both from their religion and their country; they were 
 called Irish, a term they greatly resented. Mr. McGregor 
 wrote, "We are surprised to hear ourselves termed Irish 
 people." The Worcester immigrants struggled awhile 
 against a bitter opposition, and finding repose there hope- 
 less, they abandoned the place, same f _>r Pelham, others for 
 their head-quarters in Londonderry, and some to plant 
 themselves at Unadilla, on the banks of the Susquehanna, 
 in New York. In the Worcester company were the names 
 of Clark, McKinstry, Gray, Ferguson, Crawford, Graham, 
 Barbour, Blair, and Thornton; Mathew Thorton, then a. 
 child, became the distinguished patriot and statesman of 
 New Hampshire, and a signer of the declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 In 1719 and 1720, five ships, under the conduct of Capt. 
 Robert Temple, who had previously explored the country, 
 landed several hundred families from Ireland on the shores 
 of Kennebec ri^er and Merry Meeting Bay. Temple was of 
 a distinguished family in Ireland, and the ancestor of the 
 numerous and respectable family of the late L,t. Governor 
 Thomas L,. Winthrop, of Boston, who married his grand- 
 daughter Elizabeth Bowdoin. 
 
 Bummer's Indian war broke up this colony, and the 
 larger part of them went to Pennsylvania: After the war 
 was ended, other companies of this race occupied various 
 points in Maine, as Topsham, Brunswick, Boothbay, Pema- 
 quid, and the Waldo patent, which region contained a larger 
 number of this description of immigrants than any part of 
 New England. In 1771, a Presbytery was established at 
 Boothbay called the Presbytery of the Eastward, consisting 
 of three ministers and four Ruling Elders, representing four 
 churches. It never consisted of more than eight ministers, 
 and the last record of it now known to exist,, was an adjourn- 
 ment to meet at New Boston, in New Hampshire, on the 
 first Wednesday, in October, 1792. They were entirely 
 under the religious government of Presbyters and Assemblies, 
 until the eve of the Revolution, when large accessions of 
 Congregationalists or Independents mingling among them, 
 a struggle took place between the two ciders of the govern- 
 ment of the church. This resulted in the overthrow of 
 Presbyterianism and the establishment of Congregationalism 
 over the churches of the State. There is not now a Presby- 
 terian church in Maine. Once it boasted of Murray, famed 
 for his eloqnence of Rutherford, Blair, Boyd, Dunlap, Mc- 
 Lean, Urquahart, Whittaker, Strickland none remain, and 
 hardly a recoid of them. The same struggle took place in
 
 SCOTCH-IRISH IMMIGRATION. 383 
 
 Massachusetts, until Synod, Presbytery and Church dis- 
 appeared, and now only the feeble Presbytery of London- 
 derry remains in New England to record and perpetuate the 
 religious characteristics of that great race which sought 
 refuge on these shores, and has done so much to advance 
 the honor and prosperity of the countrj'. Their power as a 
 sect is most prevalent in the Middle and Western States. 
 
 In 1865 the Presbyter}- of Londonderry consisted of eleven 
 churches, of which three were in Massachusetts, and twenty- 
 eight ministers, but only nine of the ministers had a pastoral 
 charge. Seven of these were pastors of Congregational 
 churches, and six were supposed to be Congregational 
 ministers, of whom one was in Massachusetts, three in N. 
 H. and two in Maine. 
 
 Independency or Congregationalism was not introduced 
 into England until 1616. But Puritanism, which embraces 
 both orders of dissenters, had its origin in Elizabeth's time, 
 in her attempts to cause subscriptions to be made to the 
 liturgy, ceremonies, and discipline of the Church, in 1564. 
 Those who refused subscription and preferred a simple 
 worship, were called Puritans by way of reproach. When 
 the doctrines of Arminius began to prevail in the English 
 church, the Puritans adhered to the system of Calvin, and 
 were defined to be men of severe morals, Calvinists in 
 doctrine, and non-conformists to the ceremonies and 
 discipline of the Church. The first Presbyterian church 
 was established in England, near London, in 1577, by a few 
 scattered brethren; and both these branches of dissenters. 
 Independents and Presbyterians, made at first but slow 
 progress; and although agreeing in doctrine, they differed 
 from each other on the form of government as widely as 
 they both did from Episcopacy. * 
 
 The Independents or Congregational brethren were small 
 in number in the Westminster Assembly, although they 
 increased prodigiously afterwards under Cromwell. They 
 made a bold stand against the proceedings of the high 
 Presbyterians. They maintained "that every particular 
 congregation of Christians' ' has an entire and complete 
 power of jurisdiction over its members, to be exercised by 
 the elders thereof within itself." They add, "this they are 
 sure must have been the form of government in the primitive 
 church." A'eal, 3, 157. 
 
 The system of the Independents was attacked b) r the 
 rigid Presbyterians with great severity, "as tending to 
 break the uniformity of the church, under pretence of liberty 
 of conscience." But one of their number, Mr. Herle, the
 
 384 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 prolocutor of the Assembly, with great candor and good 
 sense, remarked, "The difference between us and our 
 brethren who are for Independency, is nothing so great as 
 some conceive; at most, it does but ruffle the fringe, not 
 any way rend the garment of Christ." 
 
 Yet the quarrel continued, and has continued to the 
 present day; the sound of the controversy, even in this 
 country, is now ringing in our ears; in the last century it 
 was discordant and harsh throughout our churches in the 
 ambitious struggle for power. The controversy then related 
 to church government, for in doctrine there was a substantial 
 agreement. The Savoy confession of 1658 proceeds upon 
 the plan of the Westminster Assembly; the preface declares, 
 "that they fully consent to the Westminster confession, for 
 the substance of it. ' ' The disagreement was not in matters 
 of faith, but only in matters of form. 
 
 It is not my intention to trace further the migrations of 
 these people upon this continent. Having accompanied the 
 earliest colony to Massachusetts, which contained the first 
 ,of the McKinstry family who came to America, I leave the 
 nation to follow the fortunes of the individual. 
 
 I. JOHN McKiNSTRY, the first of the name who came to 
 this country, was born in Erode Parish, in the county of 
 Antrim, Ireland, in 1677. He was of Scotch descent, and 
 was the son of Rodger McKinstry and Mary Wilson, who 
 lived in the neighborhood of Edinburgh, until compelled by 
 the persecutions under Charles II., about 1669, to seek 
 security and repose with their Presbyterian brethren in the 
 province of Ulster, and the county of Antrim. The analysis 
 of the name is Mac, of or son of, Kin, head or chief man 
 st?<z, of the strseth or valley. This indicates a common 
 origin with the old Scottish name, .MacKenzie. The Mac- 
 Kinstry name is not uncommon at the .present time, in 
 Ireland, and also in Scotland. We find in Armagh, a 
 solicitor by the name of John, and in the county of Long- 
 ford, there are several bearing the name of John, Alexander 
 and Robert, familiar also in the families in this country. 
 The grand-father of John of Armagh, migrated from 
 Antrim. 
 
 John, the son of Rodger above named, was educated at the 
 University of Edinburg, from which he graduated Master of 
 Arts in 1712. It may gratify the curious to see the Diploma 
 which that University then granted to its graduates, which 
 we annex in the original language: 
 
 "Ne quern forte habeat cujus scire interest, Nos Universitatis 
 Jacob: Regis Edinensis Professores Testamur hunc Juvenem Johan-
 
 GENEALOGY. 385 
 
 nem McRinstrieHibernum, Postquam Philosophise & Humanioribus 
 Literis ea Morum Integritate et Modestia(quse Ingenuum decebat 
 Adolescentem) apud. Nos vacasset, eaque praestitisset, omnia qua? 
 Discipline Ratio et Academiae consuetude praescripserat, Tandem 
 consensu Senatus Academici Magistrum in Artibus Liberalibus 
 Riti Renunciatum, Cunctaque consecutum Privelegia quae Bonarum 
 Artium Magistris uspiam concedisolent: Cujus Rei quo major esset 
 fides, Sigillum Inclyti Senatores Edimensis Athensei Curatores et 
 Patroni Nos Chirographa Apposuimus IV, Kal Martii MDCCXII. 
 Datum Edinburgh 
 
 JOH. GOODALL, L. S. P. 
 
 ROBERTUS HENDERSON B & Acad. ab Archivi. 
 
 GULIEL. HAMILTON, N. S. P. 
 
 GULIELMUS LAW, P. P, 
 
 Gu LI ELM us SCOTT, P. P, 
 
 ROBERTUS STOUAOL, P. P. 
 
 COL; DRUMOND, P. P. 
 
 JA. GREGORY, Math. P." 
 
 Translation. "Be it known to all whom it may concern, thai 
 we, the Professors of the University of Edinboro' of King James, 
 testify, that this youth, John McKinstry of Ireland, after having 
 completed the study of philosophy and human literature with the 
 integrity and modesty of manners which is becoming an ingenuous 
 youth, has graduated with us.and is entitled to ail the privileges which 
 the course of discipline and the custom of this Academy is accustom- 
 ed to confer. And now, with the consent of the Faculty and 
 teachers of this College, he is declared a Master in the liberal Arts, 
 and entitled to all the privileges which are wont to be conceded to 
 the Masters of the Good Arts. Of which fact, that there may be 
 greater taith, we, the distinguished Governors, Teachers and 
 Patrons of the University of Edinburgh, have placed our signatures, 
 this 4th Calends of March, 1712." 
 
 How he disposed of himself for the next six years we have 
 no information; he certainly qualified himself for the 
 ministry, and undoubtedly received Presbyterian ordination. 
 He joined the company of emigrants from the north of 
 Ireland in the summer of 1718, and arrived in Boston, 
 August 4, 1718. He followed the fortunes of that portion 
 of the emigrants which went to Worcester county. He had 
 not long been there before his services were sought by the 
 people of Sutton, a new town near Worcester, the settlement 
 of which had just commenced. At a meeting of the in- 
 habitants, Nov. 25, 1719, it was voted that Mr. McKinstry 
 should preach three mouths, and have fifteen pounds tor the 
 service. In the following March, the town voted to settle 
 Mr. McKinstry and to pay him 60 a year salary. In 
 pursuance of this and other votes, he was duly settled 
 according to Congregational usage on the Qth of November. 
 1720, neighboring churches being present and assisting in the 
 ordination ;the Rev. Mr. Swift of Framingham gave the Charge 
 and the Rev. Mr. Thatcher of Milton, the Right hand of 
 Fellowship. The people were generally Congregation alists,
 
 386 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 while the pastor, born and educated in rigid Presbyterianism, 
 could not, in his new position, lay aside his attachments to 
 the religious usages of his life. Difficulties therefore arose 
 soon after his settlement, on these opposite views of church 
 government, which produced continued uneasiness in the 
 parish; a Council was called in October, 1726, to which 
 twelve respected members of the church entered their dissent 
 on the ground that nothing was charged against him. There 
 is no record of the action of the Council, but the dissatis- 
 faction continued and led to a separation in September, 
 1728. During his ministry at Sutton of less than eight 
 3 r ears, forty-four members were added to the church. The 
 Rev. Mr. Tracy, in a historical sermon preached to the 
 parishioners in 1842, says of Mr. McKinstry, that "he was a 
 man of considerable brilliancy and popular talent." On 
 leaving Sutton Mr. McKinstry concluded to join his brethren 
 of the same denomination in New York. On his way 
 thither, his wife's health failing', he rested at East Windsor 
 in Connecticut. The parish in the eastern precinct of the 
 town, afterwards called Ellington, having no preacher, he 
 was requested to supply the pulpit. This circumstance 
 resulted in a suspension of his journey southward, and a 
 settlement over that parish, as its first pastor, in 1733. He 
 continued in this situation sixteen years, and remained in 
 the town until his death; which took place on Sunday, 
 January 20, 1754, at the age of 77 years. He preached on 
 the Sunday previous to his death. Mr. McKinstry is said 
 to have been a gentleman of good abilities, of popular 
 talents, and unwavering integrity, a quality belonging to 
 the family. His wife died Oct. 25, 1782, aged 81. Wm. 
 McKinstry, of Middletown, Con., the only surviving grand- 
 child of the first John, in 1859, erected a handsome granite 
 monument over the graves of his grand-parents, in the 
 ancient cemetery of Ellington, with appropriate inscriptions. 
 Soon after his settlement in Sutton, he married Elizabeth 
 Fairfield, of Wenham, Mass., probably a daughter of 
 William Fairfield, who represented his town in the General 
 Court twenty-seven years, in nine of which he was Speaker 
 of the House. Mr. Fairfield's oldest son William, died in 
 Boston in 1770, leaving six children, the second of whom, 
 the Rev. Wm. Fairfield, born in Boston in 1736, was settled 
 in the ministry at Saco, Maine, in 1762. He was grand- 
 father of the late Gov. Fairfield, of Maine. Mr. McKinstry 
 had by her, seven children, viz: John, born Dec. 31, 1723 
 Mary, b. Jan. i, 1726; Alexander, b. May 16, 1729 
 William, b. Oct. 8, 1732; 'Paul, b. Sept. 18, 1734; Elizabeth
 
 GENEALOGY. 387 
 
 b. May 27, 1736; Abigail, b. March 5, 1739. The first 
 two in Sutton, the others in Ellington. 
 
 Elizabeth and Abigail died unmarried, the latter in 
 Ellington, May 18, 1814. Elizabeth was killed by Bristol, 
 a negro servant of her brother William, June 4, 1763, while 
 she was visiting him in Taunton. The negro was fond of 
 Elizabeth, but had been made to believe that he could 
 obtain his freedom by killing some one of the family. He 
 therefore took an opportunity, when his victim's back was 
 towards him, and struck her a fatal blow on the back of 
 her head with a flat-iron. Much excitement was produced 
 in that quiet village and throughout the count} 1 by this sad 
 event; and a great crowd attended upon his trial and 
 execution, which soon after followed. The other five 
 were married and left issue. 
 
 II. JOHN, eldest son of Rev. John of Ellington, was born 
 in Sutton, December 31, 1723; he graduated at Yale College 
 in 1746, a classmate and chum ot Ezra Stiles, afterwards 
 the distinguished President of the College. Students at that 
 time were placed on the catalogue according to the rank of 
 their parents; McKinstry was placed fourth in a class of 
 twelve; he survived all his classmates by fifteen years, and 
 died Nov. 9, 1813, at the age of 90. He was ordained the 
 first pastor of the 2nd church in Springfield, which is now 
 Chicopee, Mass., Sept. 27, 1752; the parish was incorporated 
 June 10, 1751. The church at the time of his ordination 
 consisted of 43 members. His father, then seventy-five 
 years old, attended the ordination, as did also the following 
 clergymen: Messrs. Stephen Williams of Longmeadow, 
 Samuel Hopkins of West Springfield, Peter Reynolds of 
 Enfield, Robert Breck of Springfield and Noah Merrick of 
 Wilbraham. His salary was 80 settlement, and 45 a year 
 for the first ten years, with 15 cords of fire- wood. The 
 salary was subsequently raised to 62, and fire-wood, and 
 "a load of pine knots yearly to study by." After being 
 relieved from preaching, his salary was reduced to 18 ami 
 15 cords of fire-wood. One vote of the parish was, "the 
 worthy Mr. McKinstry shall always be provided with a 
 sufficiency of fire- wood." He continued the active pastor 
 of the society until 1789, when he was released from preach- 
 ing, but discharged other duties of the pastorate until his 
 death. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Lathrop of West Springfield, in the sermon 
 preached at his funeral thus described him: 
 
 "Mr. McKinstry was a man of good natural talents, a
 
 388 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 respectable scholar and sound divine. His preaching-, 
 though it suffered some disadvantage from the feebleness of 
 his delivery, was edifying to his stated hearers. He was a 
 man of exemplary piety,, of a candid spirit, of a modest., 
 humble disposition and of Christian fortitude and hope in 
 view of the approaching dissolution." 
 
 The parsonage house built in the early part of his ministry 
 and occupied by him, was standing in 1858. The old 
 edifice in which he preached has given place to a building; 
 more suited to modern taste, but is still standing and used 
 for a barn. 
 
 In 1760 he married Eunice, a daughter of David Smith, of 
 Suffield, Conn., who died Sept. 4, 1820, aged 86. They 
 had seven children, of whom my father, Perseus, was the 
 sixth. 
 
 Perseus, sixth child of Rev. John of Chicopee, b. 1772, d, 
 in Chicopee, Aug. 23, 1829; was a tanner, first in Plainfield; 
 then a farmer in Chicopee. Oct. 24, 1803, he mar. Grace, 
 a daughter of Daniel Williams, of Norwich, Mass. She was 
 born July 8, 1783, and died Dec. 24, 1855; they had eleven 
 children, viz : 
 
 Kliza, b. Sept. 25, 1804, living on the homestead, unmar- 
 ried. Died 1892. 
 
 Emily, b. April 8, 1806, mar. Dec. 16, 1830, Titus Chapin,, 
 a farmer in Chicopee, and died Oct. 14, 1842. leaving five 
 children, viz : Titus, Roxana, Emily, L,ucy and Eleanora, 
 who was born in 1841, and died in .1844. Her husband died 
 in 1865. The son, Titus, b. in 1831, was drowned at 
 Topeka on Kansas river, Aug 14, 1858. Roxana, while a 
 teacher in Georgia, married General Wm. Gerdine, of 
 Athens in that State. She died at West Point, Miss., in 
 1891, and left two children. Emily mar. Wm. D. Chapin, 
 of Chicopee, Dec. 8, 1859, and has four children. L,ucy died 
 unmarried in 1862, in Mississipi. 
 
 Thedosia, b. Aug. 23, 1807, mar. Whitman Chapin, a 
 farmer in Chicopee, Dec. 20, 1829, and had three children, 
 viz : Moses Whitman, Harriet Eliza and Edward. She died 
 in Holyoke, Dec. i, 1893. Her husband d. June 14, 1845. 
 Her son Moses Whitman mar. Augusta Chapin, Oct. 26, 
 1853, an d died Feb. 25, 1864, leaving four children. He 
 was a promising lawyer in Chicapee and had been elected a 
 member of the Legislature at the time of his death. Her 
 son Edward is the sole survivor of the family. He is a 
 graduate of Amherst College, has been member of the 
 Massachusetts Legislature, and is a leading lawyer in Hol- 
 yoke, Mass.
 
 GENEALOGY. 389 
 
 William, b. June 8, 1809; d. Feb. 24, 1845. He was a 
 farmer in Chicopee; he married Mary T. Frink and had two 
 children, viz : Laura Jane, who married John White of 
 Forestville, N. Y., in 1856, and has one son and two 
 daughters (one of the daughters, Mabel, is in the architect 
 department of the U. S. Treasury at Washington); and 
 Arthur, who was killed at the battle of Williamsburg May 
 5, 1862, at the age of 22. He was a young man of fine 
 abilities and great promise. He was a nephew of Willard 
 McKinstry, proprietor of the Fredonia Censor, and was a 
 writer for that paper of both poetry and prose which were 
 much commended. His letters from the arm}- were valuable 
 contributions to the literature of thewar. He joined the 
 army on the breaking out of the rebellion, although in 
 feeble health, just rising from a bed of sickness. The widow 
 of William married for her second husband Austin Chapin. 
 
 John Alexander, the fifth child of Perseus, b. April 19, 
 1811; he graduated at Amherst College in 1838: pursued 
 theological studies at the East Windsor Seminar}-; licensed 
 to preach by the Tolland Association Xov. 10, 1840, and 
 settled as a Congregational minister, first in Torrington, 
 Conn., in Oct., 1842, transferred to Harwinton in 1857. He 
 closed his labors at that place in Oct., 1863. In August. 
 1843, he married Mary E. Morton of Whately, Mass., and 
 had three children, John Morton b. 1844, Wm. Alexander 
 b. 1849, died in Cleveland, O., 1894, an< ^ Harriet Elvira b. 
 Jan. 4, 1858, now a teacher of classics in Lake Erie Semi- 
 nary at Painesville, O. Rev. John Alexander McKinstry 
 preached over twenty years in Richfield, Ohio, and died 
 in Painesville, O., March 12, 1889. 
 
 Willard, b. May 9, 1813, died May 27, 1814. 
 
 Willard, b. May 9, 1815; publisher of Fredonia Censor. 
 In 1843 he inar. Maria A. Durlin, and has had four children, 
 \\7. : Louis, Grace, Willard and Anna. Grace died in 1852; 
 the others are living. 
 
 Mary, b. Xov. 2, 1817; mar. James B. Finch June 20, 
 1843, of Southampton, Mass., and has had six children, of 
 whom two daughters are dead. Died 1884. 
 
 Alfred, b. May 17, 1821: d. 1823. 
 
 Alfred Lyman, b. April 20, 1823, died July 21, 1881; 
 mar. Jane Granger, June 2, 1852, and had two sons. Alfred 
 and Edgar, and one daughter. Mary Eliza, who mar. Hon. 
 Willard A. Cowles of Torrington, Conn. 
 
 Archibald Winthrop, yougest son of Perseus, b. in Chicopee, 
 March 19, 1828. He came to Fredonia in 1844 an d entered 
 the Censor office as apprentice. Married Sept. 3, 1857, Ellen 
 E., daughter of Nathan B. Putnam. He was associated
 
 39 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 with his brother in the publication of the Fredonia Censor 
 till twenty-nine years ago, when he moved to Faribault, Minn., 
 and purchased the Republican of that place, which he still 
 publishes. He has two children, Grace E. and L/ynn H. 
 both living in Minnesota. Correspondence by him and his . 
 daughter w r ill be found in this book. He and Willard are 
 all that survive of the family of eleven children.' 
 
 The following is taken from the Chautauqua County 
 History, just published: 
 
 Willard McKinstry's character was formed in that in- 
 dustry, frugality, integrity, patriotism and piety for which New 
 England was noted 75 years ago. There was much work, 
 little play, some schooling, and the small farm furnished. a 
 frugal support for the large family until he was 14, when 
 his father died. Then Willard worked out two summers, 
 attending school winters. In 1832 he became an apprentice 
 in the office of the Northampton, (Mass.) Courier. He 
 journeyed to Northampton, 14 miles, on foot, carrying all 
 his effects in a handkerchief; his wages was $30 the first 
 year, $35 the second, $40 the third, and $50 the fourth. 
 That knowledge of public affairs and of the English 
 language which made him such a clear and vigorous writer 
 was chiefty acquired by careful study and extensive reading 
 during his apprenticeship, and service as a journeyman 
 printer in New York, Hartford, Springfield and Mayville. 
 In Springfield he worked three years for G. and C. Merriam, 
 publishers of Webster's dictionary, and in Mayville he 
 worked on the Sentinel for his cousin Beman Brockway, with 
 whom he was a fellow apprentice at Northampton. In the 
 spring of 1842 Mr. McKinstry purchased the Fredonia 
 Censor, which he has since published. He is now the oldest 
 editor in the state. He married in 1842^ Maria A. Durlin 
 of Fredonia, a person well adapted for a helpmate of a 
 pioneer printer, possessing energy of character, fine literary 
 taste, extensive reading and winning sociality, and whose 
 judgment of literary merit was almost unerring. She died 
 in April, 1882. Of their four children, three lived to 
 maturity: Louis, the oldest, now a member of the state 
 constitutional convention, has been associated with his father 
 in business since 1867; Willard D., now a proprietor and 
 editor-in-chief of the Watettown Times, and a civil service 
 commissioner of the state; and Anna, with whom he resides, 
 the wife of Prof. M. T. Dana, vice-principal of the Fredonia 
 State Normal School. In 1887 Mr. McKinstry married
 
 GENEALOGY. 391 
 
 Mrs. Man- A. Baker, of Ackley, Iowa. She died in less 
 than a year. She was highly esteemed. 
 
 Mr. McKinstry made a profession of his Christian faith 
 when 14, and united with the same Congregational church 
 to which his grandfather had preached long before he was 
 born, and he was a member of the Northampton church 
 from 1832 until 1847, when he united with the Presbyterian 
 church of Fredonia, of which he is an honored member. 
 His vocation as an editor and his intense patriotism made 
 him thoroughly conversant with all public questions, while 
 his sincerity and modesty unfitted him for a professional 
 politician or office-seeker. He was a Whig, casting his 
 first presidental vote for Henry Clay, and has been a stead- 
 fast Republican since the organization of the part}-. He 
 was postmaster at Fredonia for eight years, first appointed 
 by President Lincoln in 1863. He was "anti-slavery" from 
 youth, and has been strongly "Union" throughout his life. 
 In 1865 he was for a time with the army near Petersburg in 
 the service of the Christian Commission, and is a staunch 
 friend of the soldiers, having advocated every measure for 
 their relief or benefit. He has been foremost in many public 
 improvements, was one of the original trustees of Forest 
 Hill cemetery, of which he has been president the past nine 
 years; was an original stockholder in the Dunkirk and Fre- 
 donia Railway Co., of which he has been president for 14 
 years; was one of the first movers to secure the location of 
 the State Normal School in Fredonia, and was a member of 
 its first local board of managers. He is opposed to any sort 
 of formalism, and has never departed from those character- 
 istics of simplicity and sincerity which he acquired in his 
 early Puritan home. He has prepared public addresses and 
 memorials of marked vigor and literary merit; and now, 
 having entered his 8oth year, he is found at the Gv/.v>; 
 office nearly every day, and writes occasional editorials with 
 clearness and force.
 
 392 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 IN MEMORY OF ARTHUR MCKINSTRY. 
 
 [Killed at Williamsburg, Va., May 3, 1862. He was the son of 
 the oldest son of the family of Perseus McKinstry. The following 
 is from the Censor of May 14, 1862.] 
 
 In the long, sad list of victims of the sanguinary battle at 
 Williamsburg, given in the Daily Tribune of Monday, 
 appears the name of ARTHUR MCKINSTRY. The readers of 
 the Censor will know to whom the announcement refers. 
 The pen which has so often enlivened the columns of this 
 paper with clear and faithful limnings of life in camp, has 
 dropped from the clay-cold fingers; our genial, talented and 
 warm-hearted correspondent, ' 'ARTHUR, " is no more. We 
 are unnerved, and have no heart to write, after this terrible 
 announcement. The blow will fall with crushing effect 
 upon a devoted mother and sister, and a large circle of 
 relatives. Of the thousands of victims who have offered up 
 their lives upon the altar of their country, Death has claimed 
 no spirit more noble, more truly and unselfishly devoted to 
 the great cause in which he had enlisted. 
 
 When the call was made for volunteers to fill the ranks of 
 Co. D., although he had but just risen from a long and 
 protracted illness, in which the scale had nearly balanced 
 between life and death, and vigorous strength had not 
 returned to his frame, he hastened to enroll his name among 
 those who were prompt to go forth and peril life in the 
 sacred cause. From that time, through his frequent corres- 
 pondence the readers of fh&jCensor have formed a partial 
 acquaintance, and learned to appreciate his manly and 
 sterling qualities. The last letter received from him, written 
 for the public, appears in another column of our paper. 
 
 The only alleviation which his surviving friends can feel 
 in their terrible bereavement is the knowledge that he died 
 as he would prefer to die, if he must pass the dread ordeal 
 in his manly prime, upon the field of conflict, and in the
 
 RECORD OF THE FAMILY. 393 
 
 cause of that country which so many of the bravest and 
 best have yielded up their lives to preserve. 
 
 "How sleep the brave who sink to rest 
 By all their country's wishes blest; 
 When Spring, with dewy fingers cold. 
 Returns to deck their hallowed mould: 
 She then shall dress a sweeter sod 
 Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 
 
 By fairy hands their knell is rung; 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sung, 
 There Honor comes a Pilgrim gray, 
 To deck the turf that wraps their clay; 
 And Freedom shall awhile repair 
 To dwell a weeping hermit there." 
 
 WAR RECORD OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 Mr. Willis, compiler of the Genealogy, gives the following 
 note at its close: 
 
 In revising my work for this new edition, at the close of 
 the unparalleled war through which we have passed, I have 
 been impressed by the fact, that, as in the war of the revolu- 
 tion, which gave us a National existence, members of the 
 different branches of our race, bore important parts, so in 
 the recent struggle for the preservation of that existence, 
 their descendants have as freely and honorably periled 
 their lives. In these noble efforts, several have perished 
 either in combat or by other contingencies of war. Some of 
 these I have briefly noticed, as their names have occurred 
 in the order of my narrative; of others, of whom I would 
 have gladly spoken, I have no particular information. One, 
 however, has come to my knowledge while the last pages 
 were going to press, concerning whom I will not omit the 
 opportunity of a brief notice. Surgeon Robert .-I. ttabbitt 
 was the eldest son of Emily, daughter of Alvin McKinstry. 
 the son of Paul, who was the youngest .son of the Rev. John 
 of Ellington. There was united in him, with the blood of- 
 the McKinstrys, that of the Rev. Thomas Smith, the first 
 pastor of the first church in Portland, through his daughter 
 Lucy, wife of Thorn as Sanders, of Cape Ann. He graduated 
 at the Medical College at Albany, in 1860. In 1861 he 
 joined the 8th Conn. Regiment of Volunteers as a private, 
 and was appointed its hospital steward. In 1862, he was
 
 394 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 appointed Superintendent of the Hammond General Hospital 
 at Beaufort, N. C. In 1863, he was promoted Surgeon of 
 the ist N. C. Union Volunteers having its head quarters at 
 Washington, N. C. In 1864, he received the appointment 
 of Post Surgeon at Beaufort, where, in consequence of 
 extensive and fatal disease, his labors were excessive, in 
 which his health gave way, and he perished of yellow fever, 
 Oct. 17, 1864, in the 23d year of his age. The Vermont 
 State Journal, in an appreciative notice of this excellent 
 young man, says, "Though young in years, he proved 
 himself eminently successful and efficient in his profession, 
 and a faithful and devoted soldier to his country." Similar 
 testimonials could be offered in behalf of various other 
 members of our family, who nobly gave themselves to the 
 cause of their country in the hour of her peril. Among 
 these were Capt. James P. McKinstry, of the Navy, whose 
 gallant passage of Port Hudson is on the page of history; 
 the youthful Arthur McKinstry, grandson of Perseus, who 
 perished in the great struggle at Williamsburg. Henry W. 
 Wells, a descendant of Dr. Wm. McKinstry, having served 
 gallantly in the Navy, was lost at sea in command of a 
 National vessel. Capt. Samuel W. Duncan, a volunteer in 
 the Army of the Mississippi ; he united two streams in the 
 Scotch Irish blood Duncan and McKinstry. And Com- 
 mander Francis Winslow, of the Navy, a noble and brave 
 officer who mingled the stock of the revolutionary hero 
 Stark with that of the McKinstrys. 
 
 I find that each branch of the McKinstrys has contributed 
 of its sons to the patriotic cause of the Country, as appears 
 in the preceding genealogy and will be borne upon the great 
 roll of honor. Of these, are Alexander McKinstry, the 
 great grand-son of Paul; Durling M. Brownell, killed in the 
 battle of the Wilderness; John F. Fink, a member of the 
 famed Nim's battery, and Frederick-Wm. Fink; Elliott F. 
 McKinstry served honorably three years; Martin Van Mc- 
 Kinstry, a prisoner and probably a victim, as he has not 
 been heard from; George Francis Fink died in Camp, and 
 Wm. Frank Adams. All young and enthusiastic, they 
 offered themselves to the great cause. The last seven were 
 descendants from William, (I.) the immigrant from Carrick- 
 fergus. 
 
 The same spirit which inspired the hearts of the sires in 
 the first revolution, was not abated in their sons in the second. 
 The union of the Scotch, the Celt and the Saxon in this race 
 form enduring elements of harmony and strength.
 
 THE MAINE BRANCH. 395 
 
 THE MAINE BRANCH. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM MCKINSTRY, the third son and fourth 
 child of Rev. John of Ellington, born Oct. 8, 1732 and 
 settled at Taunton, Mass. On Nov. 27, 1760, he married 
 Priscilla, daughter of the Rev. Nathaniel Leonard, pastor of 
 the ist Church in Plymouth, Mass., and later, Priscilla. 
 daughter of Nathaniel Rogers and Sarah Appleton of 
 Ipswich, Mass. By her he had ten children. 
 
 Dr. McKinstry had a successful business in Taunton, in 
 1774, although ht had a feeble constitution and a con- 
 sumptive habit. The Rev. Mr. Emery, in his "Ministry of 
 Taunton," says of Dr. McKinstry, "He was a person of 
 highly respectable personal and professional character." 
 At that time a Capt. Gilbert, suspected of tors' principles, 
 was seized and so roughly handled by the "sons of liberty," 
 that it became necessary to have a surgeon to dress his 
 wounds. He protested against having a rebel doctor, but 
 was willing that Dr. McKinstry should attend him. This 
 suggestion excited suspicion against this amiable and popular 
 physician. He became the subject of offensive remark, and 
 was exposed to insult and injury. Being in feeble health 
 and of a sensitive nature, which could not bear hard usage 
 nor a suspected position, he thought it advisable to retire 
 for a time to Boston. His family, which was left in 
 Taunton, was now subject to increased annoyance. His 
 wife, a finely educated and high spirited woman, of elegant 
 manners, was treated with much harshness as a suspected 
 person. She was niece of the Hon. George Leonard, of 
 Norton, and cousin of Daniel Leonard, a refugee, and after- 
 wards chief Justice of Bermuda. 
 
 Mrs. McKinstry with her family soon joined her husband 
 in Boston. So high was Dr. McKinstry's reputation in his 
 profession, that he received from Gen. Gage the appoint- 
 ment of surgeon general of the hospitals in Boston. His 
 property in Taunton was confiscated. 
 
 It so happened that on the memorable I7th of June, 1775, 
 a dinner party took place at Dr. McKinstry's house, for 
 which invitations had been given out the day before. The 
 dinner proved to be a solemn and silent one, and was 
 partaken standing. Several officers were present who had 
 been detailed to proceed with detachments of the British 
 army to dislodge the rebels from Bunker Hill. They hastily 
 dined and proceeded to join their corps; among them was
 
 &6 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES.. 
 
 Major John Small, a friend of the family, whose name is; 
 identified in that momentous battle. Dr. McKinstry 's house, 
 stood on Hanover street, near where the Shawmut House 
 lately stood, and the children went to the top of the house: 
 to witness the cannonade. Sarah, one of them, then eight, 
 years old, Little dreamed that, in after years, she would 
 become the wife of a gallant stripling of 16, who was then 
 fighting in the opposite ranks, by the side of his veteran 
 father, the renowned John Stark. Twelve years later she 
 was wedded to that gallant soldier, Caleb Stark. Another 
 daughter, Mary, might also have been a distant witness to 
 the flight from the flames of Charlestown of her future 
 husband,. Benjamin Willis, a native of that devoted town, 
 who, with his mother, was compelled to make a hasty 
 retreat, without a backward look to their perishing property. 
 
 When Boston was evacuated, Dr. McKinstry and his 
 family went on board the fleet,, which lay ten days in Nan- 
 tasket Roads waiting orders. During that time, viz. , March 
 21, 1779, Dr. McKinstry died of consumption, 011 board the 
 Dutton hospital ship at the age of 43, years,, and his remains- 
 lie buried on George's Island, in that harbor. 
 
 The surviving members of the family were taken in the 
 fleet to Halifax, and were on board the same ship with lady 
 Howe, wife of the Admiral, where they were treated with 
 that sympathy and kindness their unhappy condition re- 
 quired. The fleet took away about one thousand refugees. 
 The family remained in Halifax, with the exception of 
 William, the eldest son, until 1788, when they returned to 
 the States,, making Newport, R. I., their place of residence, 
 during its occupation by the British. After its evacuation, 
 in Nov., 1779, they .proceeded toHaverhill, in Mass., where 
 a sister of Mrs. McKinstry, the wife of John White, Esq., 
 lived; and she died there, May -26, 1786, honored and 
 loved. 
 
 The four sons of Dr. McKinstry died unmarried, and 
 consequently the name in this branch is extinct. 
 
 SARAH, the 2nd daughter of Dr. McKinstry, married 
 Major Cabel Stark, in Haverhill, in 1787. Major Stark 
 was the eldest son of Gen. John Stark, of revolutionary 
 fame, and was born Dec. 3, 1759. He accompanied his 
 father, as a volunteer, and was present at the battle of 
 Bunker Hill; soon after was appointed Ensign in Capt. 
 George Reid's company, in the ist N. H. Regiment. He 
 served in New York and Canada; he was an adjutant in the 
 battles of Trenton and Princeton; was present at the battle 
 of Saratoga, and Springfield, N. J. ; served as adjutant
 
 IX ALABAMA. 397 
 
 general of the Northern Department, in 1778 and 1781, and 
 continued in service to the close of the war. After the peace 
 he engaged in mercantile pursuits; was awhile established 
 in Boston with his brother-in-law, John McKinstry, and 
 engaged in manufacturing at Pembroke, X. H. He was a 
 man of great courage, energy, and perseverance through 
 life. He died in Ohio, Aug. 26, 1838, where he had pro- 
 ceeded to establish a claim to land granted for military 
 services. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM WILLIS, of Portland, Me., who compiled 
 the McKinstry genealogy, was a grandson of Dr. Mc- 
 Kinstry, his mother, Mary McKinstry, third daughter of 
 the Dr.. having married Benjamin Willis, Jan. 9, 1791. He 
 graduated at Harvard College in 1813, was admitted to the 
 Suffolk Bar, Boston, in Jan. 1817; removed to Portland in 
 1819, where he remained in the practice of his profession 
 until his death about 1870; was State Senator in 1855, 
 Mayor of Portland in 1857; Elector of President of U. S. in 
 1860; President of the Maine Historical Society 1856 to 
 1864, and author of the History of Portland, the Law and 
 Lawyers of Maine, and several other works. Sept. i, 1823, 
 he married Julia, a daughter of Ezekiel Whitman, late 
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maine, by whom he 
 had eight children. 
 
 IN ALABAMA. 
 
 JUDGE ALEXANDER MCKIXSTRY, of Mobile, Ala., was a 
 grandson of Ezekiel McKinstry, of Ellington, Conn. He 
 was born at Augusta, Ga., March 7, 1822; he passed the 
 early years of his life in New England. At the age of 13, 
 he went to Mobile, Ala., and became a clerk in a commer- 
 cial house; but having higher aspirations, he concluded to 
 prepare for the bar, and entered the office of John A. Camp- 
 bell, afterwards, Judge of the S. C. of the U. S., as a 
 student; was admitted to the bar in 1842 and had a success- 
 ful practice. In 1850 he was elected Judge of the City 
 Court of Mobile, having civil and criminal jurisdiction. 
 During the rebellion, he became an officer in the Confeder- 
 ate service. He was Lieut. Gov. of Alabama after the war. 
 He died about 1880. In 1845 he married Virginia, a daugh- 
 ter of Robert R. Dale, by whom he had several children. 
 One son, William D., is a lawyer in Mobile; another, Alex- 
 ander, also a lawyer, settled in California.
 
 EDITORIAL 
 
 THE WILLIAMS FAMILY. 
 
 My mother was the oldest of a family of sixteen children of 
 Daniel Williams of Norwich, Mass. He was a revolutionary soldier r 
 and was at the battle of Stillwater when Burgoyne was captured. 
 Some of his children came to Chautauqua county about 1820 and he- 
 followed with his wife to Clymer where he died Feb. 13, 1846, aged 
 86 years. His wife died there, July 31, 1834. My mother died in 
 Chicopee, Dec. 25, 1855, aged 71 years. Her brother Alvin carried 
 em a store and ashery in Clymer, and died April 17, 1-855, aged 70- 
 years. One sister married Gideon Brockway, of Southampton, and 
 moved to Clymer, this county, while the son Beman was an ap- 
 prentice with me in the Northampton Courier office. Hence his. 
 coming here, and also my coining to the county in 1839. His- 
 mother died, Aug. 6, 1861. aged 65 years. 
 
 Another brother, Joseph H., was a merchant for a time at Watts- 
 burg, North East and Erie, and then a banker at Terra Haute, Ind.. 
 He died in Philadelphia, aged 72 years. 
 
 Daniel, the youngest brother, was a tanner and merchant in Ash- 
 ville for some years, and finally a large land owner and farmer. 
 He was one of the originators and a large stockholder in the Cross- 
 Cut, now the W. N, Y. & P. Railroad. He died in Aug. 1881, aged 
 75 years, W, McK. 
 
 THE FAMILY CREST. 
 
 The' old Scotch family, whose name signifies Chief of the Valley, 
 had for their motto, Luced non Uro I give light but do not con- 
 sume represented by a burning volcano. Perhaps it had an early 
 significance, bearing witness to their steadfast faith in the days of 
 persecution. 
 
 When Louis McKinstry, some years ago, was on the steamer 
 Adriatic, White Star line, the fourth officer, named McKinstry, 
 observing the name upon the list of passengers, inquired of him 
 and ascertained that they were of the same Scotch-Irish origin. 
 Therefore he gave him samples of the Crest embossed 011 letter 
 heads, a copy of which is shown above. 
 
 A letter from a cousin of this officer, from Armagh, Ireland, Miss 
 Harriett King McKinstry, traces back the lineage to 1716, and says 
 the oldest seal represents three burning mountains with the same 
 motto. The two side mountains have been cut off in the construc- 
 tion of the seals for convenience. The officer on the Adriatic is 
 now Captain McKinstry of the steamer Germanic, same line.
 
 A FAMILY REUNION. 399 
 
 A FAMILY REUNION. 
 
 [From the Fredonia CEXSOK, Sept. i, 1880.] 
 
 CHICOPEE, Mass., Saturday, Aug. 21, 1880. 
 
 On Friday the old homestead, where the youth of our large 
 family was spent, was reached, and seven of the nine who 
 arrived at mature age, all that are now living, had there a 
 social and pleasant reunion. It was the first gathering 
 when all the members of the family have been present, for 
 nearly fifty years. What a change has been wrought ! 
 Then the youngest of the group was about two years old, 
 and the oldest was 26. Now the oldest of the group is 76 
 the youngest, A. \V. McKinstry, of Minnesota, is 52, the 
 average age of the seven living being 65. Of course many 
 reminiscences of earlier years were related, and life seemed 
 to be lived over. The oldest seemed to be young again in 
 their thoughts, but the physical capacity was no more to be 
 restored. The gray hair would never again assume its dark 
 luster, and the wrinkled features would never be restored 
 to smoothness. Yet the scenes of early years seemed to take 
 off scores of years from the participants. 
 
 After two or three days of social intercourse, the company 
 again scattered, probably never to be united in unbroken 
 numbers on earth. Minnesota, Ohio, Western New York 
 and Massachusetts were all represented. There were 
 children, grand children and one great grand child present, 
 31 in all, and yet many from a distance were not there. 
 The power of the artist was invoked to preserve the fading 
 features of the seven, so "their shadows may never be less," 
 though their bodies may fade entirely from sight. 
 
 The Connecticut valley has grown in importance within 
 the last fifty years. Then there was no Chicopee village, 
 no Holyoke, the city of Springfield was but a village of five 
 or six thousand inhabitants, there were no railroads, no
 
 400 EDITORIAL MISCELLANIES. 
 
 factories, except a beginning at Chicopee Falls, no manu- 
 factures ot any kind which demanded much attention, and 
 there was only a sparsely settled agricultural population, all 
 working hard to obtain the necessaries and comforts of life, 
 without ' any of its luxuries. The old people of that time 
 have all departed to the other shore, and the young people 
 are becoming old and gray-headed. Yet such is life, and 
 such the inevitable working of time. ' As in all ages from 
 the beginning, one generation passes away and another 
 succeeds. In the grave-yard are seen the names of those 
 who seemed old to us as we remembered them, but the ages 
 recorded showed many of them to have then passed but 
 little life's meridian. M. 
 
 [Of those who participated in this reunion, only Willard and A. 
 Winthrop remain at this date, Dec., 1894..] 
 
 NOTE. Rev. John McKinstry of Chicopee, died in 1813. Of 
 his grand-children, my sister Eliza was the only one who recollected 
 him distinctly. In a letter from her, dated Dec. 12, 1887, she said: 
 
 "I remember him well, for I was 9 years old when he died. He 
 was minister here thirty-seven years, and was 66 when dismissed. 
 We children, when old enough, called there every day going to and 
 from school. I used to read hymns to him. He lived to be almost 
 90. I remember him in his better days, rigged for meeting, wearing 
 his wig, three-cornered hat, breeches, long stockings, shoe and knee 
 buckles. I .think his memory did not fail so much as that of some 
 old people. He took an interest in political matters." 
 
 W. McK.
 
 CAMPAIGN SONG OF 1840. 
 
 {The following song was published in Greeley's "Log Cabin" with thv 
 music of "O, saw ye the lass~wi' the bonny blu een ?" the air to which it 
 was sung at thousands of political meetings in that memorable campaign.] 
 
 Away in the far West, the fair river teside, 
 
 That waters North Bend in its teauty and pride, 
 
 And shows in its mirror the summer sky blue, 
 
 Ob, there dwells the farmer of Tippecanoe. 
 
 When the clear Eastern sky in the morning's light gleams, 
 
 And the hills of Ohio grow warm in its beams, 
 
 When the fiesh springing grass is tent down by the dew, 
 
 With his plow in the furrow stands Tippecanoe. 
 
 Hurrah ! for the Farmer of Tippecanoe, 
 The honest old Farmer of Tippecance, 
 
 With an arm that is strong, and a heart that is true, 
 The man of the People is Tippecanoe. 
 
 And when far in the West the warm sunlight goes down. 
 
 And the woods < f Ohio look dusky and brown, 
 
 In his snug, quiet home, he the past will review, 
 
 And think of his comrades at Tippecanoe; 
 
 For w r arm are his feelings, and strong is his mind, 
 
 To the suffering poor man he ever is kind; 
 
 With a hand that is open, a heart that is true, 
 
 The poor find a friend in Old Tippecanoe. 
 
 Hurrah ! for the Farmer of Tippecanoe, 
 The honest old Farmer of Tippecanoe, 
 
 With an arm that is strong, and a heart that is true, 
 The choice of the People is Tippecanoe. 
 
 The people are rising throughout the broad West, 
 At the name of the man w 7 ho has served them the best, 
 In Battle, in Council, and everywhere, true 
 As the steel of his good sword, is Tippecanoe. 
 Ye farmers arouse ! put your hands to the plow, 
 Your Country is calling, and will ye fail now, 
 With one at your head who defeat never knew ? 
 Come, join the brave army of Tippecanoe. 
 
 Hurrah ! for the Farmer of Tippecanoe, 
 The honest old Farmer of Tippecanoe, 
 
 With an arm that is strong, and a heart that is true, 
 The People will conquer with Tippecanoe. 
 
 Come, all who are honest and wish to be free, 
 From the bank of the river, the shore of the sea; 
 As the leaves on the trees are his followers true, 
 And who would not follow Old Tippecanoe ? 
 Come up, with the Buckeye, the pride of the West, 
 Come up, with brave HARRY, of leaders the best, 
 With TYLER, the Statesman, who's honest and true, 
 And the Battle is won by Old Tippecanoe. 
 
 Hurrah ! for the Farmer of Tippecanoe, 
 The fearless old Farmer of Tippecanoe, 
 
 With an arm that is strong, and a heart that is true, 
 Van Buren's successor is Tippecanoe !
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS FOR 52 YEARS. 
 
 During the time I have lived in Chautattqua County, there have 
 been thirteen Presidential Elections, in all of which the county gave 
 Whig or Republican majorities. The vote in this time has increased 
 from 9,353 in 1840, to 19,866 in 1892. Every candidate who carried 
 the county was supported by the CENSOR. They were Whig candi- 
 dates till 1852; since then, Republican. 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL VOTE OF CHAUTAUQUA COl 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1840. 
 
 Harrison, 
 
 VanBuren, 
 
 Birney, 
 
 5,985 
 
 3,345 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1844. 
 
 Clay, 
 
 Polk, 
 
 Birney, 
 
 5, 612 
 
 3,407 
 
 314 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1848. 
 
 Taylor, 
 
 Cass, 
 
 Van Buren, 
 
 4,207 
 
 1,911 
 
 1,622 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1852. 
 
 Scott, 
 
 Pierce, 
 
 Hale, 
 
 5, 612 
 
 3,703 
 
 1,209 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1856. 
 
 Fremont, 
 
 Filmore, 
 
 Buchanan, 
 
 7,036 
 
 2,013 
 
 !,847 
 
 
 
 YEAR i860. 
 
 Lincoln, 
 
 Fusion T'k 
 
 't 
 
 8,481 
 
 3.670 
 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1864. 
 
 Lincoln, 
 
 McClellan, 
 
 
 8,692 
 
 3,992 
 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1868. 
 
 Grant, 
 
 Seymour, 
 
 
 9,387 
 
 4,441 
 
 
 
 
 YEAR 18/2. 
 
 Grant, 
 
 Greeley, . 
 
 O' Conner, 
 
 S,i45 
 
 4,881 
 
 82 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1876. 
 
 Hayes, 
 
 Tilden, 
 
 Cooper, Smith, 
 
 10,065 
 
 5,685 
 
 I2O IO 
 
 
 
 YEAR l88o. 
 
 Garfield, 
 
 Hancock, 
 
 Weaver, Dow, 
 
 10,422 
 
 5,472 
 
 585 64 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1884. 
 
 Blaine, 
 
 Cleveland, 
 
 Butler, St. John, 
 
 10,670 
 
 5,861 
 
 43i 540 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1888. 
 
 Harrison, 
 
 Cleveland, 
 
 Fisk, 
 
 12,108 
 
 6,178 
 
 893 
 
 
 
 YEAR 1892. 
 
 Harrison, 
 
 Cleveland, 
 
 Weaver, Bidwell, 
 
 n,595 
 
 6,397 
 
 573 i.iis 
 
 VOTE. 
 
 9,353 
 9,333 
 7,740 
 10,524 
 10,896 
 12,151 
 12,684 
 13,828 
 13,108 
 15,880 
 
 16,543 
 
 17,502 
 
 19,179 
 19,866 
 
 REP. PLUR 
 2,640 
 
 2,205 
 2,296 
 1,909 
 3,176 
 
 4,811 
 4,700 
 4,946 
 3,264 
 
 4.38o 
 4,950 
 4,809 
 5,930 
 5,198 
 
 In 1894 the county gave Levi P. Morton, Republican candidate 
 for Governor, -7, 516 majority.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 PREFACE, - 3 
 
 THE PIONEER PRESS OF CHAUT. COUNTY, - - 9 
 
 THURLOW WEED, - - 28 
 
 TEMPLE WORSHIP, 37 
 
 THE CENSOR SEMI-CENTENNIAL, .... 4 6 
 
 Letters from HON. F. W. PALMER, 46 
 
 HORACE GREELEY, - 47 
 
 HON. E. T. FOOTE, - 47 
 
 A. W. McKlNSTRY, - - - - -. 48 
 
 HON. ROSCOE CONKLING, ----- 50 
 
 MARK TWAIN, - 50 
 
 DAVID EATON, - -51 
 
 DR. J. G. HOLLAND, - - - - - 51 
 
 HON. A. H. WALKEK, ..... 52 
 
 HON. ABNER HAZELTINE, - - - - 53 
 
 THURLOW WEED. ------ 54 
 
 HON. R. E. FENTON, r 54 
 
 Gov. MORGAN BATES, 55 
 
 MR. FRISBEE'S SPEECH, - 58 
 
 HON. E. F. WARREN'S SPEECH, 65 
 
 Gov. PATTERSON'S SPEECH, - 68 
 
 HON. H. A. RISLEY'S TRIBUTE, - - - - 71 
 
 MR. CUSHING'S RESPONSE, - 73 
 
 REMINISCENCES BY DR. WILLIAMS, 75 
 
 HON. GEO. BARKER'S RESPONSE, 77 
 
 HON. ORSON STILES' RESPONSE, ------ 79 
 
 REMARKS OK O. W. JOHNSON, Si 
 
 RESPONSE BY C. F. MATTESON, 82 
 
 RESPONSE OK W. MCKINSTRY, ----- 87 
 
 THE OLD SETTLERS' REUNION, 90 
 
 THE OLD SETTLER'S LETTER, 94 
 
 TRIBUTE TO WM. H. SEWARD, 97 
 
 MEMORIAL OF HANSON A. RISLEY, ... 99
 
 INDEX. 
 
 THE MODERN MARTYR AGE, 
 
 DULL CARES, 
 
 THE OLD TIME SCHOOL, 
 
 AN ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY, 
 
 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, 
 
 CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION, PHILADELPHIA, 
 GREAT EXPOSITION, NEW ORLEANS, 
 
 ON TO RICHMOND, 
 
 Another day in Richmond, 131 From Richmond to 
 Chattanooga, 133. 
 
 FROM NEW ORLEANS TO CALIFORNIA, -' - - 138 
 Chalmette Cemetery, 138 Straight University, 139 El 
 Paso, Texas, 140 San Gorgonio, Call., 144 San 
 Diego, Cali., 146 South Pasadena, Cali., (i) 149 
 South Pasadena, Cali., (2) 152. 
 
 VICKSBURG, 156 
 
 THE FALL OF VICKSBURG, 160 
 
 THE BAYOU TECHE, 166 
 
 On the Mississippi, 170 The Scenery of the Teche, 171. 
 
 WASHINGTON IN 1855, 175 
 
 THF SCOTTISH LAKES, - 178 
 
 HAMPTON ROADS, - 185 
 
 A Second Visit to the Peninsula, 189 Death of a Noble 
 Philanthropist, 192. 
 
 ABOUT NANTUCKET, 193 
 
 THOUSAND ISLANDS, 197 
 
 FROM LAKE ERIE TO LAKE SUPERIOR, - - - 202 
 Sault Ste. Marie, 203 Lake Superior, 205 Duluth and 
 Superior City, 206 Minneapolis, 209. 
 
 ST. PAUL, 214 
 
 FLORIDA, --- 216 
 
 St. Augustine, 217 Up and Down the St. John's River, 
 221 Tallahassee, 226.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 FROM ALABAMA, 229 
 
 Montgomery, 233. 
 
 THE SUGAR PLANTATION, 235 
 
 DEATH OF GEN. GRANT, ...... 239 
 
 Services at Westminster Abbey, 240. 
 
 ALPINE CLIMBING, - - - - - - - -247 
 
 The Valley of Diosaz A Struggle on the Col de Vent 
 Night in a Cattle Chalet. 
 
 EDINBURGH AND SURROUNDINGS, - ... 262 
 
 A FEW DAYS IN HAVANA, 266 
 
 Visit to a Sugar Plantation, 272 The Cock Fight and 
 Bull Fight, 276. 
 
 IX SOUTHERN ITALY, - - 282 
 Venice, 288. 
 
 FROM ATHENS TO MARATHON, - 292 
 
 MEMORIAL OF HON. B. BROCKVVAV, - v . . 2 gb 
 
 THE UNDERGROUND R. R., - - 304 
 
 FREDONIA ACADEMY, - 310 
 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT, - - - - - 312 
 
 A YEAR OF NIGHT, 322 
 
 QUEBEC, - - 331 
 
 MEMORIAL DAY, 1878, - - - - -. - - 336 
 
 1885, - 338 
 
 NATIONAL THANKSGIVING, 1885, 341 
 
 1893, 342 
 
 CHRISTMAS, 1884, 346 
 
 MEMORIAL OF PORTER C. BLISS, 349 
 
 FARIBAULT. MINNESOTA, - 354 
 
 A PERSONATION. 358 
 
 TO ALABAMA AND RETURN, ..... 366 
 
 THE HANGING OF THE CRANE, ----- 371
 
 INDEX. 
 
 SCOTCH-IRISH IMMIGRATION, 375 
 
 GENEALOGY, 384 
 
 ARTHUR McKINSTRY, .... 392 
 
 FAMILY RECORD, 393 
 
 THE MAINE BRANCH, 395 
 
 ALEXANDER McKINSTRY of Mobile, Ala., - - 397 
 
 THE WILLIAMS FAMILY, 398 
 
 THE FAMILY CREST, - - 398 
 
 A FAMILY REUNION, - - 390 
 
 CAMPAIGN SONG OF 1840, 401 
 
 COUNTY PRESIDENTIAL VOTE, 52 YEARS, -' - 402
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 Series 9482
 
 ** ? 
 
 
 
 '