Historic buildings as seen and described by famous writers

' . •

\ V

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES

Historic Buildings of America

BOOKS BY MISS SINGLETON

TURRETS, TOWERS, AND TEMPLES. Great Buildings of the

World Described by Great Writers.
GREAT PICTURES. Described by Great Writers.
WONDERS OF NATURE. Described by Great Writers.
ROMANTIC CASTLES AND PALACES. Described by Great

Writers.

FAMOUS PAINTINGS. Described by Great Writers.
HISTORIC BUILDINGS. Described by Great Writers.
FAMOUS WOMEN. Described by Great Writers.
GREAT PORTRAITS. Described by Great Writers.
HISTORIC BUILDINGS OF AMERICA. Described by Great

Writers.

HOLLAND. Described by Great Writers.
PARIS. Described by Great Writers.
LONDON. Described by Great Writers.
RUSSIA. Described by Great Writers.
JAPAN. Described by Great Writers.
VENICE. Described by Great Writers.
ROME. Described by Great Writer*.
A GUIDE TO THE OPERA.
LOVE IN LITERATURE AND ART.
THE GOLDEN ROD FAIRY BOOK.
THE WILD FLOWER FAIRY BOOK.
GERMANY.

HISTORIC LANDMARKS OF AMERICA. Described by Great
Writers.

Historic Buildings of
America

As Seen and Described
by Famous Writers

COLLECTED AND EDITED BY

ESTHER SINGLETON

With Numerous Illustrations

NEW YORK

DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
1914

Copyright, zgof>
BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANV

Published October, 1906.

Preface

IN response to requests for a book on American buildings
on the plan of my Turrets, Towers, and Temples, Roman-
tic Castles and Palaces, Historic Buildings, etc., I have en-
deavoured to gather here a number of houses, churches,
forts and civic buildings that are doubly famous for their
architectural interest and their association with historical
£2 events and distinguished personages. I have also included
two monuments, — the Washington and the Statue of
2| Liberty.

£ Of houses associated with Washington, I have selected
Mount Vernon, Fraunces Tavern, the Hasbrook House at
§p Newburg and the Morris-Jumel house, and to these the
9 White House might be added, since he interested himself
z in the plans for it and even made a personal visit of inspec-
tion in 1792.

^ I have included a few simple houses that are types of the
^ homes of the past and have become pilgrimage places to
3 those who delight in reconstructing the social life of other
uj days. Among these, the Whipple House is one of the
S best specimens of New England domestic architecture of
^ the Seventeenth Century extant, and, having been judiciously
restored, is now a museum of antiquities. Other New
England types are represented by the Old Manse at Con-
cord and the Clarke-Hancock house at Lexington.

446088

vi PREFACE

The ruins of the Jamestown Tower carry us back to the
first English settlement of the country, and the Cradock
House in Medford, built in 1634 (the oldest house in New
England), shows us what a house had to be in the early
days of the colonists, — a fort as well as a dwelling, and a
place of refuge in times of Indian attack. Another house
that was also protected against Indian raids is the less-
known Carlyle House in Alexandria, which was built about
the middle of the Eighteenth Century.

Other forts are shown in St. Augustine, Sumter and
Castle Garden. The latter also furnishes memories of
musical and theatrical celebrities, gala performances, brilliant
entertainments to distinguished guests, great mass meetings,
and shows of the Crystal Palace order.

The Churches of Guadalupe in Mexico and St. Anne de
Beaupre in Canada are shrines that attract thousands of de-
vout visitors and rival in picturesqueness some of the
pilgrimage-places in the Old World.

Two peculiarly individual buildings are also included :
the curious bee-hive Tabernacle of Salt Lake City and the
Palace of Chapultepec, built in 1785. As this was
originally Montezuma's country-seat, it carries us back as
far as any other scene in the book. The Cathedral of
Mexico is also built on Aztec ruins. It is interesting to
compare this edifice with the Cathedral of Havana, in both
of which the Spanish influence is easily appreciated.

Two of the most admired productions of American
architecture will be recognized in the City Hall of New
York and St. Michael's, Charleston, which would almost

PREFACE Vll

pass for a Wren church were it transplanted to the Strand.
Fortunately it survived the Charleston earthquake, The
Mission Dolores has been damaged by the San Francisco
earthquake as this book goes to press.

To our list of fine architecture should be added Christ
Church in Alexandria, Independence Hall, and the old Bos-
ton State House.

It is sometimes said there are no prevailing styles of
American architecture ; but even with the few examples
gathered here, we are able to note a general taste. The
style favoured by the Dutch William and Mary of England
(who shared her husband's tastes), is revealed in many
buildings from Boston to Charleston ; and the Classic style
of the Eighteenth Century, with its colonnades, porticos,
domes and cupolas, is found everywhere and is constantly
imitated, to-day.

E.S.

NEW YORK, April 33, tgoft.

Contents

THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON I

JOSEPH B. VARNUM.

WITHIN THE CAPITOL 8

CHARLES DICKENS.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA ....... 14

IZA DUFFUS HARDY.

CARPENTERS' HALL 1 8

BENSON J. LOSSING.

THE CRADOCK HOUSE, MEDFORD . . . . .27
SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE.

FRAUNCES TAVERN 34

WILLIAM J. DAVIS.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE 43

JOHN FISKE.

THE MISSION DOLORES, SAN FRANCISCO . . . « 53
LADY HARDY.

KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON 58

F. W. P. GREENWOOD.

SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA 68

RICHARD DAVEY.

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON .... 78
WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS.

THE CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA 84

X CONTENTS

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA . . . , 92

D. W. BELISLE.

THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC 105

THOMAS UNETT BROCKLEHURST.

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA . . . . . 1 10
LADY HARDY.

MOUNT VERNON 115

ARTHUR SHADWELL MARTIN.

THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD . . . . . .123

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

THE JAMESTOWN TOWER . . . » . .132
CHARLES FREDERICK STANSBURY.

NASSAU HALL, PRINCETON .142

CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK . . . . . =144
ESTHER SINGLETON.

MONTICELLO . . . . . . . .151

EDWARD C. MEAD.

THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA . . .164
JOHN F. WATSON.

THE CATHEDRAL, MEXICO . . . .... 173

THOMAS UNETT BROCKLEHURST.

THE" WHIPPLE HOUSE, IPSWICH 178

W. H. DOWNES.

^ FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE 185

IZA DUFFUS HARDY.

ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE, QUEBEC 192

ANNA T. SADLIER.

THE WADSWORTH-LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND . , 199
NATHAN GOOLD.

CONTENTS XI

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH . . . 205
GULIAN C. VERPLANCK.

THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY . . . .215

LADY HARDY.

THE NATIONAL WASHINGTON MONUMENT . . .220

JOSEPH B. VARNUM.

THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON . . . 225

CASTLE ST. Louis, QUEBEC 236

J. M. LEMOINE, F. R. S. C.

SUNNYSIDE, TARRYTOWN ...... 249

BENSON J. LOSSING.

THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM 255

ESTHER 'SINGLETON.

SHRINE OF GUADALUPE 263

THOMAS UNETT BROCKLEHURST.

CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA ^ . . e . 268
BISHOP MEADE.

A GLIMPSE AT THE HOUSES OF NEW ORLEANS . . .272
LADY HARDY.

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL . . . -277
MAJOR A. C. YATE.

THE CITY HALL, NEW YORK .' . . . .286

ARTHUR SHADWELL MARTIN.

THE WHITE HOUSE . 293

THE WHITE HOUSE OF THE CONFEDERACY, RICHMOND . 300

THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON 305

EDWARD G. PORTER.

xii CONTENTS

THE MORRIS-JUMEL HOUSE, NEW YORK .... 309

.FORTSUMTER o.o 313

IZA DUFFUS HARDY.

OLD STONE TOWER, NEWPORT . . . . .320
BENSON J* LOSSING.

ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK . . , » - 325
CHARLES HEMSTREET.

FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON . . . . . .332

EDWARD. G^ PORTER.

LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD, NEW YORK . . 338
ESTHER SINGLETON.

Illustrations

The Capitol, Washington . . . . ' . Frontispiece
The Capitol (Rotunda) .... Facing page 8

Arlington, Virginia " "14

Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia . . . «« " 1 8

The Cradock House, Medford 28

Fraunces Tavern, New York " « 34

William and Mary College, Williamsburg . " " 44

The Mission Dolores, California " " 54

King's Chapel, Boston . . . . '« "58

Cathedral, Havana " " 68

St. Michael's Church, Charleston . . . " "78

The Carlyle House, Alexandria " '« 84

Independence Hall, Philadelphia . . . " "92

The Castle of Chapultepec, Mexico . . " " 106

Parliament Buildings, Ottawa . . . " "no

Mount Vernon, Virginia . . . . " " 116

The Old Manse, Concord . . . . " " 1 24

The Jamestown Tower, Virginia . . . " "132

Nassau Hall, Princeton . . . . " "142

Castle Garden, New York . . . . " " 144

Monticello, Virginia " "152

The William Penn House, Philadelphia . . " "164

The Cathedral, Mexico . . . . « " 174

The Whipple House, Ipswich . . . «« "178

Fort Marion, St. Augustine . . . . " " 1 86

Church of St. Anne de Beaupre, Quebec . " " igz

xiv ILLUSTRATIONS

The Wadsworth-Longfellow House, Portland . " " zoo
Washington's Headquarters, Newburgh " " 206

The Tabernacle, Salt Lake City . . . " "216

The National Washington Monument, Wash-
ington ......"" 220

The Clarke-Hancock House, Lexington . «' " 226

Castle St. Louis, Quebec ...."" 236
Sunnyside, Tarrytown ...."" 250

The Old Witch House, Salem . . . " "256
Shrine of Guadalupe, Mexico . . " " 264

Christ Church, Alexandria ...."" 268

Old Houses in St. Charles's Avenue, New

Orleans ......"" 272

The Chateau de Ramezay . . . . " "278
The City Hall, New York ....'<« 286

The White House, Washington " " 294

The White House of the Confederacy, Richmond " " 300

The Old State House, Boston «« « 306

The Morris-Jumel House, New York . . " "310

Fort Sumter, South Carolina . . . " "314

Old Stone Tower, Newport . . . " "320

St. Paul's Chapel, New York . . . « « 326

Faneuil Hall, Boston . . . . . *< "33'

Liberty Enlightening the World, New York . " «« 338

THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON

JOSEPH B. VARNUM

ON the 1 8th of September, 1793, the southeast corner-
stone of the Capitol was laid by Washington, and a
minute account of the ceremonial appears in the Maryland
Gazette^ published at Annapolis, September 26, 1793. It
is mostly devoted to the Masonic ceremonial so usual at
that day, in which " Lodge 22 of Virginia, that congrega-
tion so graceful to the craft," figures largely with " Grand
Master P. J. Geo. Washington, Worshipful Master " of said
Lodge. We are also told that there appeared " on the
southern banks of the grand river Potomac, one of the
finest companies of artillery that hath been lately seen,
parading to receive the President of the U. S." The Com-
missioners delivered to the President, who deposited in the
stone, a silver plate with the following inscription :

"This southeast corner-stone of the Capitol of the United
States of America in the City of Washington was laid on
the i8th day of September, 1793, in the thirteenth year of
American Independence, in the first year of the second
term of the Presidency of George Washington, whose vir-
tues in the civil administration of his country have been so
conspicuous and beneficial, as his military valour and pru-
dence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in
the year of Masonry, 5793, by the President of the United

7 THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON

States, in concert with the Grand Lodge of Maryland, sev-
eral lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge, No. 22, from
Alexandria, Virginia.

"Thomas Johnson, David Stewart, and Daniel Carroll,
Commissioners ; Joseph Clark, R. W. G. M. P. T., James
Hoban and Stephen Hallate, Architects ; Colin William-
son, M. Mason."

A Mr. Clotworthy Stevenson made an address, and the
account concludes as follows :

" The whole company retired to an extensive booth
where an ox of 500 Ibs. weight was barbecued, of which
the company generally partook, with every abundance of
other recreation. The festival concluded with fifteen suc-
cessive volleys from the artillery, whose military discipline
and manoeuvres merit every commendation.

" Before dark the whole company departed with joyful
hopes of the production of their labour."

The first object which attracts the traveller's attention
as he enters Washington by rail is the Capitol.

It is not unusual on the Continent to see a noble cathe-
dral surrounded by miserable tumble-down structures, many
of which are so ancient as to indicate that the shrine never
had an appropriate setting ; and this circumstance makes
the surroundings of the Capitol a matter of less remark to
a foreigner than to an American whose first impressions are
that the edifice never will have any buildings around in
keeping with its own grandeur.

As you approach the city from the Potomac, the public
buildings all appear to great advantage, being on high ground

THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON 3

and rising far above the private buildings which do not
shock by contrast. It is to be regretted that circumstances
have led to the erection of a large proportion of the private
buildings at the west and the abandonment, tci a great ex-
tent, of Capitol Hill, which, at the first occupation, was re-
garded as the most desirable.

Mr. Trollope and others have descanted upon the mis-
take made in placing the principal front of the Capitol to-
wards the east. But when the building was commenced there
was reason for supposing that at least an equal part of the
city buildings would be on that side. Besides, such porticos
seem to require a level plane or plaza in front, rather than
a descent like that on the west. The advantage of this is
very apparent, since the porticos are naturally selected for
all the great ceremonies, inaugurations and public gather-
ings. There is abundance of standing room here for any
crowd, however great.

The dome is most appropriately surmounted by Craw-
ford's bronze statue of Liberty (itself 16^ feet in height)
is 287 feet 5 inches above the basement of the Capitol, or
about 142 feet higher than the old dome. St. Peter's at
Rome to the top of the lantern is 145 feet higher. St.
Paul's in London, 73 feet higher.

The Capitol Hill is about 90 feet above ordinary low
tide.

The Capitol is 751 feet 4 inches long, which is 31 feet
longer than St. Peter's and 175 feet longer than St. Paul's.

As compared with European edifices, there are few, if
any, that have as imposing a front as the three eastern

4 THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON

porticos present. Of course no comparison can be made
with Gothic structures like the Parliament Houses in Lon-
don. St. Peter's Church, at first glance, almost always dis-
appoints the visitor in its exterior ; and it is only from a dis-
tance, where you see nothing of the front, that the majestic
proportions of the dome are realized. There is an abrupt-
ness in the manner in which that front rises, with no relief
except in a small piazza, which seems as out of place as
the one on the western front of the Capitol. At the
Capitol, the spectator, at a distance of one or two hundred
feet, has the whole structure in all its outlines before him.

Most persons who visit the Capitol for the first time,
have their attention so much absorbed in the exten-
sion, that they overlook the objects of interest in the cen-
tral edifice. Yet there is no room in the new buildings
comparable in beauty to the old Representatives' HalL
The new halls for the Senate and House may present
acoustic advantages, and certainly accommodate the public
much better, but no room without columns can present as
imposing an effect as one with them. And such columns !
There is nothing like them elsewhere. That brecchia^ or
pudding-stone, is too costly to work, ever to be brought
into general use. They cost over eight thousand dollars
apiece, and there are twenty-four of them. And there is
no more beautiful piece of sculpture in the building than
the clock in this hall, representing History on a winged car,
the wheel of which forms the dial.

The old Hall, too, is memorable as the scene where all
the great men for the first half century of the Republic

THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON 5

figured. Here Clay presided, Webster made his debut,
Adams died ! And how full of associations with historical
names is every part of the cosy old Senate Chamber,
now appropriately occupied by the Supreme Court ! Not
one person in a hundred notices the tobacco-leaf capitals of
the circular colonnade between this room and the Rotunda ;
and still fewer ever think of going down the neighbouring
staircase to look at the corn-stalk columns which ornament
the entrance to the room formerly occupied by the Supreme
Court.

Every visitor to the new wings of the Capitol must have
remarked upon the fact that, with the exception of the
staircases, the most costly decorations have been lavished
upon rooms which are only accessible to the public at lim-
ited times, or by sufferance of those having them in charge.
One naturally expects to see the results of artistic skill to
the greatest extent in the Halls of the Senate and House,
as is the case in the centre building. It seems well enough
that marble and frescoes should be used in such rooms as
those appropriated to the President and Vice- President and
the Senators' retiring-room, the last of which, all of mar-
ble, is the gem of the building. But why so many
thousands should have been expended on committee rooms,
or in painting corridors which are too dark to be seen to
advantage, is not apparent. The only reason ever assigned
is, that it was desirable to experiment here on different
styles of ornament.

There is no marble whatever in the Senate Chambei,
and none, except the Speaker's and Clerk's desks in the

6 THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON

House. This deficiency is the more noticed because of the
extent to which this beautiful material is used on the stair-
cases leading to the galleries, which are universally ad-
mired. But here it is remarkable that three of the stair-
cases are of the same material. The Tennessee marble is
certainly beautiful, but so is the white polished marble of
the stairs leading to the west gallery of the Senate.

Another criticism upon the two Halls is that they are so
much alike. The main difference is that one is smaller
than the other. Conceding that, in certain respects, they
had to be alike, — as in the oblong shape and the flat ceiling
for acoustic purposes, and the construction of galleries so
as to afford an uninterrupted view, — there was surely op-
portunity for a man of taste to have devised a finish which
would have been more distinctive. One of them might
have had some windows opening upon the outer world.
Both are now placed in the interior, without a window on
any side. It is true that they are well lighted both by
night and day through the glass ceilings, and so far as we
have observed the ventilation is good ; yet it seems a pity
that the rooms had not been constructed with windows,
even if they were not to be opened.

Nothing in the old Halls was more refreshing to mem-
bers, or more agreeable to spectators in the gallery, than
the glimpse of green trees afforded through the windows,
and such windows would have been the more attractive
here, opening as they would have done upon the small
porticos north and south. This was Mr. Walter's plan,
as appears by his report made in 1852.

THE CAPITOL, WASHINGTON 7

It is pleasant to perceive that the architect has taken a
hint from the corn-stalk columns, and shown more boldness
and originality than is usual with his profession in departing
from the regularly prescribed orders in regard to capitals
and other ornamental work. A fine row of monolithic
columns is to be seen on the floor of the south extension,
under the Representatives' Hall, the capitals of which are
composed of the tobacco and thistle. The twenty-four
columns and forty pilasters in the grand vestibules are en-
tirely original, the capitals being composed of corn-leaves,
tobacco and magnolias — each of the faces of the columns,
as well as the pilasters, has a magnolia, all different in
form, and all made from casts of the natural flower. The
ornamentations of the ceiling and cornices in the Senate
and House are all drawn from the natural products of the
country. In the Representatives' Hall are many rosettes
composed of the cotton plant in its various, stages of growth.
No one can fail to observe and admire the exquisite statues
of Franklin and Hancock, which are appropriately placed
in niches opposite the staircases to the Senate gallery. The
landings of the staircases furnished most appropriate places
for large paintings; like that of Leutze, which improves
upon acquaintance and causes every one to linger as he
goes to or returns from the gallery of the House.

WITHIN THE CAPITOL

CHARLES DICKENS

THE principal features of the Capitol are, of course,
the two Houses of Assembly. But there is, be-
sides, in the centre of the building, a fine rotunda, ninety-
six feet in diameter, and ninety-six high, whose circular
wall is divided into compartments, ornamented by historical
pictures. Four of these have for their subjects prominent
events in the revolutionary struggle. They were painted
by Colonel Trumbull, himself a member of Washington's
staff at the time of their occurrence j from which circum-
stance they derive a peculiar interest of their own. In this
same hall Mr. Greenough's large statue of Washington
has been lately placed. It has great merits of course, but
it struck me as being rather strained and violent for its
subject. I could wish, however, to have seen it in a better
light than it can ever be viewed in, where it stands.

There is a very pleasant and commodious library in the
Capitol; and from a balcony in front, the bird's-eye view
may be had, together with a beautiful prospect of the ad-
jacent country. In one of the ornamented portions of the
building, there is a figure of Justice ; whereunto the Guide
Book says, " the artist at first contemplated giving more of
nudity, but he was warned that the public sentiment in this
country would not admit of it, and in his caution he has

WITHIN THE CAPITOL 9

gone, perhaps, into the opposite extreme." Poor Justice !
she has been made to wear much stranger garments in
America than those she pines in, in the Capitol. Let us
hope that she has changed her dressmaker since they were
fashioned, and that the public sentiment of the country did
not cut out the clothes she hides her lovely figure in, just
now.

The House of Representatives is a beautiful and spacious
hall, of semicircular shape, supported by handsome pillars.
One part of the gallery is appropriated to the ladies, and
there they sit in front rows, and come in, and go out, as at
a play or concert. The chair is canopied, and raised con-
siderably above the floor of the House ; and every member
has an easy-chair and a writing-desk to himself: which is
denounced by some people out of doors as a most unfortu-
nate and injudicious arrangement, tending to long sittings
and prosaic speeches. It is an elegant chamber to look at,
but a singularly bad one for all purposes of hearing. The
Senate, which is smaller, is free from this objection, and
is exceedingly well adapted to the uses for which it is de-
signed. The sittings, I need hardly add, take place in the
day ; and the parliamentary forms are modelled on those of
the old country.

I was sometimes asked, in my progress through other
places, whether I had not been very much impressed by
the heads of the lawmakers at Washington ; meaning not
their chiefs and leaders, but literally their individual and
personal heads, whereon their hair grew, and whereby the
phrenological character of each legislator was expressed :

IO WITHIN THE CAPITOL

and I almost as often struck my questioner dumb with in-
dignant consternation by answering " No, that I didn't re-
member being at all overcome." As I must, at whatever
hazard, repeat the avowal here, I will follow it up by re-
lating my impressions on this subject in as few words as
possible.

In the first place — it may be from some imperfect de-
velopment of my organ of veneration — I do not remember
having ever fainted away, or having even been moved to
tears of joyful pride, at sight of any legislative body. I
have borne the House of Commons like a man, and have
yielded to no weakness, but slumber, in the House of
Lords. I have seen elections for borough and county, and
have never been impelled (no matter which party won) to
damage my hat by throwing it up into the air in triumph,
or to crack my voice by shouting forth any reference to our
Glorious Constitution, to the noble purity of our inde-
pendent voters, or the unimpeachable integrity of our in--
dependent members. Having withstood such strong attacks
upon my fortitude, it is possible that I may be of a cold
and insensible temperament, amounting to iciness, in such
matters ; and therefore my impressions of the live pillars of
the Capitol at Washington must be received with such
grains of allowance as this free confession may seem to
demand.

Did I see in this public body an assemblage of men,
bound together in the sacred names of Liberty and Free-
dom, and so asserting the chaste dignity of those twin god-
desses, in all their discussions, as to exalt at once the Eter-

WITHIN THE CAPITOL II

nal Principles to which their names are given, and their
own character, and the character of their countrymen, in
the admiring eyes of the whole world?

Did I recognize in this assembly, a body of men, who,
applying themselves in a new world to correct some of the
falsehoods and vices of the old, purified the avenues to
Public Life, paved the dirty ways to Place and Power, de-
bated and made laws for the Common Good, and had no
party but their Country ?

I saw in them the wheels that move the meanest perver-
sion of virtuous Political Machinery that the worst tools
ever wrought. Despicable trickery at elections; under-
handed tamperings with public officers ; cowardly attacks
upon opponents, with scurrilous newspapers for shields, and
hired pens for daggers ; shameful trucklings to mercenary
knaves, whose claim to be considered, is, that every day
and week they sow new crops of ruin with their venal
types, which are the dragons' teeth of yore, in everything
but sharpness ; aidings and abettings of every bad inclina-
tion in the popular mind, and artful suppressions of all its
good influences : such things as these, and in a word, Dis-
honest Faction in its most depraved and most unblushing
form, stared out from every corner of the crowded hall.

Did I see among them the intelligence and refinement :
the true, honest, patriotic heart of America ? Here and
there, were drops of its blood and life, but they scarcely
coloured the stream of desperate adventurers which sets
that way for profit and for pay. It is the game of these
men, and of their profligate organs, to make the strife of

12 WITHIN THE CAPITOL

politics so fierce and brutal, and so destructive of all self-
respect in worthy men, that sensitive and delicate-minded
persons shall be kept aloof, and they, and such as they, be
left to battle out their selfish views, unchecked. And thus
this lowest of all scrambling fights goes on, and they who
in other countries would, from their intelligence and sta-
tion, most aspire to make the laws, do here recoil the
farthest from that degradation.

That there are, among the representatives of the people
in both Houses, and among all parties, some men of high
character and great abilities, I need not say. The fore-
most among those politicians who are known in Europe,
have been already described, and I see no reason to depart
from the rule I have laid down for my guidance, of abstain-
ing from all mention of individuals. It will be sufficient
to add, that to the most favourable accounts that have been
written of them, I more than fully and most heartily sub-
scribe ; and that personal intercourse and free communica-
tion have bred within me, not the result predicted ;n the
very doubtful proverb, but increased admiration and respect.
They are striking men to look at, hard to deceive, prompt
to act, lions in energy, Crichtons in varied accomplishments,
Indians in fire of eye and gesture, Americans in strong and
generous impulse; and they as well represent the honour
and wisdom of their country at home, as the distinguished
gentleman who is now its Minister at the British Court
sustains its highest character abroad.

I visited both Houses nearly every day, during my stay
in Washington. On my initiatory visit to the House of

WITHIN THE CAPITOL 13

Representatives, they divided against a decision of the
chair; but the chair won. The second time I went, the
member who was speaking, being interrupted by a laugh,
mimicked it, as one child would in quarrelling with another,
and added, " that he would make honourable gentlemen
opposite, sing out a little more on the other side of their
mouths presently." But interruptions are fare ; the Speaker
being usually heard in silence. There are more quarrels
than with us, and more threaten ings than gentlemen are
accustomed to exchange in any civilized society of which
we have record : but farm-yard imitations have not as yet
been imported from the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The feature in oratory which appears to be the most prac-
ticed, and most relished, is the constant repetition of the
same idea or shadow of an idea in fresh words ; and the
inquiry out of doors is not, "What did he say?" but,
" How long did he speak ? " These, however, are but
enlargements of a principle which prevails elsewhere.

ARLINGTON

IZA DUFFUS HARDY

THE next day we decided to improve the shining hours —
truly and literally shining in this radiant spring weather
of blue heavens and balmy sunshine — by paying a brief visit
to the Capitol in the morning, and taking a drive to Arlington
in the afternoon. It takes a good many brief visits to see
the Washington Capitol thoroughly ; but one appreciates
and enjoys it so far better than by " doing " it in one long
visitation, as we see so many tourists " doing " it, with red
guide-books in their hands, or bulging from their pockets.
(I must conscientiously confess, in parenthesis, that we our-
selves also carry a Guide to Washington, and, during the in-
spection of the Capitol, are apt to refer to it pretty often.)
In the endeavour to take it all in on one day, the eye gets sur-
feited with pictures and statues, mouldings and frescoes ;
the soul sickens at the further contemplation of busts and
bas-reliefs, bronze-panellings and marble pillars ; Pocahontas
and Washington dance together dizzily in the confused
brain; and Presidents and Puritan Fathers, William Penn
and Miles Standish, allegorical figures of Freedom and
Victory, the Declaration of Independence, the Landing of
Columbus and the Sword of Bunker's Hill all mingle in a
kaleidoscopic jumble in the wearied mind.

In the afternoon, we take a carriage to Arlington, a
beautiful drive of only about four miles. All the way the

ARLINGTON IS

great white dome of the Capitol dominates the landscape.
Across the Potomac, from Arlington Heights, beyond river,
wood, winding road and city, we see it soaring into the in-
tense blue of the sky like an Alpine peak.

The Arlington Mansion was built by George Washing-
ton Parke Custis (grandson of Martha and adapted son of
George Washington). His daughter married Robert E.
Lee, and here the Lees kept hospitable house and happy
home until the disastrous days of war. During the long
struggle the estate was confiscated, and, having been em-
ployed as headquarters for the Federal troops, was eventually
turned into a " national cemetery," where over fifteen
thousand soldiers lie buried.

The beautiful park-like grounds are now a field of the dead.
Up the hillside by thousands and tens of thousands, stretch
the long regular serried lines of tombstones. Here, line by
line, in rank and file, at peace beyond the battle, lies the
silent army now. It is so hard to realize, looking on these
squadrons of the dead, still seeming drawn up in battle ar-
ray, that every one of those cold white stones strikes down
to the dust that was once a human heart, that throbbed with
the passionate pain of parting at leaving home and love, that
thrilled at the trumpet's call, that beat high with hope and
valour and gave its life-blood for the victorious cause that it
held dear/

One massive granite tomb covers a vault where lie the
remains of more than two thousand of the unknown dead.
But the deserted mansion itself is as sad as any of the tombs
that surround it. The grand old house is empty and un-

1 6 ARLINGTON

garnished ; its bare floors echo mournfully to our footfalls ;
the hall door (the " classic portal, resting on eight mass-
ive Doric columns," as the guide-book describes it), stands
drearily open ; all the world is welcome to enter there. It
is not in the least like a haunted house ; there are no corners
whence bats might flit at night ; no thick curtain of dust
coats the walls, nor dark banners of spider's web veil the
windows. The lofty rooms are spotless, speckless, carefully
kept and unutterably forlorn. We wander from room to
room through a desolate silence only broken by our own
steps ; the conservatories are barren of flowers ; the only
living thing we come upon is a dog sleeping in a patch of
sunlight. More mournful a memorial than granite slab or
marble cross, more eloquent than inscription carved in stone,
the forsaken mansion stands, a silent monument to the Lost
Cause.

As we descend the great staircase, a mighty clatter and
babble wake the hollow echoes, and we meet a gay and
rather noisy party, led by our brisk young New Yorker of
yesterday's Mount Vernon excursion, swarming, chattering
and laughing across the hall. Their happy, ringing voices
strike a jarring note here. Well, we have done with
Arlington Heights, and these joyous ones may ransack the
lonely corners of the deserted chambers at their own sweet
will. As we turn for a last look, we hear the youngest,
liveliest and prettiest of the party exclaim, as she trips
lightly into the bare drawing-room :

" Oh, my ! here's a room for a hop ! "

We drive back to Washington and return to our hotel in

ARLINGTON 17

good time for dinner, to which we sit down, a company of
some three hundred, round tables loaded with every delicacy
of the season, and dine to music, a band playing in the
gallery overlooking the dining-room, exhilarating the spirits
and stimulating the appetites of the assembled Sybarites by
stirring strains.

Assassins may shoot and presidents may fall. After a
splashing and a circling in the waves, the current flows on.
much the same.

" Le roi est mart I Vive le roi ! "

CARPENTERS' HALL

BENSON J. LOSSING

ON Monday morning I visited Carpenters' Hall, the
building in which the first Continental Congress
held its brief session. Having had no intimation concern-
ing its appearance, condition and present use, and informed
that it was situated in " Carpenters' Court," imagination
had invested its exterior with dignity, its interior with
solemn grandeur, and its location a spacious area where
nothing "common or unclean" was permitted to dwell.
How often the hoof of Pegasus touches the leafless tree-
tops of sober prose when his rider supposes him to be at
his highest altitude ! How often the rainbow of imagina-
tion fades and leaves to the eye nothing but the forbidding
aspect of a cloud of plain reality ! So at this time. The
spacious court was but a short and narrow alley ; and the
Hall, consecrated by the holiest associations which cluster
around the birthplace of our Republic, was a small two-
story building, of sombre aspect, with a short steeple and
all of a dingy hue.

This building is constructed of small imported bricks,
each alternate one glazed, and darker than the other, giv-
ing it a checkered appearance. Many of the old houses
in Philadelphia were built of like materials. It was origin-
ally erected for the hall of meeting for the society of house-

CARPENTERS' HALL, PHILADELPHIA

CARPENTERS' HALL 19

carpenters of Philadelphia. It stands at the end of an alley
leading south from Chestnut Street, between Third and
Fourth Streets.

The hall in which Congress met is upon the lower floor,
and comprehends the whole area of the building. It is
about forty-five feet square, with a recess in the rear twenty-
five feet wide and about twelve feet deep, at the entrance
of which are two pillars, eighteen feet high. The second
story contains smaller apartments which were used by
Congress and occupied by the society as committee rooms.
In one of these, emptied of all merchandise except a wash
tub and a rush-bottomed chair, let us sit down and consider
the events connected with that first great Continental
Congress.

For many years a strong sympathy had existed between
the several colonies, and injuries done to one, either by the
aggressions of the French and Indians, or the unkind hand
of their common mother, touched the feelings of all the
others and drew out responsive words and acts which de-
noted an already strong bond of unity. Widely separated
as some of them were from each other by geographical
distance and diversity of interest and pursuits, there were,
nevertheless^ political, social and commercial considerations
which made the Anglo-Americans really one people, having
common interests and common hopes. Called upon as free
subjects of Great Britain to relinquish, theoretically and
practically, some of the dearest prerogatives guaranteed to
them by the Magna Charta and hoary custom — prerogatives
'n which were enveloped the most precious kernels of civil

20 CARPENTERS' HALL

liberty — they arose as one family to resist the insidious
progress of oncoming despotism, and yearned for union to
give themselves strength commensurate to the task. Lead-
ing minds in every colony perceived the necessity for a
general council, and in the spring of 1774, the great heart
of Anglo-America seemed to be as with one pulsation with
this sublime idea. That idea found voice and expression
almost simultaneously throughout the land. Rhode Island
has the distinguished honour of first speaking out publicly
on the subject. A general Congress was proposed at a
town meeting in Providence on the I7th of May, 1774.
A committee of a town meeting held in Philadelphia on the
2 ist, four days afterwards, also recommended such a
measure ; and on the 23d, a town meeting in New York
city uttered the same sentiment. The House of Burgesses
of Virginia, dissolved by Lord Dunmore, assembled at the
Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, on the 27th, and on that
day warmly recommended the assembling of a national
council ; and Baltimore, in a county meeting, also took
action in favour of it on the 3151. On the 6th of June, a
town meeting at Norwich, Connecticut, proposed a general
Congress; and on the nth, a county meeting at Newark,
New Jersey, did the same ; on the I7th, the Massachusetts
Assembly, and, at the same time, a town meeting in Faneuil
Hall, in Boston, strenuously recommended the measure ;
and a county meeting at New Castle, Delaware, approved
of it on the igth. On the 6th of July, the committee
of correspondence at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, ex-
pressed its approbation of the measure. A general province

CARPENTERS' HALL 21

meeting, held at Charleston, South Carolina, on the 6th,
7th and 8th of that month, urged the necessity of such a
Congress ; and a district meeting at Wilmington, North
Carolina, held on the 2 1st, heartily responded affirmatively.
Thus we perceive that, within the space of sixty-four days,
twelve of the thirteen colonies spoke out decidedly in favour
of a Continental Congress, Georgia alone remaining silent.
The Massachusetts Assembly designated the 1st of Septem-
ber, 1774, as the time and Philadelphia as the place for the
meeting of the Congress. Other colonies acquiesced and
at Philadelphia the delegates convened.

" Now meet the fathers of this western clime,

Nor names more noble graced .the roll of Fame,

When Spartan firmness braved the wrecks of time,

Or Rome's bold virtues fann'd the heroic flame.

" Not deeper thought th' immortal sage inspired
'On Solon's lips, when Grecian senates hung;
Nor manlier eloquence the bosom fired,

When genius thunder'd from the Athenian tongue."

— TRUMBULL.*

On Monday, the 5th of September, fifty-four delegates,
from twelve colonies, assembled in Carpenters' Hall. It
was a congregation of men, viewed in every important as-
pect, such as the world had never seen.

Congress was organized by the choice of Peyton Ran-
dolph, of Virginia, as president, and Charles Thomson, of
Pennsylvania, as secretary. The credentials of the various
delegates were then presented, and now came a pause ; who

» The Author of M'Fingal. These lines are from his Elegy on the
Times, published while this first Congress was in session.

22 CARPENTERS' HALL

should take the lead ? What measure should be first pro-
posed ? They had come together from distant Provinces,
some instructed by the power that appointed them, others
left free to act as circumstances should require. There was
a profound silence and deep anxiety was depicted upon every
countenance. No one seemed willing to break that silence,
until a grave-looking member, in a plain dark suit of " min-
ister's grey " and unpowdered wig, arose. u Then," said
Bishop White, who was present and related the circum-
stance, " I felt a regret that a seeming country parson should
so far have mistaken his talents and the theatre for their
display." But his voice was so musical, his words so
eloquent, and his sentiments so profoundly logical, that the
whole House was electrified, and the question went from
lip to lip, " Who is it ? Who is it ? " A few, who knew
the stranger, answered, " It is Patrick Henry, of Vir-
ginia ! " There was no more hesitation ; he who startled
the people of Colonial America nine years before, by his
bold resolutions against the Stamp Act, and a few months
afterwards by the cry of " Give me liberty or give me
death ! " now gave the impulse to the representatives of that
people in grand council assembled and set in motion that
machinery of civil power which worked so nobly while
Washington and his compatriots were waging war with the
enemy in the field.

Two days afterwards another impressive scene occurred.
It was the first prayer in Congress, offered by the Reverend
Mr. Duche. The first day had been occupied in the re-
ception of credentials and the arrangement of business j the

CARPENTERS' HALL 23

second in the adoption of rules for the regulation of the
session; and now, when about to enter upon the general
business for which they were convened, the delegates
publicly sought Divine aid. It was a spectacle of great in-
terest, for men of every creed were there. In this service
their creeds were forgotten and the hearts of all united in
the prayer which flowed from the pastor's lips ; a prayer
which came from a then patriot's heart, though timidity
afterwards lost him the esteem of his friends and country-
men.

The Congress resolved to sit with closed doors, for
enemies were around them with open eyes and busy
tongues, and nothing was to be made public without special
orders. Having no means at hand to ascertain the relative
importance of the Colonies, it was agreed " that each
Colony or Province should have one vote in determining
questions." One of their first acts was to express an
opinion that the whole continent ought to support Massa-
chusetts in resistance to the unconstitutional change in her
government ; and they afterwards resolved that any person
accepting office under the new system ought to be held in
detestation as a public enemy. Merchants were advised to
enter with non-importation agreements ; and a letter was
addressed to General Gage, remonstrating against the forti-
fications on Boston Neck, and his arbitrary exercise o.
power. On the I4th of October, a Declaration of Colonial
Rights, prepared by a committee of two from each Province,
was adopted, m which were set forth the grievances com-
plained of and the inalienable rights of British subjects in

24 CARPENTERS' HALL

every part of the realm. As a means of enforcing the
claim of natural and delegated rights, fourteen articles were
agreed to as the basis of an American Association, pledg-
ing the associators to an entire commercial non-intercourse
with Great Britain, Ireland and the West Indies, and the
non-consumption of tea and British goods. In one clause
the slave trade was specially denounced, and entire absence
from it and from any trade with those concerned in it,
formed a part of the association. Committees were to be
appointed in every county, city and town, to detect and
punish all violations of it ; and all dealings with such
enemies of American liberty were to be immediately broken
off. One hundred and fifty copies of the Articles of As-
sociation were ordered to be printed.

An eloquent address to the people of Great Britain, from
the pen of John Jay, and a memorial to the inhabitants of
the several British American Colonies, written by William
Livingston, were adopted by Congress on the 2ist. A
petition, drawn by John Adams and corrected by John
Dickenson was approved on the 26th. Letters to the
Colonies of St. John's Island (now Prince Edward's, Nova
Scotia), Georgia and the Floridas, enclosing the doings of
Congress, and inviting them to join the Association, were
also adopted on that day (the last of the session). At the
same time they approved of an elaborate address to the in-
habitants of Canada. This was drawn up by Mr. Dicken-
son. Having made provision for another Congress to meet
on the loth of May following, the first general council
closed its session by adopting a second humble petition to

CARPENTERS' HALL 25

the King and a vote of thanks to the advocates of Colonial
rights in both houses of Parliament.

Congress was in actual session only thirty-one days out
of the eight weeks of the term, the remainder of the time
being occupied in preparatory business. It was a session of
extraordinary activity and a great amount of business of vast
importance was transacted, notwithstanding many unneces-
sary speeches were evidently made. They were certainly
more to the purpose than are most of the harangues in
Congress at the present day, or, considering the diversity
of opinion that must have existed upon the sentiments of
the various state papers that were adopted, the session
would have continued for several months. We have no
means of knowing what harmony or what discord charac-
terized those debates. The doors were closed to the pub-
lic ear, and no reporters for the press have preserved the
substance of the speeches. That every resolution adopted
was far from receiving a unanimous vote, is very evident ;
for we find, by the subsequent declarations and acts of
delegates, that some of the measures were violently opposed.
Many deplored the probability of an open rupture with the
mother country and refused acquiescence in any measure
that should tend to such a result. Indeed, the sentiments
of a large majority of the delegates were favourable to an
honourable reconciliation, and the Congress was determined
not to present the least foundation for a charge of rushing
madly into an unnatural contest without presenting the olive
branch of peace. Such was the tenor of its petitions and
addresses i and every charge of desire on the part of Con-

26 CARPENTERS' HALL

gress for a war that might lead to independence rested solely
upon inference. Galloway, Duane, and others, even opposed
the American Association ; and they regarded the Adamses
as men not only too much committed to violent measures
by the part they had taken in Boston, but that they were
desperate men with nothing to lose, and hence unsafe
guides to gentlemen who had estates to forfeit. And yet
Galloway, when he became a prescriptive Loyalist, and one
of the most active enemies of the Republicans, was forced
to acknowledge the stern virtue of many of the patriots of
that assembly, and among them Samuel Adams. " He eats
little, drinks little, sleeps little, and thinks much," he said,
" and is most indefatigable in the pursuit of his object. It
was this man who, by his superior application, managed at
once the factions in Congress at Philadelphia and the fac-
tions in New England."

The proceedings of this first Congress went forth to
the world with all the weight of apparent unanimity, and
throughout the Colonies they were hailed with general satis-
faction. The American Association adopted and signed by
the delegates was regarded by the people with great favour
and thousands in every province affixed their signatures to
the pledge. These formed the fibres of the stronger bond
of the Articles of Confederation afterwards adopted, and may
be considered the commencement of the American Union.

THE CRADOCK HOUSE, MEDFORD >

SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE

THE object of paramount interest which Medford con-
tains is the plantation house of Governor Cradock,
or " Mathias Charterparty," as the malcontent Morton
styled him. This house is the monarch of all those now
existing in North America. As we trace a family back
generation after generation until we bring all collateral
branches to one common source in the first Colonist, so we
go from one old house to another until we finally come to
a pause before this patriarch of the sea. It is the handi-
work of the first planters in the vicinity of Boston, and it
is one of the first, if not the very first, of the brick houses
erected within the government of John Winthrop.

Every man, woman and child in Medford knows the
" Old Fort," as the older inhabitants love to call it, and
will point you to the site with visible pride that their pleas-
ant town contains so interesting a relic. Turning your
back upon the village and your face to the east, a brisk
walk of ten minutes along the banks of the Mystic, and
you are in presence of the object of your search.

A very brief survey establishes the fact that this was one
of those houses of refuge scattered through the New Eng-

1 From Samuel Adams Drake's Historical Mansions and Highways (Bos-
ton, 1899), by permission of the publishers, Messrs. Little, Brown & Co.

28 THE CRADOCK HOUSE, MEDFORD

land settlements, into which the inhabitants might fly
for safety upon any sudden alarm of danger from the
savages.

The situation was well chosen for security. It has the
river in front, marshes to the eastward and a considerable
extent of level meadow behind it. As it was from this
latter quarter that an attack was most to be apprehended,
greater precautions were taken to secure that side. The
house itself is placed a little above the general level. Stand-
ing for a century and a half in the midst of an extensive
and open field, enclosed by palisades and guarded with
gates, a foe could not approach unseen by day, nor find a
vantage-ground from which to assail the inmates. Here,
then, the agents of Matthew Cradock, first Governor of
the Massachusetts Company in England, built the house
we are now describing.

In the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, at
Boston, hangs the charter of "The Governor and Com-
pany of the Massachusetts Bay in New England," brought
over by Winthrop in 1630. The great seal of England, a
most ponderous and convincing symbol of authority, is
appended to it.

It is well known that the settlement at Salem, two years
earlier, under the leadership of Endicott, was begun by a
commercial company in England, of which Matthew Crad-
ock was Governor. In order to secure the emigration of
such men as Winthrop, Dudley, Sir R. Saltonstall, Johnson,
and others, Cradock proposed in July, 1629, to transfer the
government from the company in England to the inhabit-

THE CRADOCK HOUSE, MEDFORD 2Q

ants here. As he was the wealthiest and most influential
person in the association, his proposal was acceded to.

We cannot enter here, into the political aspects of thia
coup d'etat. It must ever arrest the attention and challenge
the admiration of the student of American history. In
defiance of the crown, which had merely organized them
into a mercantile corporation, like the East India Company,
with officers resident in England, they proceeded to nullify
the clear intent of their charter by removing the gov-
ernment to America. The project was first mooted by
Cradock, and secrecy enjoined upon the members of the
Company That he was the avowed author of it must be
our apology for introducing the incident. This circum-
stance renders Matthew Cradock's name conspicuous in the
annals of New England.

Cradock never came to America, but there is little doubt
that he entertained the purpose of doing so. He sent over,
however, agents, or " servants," as they were styled, who
established the plantation at Mystic Side. He also had
houses at Ipswich and at Marblehead for fishery and traffic.

For a shrewd man of business Cradock seems to have
been singularly unfortunate in some of his servants. One
of these, Philip RatclifF, being convicted " ore tenus of most
foul and slanderous invectives " against the churches and
government, was sentenced to be whipped, lose his ears,
and be banished the plantation. Winthrop was complained
of by Dudley because he stayed the execution of the sen-
tence of banishment, but answered that it was on the score
of humanity, as it was winter and the man must have

30 THE CRADOCK HOUSE, MEDFORD

perished. Ratcliff afterwards, in conjunction with Thomas
Morton and Sir Christopher Gardiner, procured a petition
to the Lords of the Privy Council, before whom Cradock
was summoned.

Wood, one of the early chroniclers, tells us that Master
Cradock had a park impaled at Mystic, where his cattle
were kept until it could be stocked with deer j and that he
also was engaged in ship-building, a vessel of a " hundred
tunne" having been built the previous year (1632). It
may be, too, that Cradock's artisans built here for Winthrop
the little " Blessing of the Bay," launched upon the Mystic
tide, July 4, 1631, — an event usually located at the Gov-
ernor's farm, at Ten Hills.

This house, a unique specimen of the architecture of the
early settlers, must be considered a gem of its kind. It is
not disguised by modern alterations in any essential feature,
but bears its credentials on its face. Two hundred and
sixty odd New England winters have searched every cranny
of the old fortress, whistled down the big chimney-stacks,
rattled the window-panes in impotent rage, and, departing,
certified to us the staunch and trusty handiwork of Crad-
ock's English craftsmen.

Time has dealt gently with this venerable relic. Like a
veteran of many campaigns, it shows a few honourable scars.
The roof has swerved a little from its true outline. It
has been denuded of a chimney and has parted reluctantly
with a dormer-window. The loopholes, seen in the front,
were long since closed ; the race they were to defend against
has hardly an existence to-day. The windows have been

THE CRADOCK HOUSE, MEDFORD 3!

enlarged, with an effect on the ensemble, as Hawthorne says
in a similar case, of rouging the cheeks of one's grand-
mother. Hoary with age, it is yet no ruin, but a com-
fortable habitation.

How many generations of men — and our old house has
seldom if ever been untenanted — have lived and died within
those walls ! When it was built Charles I. reigned in Old
England and Cromwell had not begun his great career.
Peter the Great was not then born, and the house was
waxing in years when Frederick the Great appeared on the
stage. We seem to be speaking of recent events when
Louis XVI. suffered by the axe of the guillotine and
Napoleon's sun rose in splendour to set in obscurity.

The Indian, who witnessed its slowly ascending walls
with wonder and misgiving ; the Englishman, whose axe
wakened new echoes in the primeval forest ; the Colonist
native to the soil, who battled and died within view to
found a new nation, — all have passed away. But here, in
this old mansion, is the silent evidence of those great epochs
of history.

It is not clear at what time the house was erected, but it
has usually been fixed at 1634, when a large grant of land
was made to Cradock by the General Court. The bricks
are said to have been burned near by. There was some
attempt at ornament, the lower course of the belt being
laid with moulded bricks so as to form a cornice. The
loopholes were for defence. The walls were half a yard in
thickness. Heavy iron bars secured the arched windows at
tb? back, and the entrance door was encased in iron. The

32 THE CRADOCK HOUSE, MEDFORD

fire-proof closets, huge chimney-stacks, and massive hewn
timbers told of strength and durability. A single pane of
glass, set in iron and placed in the back wall of the western
chimney, overlooked the approach from the town.

The builders were Englishmen, and, of course, followed
their English types. They named their towns and villages
after the sounding nomenclature of Old England ; and
what more natural than that they should wish their homes
to resemble those they had left behind ? Such a house
might have served an inhabitant of the Scottish border,
with its loopholes, narrow windows and doors sheathed in
iron. Against an Indian foray it was impregnable.

Cradock was about the only man connected with the set-
tlement in Massachusetts Bay whose means admitted of
such a house. Both Winthrop and Dudley built of wood,
and the former rebuked the deputy for what he thought an
unreasonable expense in finishing his own house. Many
brick buildings were erected in Boston during the first dec-
ade of the settlement, but we have found none that can
claim such an ancient pedigree as this of which we are
writing. It is far from improbable that, having in view a
future residence in New England, Cradock may have given
directions for or prescribed the plan of this house, and that
it may have been the counterpart of his own in St. Swithen's
Lane, near London Stone.

« Then went I forth by London Stone
Throughout all Canwick Street."

The plantation, with its green meadows and its stately

THE CRADOCK HOUSE, MEDFORD 33

forest-trees, was a manor of which Cradock was lord and
master. His grant extended a mile into the country from
the river-side in all places. Though absent, he was con-
sidered nominally present, and is constantly alluded to by
name in the early records. Cradock was a member of the
Long Parliament, dying in 1641. The euphonious name of
Mystic has been supplanted by Medford, the Meadford of
Dudley and the rest.

It is not to be expected that a structure belonging to so
remote a period for New England, should be without its
legendary lore. It is related that the old fort was at one
time beleaguered for several days by an Indian war party,
who at length retired baffled from the strong walls and
death-shots of the garrison. As a veracious historian, we
are compelled to add that we know of no authentic data of
such an occurrence.

FRAUNCES TAVERN

WILLIAM J. DAVIS

FRAUNCES1 TAVERN, corner of Broad and Pearl
Streets, was Washington's quarters, on the evacuation
of the city by the British troops, 25th of November, 1783.
This old mansion, around which some of the most interest-
ing reminiscences of our Revolutionary history are con-
nected, still remains, although somewhat altered from its
original appearance. It was erected about 1735 by the
Delancey family, then one of the most distinguished and
opulent in New York, and was considered equal in size
and architectural display to any at that period in the city.

As a tavern, it was the most noted in New York and
was the resort of the bloods of that day, who formed them-
selves into social clubs, and among whom were some of the
most active and distinguished men of the Revolution.
Samuel Fraunces, or as he was familiarly called, Black
Sam (in consequence of his swarthy complexion), was of
French extraction, and appears to have been a prince of a
publican. He purchased the house in 1762, from Oliver
Delancey, for £2,000, provincial currency, but did not
open it as a public house until some time afterwards.

The first notice of Sam that we have been able to dis-
cover, is an advertisement in Parker's Post Boy, February

1 This is the manner in which he signed his name, and is thus recorded
by him in the Deed of Conveyance m 1785-

FRAUNCES TAVERN 35

5, 1761, by which it appears that he not only acted as
landlord but did considerable business as a dealer in different
kinds of preserves. Here is the advertisement :

" To be sold at a very reasonable rate, by Samuel Francis,
at the Sign of the Masons' Arms near the Green, New
York, a small quantity of portable soup, catchup, bottled
gooseberries, pickled walnuts, pickled or fryed oisters, fit to
go to the West Indias, pickled mushrooms, a large assort-
ment of sweetmeats, such as currant jelly, marmalade,
quinces, grapes, strawberries and sundry other sorts."

The Masons' Arms was very popular under the manage-
ment of Sam as a Mead and Tea Garden, places much fre-
quented by both sexes on pleasant afternoons. On pur-
chasing the Broad Street house, Sam sold out this, and it is
thus announced in the same paper:

"May 13, 1762, John Jones — Begs leave to acquaint the
publick, That he has removed 'to the house formerly kept
by Samuel Francis, at the Sign of the Masons' Arms, next
to Mr. Degrusia, in the Fields, where he intends to give
the same entertainment as formerly given by Mr. Francis,
and that in the best manner. Those Gentlemen and Ladies
that please to favour him with their company, may depend
on the best usage from their humble servant, John Jones."
He threw open Vauxhall Gardens, which formerly stood
in Greenwich Street, near the site afterwards occupied by
Stuart's Sugar Refinery — but which he again resold in 1771,
and opened the much more celebrated tavern in Broad
Street.

During the troubles which preceded the Revolution,

36 FRAUNCES TAVERN

Fraunces Tavern seems to have been the resort of both
Whig and Loyalist, political affairs not having sufficient
power to sever the social ties of those whose custom it was
to assemble there and discuss his Madeira, a wine, the ex-
cellent quality of which Sam's cellar stood proverbial. It
must not be presumed that Sam was an idle spectator of the
events then passing around him : his sympathies were with
the Whigs, and he became one of Washington's most faith-
ful friends and followers. It was through the instrumental-
ity of his daughter that the attempt to poison Washington
was frustrated, she being at that time housekeeper at Rich-
mond Hill, his quarters. This house was one of those
which suffered some injury from the broadside of the Asia
when she fired upon the city. Freneau in one of his poems,
thus speaks of it :

Scarce a broadside was ended, till another began again —
By Jove ! it was nothing but Fire away Flannagan ! '
Some thought him saluting his Sally's and Nancy's
Till he drove a round shot thro' the roof of Sam Francis."

Notwithstanding this belligerent demonstration, the social
club still continued its weekly meetings for some time. A
list of the members of this club was found among the
papers of the late John Moore, one of the members and
presented to the New York Historical Society, by his son,
Thos. W. C. Moore, which contains some very curious re-
marks which we here insert in full.

" List of Members of the Social Club, which passed
Saturday evenings at Sam Francis's corner of Broad and

FRAUNCES TAVERN

37

Dock Street, in winter, and in summer at Kip's Bay, where
they built a neat, large room for the Club House. The
British landed at this spot the day they took the city, I5th
September, 1776."

Members of this Club dispersed in December, 1775, and
never afterwards assembled.

John Jay

Gouveneur Morris "

Robt. R. Livingston u

Egbert Benson "

Morgan Lewis "

Gulian Verplanck «

John Livingston and
his brother Henry
James Seagrove

Francis Lewis
John Watts

Leonard Lispenard and
his brother Anthony

(Disaffected) Became Member of Con-
gress, a Resident Minister
to Spain, Commissioner to
make peace, Chief Justice,
Minister to England, and
on his return, Governor of
New York — a good and
amiable man.

Member of Congress, Min-
ister to France, etc.
Minister to France, Chan-
cellor of New York, etc.
District Judge, New York,
and in the Legislature.
Good man.

Governor of New York
and a General in the war of
1812.

but in Europe till 1783 —
President of New York
Bank.

but of no political impor-
tance.

went to the southward as a
merchant.

but of no political impor-
tance.

doubtful — during the war
Recorder of New York,
but remained quiet at New
York.

446068

38 FRAUNCES TAVERN

Rich'd Harrison (Loyal)

John Hay "

but has since been Recordei

of New York.

an officer in the British

Peter Van Schaack
Daniel Ludlow "

Dr. S. Bard

George Ludlow "

William his brother "

William Imlay "

Edward Goold

John Reade (Pro and Con)

J. Stevens (Disaffected)

Henry Kelly, (Loyal)

Stephen Rapelye

John Moore Loyal

Army. Killed in West
Indies.

a lawyer, remained quiet at
Kinderhook.

during the war — since Pres-
ident of Manhattan Bank,
though in 1775 doubtful,
remained in New York — a
good man.

remained on Long Island in
quiet. A good man.
or supposed so — remained
on Long Island. Inoffen-
sive man.

at first, but doubtful after
1777.

at New York all the war —
a merchant.

would have proved loyal,
no doubt, had not his wife's
family been otherwise.

went to England and did not

return.

turned out bad — died in the

New York Hospital.

— in public life all the war

and from year, 1765.

While the city was in possession of the British nothing
of interest seems to have transpired within the house. The
25th day of November, 1783, being the time fixed upon for
the exodus of the British troops, arrangements were made for
the triumphal entry of Washington and the American
army to take possession of the city. On the morning of

FRAUNCES TAVERN 39

that day, — a cold, frosty, but clear and brilliant morning — •
the troops under General Knox encamped at Harlem,
marched to the Bowery lane, and halted at the present
junction of Third Avenue and the Bowery. There they
remained until about one o'clock in the afternoon when the
British left their posts in that vicinity and marched to
Whitehall. The American troops followed, and before
three o'clock General Knox took formal possession of Fort
George, amid the acclamations of thousands of emancipated
freemen and the roar of artillery upon the Battery. Wash-
ington repaired to his quarters at Fraunces Tavern, and
there, during the afternoon, Governor Clinton gave a pub-
lic dinner to the officers of the army, and in the evening the
town was brilliantly illuminated. But the most remarkable
event connected with the history of the house and which has
rendered it the greatest monument to perpetuate the virtues
and patriotism of Washington, is the fact that in it he vir-
tually resigned the charge which he had assumed on taking
command of the army. In the room on the second story
occurred the scene of his taking leave of his officers, — men
who had suffered with him in all the dangers and privations
of that protracted struggle which brought us liberty, devoted
and ready to follow his lead in any enterprise. What a
noble spectacle does that scene present to the mind for con-
templation— how unlike other leaders in similar movements,
who, after having successfully obtained their purposes, seize
the reins of government, assisted by a victorious army
and elevate themselves to the supreme power by trampling
upon the liberties of the people.

40 FRAUNCES TAVERN

At this time great discontent existed throughout the army
occasioned by the coldness of Congress to the numerous
petitions which had been presented to obtain relief. The
Newburgh letters proceeded from that cause. Many of
the best friends of America began to entertain doubts as to
the States being able to sustain themselves, and that anarchy
would rule. In view of this state of affairs, overtures had
been made to the chief to elect him king, but virtue was
stronger than power ; he declined the proffer, with an ad-
monition to those who offered it which they could never
forget.

The City of New York has made many futile attempts
to erect to the memory of Washington a suitable monu-
ment. It has already been done. The preservation of
Fraunces Tavern is the greatest monument that can be
conceived or erected. Let the demagogue who would
barter the liberties of his country for his personal aggran-
dizement visit it, and stand within that room where the
greatest of men resigned his power and became a simple
farmer again ; and will not that bright example bring him
back to his duty again ? It may become a second Mecca
to bring the faithful to behold the room in which occurred
the scene of his greatness and magnanimity.

On Thursday, December 4, 1783, the principal officers
of the army assembled at Fraunces's to take a final leave of
their beloved chief. The scene is described as one of great
tenderness. Washington entered the room where they
were all waiting, and, taking a glass of wine in his hand,
he said : " With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now

FRAUNCES TAVERN 41

take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter
days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones
have been glorious and honourable." Having drank, he
continued : " I cannot come to each of you to take my
leave, but shall be obliged to you if each will come and
take me by the hand." Knox, who stood nearest to him,
turned and grasped his hand, and, while the tears flowed
down the cheeks of each, the commander'-in-chief kissed
him. This he did to each of his officers, while tears and
sobs stifled utterance. Washington soon left the room,
and passing through a corps of light infantry, he walked in
silence to Whitehall, followed by a vast procession, and at
two o'clock entered a barge to proceed to Paulus Hook, on
his way to Mount Vernon.

Sam Fraunces kept the house until 1785, when he sold it.

On the election of Washington to the Presidency, Sam
was appointed steward to his establishment. An anecdote
is related of Sam, who was always anxious to provide the
first dainties of the season for the General's table. It
appears that Sam, on making his purchases at the old Fly
Market, observed a fine shad, the first of the season; he
was not long in making the bargain, and it was sent home
with his other purchases. Next morning it was duly served
up in Sam's best style for the General's breakfast. The
General on sitting down to the table observed the fish and
asked Sam what it was. He replied " that it was a fine
shad." " It is very early in the season for them," rejoined
the General, " how much did you pay for it ? " u Two
dollars," said Sam. " Two dollars ! I can never encour-

42 FRAUNCES TAVERN

age this extravagance at my table," replied Washington,
<l take it away — I will not touch it." The shad was ac-
cordingly removed, and Sam, who had no such economical
scruples, made a hearty meal on the fish at his own table.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE

JOHN FISKE1

r I ^HIS college was established in 1693, with Blair for
•JL its president, Governor Nicholson, with seventeen
other persons appointed by the assembly, formed the board
of trustees. From the outset Nicholson was warmly in
sympathy with the enterprise, but now this friend was called
away for a time. In the anti-Catholic fervour which at-
tended the accession of King William and Queen Mary,
the palatinate government in Maryland had been over-
turned and the new Royal Governor Sir Lionel Copley,
died in 1693. Nicholson was then promoted from Deputy-
Governor of Virginia to be Governor of Maryland. About
the same time Lord Howard of Effingham resigned or was
removed, and Sir Edmund Andros was sent out to Virginia
as Governor. It may seem a strange appointment in view
of the obloquy which Andros had incurred at the north.
But in all these appointments William III. seems to have
acted upon a consistent policy of not disturbing, except in
cases of necessity, the state of things which he found. As
a rule he retained in his service the old officials against
whom no grave charges were brought; and while the per-

1 From John Fiske's Old Virginia and Her Neighbours (Boston, 1899),
by permission of and special arrangement with Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin
& Co., publishers of Mr. Fiske's writings.

44 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE

sonality of Andros was Hot prepossessing, there can be no
doubt as to his integrity.

Nicholson's career as Royal Governor of Maryland lasted
until 1698, while Andros was having a hard time in Vir-
ginia trying to enforce with rigour the Navigation Act and
to make life miserable for Dr. Blair. His conduct was far
more moderate than it had been in New England, but he
had his full share of trouble in Virginia. The moving
cause of his hostility to the College of William and Mary
is not distinctly assigned, but he is not unlikely to have be-
lieved, like many a dullard of his stripe, that education is
apt to encourage a seditious and forward spirit. He did
everything he could think of to thwart and annoy President
Blair. At the election of burgesses he predicted that the
establishment of a college would be sure to result in a ter-
rible increase of taxes. He tried to persuade subscribers to
withhold the payment of their subscriptions. He sought
to arouse an absurd prejudice against Scotchmen, for which
it was rather late in the day. Finally he connived at gross
insults to the president and friends of the college. Among
the young men to whom Andros showed especial favour
was Daniel Parke, whose grandson, Daniel Parke Custis, is
now remembered as the first husband of Martha Washing-
ton. This young Daniel did some things to which pos-
terity could hardly point with pride. He is described as a
" sparkish gentleman," or as some would say, a slashing
blade. He was an expert with the rapier, and anxious to
thrust it between the ribs of people who supported the col-
lege. His challenges were numerous, but clergymen could

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE 45

not be reached in such a way. So " he set up a claim to
the pew in church in which Mrs. Blair sat, and one Sun-
day," as we are told, " with fury and violence he pulled her
out of it in the presence of the minister and congregation,
who were greatly scandalized at this ruffian and profane
action."1

This was going too far. The stout Scotchman had pow-
erful friends in London ; the outrage was discussed in
Lambeth Palace ; and Sir Edmund Andros, for winking at
such behaviour, was removed. He was evidently a slow-
witted official. His experiences in Boston, with Parson
Willard of the Old South, ought to have cured him of his
propensity to quarrel with aggressive and resolute clergy-
men. For two or three years after going home, Sir Ed-
mund governed the little channel island of Jersey, and the
rest of his days were spent in retirement, until his death
in 1714.

The system of absentee Governors occasionally exempli-
fied in such cases as those of Lord Delaware and Lord
Howard, was now to be permanently adopted. A great
favourite with William III. was George Hamilton Douglas,
whose distinguished gallantry at the Battle of the Boyne
and other occasions had been rewarded with the earldom of
Orkney. In 1697 he was appointed governor-in-chief of
Virginia, and for the next forty years he drew his annual
salary of ^"1,200 without ever crossing the ocean. Hence-
forth the official who represented him in Virginia was en-
titled Lieutenant-Governor, and the first was Francis
1 William and Mary College Quarterly, I., 65.

46 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE

Nicholson, who was brought back from Maryland in
1698.

One of Nicholson's achievements in Maryland had been
the change of seat of government from St. Mary's to An-
napolis. He now proceeded to make a similar change in
Virginia. After perishing in Bacon's rebellion, Jamestown
was rebuilt by Lord Culpepper, but in the last decade of
the century it was again destroyed by an accidental fire,
and has never since risen from its ashes. Of that sacred
spot, the first abiding-place of Englishmen in America,
nothing now is left but the ivy-mantled ruins of the church-
tower and a few cracked and crumbling tombstones.

Jamestown had always a bad reputation for malaria, and
after its second burning people were not eager to restore it.
Plans for moving the government elsewhere had been con-
sidered on more than one occasion. In 1699 the choice
fell upon the site of Middle Plantation, half-way between
James and York Rivers, with its salubrious air and whole-
some water. It had already, in 1693, ^een selected as tne
site of the new college. Nicholson called the place Will-
iamsburg, and began building a town there with streets so
laid out as to make W and M, the initials of the king
and queen, a plan soon abandoned as inconvenient.
The town thus founded by Nicholson remained the capital
of Virginia until 1780, when it was superseded by Rich-
mond.

Nicholson was in full sympathy with President Blair as
regarded the college, but occasions for disagreement be-
tween them were at hand. On the Lieutenant-Governor's

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE 47

arrival the wise parson read him a lesson upon the need
for moderation in the display of his powers. The career
of his predecessor Andros, in more than one Colony, fur-
nished abundant examples of the need for such moderation.
Blair offered him some good advice tendered by the Bishop
of Lincoln, whereupon Nicholson exclaimed, with a big
round oath : " I know how to govern Virginia and Mary-
land better than all the bishops in England. If I had not
hampered them in Maryland and kept them under, I should
never have been able to govern them." The doctor re-
plied : " Sir, I do not pretend to [speak for] Maryland,
but if I know anything of Virginia, they are a good-natured
[and] tractable people as any in the world, and you may do
anything with them by way of civility, but you will never
be able to manage them in that way you speak of, by
hampering and keeping them under." The eccentric gov-
ernor did not profit by this advice. . . .

Nicholson was recalled to England in 1705. Afterwards
we find him commanding the expedition which in 1710
captured the Acadian Port Royal from the French. He
then served as Governor of the newly conquered Nova
Scotia and afterwards of South Carolina, was knighted, rose
to the rank of Lieutenant-General and died in 1728.

Meanwhile the College of William and Mary, in which
Nicholson felt so much interest, was flourishing. Unfor-
tunately its first hall, designed by Sir Christopher Wren,
was destroyed by fire in 1705, but it was before long re-
placed by another. Until 1712, the faculty consisted of the
president, a grammar-master, writing-master and an usher j

48 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE

in that year a professor of mathematics was added. In
1729, there were six professors. Fifty years later the de-
partments of law and medicine were added, and the name
" College " was replaced by " University."

As in the case of Harvard, it was hoped that this college
might prove effective in converting and educating Indians.
In 1723, Brafferton Hall was built for their use, from a
fund given by Robert Boyle, the famous chemist. It is still
standing and used as ajiormitory. We are told that the
" Queen of Pamunkey " sent her son to college with a boy
to wait upon him, and likewise two chief's sons, " all hand-
somely cloathed after the Indian fashion " ; but as to any
effects wrought upon the barbarian mind by this Christian
institution of learning, there is nothing to which we can
point.

The first Commencement exercises were held in the year
1700, and it is said that not only were Virginians and In-
dians present on that gala day, but so great was the fame of
it that people came in sloops from Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania and even from New York. The journals of what
we may call the " faculty meetings " throw light upon the
manner of living at the college. There is a matron or
housekeeper, who is thus carefully instructed: " i. That
you never concern yourself with any of the Boys only
when you have a Complaint against any of them, and then
that you make it to his or their proper Master. — 2. That
there be always both fresh and salt Meat for Dinner; and
twice in the Week, as well as on Sunday in particular, that
there be either Puddings or Pies besides ; that there be al-

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE 49

ways Plenty of Victuals ; that Breakfast, Dinner and Sup-
per be se.rv'd up in the cleanest and neatest manner pos-
sible ; and for this Reason the Society not only allow but de-
sire you to get a Cook ; that the Boy's Suppers be not as
usual made up of different Sqraps, but that there be at each
Table the same Sort : and when there is cold fresh Meat
enough, that it be often hashed for them j and that when
they are sick, you yourself see their Victuals before it be
carried to them, that it be clean, decent and fit for them ;
that the Person appointed to take Care of them be constantly
with them, and give their Medicine regularly. The general
Complaints of the Visitors and other Gentlemen through-
out the whole Colony, plainly shew the Necessity of a
strict and regular Compliance with the above Directions.
. . . 4. That a proper Stocking-mender be procured
to live in or near the college, and as both Masters and
Boys complain of losing their Stockings, you are desired to
look over their Notes given with their Linnen to the Wash,
both at the Delivery and return of them. . , . 5. That
the Negroes be trusted with no keys; . . . that
fresh Butter be look'd out for in Time, that the Boys may
not be forced to eat salt in Summer.- — 6. As we all know
that Negroes will not perform their Duties without the
Mistress' constant Eye, especially in so large a Family as the
College, and as we all observe You going abroad more
frequently then even the Mistress of a private Family can
do without the affairs of her province greatly suffering,
\Ve particularly request it of you, that your visits for the
future in Town and Country may not be so frequent, by

50 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE

which Means we doubt not but Complaints will be greatly
lessened." *

At another meeting it is ordered that " y1 no scholar be-
longing to any school in the College of wl Age, Rank, or
Quality, soever, do keep any race Horse at ye College, in
ye Town — or anywhere in the neighbourhood — y* they be
not any way concerned in making races, or in backing, or
abetting, those made by others, and yl all Race Horses,
kept in ye neighbourhood of ye College, etc., belonging to
any of ye scholars, be immediately dispatched and sent off
and never again brought back, and all of this under Pain of
ye severest Animadversion and Punishment."

There is a stress in the wording of this order which makes
one suspect that the faculty had encountered difficulty in
suppressing horse-racing. Similar orders forbid students to
take part in cock-fighting, to frequent "ye Ordinaries," to
bet, to play at billiards, or to bring cards or dice into the
college. Punishment is most emphatically threatened for
any student who may " presume to go out of ye Bounds of
ye College, particularly towards the mill-pond " without
express leave ; but why the mill-pond was to be so sedu-
lously shunned we are left to conjecture. Finally, " to
ye End y* no Person may pretend Ignorance of ye foregoing
Regulations, . „ . it is Ordered . . .
yl a clear and legible copy of ym be posted up in every
School of ye College." 2

One of the brightest traditions in the history of the col-

1 William and Mary College Quarterly, III., 263.
8 William and Mary College Quarterly, II., 55-6.

WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE 5!

lege is that which tells of the wooing and wedding of
Parson Camm, a gentleman famous once, whose fame de-
serves to be revived. John Camm was born in 1718 and
educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was a man
of good scholarship and sturdy character, an uncompro-
mising Tory, one of the leaders in that " Parsons' Cause,"
which made Patrick Henry famous. He lived to be the
last president of William and Mary before the Revolution.
After he had attained middle age, but while he was as yet
only a preacher and professor, and like all professors in
those days at William and Mary a bachelor, there came to
him the romance which brightened his life. Among those
who listened to his preaching was Miss Betsy Hansford, of
the family of Hansford, the rebel and martyr. A young
friend, who had wooed Miss Betsy without success, per-
suaded the worthy parson to aid him with his eloquence.
But it was in vain that Mr. Camm besieged the young
lady with texts from the Bible enjoining matrimony as a
duty. She proved herself able to beat him at his own
game when she suggested that if the parson would go home
and look at 2 Samuel xii. 7, he might be able to define the
reason of her obduracy. When Mr. Camm proceeded to
search the Scriptures, he found these significant words
staring him in the face : " And Nathan said to David,
Thou art the man ! " The sequel is told in an item of the
Virginia Gazette, announcing the marriage of Rev. John
Camm and Miss Betsy Hansford.

So, Virginia, too, had its Priscilla ! In the words of the
sweet mediaeval poem :

52 WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE

" El fait que dame, et si fait bien,
Car sos ciel n'a si france rien
Com est dame qui violt amer,
Quant Deus la violt a go torner :
Deus totes dames beneie." l

But this marriage was an infringement of the customs of
the college, and was rebuked in an order that hereafter the
marriage of a professor should ipso facto vacate his office.

The college founded by James Blair was a most valuable
centre for culture in Virginia, and has been remarkable in
many ways. It was the first college in America to intro-
duce teaching by lectures, and the elective system of study ;
it was the first to unite a group of faculties into a uni-
versity ; it was the second in the English world to have a
chair of Municipal Law, George Wythe coming to such a
professorship a few years after Sir William Blackstone ; it
was the first in America to establish a chair of History and
Political Science ; and it was one of the first to pursue a
thoroughly secular and unsectarian policy. Though until
lately its number of students at any one time had never
reached one hundred and fifty, it has given to our country
fifteen senators and seventy representatives in Congress;
seventeen Governors of States, and thirty-seven judges;
three Presidents of the United States, — Jefferson, Monroe
and Tyler; and the great Chief Justice Marshall. It was
a noble work for America that was done by the Scotch
parson, James Blair.

1 Partenopeus de Biois 1250, ed. Crapelet, I. 45. "She acts like a
woman, and so does well, for under the heavens there is nothing so
daring as the woman who loves, when God wills to turn her that way «
God bless the ladies all 1 "

THE MISSION DOLORES, SAN FRANCISCO
LADY HARDY

WE enter the Golden Gate Park, where, a few years
ago, the Pacific waves were rolling ; but these
hundreds of acres have been reclaimed from the sea, and
are planted with rare shrubs, young trees, evergreens and
blooming flowers. It is tastefully laid out, a landscape
garden and park in one ; there are picturesque winding
paths and shady nooks and corpers where you can hide
from the sun's searching rays, and, while you listen to the
singing birds overhead, hear the boom of the breakers on
the shore below. We pass through this paradise of green
and reach a silent sea of yellow sandhills, smooth and soft
as velvet, billowing round in graceful, undulating waves as
far as the eye can reach ; there is a sudden curve, and the
wide Pacific Sea, in all its glory, lies before us clothed in
the sunshine, its white foam lips kissing the golden shore;
its long level line stretched against the distant skies. We
drove down to it ; nay, drove into it, and watched its tiny
waves dimpling into a thousand welcomes beneath our
wheels. The sun and sea conspired together to fill the
air with balmy breezes. We felt the soft spray blowing in
our faces, stirring our blood, and setting our cheeks aglow,
and as we breathed the crisp, soft air, laden with three
thousand miles of iodine, we seemed to be taking a draught
of the elixir of life.

54 THE MISSION DOLORES, SAN FRANCISCO

On our way home we passed the old Mission ; at least,
all that is left of it, which is not much — the mere remnants
of some redwood houses and the ancient church, a quaint-
looking low-roofed home of desolation, with its adobe walls
of sun-baked clay about four feet thick, which promise to
withstand the encroaches of time a century longer. A
chime of three bells still hangs in three square portholes;
their long tongues red with rust, droop dumb and motion-
less from their silent mouths. Only a hundred years ago
they were brought from Castile, blessed by the holy fathers,
and brought here to the edge of the wild Western world to
ring out and summon the heathen and the wanderer to
worship the one true God.

You enter the ruined church through a low, arched door-
way. The broken font is still there, but the last drop of
holy water was spilled from it long ago. The mullioned
windows are of a quaint fan-like shape and the genial sun
tries to pierce through the grime and dust and send its
beams dancing over the crumbled ruin within. The
painted wooden shrines of St. Joseph and St. Francis (who
gave the settlement of Yerba Buena the name of San
Francisco) are still there. Near by are the Madonna and
Child, but the paint has worn off and they are all dis-
coloured and stained with the damp wind and the rain
which drips, in the rainy season, from the dilapidated roof.
The crumbling decorations, though they are of a rough,
rude workmanship, still bear the stamp of artistic design,
though crudely executed by unaccustomed hands, who
laboured for the love of God. It is about a hundred feet

THE MISSION DOLORES, SAN FRANCISCO 55

from the threshold to the altar. Give reins to your imag-
ination, set it galloping back a hundred years, and see the
priests, the white nuns, and hooded friars clustered round
the empty altar busy in the service of the Lord ; the aisles
filled with kneeling Indians, who know little of the faith
they have adopted except that there is an unknown God
somewhere who makes their corn grow, watches over their
lives here, with a promise of a life hereafter; men from
Mexico, Peru, and Spain, and wanderers from all along the
wild Pacific coast are standing reverently round j censers are
swinging, lights are burning, and a choir of voices chant
the Ave Marias. A Christian host gathered in that wilder-
ness by the sea. Where are they all now ? Vanished like
the children of a dream.

A mouldy, funereal odour clings about the ruined walls,
and we are glad to step out into the little graveyard outside,
where the English hawthorn and white winter roses are
blooming and the grass growing rich and luxuriant above
the moss-grown graves. Whole tribes of Indians lie buried
in the dust below our feet. There is no more desolate spot
in the world than a disused graveyard. We read strange
unfamiliar names upon the broken, half-buried stones, and
crumbling urns, dilapidated angels and crippled cherubs are
tottering round us. Here and there we decipher an Eng-
lish name, and, beneath, the information : " Died by the
hands of the V. C." ; " In mercy we slay the enemies of
the Lord." The V. C. means the Vigilance Committee,
who, in the early lawless days, executed justice swift and
sure upon proven criminals. The strict justice of their

56 THE MISSION DOLORES, SAN FRANCISCO

decisions was never called in question. A certain number
of men of known integrity were invested with supreme
power of life or death, and the guilt of a man being once
fully assured, he had a brief trial and swift execution.
There was no legal quibbling, which often lets loose some
atrocious criminal to prey upon the world again until, at
the end, he is launched out of it. Near the low arched
gateway stands the dilapidated figure of a woman, her sight-
less eyes and lifted hands pointing upwards — mute signifi-
cance of one hope for all the miscellaneous dead.

A fresh breeze was blowing outside, but here it seemed
to hang heavy and still, laden with the damp odour of
mouldering graves, which mingled with and destroyed the
sweet scent of the flowers that are flourishing so luxuriantly
above the dead. This was the first we had seen of the
many remnants of the old mission days, when the Spanish
Fathers first came to the wilderness to sow the good seed
and reap the harvest in their Lord's name.

About the year 1820 the mission began to decay, the
soldiers were recalled from the Presidio, where they had
been stationed for the protection of the friars and their
property, and from that time the missions dwindled, till the
Fathers were recalled to Spain. They carried with them
all their cattle and movable goods, and left their buildings to
decay. These are scattered throughout the State of
California, wherever the Fathers held temporary sway.
Still, though they and their labours have passed away, and
are well-nigh forgotten, they have left their traces behind
them : throughout the country we find the old Spanish

THE MISSION DOLORES, SAN FRANCISCO 57

names still clinging to the soil, such as Santa Clara, Santa
Rosa, Santa Barbara, San Rafael, San Jose, Los Angeles,
Monterey, Carmelo, etc. Mr. John S. Hittell has given in
his history of California a most interesting and graphic: ac-
count of these missions, their people, their work, and the
effect upon the country from their first establishment to
their decline.

The city has grown out of the wilderness, and crowded
so close to the crumbling walls of the ruined mission that
as we leave the gloomy precincts we step out into the
populous streets, which are full of hurry, bustle and vigor-
ous young life. It is like stepping from the old century
into the new. Gaily painted cars and omnibuses are dash-
ng up and down the wide Mission Street, each following
the other so quickly that before you can step into one, an-
other is on its heels.

KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON

F. W. P. GREENWOOD

THE Rose frigate must have seemed to the greater part
of the Bostonians, or Bostoneers, as Randolph called
them, freighted heavily with woe, bearing as it did the Rev.
Robert Ratcliffe, of the Church of England, with his sur-
plice and his book of Common Prayer ; to say nothing of
the commission which appointed a president over them by
the King's sole authority. It was as new to them and as
disagreeable to have in their midst a settled clergyman of
that church as it was to see at their head a ruler not of their
own choosing. " There had been very few instances of
even occasional assemblies for religious worship according
to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England for
more than fifty years. When the commissioners from
King Charles were at Boston in 1665, they had a chaplain
with them, but there was no house for public worship.
Most of the inhabitants who were upon the stage in 1686,
had never seen a Church of England assembly" (Hutchin-
son). The time was now come for the strange sight to be
exhibited, and for the members of the Episcopal communion
to rally under the countenance and influence of the Royal
government. It should be stated, too, that the general
court had declared in 1677, that no persons should be hin-
dered from performing divine service according to the

KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON

KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON 59

Church of England. The way therefore appeared to lay
smooth and open for the Episcopalians to introduce their
forms of worship and government.

As Randolph had the chief hand in overturning the old
charter of the Colony, so was he most active and efficient
in establishing an Episcopalian Church here, and procuring
the services of a clergyman from England.

Randolph carried his two great ends, the destruction of
the original Massachusetts Charter, and the importation
and introduction of an Episcopal clergyman.

On the 1 5th of May, 1686, as I have before stated, ar-
rived the Rose frigate, commanded by Captain George.
On the 25th Dudley entered on the duties of his temporary
presidency. On the 26th, Mr. Ratcliffe waited on the
council and Mr. Mason and Randolph proposed that he
should have one of the three Congregational meeting-houses
to preach in. This was denied, but he was granted the use
of the library room in the east end of the town house, which
then stood where the Old State House, or, as its present
name is, the City Hall, now stands.

This was truly an humble beginning for those who made
such high pretensions as did these zealous Royalists and
churchmen. As they assembled in the east end of the town
house, and looked round on their twelve forms and their
movable pulpit, they must have felt the contrast between
such a tabernacle and the solemn old cathedrals at home ;
and have felt, too, that they were among a people who,
though of the same blood as themselves, were strangers to
their mode of faith and worship, despising what they es-

60 KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON

teemed most sacred, and setting at nought the power which
they deemed unquestionable.

On the 23d of March, 1687, the Governor (Sir Edmund
Andros) sent Mr. Randolph for the keys of the South meet-
ing house, now called the Old South, that the Episcopa-
lians might have prayers there. A committee of six, of
whom Judge Sewall was one, thereupon waited on his
Excellency to show that the house was their own prop-
erty, and to repeat that they could not consent to part
with it to such use. This was on Wednesday. The
following Friday, which was Good Friday, Sir Edmund
Andros sent to command the sexton of the South church
to open the door and ring the bell for those of the Church
of England. The sexton, though he had resolved not
to do so, was persuaded or intimidated into compliance,
and the Governor and his party took possession of the
house, and the church service was performed there.

We now approach the close of Andres's tyrannical gov-
ernment, which was brought about through the influence
of one of the most auspicious changes in the government
of the mother country, the Glorious Revolution, as it is
called, of 1688. The spring succeeding the landing of
William of Orange at Torbay, news was brought to Boston
of the event, by way of Virginia, by a Mr. Win slow.
Sunday, the 26th of May, the joyful news arrived of the
proclaiming of William and Mary and on the 2Qth, the
proclamation was published in Boston with great ceremony.
Late in the year, an order from the King was received, re-
quiring that Sir Edmund Andros, Edward Randolph, John

KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON 6 1

Trefry, and others that had been seized by the people of
Boston, should be sent to England in the first ship bound
thither, and in February, 1690, they embarked, and Boston
was rid of them and their tyranny.

Mr. Ratcliffe and his assistant, Mr. Clark, must have
also gone back to England about this time, as I find no
notice of either of them, after the disposition of Andros.
But in the meantime, the Episcopal Church had been built.
How the land was procured, or of whom, when the build-
ing was dedicated, or by whom, there is no record, or if
there be one, I have not met with it.

This first church was built of wood. It stood on the
spot covered by the present church, but did not occupy
nearly so much ground. In an old engraving which I have
examined, representing the town of Boston as it was in
1720, this church, among others, is introduced. It stands
in the same position with the present one, has a square
tower at the west end, from the roof of which rises a staff
supporting the vane, and just under the vane is a large and
quite observable crown. It was the fifth house of public
worship erected in Boston. The Congregational houses
were then three in number, and the Baptists had succeeded
in building themselves a church several years before the
Episcopalians commenced theirs.

In the beginning of the year 1702, news was received of
the death of King William, and the Church was put in
mourning. Before his decease, Mr. Joseph Dudley, who
had rendered himself so obnoxious here, as in many things
the coadjutor, and, for his own selfish ends almost the

62 KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON

creature of Randolph, had interest enough to obtain while
in London, the appointment of Governor of Massachusetts,
which he had so long and eagerly coveted. On his reap-
pearance in Boston, invested with his new dignity, he was
received kindly and with a forgetfulness of past offences.
He joined himself to the congregation of Queen's Chapel,
as it was now called, on the accession of Queen Anne ;
and his name, together with that of the Lieutenant-Gover-
nor, constantly appears on the list of vestrymen.

At the Easter meeting in 1708, it was "agreed, that on
Whitsunmonday there be a meeting of the congregation
about enlarging the Queen's Chappell." The work, how-
ever, seems not to have been commenced till the year 1710,
when a subscription was raised to effect its accomplishment.
It amounted, indeed, to a rebuilding of the church, which
was enlarged to twice its original size ; nor was it till the
year 1713, that the pillars, capitals and cornice were painted,
and the scaffolding taken down. Places were assigned anew
to the proprietors, and each person paid for the building of
his own pew. And whereas the pews had been built be-
fore, according to the usual fashion, with little rails or
banisters running round the top, it was now voted that
they should " be built in one forme without banisters."
The pulpit was removed from its former situation " to the
next pillar at the East, being near the centre of the Church."
The two long pews fronting the pulpit were made into two
square pews, one for Col. Tailer, Lieutenant-Governor, the
other for Mr. Jekyll, and the two pews behind them were
made into one, for the use of masters of vessels ; and the

KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON 63

pew behind that was appropriated to the accommodation
of eight old men. A shell was placed over the south
door.

A clock was given by "the Gentlemen of the British
Society " ; and a more important present, that of an organ,
demands a more particular notice.

A Record o£ Votes and Resolutions, etc., together with some
brief Memoirs of the Transactions relating to the Rebuilding
King's Chapel in Boston begins with stating that King's
Chapel was first erected of wood in the year 1688, that it
was enlarged in 1710, and being found in the year 1741 in
a state of considerable decay, that it was proposed to rebuild
it of stone. The Rev. Roger Price was at that time " min-
ister," and William Shirley, Esq. (about the same time
appointed Governor of the Province), and Mr. Sam'l Went-
worth, wardens. A voluntary subscription was set on foot,
and Peter Faneuil, Esq., chosen treasurer for receiving sums
subscribed. The building was to be stone and cost .£25,-
OOO old tenor. It was not to be commenced till .£10,000
were subscribed.

In March, 1753, the new church being so far advanced
that it was necessary to desert the old one, the congrega-
tion requested and obtained leave to meet in Trinity Church
on Sundays, at separate hours from the congregation of that
church, and on festival and prayer days in Mr. Croswell's
meeting-house. In April the old church was pulled down.
Before it falls to the ground, let us take such a glimpse
of its venerable interior, as the mist of dim ages will
allow us.

64 KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON

Since the enlargement of the Chapel in 1710, and the
erection subsequently of galleries, it contained 122 pews, of
which number 82 were on the ground floor. But these
pews must have been small, as the present church contains
no more. The pulpit was on the north side of the church,
at about the midst. A finely decorated pew for the Gov-
ernor who sat successively in it, was opposite; and near
it there was another pew reserved for the officers of the
British Army and Navy. In the west gallery of this first
Episcopal Church was the first organ which ever pealed to
the praise of God in this country ; while displayed along
its walls, and suspended from its pillars, after the manner of
foreign churches, were escutcheons and coats-of-arms being
those of the King, Sir Edmund Andros, Francis Nicholson.
Captain Hamilton, and Governors Dudley, Shute, Burnet,
Belcher and Shirley. In the pulpit there was an hour-
glass, according to the old fashion, mounted on a large and
elaborate stand of brass. At the east end there was " the
Altar piece, whereon was the Glory painted, the Ten Com-
mandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and some texts of
Scripture." It was a strange sight among the bare churches
of New England.

In 1756 the noble organ which now stands in our west
gallery was procured from England, and paid for by the sub-
scription of individuals belonging to the church. Its orig-
inal cost in London was £500 sterling; and when all
charges were added, its whole expense amounted to ^637.
As it was obtained by private subscription, no notice of it
whatever is taken in the church records. The only

KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON 65

memorial concerning it with which I am acquainted, is a
paragraph in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal of 3<Dth
of August, 1756, which is copied into our later records,
and is as follows :

" We hear that the organ, which lately arrived from
London by Capt. Farr for King's Chapel in this Town,
will be opened on Thursday next in the Afternoon ; and
that said organ (which contains a variety of curious stops
never yet heard in these parts) is esteemed by the most
eminent masters in England, to be equal, if not superior to
any of the same size in Europe. — There will be a ser-
mon suitable to the occasion; Prayers to begin at four
o'clock."

There is a very current tradition respecting this organ,
that it was selected by Handel himself. Taking into con-
sideration the above reference to " the most eminent masters
in England," we may receive this tradition as founded in
truth. And, moreover, as the organ was designed for the
King's Chapel in New England, we may readily suppose
that his Majesty's favourite musician would at least be de-
sired to give his opinion of its merits j and this opinion,
being favourable, might be called a selection, even if the
" mighty master " gave himself no further trouble with its
purchase. Handel died in 1758, and was blind eight years
before his death. But sight was not at all necessary in
the office supposed to be consigned to him, and though his
eyes never could have measured the external proportions of
this organ, his ears must probably have judged of its tones
and powers and his own hands rested on its keys.

66 KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON

In 1772, an additional service of plate, together with
new pulpit furniture, was obtained from the King through
the influence of Governor Hutchinson. In 1773, the an-
cient records end. A short time previous to the breaking
out of the war, and through the whole of the year 1775,
King's Chapel was the place of worship of many of the
officers of the Navy and Army of Great Britain, who were
stationed in and near Boston ; and the duties of Dr.
Caner and his assistant were consequently much increased.

The Chapel remained closed till the autumn of 1777*
and then it was opened, not for Episcopal but Congrega-
tional services, very contrary to all the anticipations of
Dr. Caner. The congregation of the Old South Church,
not being able at that time to repair the desola-
tions of their own sanctuary, which had been desecrated,
spoiled, and used as a riding-school by the British troops,
applied for the use of King's Chapel, or the Stone
Chapel, as it then for obvious reasons began to be called.
The application was made to the few proprietors of the
Chapel who were left, and was readily granted. " The
congregation," says Mr. Wisner, in his History of the Old
South Church, " were kindly and gratuitously accommodated
at the Chapel about five years."

Our church as a building has undergone no considerable
change since the Revolution, except the erection of the
colonnade at the West End, or Front, which was put up in
the year 1790. The crown and mitre have, to be sure,
disappeared from their stations on the top of the organ, and
the Governor's pew, with its Corinthian pillars and crimson

KING'S CHAPEL, BOSTON 67

damask tapestry, has been taken down and converted into
two pews of common size and pretensions. But the
architecture and interior arrangements, are, in all other
respects, the same as before the war.

SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA

RICHARD DAVEY

NOTWITHSTANDING the mosquito nuisance anc
bad drainage, the traveller's first impression of
Havana is distinctly agreeable, and the pleasing illusion is
never completely destroyed. The harbour is wonderfully
picturesque. Opposite the entrance stands the Moro
Castle, almost a facsimile of that curious little castellated
Moorish fortress which faces the beautiful monastery and
Church of Belem, at Lisbon. To the left are two rather
sharp promontories, crested by several fine churches, on
Los Angeles, fully two hundred years old — an age in the
New World, corresponding to hoar antiquity in the Old, —
beyond these, upon a number of low-lying hills, rises the
city, an irregular mass of one-storied dwellings, painted a
vivid ochre, and interspersed with church domes and towers
— with here and there tall, lank cocoa palms, or a tuft of
banana leaves waving over some garden wall. Vessels from
every part of the world, feluccas, with their swallow-shaped
sails, some dazzling white, others a deep-red brown, fill up
the foreground — whilst canoe-like market boats laden with
tropical fruits, fish, vegetables and flowers, and rowed by
negroes naked to the waist, scud in all directions over the
deep blue waters.

Arriving, as I did, from New York, which I had Aeft deep

SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA 69

in snow, this summer scene was most exhilarating, and the
exceeding transparency of the Cuban atmosphere added
considerably to its beauty. Everything seemed unusual,
novel, and, above all, utterly unlike what I had expected.
The impress of the mother-country, Spain, is felt and seen
everywhere, and modern American influences are barely
perceptible, as yet. From the sea Havana might be
Malaga or Cadiz, but when you land, memories of Pompeii
immediately crowd upon you. What we should call the
city proper, the commercial quarter of the Cuban capital,
consists of a labyrinth of narrow lanes, traversed by one or
two broadish streets, the principal of which, known all
over Southern America and the West Indies as Calle
O'Reilly, runs from the Governor's Palace, right out to
the walls of the city. Few of the houses which line these
lanes and alleys are more than one story high, but that one
story so exceedingly lofty, that it would make three in an
average London dwelling. The lower half of every house
is painted either a deep darkish blue, a deep Egyptian red,
or a vivid yellow ochre j the upper part is always a dazzling
white. As in Pompeii you notice rows of stucco columns,
painted half one colour, half another. Peeping through
the ever-open doorways, you may, as you pass along, obtain
something more than a mere casual glimpse of the interior
of the dwellings. If you are early enough, you may behold
the family at its toilet, for there is very little privacy any-
where in Cuba, every act, from entry into life to its final
exit, from baptism to burial, being serenely performed in
the utmost publicity. The lower windows, overlooking

70 SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA

the street, are protected by heavy, iron bars, and behind
these you may, in certain quarters of the town, see lively
groups of Havanese Geishas, their faces thickly powdered
with rice flour, their long black hair plaited, and their opu-
lent charms displayed to liberal advantage — " sono donn che
fano all' amore ! " These same curious overhanging win-
dows, with their iron bars, would give the place a prison-
like appearance, were they not painted in the most brilliant
colours, — orange, scarlet, and pea-green.

There is no West End, so to speak, in Havana, the
mansions of the wealthy being scattered through every part
of the city. Some of the finer houses are exceedingly hand-
some, but they are all built on one plan, in the classical
style, with an inner courtyard, surrounded by handsome
marble or stucco columns. I imagine them to be designed
much on the same plan as the villas of ancient Rome. In
the centre of the Pateo, there is generally a garden, rich in
tropical vegetation, shading either a fountain or a large
gilded aviary full of brilliant parrots and parrakeets. In
some houses there is a picture or statue of the Virgin, or
some Saint, with a silver lamp burning before it day and
night. In the Pateo the family assembles of an evening,
the ladies in full dress — and as it is generally brilliantly
illuminated, the pleasant domestic scene adds greatly to the
gay appearance of the streets, which fill with loungers in
the cool of the evening.

The handsomest street in Havana is the Cerro, a long
thoroughfare running up a hill at the back of the town, bor-
dered on either side by enormous old villas, in the midst of

SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA Jl

magnificent gardens. The finest of these mansions be-
longs to the very old Hernandez family, and is built of
white marble in the usual classical style. The adjacent
villa, Santo Veneo has a lovely garden, and used to be
famous for its collection of orchids, the late Countess de
Santo Veneo, a very wealthy lady, being a great collector.
She was a clever, agreeable woman, well-known in Paris
where she usually spent the summer and autumn. In the
midst of a perfect forest of cocoa-palms stands the former
summer villa of the Bishops of Havana, now a private resi-
dence.

Then, one after the other, follow the handsome dwellings
of the Havanese Sangre Azul, of the Marquese dos Her-
manos, of the Conde Penalver, of the Marqueza de Rio
Palma, etc. The cacti in these villa gardens are of amazing
size and shape, some showing leaves thick enough to bear
the weight of a full grown man. Unfortunately, these
Havana Edens are infested all the year round by swarms
of mosquitos. The residents seem skin proof, and do not
appear to suffer from the insects' attacks. But woe waits
on the unwary newcomer who tempts fate by lingering in
these lovely gardens !

Although an eminently Catholic city, Havana cannot be
said to be rich in churches. A goodly number have been
destroyed during the various rebellions, especially those of
the middle of the century, when the religious orders were
suppressed. The largest church is the Mercede, a fine
building in the rococo style with handsome marble altars and
some good pictures. It is crowded on Sundays and holidays

72 SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA

by the fashionable world of the place, the young men form-
ing up in rows outside the church as soon as Mass is over,
to gaze at the senoritas and their chaperons.

The Cathedral is the chief architectural monument of in-
terest in Havana. It was erected for the Jesuits in 1704,
and was converted into a Cathedral in the course of the
Nineteenth Century. It is built in the usual Hispano-
American style with a big dome and two stumpy towers on
either side of the centre. Internally the effect is rather
heavy, owing to the dark colour of the marbles which cover
the walls, but compared with most churches in these lati-
tudes, the edifice is in exceptionally good taste, with a re-
markable absence of the tawdry images and wonderful col-
lections of trumpery, artificial flowers and glass shades,
which, as a rule, disfigure South American churches. The
choir would be considered handsome even in Rome, and the
stalls are beautifully carved in mahogany. Almost all the
columns in the church are also mahogany, highly polished,
producing the effect of a deep red marble, most striking
when relieved, as in this case, by gilt bronze capitals. In
the choir is the tomb of Columbus. The great navigator
died, as most of my readers will doubtless be aware, at
Valladolid, in Spain, on Ascension Day, 1506, and his body
was at first deposited, after the most pompous obsequies, in
the Church of San Francisco, in that city.

In 1513, the remains were conveyed to the Carthusian
monastery of La Quabas, at Seville, where Ferdinand and
Isabella erected a monument over them, bearing the simple
but appropriate inscription :

SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA 73

" A Castile y Leon
Nuevo Mundo Dlo Colon."

Twenty-three years later, the body of Columbus, with
that of his son Diego, was removed to the island of San
Domingo or Hayti, and interred in the principal church of
the capital ; but when that island was ceded to the French,
the Spaniards claimed the ashes of the Discoverer, and they
were carried to Havana and solemnly interred in the Cathe-
dral, on the 1 5th January, 1796. The remains, which, by
this time, it seems, were scanty enough, were placed in a
small urn, deposited in a niche in the left wall of the
chancel, and sealed up with a marble slab, surmounted by
an excellent bust of the bold explorer, wreathed with
laurel. The inscription, a very poor one, excited consider-
able ridicule, and a pasquinade was circulated, lamenting
the absence of the nine Muses on the occasion of its com-
position.

Of late years, however, the inhabitants of San Domingo
have set up a protest in favour of certain bones which have
been discovered in their own Cathedral, and declare by their
gods or by their saints, that never a bone of Columbus left
their island, and that the relics of the great Christopher in
the Cathedral of Havana, unto which so many pilgrimages
have been made, are as apocryphal as were those of certain
saints mentioned by the learned Erasmus.

Of the other numerous Havanese churches there is not
much to be said, except that nearly all have remarkable
ceilings, decorated in a sort of mosaic work in rare woods,
often very artistic in design. Columns of mahogany are

74 SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA

frequently seen, and nearly all the churches are lined with
very old Spanish or Dutch tiles. The Church of Santa
Clara, attached to a very large nunnery, is a favourite place
of devotion with the fashionable ladies, who squat on a
piece of carpet in front of the Madonna, with their negro
attendant kneeling a few feet behind them. When the
lady has performed her devotions, the sable footman takes
up her carpet, and follows her out of the church, walking
solemnly a few feet behind her. In the Church of the
Mercede, there is a very curious picture representing a
group of Indians being slaughtered by a number of
Spaniards. In the centre is a wooden cross, upon the
transverse portions of which Our Lady is seated, holding the
infant Jesus in her arms. In the corner is a long inscrip-
tion of some historical importance. It runs thus :

" The Admiral, Don Christopher Columbus and the
Spanish Army, being possessed of the c Cerro de la Vaga,'
a place in the Spanish island, erected on it a cross, on whose
right arm, the 2d of May, 1492, in the night, there ap-
peared, with her most precious Son, the Virgin, Our Lady
of Mercy. The Indians, who occupied the island, as soon as
they saw Her, drew their arrows and fired at Her, but, as the
arrows could not pierce the sacred wood, the Spaniards took
courage, and, falling upon the said Indians, killed a great
number of them. And the person who saw this wonderful
prodigy was the V. P. F. Juan."

The Jesuits have an important college for boys in
Havana. Annexed to it is an observatory, said to be the
best organized in South America. The church is hand

SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA 75

some, and over the high altar hangs a famous Holy Family
by Ribera. In connection with this college, there is also
a museum and library, especially rich in drawings and
prints, illustrating Cuban life and scenery, from the Six-
teenth Century down to our own times.

The Tacon opera-house, which can accommodate 5,000
persons, is, in its way, a very fine theatre, built in the
Italian fashion, with tiers of boxes, one above another.
They are separated by gilded lattices, so as to afford every
possible means of ventilation. Round each tier of boxes
is a sort of ambulatory or verandah, overlooking the great
Square. The upper gallery is exclusively devoted to the
coloured people, who, on a Sunday, fi'l it to suffocation.
They are considered the most critical part of the audience,
and their appreciation or disproval is generally well founded
and liberally demonstrated. The first two rows of boxes
belong to the aristocracy and wealthy merchants, and the
display of jewelry on a gala night used to be quite amaz-
ing. The lower part of the house is divided into a pit and
orchestra-stalls. When crowded the Tacon presents a
really fine appearance. The stage is, I should say, as large
as that at Covent Garden and the operas are perfectly
mounted and staged.

According to the best authorities, Diego Velasquez, the
Conqueror of Cuba, founded the famous city of San Chris-
tobal de la Habana in 1508, and being immensely impressed
by the width and depth of the harbour, and its generally
favourable position for trade purposes, he called it la Have
del Nuevo Mondo, the key to the New World. So far he

76 SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA

was right, and until quite recently Havana stood forth
among the richest cities in Southern America. The early
history of Cuba, like that of all the West Indian Islands,
consists of a series of attacks by Spanish, English, French
and Dutch buccaneers and privateers. In 1528, these ad-
venturers burnt the new city to the ground, but, Phoenix-
like, it soon rose above its ashes, and was eventually pro-
tected by a chain of fortifications of sufficient importance
to resist a siege by the Dutch in 1628. From 1762 until
February, 1763, the English, under Sir George Pickock,
held the place. It was finally restored to the Spaniards ;
and the evacuation, on July loth of the same year, was cele-
brated with great rejoicing ; Britain being, at that date, dis-
tinctly unpopular in Cuba. In 1768, France having ceded
Louisiana to Spain, Don Antonio Alloa sailed for New
Orleans, to take possession in the name of Their Catholic
Majesties. He was so ill received as to be obliged to return
forthwith to Havana, where Marshal O'Reilly, an Irish
exile, organized an expedition to Louisiana, and seized the
capital, which was not held for very long. In 1802,
Havana was partly burnt to the ground and some ten
thousand persons were left homeless. Under the Gov-
ernorship of the celebrated Tacon, Havana soon resumed
its foremost position, and was almost entirely rebuilt in
stone and masonry, whereas, hitherto, most of the houses
had been of wood thatched with straw. If you ask, " Who
built that fine edifice ? " the answer is invariably " Tacon."
u Yon theatre ? " " Tacon." It is literally a case of " Ta-

SOME BUILDINGS IN HAVANA 77

con qui) Tacon su e Tacon giu." He is the benevolent
Figaro of the place. The wonders which he performed
in a short time prove clearly that when the island is ener-
getically governed, it flourishes marvellously.

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON

WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS

CITIES, like men, and because they are the work of
men, have each, necessarily, marked features of in-
dividuality, and these will be found to illustrate in some
degree, the characteristics of the people by whom they have
been founded, and by whom they are maintained. All of
our American cities may thus be distinguished, each having
its local atmosphere and aspect. Charleston is confessedly
one of the favourite cities of the South, if not of the
Union, and is commended to our regards by a thousand
special considerations. She has been distinguished by her
early and active share in our Revolution — in the formation
of the Confederacy and the Constitution — in the noble con-
tributions of intellect and valour which she has made to the
common capital of the country — in her generous sacrifices
at all times in the common cause — by the refinements of
her society — by the polish of her people — the general pro-
priety of her tastes — her lofty morals and warm hospitality.
Founded under peculiar circumstances, at a juncture of
marked transition in European affairs, under the direct
patronage of the most eminent among the British nobility,
and subsequently taken under the immediate protection
of the Crown, the colony of South Carolina — of which
Charleston was at that period the very soul — was always
a much favoured province of the mother country. The

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON 79

richness and value of her products furnished substantial
reasons why she should be a favourite. Her merchants
were mostly British; her native sons of family were sent
to Britain for education ; and the affinities between the
parent state and the colony were thus rendered doubly
tenacious, making the struggle of the Revolution a much
severer one in this than in any other colony of the whole
continent.

The Palmetto City is happily placed within two spacious
rivers, the Cooper and Ashley — the Etiwan and Keawah
of the Red Men. These unite to form the harbour, which
is ample and attractive to the eye, in high degree, forming
a beautiful ensemble^ not less sweet than spacious. As you
enter from the sea, between the Islands of Sullivan and
Morris, the city opens before you in the foreground, five
miles distant — rising, like another Venice from the ocean.
It is built, like Venice, upon flats and shoals of sand and
mud. So low is the land, that the illusion that it is built
directly in the sea, continues till you approach quite near
it. This illusion is productive of a picturesque effect, but
not sufficient to compensate you for the relief which would
be yielded by an elevated background, or by lofty eminences
of land on either side. As you advance, the bay expands,
wide and majestic, forming a harbourage to which there
can be no objection, were it not for the embarrassments of
the bar at the entrance, which forbids the admission of
ships of very heavy draught of water. In front of you,
commanding the channel is Fort Sumter, a formidable pile
of fortress, with double tier of heavy cannon rising upon a

80 ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON

mole at the head of a sand-bar. In passing Sullivan's
Island the eye readily distinguishes the famous fortress
which bears the name of Moultrie, distinguished in Amer-
ican history as the scene of one of the first and best fought
battles of the Revolution, when a few hundred native rifle-
men, who had never fired a cannon before, beat off and
nearly destroyed a formidable British fleet, making such
slaughter among them as, in proportion to the numbers
engaged, was not even reached by that of Trafalgar and the
Nile. On the right you see Haddrill's — Mount Pleasant
village — which also constituted one of the fortresses of '76.
On the left are the shores of James and Morris Islands, the
latter bearing the light-house of the port ; the former the
site of old Fort Johnson, which was wrested from the
British, prior to the battle of Fort Moultrie by the enter-
prise of a small body of citizen soldiery. Here at the very
portals of the city, you encounter Castle Pinckney, cover-
ing an ancient mud reef; and here we propose to give you
a bird's eye view of the city itself — the Palmetto City.
You see the tout ensemble at a glance, and perceive its two
most prominent characteristics — the verandahs, balconies,
piazzas, with the ample gardens and their foliage, which
isolate every dwelling-house, and form a substitute for
public squares, in which Charleston is lamentably deficient.
But for the largeness of the several lots and the taste of the
people for shade trees, the deficiency would be fatal at once
to the health and beauty of the place.

On the southeast corner of Broad and Meeting Street is
an antique of the old Colonial period, the sight of which

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON 8 1

always rouses the pride of the Palmetto citizen. This is
St. Michael's Church (Episcopalian), a fine old fabric, and
one of the best specimens of the British architectural talent
of its day, at least as this was exhibited in its American
production.

This fine church was first opened for worship in 1761.
Its tower is supposed to be one of the noblest ornaments of
the city. The proportions are good ; the effect is graceful
and imposing. The extreme elevation is 168 feet ; no great
elevation, perhaps, except in a city so little above the sea as
Charleston. It is here even now overtopped by others.
But it is not a mere spire. It is a series of ornamented
chambers, gradually rising from each other; and involves
dimensions of greater bulk and weight than any other of the
city towers, St. Philip's alone excepted. The church of
St. Michael's seems to be deficient in relation with the
tower, and the effect is not good. It is too squat for the
steeple. The extreme length of the body of the church is
130 feet, its width 60. As a whole the structure is in good
taste, simple and proper; while this steeple, from its propor-
tions, and an air of grace and lightness, which lessens
greatly your idea of its bulk and weight, is in the highest de-
gree pleasing and impressive.

This tower constituted, until a comparatively recent
period, the great landmark of the city from the sea. It
was the chief, or only beacon in the period of the Revolu-
tion, and was painted black when the assailing British fleet
was anticipated, in order to prevent their use of it as a guide
to the harbour. But this was a mistake. Black against a

8 2 ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON

light-blue sky was a more certain landmark than white. It
has a very musical chime of eight bells, none sweeter in the
country. In the humid climate of Charleston the bells
acquire a rare sweetness of tone, and those of St. Michael's
are especially musical. Of these bells there is a curious
history. They were taken down and sent, as a portion of
the spolia opima of the captured city, to London for sale.
They were bought by London merchants, and restored by
them to the church, whether as a gift or by purchase we
are not able to say.1

1 In 1872, Mrs. Petigru Carson writes in Appleton's Journal : " When
the British took Charleston in 1780, they stabled their horses in the
church, and, unhanging the bells, sent them off to London, where they
were dumped on the Tower Wharf. At last the vestry of St. Michael's
received a letter bidding them expect their bells by a certain ship sailing
from London. The people went in procession to bring up from the ship
their beloved bells, which they had never hoped to listen to again, and
with prayers and thanksgivings they were replaced in the church tower.
The pious benefactor never made himself known, but he was supposed to
have been some British officer who had been at the taking of Charleston.
For seventy years did those bells regulate the social life of the city. For,
not only did they call to worship, and celebrate all occasions of public
joy and sorrow, but nightly they rang a curfew which ruled everybody's
movements. It was intended to warn the negroes home at nine o'clock
in winter, ten in summer ; after that hour they might not go into the
streets without a written pass. All visitors were expected to take leave at
bell- ring.

" Then Sherman's army passed through leaving its track as of light-
ning. A party of half-drunken soldiers, out for a lark and for plunder,
were accosted by a negro who offered to show them the bells which had
rung in secession. ' Never,' said the men, ' shall they play that tune
again ! ' and they smashed them into a hundred pieces." The rector and
congregation despite their poverty consequent on the war wrote to one
Mr. C. R. Prioleau of London to inquire the cost of a new set.

" There was no record at Charleston of where the bells came from.
But Mr. Prioleau searched the directory for the oldest founders of the city,
and went from one to the other, until at Meares & Co., Whitechapel, Lon-

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON 83

During the Civil War the bells of St. Michael's were
sent to Columbia to be cast into cannon, but General
Beauregard pronounced them unfit for the purpose and had
them preserved in the capital with other relics of value.

don, a firm which had been in existence three hundred years, he found,
by patient examination, the record of bells cast for St. Michael's Church,
Charleston, S. C., in 1759. The proportions of the metal and sizes of the
bells were all entered in the books; and the present Meares engaged to
turn out a new set which, when hung, should make the Charlestonians
themselves think they heard the veritable old bells. But Mr. Prioleau
was not content with this ; he wrote back to have all the fragments that
could be found sent out — and this was done. Meanwhile, Meares found
still in their service an old man of seventy-six, who had been apprentice
under the very foreman who, more than a hundred years before, had cast
those bells ; and he, stimulated by Prioleau's generosity, never rested till
he brought to light the very original moulds for the castings. Into them
the new metal was melted with careful distribution of the broken frag-
ments, so as to make the illusion a reality. All that was wanting to
make up the cast, Mr. Prioleau added, and the reward of his perseverance
and generosity was to send to the vestry these new bells, which are the
very old ones still. Again did the congregation with tears and thanks-
giving receive the bells from this their fifth voyage across the Atlantic,
and hung them up in St. Michael's steeple." — E. S.

THE CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA

IN the quiet little town of Alexandria, whose large and
grass-grown cobble-stones are rarely disturbed by ve-
hicles or pedestrians, there are many old houses of dis-
tinguished, if somewhat decayed, appearance. They date
from the period when the town, known as Belle Haven,
had every prospect of becoming an important centre of
trade and society. It was a mart for the famous " Oronoko
tobacco " and a warehouse for this commodity established
about 1720 brought prosperity to the settlement on the
Potomac, whose name was soon changed to honour James
Alexander, the Earl of Stirling. Many ships docked in the
harbour to land merchandise, soldiers, sailors, officers and
distinguished foreigners on diplomatic missions ; and from
the Royal George, the northern mail coach left every day
connecting Alexandria with the world. In this period of
prosperity, many handsome houses were built and furnished
with every comfort and luxury known to this country.

Among the typical examples of domestic architecture of
Colonial days is one that amply repays a visit, — not merely
on account of its historical associations, but because it is
one of the best specimens of Eighteenth Century architecture
existing in this country.

Completely hidden by a modern hotel of unprepossess-
ing appearance, few tourists who pause on their way from

THE CARLISLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA, VA.

THE CARLYLE HOUSE. ALEXANDRIA 85

Washington to Mount Vernon to see the town that
Washington visited so frequently, are aware of its exist-
ence.

Passing through the hotel into the back court, the visitor
is suddenly confronted by this noble old house, now de-
serted and forlorn, with no hints of its days of gaiety and
splendour. The house is extremely large and of fine pro-
portions, and when surrounded by its trees and gardens
must have presented an appearance of great dignity and
charm. Architects, however, delight even more in the
interior decorations, — the beautifully carved chimney-pieces,
doors and other woodwork and the fine stairway. When
this house was built by Major John Carlyle in 1752, it
was considered one of the three handsomest homes in the
vicinity, the others being Mount Vernon, the home of the
Washingtons, and Belvoir, the home of the Fairfaxes.

One curious feature of the Carlyle House is that it is
built upon an old fort, whose massive grass-grown walls are
still to be seen, as well as the subterranean passage that
leads from the house through the fort to the Potomac.

The following description by a nameless writer describes
the house as it was about forty years ago :

" It is built of cut stone, quite large, being about fifty
feet square, the doors and windows ornamented with carved
caps. A massive porch is built on the west front and the
east is occupied by a long verandah. A wide hall runs en-
tirely through the house, in each story, and opening into
them are spacious rooms. These, as well as the hall on
the first story, are wainscoted to the ceiling and ornamented

86 THE CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA

with carved wood, after the style of the period in which the
house was built.

" Formerly, fine grounds surrounded the house ; on the east
side a garden extended to the river, which, at that time, was
about three hundred yards distant. This inlet has long been
filled in, and its site is now occupied by streets and build-
ings. A broad walk, bordered on either side with trees and
shrubs extended from the house to the river. Being con-
siderably above the grade of the surrounding streets, the
garden was entirely cut away except a small portion near
the house, which was walled in. The garden on the west
front extended from the mansion to the street and fronted
directly on the public square, which at that time was oc-
cupied by the town jail and pillory. In the garden were a
number of tall Lombardy poplars, and at each corner a
lodge was built, which was used as servants' quarters.
These have all been removed and their site is occupied by a
large building. This prevents a front view of the mansion,
except from the interior point of the hotel."

Another excellent description by Alexander Cameron,
in the New England Magazine for 1902, reads as follows:

" The most imposing residence the town possessed was,
of course, the one John S. Carlyle had erected in 1752,
constructed of Portland stone, shipped from the Isle of
Wight in exchange for the famous Oronoko tobacco. The
house was well situated, — in the rear the lawn sloped down
to the Potomac and on the portico one could sit and watch
the vessels from over the seas glide into the haven that
ever appeared most beautiful, and in front like watchful

THE CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA 87

sentinels, a double row of Lombardy poplars kept guard
over the stately home, where hospitality was offered with a
lavish hand and where good cheer and kindliness were ever
to be found. The woodwork of the interior of the house
is regarded as the best specimen of Colonial style ; the win-
dows, doorways, mantels, the primitive cupboards, the heavy
carved frieze, even the chairboard are all in exquisite taste.
Here in the great drawing-room of gold and white, Wash-
ington was often to be seen, taking part in the minuet and
one could catch a glimpse of the dainty room in blue and
white across the hall. But there was another side to all
this brightness and gaiety, as the dungeons of the house
could testify, where in times of attack by the Indians, the
household sought protection, or by means of the subter-
ranean passage, as at Mount Vernon, an escape was offered
by way of the Potomac and the happy youths in powdered
wigs, beruffled shirts, knee breeches, and silk hose, who
could step with so light a heart in the dance, could also
draw their swords and fight for the protection of their homes
and for the honour of their King."

The French and Indians were a menace to the prosperity
of Alexandria ; those living without the town found it diffi-
cult to bring their produce to market without fearing an at-
tack; therefore in 1754 Washington, then but twenty -two,
led a small company of Alexandria soldiers against the
enemy. This was unsuccessful and Washington was com-
pelled to surrender. In the following year, England took
extreme measures.

It was the period when England and Fiance were con-

88 THE CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA

tending for power on this continent. France, with her
allies, the Indians, held the Lakes and many strong forts in
the interior, while England held the Atlantic seaboard
peopled by loyal colonists. The English ministry having
decided to attack the French on the Lakes and in Ohio,
despatched General Braddock to Virginia in 1755, with in-
structions to proceed to Fort Duquesne, the site of the
present city of Pittsburg.

On his arrival in Alexandria, General Braddock became
the guest of Major Carlyle, while doubtless the soldiers
were put up at the Royal George.

We can imagine that the entertainment offered to the
gallant, gay and eccentric General by a wealthy colonist did
not shame the famed Virginia hospitality ; and that when
the Governors of New York, Massachusetts, Maryland,
Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina arrived, there
were dances, dinners, cards, toasts and wines, and scenes of
gaiety, as well as the discussion of vital questions. A Con-
ference of six Governors and noted army officers was not
an every day occurrence, and the old house held a very
brilliant gathering.

The Conference ended and the plan of action determined
upon, Braddock and his little company of red-coated
soldiers, set out from Alexandria.

They took the road across the mountains, still a wilder-
ness, although the Indian no longer lurks behind the trees
and rocks. Here the traveller is shown various paths called
" Braddock's Road," and springs and stones called " Brad-
dock's Well " and " Braddock's Stone," all of which are

THE CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA 89

associated, or supposed to be associated, with the memorable
« Braddock's Defeat."

Braddock's story is very well told by John Esten Cooke,
who writes : " He went from Williamsburg to Alexandria
to consult with the governors of the more prominent colo-
nies j and one morning there appeared at his headquarters
a young gentleman of some reputation as a soldier — Colonel
George Washington of Mount Vernon. As Washington
had already smelled gunpowder and knew the wilderness,
Braddock gave him a position on his staff, and informally
consulted with him, but exhibited ill-conditioned disdain
when the young ' buckskin ' hinted that ' regulars ' would
not accomplish much in the woods when matched against
Indians firing from behind the trees. The idea that British
regular troops would not sweep such hornets from their path,
struck Braddock evidently in the light of an exquisite ab-
surdity ; and, paying no attention to Washington's warn-
ings, he hurried forward his preparations, set out for the
frontier, passing through Frederick City, Maryland, and
Winchester, Virginia, and entered Fort Cumberland, where
his troops were to rendezvous amid a thundering salute of
thirteen cannon, the drums beating the c Grenadier's March '
as he flashed by in his chariot, his staff galloping beside it.
So went upon his way the brave and unlucky Englishman
who was not destined to return. . . .

" The tragic sequel of the drama we need not describe.
Braddock had acted like the brave man he was in the battle
and defeat that ensued, and, seeing all things crumbling
around him, seemed anxious to die. He rode into the

90 THE CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA

hottest of the fire, a conspicuous figure in his splendid
uniform — shouting orders, storming at the troops, waving
his sword — exposing himself recklessly in every part of
the field. Five horses had been killed under him. As one
fell, he seized and mounted a fresh one. At last his fate
came. A bullet traversed his right arm and buried itself in
his lungs. He fell — was caught by Captain Stewart of the
Virginia light-horse, and there was scarcely time to hurry
him off the fateful field, when the English troops broke
on all sides and retreated in wild disorder, pursued by the
French and Indians.

"The shattered army were now in full flight across the
Monongahelaj and then they hastened back through the
wilderness, scarcely pausing before they reached Fort Cum-
berland. Tradition relates that Braddock was so painfully
wounded that he could not be carried off even in a spring
vehicle, and was swung at full length in a large silken sash
which he had worn, the extremities of which were affixed
to two horses moving abreast. This sash is said to be still
in existence. He could be carried no further than the
Great Meadows, where he died on the night of July I3th,
Washington reading the funeral service over his body,
which was there interred. Savages lurked around— all was
done in silence. Not even a volley was fired in honour of
the brave soldier who had come to this wilderness to find a
grave."

The report to the home government gave the Colonial
soldiers their due. It read: "The Virginia officers and
troops behaved like men and died like soldiers." Wash-

THE CARLYLE HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA gi

ington was the only officer who survied. He wrote : " I
had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot
under me, yet escaped unhurt although death was levelling
my companions on every side of me."

On his return, Washington entered into all the gaieties
of Alexandria, balls and dances at the Carlyle House, balls
and dances at the Royal George, and balls and dances at the
tavern called Gadsby's. He notes in his Diary of 1760 the
description of a ball in Alexandria, ending : " We lodged
at Col. Carlyle's."

During the Civil War, this old house was used as head-
quarters for the medical directors of the hospitals in the
vicinity.

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA

D. W. BELISLE

THIS venerable edifice, which excites so much patriotic
veneration from the American people and is regarded
with profound esteem abroad, was known until the year
1776 as the State House. From that memorable period —
when the representatives of the nation resolved to be free —
the room on the east side of the main entrance has been
designated by the appellation of Independence Hall. For
wise and patriotic reasons it has never been altered. By
that designation it will remain hallowed to all time. So
long as a single genuine spark of freedom remains in the
human heart, so long will Independence Hall be regarded
as the birthplace of liberty — the immortal spot where the
manacles of oppression were sundered and despotism re-
ceived its most formidable rebuke. The State House,
originally constructed for the purpose of accommodating
legal business, the dispensation of Colonial statutes for
Pennsylvania, and the transaction of various other matters,
was commenced in the year 1729 and completed in 1734.
Its dimensions and architectural plan — the design being
furnished by an amateur architect, named John Kearsley,
Sr., — were regarded by many as too large and expensive;
and the erection of the building was, therefore, quite strenu-
ously opposed. Had the men who first conceived the

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA 93

noble enterprise of building it foreseen the exalted character
which their contemplated edifice would assume in future,
there would not probably have been a single dissenting
voice in the liberal plan projected by its founders. It is a
singular historical fact, that most of those who opposed the
plan of the edifice in the commencement and who were
still living at the time, were opposed to the adoption of the
" Declaration of Independence," which occurred within its
very walls about a quarter of a century afterwards. Ac-
cording to bills and papers kept by Andrew Hamilton, one
of the three Commissioners who had the superintendence
of the financial matters connected with its construction, it
appears that the edifice cost originally $16,250. The two
wings which now form important addenda to the building,
however, were not erected until the years 1739-40, and
increased the total amount to $28,000 — but their cost can-
not be counted in the original bill.

Watson in his dnnals says : " Edmund Woolley did the
carpenter work, John Harrison the joiner work, Thomas
Boude was the brick mason, William Holland did the mar-
ble work, Thomas Kerr, plaster, Benjamin Fairman and
James Stoopes made the bricks ; the lime was from the
kilns of the Tysons. [These kilns were situated in Man-
ship Township, Montgomery County, about one mile west
from Willow Grove and fifteen miles from the Hall of In-
dependence.] The glass and lead cost £170 and the glazing
in leaden frames was done by Thomas Godfrey, the cele-
brated. I may here usefully add, for the sake of comparison,
the costs of sundry items, to wit : carpenter's work at 4*.

94 INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA

per day; boy's, is. ; master carpenter, E. Woolley, 45.
6d. ; brick-laying by Thomas Boude, John Palmer and
Thomas Redman, at ioj. 6d. per M.; stone work in the
foundation at 4*. per perch ; digging ground and carting
away, 9^. per yard ; bricks, 31X0 8^ per M.j lime per 100
bushels, £4. ; boards, 2Os. per M. ; lath-wood, i8.f. per cord ;
laths, 3*. per C.; shingles, 2Os . per M. ; scantling, i^d.
per foot ; stone, 3*. per perch, and 5*. $d. per load. La-
bourers receive 2s. bd. per dayj 2,100 loads of earth are
hauled away at yd. per load." These items are only given
as specimens of curiosity, and will serve to amuse, if not to
instruct.

The woodwork of the steeple by which the building was
first surmounted, on examination in 1774, was found to be
so much decayed, that it was decided to remove it, and it
was accordingly taken down, leaving only a small belfry to
cover the bell for the use of the town-clock, — which had
but one dial face, at the west end of the building. In
that condition it remained until 1829, when the steeple
which now crowns the building, was erected on the plan
of the original one. Some years ago the interior wood-
work to the room in which the " Declaration of Inde-
pendence " was signed was removed for the purpose of
modernizing the plans, but public sentiment soon demanded
its restoration, and it now presents the same appearance it
did on that memorable occasion. In 1854, the City Coun-
cils of Philadelphia very patriotically resolved to place in this
sacred room — where they properly belong — all the relics as-
sociated with the brilliant history of the Hall and the times

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA 95

cotemporaneous with the American Revolution, which
they could obtain. With commendable zeal and enterprise
they have obtained and arranged in their appropriate places
portraits of nearly all the distinguished " Signers of the
Declaration of Independence," as well as many other valu-
able relics, all of which are sacred mementoes uniting the
present and the past with ligaments of inseverable affection.

" When the regular sessions of the Assembly were held
in the State House," says Watson, " the Senate occupied
upstairs and the Lower House the same chamber since
called Independence Hall. In the former, Anthony Morris
is remembered as Speaker, occupying an elevated chair fac-
ing north — himself a man of amiable mien, contemplative
aspect, dressed in a suit of drab cloth, flaxen hair slightly
powdered, and his eyes fronted with spectacles. The
Representative Chamber had George Latimer for Speaker,
seated with his face to the west, — a well-formed manly
person, his fair large front and eyes sublime declared abso-
lute rule."

For many years previous to 1855, the upper apartment
of Independence Hall was divided into rooms which were
occupied by the Supreme Courts of the United States, and
was rented for offices of various kinds.

Grave and deliberate as were the general purposes, dur-
ing the early period of the Revolution, to which the
" State House " was appropriated in the Colonial days of
Pennsylvania, it was on several occasions used as a hall for
banqueting. In the long gallery, upstairs, the feasting
tables were spread, around which hilarity and mirthfulness

96 INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA

prevailed, while the tables themselves were loaded with
every desirable luxury which the appetite or inclination
might fancy or desire. Soon after the edifice was com-
pleted, in 1736, William Allen, Esq., then Mayor of
Philadelphia, made a feast at his own expense. This enter-
tainment, which was of a sumptuous and costly character,
was spread in the " State House," and the Mayor extended
his invitations to all distinguished strangers in the city.
The number of invited guests exceeded any at the feasts
given in the city on previous occasions, while those who
partook of his hospitality expressed their unanimous consent
that, " for excellency of fare, it was a most elegant enter-
tainment." On the arrival of their new Colonial Gover-
nor, Denny, in 1756, while the Assembly was in session,
that body gave him a reception dinner, and this feast was
likewise spread at the " State House," at which the " civil
and military officers and clergy of the city " were present.
This entertainment occurred in August, and was an im-
portant event during that session of the Assembly. It had
a tendency to harmonize various antagonistical personal
feelings, which were looked upon as boding no peculiar
good to the new administration. Again, when Lord
Loudon, commander-in-chief of the King's forces in the
several colonies, visited the city in the year 1757, the cor-
poration received him at the " State House " by a great ban-
quet. General Forbes, who was then commander at
Philadelphia and of the southern settlements, was also pres-
ent on that occasion. Various guests were invited, among
whom were officers of rank, gentlemen strangers, clergy

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA 97

and private citizens, who partook of those municipal hos-
pitalities. It was remarked by some uninvited guests at the
time, that the expenditure for this entertainment was greater
than had ever before been made by the authorities for pub-
lic receptions, which indicated a very early hospitality to
such feasts — especially when given at the expense of the
public treasury. When in 1774, the first Congress met in
Philadelphia, a sumptuous collation was prepared by the
gentlemen of the city, for the entertainment of its repre-
sentatives, the " State House " was selected as the building
in which the festive ceremonies should be performed. The
members and invited guests congregated first at the City
Tavern,1 and thence marched in an imposing procession to
the " State House," in the dining-hall of which the repast
was spread. About five hundred persons partook of the
dinner, and when the toasts were given they were rendered
patriotic by the " firing of cannon and martial music."
These festive occasions exerted salutary influence upon
public sentiment, and had a tendency to develop, in no
small degree, political feelings which actuated the people.
No doubt the principles promulgated and advocated around
the brimful goblet and board, were regarded in a patriotic or
disloyal sense, according to the dominant characteristics of
leading men, with their adherence to Parliamentary laws, or
Republican sympathy.

Notwithstanding the fact that Independence Hall is re-
garded as a most sacred shrine of Liberty, in days of yore

1 The City Tavern stood on the site of the " Coffee House," and was a
distinguished eating restaurant.

98 INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA

it was used for various purposes — some of which illy com-
ported with the true character of the building. Mr. Watson
says: "For many years the public papers of the Colony >
and afterwards of the City and State, were kept in the east
and west wings of the State House, without any fire-
proof security as they now possess. From their mani-
fest insecurity, it was deemed, about the year 1809, to
pull down those former two-story brick wings and to
supply their places by those which are now there. In
former times such important papers as rest with the
Prothonotaries were kept in their offices at their family
residences." When workmen were superintending the re-
moval of the former wings of the "State House," Mr.
Grove, who was the master mason, made several interesting
discoveries of relics. These were mostly found under the
foundations of the walls, as the workmen excavated the
ground considerably deeper for the present cellars. At the
depth of some five feet, and close to the western wall, was
dug up a keg of Indian flints. Nothing appears upon rec-
ord to give the faintest idea as to who performed the deed,
or for what purpose they were buried there. The impres-
sion of the keg was distinct, but the wood had decayed and
become assimilated with the loamy soil. At about the same
depth, and in close proximity to it, were uncovered the com-
plete equipments of a sergeant, consisting of a musket, car-
touche-box, sword, buckles,'etc. " The wood being decayed
left the impression of what they had been." These dis-
coveries excited considerable curiosity, and attracted a large
multitude of people to see and examine them. But a

INDEPENDENCE HALL. PHILADELPHIA 99

greater and more general excitement was created, a day or
two subsequently, at the announcement that a lot of bomb-
shells, filled with powder, had been exhumed by the diggers.
This circumstance led to various conjectures, relative to the
object for which they had been buried beneath the building,
but a satisfactory solution of the mystery has not, as yet,
been given. Some entertained the belief that it was in-
tended for another Guy Fawkes plot, to destroy the edifice on
a particular occasion. Most probably, however, they had
been placed there for safe keeping, or to prevent their fall-
ing into unfriendly hands. Subsequently, when the present
foundation was built two of these bombs were walled in
with the stones and now form a portion of the stonework.

We have remarked that Independence Hall was used for
various purposes. In the year 1802, the Legislature of
Pennsylvania granted to Charles Wilson Peale the use
of the upper rooms in which the public banquets were
formerly given for the exhibition of curiosities which he
had collected and arranged under the title of the Philadelphia
Museum.

As a place of literary entertainment, Independence Hall
assumes a conspicuous reputation. In 1771, the Rev. Jacob
Duche, assistant minister of Christ Church and St. Peter's,
Philadelphia, wrote as follows : — " The 4 State House,' as
it is called, is a large plain building, two stories high. The
lower story is divided into two large rooms, in one of which
the Provincial Assembly meet and in the other the Supreme
Court of Judicature is held. The upper story consists of a
long gallery, which is generally used for public entertain-

100 INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA

ments, and two rooms adjoining it, one of which is appro-
priated for the Governor and his Council ; the other, I
believe, is yet unoccupied. In one of the wings, which
join the main building by means of a brick arcade, is de-
posited a valuable collection of books, belonging to a num-
ber of the citizens, who are incorporated by the name of
'•The Library Company of Philadelphia? You would be as-
tonished, my Lord, at the general taste for books which
prevails among all orders and ranks of people in this city.
The librarian assured me that, for one person of distinction
and fortune, there were twenty tradesmen that frequented
this library." The Library Company of Philadelphia, to
which the above reverend writer so sneeringly alludes (and
who, during the Revolutionary struggle for Independence,
turned Tory to the cause of Freedom), was first started
by Benjamin Franklin in 1731, and was called '•'•The City
Library" in consequence of a union which was made on
the first of July of that year, of several libraries. In
October, 1732, their first importation of books from Eng-
land arrived, amounting in cost to ,£45 15*., sterling. The
Library was located in Pewter-platter Alley, but in 1740 it
was transferred to the State House. Thence in 1773 it
was placed in the Carpenters' Hall, where it remained
until the year 1790. It received its incorporation in 1742,
under the title of the " Library Company of Philadelphia."
In 1792, this Company, the Loganian and the Union, were
merged into one, — making a tria juncta in una*

During the progress of the struggle for Freedom, the
State House was signalized for many scenes which trans-

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA IOI

pired within it, and was, at one time, used as a hospital for
wounded soldiers. A " lobby " extended the whole length
of the building, then eastward from the head of the stairs,
and in this "lobby" the American officers who were cap-
tured at the Battle of Germantown were retained as pris-
oners. It was used as a hospital after the Battle of the
Brandywine, where many a noble patriot breathed his last.
Such were some of the sad purposes for which this sacred
structure has been used. This building is also rendered
immortal from the fact that here Washington " bade fare-
well to public life, and delivered that memorable address
which will ever be cherished as a sacred legacy by his
grateful countrymen." In 1824, Lafayette received his
friends in Independence Hall. It has been subsequently
used as the audience-chamber of several distinguished visi-
tors, and a reception room for the Presidents of the United
States. The body of the venerable John Adams here lay
in state on its way to his final resting-place.

After the completion of the State House in 1734, meas-
ures were set on foot to secure means and funds sufficient
to place in the dome a bell appropriate for the building.
As they had already supplied a great public necessity by
placing a clock in the west end — not in the steeple, as
Harper's Magazine represents it — many influential citizens
opposed the measure, on the ground of extravagance, argu-
ing that the " great cost of the State House had imposed a
heavy tax upon the citizens, and further expenditure was
useless." The better judgment of the people, howeve^
after several years prevailed, and it was decided to have a

102 INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA

bell. But another great and discouraging difficulty met the
speedy accomplishment of their purposes. There had been
but little moulding and casting effected in the Colonies, in
consequence of the home government monopolizing almost
exclusively every department of manufacturing, thereby
subjecting their subjects in the New World to depend
upon the mills, looms and furnaces of England for a supply
of such articles as Parliament might think proper for them
to have. It became necessary, therefore, to submit to the
inconvenience, trouble and delay, of sending to London for
a bell. This was done. The size, peculiar shape, weight,1
motto and thickness, were accurately mentioned, as direc-
tions for casting it, and the order was sent in the latter
part of the year 1750. About a year would elapse before
they could reasonably expect the bell to reach this country.
It came at last in 1752, and before it was landed from the
ship, hundreds of citizens repaired to the vessel to examine
it and congratulate the city on its safe arrival.

The tone was clear, distinct and forcible, well calculated
to inspire feelings of pride in those enterprising citizens,
who had been chiefly instrumental in procuring it. But
their high anticipations were doomed to meet a sad disap-
pointment. A day or two after its arrival, while removing
it from the vessel to the place for which it was intended,
it met with an accident by which its tones were rendered
discordant, the beauty of its appearance mutilated and its
uses almost destroyed. In fact, the bell had to be recast,

1The weight of the bell was 2,030 pounds.

INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA 103

and it was decided that an experiment should be made in
the city.

Accordingly the task was assigned to Messrs. Pass &
Stow, who were to perform the operation under the super-
intendence of Isaac Norris, Esq., Speaker of the Colonial
Assembly. To that gentleman is ascribed the honour of
having originally suggested the motto " Proclaim Liberty
throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof,"
which the bell contains, and which proved so prophetic of
its future use. In regard to the new bell cast by Messrs.
Pass & Stow, Mr. Norris remarked that " they have made
a good bell, which pleases me much that we should first
venture upon and succeed in the greatest bell, for aught I
know, in English America — surpassing, too, the imported
one, which was too high and brittle." No doubt such
were the facts, especially in reference to the last part of
Mr. Norris's remarks, and in that respect, also, the bell
was significantly emblematical. Efforts were made to re-
store the bell to its original sound by boring holes into it,
but the attempt proved unavailing.

Such is the brief history of the origin of the " Old State
House Bell " ; and it is to be regretted that no more defi-
nite reminiscences connected with it have been preserved.
During the struggle for that Independence and Freedom
which was proclaimed by this bell, while the British threat-
ened to take and occupy Philadelphia, this bell, together
with that belonging to Christ Church, was taken down,
and conveyed to the river, near Trenton, where they were
buried in the water in order to prevent them from falling

104 INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA

into the hands of their enemies. In this condition they re-
mained from 1777 to the close of the American Revolution,
when they were brought back to the city and placed in
their former situations.

THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC

THOMAS UNETT BROCKLEHURST

A CLEAR, unclouded atmosphere at an elevation of
8,000 feet above the level of the sea in the tropics
puts everything couleur de rose. There is no heat, no cold ; the
average temperature is about 60°, and the atmosphere is so
clear that when you see the mountains at the ends of the
streets they appear close at hand, instead of being from
twenty to forty miles distant.

All the houses in the city have a gay appearance ; such
as are not white or light yellow or green are tinted with
various shades of red, and many of the churches may be
pronounced pink ; three or four hundred yards of a street
in pink has a pretty effect, especially if continued in pale
green ; a house in grey stone adjoining another faced with
blue encaustic tiles is, to say the least, pleasing to the eye
of any one who for months past has only gazed upon
dwellings of dull red brick. As you get into the outskirts
of the city, the houses are meaner, but many of them are
festooned with flowers and wreaths, so the appearance of
beauty is maintained, even if on close inspection it is found
delusive.

One of the three principal rides out of the city is the
Paseo de la Reforma, three miles in length, leading to the
Castle of Chapultepec ; here the gay world disports itself

106 THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC

from seven to nine in the morning on horseback, and from
six to seven in the evening in carriages; but it is deserted
during Lent for the Paseo de la Viga, where three or four
military bands discourse excellent music.

The principal ride is to the Castle of Chapultepec, and
as it is the first ride every visitor is sure to take, he .will be
interested to learn that the building on the summit of the
porphyry rock, visible from all parts of the valley, stands
on the site of the Palace of Montezuma j l it is known as
the Hill of the Grasshopper in old Aztec charts, and is
always drawn on their hieroglyphics as a mound, with a
grasshopper as large as the mound itself on the top of it.

Nothing remains of the grandeur which marked the
place in Montezuma's time except the avenues of enormous
Cyprus trees (Cupressus distica) beneath whose shades were
the gardens where he loved to wander, even after his be-
loved capital had fallen into the rude hands of the invading
Spaniards.

I measured the girth of several of these trees, and found
three or four of the largest to vary from thirty-five to forty
feet above the ground. Their height was proportionately
grand, 100 to 120 feet and the trees are well shaped. Long
festoons of a greyish Spanish moss hang from their branches ;

1 Humboldt says that the hill of Chapultepec was chosen by the young
Viceroy Galvez as the site of a villa (Chateau de Plaisance) for himself
and his successors. The castle has been finished externally, but the apart
ments are not yet furnished. The building cost the king £62,000. The
Court of Madrid disapproved of the expense, but, as usual, after it was
laid out. The plan of this edifice is very singular. The common opinion
at Mexico is that the house of the viceroy at Chapultepec is a disguised
tortress.

THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC 10?

this moss is supposed to add to the beauty of the groves^ but
It gives me an idea of decay.

In Prescott's fourth book there is a graphic account of
Montezuma's town and country palaces of barbaric splen-
dour j his armouries, his granaries, his strange collection of
human monsters and dwarfs, his menageries and the aviary,
which alone required three hundred attendants ; the royal
household is described, and in proof of the luxury of the
royal table, it is mentioned that there were runners stationed
every twenty miles the whole distance from Vera Cruz to
Mexico, that the red mullets might be placed fresh and
sweet upon his table; it is said that the runners brought up
these delicacies from the coast in quicker time than the
present railway can accomplish. No one can doubt the
truth of the description of his magnificence who has beheld
the trees that are still standing along the avenues of what
was once his royal garden. From the terrace in front of
his palace, he saw the snow-capped mountains Popocatepetl
and Ixtaccihuatl and the City of Mexico, entirely sur-
rounded by the waters of Lake Texcoco, glittering at his
feet ; the Pinion de los Banos, Pinion del Marques, Santa
Catharina and San Nicholas, all small craters or volcanic
cones ; and to the right the hill called Estrella, on which
the sacred fire was always burning, until the 26th of
December, every fifty-second year.

At these intervals, the fire of every temple and house
was extinguished, and the people abandoning themselves to
despair, tore their garments and destroyed their furniture,
a<? their priests taught them it was probable that the world

108 THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC

would be destroyed. The ceremony was terrible j a noble
victim was sacrificed, and it was not till after midnight,
when the constellation Pleiades had passed the zenith, that
the priests announced that the world was again saved.
The sacred fire kindled by the friction of sticks placed in
the wounded breast of the victim was conveyed to the altar,
when the blaze of the funeral pyre announced the glad
tidings of joy to the countless multitudes looking on from
every part of the valley ; these thereupon gave themselves
up to transports of delight, and kept the Carnival or national
jubilee, which lasted twelve or thirteen days. New fire
was then carried by fleet runners from the altar of Estrella
to every part of the kingdom.

There is an idea of stability in the Scriptural phrase
"everlasting hills." The "everlasting hills " are before
me; the aspect of the valley has been changed. Lake
Texcoco has been withdrawn a mile or two from the city ;
the domes and spires of the city are different from the
Teocalli and Palace of Montezuma; and the Palace of
Chapultepec, in front of which I am standing, has been
rebuilt several times by Spanish Viceroys. The present
building was erected so lately as 1785; it is a kind of gilt
pagoda on a castellated battlement, and the rooms were
decorated by Maximilian, its last occupant, with coarse
Pompeiian arabesques. These are changes, but Popocate-
petl and Ixtaccihuatl rear their snow-capped heads as they
did before man counted time.

At the back of the Castle, looking over the large cypress-
trees on the pleasaunce below, is seen the high ground on

THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC 109

which the Battle of Molino del Key (the King's mill) was
fought in August, 1847, between the American army under
General Scott and the Mexican army under General Santa
Anna. The large flour mill and other buildings bear marks
of shot and shell, and the centre of the battlefield is in-
dicated by a square marble pedestal, on which are inscribed
the names of the Mexican officers who fell on the field.

This was the last battle of the war which arose out of the
secession of the territory of Texas from Mexico in order to
become one of the North American States. General Scott
being victorious over the Mexicans, the treaty of peace —
known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo — was ratified
in the early part of 1848, by which the Americans obtained
the territories of Texas, New Mexico, and upper California.
Arizona was subsequently bought from Santa Anna by the
Treaty of Messilla for $10,000,000,

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA

LADY HARDY

THE approach to this city, the capital of the Dominion
of Canada, is by no means imposing ; the face of
the river is covered and its mouth filled with sawdust ; it is
stifled, and has scarcely strength to flow, it could not burst
into a smile, or ripple, under the most tempting of summer
suns. Immense booms of timber which have been floated
down from the " forest primeval " hundreds of miles away,
float still on the river surface till they are hauled up to feed
the hungry mills, mechanical giants, whose rasping jaws
work day and night crushing these sturdy " sons of the
forest," cutting them in slices and casting them forth to be
stacked in huge piles along the river-banks miles before we
reach the town. There is no bustle or confusion on our
arrival there. On the quiet little landing-stage two or three
lumbering vehicles are waiting; we are escorted to one of
these by our chivalrous captain, who carries our hand bag-
gage and superintends the removal of the rest.

Our first day in Ottawa was spent in visiting the Parlia-
ment buildings, which occupy a plateau of about thirty
acres on the loftiest point of the city, and nearly two hun-
dred feet above the Ottawa River; they are surrounded by
beautifully laid out gardens, and seem to be growing out of
a bed of soft greensward of velvet smoothness. They are
composed of cream-coloured Potsdam stone, the ornamenta/

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA III

part being of Ohio and Arupois marble ; they are built
in the Italian-Gothic style of the Thirteenth Century, and
I am told they are the most beautiful specimens thereof in
all America, perhaps in the world. Their elevated posi-
tion, with their long lines of pointed windows, massive
buttresses, and numerous pinnacles and towers, silhouetted
against the bright blue sky, are objects of imposing and
majestic beauty for miles around. In the front centre stands
Victoria Tower, one hundred and eighty feet high, and sur-
mounted by an iron crown. The chief entrance to the
building is through the broad -pointed arches beneath this
tower ; the royal arms are above the doorway ; in the grand
Senate Hall, there is a very beautiful statue of the Queen
and the vice-regal throne is flanked by busts of the Prince of
Wales and the Princess Alexandra.

In the most remote, as well as in the most populous dis-
tricts, the features of the royal family are duly represented.
The Canadians are the most loyal of British subjects ; they
lower their voices with solemn reverence when they speak
of " Her Majesty the Queen," to whom they never refer as
" the Queen," pure and simple ; they give her a whole
string of titles and adjectives, like the tail of a paper kite,
and set her sailing in the heaven of their imagination, as
though she were beyond the range of humanity altogether.

Much has been said, much has been written on the sub-
ject of Canada ; we have learned its geographical position,
the length and breadth of its lakes and rivers, the extent of
its vast forest lands, the height of its mountains, etc., but
the figures dazzle the mind, and bring no realization of the

112 PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA

fact. Nothing less than a personal visit will enable us to
comprehend the wonders of this luxuriant land, which is
surrounded and encompassed with its own loveliness. The
primeval forest still holds its own in the vast solitudes,
sacred as yet from the increasing encroachments of man,
its immense inland seas and fruitful rivers winding through
scenery the most picturesque, the most sublime ; to say
nothing of its vast unexplored lands and mineral resources,
and the wide tracts of rich uncultivated country, watered
by springs and rivulets which have been flowing in their
living liquid beauty since the days of Paradise.

We had heard much of the extremes of temperature, of
heat and cold, especially in Ottawa, and prepared ourselves
for broiling ; well, it was warm, the sun blazed, the hot
winds blew, and the dust of this most dusty city whirled
and swirled around us, got into our eyes, our ears, crept in-
sidiously down our throats, and seemed struggling to turn
us inside out; but we clutched our mantles around us, and
butted against the wind, screening ourselves from the sun's
fierce rays as best we could. It is not often that the sun
and wind have such a tussle together. However, we
reached home at last in an uncooked state, feeling not much
warmer than we should do on a summer day at home,
though the temperature is much higher and the hours are
marching to the tune of 90° in the shade.

We had spent the whole day in wandering and driving
about the streets of Ottawa, till we gained a very good
idea of its external appearance. It has numerous fine
churches, and its town hall, post office and all the municipal

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA 113

buildings are substantially and massively built in an attract-
ive and fanciful style of architecture. As for the rest of
the city, it is in a perfectly unfinished state ; it is as yet only
a thing of promise, though it has the making of a very fine
town in the future j but however fast it marches, it will
have to keep growing, and work hard too for another cen-
tury at least, before it reaches the level of its magnificent
Parliament buildings. The streets are wide and long,
stretching away out of sight ; they are cobble-stoned and
roughly wood-paved for the most part. After passing the
principal lines of shops in Sparkes Street, the houses seem
to have been built for temporary convenience only, and
crop up here and there in a direct line, leaving wide spaces
of waste land between, as though they were in a hurry to
see which should reach the end of the long street first, the
end that seems to be creeping back to the primeval forest,
which civilization and time have left far behind.

Ottawa itself is neither picturesque nor attractive, being
built on perfectly flat ground. It looks like a timber yard
and smells of sawdust. The Ottawa River has as many
long thin arms as an octopus, and they run meandering in-
land by a hundred different ways ; here they meet in a vast
tumbling mass, falling over huge boulders and broken stony
ground till they are dignified by the name of the " Chaudiere
Falls " ; lower down their headlong course is stopped, and
they are utilized and made to turn a huge sawmill where a
thousand steel teeth are biting through the grand old trees,
tearing them into chips, digesting and disgorging them on
the other side ; in vain the water foams and groans, crashing

114 PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS. OTTAWA

its rebellious waves together — man is its master and will
have his way.

Rideau Hall, the home of our Princess, lies on the out-
skirts of the town, and is by no means a regal-looking man-
sion ; it is a long low building of gray stone, standing on
rather elevated ground, and has a pleasant view of the town
and river from the lawn and flower garden, which encloses
two sides of it ; the approach is through tolerably well tim-
bered grounds, not of sufficient importance to be called a
" park." The Governor and Princess Louise were away,
and the house was undergoing repair — it looked as though
it needed it. There was nothing to distinguish this from
any second or third-rate country house at home, except the
one solitary and rather seedy looking sentinel who paraded
before the door. The people of Ottawa speak most en-
thusiastically of our Princess; every one has some kind
memory or pleasant anecdote to tell of her. It is said that
when Her Royal Highness held her first reception, she ap-
peared in a plain high dress, expecting, perhaps, to find
fashion "out of joint" in this far-away place; but the
Canadian ladies came trooping " en grand toilette," with
fans and diamonds, trains and laces, like living importations
from Worth himself. At the next reception matters
changed, and the royal lady appeared in all the splendour of
the British Court.

MOUNT VERNON

ARTHUR SHADWELL MARTIN

EVERY patriotic American who visits Washington
makes a pious pilgrimage to the home and tomb
of the Father of his Country. There are two ways of
reaching Mount Vernon, one by trolley and one by river.
The road passes through a flat, uninteresting and some-
what desolate country ; and a loud-voiced cicerone indicates
the points of interest on the way. The journey is usually
broken either going or returning at Alexandria, a quaint,
old, sleepy, dilapidated, little town. Visitors stroll through
its grass-grown streets, marvel at its rotting wharf, drop in
at the Carlyle House, where the ill-fated Braddock made
his headquarters ; and then take a look at old Christ Church
where Washington worshipped.

The pleasantest and most picturesque route, however, is
by river. A delightful sail down the Potomac for about an
hour brings one to the landing-stage at the foot of the
grounds. The approach to the house is very fine. Mount
Vernon stands on a wooded eminence commanding a beau-
tiful view of the reaches of the river and the opposite
shores. From the river, the house with its broad pillared
colonnade has an impressive air.

The estate of Mount Vernon in Washington's day was
an extensive one of two thousand broad acres. Its owner
was very fond and prouq1 of it. He himself wrpte : " No

Il6 MOUNT VERNON

estate in United America is more pleasantly situated. In a
high and healthy country, in a latitude between the ex-
tremes of heat and cold, on one of the finest rivers in the
world, a river well stocked with various kinds of fish at all
seasons of the year, and in the spring with shad, herring,
bass, carp, sturgeon, etc., in great abundance. The borders
of the estate are washed by more than ten miles of tide-
water: several valuable fisheries appertain to it. The
whole shore in fact, is one vast fishery." Washington was
also proud of his trees. To increase their numbers and
varieties was the constant occupation of his home life.
Every season of the year found him providing for them.
The grounds still owe much of their charm to his care.
They glisten and bloom with shade trees, evergreens,
flowering shrubs and fruit trees : — box, holly, tulip, poplar,
sweet-gum, sassafras, dogwood, oak, mulberry, aspen, ash,
locust and fringe-tree are plentiful, the deciduous trees in
this list being natives of Fairfax County. Washington's
diary shows his interest in forestry and gardening. He
notes when the white-thorn is in berry, when he clears the
undergrowth of a clump of pines, when he plants hemlock
and sows holly berries, when he plants acorns and buckeye
nuts brought from the battleground of Monongahela, and
horse-chestnuts from his old home in Westmoreland.

Mount Vernon was originally built by George's elder
half-brother, Lawrence Washington, who laid out the
grounds and named the place in honour of Admiral Ver-
non, under whom he had seen distinguished service at the
siege of Cartagena. When George came into possession

MOUNT VERNON 117

soon after his generous brother's death in 1752, Mount
Vernon was a modest and unpretending Virginia dwelling.
The new owner improved and enlarged it on several occa-
sions, and frequently added to the outbuildings. At some
little distance from the driveway facing the east front, the
road led through a patch of flowering shrubbery and passed
between porters' lodges built of sun-dried bricks to the
gateway familiar to every tourist. This approach opened
to view a plain two-story house with peaked roof and
cupola, and out-buildings connected with the main struc-
ture by an open arcade, in the usual Virginia style. These
covered ways are a great protection in cold or inclement
weather to those bringing in hot food from the kitchen,
which, here as elsewhere, is separate from the house.

The only striking architectural feature of the building
was the colonnade, a broad flagged piazza on the side
facing the river, supporting by slender wooden columns the
eaves of the roof, and affording a shady and cool retreat for
family and visitors. The lawns slope away down to the
river, and many a pleasant afternoon tea has been enjoyed
under those columns.

Leaving the landing-stage we take a short walk up the
hill and reach the building where lie the mortal remains of
the great liberator and first President of the United States.
Considering the memories that cluster around it, the struc-
ture is insignificant and unworthy. It is more like an ordi-
nary spring-house than a mausoleum, and when we remem-
ber what has been expended on Grant's tomb and others
whose memory the nation delights to honour, we cannot

Il8 MOUNT VERNON

help marvelling at the sordid simplicity of Washington's
last resting-place. The graves of many members of the
family lie around it; and in the vault at the back of the
mausoleum are the remains of many more. Who they
were, however, we have no means of ascertaining because
there are no records or tablets to assist us. For more than
half a century, this tomb suffered from worse than neglect,
for the pious pilgrims and the ordinary curiosity hunters
who visited the tomb of the Father of his Country carried
away as mementos chips of masonry, pebbles, flowers, ferns,
twigs, branches of trees and bushes, and generally devas-
tated the place. These depredations have now ceased,
however; and the tomb is now protected by lock and key
against vandalism.

The work of protection and preservation is now in the
hands of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the
Union which was the first patriotic organization of women
in the United States. It was started in 1853, and received
a charter from the Virginia legislature in 1856. After long
correspondence Mr. John Augustine Washington consented
to surrender the mausoleum, house and 200 acres of grounds
for $200,000. The money was soon raised and Mount
Vernon now belongs to Virginia, and is under the charge of
regents appointed one for each state of the Union. These
in turn are under a president. The regents meet at Mount
Vernon every year. The house and grounds are under the
direct charge of a resident superintendent, who is as cour-
teous and obliging as he is an able administrator. Many
of the rooms are under the special patronage of separate

MOUNT VERNON IIQ

states, and there is in consequence a good deal of competi-
tion among the regents to supply furniture of Washington's
day, when it is not possible to recover genuine Wash-
ington relics. It has been said that Washington snuff-
boxes are as plentiful as Mayflower furniture ; but now
every precaution is taken against labelling anything that is
not undeniably authentic.

The house has two important fronts, presenting one to the
river and another to the beautiful sweep of turf between it
and the road. The gardens, with their greenhouses and
thick box hedges, are beautiful at all seasons of the year.

Mount Vernon is by no means a palatial mansion : per-
haps the visitor's first feeling is one of disappointment.
The hall with its winding staircase is roomy enough, but
the rooms — the bedrooms especially — are undeniably small.
However the house is cosy enough, and was ample for the
needs of Washington and his small family.

By donation and purchase, the regents have managed
to collect quite a respectable number of George Washing-
ton's personal belongings. There is the great carpet spe-
cially manufactured for him and presented by Louis XVI. ;
then we note his parlour mirror, bookcase, travelling trunk,
dressing-table, shaving glass and various wearing apparel,
besides many chairs, tables, beds and Miss Custis's harpsi-
chord. Before the ladies took charge, the furniture, panel-
ling, etc., suffered terribly from the depredations of con-
scienceless relic-hunters, — but now it is protected from
goths and vandals by gates.

Mount Vernon during Washington's lifetime was fur-

120 MOUNT VERNON

nished with comfort and elegance. It may be interesting
to the reader to go through some of the rooms with the
guidance of the inventory taken after George Washington's
death.

The rooms then were not named as they are now, but
they can be readily identified. The " New Room" was
evidently used as a dining-room, since it was furnished with
two dining-tables, two sideboards, on which stood six ma-
hogany knife-cases, China images and a China flower pot,
twenty-seven mahogany chairs, two large looking-glasses,
two candle-stands, two fire-screens, two stools, two elegant
lustres, two silver-plated lamps and six China jars on the
mantelpiece. The hearth was supplied with andirons,
dogs, shovel, tongs and bellows ; the floor was covered
with a good mat; the windows were draped with valuable
curtains ; and pictures worth nearly a thousand dollars
adorned the walls.

The "Front Parlour" contained an expensive sofa, eleven
mahogany chairs, a tea-table, a rich looking-glass, three
lamps, two of which had mirrors, five China flower-potst
chimney furniture, a handsome carpet and window curtains.
Many pictures hung on the walls.

The " Little Parlour " was furnished with a settee, tea-
table, ten Windsor chairs, looking-glass, fender and hearth
furniture, carpet, window curtains and pictures.

In the " Study " we find a bureau, a tambour secretary,
a walnut table, two pine writing-tables, writing-desk and
apparatus, circular chair, armchair, dressing-table, oval
looking-glass, eleven spy-glasses, a case of surveying

MOUNT VERNON 121

instruments, a globe, two brass candlesticks, seven swords
and blades, four canes, seven guns, 45 Ibs. of silver plate
valued at $900, other plate worth $424, and many other
articles. This was evidently the General's sanctum, where
he attended to his correspondence and other business.

When the number of guests did not require the use of
the " New Room," the family gathered in the " Dining
Room." Here were two dining tables and a tea-table, a
mahogany sideboard, two knife cases and a large spirits
case, ten mahogany chairs, a carpet, hearth furniture,
window curtains and pictures.

The " Bedroom " contained a bed, bedstead and mattress,
looking-glass, small table, four walnut chairs, window
curtains and blinds, a carpet, andirons, etc., and one large
picture.

All along the staircase were hung a great number of
prints, and a looking-glass was in the passage on the second
floor. In the lower " Passage " were fourteen mahogany
chairs, a spy-glass, a thermometer and pictures. The
" Closet " contained a fire-screen and a machine to scrape
shoes on. There were thirty Windsor chairs on the
Piazza : — ample provision surely for callers !

The walls of the " Front Room " were decorated with
prints. It was cosy with window curtains, fireplace and
carpet. The rest of the furniture comprised a bed and
bedstead with curtains, a dressing table, a large looking-
glass, a wash-basin and pitcher and six mahogany chairs.

The " Second Room " was similarly furnished, except
for the chairs, of which there were only five, including an

142 MOUNT VERNON

armchair. A portrait of General Lafayette hung on one
wall, he having occupied this room.

The "Third Room" was furnished exactly like the
" Front Room " except for a chest of drawers in addition.
Prints ornamented the walls here also.

The " Fourth Room " contained bed, bedstead and
curtains, carpet and window curtains, andirons, prints, five
mahogany chairs, pine dressing table and large looking-glass,
a close chair, wash-basin and pitcher.

The u Small Room " was furnished with bed, bedstead,
dressing table, dressing-glass, washstand and three Windsor
chairs.

The " Room which Mrs. Washington now keeps " was
almost as desolate as her short widowhood. She seldom
left it during the short time she survived her husband.
It contained only a bed, bedstead and mattress, table,
three chairs, oval looking-glass, carpet, fender and and-
irons. This is quite bare in comparison with " Mrs.
Washington's Old Room," which contained a bed, bed-
stead and curtains, a glass, dressing table, writing-table and
writing chair, an easy chair, two mahogany chairs, a chest
of drawers, a clock, carpet, window curtains, fender, and-
irons and pictures.

The kitchen, still in its old condition, was thoroughly
equipped for the hospitality demanded of the master of
Mount Vernon.

The total value of the furniture was nearly $3,500 ; that
of the 139 chairs alone was $658 ; and of the pictures and
prints, $2,000,

THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

BETWEEN two tall gateposts of rough-hewn stone
(the gate itself having fallen from its hinges at some
unknown epoch), we beheld the grey front of the old
parsonage terminating the vista of an avenue of black ash-
trees. It was now a twelvemonth since the funeral proces-
sion of the venerable clergyman, its last inhabitant had
turned from that gateway towards the village burying
ground. The wheel-track leading to the door, as well as
the whole breadth of the avenue, was almost overgrown
with grass, affording dainty mouthfuls to two or three
vagrant cows and an old white horse who had his own
living to pick up along the roadside. The glimmering
shadows that lay half asleep between the door of the house
and the public highway were a kind of spiritual medium,
seen through which the edifice had not quite the aspect of
belonging to the material world. Certainly it had little in
common with those ordinary abodes which stand so immi-
nent upon the road that every passer-by can thrust his
head, as it were, into the domestic circle. From these
quiet windows the figures of passing travellers looked too
remote and dim to disturb the sense of privacy. In its
near retirement and accessible seclusion it was the very
spot for the residence of a clergyman — a man not estranged
from human life, yet enveloped in the midst of it with a

124 THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD

veil woven of intermingled gloom and brightness. It was
worthy to have been one of the time-honoured parsonages
of England, in which, through many generations, a suc-
cession of holy occupants pass from youth to age, and be-
queath each an inheritance of sanctity to pervade the house
and hover over it as with an atmosphere.

Nor, in truth, had the Old Manse ever been profaned by
a lay occupant until that memorable summer afternoon
when I entered it as my home. A priest had built it ; a
priest had succeeded to it ; other priestly men from time to
time had dwelt in it ; and children born in its chambers had
grown up to assume the priestly character. It was awful
to recollect how many sermons must have been written
there. The latest inhabitant alone — he by whose transla-
tion to paradise the dwelling was left vacant — had penned
nearly three thousand discourses, besides the better, if not
the greater number that gushed living from his lips. How
often, no doubt, had he paced to and fro along the avenue,
attuning his meditations to the sighs and gentle murmurs,
and deep and solemn peals of the wind among the lofty tops
of the trees ! In that variety of natural utterances he could
find something accordant with every passage of his sermon,
were it of tenderness or reverential fear. The boughs over
my head seemed shadowy with solemn thoughts as well as
with rustling leaves. I took shame to myself for having
been so long a writer of idle stories, and ventured to hope
that wisdom would descend upon me with the falling leaves
of the avenue, and that 1 should light upon an intellectual
treasure in the Old Manse well worth those hoards of long-

THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD 125

hidden gold which people seek for ir moss-grown houses.
Profound treatises of morality ; a layman's unprofessional
and therefore unprejudiced views of religion ; histories
(such as Bancroft might have written had he taken up his
abode here as he once purposed), bright with picture gleam-
ing over a depth of philosophic thought, — these were the
works that might fitly have flowed from such a retirement.
In the humblest event, I resolved at least to achieve a novel
that should evolve some deep lesson and should possess sub-
stance enough to stand alone.

In furtherance of my design, and as if to leave me no
pretext for not fulfilling it, there was in the rear of the
house the most delightful little nook of a study that ever
afforded its snug seclusion to a scholar. It was here that
Emerson wrote Nature ; for he was then an inhabitant
of the Manse, and used to watch the Assyrian dawn and
Paphian sunset and moonrise from the summit of our east-
ern hill. When I first saw the room its walls were black-
ened with the smoke of unnumbered years, and made still
blacker by the grim prints of Puritan ministers that hung
around. These worthies looked strangely like bad angels,
or at least 1 ke men who had wrestled so continually and so
sternly with the devil that somewhat of his sooty fierceness
had been imparted to their own visages. They had all
vanished now ; a cheerful coat of paint and golden-tinted
paper-hangings lighted up the small apartment ; while the
shadow of a willow-tree that swept against the overhanging
eaves attempered the cheery western sunshine. In place
of the grim prints there was the sweet and lovely head of

126 THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD

one of Raphael's Madonnas and two pleasant little pictures
of the Lake of Como. The only other decorations were a
purple vase of flowers, always fresh, and a bronze one con-
taining graceful ferns. My books (few, and by no means
choice; for they were chiefly such waifs as chance had
thrown in my way) stood in order about the room, seldom
to be disturbed.

The study had three windows, set with little, old-fash-
ioned panes of glass, each with a crack across it. The two
on the western side looked, or rather peeped, between the
willow branches down into the orchard, with glimpses of
the river through the trees. The third, facing northward,
commanded a broader view of the river at a spot where its
hitherto obscure waters gleam forth into the light of history.
It was at this window that the clergyman who then dwelt
in the Manse stood watching the outbreak of a long and
ueadly struggle between two nations ; he saw the irregular
array of his parishioners on the farther side of the river and
the glittering line of the British on the hither bank. He
awaited in an agony of suspense the rattle of the musketry.
It came, and there needed but a gentle wind to sweep the
battle smoke around this quiet house.

I never grew quite acquainted with my habitation till a
long spell of sulky rain had confined me beneath its roof.
There could not be a more sombre aspect of external na-
ture than as then seen from the windows of my study. The
great willow-tree had caught and retained among its leaves
a whole cataract of water, to be shaken down at intervals
by the frequent gusts of wind. All day long, and for a

THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD 127

week together, the rain was drip — drip — dripping and
splash — splash — splashing from the eaves, and bubbling and
foaming into the tubs beneath the spouts. The old un-
painted shingles of the house and out-buildings were black
with moisture ; and the mosses of ancient growth upon the
walls looked green and fresh, as if they were the newest
things and afterthought of Time. The usually mirrored
surface of the river was blurred by an infinity of raindrops ;
the whole landscape had a completely water-soaked appear-
ance, conveying the impression that the earth was wet
through like a sponge ; while the summit of a wooded hill,
about a mile distant, was enveloped in a dense mist, where
the demon of the tempest seemed to have his abiding-place
and to be plotting still direr inclemencies.

Happy the man who in a rainy day can betake himself
to a huge garret, stored, like that of the Manse, with lum-
ber that each generation has left behind it from a period be-
fore the Revolution. Our garret was an arched hall, dimly
illuminated through small and dusty windows; it was but a
twilight at the best ; and there were nooks, or rather cav-
erns, of deep obscurity, the secrets of which I never learned,
being too reverent of their dust and cobwebs. The beams
and rafters, roughly hewn and with strips of bark still on
them, and the rude masonry of the chimneys, made the gar-
ret look wild and uncivilized, — an aspect unlike what was
seen elsewhere in the quiet and decorous old house. But
on one side there was a little whitewashed apartment which
bore the traditionary title of the Saint's Chamber, because
holy men in their youth had slept and studied and prayed

128 THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD

there. With its elevated retirement, its one window, its
small fireplace, and its closet, convenient for an oratory, it
was the very spot where a young man might inspire him-
self with solemn enthusiasm and cherish saintly dreams.
The occupants, at various epochs, had left brief records and
ejaculations inscribed upon the walls. There, too, hung a
tattered and shrivelled roll of canvas, which on inspection
proved to be the forcibly wrought picture of a clergyman
in wig, band and gown, holding a Bible in his hand. As I
turned his face towards the light he eyed me with an air
of authority such as men of his profession seldom assume
in our days. The original had been pastor of the parish
more than a century ago, a friend of Whitefield, and almost
his equal in fervid eloquence. I bowed before the effigy
of the dignified divine, and felt as if I had now met face to
face with the ghost by whom, as there was reason to appre-
hend, the Manse was haunted.

Houses of any antiquity in New England are so invari-
ably possessed with spirits that the matter seems hardly
worth alluding to. Our ghost used to heave deep sighs in
a particular corner of the parlour, as if he were turning over
a sermon in the long upper entry, — where, nevertheless, he
was invisible in spite of the brilliant moonshine that fell
through the eastern window. Not improbably he wished
me to edit and publish a selection from a chest full of manu-
script discourses that stood in the garret. Once, while
Milliard and other friends sat talking with us in the twilight,
there came a rustling noise as of a minister's silk gown,
sweeping through the very midst of the company so

THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD 1 29

closely as almost to brush against the chairs. Still there
was nothing visible. A yet stranger business was that of
a ghostly servant maid, who used to be heard in the kitchen
at deepest midnight, grinding coffee, cooking, ironing, —
performing, in short, all kinds of domestic labour, — although
no traces of anything accomplished could be detected the
next morning. Some neglected duty of her servitude — some
ill-starched ministerial band — disturbed the poor damsel in
her grave and kept her at work without any wages.

But to return from this digression. A part of my pred-
ecessor's library was stored in the garret — no unfit recep-
tacle indeed for such dreary trash as comprised the greater
number of volumes. The old books would have been
worth nothing at an auction. In this venerable garret, how-
ever, they possessed an interest, quite apart from their
literary value, as heirlooms, many of which had been trans-
mitted down through a series of consecrated hands from the
days of the mighty Puritan divines. Autographs of famous
names were to be seen in faded ink on some of their fly-
leaves ; and there were marginal observations or interpolated
pages closely covered with manuscript in illegible short-
hand, perhaps concealing matter of profound truth and wis-
dom. The world will never be the better for it. A few of
the books were Latin folios, written by Catholic authors;
others demolished Papistry, as with a sledge-hammer, .n
plain English. A dissertation on the Book of Job — which
only Job himself could have had patience to read — filled at
least a score of small thickset quartos, at the rate of two or
three volumes to a chapter. Then there was a vast folio

130 THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD

body of divinity — too corpulent a body, it might be feared,
to comprehend the spiritual element of religion. Volumes
of this form dated back two hundred years or more, and were
generally bound in black leather, exhibiting precisely such
an appearance as we should attribute to books of enchant-
ment. Others equally antique were of a size proper to be
carried in the large waistcoat pockets of old times, — dimin-
utive, but as black as their bulkier brethren, and abundantly
infused with Greek and Latin quotations. These little old
volumes impressed me as if they had been intended for very
large ones, but had been unfortunately blighted at an early
stage of their growth. The rain pattered upon the roof and
the sky gloomed through the dusty garret windows, while I
burrowed among these venerable books in search of any
living thought which should burn like a coal of fire, or glow
like an inextinguishable gem, beneath the dead trumpery that
had long hidden it.

By and by, in a little time, the outward world puts on a
drear austerity. On some October morning there is a heavy
hoar-frost on the grass and along the tops of the fences ;
and at sunrise the leaves fall from the trees of our avenue
without a breath of wind, quietly descending by their own
weight. All summer long they have murmured like the
noise of waters ; they have roared loudly while the branches
were wrestling with the thunder gust; they have made
music both glad and solemn ; they have attuned my thoughts
by their quiet sound as I paced to and fro beneath the arch
of intermingling boughs. Now they can only rustle under
my feet. Henceforth the grey parsonage begins to assume

THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD 131

a larger importance, and draws to its fireside, — for the
abomination of the air-tight stove is reserved till wintry
weather, — draws closer and closer to its fireside the vagrant
impulses that had gone wandering about during the summer.
When summer was dead and buried the Old Manse
became as lonely as a hermitage. Not that ever —
in my time at least — it had been thronged with com-
pany ; but, at no rare intervals, we welcomed some
friend out of the dusty glare and tumult of the world,
and rejoiced to share with him the transparent ob-
scurity that was floating over us. In one respect our pre-
cincts were like the Enchanted Ground through which the
pilgrim travelled on his way to the Celestial City ! The
guests, each and all, felt a slumberous influence upon them ;
they fell asleep in chairs, or took a more deliberate siesta on
the sofa, or were seen stretched among the shadows of the
orchard, looking up dreamily through the boughs. They
could not have paid a more acceptable compliment to my
abode, nor to my own qualities as a host. I held it as a
proof that they left their cares behind them as they passed
between the stone gateposts at the entrance of our avenue,
and that the so powerful opiate was the abundance of peace
and quiet within and all around us. Others could give them
pleasure and amusement or instruction — these could be
picked up anywhere ; but it was for me to give them rest —
rest in a life of trouble.1

1 The Old Manse was built in 1765, for the Rev. William Emerson,
and was owned subsequently by the Rev. Ezra Ripley, who married his
widow. Hawthorne moved here in 1842.

THE JAMESTOWN TOWER

CHARLES FREDERICK STANSBURY

SINCE the last decade of the Seventeeth Century a
dismantled church tower has stood on Jamestown
Island in Virginia, a relic of the settlement which defined
the destiny of our country and a remnant of the first Epis-
copal church in America. Fire, the destruction of the ele-
ments, and decay have removed all that was James' Fort
save this remnant to liberty and religion. Only students of
history knew this tower a year ago — now it has been brought
into the prominence it deserves.

Having decided that the three hundredth anniversary of
the real birth of the nation deserved adequate commemora-
tion, the United States has invited all the world to share in
a celebration to be held in 1907 on Hampton Roads and its
shores — an apotheosis of the small but determining village
which was thirty miles distant and now is represented only
by a mouldy tower.

Speaking eloquently of the period which marked the in-
ception of this historic building, former Governor of Vir-
ginia, William E. Cameron said : " The vista of years
which stretches backwards into the dim distance of the Six-
teenth Century presents an imposing avenue of events and
deeds. Momentous occurrences loom up as era markers
in the country's progress some of which are spectacularly

THE JAMESTOWN TOWER, JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA

THE JAMESTOWN TOWER 133

brilliant, and yet there is perhaps no event of all the long
line which completely ranks with the first act in the coun-
try's drama."

At the farther end of the avenue one may see the ruined
and dismantled tower of the Jamestown church, all that is
left to mark the spot where sufferings were endured and
deeds performed outranking the wildest imaginings of poet
or romancer.

Although the Jamestown tower is the pathetic ruin of
Columbia's oldest church, it does not represent the earliest
effort by English speaking people to plant Christianity in
this part of the world. We read that in the year 1588,
Sir Walter Raleigh gave 100 Pounds for the propagation of
Christianity in Virginia, " the glorie of God, and the saving
of the soules of the poor and blinded infidels." Yet it was
not until 1607 that the first church was erected at James-
town. Its humble beginning has been nowhere better de-
scribed than by Captain John Smith in a pamphlet pub-
lished in 1631, some years after his history of Virginia, in
which he says :

" When I first went to Virginia, I well remember, we
did hang an awning (which is an old sail) to three or four
trees, to shadow us from the sun ; our walls were rails of
wood, our seats unhewed trees, till we cut planks, our pulpit
a bar of wood nailed to two neighbouring trees ; in foul
weather we shifted into an old rotten tent, for we had few
better, and this came by way of adventure for new. This
was our church till we built a homely thing like a barn, set
upon crotchetts, covered with rafts, sedge and earth, so was

134 THE JAMESTOWN TOWER

also the walls. The best of our houses were of the like
curiosity but the most part far much worse workmanship,
that could neither well defend wind nor rain, yet we held
daily Common Prayer morning and evening, every Sunday
two sermons, and every three months the holy communion
till our minister died, (the Rev. Mr. Hunt) but (after that)
our prayers daily with a homily on Sundays, we continued
two or three years after, till more preachers came."

Captain Smith says further that the log church first
erected was burned down the following winter with many
other houses. Mr. Hunt lost all his books and everything
else but the clothes on his back. This first Episcopal
minister in the new world appears to have been a man of
noble character and fine attainments. Although his suffer-
ings were almost incredible, " yet none ever saw him re-
pine ; upon any alarm he was as ready at defense as any,
and till he could not speak he never ceased to his utmost
to animate us constantly to persist, — whose soul, question-
less, is with God."

Nor must we forget that the first legislative body in
America, to which eleven boroughs sent burgesses, was
opened in the Jamestown church with prayer by Mr. Bucke
who succeeded Mr. Hunt. Laws were now superseded by
others of a different character and the church of England
more formally established than ever before. From Hening's
statutes at large we learn that there was enacted by the
General Assembly in 1623, I. That there shall be in every
plantation where the people use to meete for the worship
of God, a house or roome sequestered for that purpose and

THE JAMESTOWN TOWER 135

not to be for any temporal use whatsoever, and a place
empaled in, sequestered only to the buryal of the dead.

2. That whosoever shall absent himselfe from divine
service any Sunday without an allowable excuse shall for-
feit a pound of tobacco, and he that absenteth himselfe a
month shall forfeit 50 pounds of tobacco.

3. That there be an uniformity in our church as neere
as may be to the cannons in England ; both in substance
and circumstances, and that all persons yield readie obedi-
ence unto them under paine of censure.

The fourth statute refers to holidays and the fifth to a
subject that has been often discussed, namely : that no
minister be absent from his church above two months in
all the yeare upon penalty of forfeiting halfe his means,
and whosoever shall absent above fowre months in the year
shall forfeit his whole means and cure.

The sixth statute refers to slander and provides

That whosoever shall disparage a minister without bring-
ing sufficient proofe to justify his reports whereby the minds
of his parishioners may be alienated from him, and his min-
istry prove the less effectual by their prejudication, shall not
only pay 500 Ib. weight of tobacco but also aske the minister
so wronged forgiveness publicly in the congregation.

In the Jamestown church of her period Pocahontas was
doubtless baptized in the Christian faith, taking the name
of Rebecca. Here, also the famous Indian girl was married
to John Rolfe before proceeding to England where her too
early death occurred.

There is some conflict of opinion concerning the date of

136 THE JAMESTOWN TOWER

the erection of the church now represented by the pictur-
esque tower of Jamestown. It has been affirmed that the
ruined tower is what is left of the church that was destroyed
in Bacon's rebellion in 1676. Bishop Meade of Virginia,
who visited the ruins in 1856, gives the history of the suc-
cession of the Jamestown churches as follows : — The first
as described by Captain Smith, was made of the awning
or old sails, taken from vessels, and fastened to trees. The
second was a very plain log building, which was burned
down in the second or third year of the colony during the
ministry of Mr. Hunt. The third was larger and better,
probably of wood, built during the presidency of Captain
Smith, repaired and adorned by Lord De la War when he
arrived in 1611. The dimensions were twenty-four feet
by sixty. The chancel or quo'tr was large enough to hold
the Governor, the council and other officers of state. In
this structure, doubtless, was held the first legislative ses-
sion in 1619. Bishop Meade is of the opinion that this
was the structure that was burned down during the Bacon
rebellion. In opposition to the theory that the present are
the ruins of the old church which was burned in the rebel-
lion, he places the fact that the dimensions of the church
which Smith built and Lord De la War repaired were
different from the one whose ruins are now seen. The di-
mensions of the former were twenty-four by sixty ; of the
latter twenty-eight by fifty-six feet. He claims that other
circumstances render it almost certain that another church
had been built since the destruction of the one by Bacon.
He points out the fact that in 1733 a silver font, still in

THE JAMESTOWN TOWER I $7

existence was presented to it by two members of the
Ambler family and adds that it surely would not have been
presented to the ruins of a deserted church. He concludes,
therefore, that the ruined tower which we now behold
represents the remains of a church put up since the rebel-
lion and his contention is certainly logical. Howe's out-
line history of Virginia takes the ground that previous to
1617, or ten years after the first settlement of Jamestown
there were two churches destroyed. The tower now stand-
ing may have belonged to the second church and survived
its destruction. It could not have been part of the first, for
that " cost no more than 50 Pounds " ; or it may have been
the tower of a third. We can only surmise that the tower
has been standing upwards of three hundred years.

Bishop Meade has alluded to the fact that for several
years after the death of Mr. Hunt the colony was without
a minister. This is referred to in " A True Declaration of
the Estate of the Colony in Virginia," etc,,, published by the
council in England in 1610 as one of the causes which had
provoked God to visit the plantation with those dire calam-
ities that beset it at the time that Lord De la War was first
sent out as Governor for life.

An ardent task must have been that of the fiist ministers
of the Jamestown church. A part of the religious services
enjoined were as follows : On week days, early in the
morning, the captain sent for tools, in the place of arms
where " the sergeant-major, or captain of the watch, upon
their knees made public and faithful prayers to Almighty
God for his blessing and protection to attend them in their

138 THE JAMESTOWN TOWER

business for the whole day after succeeding." The men
were divided into gangs who worked on alternate days.
The gang for the day was then delivered to the maisters
and overseers of the work appointed, who kept them at
labour until nine or ten o'clock ; then, at the beat of the
drum, they were marched to the church to hear divine serv-
ice. After dinner, and rest till two or three o'clock, at the
beat of the drum the captain drew them forth to the place
of arms, to be thence taken to their work till five or six
o'clock, when, at beat of drum, they were again marched
to the church to evening prayer : they were then dismissed.
The ruined graveya...., or "place impaled in, sequestered
only to the buryal of the dead," at base of the Jamestown
tower is not without interest. An inscription records the
fact that " Here lyeth the body of the Rev. John Gough, late
minister of this place, who departed this life, January 15,
1683-4, and waits in hopes of a joyful reunion." There
are tombstones and fragments of such, that record the
deaths of Philip Ludwell and Sarah his wife, of Ursula
Beverly, wife of Robert Beverly and daughter of William
Byrd. There are likewise the tombs of Edward Jacque-
line, Jacqueline Ambler, B. Harrison and Mrs. Edwards.
There were in addition two tombs interestingly described
by Bishop Meade as he saw them in 1856. They were
those of Commissary Blair and Mrs. Blair. The tombs
were placed side by side and were very heavy and strong.
The platform, sides, and ends were of white freestone and
the interior filled with bricks, well cemented. The top
slab, on which the inscriptions were made, were of thick

THE JAMESTOWN TOWER 139

dark iron stone, or black marble. A sycamore-shoot
sprung up between the graves and grew to be a large tree.
In its growth it embraced, on one end and on the top the
tomb of Mrs. Blair, one third of which lay embedded in the
body of the tree and held immovable. All the interior,
consisting of brick, and two of the side stones, had been
entirely forced out of their places by the tree and lay scat-
tered around while the dark iron-stone slab was held in the
air three feet above the surface of the earth, fast bound by
the embrace of the body of the tree into which it had sunk
between one and two feet, the inscription being only par-
tially legible. On the other side the whole tomb of Com-
missary Blair had been forced away from its place by the
roots and body of the tree and was broken to pieces in all
its parts.

Three hundred years have come and gone since the seed
from which has grown English speaking America was
planted on the spot where stands the old Jamestown tower.

The page in our History relating to it is fraught with
perennial interest. In picturesqueness it is unsurpassed.
The romantic story of Pocohontas, the grandeur of the char-
acter and attainments of Captain John Smith which grows
brighter with the passing centuries and the almost incredible
sufferings of the early settlers, combine to make a story the
fascination of which is not decreased by its sadness. The
crumbling tower makes a powerful appeal to the imagina-
tion such as inspired the British Spy to exclaim :

" Whence arises the irrepressible reverence and tender
affection with which I look at this broken steeple ? Is it

140 THE JAMESTOWN TOWER

that my soul, by a secret, subtle process, invests the mould-
ering ruin with her own powers ; imagines it a fellow be-
ing ; a venerable old man, a Nestor or an Ossian, who has
witnessed and survived the ravages of successive genera-
tions, the companion of his youth and of his maturity, and
now mourns his own solitary and desolate condition, and
hails their spirits in every passing cloud ? Whatever may
be the cause, as I look at it, I feel my soul drawn forward
as by the cords of gentlest sympathy and involuntarily open
my lips to offer consolation to the drooping pile."

It seems almost anti-climatic to be obliged to record the
fact that the Society for the Preservation of Virginia An-
tiquities is arresting the hand of Time and taking measures
to preserve this famous ruin for future generations. In the
process of so doing the Society has unearthed much that is
of interest to the historian of the subject. It is not there-
fore as literally true as it appeared to be when John Esten
Cooke said that at present nothing remains of this famous
settlement " but the ruins of a church tower covered with
ivy and some old tombstones. The tower is crumbling year
by year and the roots of trees have cracked the slabs making
great rifts across the names of the old Armingers and Hon-
ourables. The place is desolate with its washing waves and
flitting sea fowl, but possesses a singular attraction. It is
one of the few localities which recall the first years of
American history : but it will not recall them much longer.
Every distinctive feature of the spot is slowly disappearing.
The river encroaches year by year, and the ground occupied
by the original huts is already submerged."

THE JAMESTOWN TOWER 14!

Three hundred years, as pointed out by Congressman
Towne, seems a long time as we speak the words ; yet in
the life of nations it is but a little while. There are while
this is being written five members of the House of Repre-
sentatives that could clasp hands and unite the settlement of
Jamestown with its proposed celebration in 1907. The
present Senators from two of the states in the Union could
compass the interval with ten years to spare.

Brief period through three centuries appear on the page
of history, the disintegrating ruin standing on Jamestown
Island as the isolated emblem of the nation's birth, accentu-
ates the immutable law of material change whereby both
humble and gorgeous monuments reared by the hand of
man

" Shall dissolve,

And like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a wrack behind."

NASSAU HALL, PRINCETON

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, once known as the
College of New Jersey, was founded by charter in
1746, under the auspices of the Presbyterian Synod of New
York, which at that time included many Presbyterian
churches of New Jersey. The college was opened in
Elizabethtown in 1847, but was soon removed to Newark,
and, in 1757, to Princeton, where a large building had been
erected and named Nassau Hall in honour of King Will-
iam III. of England, who was of the House of Nassau.

Nassau Hall has had an interesting history. During a
part of the Revolutionary War, it was used by both Amer-
ican and British soldiers as a barrack and hospital, and dur-
ing the Battle of Princeton (Jan. 3, 1777), the British troops
made a stand within its walls until they were driven out by
Washington's advance. In 1783, the Continental Congress
met in it, and in company with General Washington, at-
tended the commencement of that year. At this time Gen-
eral Washington presented the trustees with fifty guineas to
aid in repairing the damages caused by the war; and the
money was appropriated for a full length portrait of Gen-
eral Washington, painted by the elder Peale, to replace the
portrait of George III., which a cannon ball had ruined.
Washington's portrait was placed in the original gilt frame.
Nassau Hall was burned in 1802 and again in 1855.

Many of the buildings suffered during the Revolution,
and much trouble was found to raise sufficient funds to re-

NASSAU HALL, PRINCETON 143

pair them ; but, as time wore on, the college revived and its
income increased. The first president was the Rev. Jona-
than Dickinson } the second, the Rev. Aaron Burr (father
of the famous Aaron Burr) ; the third, Jonathan Edwards ;
and the sixth, Dr. Witherspoon, a member of the Conti-
nental Congress and a Signer of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence.

With a few exceptions, the buildings, numbering forty-
two, are grouped around Nassau Hall. They are built, for
the most part, of stone, and are situated in the midst of
beautiful grounds, composed of hills, meadows and wood-
lands and avenues of tall elms. One of the most conspicu-
ous of these is known as " McCosh's Walk," named for
Dr. James McCosh, who came from Queen's College, Bel-
fast, Ireland, to become the president, a post which he held
from 1868 to 1888.

Among the most important buildings are the Library,
Marquand Chapel, Witherspoon Hall, Blair Hall, Alex-
ander Hall, the John C. Green School of Science, Dickin-
son Hall, Murray Hall, Edwards Hall, Reunion Hall, Chan-
cellor Green Library, Biological Laboratory and the Gym-
nasium. There are also several fine museums and collec-
tions of pottery, antiquities, geology and archaeology.

The Princeton Theological Seminary associated with the
college, was organized in 1812 and chartered in 1822.

Princeton celebrated its sesqui-centennial in October,
1896, and on October 22, 1896, President Patton an-
nounced its change of name to Princeton University by the
authority of the legislature.

CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK

ESTHER SINGLETON

IN 1814, an important mass meeting was held at the City
Hall to consider the best means of defending New
York in case the British army came northward ; and in this
year among the other defences erected was that of Fort
Clinton. The construction of this fort out on the rocks
beyond the Battery was watched with much patriotic inter-
est, and it is said that one New York lady of high social
position became so enthusiastic that she trundled a wheel-
barrow full of earth with her own fair hands from Trinity
Churchyard to the Battery. Whether or not she despoiled
the grave of one of her forefathers for this purpose, tradi-
tion is silent.

There had been, however, a fort here long before this
date. During the administration of Governor Cosby, the
Capsey Battery was erected in 1735, when a tragedy oc-
curred which is thus described in the paper of July 21:
" On Wednesday last the first stone of the platform of the
new Battery on Whitehall Rocks was laid by his Excel-
lency, our Governor, and it was called George Augustus's
Royal Battery. As his Excellency was returning and the
last round was firing, the last piece of the Cannon (being
very much Honey-Comb'd and eaten almost through, as it
afterwards appeared by the pieces) burst and the pieces fly-
ing^ different ways killed three persons; viz., John Symes,

CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK 145

Esq., High Sheriff for the City and County of New York ;
Miss Courtlandt, only daughter to the Hon. Col. Court-
landt, a member of His Majesty's Council in this Province j
and a son-in-law of Alderman Romur."

A rip-rap wall lay between the Battery and Fort Clinton,
which were connected by a bridge of about two hundred
feet long, and off this bridge there was excellent fishing for
bass, drum and weak-fish.

In 1822, when the property was ceded back to the city
by the Federal Government and the military headquarters
removed to Governor's Island, it was determined to convert
Castle Garden into a place of public entertainment. The
old fort was then leased to a Mr. Marsh, who made a popu-
lar resort of it. Among other improvements, he floored the
top of the parapet and covered it with awnings ; and the
New Yorkers of that day considered it a most delightful
place to while away the summer hours.

On August 1 6, 1824, the Cadmus landed the Marquis de
Lafayette, " the guest of the nation," at Castle Garden,
where the military force of the city and an immense con-
course of people were gathered to receive him ; and on
September 14, a great fete was held in his honour at Castle
Garden, which was, perhaps, the most brilliant entertain-
ment ever given in the city up to that time.

Castle Garden was the scene of large political meetings
at which Daniel Webster and other notable orators, states-
men and citizens appeared ; and in 1847, a great memorial
concert for Mendelssohn was given there.

This year brings us to the period when Castle Garden

146 CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK

became one of the most important play-houses of New
York. It was opened by Messrs. French and Heiser on
the 28th of June, 1847, wlt^ tne P°Pular actors and ac-
tresses Holland, Walcot, Arnold, Herr Cline, Miss Clarke,
Miss M. Phillips, Mrs. W. Isherwood, etc., etc., and on
the i8th of August of that year the Havana Opera Com-
pany, with Luigi Arditi, who is still remembered by many
old opera-goers, as the conductor. The singers included
Signorina Tedesco and Perelli, Vita, Novelli, and Candi.
The first opera presented was Ernani, followed by Norma,
La Sonnambula and Saffo.

About this time Castle Garden is described by Philip
Hone as " the most splendid and largest theatre I ever saw
— a place capable of seating comfortably about six or eight
thousand persons. The pit or area of the pavilion is pro-
vided with some hundred small white tables and movable
chairs, by which people are enabled to congregate into little
squads and take their ices between the acts. In front of
the stage is a beautiful fountain which plays when the per-
formers do not. The whole of this large area is surmounted
by circular benches above and below, from every point of
which the view is enchanting."

On June 5, 1848, George Holland, as director, opened
with popular farces such as Old Honesty, in which he played
the part of Tom Perch, Box and Cox, etc. Cline gave per-
formances on the tight-rope and several notable benefits
were given, — one for Arditi and the great contra-bassist,
Botesini, in which Truffi, Pico, Vietti, Beneventano,
Rapetti and Caffi appeared. On August 3d, there was also

CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK 147

a great benefit performance for the suffering volunteers re-
turning from the Mexican War.

From June 8th to September 7, 1850, the Havana Opera
Company gave a splendid series of performances under
Arditi's baton, beginning with Norma. The company was
composed of Marini, Salvi, Lorini, Vietti, C. Badiali, Luigi
Vita, Elsa Costini, Arditi and Botesini, which, to quote a
contemporary, " formed, perhaps the finest musical combi-
nation ever heard in New York, and succeeded with the
aid of moonlight and sea-breezes, notwithstanding the small-
ness of the stage and utter deficiency of acoustic require-
ments, in attracting immense audiences."

On September nth, a very interesting event occurred, —
the debut of Jenny Land under Barnum's management.
The clever showman had advertised his song-bird so suc-
cessfully that the tickets were sold at auction (one Mr.
Genin, a hatter, bought the first ticket for $225.00), and
those, not fortunate enough to obtain admission, hired row
boats and hovered around Castle Garden during the per-
formance.

Max Maretzek now appears on the scene to give a series
of operas during the summer of 1851, for an admission of
fifty cents. Marini, Lorini, Forti, Beneventano, and Sig-
noras Benedetti, Bosio, Truffi, Clotilda Barili, Mme. De
Vries and Mme. Maretzek formed a strong company,
which was so successful that in the next year Maretzek
repeated his venture, with such great singers as Sontag,
Steffanone, Vietti, Salvi, Marini, Rossi, Strakosch and
Badiali.

148 CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK

Immense audiences gathered at Castle Garden to hear
Jullien's wonderful orchestra, — the biggest and most ex-
traordinary band that had ever visited New York. The
eccentric French leader made his first appearance on July 29,
1852.

In 1852, the Rousset sisters appeared and French opera
and comedy were played by Mme. Fleury-Jolly and Mile,
d' Armont. The Ravel family and Blondin also appeared
in this year.

There were many attractions at Castle Garden, besides
the music and drama. There were shows of various kinds
and plenty of food and drink. One chronicler speaks of
" the fountain of real champagne, falling over the rocks of
a mimic grotto from which the people dipped the sparkling
fluid in amazed bewilderment."

Maretzek had another season in the summer of 1854,
and in that year another great event occurred at Castle
Garden, — under Mr. Hackett's management, while the
Academy of Music on Irving Place (opened Oct. 2, 1854),
was being made ready, the famous Grisi and Mario were
introduced to the New York public in Lucrezia Borgia on
September 4. The seats cost from $3.00 to $5.00.

One of the important performances during this decade
was one in commemoration of the introduction of the
drama at Williamsburg, Va., in 1752, by the Hallam Com-
pany from London. On this occasion The Merchant of
Venice and Garrick's Lethe were given.

Laurence Mutton's memories in Plays and Players (New
York, 1875) are worth quoting : " At Castle Garden too

CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK 149

were held the fairs of the American Institute, with their
countless delights to the boy of that period ; their models
of full-rigged yachts, their wonderful glass blowers and the
marvellous machines to pare apples and to wring clothes,
which were to revolutionize our entire domestic economy
and which never worked when we got them home. . . .
To Castle Garden also came the first and only Chinese
Junk, and to Castle Garden, to see it and wonder at it,
down Broadway came all the good people of Gotham.

" At Castle Garden, too, best of all were those peep-
holes in the gallery, which we can remember so long ago
that we had to be lifted up by paternal arms to look into
them. Cosmorama, or diorama, were they called ? and what
pictures were revealed of impossible deluges, with pre-
Raphaelite waters, and a pink-coloured Duke of Welling-
ton at a very blood-red battle of Waterloo ! The cyclorama
of Paris by Night, or London by Day, is nothing to these
battle scenes of Castle Garden, as real to us in those days
as war itself. The exercise of a very little l make believe'
invested in the old fort a personal interest in all of its
battles and the peep-holes became port-holes to us, through
which many a time and oft, with General Taylor, we have
bombarded Monterey, or have died on the Plains of Abra-
ham with General Wolfe.

" Of Castle Garden, hardly can we speak without some
mention of the promenade on the outer balcony, so popular
on fine nights when the moon, the inconstant moon, shone
on the sparkling river and the Jersey shore ; and the music
of the orchestra, with its voluptuous swell, mingling so

150 CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK

harmoniously with the melodious c clink, clink ' of the ice
in the julep glasses, added such charms to the opera."

Among the important receptions held in Castle Garden
were those to Louis Kossuth in 1849, an<^ to tne Prince of
Wales in 1860.

After having served as an immigrant depot for many
years, Castle Garden was turned into an Aquarium, that
attracts many visitors who are unaware of the interesting
history that the curiously shaped old brown building in
Battery Park has to tell.

MONTICELLO1

EDWARD C. MEAD

NEXT to Mount Vernon, doubtless there is no place in
the Union that has been more written of or more
visited than Monticello, the beautiful home of President
Jefferson \ and yet of the many who have visited this his-
toric, spot and the much that has been said of it, few are
aware of the true story connected with the building of this
celebrated mansion.

Many legends and marvellous tales are told the stranger
who treads its portals, few of which are based upon fact ;
yet there remain many incidents untold which would add
an interesting page to its history, which we propose to
gather up and trace the true story of its erection from its
inception to its completion.

Colonel Peter Jefferson, the father of Thomas Jefferson,
and William Randolph, both of Goochland County, Vir-
ginia, were very close friends and neighbours. In 1735
both obtained " patents " for large grants of land lying
contiguous to each other, and ever since their descendants
have intermarried and maintained this juxtaposition.

Colonel Peter Jefferson had thus obtained by grant one
thousand acres lying on each side of the Rivanna River,
where it intersects the South-West range of mountains ; to

1 From Historic Homes of the South- West Mountains, Virginia (Phila-
delphia, 1899). — By permission of Messrs. J. B. Lippincott Company.

152 MONTICELLO

this he added by purchase nine hundred acres, making a
total of nineteen hundred acres of land on each side of the
river, which embraced the little towns of Shadwell on the
north and Milton on the south.

In 1770, Mr. Jefferson, who was then a young practising
lawyer, first began to clear the summit of Monticello (Italian
for " little mountain "), with a view of building. It was
then merely a wild, tangled forest, but he had often looked
upon this elevated spot with peculiar attraction, and had
frequently rambled over its steep, craggy sides, or clam-
bered to its summit, there to gaze upon the grand pano-
ramic view spread out before him with feelings of sublime
admiration and intense delight ; it was such a picture as he
wished always before him, and thus it was he decided here
to build his home.

After the destruction by fire of the paternal roof at
Shadwell, Mr. Jefferson began in earnest to build upon
this almost inaccessible spot, and in the fall of that year
(1770) had erected a small one-and-a-half story brick build-
ing, containing one good-sized room, which is the same
portion of the present building forming the south-east
" pavilion " at the extremity of the south " terrace " ; this
room was the only part of the house habitable when he
took his young bride there in 1772.

Mr. Jefferson's conception and designs for building his
new home were not so elaborate or extensive as were after-
wards carried out upon his return from Europe. He was
very conventional in his style and manner of living, not
wishing to go beyond the simplicity of his neighbours, even

( g~

MONTICELLO 1 53

in his plan of building, and yet there was at that time not
another brick building outside the town of Charlottesville,
and though of quite moderate proportions compared to its
ultimate appearance, it was then considered the most im-
posing building in the county.

The belief that Mr. Jefferson imported from England
most of the brick used for his building is quite erroneous ;
all these were made upon the spot by his slaves, and the
site of their manufacture is still pointed out; but in after
years, when completing the north end and adding many
embellishments to his original design, some of the finest
brick and ornamental material were procured in Philadel-
phia and sent around by water to Richmond, and thence to
the little town of Milton.

In the autumn of 1775, still further additions were made,
and the grounds greatly improved and enlarged, Mr. Jeffer-
son planting with his own hands many fruit and ornamental
trees, the trunks of which still remain.

During the sessions of Congress, while Mr. Jefferson
would be absent from Monticello for months at a time, the
work of completion would be necessarily slow, and even
up to the year 1782 the house was but partially completed.
Still more did that part which had already been built suffer
much from delay during his sojourn in France as ambassa-
dor. It was not until Mr. Jefferson's return in 1794, that
real active work was resumed, and he applied himself en-
thusiastically once more to the early completion of his
design.

His intention now was to build another wing, one story

154 MONTICELLO

and a half high, both to be united and crowned with a
balustrade, having a dome between them, the apartments to
be large and convenient, the decorations within and with-
out to be simple, yet regular and elegant.

Mr. Jefferson had already erected a saw-mill, a grist-
mill and a nail-factory, where every nail for the building
was hand-forged by his coloured boys. Many of his arti-
sans had been brought with him from Europe, and with all
the material at hand the work now progressed rapidly.

The story that Mr. Jefferson laboured upon the building
and laid many of the brick with his own hand is erroneous.
He was always fond of working in his " shop," where in
this " mechanical retreat," which stood at the rear of the
house, he would put to a practical test his theories and ex-
ercising his inventive genius ; but he never laboured in the
real sense of the word except for his own gratification and
pleasure, or to set an example of industry to those around
him.

In 1802, the Monticello mansion was considered com-
pleted. The expense had been very great for those times,
which, Mr. Jefferson states, was exactly two thousand and
seventy-six dollars and twenty-nine cents, while he was
away at Washington, besides the large sums he had previ-
ously spent upon it.

Thus it had taken nearly thirty years to build this historic
old edifice, a building which could now be erected in six
months under our present rapid mode of construction.

Let us glance for a moment at this curious structure as
it then stood, fresh from the hands of the illustrious archi-

MONTICELLO 155

tect, for Mr. Jefferson had designed each part most minutely
himself.

Entering from the eastern portico with its lofty Corin-
thian pillars and arched door, over which is still seen the old
English clock which marked the hours, the visitor is here
met and ushered through large, double glass doors into a
spacious semi-octagonal hall with its wide fireplace at one
end, as is usually found in old English mansions. Opposite
the door is a small gallery, while on one side of it stood a
fine marble bust of the patriot himself, and on the other
one of Washington, both by the celebrated Italian artist
Carracci. Along each side of the hall were many Indian
relics which Mr. Jefferson had collected.

From this hall opens another glass door leading into the
drawing-room or salon being the largest and most handsome
room in the house, and situated immediately under the
dome. This room is also octagonal, its floor being laid in
parquetry of octagonal blocks of different coloured wood,
which were cut and fitted by his own coloured workmen,
giving it a most unique and pleasing effect and which for
skill challenges the genius of a more intelligent race.
The walls of this stately room were adorned with portraits
of Columbus, Vespucius, Andrew Doria, Castruccio-
Castracani, Raleigh, Cortez, Bacon, Newton, Locke,
Washington, Adams, Madison and Monroe, while on
either side of the door stood the busts of Alexander and
Napoleon.

Leading from this room on the west side was the dining-
room, and beyond this the octagonal tea-room. Here were

156 MONTICELLO

to be seen busts of Franklin, Voltaire, Lafayette and Paul
Jones. Adjoining this were the bedrooms for guests, while
on the east of the entrance hall was the bedroom of Mrs.
Martha Randolph, who resided there permanently after the
death of Mrs. Jefferson.

Mr. Jefferson's bedroom was next to that of Mrs. Ran-
dolph, beyond which was his library, which extended to
the west side of the house, and from which led into an
arched conservatory ; beyond this was Mr. Jefferson's cele-
brated workshop.

The upper part of the house was gained by a very nar-
row, tortuous stairway ; the rooms above were quite small,
of low pitch, and badly lighted, or ventilated i all of them
were of many shapes, in conformity to the octagonal design
of the house ; alcoves let into the wall served in the place
of bedsteads, their small dimensions being hardly suited to
the comfortable repose of an ordinary-sized person.

The dome over the parlour was covered with thick glass ;
this was called the "ladies' drawing-room," which at one
time was used as a billiard-room until the laws of Virginia
prohibited the game. It was also said to have been used
as a " ballroom " ; but it is safe to say that Mr. Jefferson
never had a dancing-party in his house, though extremely
fond of music and even had his daughter taught the grace-
ful art.

The furniture throughout was very handsome, most of
which was purchased in France and used while living in
Philadelphia. The beautiful marble and brazier tables,
French mirrors and elegant sofas of the court style of

MONTICELLO 157

Louis XVI. gave a charming and effective contrast to the
artistic finish of the interior; while the many rich paint-
ings, statuary and works of art gave a sense of regal
splendour which amazed the many plain and simple Vir-
ginians who thronged the mansion.

Governor Gilmer of Georgia, who was a frequent and
familiar visitor, thus describes Monticello during Mr. Jef-
ferson's last term of office :

" Three rooms of the house were left open for visitors.
I saw statuary, fine paintings and a collection of Indian
relics. The statuary was very beautiful ; I could not be
satisfied with looking at it. Mr. Jefferson's library door
was locked, but the window-blinds were thrown back, so
that I could see several books turned open upon the table,
the inkstand, paper and pens as they had been used when
Mr. Jefferson quitted home."

On top of the dome, Mr. Jefferson had his observatory,
being a simple platform surrounded by a balustrade. Here
he would often sit, night and day, surveying the heavens or
the vast expanse of scenery before him with his telescope.

The famous mill-factory, machine-shops and weaving
rooms were to the south-east of the house, beyond which
was the terraced garden in which he delighted to exhibit his
horticultural products. The farm itself had not been cleared
to any great extent around the mansion, most of the crops
being raised on the north side of the river at Shadwell and
upon the Tufton farm near Milton.

Thus we find the farm and mansion of Monticello in 1809,
upon the retirement of Mr. Jefferson from the Presidency.

158 MONTICELLO

But it was not to gain repose, for he was followed to his
beautiful mountain home by a host of admirers and visitors,
and but for the records left us, it was scarcely possible to
believe the extent to which the imposition upon his privacy
by friends, kindred and the public generally was carried at
this time. They would come singly and in families, bring-
ing babies, nurses, drivers and horses, spending weeks and
even months at a time, giving the place an appearance of
some noted watering rendezvous. Here would be gathered
students, savants, musicians, clergymen, members of Con-
gress, foreign travellers, artists and men of every faith and
political creed to gratify their curiosity and say that they
had seen and heard Mr. Jefferson. In one instance a fam-
ily of six from Europe remained ten months; on another
occasion a lady broke a pane of glass with her parasol in her
eagerness to get a glimpse of the President. Crowds would
stand about the house for hours watching for his exit, until
Mr. Jefferson in desperation would fly to his farm, Poplar
Forest, in Bedford County, for repose, expressing truly his
feelings when he said : " Political honours are but splendid
torments."

At various times there were also many celebrated visitors
to Monticello, who have left their record of the place as it
then appeared ; among these were the Duke de Liancourt,
a distinguished French traveller, who, in 1796, remained
several days ; the Marquis de Chastellux, aide to General
Lafayette; Lieutenant Hall of the English army in 1816;
and William Wirt, the historian, the friend and frequent
visitor of Jefferson. All these have given graphic descrip-

MONTICELLO 159

tions of this celebrated spot, some in language most illusive,
for it is hardly possible for the eye to reach the Chesapeake
Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, or even to the James River, nor
can the lofty hills of Maryland or the Peaks of Otter be
seen, yet the view is grand, majestic and inspiring, — the
same which Mr. Jefferson gazed upon with delight, and
which has been the theme of poets and historians since, and
ever more to be the admiration of thousands who make their
pilgrimage to this shrine of America's freedom.

Thus stood Monticello at the close of Mr. Jefferson's life
in 1826. It was known at this time that he was deeply in-
volved in debt, — one partially made in entertaining his nu-
merous guests, — in consequence of which his entire estate
was soon afterwards offered for sale by his grandson and
executor, Colonel Thomas Jefferson Randolph, of Edgebill.
Mr. Jefferson had truly rendered himself poor when he built
Monticello. The Italians brought over to do the ornamental
work proved most expensive, and his friends had literally
" ate him out of house and home " ; so of his once large es-
tate of ten thousand acres very little remained besides the
mansion and its contents, he having previously sold, in 1776,
lands to the amount of twenty thousand dollars in the hope
of stemming the incoming tide of insolvency.

About the year 1828, Commodore Uriah P. Levy, of the
United States Navy, who had known and greatly admired
Jefferson, secured the mansion with four hundred acres of
the Monticello tract. In purchasing the place he designed
to preserve it in the same condition, and carry out the plans
of the great patriot himself for its adornment ; and still fur-

l6o MONTICELLO

ther, in honour of his memory, he erected a handsome statue
to him in the City Hall at New York.

Commodore Levy presided most gracefully over the halls
of Mouticello, and fittingly maintained its just celebrity for
hospitality. After the death of Commodore Levy the es-
tate descended to his nephew, the Hon. Jefferson M. Levy,
of New York, its present owner.

During the Civil War it was confiscated by the Confed-
erate Government and fell into rapid decay ; at one time
being used as a hospital, after which it was rented to un-
scrupulous parties, who allowed it to be sadly pillaged.
After the war it was not difficult for Mr. Levy to regain pos-
session, who at once began its restoration and to-day it
stands complete, and perhaps far more beautiful than even
in Jefferson's time.

Let us picture Monticello as it now stands, after a lapse
of nearly seventy years, still sitting in all its majestic pride
and grandeur upon its lofty eminence, while so many of the
great, the good and the gifted who once graced its halls have
passed away forever.

Instead of a steep rough road, filled with rocks and gul-
lies, upon which vehicles would once frequently stall, the
visitor can now drive from the city of Charlottesville over
a smooth and easily graded road, which winds gracefully
around Carter's Mountain, bringing the traveller to the
" Notch," or first summit, almost before he realizes it.
Here stands the porter's lodge, with artistic double gate,
through which vehicles enter upon the Monticello domain
proper, and begin to ascend the Little Mountain, upon

MONTICELLO l6l

which the mansion sits a mile above. The same smooth
road, bordered by a stone wall, winds along its rugged sides
until the cemetery is reached, which stands midway to the
summit.

This is the spot chosen by Jefferson, in 1782, after the
death of his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson, where he
wished himself and family to be laid. It is on a gentle
slope of the mountain, to the right of the road, surrounded
by lofty oaks and pines, with all the solemn beauty and
stillness of the primeval forest.

A few hundred yards from the cemetery the entrance to
the lawn is reached, and a glimpse of the grand scenery
spread below is seen. Keeping to the right, we pass the
ruins of the celebrated "nail-factory," with its solitary
chimney festooned with ivy. Farther on, a solitary grave
surrounded by a stone wall, marks the resting-place of the
mother of Commodore Levy, who died here* Next we
come to the " weaving-room," which is now the manager's
house. Here we are met by a coloured porter, who, though
looking quite venerable, does not lay claim to being Mr.
Jefferson's body-servant, though for a few pennies he will
tell you some wonderful stories of him, and point out with
pride the many objects of interest. Approaching the man-
sion up the east lawn, the visitor will stand for a moment
and glance at the clock over the door and the weather-vane
overhead, which had so often been scanned by the great
philosopher. Then reverently entering the double glass
doors, he will find himself in the famous hall where Jeffer-
son was wont to meet and greet his visitors.

162 MONTICELLO

On the right hangs a full-length portrait of Commodore
Levy in full naval uniform ; it is a majestic and striking
picture of this noted officer; while opposite is a model of
the Vandalia, the flag-ship in which he sailed around the
world. Many other paintings adorn the room which will
claim a close and special notice. In the large parlour or
salon hangs a full-size portrait of Madam Rachel Levy, the
mother of Commodore Levy, who was styled the " Ameri-
can Beauty " while in Europe, a term not inappropriately
given if we may judge by the beautiful features before us.
The furniture in this room is of the rich antique pattern, to
represent the period of Mr. Jefferson's term as ambassador,
while from the ceiling hangs a magnificent chandelier of an
old English style for candles. A similar one hangs in the
dining-room, both having been imported direct from Europe
by Mr. Levy, and are said to have once graced the palace
of the Empress Josephine at Malmaison.

The glass doors, the polished floors of parquetry, the
antique furniture and ancient portraits, all lend a baronial
aspect of the past century in close keeping with its appear-
ance during Mr. Jefferson's time.

The grounds and exterior appointments are well pre-
served. Scattered over the rich green lawn are rustic
benches, statuary, vases and urns of fragrant plants. Here,
beneath stately elms, locust and chestnut-trees, the visitor
can sit and feast the eye upon the vast landscape on every
side.

Half a dozen English spaniels sport on the green lawn,
while upon the steep, craggy side of the mountain eight or

MONTICELLO 163

ten deer can occasionally be seen, which are parked by a
high picket-fence. The rear, or south-west, lawn is equally
beautiful : from this point is to be seen the mystical
looming of Willis's Mountain in Buckingham County,
forty miles away, which would be usually pointed out by
Mr. Jefferson to his visitors ; then to stand on the north-
west side of the pavilion and view the University, with the
city of Charlottesville spread in the valley below in all its
peaceful repose and beauty, while far beyond stretches the
vast range of the Blue Ridge, embracing an extent of vision
nearly fifty miles in length, which forms a picture such as
will repay a journey of several thousand miles to behold.

THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA

JOHN F. WATSON

ris a matter of inquiry and doubt at this day (1828)
which has been the house in Letitia Court, wherein
William Penn, the founder and Colonel Markham, the
Lieutenant-Governor, dwelt.1 The popular opinion now
is, that the inn at the head of the court, occupied as the
Leopard Inn and since Penn Hall is the identical house al-
luded to. The cause of this modern confidence is ascribable
(even if there were no better ground of assurance) to the
fact, that this building, since they built the additional end
to the westward, of about eighteen to twenty feet, presents
such an imposing front towards High Street, and so en-
tirely closes the court at that end (formerly open as a cart
passage) that from that cause alone, to those not well-
informed it looks as the principal house, and may have
therefore been regarded by transient passengers as Penn's
house.

1 " This house his commissioners had placed for him, as he requested,
facing the river. It was on Front Street south of the present Market
Street, in the centre of a lot which ran back to Second Street, along
Market, and included about half the block. There were no houses then
between Front Street and the river-shore. The house was of brick, and
is still preserved, as we suppose, but has been removed to Fairmount
Park. It was always known as the Letitia House, because he afterwards
gave it, with its large lot, to his daughter. In it, I have no doubt, many
of the early meetings of the Provincial Council were held, and it may
be considered the first state-house of the Province." — Sidney George
Fisher, The True William Penn (Philadelphia, 1900).

THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA 165

The truth is that for many years the great mass of the
population had dropt or lost the tradition about Penn's
house in the court j and it is only of later years, antiquities
beginning to excite some attention, that the more intelli-
gent citizens have revived some of their former hearings
about the court. During all the earlier years of my life, I
never heard of Penn living there at all ; but of later years
I have. I have been, therefore, diligent to ask old men
about it. Several said it never used to be spoken of in
their youth. John Warder, an intelligent merchant, now
above seventy-three years of age, was born at the corner
house of the alley on High Street, and has told me he never
was told of Penn's living there, when a boy. On the other
hand, a few old men have told me, at every period of their
life the tradition (though known to but few) was, that it
was one of two houses, to wit — either Doyle's Inn, or the
old Rising Sun Inn on the western side of the alley. Joseph
Sansom, Esq., about sixty, told me he heard and believed it
was the house at the head of the court, and so also some
few others ; but more persons, of more weight in due
knowledge of the subject, have told me they had been
always satisfied it was the old Rising Sun Inn on the west-
ern side of the court. Timothy Matlack, aged ninety-two,
who was very inquisitive, and knew it from fourteen years
of age, said it was then the chief house in the court as
to character; it was a very popular inn for many years
(whereas Doyle's house was not an inn till many years
afterwards), that it then had an alley on its northern side
for a cart way running out to Second Street, and agreeing

1 66 THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA

with " Penn's gate over against Friends' Meeting," etc.,
at which place his Council, 1685, required King James's
proclamation to be read.

This name Letitia house I found was a name which even
those who thought the house at the head of the court was
Penn's, granted that Letitia Penn dwelt in, even while the
father may have occupied the other. In this they were
certainly in some error; Letitia being an unmarried girl,
could never have had a separate house; she was not
with her father till his second visit in 1700. 'It was in
Penn's first visit only, in 1682, that he could have dwelt
there.

I infer from the facts that Penn had " his cottage " built
there before his landing by Colonel Markham ; that some
of the finer work was imported for it with the first vessels ;
that he used it as often as not at his " palace " at Penns-
bury. After him, it was used by Colonel Markham, his
Deputy Governor ; and afterwards for public offices. That
in 1700, when he used the Slate-house, corner of Second
Street and Norris Alley, having a mind to confer something
upon his daughter, then with him, he gave her a deed,
i mo. 29th, 1701, for all that half square lying on High
Street and including said house. Several years after this
event, the people, as was their custom, when the court
began to be built up on each side of a " 36 feet alley,"
having no name for it, they, in reference to the last con-
spicuous owner, called it Letitia Court, in reference to the
then most conspicuous house s the same house so given to
Penn by his daughter.

THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA 167

If we would contemplate this Letitia house in its first
relations, we should consider it as having an open area to
the river the whole width of the half square, with here and
there retained an ornamental clump of forest trees and
shrubbery on either side of an avenue leading out to the
Front Street ; having a garden of fruit trees on the Second
Street side and on Second Street " the Governor's Gate,"
so called " opposite to the lot of the Friends' Great Meet-
ing." By this gate the carriages entered and rode along
the avenue by the north side of the house to the east front
of the premises.

This general rural appearance was in all accordance with
Penn's known taste, and was doubtless so continued until
the ground was apportioned out in thirty city lots, as ex-
pressed by James Logan in a letter to Letitia Aubrey, in
the year 1737.

The following facts present scraps of information which
may tend still further to illustrate the proper history of the
premises, to wit : " Pitch upon the very middle of the platt
of the towne, to be laid facing the harbour, for the situation
of the house," Thus intimating, as I conceive, the choice
of Letitia Court, and intimating his desire to have it facing
the river, "as the line of houses of the towne should
be."

The Slate-Roof house still standing at the south-east
corner of Norris Alley and Second Street, and now reduced
to a lowly appearance, derives its chief interest from having
been the residence of William Penn. The peculiarity of
its original construction, and the character of several of its

1 68 THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA

successive inmates, will enhance its interest to the modern
reader. The facts concerning the premises, so far as may
now be known, are generally these, to wit :

The house was originally built, in the early origin of the
city, for Samuel Carpenter — certainly one of the earliest
and greatest improvers of the primitive city. It was prob-
ably designed for his own residence, although he had other
houses on the same square, nearer to the river.

It was occupied as the city residence of William Penn
and family, while in Philadelphia on his second visit in
IJOO;1 in which house was born, in one month after their
arrival, John Penn, "the American" — the only one of the
race ever born in the country. To that house, therefore,
humble, degenerated, and altered in aspect as it now is, we
are to appropriate all our conceptions of Penn's employ-
ments, meditations, hopes, fears, etc., while acting as Gov-
ernor and proprietary among us. In those doors he went
in and out — up and down those stairs he passed — in those
chambers he reposed — in those parlours he dined or regaled
his friends — through those garden grounds he sauntered.
His wife, his daughter Letitia, his family and his servants

1 " On their arrival at Philadelphia, he (Logan) and Penn, with Mrs,
Penn and Penn's daughter, Letitia, lived for a month at the house of
Edward Shippen. After that they moved to the slate-roof house, as it was
called, on the east side of Second Street, north of Walnut. Penn rented
it for two years, and used it for his town residence. His son, John, was
born there, always known as John the American, and it was afterwards
used by Logan as an office for the proprietary business. It should have
been preserved as a relic, for in later years it had many interesting asso-
ciations."— Sidney George Fisher, The True William Penn (Philadel-
phia, 1900).

THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA 169

were there. In short, to those who can think and feel, the
place is filled with local impressions. Such a house should
be rescued from its present forlorn neglect ; it ought to be
bought and consecrated to some lasting memorial of its
former character, by restoring its bastions and salient angles,
etc. It would be to the character of such Societies as the
Historical and Penn Association, etc., to club their means
to preserve it for their chambers, etc., as long as themselves
and the city may endure.

After William Penn had left this house, on his intended
return with his family to England, he, while aboard his re-
turn ship the Messenger (an appropriate name for the mes-
sage and business he was purposing !) writes on the 3d of
September, 1701, to James Logan, saying: "Thou may
continue in the house I lived in till the year is up."

James Logan in reply, in 1702, says: "I am forced to
keep this house still, there being no accommodation to be
had elsewhere for public business." In fact, he retained
it as a government house till 1704, when he and his coad-
jutors moved to Clark's Hall in Chestnut Street, afterwards
Pemberton's great house.

James Logan, in a letter to William Penn of fth Decem-
ber, 1703, says Samuel Carpenter "has sold the house thou
lived in " to William Trent (the founder of Trenton in
1719) for £850.

At this house Lord Cornbury, then Governor of New
York and New Jersey (son of Lord Clarenden, cousin of
Queen Anne), was banqueted in great style in 1702, on the
occasion of his being invited by James Logan, from Bur-

170 THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA

lington, where he had gone to proclaim the Queen. Lo-
gan's letter, speaking of the event, says he was dined " equal,
as he said, to anything he had seen in America." At night
he was invited to Edward Shippen's (great house in south
Second Street) where he was lodged and dined with all his
company, making a retinue of nearly thirty persons. He
went back well pleased with his reception, via Burlington,
in the Governor's barge, and was again banqueted at Penns-
bury by James Logan, who had preceded him for that pur-
pose. Lord Cornbury there had a retinue of about fifty
persons, which accompanied him thither in four boats. His
wife was once with him in Philadelphia, in 1703. Penn,
on one occasion, calls him a man of luxury and poverty.
He was at first very popular; and having made many
fine promises to Penn, it was probably deemed good
policy to cheer his vanity by striking public entertain-
ments. In time, however, his extravagant living and
consequent extortion, divested him of all respect among
the people.

In 1709, "the slated-roof house of William Trent" is
thus commended by James Logan as a suitable residence
for him as Governor, saying: "William Trent, designing
for England, is about selling his house (that he bought of
Samuel Carpenter) which thou lived in, with the improve-
ment of a beautiful garden," — then extending half-way to
Front Street and on Second Street nearly down to Walnut
Street. " I wish it could be made thine, as nothing in this
town is so well fitting a Governor. His price is .£900 of
our money, which it is hard thou canst not spare. I would

THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA 1 7 1

give £20 to .£30 out of my own pocket that it were thine
— nobody's but thine."

The house, however, was sold to Isaac Norris, who de-
vised ;.t to his son, Isaac, through whom it has descended
down to the present proprietor, Sarah Norris Dickinson,
his grand-daughter (1828).

It was occupied at one period, it is said, by Governor
Hamilton, and, for many years preceding the war of Inde-
pendence, it was deemed a superior boarding house. While
it held its rank as such, it was honoured with the company,
and, finally, with the funeral honours of General Forbes
(successor to General Braddock), who died in that house in
1759. The pomp of his funeral from that house surpassed
all the simple inhabitants had before seen in their lives.
His horse was led before the procession, richly caparisoned,
— the whole conducted in all "the pomp of war," with
funeral dirges, and a military array with arms reversed, etc.1

In 1764, it was rented to be occupied as a distinguished
boarding-house by the widow Gray don, mother of Captain
Graydon of Carlisle, who has left us his amusing Memoirs
of Sixty Tears' Life in Pennsylvania. There his mother,
as he informs us, had a great many gentry as lodgers. He
describes the old house as very much of a castle in con-
struction, although built originally for a Friend. " It was a
singular, old-fashioned structure, laid out in the style of a
fortification, with abundance of angles, both salient and re-
entering. Its two wings projected to the street in the man-

i He had had great honours shown to him two years before for the cap-
ture of Fort Duquesne (Fort Pitt).

1 7 2 THE WILLIAM PENN HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA

ner of bastions, to which the main building, retreating from
sixteen to eighteen feet, served for a curtain.1 ... It
had a spacious yard, half way to Front Street, and orna-
mented with a double row of venerable lofty pines, which
afforded a very agreeable rus in urbe." She continued there
till 1768-1769, when she removed to Drinker's big house,
up Front Street, near to Race Street. Graydon's anecdotes
of distinguished persons, especially of British officers and
gentry who were inmates, are interesting. John Adams and
other members of the First Congress had their lodgings in
the " Slate-House."

1 We may say of this house trade has changed the scene ; for the recess
is since filled out to the front with store windows, and the idea of the
bastions, though still there, is lost

THE CATHEDRAL, MEXICO

THOMAS UNETT BROCKLEHURST

WHEN Cortes conquered the country, he had instruc-
tions from Ferdinand and Isabella, from Charles V.
and from Pope Alexander IV. to Christianize it ; and this
part of his duty, with the help of his army of priests and
the formidable terrors of the Inquisition, he accomplished
all too zealously. The successive Spanish Viceroys com-
pleted the work in the spirit of their age ; indeed, in such a
manner, that when the books are opened and the last seal
broken, the cries of the heathen will most probably drown
the anthems of the saints. The Old Testament injunction,
u Thou shall utterly destroy the heathen from amongst you,"
without a single gleam from the brightness of the Sermon
from the Mount, has under no circumstances been more
rigorously enforced than by Spain in Mexico and Peru ; and
what remains of her glories, but the bitterest of bitter feel-
ing in Mexico, and the hatred of her Cuban subjects ?

In the Conquest of Mexico it was the rule to destroy all
the high places and all vestiges of the ancient worship. The
Teocalli or temples were levelled to the ground ; crosses
were set up, and churches built on their sites. The mag-
nificent Cathedral of Mexico stands over the spot where
the high altar of Montezuma and his predecessors once ran
with the blood of human sacrifices. The first church on
this site, after the destruction of the Teocalli, was founded

174 THE CATHEDRAL, MEXICO

by Charles V. His successor, Philip, ordered it to be pulled
down, and commenced the erection of the present structure
in 1573. I* was not finished and dedicated until the 22d
of December, 1657. It has a fine dome and two open tow-
ers, each 218 feet high, in which are large bells exposed to
view. The length of the building is 426 feet ; the archi-
tecture is Doric ; the railings of the choir, and the passage
to the high altar were made of tumbago* manufactured at
Macao in China, and weighing twenty-six tons. It is a
brassy-looking metal, composed of silver, gold and copper,
but contains so much gold, that an off r has been made to
replace it with pure silver, and give many thousand dollars
in addition. The cost of the Cathedral, that is, of the walls
alone, was over $2,000,000. The interior of the building
forms a Greek cross, and is divided into five naves. On
either side of the main nave are wide chapels, elaborately
adorned and enclosed by bronze gates ; the walls are clothed
with pictures in rich old Spanish gold frames ; and at one
time a Murillo stood over the high altar, but the present
archbishop, wise in his generation, after the robbery of a
famous picture from a church in Spain, caused it to be re-
moved to the archiepiscopal palace, where it now hangs.
There is no stained glass in the windows, and there are no
such luxuries as pews; Indian and Hidalgo, Aztec and
Spaniard, peon and peasant, kneel on the bare boards. One
rude bench is reserved for the old and infirm.

The choir is one mass of elaborate carving ; the choir books,
dating from 1620, are of velium, and painted in black letters-
Close to the choir is a magnificent altar, supported by green

THE CATHEDRAL, MEXICO 175

marble columns resembling malachite. A rich balustrade of
tumbago connects the altar and the choir. The picture of
the Virgin, in the central nave, was painted by Cabrena in
1700, and a St. Sebastian, in one of the chapels, by Baltha-
sor de Echavi in 1645. The glory of the cupola was
painted by Simeno de Planes ; on the first plane are placed
the ancient patriarchs and the celebrated women of the Old
Testament, the colours being as vivid at this moment as
when laid in. The balustrade surrounding the grand altar
is also of tumbago, as are the sixty-two statues which serve
as chandeliers. The high altar is approached oy seven steps,
the tabernacle is supported by eight ranges of pillars in the
form of a colonnade, on the first of whicri stand the statues
of the Apostles and the Evangelists, while those of numerous
saints occupy the second range. On the third appear
groups of angels, and, rising from the midst, the Mother of
God.

The sacristy is fitted up with oak, black as ebony from
age, with several large pictures. I often looked into it, and
one day I found two or three priests indulging in a quiet
chat after Mass, while the attendants folded away the rich
vestments. A padre, seeing I was a stranger, offered to
show me the magnificent set of vestments worked for the
Cathedral by command of Isabella of Spain ; they are of
cloth of gold, encrusted with gems, and in panels passages
from Holy Writ are worked exquisitely in silk, so as to
have the effect of the finest painting ; it is only on close in-
spection that I could discover the traces of the needle.
These gorgeous vestments are useless for practical purposes,

176 THE CATHEDRAL, MEXICO

for they are so heavy that no man of ordinary dimensions
could sustain their immense weight for more than a few
minutes. Saying mass, or even pronouncing the benedic-
tion in them, is out of the question. By the kindness of
the padre I was also permitted to view the great council
chamber, part and parcel of the Cathedral, in which the
councils of the bishops were held, the Archbishop of Mex-
ico presiding on a great gilded throne. This is indeed a
noble apartment; it has an open groined roof, and around
the walls are portraits of suffragan bishops of Mexico — copies
only, for the originals are hung in a sort of secret chamber,
to which I was subsequently conducted. This chamber
was approached through the gates of a side altar, and the
cicerone touched a — to me — invisible spring; a door of
maximum thickness slowly opened to admit us to a sort of
crypt, with formidably barred windows, around which hang
the original portraits of the bishops from first to last, in
splendid preservation. In this apartment was a massive
oaken table, with a sort of funnel in the middle of it. It is
on this table that the offerings of the faithful, after a collec-
tion, are deposited, counted, and dropped through the funnel
into- huge, grim-looking, iron-bound boxes, which stood
about the room.

During my stay in Mexico excavations were being made
in front of the Cathedral tc convert the paved ground into
a garden, and but a few feet below the surface some octag-
onal columns of the first church were discovered ; also two
heads of large stone serpents, some ten feet long and five
feet in depth and in thickness ; the carving of the feathered

THE CATHEDRAL, MEXICO 177

ornaments on the heads was perfect ; they had originally
been the capitals to the doorposts of the pagan temple of
Montezuma, and these interesting fragments of both temple
and primitive church were conveyed with much labour and
care to the National Museum.

THE WHIPPLE HOUSE, IPSWICH

W. H. DOWNES

THE old house bought by the Ipswich Historical So-
ciety is the best surviving example in New England
of the earliest Seventeenth-Century colonial architecture.
There are several finer and grander specimens of the do-
mestic architecture of later periods in Essex County, but in
all the category of colonial houses there is no such perfectly
preserved and authentic type of the domestic architecture of
the middle of the Seventeenth Century. The exact date of
its erection is unknown, but all the valid evidence available,
in the absence of documentary records bearing directly on
this point, indicates that it was built as early as 1650, and
there are architects who believe that it was erected still
earlier. The extreme rarity of houses dating from that re-
mote period, so soon after the settlement of Massachusetts,
is due primarily to the limited longevity of wooden building,
and secondarily to the fact that the colonists were at first
obliged by the paucity of proper building materials to erect
only temporary cabins of logs, which were subsequently
abandoned and neglected, after more comfortable dwellings
were made possible by the establishment of saw-mills and
forges and roads. Ipswich was settled in 1633. The first
saw-mill in the town was established in 1649. The great
posts and girders, with other surviving timbers of the frame
of the old house in question, bear no marks of the axe or

THE WHIPPLE HOUSE, IPSWICH 1 79

the adze, and it would be a fair inference that they were
sawed, though not necessarily by water power, for we know
that some extensive sawing was done by hand in sawpits.

. . . There are three or four successive parts or chap-
ters in the serial story of the old house. The west end of
the main structure was built first ; of this there is evidence
in the material, the workmanship, the age of the woodwork,
and in indirect, but convincing written evidence. The
main beams of the frame — the posts, sills, girders, joists,
rafters, etc. — in this wing are of American larch or tama-
rack, a soft wood, which, however, has shown astonishing
durability in every part 'except where it has been exposed
to moisture. The east part of the main structure, the
second chapter, was possibly added in the time of the afflu-
ent and pious Captain John W hippie, the second of that
name, who, in 1683, was estimated to be " worth " $16,570.
In this part of the house the main beams are of oak, and
the posts and girders are carved with some attempt at ele-
gance of finish. Later a lean-to was added, the rafters on
the north (rear) side of the roof being supplemented by a
new set of rafters at an easier angle, carrying the roof at
one point almost to the ground. Whether the lean-to was
entirely built at one time, or in two sections, is unknown
and is not of importance. The lean-to is a relatively mod-
ern part, and the original profile of the exterior must have
been very angular and high-shouldered in proportion to its
ground area.

Now, here are the more interesting dimensions of the
building, as it stands. Length, on the ground, fifty feet j

180 THE WHIPPLE HOUSE. IPSWICH

width, thirty-six feet. Great east room, ground floor,
twenty-four by seventeen and one-half feet ; height seven
feet. Fireplace in this room, seven feet and three inches
wide; two feet, nine inches deep. Dimensions of oak
girders, fourteen by fourteen inches. Windows, diamond
panes, and hung on hinges, five feet, three inches wide, and
two feet, six inches high ; three sashes each ; should be
leaded glass. East chamber, same measurements as east
room below. Fireplace in this room, six feet, two inches
wide, and two feet, two inches deep. These figures may
mean but little to the layman, but they are full of signifi-
cance to the architect, the builder, and the antiquarian.
The exterior of the Whipple house has nothing in its
aspect that would serve to draw especial attention to it ;
but the interior possesses these two distinct points of archi-
tectural merit, remarkable massiveness of construction, and
fine, dignified proportions. The two main rooms on the
ground floor are in fact superb for their simplicity, size and
solidity. The beautiful rich brown tone of the old oak
posts, girders and joists gives the key of colour. There
is a white plastered ceiling between the joists, the plas-
ter being put directly on the floor-boards of the second
story, . . .

One thing is evident, to any visitor who stands in the
great east room, and contemplates the stately proportions
of the interior ; that is, that the Whipples must have been
great swells in their day, to possess such a mansion, In-
deed, no further proof of their status, so far as means are
concerned, is needed than is furnished by the entertaining

THE WHIPPLE HOUSE, IPSWICH II

inventory of Captain John Whipple's estate in 1683, with
its painful particularity, itemizing each separate article of
household use, apparel, tools, edibles, beverages, and even
" Lawrence ye Indian," who was valued at four pounds, a
sum which seems inexpensive, even where the supply of
Indians exceeded the demand. It is enough to make col-
lectors' mouths water to run over this list of old furniture,
silverware, pewter, china, arms, andirons, brasses, coppers,
gallipots, buckles and buttons, " kittles," warming-pans,
trenchers, candlesticks, " tin lanthorns," beakers, flagons,
" basons," piggins, " sully bub " pots, spinning wheels, and
a score of other things, more or less phonetically spelled,
after the excellent fashion of the epoch, when, as George
Eliot remarks, spelling was mostly a matter of taste.

The first John Whipple, whose estate was inventoried
in 1669, was not nearly so well off as his son afterwards
became, though he had a farm of about 360 acres of land,
worth $750, and houses and lands in the town, worth
$1,250, with $45 worth of " apparell," $35 worth of
" ffeather beds," $6,75 worth of "chayres," and $12 worth
of " bookes."

Speaking of books, the Ipswich Historical Society has
in its custody, in the west room of the old house, the
most unmitigatedly pious lot of old books I ever saw.
They come from the Religious Society in Ipswich, and
the visitor may while away long hours in reading such light
literature as Jonathan Edwards' " Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God " (Salem, 1786), Increase Mather's " An-
gelagraphia" (Boston, 1696), or "The Loving Invitation

1 82 THE WHIPPLE HOUSE, IPSWICH

of Christ to the Aged, Middle- Aged, Youth and Children,
from the mouth of Elizabeth Osborn, only Three Years
and Nine Months Old." The collection of books, manu-
scripts, autographs, etc., displayed in this room embraces a
copy of the Breeches Bible (1615); an autograph letter
from John Winthrop, Jr., founder of Ipswich (1634); an
inventory of the household goods in Winthrop's house in
Ipswich ; several old petitions, deeds, wills, and other
Colonial and Revolutionary documents of interest. On
rainy days, when the outside world is dark and dismal, and
the time hangs heavy on one's hands, it will be consoling
for the people who like that sort of thing to sit down and
run through Ower '« work on " Indwelling Sin," Baxter's
" Call to the Unconverted," Woodward's " Fair Warning,"
Crawford's " Dying Shots," the account of " Count Struen-
see's Conversion," Cooper on " Predestination," Edwards
on " Original Sin," Shepard's " Sound Believer," Langdon
on " The Revelation," Coleman's " Parable of the Ten
Virgins," Webb's " Direction for Conversion," Bellamy's
" Glory of the Gospel," Ditton on " The Resurrection,"
Doddridge on " Regeneration," or Stoddard's " Safety of
Appearing in ye Righteousness of Christ." But, though
the theology of these stalwart Calvinists may seem a bit
inflexible and unlovely to modern eyes, what they did not
know about setting up a title-page was not worth knowing.
As religionists they were of their day, took their creeds
straight and hot, and their rum ditto ; but they were first-
rate printers !

The house is a veritable museum of Seventeenth- and

THE WHIPPLE HOUSE, IPSWICH 183

Eighteenth-Century relics and curios. There is a buffet
full of old china in the west room which contains some
very rare and choice pieces. The andirons in this room
are cast-iron figures of Hessians, in grenadier caps, picked
out with gilt. The iron fire-back is dated 1693. The
andirons in the east room are dated 1596. The great east
room is fitted up as a kitchen. The fire burns on the
hearth as of yore, and the spacious fireplace is fully
equipped with ancient cooking utensils. Huge pewter
platters and obsolete fire-arms adorn the walls. The
spinning-wheels, cheese-press and churns are in their
places. Here we find the yarn reels, the great winnowing
fan, the old cradle, foot-stove, candle-mould, candlesticks,
nice pieces of old needlework, samplers, old lamps, pewter
porringers, tinder-boxes, trivets, lanthorns, trammels, tin
kitchens with spits, etc., and a highly interesting collection
of old furniture. In the west room are the cabinet of old
china, sundry heirlooms, an ancient piano, antique chairs
and pictures. The paintings comprise a smoky old panel
depicting the harbour of Ipswich, in which the vessels fly
the British flag, showing that it was painted prior to the
Revolution, and a life-size bust portrait of Whitefield,
anonymous, and somewhat queer about the eyes. White-
field preached in Ipswich, and he did so to such good effect
that Satan fled through the meeting-house window, leaving
on the window-ledge the print of his cloven hoof. Mr.
Waters may not believe this, but it is just as true as some
other local traditions.

"The old mansion," says President Waters, in a pas-

184 THE WHIPPLE HOUSE, IPSWICH

sage of retrospect which shows how sympathetic is his
vein of fancy, " is a constant reminder of all the glorious
names which hallow and illumine the early years of our
town life, — Saltonstall and Winthrop, Symonds and Deni-
son, Ward and Norton and Hubbard and all the rest.
They were all friends of the Elder. Every one of them
may have crossed our threshold. As we sit here in the
flickering firelight we seem to see them sitting, as of old,
and conversing on the great themes. . , . The old
pavement in the dooryard rings again with the hoofbeats
of Captain Whipple's horse hurrying to lead his troopers
on a swift ride to Andover to repel an Indian assault.
John Appleton and Thomas French are talking in this
very room of their imprisonment and trial for advocating
resistance to the royal governor's edict and demanding rep-
resentation before they would submit to taxation. Colonel
Hodgkins and Colonel Wade and Major Burnham smoke
and sip their steaming cups and chat of Bunker Hill and
Yorktown, of Burgoyne and Cornwallis, Washington and
Lafayette." And he evokes a vision of the ancient life,
its feasts, weddings, funerals, departures and home-comings,
its daily toil, and all the lights and shadows of the remote
Puritan home life, that revives the far-off days with a
singular and touching reality.

FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE

IZA DUFFUS HARDY

FROM Jacksonville to St. Augustine is like a going
back from the Nineteenth Century into the Six-
teenth. This, the oldest city in the United States — with
its history that should be printed in red letters, being one
volume of war and siege and bloodshed — is to all appear-
ance the old Spanish settlement still. The world seems to
have gone on and left it behind ; the march of modern im-
provement has passed it by ; the tourist has found it out,
and the hotel-keeper, of course, keeps him company ; but
they have failed to spoil, or modernize and mar the quaint
old town. Step outside your hotel, and you at once step
into a bygone age. The old Spanish city lies wrapt in a
dreamy peace j it seems asleep in the sunshine. Narrow,
unpaved, sandy streets ; quaint wooden houses breaking out
into balconies and piazzas ; untidy yards with ragged
banana-trees and palms and oleanders and climbing roses ;
" coquina " houses, relics of old days, massive of wall and
scant of window, built of the curious material " coquina,"
found only hereabouts (formed of masses of crushed shell
dug out of Anastasia Island, just across the river) — this is
St. Augustine at a first glance !

The oldest inhabitant is sitting at his door under his own
vine and fig-tree, smoking the pipe of peace in his shirt
sleeves. He bids us good evening; we stop and chat

1 86 FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE

awhile with the old man, who is like a picture, his snow-
white hair and beard framing a rugged brown face. He
is a Spaniard, he tells us, born here, and nearly grown to
manhood when the Spanish flag was hauled down to give
place to the Stars and Stripes. He points out one of the
oldest Spanish houses, a pink house, built of " coquina,"
and plastered over with a delicious soft pink like the flush
of sunset. Its little lattice windows are broken, so that we
can see the thickness of its massive " coquina " walls ; it
is empty and falling rapidly to ruin. Down the narrow,
sunny, sandy, almost deserted street comes a riderless
horse, trotting at a brisk pace. He knows his home, and
turns in under his own archway smartly. Next comes a
solitary cow, and presently a mare, also unencumbered by
rider or saddle, followed by a pretty little foal. They are
all returning to their respective homes in a quiet, business-
like way.

We walk on to the Plaza, the central spot in which the
sluggish currents of life in St. Augustine seem to meet and
eddy and make a little stir in the sleepy old place. Facing
on the Plaza is the old Catholic church, with its high
quaint belfry, to which the guide-books and residents in-
variably call the attention of the tourist. Here is the old
market, under whose arched roof, men, women and chil-
dren were bought and sold once upon a time, and not so
long ago, before the slave traffic (which brought ts curse
with it, and pulled down the pillars of the temple, and
drew ruin, at least for a season, on these fair lands of the
South), gave place to the innocent bargaining for fish.

FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE 187

flesh, fowl and fruit, which is all these old walls look down
upon to-day.

Beyond the Plaza we come upon the " sea-wall," which
our little guide-book has led us to anticipate as a " promen-
ade.'* When we behold it, however, our dreams of
promenading vanish. It runs along the shore, from the
modern barracks at one end of the town to the ancient
fort at the other. It is simply a low, massive stone wall,
the top of which, unprotected by any rail or parapet, is
described as the favourite " Lover's Walk " ; but, if it is
so, St. Augustine lovers must be slender as well as affec-
tionate. We find it quite enough to walk singly upon it
with a steady head. The tourist is " promenading himself"
there, of course, with his wife in her palmetto-hat; and we
perceive, on observation of the various couples, that lovers,
when young and slim, may walk double, though more fre-
quently he walks behind her. A soft, fresh breeze blows
up from the unseen Atlantic, which is shut from our view
by the long slip of Anastasia Island, running parallel with
the sea-wall, between the ocean, whose salt fragrance floats
faintly to us, and the river lapping the base of the wall.
The sea-wall walk leads us to the old Fort Marion, which
is, perhaps the sight to be seen here.

The first stone was laid in 1592, the last, as the inscription
over the gateway tells us, in 1756. The great fortress is
in excellent preservation. Its massive "coquina" walls
stand almost untouched by time or siege, though the wild
grass waves under our feet in the barbican and blue flowers
blossom from the chinks in the " coquina " blocks. A

1 88 FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE

grim silence broods over the ancient walls, as we explore
turret and drawbridge, casement and bastion. There is an
old sergeant whose mission is to show visitors over the
place, but he is apparently off duty, for we seek and find
him not. A fellow-tourist, however, gives us all the infor-
mation we require. We sit on damp blocks of stone on a
mud floor under a vaulted roof, while he tells us of the
" locked dungeon," into which admission can only be
gained through the absent sergeant. He pioneers us into
the " bakehouse," a huge, dimly-lit stone room, also with
mud floor and vaulted roof, with a recess which served
as oven, and one aperture which combined the offices of
chimney and window. It was here that, during the siege
of St. Augustine, all the townsfolk collected for shelter;
and a wretched community they must have been ! From
this bakehouse a gloomy archway leads into a pitch-dark
dungeon. Our escort lights matches, which only serve to
make the darkness visible. By their feeble glimmer we can
see neither roof nor walls, nothing but the thick blackness
which closes round us like a pall. We are told, however,
that the obscurity here is nothing to the inky darkness of
the " locked dungeon," wherein, the story goes, skeletons
were found in iron cages, — but this is, by the best authori-
ties, denied.

We next inspect a comparatively light and airy cell, with
a narrow grating high up, to our eyes unattainable and im-
passable, but through which the Indian chief, " Wild Cat,"
is said to have effected his escape. The great Osceola, his
companion in obscurity, nobly refused to avail himself of

FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE 189

the same means. It strikes me as possible that the " Cat "
was the slenderer and more agile of the two. From the
fort we cross a rough and pathless stretch of sand and turf
to another relic of the past — to the old city gates. They
are built of " coquina," of course. We inspect the barred
and grated sentinel-boxes, the high towers flanking the
gateway and dutifully resist the temptation to chip off a
piece of "coquina" as a souvenir.

The next day is Easter Sunday ; the quaint old streets
are crowded with gaily-dressed people ; the Plaza is swarm-
ing with happy pairs. This is truly the " Land of Flowers."
As we saunter in the shade of the great trees that make
King Street rather a forest-glade than a street, and linger to
gaze into the groves and gardens which surround almost
every residence, we drink in the fragrant breeze, heavy with
perfumes of myriad blossoms, and revel in the luxuriance
of tropical bloom and foliage all around us. Here is the
lance-leaved palmetto, and here the beautiful feathery date-
palm ; here the oleanders droop their pink and pearl, starred
and scented boughs high out of reach above our heads ; here
climbing roses straggle up to the housetops ; here are great
forest-like trees covered with the sweet yellow flowers of
the apoppinac ; here the giant magnolia, tall as a poplar
and sturdy as an oak, is opening the great white petals of
its mammoth flower. Now and then we come upon the
bridal blossoms of the orange and again upon branches
weighed down under their globes of ruddy gold.

We take a farewell stroll down St. George's Street—
where the oldest inhabitant still sits smoking under his fig-

1 90 FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE

tree, and the ragged bananas and spiky palms in the gardens
stand out against the deepening glow in the west — as even-
ing draws on. We wander down to the sea-wall, which is
nearly deserted now. There are one or two wild-looking
men on horseback, their saddles mere mats of crimson or
blue embroidered cloth, their feet thrust into the unsightly
bags known as Mexican stirrups. There are several dogs,
one large yellow mastiff taking his siesta on the sea-wall,
occupying the entire width of the " promenade " ; a canine
friend, coming to interview him, stands on his hind legs,
with his fore-paws on the top of the wall. This somehow
makes the " Lover's Walk " look a very small affair. One
of the riders spurs his horse up on to the wall, and, like the
successful admirer of " the Lady Kunigonde of the Kynast,"
he " rides along the battlemented parapet," breaking up the
canine tete-a-tete. Fortunately, there are no lovers on the
wall to be startled from off their own particular domain,
only the yellow mastiff scuttles down in a hurry as horse
and rider gallop by.

The sun is setting behind the town, and the eastern sky
before us catches a tender reflected blush just on the horizon.
Beyond the sea-wall lies a stretch of water, blue as heaven
and calm as a dream ; it scarcely laps against the old stones ;
the little boats on its surface " float double " boat and
shadow ; an indescribable softness, like a sleep, broods over
its waveless tide. Beyond this entranced water lies the long
dark shade of Anastasia Island ; beyond that, the pale re-
flected rose of the eastern sky fades slowly with the dying
day. The one or two stragglers on the sea-wall stand out

FORT MARION, ST. AUGUSTINE 19 1

in vivid silhouette against the blue water and blushing sky ;
the clatter of the horse's hoofs, as the equestrian Blondin
dashes along the top of the wall, seems to shatter the silence
like the breaking of a spell.

ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE, QUEBEC1

ANNA T. SADLIER

LONG ago, in some far away time too distant for actual
history to have recorded the fact, a few Breton sail-
ors, coming up the great river were surprised by a terrific
storm. In all the terror of the moment, the blackness of
the night, the howling of the winds and the rushing of the
waters, their hearts went back to distant Brittany. In child-
hood and in youth they had been taught to have recourse to
the beloved patroness of their chere Bretagne. Never had
St. Anne d' Auray failed to hear a simple and heartfelt
prayer. They registered a vow : if the good saint brought
them once more to land, there where their feet touched they
would build her a shrine. A morning came blue and cloud-
less. These brave men were ashore and where ? They
looked about them. To the northward rose the Laurentian
hills, to the southward the wide-rolling St. Lawrence, to the
eastward a little stream, now the St. Anne, dividing the set-
tlement from the neighbouring parish of St. Joachim. In
such surroundings they built a simple wooden chapel and
laid the foundation of a shrine now famous throughout
America.

The years went on ; these hardy voyageurs passed on their
way and were heard of no more in the village they had
f<nmded. But habitations soon grew up, and the settlement
1 Reprinted by permission of the Editor of the Catholic World.

ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE QUEBEC 193

of Petit-Cap began to be known by the little temple which
stood in its very heart. Meanwhile in the passing years,
the springtime floods and the winter storms, and even the
hand of time itself, began to tell upon the sturdy wooden
frame of the good saint's shrine. The project of rebuild-
ing it was first seriously entertained somewhere about 1660.
A prosperous farmer of the village, named Etienne Lessard,
made .a generous donation of land sufficient for the erection
of a church, provided only that the work was begun at
once. A discussion now arose as to the propriety of
changing the site ; but the matter was finally decided and
M. Vignal, a priest from Quebec, went down to Petit-Cap
to bless the foundations. He was accompanied by M. d'
Aillebout, Governor of New France, who went thither ex-
pressly to lay the corner-stone.

This second church, which remained in use till 1876,
was built of stone and stood just at the foot of the hill,
where the present chapel for processions now is. During
the years following its erection multitudes of pilgrims flocked
thither.

Amongst those whose interest in the welfare of the
church and the propagation of the devotion have woven a
halo round this village shrine is that immortal Bishop of
Quebec — he who coming of the ancient and knightly race,
the Barms Montmorenc; de Laval, forsook the splendours
of a luxurious court and the softness of a southern climate
to devote his wonderful intellect to the service of the prim-
itive Canadian Church.

Rich gifts began to pour in and the attention of royalty

194 ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE QUEBEC

itself was drawn to the spot ; for a gleam from the magnifi-
cence of that traditionally splendid court of Louis le Grand
fell upon that humble sanctuary hard by the blue stream,
which still bore the Indian voyageur upon his way. It is
part of the romance which antiquity has lent to the place,
this offering made by the queen-mother of Louis XIV.
Anne of Austria's own royal hands worked a handsome
chasuble as a gift to the good St. Anne. The ornaments
upon it are red, white and black arrows and the whole is
richly wrought in gold and silver. Now, though that
splendid pageant of a dream, that gorgeous phantom of a
dead royalty, has passed into tradition, the vestment worked
by the royal mother's hands is still seen at the altar of St.
Anne's upon great occasions.

A costly silver reliquary adorned with precious stones and
two pictures painted by the Franciscan friar, Luc Lafran-
cois, are the gifts of Mgr. de Laval ; while there is a cru-
cifix of solid silver presented by the hero of Iberville in 1706
in return for favours obtained. So does the past intermin-
gle everywhere with the present, and such tokens speak like
the voices of the dead, giving testimony of answered
prayers. Kneeling there before that beloved mother of the
Mother of Christ, we can see in fancy, as humble suppli-
ants by our side, the great and good prelate whose name
shines out from the early Canadian annals with an unsur-
passed lustre, or the valiant soldiers, proud and warlike
viceroys, gay and gallant barons of France, who have bent
the knee here, humble, believing, hopeful as the poor fisher
whose boat rocked the while upon the surging waters with-

ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE QUEBEC 1 95

out. In 1875, a magnificent banner, seven feet and a half
high by four and a half broad, was presented to the Cure
by his Excellency Lieutenant-Governor Caron, of Quebec.
On one side of it is St. Anne teaching the Blessed Virgin,
the two figures encircled by a silver shower. Above and
below is inscribed : " St. Anne, Consolation of the Afflicted,
pray for us." The reverse of the banner represents St.
Joachim as a pilgrim, proceeding to the temple with his
simple gift of two white doves. The work thereupon was
done by the Sisters of Charity.

The walls and sanctuary are fairly covered with crutches,
hearts of gold and silver, and the like, each one telling of
a belief in some cure obtained, or petition heard.

The year of 1876, the year of the building of the new
church was crowned by a rescript of His Holiness Pius IX.,
bearing date the 7th of May, by which he declared St. Anne
patroness of the Province of Quebec, as long ago St. Joseph
had been declared patron of all Canada.

The interior of the church is adorned with eight altars,
the high altar being the gift of his Grace Mgr. Taschereau,
of Quebec ; the Blessed Virgin's, that of the Bishop of
Montreal ; one to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that of the
Bishop of St. Hyacinth ; while St. Joseph is donated by the
Bishop of Ottawa, the Holy Angels by the clerks of St.
Viator.

Two really beautiful stained windows which adorn the
chancel are the gift of four parishioners. Various pictures
upon the walls commemorate remarkable deliverances from
shipwreck and the like. Such is Le Pere Pierre and the

196 ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE QUEBEC

crew of the ship Saint Esprit making a vow to St. Annej
or the King's vessel, Le Heros, on the point or foundering ;
oryet another caught in the ice and saved through the inter-
cession of St. Anne. Of the artistic excellence of many of
these pictures we say nothing.

Besides the relics of St. Anne, the Church of Beaupre
can boast many others, such as the one of St. Francis
Xavier, of St. Deodatus, St. Benedict, St. Valentine, St.
Remi, St. Eulalie, St. Amantis, Pontianus, St. Caesarius, and
others. The Rev. M. Gauvreau, Cure from 1875 to 1878,
almost completely finished the exterior of the new church,
In 1876, he likewise built a school chapel for the children
of the neighbouring concessions. He also conceived the
idea of building the Chapel of the Processions out of the
material of the old church. It was consecrated October
2, 1878, and is intended to perpetuate the ancient edifice,
being erected after the same fashion and surmounted by the
same bell-tower, whence the same sweet-toned voice calls
the people to prayer that called the dead and gone genera-
tions ago. Situated upon an eminence, and being used es-
pecially when the concourse of pilgrims is very great, it is
an imitation of the altar of the Scala Sancta at St. Anne d'
Auray. There is a fountain just before the entrance to the
new church, where crowds of pilgrims are seen using the
water. It is surmounted by a statue of St. Anne.

The one principal street of St. Anne's runs along the
slope of a hUi which in the summer-time is thickly covered
with fruit-laden trees. Canadian homesteads of comfort
and of plenty line it on either side. The population con-

ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE QUEBEC 197

sists of some hundred and fifty families, who, experiencing
little of " life's " long and fitful fever," spin out their
days in a primitive and rural simplicity which belonged to
the golden epoch of la Nouvelle France. The traveller
fresh from the restless bustle of a modern Babylon seems to
find himself suddenly transported to some far-away Utopia
of simple content which has slept for centuries an en-
chanted sleep, and awakes isolated indeed from the Jugger-
naut of progress. The handsome church, sole token of
modern enterprise, arises like a new Aladdin's tower from
amid the group of quaint, almost mediaeval dwellings. In
the spring and summer-time St. Anne's awakes from a
lethargy in which it has been plunged during the long
winter, and, as the city of some Arabian Nights' tale, is
suddenly aglow with life and animation. Pilgrims of every
rank and condition of life fill its street ; matron and
maiden, priest and layman, the young and the old, the
grave and the gay, come thither, an eager but silent and
recollected throng, to the feet of the good St. Anne.
Prayers go up, hymns ring out on the still/ evening, or at
tranquil morn, and the pilgrims take their homeward way,
with a vision of the calm, restful loveliness of nature there
in that favoured spot to haunt them for many days. They
remember Nature at St. Anne's, with her dim and night-
empurpled hills, amongst which linger the memories of
hundreds of years, with her flowing sunlit streams, the
waving of trees and grass, the dreamy village life, and
above all a something indescribable. The chant and the
organ-tone and the murmur of pilgrim voices fade into a

198 ST. ANNE DE BEAUPRE QUEBEC

distant memory, but the voyager down that sapphire stream,
the St. Lawrence, to that hill-shadowed sanctuary, keeps
for a life-time the impression of what he has seen and
heard.

THE WADSWORTH-LONGFELLOW HOUSE,
PORTLAND

NATHAN GOOLD

THE Wadsworth-Longfellow house was built in 1785-
1786, by General Peleg Wadsworth, the grand-
father of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was a native
of Duxbury, a graduate of Harvard College, and a major-
general in the army of the Revolution.

According to the account of his daughter, Zilpah, General
Wadworth's appearance, at this time, was as follows : —
" Imagine to yourself a man of middle age, well propor-
tioned, with a military air, and who carried himself so truly
that many thought him tall. His dress, a bright scarlet
coat, buff small clothes and vest, full ruffled bosom, ruffles
over the hands, white stockings, shoes with silver buckles,
white cravat bow in front, hair well powdered and tied
behind in a club, so-called."

At first, the house was of two stories with a pitched roof
and was the first house in Portland to have brick walls.
The bricks came from Philadelphia to build these walls
which are sixteen inches thick. The third story was not
added until 1815.

The poet's mother was about eight years old when her
father built this house. In 1804, she was married to
Stephen Longfellow, in the house which had been her
home from childhood. Longfellow was born in anothe^

200 WADSWORTH-LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND

house in Portland, but at the early age of eight months he
was brought by his parents to the Wadsworth House.

Henry W. Longfellow lived here during his childhood,
boyhood and young manhood, and here he came, to his old
home, to the end of his life. Here were the scenes of his
bringing up and here he profited by the examples and pre-
cepts of his honoured parents. Here he wrote his first
poem and others, together with portions of his prose works.
It was really his home until the purchase of the 4 Craigie
House,' at Cambridge, in 1843, a Peri°d °f thirty-five
years. The home remained with the old furnishings undis-
turbed until the death of Mrs. Pierce. Longfellow's last
visit here was in July, 1881, when he wrote to a friend in
Rhode Island :—

" Portland has lost none of its charms. The weather is
superb and the air equal to that of Newport or East Green-
wich or any other Rhode Island seashore. I shall remain
here a week or two longer, and think of running up to
North Conway and to Sebago, to see the winding Songo
once more. It is very pleasant sitting here and dictating
letters. It is like thinking what one will say without
taking the trouble of writing it. I have discovered a new
pleasure."

The poems now known to have been written in this
house are : —

The Battle of Lovell's Pond, 1820; Musings^ 1825,-
The Spirit of Poetry, 1825; Burial of Minnisink, 1825;
Song : When from the eye of day, 1826 ; Song of the
Birds, 1826; The Lighthouse; The Rainy Day, 1841;

WADS WORTH-LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND 2OI

Changed, 1858, and probably others. A portion of
Hyperion was written here and, no doubt, much was out-
lined in this house while staying here.

The old house has sixteen rooms. It was the home of
the \Vadsworth and Longfellow families for one hundred
and fifteen years and is in a good state of preservation. It
has no

" Weather-stains upon the wall,

And stairways worn, and crazy doors,

And creaking and uneven floors."

It was

" Built in the old Colonial day,
When men lived in a grander way,
With ampler hospitality."

It has eight open fireplaces, and in former times, during a
year, over thirty cords of wood were burned in them.
What a tale of bygone days they could tell !

The living or sitting-room has the same general appear-
ance as when occupied by the Longfellows. For about
ten years it was used by the father for a law office, and the
poet, his brother Stephen, George W. Pierce and others
studied law here. The vestibule or " Little Room " was
added as an addition or entrance to the law office. His
brother wrote of Longfellow : " In this room the young
graduate scribbled many a sheet." After the removal of the
office, about 1828, this room was changed into a china
closet and the poet wrote his sister Elizabeth, from
Gottingen, under date of March 29, 1829: "My poetic
career is finished. Since I left America I have hardly put
two lines together; . . . and no soft poetic ray

202 WADSWORTH-LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND

has irradiated my heart since the Goths and Vandals
crossed the Rubicon of the front entry and turned the
sanctum sanctorum of the c Little Room,' into a china
closet."

Back of the living-room is the kitchen with its broad
fireplace, in which is the old iron back, on which is the
fish "that forever bakes in effigy." This fireplace has
never been closed, and the utensils and china seen here
were used by these families in the poet's time and before.
This room, being as of old, is one of the most interesting
in the house. It tells its own story.

On the opposite side of the front hall is the " Den " or
the old dining-room, made especially famous by the fact
that here, between the windows, looking out into the
garden, on the same desk now standing there, was written
"The Rainy Day" in 1841. From these windows the
poet saw the flowering grapevine mentioned in the third
line,

" The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,"

which is living and is still to be seen there. The furniture
on the first floor of the house, on exhibition, was theirs and
was used by the family.

The second story has four rooms, the " Mother's
Room," the " Guest's Room," the " Children's Room "
and Mrs. Pierce's old room. They contain a wonderful
collection of the families' belongings for the inspection of
the visitors interested.

The third story, added in 1815, is reached by a well-

WADSWORTH-LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND 203

worn stairway of especial interest from the fact that over
these stairs climbed the Longfellow children to their bed-
chambers where they were under the immediate charge of
their aunt, Lucia Wadsworth. This floor has seven rooms.
The room of rooms is the poet's boyhood one, in which he
wrote " Musings " and "The Lighthouse." It is furnished
with many of the articles of yore. " The Boys' Room,"
which, at times, has been occupied by all the Longfellow
boys, looks out on the garden and the western sky. It
contains the old trundle-bed and the writings of the children
on the casing of the window, with many articles of much
interest. The remaining rooms on this floor are used for
exhibition purposes. From the front windows, in those
days, could be seen the harbour, its islands, and Cape Eliza-
beth ; from those in the rear, Back Cove, the fields and
forests, back of which loomed up the White Mountains.
It was a magnificent prospect. Longfellow wrote : —

" Happy he whom neither wealth nor fashion,
Nor the march of the encroaching city,

Drives an exile
From the hearth of his ancestral homestead."

On the window casing in the " Boys' Room " one of the
children has inscribed, " How dear is the home of my
childhood." The poet expressed his sentiments of the love
of the old home in words that will never be stricken from
our language : —

"Truly the love of home is interwoven with all that is
pure and deep and lasting in earthly affections. Let us
wander where we may, the heart looks back with secret

204 WADSWORTH-LONGFELLOW HOUSE, PORTLAND

Jongings to the paternal roof. There the scattered rays of
affection concentrate. Time may enfeeble them, distance
overshadow them, and the storms of life obstruct them for
a season ; but they will at length break through the cloud
and storm, and glow and burn and brighten around the
peaceful threshold of home."

The Wadsworth-Longfellow House came into the pos-
session of the Maine Historical Society in 1901 by dona-
tion from Anne Longfellow Pierce, a sister of the poet.
She was born here in 1810 and died here in 1901. It is
now practically a museum of Longfellow relics and attracts
many visitors, no less than 30,000 having been admitted
since it was opened to the public.

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS,
NEWBURGH

GULIAN C. VERPLANCK

THE old Hasbrook house, as it is called, situated on the
west bank of the Hudson, a little south of the vil-
lage of Newburgh, is one of the most interesting relics of
the first and heroic age of our republic ; for at several
periods of the War of the Revolution, and especially from
the autumn of 1782 until the troops were finally disbanded,
it was occupied by 'General Washington as the headquarters
of the American army. The views from the house and
grounds, as well as the whole neighbourhood around it, are
rich alike in natural beauty and in historical remembrance.
You look from the old house upon the broad bay into which
the Hudson expands itself just before entering the deep,
rocky bed through which it flows towards the ocean be-
tween the lofty mountain-banks of the Highlands. On
the opposite shore is seen the ridge of mountains, upon the
bald, rocky summits of which during the war of 1776 the
beacon fires so often blazed to alarm the country at the in-
cursions of the enemy from the south, or else to communi-
cate signals between the frontier posts in Westchester,
along the line of the American positions at Verplanck's
Point, West Point and the barracks and encampments on
the plain of Fishkill. As these mountains recede eastward

206 WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH

from the river, you see the romantic stream of Mattavoan
winding wildly along their base, through glens and over
falls, until, at last, as if fatigued with its wanton rambles,
it mingles quietly and placidly with the Hudson. On this
side of it are stretched the rich plains of Dutchess County,
with their woody and picturesque shores. All along these
plains and shores are to be found other memorials of the
Revolution ; for there were the store-houses, barracks and
hospitals of our army, and there, for many months, were the
headquarters of the Father of American tactics, the discipli-
narian Steuben. To the south, you look down upon the
opening of the Highlands, and the rock of Pollopell's
Island, once a military prison, and thence follow with your
eye the " Great River of the Mountains " l till it turns
suddenly and disappears around the rocky promontory of
West Point — a spot consecrated by the most exciting recol-
lections of our history, by the story of Arnold's guilt and
Andre's hapless fate and the incorruptible virtue of our
yeomanry ; by the memory of the virtues of Kosciusko and
Lafayette; of the wisdom and valour of our own chiefs
and sages.

The Hasbrook house itself is a solid, irregular building
erected about 1734. The excellent landscape painted by
Weir and engraved with equal spirit and fidelity by Smillie,
will give the reader a better idea of its appearance and
character than words can convey. The interior remains
very nearly as Washington left it. The largest room is in
the centre of the house, about twenty-four feet square, but
1 The Indian name of the Hudson.

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH 207

so disproportionately low, as to appear very much larger^
It served the General during his residence there, in the day-
time for his hall of reception and his dining-room where he
regularly kept up a liberal, though plain hospitality. At
night it was used as a bedroom for his aides-de-camp and
occasional military visitors and guests. It was long memo-
rable among the veterans who had seen the chief there for
its huge wood fire built against the wall, in, or rather under
a wide chimney, which was quite open at both sides. It was
still more remarkable for the whimsical peculiarity of hav-
ing seven doors and but one window. The unceiled roof
of this room, with its massive painted beams, corresponds
to the simplicity of the rest of the building, as well as
shows the indifference of our ancestors to the free communi-
cation of noise and cold air, which their wiser or more fas-
tidious descendants take so much pains to avoid. On the
north-east corner of the house, communicating with the
large centre room, is a small chamber, which the General
used as a study or private office.

Those who have had the good fortune to enjoy the ac-
quaintance of officers of the northern division of our old
army, have heard many a Revolutionary anecdote, the
scene of which was laid in the old square room at New-
burgh, " with its seven doors and one window." In it
were every day served up, to as many guests as the table
and chairs could accommodate, a dinner and a supper, as
plentiful as the country could supply and as good as they
could be made by the continental cooks, whose deficiency
in culinary skill drew forth in one of his private letters, the

208 WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH

only piece of literary pleasantry, it is believed, in which the
great man was ever tempted to indulge. But then, as we
have heard old soldiers affirm with great emphasis, there
was always plenty of good wine. French wines for our
French allies and those who had acquired or who affected
their tastes, and sound Madeira for the Americans of the
old school, circulated briskly, and were taken in little silver
mugs or goblets made in France for the General's camp-
equipage. They were accompanied by the famous apples
of the Hudson, the Spitzenbergh and other varieties and
invariably by heaped plates of hickory nuts, the amazing
consumption of which by the General and his staff, was the
theme of boundless admiration to the Marquis de Chastel-
leux and other French officers. The jest, the argument,
the song and the story circulated as briskly as the wine ;
while the chief at the head of his table, sat long, listened to
all, or appeared to listen, smiled at and enjoyed all, but all
gravely, without partaking much in the conversation, or at
all contributing to the laugh, either by swelling its chorus,
or furnishing the occasion ; for he was neither a joker nor
a story-teller. He had no talent, and he knew he had
none, for humour, repartee, or amusing anecdote ; and :f
he had possessed it, he was too wise to have indulged in it
in the position in which he was placed.

One evidence among many others, of the impression
which Washington's presence in this scene had made, and
the dignity and permanence it could lend to everv idea or
recollect;on, however trivial otherwise, with which it had
been accidentally associated, was given at Paris. The Amer-

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH 2OQ

ican Minister (we forget whether it was Mr. Crawford,
Mr. Brown, or one of their successors), and several of his
countrymen, together with General Lafayette, were invited
to an entertainment at the house of a distinguished and
patriotic Frenchman, who had served his country in his
youth, in the United States during the war of our independ-
ence. At the supper hour the company were shown into
a room fitted up for the occasion, which contrasted quite
oddly with the Parisian elegance of the other apartments
where they had spent their evening. A low, boarded,
painted ceiling, with large beams, a single, small uncur-
tained window, with numerous small doors, as well as the
general style of the whole, gave at first the idea of the
kitchen, or largest room of a Dutch or Belgian farm-house.
On a long, rough table was a repast, just as little in keep-
ing with the refined kitchen of Paris, as the room was with
the architecture. It consisted of large dishes of meat, un-
cooth-looking pastry, and wine in decanters and bottles,
accompanied by glasses and silver mugs, such as indicated
other habits and tastes than those of modern Paris. " Do
you know where we are now ? " said the host to General
Lafayette and his companions. They paused for a few
moments in suspense. They had seen something like this
before, but when and where ? "Ah, the seven doors and
one window," said Lafayette, " and the silver camp-goblets,
such as our marshals of France used in my youth ! We
are at Washington's Head-quarters on the Hudson, fifty
years ago ! "

We relate the story as we have heard it told by the late

2IO WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH

Colonel Fish, and, if we mistake not, the host was the ex-
cellent M, Marbois.

There is another anecdote of a higher and more moral
interest, the scene of which was also laid in this house. A
British officer had been brought in from the river, a prisoner
and wounded. Some accidental circumstance had attracted
to him General Washington's special notice, who had him
placed under the best medical and surgical care the army
could afford, and ordered him to be lodged at his own
quarters. There, according to custom, a large party of
officers had assembled in the evening to sup with the
commander-in-chief. When the meats and cloth were re-
moved, the unfailing nuts appeared, and the wine, a luxury
seldom seen by American subalterns, except at " his Excel-
lency's " table, began to circulate. The General rose rr.uch
before his usual hour, but, putting one of his aides-de-cam ~
in his place, requested his friends to remain, adding, in a
gentle tone : u I have only to ask you to remember in your
sociality, that there is a wounded officer in the very next
room." This injunction had its effect for a short time,
but, as the wine and punch passed around, the soldier's jest
and mirth gradually broke forth, conversation warmed into
argument, and, by-an-by, came a song. In the midst of all
this, a side-door opened, and some one entered in silence
and on tiptoe. It was the General. Without a word to
any of the company, he passed silently along the table, with
almost noiseless tread to the opposite door which he opened
and closed after him as gently and cautiously as a nurse in
the sick room of a tender and beloved patient. The song,

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH 211

the story, the merriment died away at once. All were
hushed. All felt the rebuke, and dropped off quietly, one
by one, to their chambers or tents.

But the Newburgh Head-quarters are also memorable as
the scene of a far more important transaction.

In the autumn of 1783, the war had closed with glory.
The national independence had been won. The army,
who had fought the battles, who had gone through the
hardships and privations of that long and doubtful and
bloody war without a murmur, were encamped on the banks
of the Hudson, unpaid, almost unclothed, individually loaded
with private debt, awaiting to be disbanded, and to return
to the pursuits of civil life, without the prospect of any set-
tlement of their long arrears of pay and without the means
of temporary support until other prospects might open upon
them in their new avocations. It was under these circum-
stances, while Congress, from the impotence of our frame
of government under the old confederation, and the ex-
treme poverty of the country, found themselves utterly un-
able to advance even a single month's pay, and, as if loth to
meet the question, seemed but to delay and procrastinate
any decision upon it ; the impatient and suffering soldiery,
losing, as their military excitement died away with its cause,
all feeling of loyalty towards their civil rulers, began to re-
gard them as cold-hearted and ungrateful masters who
sought to avoid the scanty and stipulated payment of those
services, the abundant fruits of which they had already
reaped. Then it was that the celebrated anonymous New-
burgh letters were circulated through the camp, touching

212 WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH

with powerful effect upon every topic that could rouse the
feelings of men suffering under the sense of wrong and
sensitive to every stain upon their honour. The glowing
language of this address painted their country as trampling
upon their rights, disdaining their cries and insulting their
distress.

The power of this appeal did not consist merely in its
animated and polished eloquence. It was far more power-
ful, and, therefore, more dangerous, because it came warm
from the heart and did but give bold utterance to the
thoughts over which thousands had long brooded in silence.
Precisely that state of feeling pervaded the whole army, that
discontent towards their civil rulers, verging every hour
more and more towards indignation and hatred, that despair
of justice from any other means or quarter than themselves
and their own good swords, that rallying of all their hopes
and affections to their comrades in arms and their long-tried
chief, such as in other countries have again and again en-
throned the successful military leader upon the ruins of the
Republic he had gloriously served.

The disinterested patriotism of Washington rejected the
lure to his ambition, his firm and mild prudence repressed
the discontents and preserved the honour of the army, as
well as the peace, and, probably, the future liberties of his
country. It was the triumph of patriotic wisdom over the
sense of injury, over misapplied genius and eloquence, over
chivalrous, but ill-directed feeiing. The opinions and the
arguments of Washington, expressed in his orders and in
the address delivered by him to his officers, calmed the

WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH 213

minds of the army and brought them at once to a sense of
submissive duty j not solely from the weight of moral truth
and noble sentiment, great as that was, but because they
came from a person whom the army had long accustomed
to love, to revere and to obey ; the purity of whose views,
the soundness of whose judgment and the sincerity of whose
friendship, no man could dream of questioning. Shortly
after, the army disbanded itself. The veterans laid down
their swords in peace, trusting to the faith and gratitude of
their country, leaving the honour of the " Continental
Army " unstained and the holy cause of liberty unsullied
by any one act of rebellious, or ambitious, or selfish insub-
ordination. They fulfilled the prophetic language of their
chief, when, in the closing words of his address on this
memorable occasion, he expressed his sure confidence that
their patient virtue, rising superior to the pressure of the
most complicated sufferings, would enable " posterity to say,
when speaking of the glorious example they had exhibited
to mankind, had this day been wanting, the world had never
seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is
capable of attaining."

Why should we dilate here on the particulars of this
transaction ? They form the brightest page in our history,
the noblest theme of our orators ; but no eloquence can in-
crease the interest and dignity of the narrative, as told in
the plain language of Marshall and in the orders and address
of Washington himself.

Let it suffice for us to fulfil faithfully the humbler task
of the local antiquary, which we have here undertaken to

214 WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH

perform. When any of our readers visit this scene, they
will feel grateful to us for informing them that it was in the
little northeastern room of the " old stone house " at New-
burgh, that Washington meditated on this momentous ques-
tion and prepared the general orders to the army and the
address which he read with such happy effect to the mili-
tary convention that assembled on his invitation, on the I5th
of October, 1783, at a large barrack or storehouse, then
called " the new building," in the immediate neighbour-
hood.

It was but a few days after this, that, upon the lawn be-
fore the house, Washington finally parted with that portion
of his army which did not accompany him to take posses-
sion of New York. He parted with his faithful comrades
with a deep emotion that contrasted strongly with the cold
and calm serenity of manner which had distinguished him
throughout the whole seven years of the war.

THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY

LADY HARDY

THERE are few passengers on board the train as we
steam through the suburban districts of Mormonland.
The magnificent chain of the Wahsatch Mountains rising
in the east and the great Salt Lake stretching away towards
the west, the rest of the scene made up of fertile lands,
green meadows, fields of yellow corn and purple clover,
form an enchanting panorama as we fly past them ; we are
full of an undefined curiosity and anxious to see this City
of the Saints of which we have heard so much.

We reach the City of the Saints at last, and find it as fair
and beautiful as we had expected. It is in truth an oasis
in a desert, a blooming garden in a wilderness of green.
We can scarcely conceive how this flowery world has
lifted itself from the heart of desolation ; it is only one
more proof that the intellect and industry of man can mas-
ter the mysteries of nature, and force her in her most harsh
uncompromising moods to bring forth fair fruits. It lies in
a deep wide valley, bounded on the east by the mighty
range of the Wahsatch Mountains, which lift their rugged
stony feet stretching away and reaching towards the west,
where the great Salt Lake unrolls its dark waters, and
widens and wanders away until it is lost in the distance.
The streets are wide, the houses of all sorts and sizes,
some one-story high, some two or even three, all built in

2l6 THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY

different styles, or no style of architecture ; each man hav-
ing built his dwelling in accordance with his own taste, or
convenience. The' streets are all arranged in long straight
rows, and stretch away till they seem to crawl up the moun-
tain-sides and then are lost. On either side of the road-
ways are magnificent forest-trees, which in summer-time
must form a most delightful shade, though now it is au-
tumn and the leaves are falling fast. Streams of water
with their pleasant gurgling music flow on either side,
through a deep cutting (which we should irreverently call
the gutter), rushing along as though they were in a hurry
to reach some everlasting sea. The women come out with
their buckets and help themselves, while the children sail
their toy boats, clapping their hands gleefully as the tiny
craft is tossed and tumbled and borne along on the face of
the bubbling water. Street-cars come crawling along the
straight streets, crossing and re-crossing each other at dif-
ferent points ; but a private cab or carriage is rarely to be
seen. Every house, be it only composed of a single room,
is surrounded by a plot of garden ground, where fruits,
flowers and vegetables all grow together in loving com-
panionship. Everything seems flourishing, and everybody
seems well-to-do ; there are no signs of poverty anywhere ;
no bare-footed whining beggars fill the streets ; tramps
there may be, passing from one part of the State to another,
but these are all decently dressed and well fed, for at what-
ever door they knock, they are sure to find food and shelter,
charity to those in need being a part of the reigning relig-

THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY 21 7

The far-famed tabernacle strikes one as a huge mon-
strosity, a tumour of bricks and mortar rising on the face of
the earth. It is a perfectly plain egg-shaped building,
studded with heavy entrance doors all around; there is not
the slightest attempt at ornamentation of any kind ; it is a
mass of ugliness ; the inside is vast, dreary, and strikes
one with a chill, as though entering a vault ; it is 250 feet
long and 80 feet high ; its acoustic properties are wonderful
— the voice of him who occupies the rostrum can be dis-
tinctly heard in the remotest corner of the building. If you
whisper at one end your words are repeated aloud at the
other, without being caught up and hunted through every
crevice by ghostly mocking echoes. A gallery runs all
around, supported by rows of thin, helpless-looking pillars.
The seats in the body of the building are raised on sloping
ground, like the pit of a theatre, — a wide expanse of empty
benches, dreary and depressing to the wandering eye, which
finds no pleasant spot to dwell upon. In the centre stands
a fountain with four plaster-of-Paris lions couchant, poor,
mangy-looking beasts at best. From the white plastered
ceiling or dome, being concave perhaps it may be called so,
hangs a gigantic star, hung round with artificial flowers
and evergreen pendants, something like a monstrous jack-
m-the-green turned upside down. The whole interior is
gloomy and dark ; I doubt if people could ever see to read
their prayers. At one end of this huge barn-like building
hangs an immense blue banner emblazoned with a golden
beehive, which flaunts over the heads of the faithful. At
the other end stands an organ, the largest in the world they

21 8 THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY

say, and it may be so, for it is certainly immense. They
are justly proud of it, for it is of home manufacture en-
tirely, and was built precisely where it stands, under the
supervision of an English convert named Ridges, and con-
tains upwards of a thousand pipes, some of such a circum-
ference you feel as though you could wander up and down
them, and be lost in a world of music. Notwithstanding
its immense size, it has not a single harsh or metallic
sound ; on the contrary, it is marvellously soft-toned ; from
the low flute-like wailing voice of the vox humana to the
deep bass roll which stirs the air like a wave of melodious
thunder, it has all the delicacy of the jEolian harp, with the
strength and power of its thousand brazen voices. The
case is of polished pine of elegant and simple design. All
wood, metal and other material used was brought from the
forest or mines of Utah.

Sloping down from the organ towards the auditorium are
semicircular rows of seats, for the elders and dignitaries of
the Church. In the centre is a desk with a shabby blue
sofa behind it ; this was used by Brigham Young and his
two chief councillors. Below this are the seats for the
twelve apostles and for the choir and benches where the
elders may congregate to consult together. In front of all
this combination stands a long narrow table, an altar per-
haps it may be called, covered with a red cloth, whereon is
arranged a -gorgeous array of silver cups, of all shapes and
sizes, as though prepared for an unlimited christening party
or an everlasting service libation to some heathen deity
rather than to a Christian God,

THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY 2 19

Passing out from the tabernacle, we glanced at the En-
dowment House, where many of their religious ceremonies
are performed, and where, if rumour speaks truly, gross
licentiousness is carried on under the sanction of the
Church — where some ugly secrets and mysteries lie hidden,
of which no one can speak and live. Across the road
stands the president's office, and next to that the " Beehive
House " of Brigham Young notoriety. It is a long low-
roofed, adobe building, railed in, a desolate-looking place
where, in old days, some dozens of his wives were domi-
ciled ; it is now occupied by his wives — some of them.
A high stone wall filled in with adobe encloses the presi-
dent's residence and many other buildings, with arched
gateways and heavy wooden gates; there is a double arch-
way lead'ng to some factories and stables, surmounted by a
beehive in the grip of a monstrous eagle — an illustration of
the Mormon faith in the cruel clutch of the Stars and
Stripes. Close by is the school-house, first erected for the
sole education of Brigham Young's family, which was large
enough to fill it ; it is now devoted to the benefit of the
masses. The whole of these buildings are crowded to-
gether, and are generally surrounded by a high wall, which
gives them a gloomy appearance, suggestive of an Eastern
harem.

THE NATIONAL WASHINGTON MONUMENT

JOSEPH B. VARNUM

" Yonder shaft,

Which States and peoples piled the stones
That from its top the very winds might waft upon,
To distant shores, the name of Washington."

THE most interesting fact connected with the Monu-
ment is, that it stands on the site where Washington
supposed he was to be commemorated. In 1783, Congress
passed resolutions directing the Minister at Versailles to
secure the services of the best artist in Europe, for the
preparation of a statue of Washington, "to be erected
at the place where the residence of Congress shall be
established."

The Commissioners who planned the Federal City, set
apart the place where the Monument now stands, as the
site for this statue; and their report with this provision,
was communicated by Washington to Congress. It has
been said that the statue by Houdon, in Virginia, was from
the cast which Jefferson, then Minister to France, procured,
with reference to fulfilling this resolution of Congress ; but
the statue never appears to have been ordered, probably for
want of funds. Like many other acts of the Continental
Congress, it was probably delayed in its execution by the
uncertainty which existed about a Seat of Government, as
well as the embarrassments incident to a government just

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT

WASHINGTON, D. C.

THE NATIONAL WASHINGTON MONUMENT 221

emerging from a war, and dependent for all its resources on
the action of the States.

In 1799, Congress directed President Adams to corre-
spond with Mrs. Washington, and ask her consent to the
interment of the remains of her illustrious husband, under a
monument to be erected by the United States in the Capitol
at the City of Washington. Mrs. Washington gave her
assent in the following letter :

" Taught by the great example I have so long had before
me never to oppose my private wishes to the public will, I
must consent to the request of Congress which you have
had the goodness to transmit to me ; and, in doing this, I
need not, I cannot, say what a sacrifice of individual feeling
I make to a sense of public duty."

But the monument was not erected, and the remains,
therefore, were not removed from Mount Vernon.

In 1816, the subject was revived in a report by Mr.
Huger, of South Carolina, from a joint committee for a
public monument and the removal of the remains, but
nothing was done. In February of the same year the legis-
lature of Virginia authorized Governor Nicholas to apply
to Judge Bushrod Washington, then proprietor of Mount
Vernon, for leave to remove the remains of General and
Mrs. Washington from Mount Vernon to Richmond, to
be placed under the monument proposed to be erected to
the honour of Washington, at the capital of the State.
Judge Washington declined, and, among other reasons
stated the following :

" But obligations more sacred than anything which con-

222 THE NATIONAL WASHINGTON MONUMENT

cerns myself — obligations with which I cannot dispense —
command me to retain the mortal remains of my venerated
uncle in the family vault where they are deposited. It is
bis own will, and that will is to me a law which I dare not
disobey. He has himself directed his body should be placed
there, and I cannot separate it from those of his near rela-
tives, by which it is surrounded."

Mr. John A. Washington declined on a similar ground,
a proposition made by Congress in 1832, to remove the re-
mains of General and Mrs. Washington to a vault under
the rotunda of the Capitol.

On the 26th of September, 1833, a number of citizens
of Washington digested a plan for the erection of a monu-
ment which, in the language subsequently used by Mr.
Winthrop, should " bespeak the gratitude, not only of the
State, or of cities, or of Governments, not of separate
communities, or of official bodies ; but of the people, the
whoie people of the nation : a national monument erected
by the citizens of the United States of America."

At first the plan was to raise the funds by dollar sub-
scriptions; but the whole collection amounted to only
$28,000, when, owing to the financial embarrassments of
the country, the collections were suspended. But the
amount on hand was invested, and the interest regularly
re-invested, so that it had increased to $40,000 when the
new collection was begun in 1846.

As to the design, it is not easy to say what would have
suited the public at large, and satisfied to a reasonable de-
gree the critics. For our own part we should have thought

THE NATIONAL WASHINGTON MONUMENT 223

that something might have been designed more particularly
expressive of its object and more American in its details,
less of a mere imitation of the ancients, something which
would have embodied in it the trees and products peculiar
to our country, something a little less like a second edition
of Bunker Hill Monument, and which could present in-
ternal as well as outward attractions.

The obelisk presents some decided advantages —
First : It is of all monuments the strongest and most
enduring, next to that of the pyramid. In 1800, when the
question in Congress was between adopting the statue of
1783, or a mausoleum in pyramidal form, it was stated in
debate, without any concert whatever, a remarkable con-
currence had taken place between West, Trumbull and
other respectable artists, who gave an unequivocal prefer-
ence to a mausoleum. A mausoleum would last for ages,
and would present the same imperishable appearance two
thousand years hence that it would now ; whereas a statue
would only remain until some civil convulsion, or foreign
invasion, or flagitious conqueror, or lawless mob should
dash it into atoms, or until some invading barbarian should
transport it as a trophy of his guilt to a foreign shore.
Besides, a statue was minute, trivial, perishable. It was a
monument erected to all that crowd of estimable but sub-
ordinate personages that soar in a region elevated indeed
above common characters, but which was infinitely below
that of Washington. At that session, after a long discus-
sion, a bill passed one House for the erection of a " mauso-
leum of American granite and marble in a pyramidal

224 THE NATIONAL WASHINGTON MONUMENT

form, 100 feet square at the base and of a proportional
height."

Secondly : It is like the Government and character of
Washington, simple and majestic, with no attempt at orna-
ment. It cannot well be spoiled in building, or by bad
sculpture. We could not hope to rival the magnificent
productions of the Old World in structure, however credit-
able the works of our artists may have been in one or two
instances.

Thirdly : It excels all others in one respect, that of
height.

NOTE. — The work was begun in 1858 and finished in 1885. The
original designs were by Robert Mills and the total cost reached the sum
of $1,187,710.31. In 1878, it was noticed that the foundations were not
secure, and deep excavations were made around the base to strengthen
the obelisk which had by that time reached the height of 156 feet. The
area of the foundation was enlarged from 6400 to 16,000 feet. The
National Washington Monument has a total height of 555 feet 5*4 inches,
higher than St. Paul's, London (404 feet), St. Peter's, Rome (434^ feet),
the Strasburg Cathedral (495 feet) and the Cologne Cathedral (514 feet).
It is 231 feet higher than Bartholdi Statue of Liberty in the harbour of
New York.— E. S.

THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON

IN 1778, the City of Boston placed a tablet on the walls
of Christ Church, Boston, which reads : " The signal
lanterns of Paul Revere displayed in the steeples of this
church, April 18, 1775, warned the country of the march
of the British troops to Lexington and Concord."

Important as the " midnight ride of Paul Revere " was,
it owes its chief fame to Longfellow, who made it the sub-
ject of a story in The Tales of a Wayside Inn, written in
1863. The Landlord begins :

" Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere
In the Eighteenth of April, Seventy-five ;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

" He said to his friend, ' If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,—
One, if by land, and two, if by sea ;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.'
Then he said « Good-night ! ' and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war ;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,

226 THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON

And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

« Meanwhile his friend, through alley and street^
Wanders and watches with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.
******

« Meanwhile impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride,
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill ,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo ! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light !
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight,
A second lamp in the belfry burns !

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,

And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark

Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet :

That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the lights

The fate of a nation was riding that night ;

And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight

Kindled the land into fame with its heat.

• It was one by the village clock
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock

THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON 22;

Swim in the moonlight as he passed,

And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,

Gaze at him with a spectral glare,

As if they already stood aghast

At the bloody work they would look upon.

" So through the night rode Paul Revere ;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, —
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door.
And a word that shall echo forevermore !
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed
And the midnight message of Paul Revere."

Closely associated with this ride is the old house known
as the Clarke-Hancock House and now owned by the
Lexington Historical Society. On the night of Paul
Revere's ride, two of the leaders of the American causfc
were sleeping quietly there, — John Hancock and Samuel
Adams, upon whose heads a price had been set. They
were attending the daily sessions of the Provincial Congress
in Concord and returned every night to Lexington where
they lodged in the home of the Rev. Jonas Clarke, who
had married a niece of Hancock's. Another inmate of the
house at this time was Hancock's betrothed bride, Dorothy
Quincy, whom he married in the following year. It was
very important that Hancock and Adams should be kept
informed of the progress of events in Boston, and Paul
Revere, then a man of forty, was a regularly employed and

228 THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON

paid messenger from the patriots of Boston to them.
Revere, an engraver and silversmith, was one of the " Sons
of Liberty," a society composed largely of artisans and
workmen ; and, moreover, he was one of a company who
patrolled the streets of Boston to watch the movements of
British soldiers and Tories.

Revere's own account of this ride, written about 1783
and published in an early number of the Massachusetts His-
torical Society's publications, reads :

" About ten o'clock, Dr. Warren sent in great haste for
me, and begged that I would immediately set off for
Lexington, where Messrs. Hancock and Adams were, and
acquaint them of the movement, and that it was thought
they were the objects. When I got to Dr. Warren's
house, I found he had sent an express by land to Lexington
— a Mr. William Dawes. The Sunday before, by desire
of Dr. Warren, I had been to Lexington, to Messrs.
Hancock and Adams, who were at the Rev, Mr. Clarke's,
I returned at night through Charlestown ; there I agreed
with a Colonel Conant and some other gentlemen, that if
the British went out by water, we would show two Ian-
thorns m the North Church steeple j and if by land, one
as a signal ; for we were apprehensive it would be difficult
to cross the Charles River, or get over Boston Neck. I
left Dr. Warren, called upon a friend, and desired him to
make the signals, I then went home, took my boots and
surtout, went to the north part of the town, where I kept a
boat ; two friends rowed me across Charles River a little to
the eastward, where the Somerset man-of-war lay. It was

THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON 22Q

then young flood, the ship was winding and the moon
rising. They landed me on the Charlestown side. When
I got into town, I met Colonel Conant and several others ;
they said they had seen our signals. I told them what was
acting, and went to get me a horse ; I got a horse of
Deacon Larkin."

Revere went directly to the Clarke house. His narrative
continues :

" After I had been there for about an hour Mr. Dawes
came ; we refreshed ourselves, and set off for Concord, to
secure the stores, etc., there. We were overtaken by a
young Dr. Prescott, whom we found to be a high Son of
Liberty. I told them of the ten officers that Mr. Devens
met, and that it was probable we might be stopped before
we got to Concord ; for I supposed that after that night,
they divided themselves, and that two of them had fixed
themselves in such passages as were most likely to stop any
intelligence going to Concord. I likewise mentioned that
we had better alarm all the inhabitants till we got to Con-
cord ; the young Doctor much approved of it, and said he
would stop with either of us, for the people between that
and Concord knew him, and would give the more credit to
what we said. We had got nearly half-way ; Mr. Dawes
and the Doctor stopped to alarm the people of a house ; I
was about one hundred yards ahead, when I saw two men,
in nearly the same situation as those officers were near
Charlestown. I called for the Doctor and Mr. Dawes to
come up ; in an instant I was surrounded by four ; they had
placed themselves in a straight road, that inclined each way;

230 THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON

they had taken down a pair of bars on the north side of the
road, and two of them were under a tree in the pasture.
The Doctor being foremost, he came up ; and we tried to
get past them ; but they being armed with pistols and
swords, they forced us into the pasture; the Doctor
jumped his horse over a low stone-wall, and got to
Concord.

" I observed a wood at a small distance, and made for
that. When I got there, out started six officers on horse-
back and ordered me to dismount. One of them, who
appeared to have the command, examined me, where I came
from and what my name was. I told him. He asked me
if I was an express ? I answered in the affirmative. He
demanded what time I left Boston ? I told him ; and
added that their troops had catched aground in passing the
river and that there would be five hundred Americans
there in a short time, for I had alarmed the country all the
way up."

Revere was ordered to mount his horse, and was led by
the soldiers back to Lexington ; but when they arrived near
the meeting-house, " the militia fired a volley of guns,
which appeared to alarm them very much." The officers
rode off with Revere's horse and he hurried back to Mr.
Clarke's house, where he related his adventures. It was
then decided that Hancock and Adams had better leave
Lexington, and so they, with Dorothy Quincy, accompanied
by Hancock's secretary, Lowell, and Paul Revere, went to
Woburn. Revere and Lowell returned to Lexington, to

THE CLARKE -HANCOCK HOUSE. LEXINGTON 231

" find what was going on." The former tells us that on
reaching the town :

" Mr. Lowell asked me to go to the tavern with him to
get a trunk of papers belonging to Mr. Hancock. We went
up chamber, and while we were getting the trunk, we saw
the British very near, upon a full march. We hurried
towards Mr. Clarke's house. In our way, we passed
through the militia. They were about fifty. When we had
got about one hundred yards from the meeting-house, the
British troops appeared on both sides of the meeting-house.
They made a short halt ; when I saw and heard a gun fired,
which appeared to be a pistol. Then I could distinguish
two guns, and then a continued roar of musketry ; when we
made off with the trunk."

A concise and interesting version of this story is thus
told by Thomas Wentworth Higginson :

" When on the night of the i8th April, 1775, Paul
Revere rode beneath the bright moonlight through Lexing-
ton to Concord with Dawes and Prescott for comrades, he
was carrying the signal for the independence of a nation.
He had seen across the Charles River the two lights from
the church steeple in Boston which were to show that a
British force was going out to seize the patriotic supplies
at Concord : he had warned Hancock and Adams at Rev»
Jonas Clarke's parsonage in Lexington, and had rejected
Sergeant Monroe's caution against unnecessary noise, with
the rejoinder : 4 You'll have noise enough here before long
— the regulars are coming out.' As he galloped on his way

232 THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON

the regulars were advancing with steady step behind him,
soon warned of their own danger by alarm-bells and signal
guns. By the time Revere was captured by some British
officers who happened to be near Concord, Colonel Smith,
the commander of the expedition, halted, ordered Pitcairn
forward, and sent back prudently for re -enforcements. It
was a night of terror to all the neighbouring Middlesex
towns, for no one knew what excesses the angry British
troops might commit on their return march. . . .

" Before 5 A. M., on April 19, 1775, the British troops had
reached Lexington Green, where thirty-eight men, under
Captain Parker, stood up before 600 or 800 to be shot at,
their captain saying : c Don't fire unless you are fired on ;
but if they want a war, let it begin here.' It began there ;
they were fired upon ; they fired rather ineffectually in re-
turn, while seven were killed and nine wounded. The rest,
after retreating, re-formed and pursued the British towards
Concord, capturing seven stragglers — the first prisoners
taken in the war. Then followed the fight at Concord,
where 450 Americans instead of 38, were rallied to meet
the British. The fighting took place between two detach-
ments at the North Bridge, where

" ' Once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.' "

The old house, which witnessed such exciting scenes,
stands not far from the village green of Lexington. It is
known as the Clarke-Hancock House, and was built by
Thomas Hancock, the rich Boston merchant, in 1740, pre-

THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON 233

sumably for his father " Bishop " Hancock, who dwelt there.
The following description is by Samuel Adams Drake :

" The house belongs certainly to two, and perhaps to
three, periods. It is composed of a main building in the
plain, substantial style of the last (Eighteenth) Century, and
of a more antiquated structure standing at right angles to
it. The first confronts you, if you have come down the
road from the Common ; the last faces the street from which
the whole structure stands back a little distance, with a
space of green turf between. A large willow is growing in
front of the main house, and on the verge of the grass-plot
stands an elm, its branches interlacing those of a fellow-tree
on the other side the way, so as to form a triumphal arch
under which no patriot should fail to pass. We have
christened the twain Hancock and Adams. The one is
sturdy, far reaching and comprehensive ; the other, grace-
ful, supple, but of lesser breadth. About the house flourish
lilacs, syringas and the common floral adjuncts of a New
England home. . . .

" The room occupied by c King ' Hancock and ' Citizen '
Adams is the one on the lowei floor on the left of the en-
trance. Care has been taken to preserve its original ap-
pearance.

" The woodwork of Southern pine has remained un-
painted, acquiring with age a beautiful colour. One side
of the room is wainscoted up to the ceiling, the remaining
walls bearing the original paper in large figures. The stair-
case in the front hall has also remained innocent of paint
and is handsome enough for a church. Age has given tc

234 THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON

the carved balusters and panelled casings a richness and
depth of hue that scorns the application of any unnatural
pigment. The room we have just left Is »n the southwest
corner of the house. Passing to the opposite side of the
hall we enter the best room, which corresponds in finish
with that just described, except that the painter's brush has
been applied to the wainscot and newer paper to the
walls. . . .

" The best room communicates with the ancient or original
house, which is seen fronting the street with its single story
and picturesque dormer windows and roof. This part was
doubtless built by the bishop's parishioners soon after his
settlement. It formerly stood nearer the high-road until
the new building was completed, when it was moved back
and joined upon it. The house is a veritable curiosity and
would not make a bad depository for the household furni-
ture and utensils of the period to which it belongs, being
of itself so unique a specimen of early New England archi-
tecture. The floors and wainscot are of hard wood, upon
which time has left not the least evidence of decay. The
farmers clearly meant their minister to inhabit a house of a
better sort than their own, as is apparent in the curious pan-
elling of the outer door, which still retains its original fas-
tenings, and in the folding shutters of the little study at the
back. A cramped and narrow staircase conducts to the
chambers above, from the room in which we are standing.
The same old dresser is attached to the wall, garnished of
yore by the wooden trenchers and scanty blue china of the
good bishop's housekeeping. Some old three-legged tables

THE CLARKE-HANCOCK HOUSE, LEXINGTON 235

are the only relics of the formei inhabitants. This one
room according to the custom of the times, served as
kitchen, dining-room and for the usual avocations of the
family. The little study has the narrow windows which
first admitted light upon the ponderous folios of the minis-
ter, or the half-written sheets of many a weighty sermon."

CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC

J. M. LE MOINE, F, R. S. C.

" Such dusky grandeur clothed the height
Where the huge castle holds its state,

And all the steep slope, down
Whose ridgy back heaves to the sky,
Piled deep and massy, close and high,
Mine own romantic town."

— Marmion.

IN describing the antique castle, several writers have
mixed up dates and incidents referring to the Fort St.
Louis begun in 1620, with those relating to the Chateau
St. Louis, which, after several changes and transformations,
assumed that name only in 1647, under Governor de Mont-
magny. Hawkins is quite correct in saying that : " The
Castle of St. Louis was in early times rather a stronghold
of defence than an embellished ornament of royalty. Seated
on a tremendous precipice :

" On a rock whose haughty brow
Frown'd o'er St. Lawrence's foaming tide,"

and looking defiance to the utmost boldness of the assail-
ant, nature lent her aid to the security of the position. The
cliff on which it stood rises nearly two hundred feet in per-
pendicular height above the river. The castle thus com-
manded on every side a most extensive prospect, and until
the occupation of the higher ground to the southwest, after-
wards called Cape Diamond, must have been the principal
object among the buildings of the city.

CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC 237

" When Champlain first laid the foundation of the Fort,
in 1620, to which he gave the name of St. Louis, it is evi-
dent he was actuated by views of a political, not of a com-
mercial character. His mind was in better keeping with
warlike enterprises than the acquirement of wealth. He
was perfectly disinterested in all his proceedings. Fore-
seeing that Quebec would become the seat of dominion
and invite a struggle for its future possession, he knew the
necessity of a stronghold, and determined to erect one in
opposition to the wishes of the Company of Merchants."
The building was commenced in July, 1620.

Champlain, at first, styled his fort " demeure, corps-de-
logis " — that is, a dwelling-place. In 1621, he put in charge
of it, one M. Du Mai, with a few men. In 1622, he
pushed on the work, " insisting on the importance of com-
pleting it, having it equipped with an armament, stores and
a suitable garrison." On the 2Qth November, 1623, the
ruggedness of the ascent from the Abitation to the fort, in-
duced him to establish a road or path (since known as Moun-
tain Hill) to Fort St. Louis. The walls of the fort later on
covered about four acres. On the i8th April, 1624, his
artificers were busy putting in their place the timber con*
veyed there by his Indian allies on sledges over the snow
on the loth December, 1623. Two years later, a violent
wind storm carried away over the cliff the roof of the build-
ing.

On his departure for France in August, 1624, though
Champlain had left orders to continue the work on his fort,
he found on his return that no progress worth mentioning

238 CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC

had been made. In anticipation of the time not far distant
when he expected the French King would be sending colo-
nists to Quebec, as well as soldiers for their protection, the
founder of Quebec decided on razing the small fort begun
in 1620. With the materials, he set to work to lay the
foundations of the larger one, which he may have occupied
as a residence previous to the surrender of the fort to the
Kertks in 1629, but where he certainly made his home
when he returned from France in 1633, until his death
there on Christmas Day, 1635.

Louis Kertk held it from 1629 to 1632, Emery de Caen
and Duplessis Bochart took possession of it in 1632, until
Chatnplain's return, 23d May, 1633.

The first Chateau, a one-story building commenced in
1647 ty Governor de Montmagny, and which is styled
" Corps de Logis au Fort," after some repairs was finally de-
molished by Count de Frontenac in 1694 and rebuilt by him.
The second Chateau, begun in 1694-5, to which a wing
was added was completed in 1700. It is described by La
Potherie, and later on, in 1749 by the Swedish botanist and
traveller, Herr Peter Kalm, the friend of Linnaeus. Capt.
John Knox of the 43d, a companion-in-arms of Wolfe,
also alludes to it in his voluminous diary of the great siege
of 1759, when the bombardment inflicted on Quebec by
Admiral Saunders, left it in ruins. It so remained until
Gov. Murray had it repaired in 1764, and occupied it in
1765.

On the 5th May, 1784, General Haldimand set to work
to construct an addition to St. Louis Castle for public balls

CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC 239

and official dinners, whilst the state levees continued to take
place in the old Chateau. A portion of the walls of Fort
St0 Louis were used in constructing the first story of the
building, which took the name of Chateau Haldimand. It
was inaugurated with eclat more than two years after the
Governor's departure, on the i8th January, 1787, by a
splendid ball on Queen Charlotte's birthday when Lady
Dorchester-Maria, the accomplished daughter of the Earl
of Iffingham — presided. On August I5th, 1787, Prince
William, a middy on board the frigate Pegasus, then in port,
afterwards Duke of Clarence, and later on, William IV.,
King of England, paid his respects to the Governor-Gen-
eral at Government House, the old Chateau and inspected
the new building.

On the 2ist September of the same year, and on the 4th
of October, 1787, the overseer of Military Works, Sergeant
James Thompson records in his diary the extensive prepa-
rations made to welcome to Quebec the King's son, with-
out forgetting the platform erected for the occasion on the
roof of the old powder magazine (razed in 1892), in the rear
of Chateau Haldimand, in order to witness the fire-
works set off in his honour. In December of that year, the
Governor removed his household goods to the new build-
ing, leaving the old Chateau to be used as public offices, and
about this time the castle was allowed to get out of repair.
The Governor for the time being inhabited the new build-
ing, the Chateau Haldimand, it being more modern and
roomy, in its internal arrangements.

In 1808, at the request of His Excellency, General Sir

240 CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC

James Henry Craig, the provincial legislature voted and
spent £10,000 in re-building two stories higher the antique
castle j and a short time before his departure, in 1811, he
removed to it from his summer retreat, Spencer Wood, and
his winter quarters at Chateau Haldimand. On the 23d
January, 1834, it was entirely consumed by firej but its
dependency, Haldimand Castle escaped. Lord and Lady
Aylmer, the previous occupants of Chateau St. Louis, in-
stead of inhabiting General Haldimand's structure, took
their abode on the Cape with Col. Craig, until they could
rent a house. Four years later, in 1838, the pompous but
able Governor and Grand Commissioner, the Earl of Dur-
ham, having declined to accept from the authorities any
remuneration for his short time of office, it is said, directed
this fund to be donated to the razing of the ruins of the
old Chateau, and to the erection on their foundations, of a
terrace (Durham Terrace until 1879), 160 feet in length.
This the Minister of Public Works, in 1854, the Hon. P.
Chabot, M. P. P. for Quebec, increased to 270 feet. Under
Lord Dufferin's Plans of City Embellishments, it was ex-
tended, at Government and Municipal cost, to 1,420 feet
in length. The corner-stone to this incomparable prome-
nade was laid on the i8th October, 1878, by the Earl of
DufFerin, and was named and inaugurated by their Excel-
lencies, the Marquis of Lome and H. R. H. the Princess
Louise, as DufFerin Terrace on the iQth June, 1879, at the
request of the Mayor, City Council and Citizens of
Quebec.

On the 12th June, 1846, an awful fire, attended by the

CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC 24!

loss of forty lives, obliterated the remaining walls of the old
Chateau and its stables, transformed first into a riding-school
and next into a theatre.

From 1852 to 1855, and from 1860 to 1865, the re-
maining modern building, Chateau Haldimand, was used by
the Provincial Board of Works, the Crown Lands, King's
Domain and Registrar. In 1857, lt became the seat of the
Normal School, and again until 1860 and later on.

With the old French powder-magazine in rear, it was
razed in 1892 to the ground to make room for the stately
pile, the Hotel Chateau Frontenac, planned by an eminent
New York architect, Mr. Bruce Price, for the Chateau
Frontenac Co., of which Thos. G. Shaughnessy is the
president. It was built at a cost of $500,000 on a site
purchased from the Provincial Government of Quebec,
covering 57,000 feet.

Montmagny, Chevalier de Make, had pushed forward
colonization, among other measures drawing on Normandy,
Brittany, Perche, Poitou, Aunis, and set to work to inspire
respect to the Indians hutted around his fort. The latter
styled Montmagny Ononthio, which means " Great Moun-
tain " — playing on his name (Mons Magnus). The sur-
name was borne by the succeeding French Governors.

His next care was to lay out streets, widen and straighten
the footpaths which intersected Stadacona. But a chevalier
sans cheval, as Mr. E. Gagnon well observes, could not be
the correct thing. So a horse as a mount — the first seen
in the colony — was imported from France by the inhab-
itants on the 2Oth June, 1647, a very suitable present to

242 CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC

the worthy Knight. What became of it history does not
say. Matters were evidently looking up at the Fort and
Chateau when M. d'Ailleboust, the new Governor took
possession of Government House at Quebec in 1648. He
was replaced by M. de Lauzon, 1651-56. Lauzon re-
occupied it as administrator in 1657, an^ n's successors
under Viscount d'Argenson in 1658 j Baron d'Avougour,
in 1 66 1, and Chevalier SafFrey de Mesy in 1663.

Governor de Courcelles arrived at Quebec in 1665, with
the magnificent Marquis de Tracy, the King's Lieutenant-
General in America. Tracy was accompanied by several
companies of the dashing Carignan-Salieres regiment, and
made his debut with extraordinary pomp0 His advent was
quite a social event in Quebec, which had just been granted
a Royal Government, and for the first time was styled a
town. De Courcelles's administration lasted until 1672,
when Count de Frontenac was named Governor. His first
administration lasted until 1682. He was followed by
Labarre, 1682-85, an(^ by the Marquis De Nonville,
1685-89, when the stern old warrior was recalled to his
former position, which he occupied until the year of his
death, in 1698. Callieres followed, 1699-1703, when
Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, was named and
governed the country until 1725,

Charles Le Moine, Baron de Longueuu\ administered
the colony, 1625-26 ; he was succeeded by the Marquis
de Beauharnois. Count de la Galissonniere was next sent
out to govern, from 1746 to 1749, during the captivity
of the Marquis de la Jonquiere, who, on his way to

CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC 243

Quebec, had been taken prisoner by an English fleet. The
Marquis, however, at his release ruled here, in 1752, when
Charles Le Moine, the second Baron de Longueuil, ad-
ministered the Government from May to July, 1752.
That year the Marquis Duquesne de Menneville replaced
him, and the last Governor under French rule was Pierre
Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil Cavagnal until 1760.

History tells of one distinguished guest Herr Peter Kalm,
the Swedish savant and botanist, who was dined and wined
there for forty days by another savant Count de la Galis-
sonniere, Governor of Quebec, in the summer of 1749.
Hark to his description of the Chateau :

" The Palace (Chateau Saint Louis), is situated on the
west or steepest side of the mountain, just above the lower
city. It is not properly a palace, but a large building of
stone, two stories high, extending north and south. On
the west side of it is a courtyard, surrounded partly with a
wall and partly with houses. On the east side, or towards
the river, is a gallery as long as the whole building, and
about two fathoms broad paved with smooth flags and in-
cluded on the outside by iron rails, from whence the city
and river exhibit a charming prospect. This gallery serves
as a very agreeable walk after dinner, and those who come
to speak with the Governor-General wait here till he
is at leisure. The place is the lodging of the Governor-
General of Canada, and a number of soldiers mount the
guard before it, both at the gate and in the courtyard ; and
when the Governor, or the Bishop comes in or goes out,
they must all appear in arms and beat the <jrum? f^

244 CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC

Governor-General has his own chapel where he hears
prayers ; however, he often goes to Mass at the church of
the Recollets, which is very near the palace."

The Castle and Fort St. Louis under England's domina-
tion has had its sunshine and its shadows ; its dark as well
as its bright, radiant memories ; its anxious hours of siege
and alarm — nay, even of blockade, followed by the welcome
roar of artillery, proclaiming British victories j more than
once social pageants and many festive displays.

Facing the site of the fort, long since vanished, a few
yards to the west, lies the well-known area, La Grande
Place du Fort (since 1862, the Ring), mantled in foliage and
trees, planted when Mayor Thomas Pope held out at the
City Hall. Our warlike ancestors knew it as the Place
a" Armes. In days gone by, have met, not for military
drill, but for annual roll-call, on St. Peter and St. Paul's
Day, June the 29th, the city militia — an important though
a very pacific body. It was continued for years until
dropped about 1850.

Hark ! to the rousing cheer of the British soldiery, as
they plant on the Grande Parade, facing the historic Cha-
teau, on the 1 8th of September, 1759, on the day of the
capitulation of Quebec, the solitary gun, drawn from the
Heights of Abraham through St. Louis gate. Captain John
Knox, of the 43d Regiment, tells us how his brave com-
mander hoisted the English flag, after taking possession of
the keys of Quebec from de Ramsay, its late Governor.

But the lordly castle of other days, riddled by the shot
and shell of the English fleet, tenantless, uninhabitable,

CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC 245

was not thoroughly repaired until 1764-5, when General
James Murray, first Governor of Quebec, had his Royal
Commission read on the adjoining square, prior to his tak-
ing possession of the Castle as his official residence. A
decade later, and the occupant (Sir) Guy Carleton, so appro-
priately named the " saviour of Quebec," might notice,
from the Chateau windows, the arrival on the Levis shore,
on the 5th of November, 1775, of Benedict Arnold's hungry
and worn-out continentals, eager to cross the St. Lawrence,
and land at Wolfe's cove above. But a wise precaution
had induced Lt.-Governor Cramahe to remove to the Que-
bec side the Levis canoes and water conveyances before the
arrival of the invading host. The wave of invasion, trium-
phant at Montreal, Sorel, Chambly, Three Rivers, St. John
and elsewhere, was hurled back by the granite rock of
Quebec. On the 3151 December, 1775,31 9 A. M., the
intrepid chieftain, Guy Carleton, could from his parlour
windows look down triumphantly, but not scornfully, on
the New England soldiery, escorted to the Grande Parade —
426 rank and file — marched up prisoners of war, from the
Sault-au-Matelot assault, to await crestfallen, the orders of
His Excellency before being detailed to their respective
prisons.

Might one not unreasonably infer, from the official eti-
quette that has ever prevailed among naval commanders
frequenting our port, that the youthful captain of the sloop
of war, Aibtmarle, Horatio Nelson, present here in 1782
paid his devoirs at the Castle to the distinguished Governor--
General Sir Frederick Haldimand, and partook of the hos-

246 CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC

pitalities usually shown to visitors of distinction ? At his
romantic time of life did Nelson, like many subsequent
lovers, indulge in a sentimental promenade on the famed
Castle terrace ? Did he ever, at the witching-hour when
the citadel evening-gun calls to barrack military beaux, meet
there the adorable Mary Simpson, the girl for whose sake
he was, he said, ready to quit the service ? Southey, as
well as Lamartine, in their biographies of the hero of Traf-
algar, state that violence had to be used to tear the smitten
Horatio from his Quebec charmer. Miss Simpson after
marrying Major Matthews, Secretary to the Governor, re-
moved to London with her husband who became Governor
of Chelsea Hospital.

A titled visitor of no ordinary rank entered the portals
of the Castle in 1787, Prince William Henry, Duke of
Clarence, subsequently William IV., King of England.
He was then a roystering middy on board H. M. frigate
Pegasus, anchored in the port below the Chateau. A grand
ball was given there in his honour by Lord and Lady
Dorchester.

A volume would not suffice to detail the brilliant recep-
tions and state balls given at the Castle during Lord
Dorchester's administration — the lively discussions, the
formal protests originating out of points of precedence,
burning questions de jupons between the touchy magnates of
the old and those of the new regime; whether La Baronne
de St. Laurent would be admitted at the Chateau or not ;
whether a de Longueuil or a de Lotbiniere's place was on
the right of Lady Maria, the charming consort of His Ex-

CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC 247

cellency Lord Dorchester, a daughter of the great English
Earl of Effingham ; whether dancing ought to cease when
their Lordships the Bishops entered and made their bow to
the representative of royalty. Unfortunately, Quebec had
then no Court Journal, so that the generations following
can have but faint ideas of all the witchery, the stunning
head-dresses, the d'ecollet'ees, and high-waisted robes of their
stately grandmothers, whirled around in the giddy waltz by
whiskered, epauletted cavaliers, or else courtesying in the
demure minuet de la cour.

We are now nearing the stormy era of " Little King
Craig." Troublous times are looming out portentously
for the earnest, hospitable, but stern Laird of the Castle,
Sir James Henry Craig. The lightning cloud, however,
will burst over his successor, Sir George Prevost. As
oft before, the trumpet of Bellona has sounded ; this time
at Washington, on the i8th of June, 1812. "Prepare for
the Invader," is repeated with bated breath in the streets of
Quebec.

" Five cannon taken at Detroit, are now lying in the
Chateau Court," says the Quebec Mercury of 27th Octo-
ber, 1813, whilst the prisoners taken at Detroit, brought
down to Quebec, await embarkation for Boston for pur-
poses of exchange. Quebec was martial with United States
uniforms — American prisoners — the Yankee Generals
Winder, Chandler and Winchester; Colonel Winfield
Scott, later on General W:nfield Scott, who culled laurels
in the Mexican War, and so many other officers and prv
vates, that the Governor of Canada scarcely kjnew bow tp

248 CASTLE ST. LOUIS, QUEBEC

dispose of them. Colonel Scott remained in Canada from
the date of his surrender, 23d October, 1812, to the period
of his departure from Quebec, say May, 1813. But he was
on parole all the time.

In bringing to a close this brief sketch, may we not
recall how many representatives of royalty, under French
and under English rule, Viceroys, proud Dukes, distin-
guished Earls, martial Counts and Barons, occasionally held
there their Court, in quasi-regal style, in order to keep up
the prestige of France's Grand Monarque (Louis XIV.) and
thereby impress, the surrounding Indian tribes with his
might ; or as worthy representatives of the British Crown
in the New World : Champlain, de Montmagny, D'Aille-
boust, Lauzon, D'Argenson, de Mesy, de Courcelles, stern
old Frontenac, La Barre, Callieres, de Vaudreml, de Ramsay,
de Longueuil, de Beauharnois, de la Galissonniere, de la
Jonquiere, Duquesne, General Murray, Sir Guy Carleton,
Sir F. Haldimand, Lord Dorchester, General Prescott,
Sir James H. Craig, Sir George Prevost, Sir James Kempt,
Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, the Duke of Richmond, Earl
Dalhousie, Lord Aylmer ?

SUNNYSIDE, TARRYTOWN

BENSON J. LOSSING

A PPROACHING Tarrytown, we observe upon the
•tA. left of the highway an already populous cemetery
covering the crown and slopes of a gentle hill. Near its
base is an ancient church, and a little beyond it flows a
ciear stream of water, which the Indians called Po-can-te-co,
signifying a "run between two hills." It makes its way in
a swift current from the back country between a hundred
hills, presenting a thousand scenes of singular beauty in its
course. The Dutch named it Slaeperigh Haven Kill, or
Sleepy Haven Creek, and the valley in the vicinity of the
old church through which it flowed Slaeperigh Hol^ or
Sleepy Hollow, the scene of Washington Irving's famous
legend of that name.

The little old church is a curiosity. It was built, says
an inscription upon a small marble tablet on its front, by
" Frederic Philips and Catharine Van Cortland, his wife, in
1699," and is the oldest church edifice existing in the state
of New York. It was built of brick and stone, the former
imported from Holland for the purpose. Over its little
spire still turns the flag-shaped vane of iron, in which is
cut the monogram of its founder (VF in combination, his
name being spelt in Dutch Vedryck Flypsen); and in the
little tower hangs the ancient bell, bearing the inscription
in Latin : " If God be for ust who can be against us ? 1685."

250 SUNNYSIDE, TARRYTOWN

The pulpit and communion table were also imported from
Holland. The former was long since destroyed by the
iconoclastic hand of " improvement."

At this quiet old church is the opening of Sleepy Hollow,
upon the shores of the Hudson, and near it is a rustic bridge
that crosses the Po-can-te-co^ a little below the one made
famous in Irving's legend by an amusing incident.1 In
this vicinity, according to the legend, Ichabod Crane, a Con-
necticut schoolmaster, instructed " tough, wrong-headed,
broad-skirted, Dutch urchins " in the rudiments of learning.
He was also the singing-master of the neighbourhood. Not
far off lived old Baltus Van Tassel, a well-to-do farmer,
whose house was called Wolferfs Roost. He had a bloom-
ing and only daughter named Katrina, and Ichabod was her
tutor in psalmody, training her voice to mingle sweetly
with those of the choir which he led at Sabbath-day wor-
ship in the Sleepy Hollow Church. Ichabod " had a soft
and foolish heart towards the sex." He fell in love with
Katrina. He found a rival in his suit in stalwart, bony
Brom Van Brunt, commonly known as Brom Bones. Jeal-
ousies arose, and the Dutchman resolved to drive the
Yankee schoolmaster from the country.

Strange stories of ghosts in Sleepy Hollow were believed
by all, and by none more implicitly than Ichabod. The
chief goblin seen there was that of a Hessian trooper,

1 " Over a deep, black part of the stream, not far from the church," says
Mr. Irving, in his Legend of Sleepy Hollow, " was formerly thrown a
wooden bridge; the road that led to it and the bridge itself were thickly
shaded by overhanging trees which cast a gloom about it even in the day-
time, but occasioned a fearful darkness at night"

SUNNYSIDE, TARRYTOWN 25!

whose head had been carried away by a cannon ball. This
spectre was known all over the country as " The Headless
Horseman of Sleepy Hollow."

About three miles below Tarrytown is Sunnyside, the
residence of Washington Irving. It is reached from the
public road by a winding carriage-way that passes here
through rich pastures and pleasant woodlands and then
along the margin of a dell through which runs a pleasant
brook, reminding one of the merry laughter of children as
it dances away riverward and leaps in beautiful cascades
and rapids into a little bay a few yards from the cottage of
Sunnyside.

Around that cottage and the adjacent lands and waters,
Irving's genius has cast an atmosphere of romance. The
old Dutch house — one of the oldest in all that region — out
of which grew that quaint cottage, was a part of the veri-
table Wolfert's Roost — the very dwelling wherein occurred
Katrina Van Tassel's memorable quilting frolic that termi-
nated so disastrously to Ichabod Crane in his midnight race
with the " Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow." There,
too, the veracious Dutch historian, Diedrich Knickerbocker,
domiciled while he was deciphering the precious documents
found there, " which, like the lost books of Livy, had baf-
fled the research of former historians." But its appearance
had sadly changed when it was purchased by Mr. Irving,
about 1836, and was by him restored to the original form of
the Roost, which he describes as " a little, old-fashioned stone
mansion, all made up of gable ends, and as full of angles
and corners in an old cocked hat. It is said, in fact," con-

252 SUNNYSIDE, TARRYTOWN

tinues Mr. Irving, " to have been modelled after the cockeJ
hat of Peter the Headstrong, as the Escunal was modelled
after the gridiron of the blessed St. Lawrence." It was
built, the chronicler tells us, by Wolfert Acker, a privy
councillor of Peter Stuy vesant, " a worthy, but ill-starred
man, whose aim through life had been to live in peace and
quiet." He sadly failed. " It was his doom, in fact, to
meet a head wind at every turn and be kept in a constant
fume and fret by the perverseness of mankind. Had he
served on a modern jury he would have been sure to have
eleven unreasonable men opposed to him." He retired in
disgust to this then wilderness, built the gabled house and
" inscribed over the door (his teeth clenched at the time)
his favourite Dutch motto c Lust in Rust ' (pleasure in
quiet). The mansion was thence called Wolferfs Rust
(Wolfert's Rest), but by the uneducated, who did not un-
derstand Dutch, Wolf erf s Roost." It passed into the hands
of Jacob Van Tassel, a valiant Dutchman, who espoused
the cause of the Republicans. The hostile ships of the
British were often seen in Tappan Bay, in front of the
Roost^ and Cow Boys infested the land thereabout. Van
Tassel had much trouble : his house was finally plundered
and burnt, and he was carried a prisoner to New York.
When the war was over, he rebuilt the Roost, but in more
modest style. " The Indian spring " — the one brought
from Rotterdam — " still welled up at the bottom of the
green bank ; and the wild brook, wild as ever, came bab-
bling down the ravine, and chrew itself into the little cove
where of yore the water-guard harboured their whale-boats."

SUNNYSIDE. TARRYTOWN 253

The " water-guard " was an acquatic corps, m the pay
of the Revolutionary government, organized to range the
waters of the Hudson, and keep watch upon the movements
of the British. The Roost, according to the chronicler, was
one of the lurking-places of this band and Van Tassel was
one of their best friends. He was, moreover, fond of war-
ring upon his " own hook/' He possessed a famous
" goose-gun " that would send its shot half-way across
Tappan Bay. " When the belligerent feeling was strong
upon Jacob," says the chronicler of the Roost, " he would
take down his gun, sally forth alone, and prowl along shore,
dodging behind rocks and trees, watching for hours together
any ship or galley at anchor or becalmed. So sure as a
boat approached the shore, bang ! went the great goose-gunv
sending on board a shower of slugs and buck shot."

On one occasion Jacob and some fellow bush-fighters
peppered a British transport that had run aground. " This,"
says the chronicler, " was the last of Jacob's triumphs ; he
fared like some heroic spider that had unwittingly ensnared
a hornet, to the utter ruin of its web. It was not long after
the above exploit that he fell into the hands of the enemy,
in the course of one of his forays, and was carried away
prisoner to New York. The Roost itself, as a pestilent
rebel nest, was marked out for signal punishment. The
cock of the Roost being captive, there was none to garrison
it but his stout-hearted spouse, his redoubtable sister, Notchie
Van Wurmer, and Dinah, a strapping negro wench. An
armed vessel came to anchor in front ; a boat full of men
pulled to shore. The garrison flew to arms, that is to say,

254 SUNNYSIDE, TARRYTOWN

to mops, broomsticks, shovels, tongs, and all kinds of do
mestic weapons, for, unluckily, the great piece of ordnance,
the goose-gun, was absent with its owner. Above all, a
vigorous defence was made with that most potent of female
weapons, the tongue ; never did invaded hen-roost make a
more vociferous outcry. It was all in vain ! The house
was sacked and plundered, fire was set to each room, and
in a few moments its blaze shed a baleful light over the
Tappan Sea."

THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM

ESTHER SINGLETON

ON the corner of Essex and North Streets, in Salem,
there stands a house that attracts many visitors, al-
though it is neither picturesque nor impressive. " The Old
Witch House," however, appeals to the imagination, recall-
ing one of the darkest chapters in the history of this coun-
try,— the witchcraft mania of the Seventeenth Century.

This belief, transplanted from the Old Country, flour-
ished luxuriantly under the dark shadow of Puritanism.
Although witchcraft was believed in throughout the Middle
Ages, the witch-mania proper begins in 1484 when Inno-
cent VIII. gave the sanction of the Church to the prosecu-
tion of all who were believed to practice sorcery ; and soon
after this the famous Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer for
Witches was drawn up by two German inquisitors and a
clergyman of Constance. In this book witchcraft is de-
scribed and a code for the trial of witches systematized.
Fires for burning witches blazed in nearly every town on
the Continent for nearly four centuries. In Germany the
persecutions were frightful, and in Geneva five hundred
persons were burned in three months in 1515-1516 ! The
witch-mania was rampant in England and Scotland, where
in the Seventeenth Century a horrible class called " witch
finders " went from town to town, where, for the small
fee of twenty shillings, they discovered witches, subjecting

256 THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM

innocent persons— the old, the young, the attractive and
unattractive, the infirm and the ill, as well as the hale and
hearty — to most inane tests and cruel tortures till they
confessed themselves bewitched. It is said that the
greatest number of legal executions in England took place
during the sitting of the Long Parliament (1640-1660),
when three thousand persons were put to death. This
figure, however, does not include those poor creatures who
suffered death at the hands of the mob.

This witch-mania had, in great measure, abated at home
when it broke out in the British Colonies in America, A
few trials occurred in Maryland and Virginia and a few
persons were hung in Connecticut ; but Massachusetts was
the soil most favourable to the growth of this terrible delu-
sion. Salem has the distinction of having sent the greatest
number of victims to their unjust doom. The town be-
came panic-stricken and no one was safe. An historian
writes :

"So violent was the popular prejudice against every ap-
pearance of witchcraft, that it was deemed meritorious to
denounce all that gave the least reason for suspicion.
Every child and every gossip was prepared to recognize a
witch, and no one could be certain of personal safety. As
the infatuation increased, many of the most reputable fe-
males, and several males also, were apprehended and com-
mitted to prison. There is good reason to believe that,
in some instances, the vicious and abandoned availed them-
selves of gratifying their corrupt passions of envy, malice
and revenge."

THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM 257

A graphic description of the Salem horrors is given
in Old Naumkeag, by Webber and Nevins (Salem,
1877):

" Salem witchcraft commenced during the month of
February, 1692, at the house of the Rev. Samuel Parris, in
that part of the original town, which is now Danvers.
The daughtei of Mr. Parris and his niece Abigail Williams,
aged nine and twelve years respectively, began to act 4in a
strange and unusual manner.' They would utter loud and
piteous cries, creep into holes, hide under benches and put
themselves into odd postures. The physicians pronounced
them bewitched, and all the ministers were invited to meet
at Mr. Parris's house, and unite with him in solemn relig-
ious services. As the interest in their actions increased,
they became more violent, and accused Tituba, a South
American slave in the Parris family, of having bewitched
them. Mr. Parris beat Tituba and compelled her to ac-
knowledge herself guilty. These children next complained
of Sarah Goode and Sarah Osborne, and then of two other
women of excellent character, Corey and Nurse. All
were thrown into prison. John, Tituba's husband, for his
own safety, accused others. The demon was thus let loose
in the midst of the people, but it was the demon of super-
stition rather than the demon of witchery."

The following list of those who were executed is also
taken from the same authorities :

" Rev. Geo. Burroughs, of Wells, Maine ; Wilmot Reed,
of Marblehead ; Margaret Scot, of Rowley ; Susanna Mar-
tin, of Amesbury ; Elizabeth Howe, ot Ipswich j Sarah

258 THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM

Wildes and Mary Estes, of Topsfield ; Samuel WardwelL,
Martha Currier and Mary Parker, of Andover; John
Proctor, Geo. Jacobs, Sen., John Willard, Sarah Goode,
Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey and Martha Corey of Salem
Village, Ann Pudeater, Bridget Bishop and Alice Parker,
of Salem.

" Corey was pressed to death, because he refused to
speak, knowing that speech would avail him nothing. His
tongue was pressed out of his mouth, but was forced in
again by the sheriff with his cane. About 150 persons in
all were accused of witchcraft, including nine children
varying from five to fourteen years.

" Various were the accusations brought against them, such
as having familiarity with l the black man,' who it was claimed
was ever by their side whispering in their ear; holding days
of hellish fasts and thanksgivings ; eating red bread and
drinking blood ; transforming themselves and their victims
into various forms ; signing contracts with Satan ; entering
his employ and yielding to his commands ; afflicting others
by pinching, pricking with pins, striking, etc., while many
miles distant j and divers other accusations that would be
laughed to scorn at the present day. All matters of afflic-
tion or of discord among the people, such as a controversy
respecting the settlement of a minister, which had for a
time been going on ; also the death of some of the most in-
fluential of the citizens, were attributed to Satanic influ-
ences. With such inflammable matter, in an age of super-
stition, the result is not to be wondered at.

" Cotton Mather, one pf the most learned ministers of

THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM 259

chat time, led in the preaching to the people of sermons
designed to inflame rather than abate the panic. He
adopted the doctrine of demons, and was exceedingly ener-
getic in endeavouring to spread the delusion into other parts
of the Colony. To him is largely ascribed the extent of
the calamity."

Victims were quickly dragged to " Witch Hill," after
being quickly convicted. It is said that many speedy and
informal trials took place in the " Witch House," which
was in 1692 the residence of the intolerant Judge Corwin.

Dr. Bentley says :

" From March to August, 1692, was the most distressing
time Salem ever knew : business was interrupted, the town
deserted, terror was in every countenance and distress in
every heart. Every place was the subject of some direful
tale, fear haunted every street, melancholy dwelt in silence
in every place after the sun retired. The population was
diminished, business could not for some time recover its
former channels, and the innocent suffered with the guilty.
But as soon as the judges ceased to condemn, the people
ceased to accuse. Terror at the violence and the guilt of
the proceedings, succeeded instantly to the conviction of
blind zeal, and what every man had encouraged, all now
professed to abhor. Every expression of sorrow was found
in Salem. The church erased all the ignominy they had
attached to the dead, by recording a most humble acknowl-
edgment of their error. But a diminished population, the
injury done to religion and the distress of the aggrieved
were seen and felt with the greatest sorrow."

260 THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM

When the authorities finally realized their error, all the
victims locked up in the Salem prison were discharged with-
out trial, and those suspected persons who had fled to other
towns for safety were permitted to return to their homes
without fear of being molested.

Regarding this outbreak in Salem, James Russell Lowell
writes :

" Credulity, as a mental and moral phenomenon, mani-
fests itself in widely different ways, according as it chances
to be the daughter of fancy or terror. The one lies warm
about the heart as Folk-lore, fills moonlit dells with dancing
fairies, sets out a meal for the Brownie, hears the tinkle of
airy bridle-bells as Tamlane rides away with the Queen of
Dreams, changes Pluto and Proserpine into Oberon and
Titania, and makes friends with unseen powers as Good
Folk ; the other is a bird of night, whose shadow sends a
chill among the roots of the hair; it sucks with the vam-
pire, gorges with the ghoul, is choked by the night-hag,
pines away under the witches' charm, and commits unclean-
ness with the embodied Principle of Evil, giving up the fair
:ealm of innocent belief to a murky throng from the slums
and stews of the debauched brain. . . .

"Tire Puritan emigration to New England took place at
a /time when the belief in diabolic agency had been hardly
called in question, much less shaken. They brought it
with therr. to a country in every way fitted, not only to keep
it alive, but to feed it into greater vigour. The solitude of
the wilderness (and solitude alone by dis-furnishing the
brain of its commonplace associations, makes it an apt

THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM 26 1

theatre for the delusions of imagination), the nightly forest
noises, the glimpse, perhaps, through the leaves, of a painted
savage face, uncertain whether of redman or Devil, but
more likely of the latter, above all, that measureless mystery
of the unknown and conjectural stretching away illimitable
pn all sides and vexing the mind, somewhat as physical
darkness does, with intimation and misgiving, — under all
these influences, whatever seeds of superstition had in any
way got over from the Old World would find an only too
congenial soil in the New. The leaders of that emigration
believed and taught that demons loved to dwell in waste and
wooded places, that the Indians did homage to the bodily
presence of the Devil, and that he was especially enraged
against those who had planted an outpost of the true faith
upon this continent hitherto all his own. In the third gen-
eration of the settlement, in proportion as living faith de-
cayed, the clergy insisted all the more strongly on the tradi-
tions of the elders, and as they all placed the sources of
goodness and religion in some inaccessible Other World
rather than in the soul of man himself, they clung to every
shred of the supernatural as proof of the existence of that
Other World, and of its interest in the affairs of this.
They had the countenance of all the great theologians,
Catholic as well as Protestant, of the leaders of the Refor-
mation, and in their own day of such men as More and
Glanvil and Baxter. If to these causes, more or less opera-
tive in 1692, we add the harassing excitement ot an Indian
war (urged on by Satan in his hatred of the churches), with
'ts daily and nightly apprehensions and alarms, we shall be

262 THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM

less astonished that the delusion in Salem Village rose so
high than that it subsided so soon."

The " Old Witch House " that forms the subject of our
sketch was originally the home of Roger Williams while he
was preaching in Salem in 1635-1636. From it he fled to
the shores of Narraganset Bay, where he founded the Col-
ony of Rhode Island. Its next occupant was Captain Rich-
ard Davenport who cut the cross from the King's colours
because "it savoured of Popery." In 1674 or 1675, Judge
Corwin of witchcraft fame took possession and made many
alterations. Before his day the old house presented a more
attractive appearance, resembling many houses of this period
still standing in England. In its original state, it was com-
posed of several overhanging stories, each larger than the
one below and the roof was broken into several peaked
gables, each of which was ornamented with a pineapple
of carved wood. Narrow windows with lozenge-shaped
panes added to its quaintness. More alterations were made
in 1746 and 1772, and all feeling of picturesqueness has
vanished completely.

SHRINE OF GUADALUPE

THOMAS UNETT BROCKLEHURST

ONE day I took a car to pay a visit to the shrine of
Guadalupe, which is situated three miles from the
city (Mexico), and is a great point of attraction both to resi-
dents and visitors.

The old road from the city to Guadalupe, with its hand-
some wayside shrines, was given up to the Vera Cruz Rail-
way, and a new road for tramcars and traffic has been made
alongside of it. As soon as we had passed the gates and
the aduna, " crack, crack, hi, hi, hi ! " and off we went at
a hand gallop past adobe houses and pulquerias, the snow-
capped giant Popocatapetl lifting his white head to the azure
on the right, and soon, through the avenue of trees, the lit-
tle church on the hill Tepeyac, erected where the Virgin
appeared to the peasant Juan Diego, and the Cathedral at its
foot, with its flat facade flanked by low towers, were both
visible in the distance.

The cars came to a standstill in front of the Cathedral,
and a motley crowd of loungers watched us alight.

The houses are one-storied and old, the windows barred
after the fashion introduced by the Moors into Spain ; be-
hind the bars stood village maidens and matrons who sig-
nalled and saluted their male acquaintances by holding up
the left hand, the fingers extended, which they wiggled to
and fro about half-a-dozen times ; this is their mode of saluta-

264 SHRINE OF GUADALUPE

tion, possibly it means we have fruit and entertainment to
offer.

The church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is the most
famous of all the churches in the country, owing its noto-
riety to the legend that, on the 1 2th of December, 1531,
the Virgin Mary appeared to a poor Mexican shepherd in
that neighbourhood ; he reported the vision to the priests,
who asked him to substantiate his statement by proofs.
The Virgin showed herself to him on five different occa-
sions, and finally stamped her image on his blanket; this
mark was accepted ; Our Lady of Guadalupe was officially
proclaimed the patron saint of Mexico by the authority of
Pope Clement VII., and thereby the influence of the Cath-
olic religion was greatly extended, it being asserted that, by
her graciously appearing to a native, all natives were taken
under her special protection. A shrine was erected on the
top of the hill where the vision appeared. At its foot rose
a magnificent Cathedral, which at one time was very rich
in gold and silver ornaments, the offerings of the faithful ;
but many of these were confiscated and coined into money
by order of President Benito Juarez in 1860, and have since
been replaced by inferior metal.

The name of Guadalupe was combined with that of Hi-
dalgo, the Mexican priest who in 1810 raised the cry of in-
dependence from the Spanish yoke. He had painted on his
standard the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe which
greatly helped to excite the patriotism of the natives ; more
than 100,000 of them rallied round him; but they were so
badly armed that they could not compete with the Spanish

SHRINE OF GUADALUPE 265

forces, who, curious to say, fought under the banner of the
Virgin Los Remedios.

Poor Hidalgo was captured by the Spaniards and shot in
1811 ; but his followers in whom he had aroused much en-
thusiasm, continued the war, and, after eleven years' hard
fighting, independence was accomplished, in 1821, under
Iturbide ; and Spanish Viceroys and their rule were abol-
ished. Mexican presidents, nominated every four years by
the plebiscite of the nation, took their place.

There is not much to see in the Cathedral, which has
been despoiled of its silver and valuables (the golden frame
of the Virgin was taken, but returned) ; so I made the as-
cent by a zigzag road to the shrine at the top of the hill.

Before entering the chapel, stop to look at the view ; it
will repay any amount of trouble taken in mounting the
steep steps. The city, the lake and Chapultepec are within
the range of a camera, if it could be so fixed as to avoid the
roof of the Cathedral below you,, Turn and enter the
shrine : at a little altar on the right are rude daubs of pic-
tures representing miracles worked through the interven-
tion of the Virgin — pious offerings in commemoration of a
child saved from fire, a husband from lightning, a wife from
a runaway train, a lady and gentleman from an overturn
of a carnage, people rising from a bed of sickness, and such
like — some of them with the paint hardly dry.

The altar railing is of solid silver ; this railing was, of
all the sumptuous church fixtures throughout the land, alone
spared by the Liberals. Its value must be immense ; pious
Mexicans do not like to appraise it, for reasons best known

266 SHRINE OF GUADALUPE

to themselves. The great gem, however, of this church is
the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which she herself
imprinted — according to the legend — upon the tilma, or
garment, of Juan Diego, the poor peasant, as a proof that
she had appeared to him ; this relic is hung over the high
altar in a wrought-iron case and is only exposed on rare
holidays. By especial grace I obtained a view of it. The
tilma is a very coarse piece of woollen fabric ; the colouring
of the image is distinct, and may have been touched up
from time to time. On a table at the door are copies of
the picture in all sizes, and you see them in every Indian
hut, every wayside shrine, in all the public offices, in every
church — indeed in every place in the land, appropriate or
inappropriate, as the case may be.

In an adjoining churchyard are some pretty tombs, and
great prices are paid for interment in this sacred spot.
Santa Anna rests here, and the names of the leading families
of Mexico could be read on the marble on all directions.

After descending from the hill I visited the miraculous
sulphur spring, said to cure everything ; the church or dome
which covers it was being redecorated at great expense at
the time of my visit. The legend says that this spring of
sulphur hydrogen gushed forth from a spot touched by one
of the Virgin's feet. On the I2th of December every year
(the anniversary of the apparition), thousands of natives
from all parts of the country visit this shrine and the
Church of Guadalupe. The name is familiar to many
people as that of a town between Toledo and Trujillo in
Spain, where there is a famous shrine to the Virgin.

SHRINE OF GUADALUPE 267

There is always a longing in the minds of colonists to
perpetuate the names of the country of their birth, and
Guadalupe is no doubt an instance of this patriotic feeling
on the part of the Spaniards ; the Geronomite convent in
Spain was at the time of the Conquest the richest and most
venerated shrine in the old country, its celebrated figure of
the Virgin, being believed to have been carved by St. Luke
himself, and it was given by St. Gregory the Great to San
Leandro for putting down Arianism. The figure was
hidden and miraculously preserved during six centuries of
Moorish invasion, and when brought to light was so vene-
rated by the whole Spanish nation that the settlers in New
Spain would delight in perpetuating the name of the shrine
in their new home.

CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA

BISHOP MEADE

THE town of Alexandria was at first called Hunting
Creek Warehouse, sometimes Belle Haven, and
consisted of a small establishment at that place. Its growth
was encouraged by successive acts of the Legislature, estab-
lishing semi-annual fairs and granting certain privileges to
those who attended them. In the year 1762, it was en-
larged by the laying off of numerous lots on the higher
ground, belonging to Dade, West and the Alexanders, after
which it improved rapidly, so that at the close of the Eight-
eenth or beginning of the Nineteenth Century its population
was ten thousand, and its commerce greater than it now is.
So promising was it at the close of the war, that its claims
were weighed in the balance with those of Washington as
the seat of National Government. It is thought that, but
for the unwillingness of Washington to seem partial to
Virginia, Alexandria would have been the chosen spot, and
that on the first range of hills overlooking the town the
public buildings would have been erected. Whether there
had been any public worship or church at Alexandria pre-
vious to this enlargement of it, and the great impulse thus
given to it, does not appear from the vestry-book, though it
is believed that there was. But soon after this, in the year
1764, Fairfax parish is established, and measures taken for
the promotion of the Church in this place. The vestry-

OLD CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA, VA.

CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA 269

book commences in 1765. At one time there were two
churches in the new parish of Fairfax — one at the Falls,
called, as the present one is Little Falls Church ; the posi-
tion of the other — the Lower Church — is not known. It
may have been an old one at Alexandria.

Among the first acts of the vestry was the repairing of
the two old churches in the parish, at a cost of more than
thirty-two thousand pounds of tobacco. In the year 1766,
it is determined to build two new churches, — one at the
Little Falls, very near the old one, and one in Alexandria,
to contain twenty-four hundred square feet and to be high-
pitched so as to admit of galleries. Mr. James Wrenn
agrees to build the former, and Mr. James Parsons the
other, for about six hundred pounds each. A most par-
ticular contract is made for them. The mortar is to have
two-thirds of lime and one of sand, — the very reverse of
the proportion at this day, and which accounts for the
greater durability of ancient walls. The shingles were to
be of the best cypress or juniper, and three-quarters of an
inch thick, instead of our present half-inch ones. Mr.
Parsons was allowed to add ten feet to the upper part of the
church on his own account, and to pay himself by their
sale, on certain conditions. He commenced his work, but
was unable to finish it. It lingered for some years, until in

1772, Mr. John Carlisle undertakes it, and completes it in

1773. The ten pews are now sold, and General Washing-
ton, though having just been engaged in the erection of
Mount Vernon Church, which was finished the same year,
and having a pew therein, gives the highest price for one

270 CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA

in Christ Church, which was occupied by him and his
family during his life, and has been by some of his name
ever since. The gallery was not put up until the year
1787, at which time the pews were balloted for. The
steeple is of modern construction.

Christ Church stands on Cameron and Washington Streets in a
pretty green churchyard, where in 1774, Washington addressed
the citizens advocating resistance to Great Britain ; and 'it was on
the spot also that General Lee agreed to take command of the
Virginia forces at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861.

Washington attended Christ Church regularly, and his pew
is still shown. Unfortunately, the old high backed pews were
cut down a few years ago at the instance of the rector of an
important church in Washington. Washington always drove from
Mount Vernon to Alexandria in a handsome cream-coloured coach,
the body of which was suspended by heavy leather straps. The
sides and front were shaded with green blinds and black leather
outside curtains. The lining of the coach was black leather ; the
Washington arms were painted on the doors and a picture of the
seasons was also painted on each of the four panels. Four horses
were ordinarily harnessed to this coach except when six were re-
quired for long journeys. What became of this coach we learn from
Bishop Meade, who says :

" There was one object of interest belonging to General Wash-
ington, concerning which I have a special right to speak, — viz. :
his old English coach, in which himself and Mrs. Washington not
only rode in Fairfax County, but travelled through the length and
breadth of our land. So faithfully was it executed that, at the
conclusion of this long journey, its builder, who came over with it
and settled in Alexandria, was proud to be told by the General
that not a nail or screw had failed. It so happened, in a way I
need not state, that this coach came into my hands about fifteen
years after the death of General Washington. In the course of
time, from disuse, it being too heavy for these latter days, it began

CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA 271

to decay and give way. Becoming an object of desire to those
who delight in relics, I caused it to be taken to pieces and dis-
tributed among the admiring friends of Washington who visited my
house, and also among a number of female associations for benevo-
lent and religious objects, which associations, at their fairs and other
occasions, made a large profit by converting the fragments into
walking-sticks, picture-frames, and snuff-boxes. About two-thirds
of one of the wheels thus produced one hundred and forty dollars.
There can be no doubt but that at its dissolution it yielded more
to the cause of charity than it did to its builder at its first erection.
Besides other mementos of it, I have in my study, in the form of a
sofa, the hind-seat, on which the General and his lady were wont
to sit "— E. S.

A GLIMPSE AT NEW ORLEANS HOUSES

LADY HARDY

WE start in the early morning on a pedestrian excur-
sion through this " Paris of the South." We
almost fancy that we have gone to sleep in the New World,
and woke up in the old fair and familiar city across the sea.
It is the same, yet not the same ; there is a similarity in the
general features especially in the vicinity of Canal Street,
to which I shall allude more fully by and by, and an insou-
ciant gaiety in the aspect of the people, which pervades the
very air they breathe ; an electric current seems always
playing upon their spirits ; moving their emotional nature,
sometimes to laughter, sometimes to tears. It seems as
though the two cities had been built on the same model,
only differently draped and garnished, decorated with dif-
ferent orders and stamped with a different die. Coming
down a narrow lane, we met a Frenchwoman, her mahog-
any coloured face scored like the bark of an old tree scarcely
visible beneath her flapping sunbonnet. She wore short
petticoats, and came clattering along over the rough stones
in her wooden sabots, while her tall blue-bloused grandson
carrying her well-filled basket strode beside her; and a
meek-eyed Sister of Charity bent on her errand of mercy
passed in at a creeking doorway. These were the only
signs of life we saw as we first turned on our way to the

A GLIMPSE AT NEW ORLEANS HOUSES 273

French quarter of the town, which still bears the impress
of the old Colonial days. This is the most ancient portion
of the city, and full of romantic traditions of the days that
are dead and gone. The long narrow crooked streets,
running on all sides in a spidery fashion, with rows of
shabby-looking houses, remain exactly as they were a hun-
dred years ago. Strict conservatism obtains here ; nothing
has been done in the way of improvement ; the old wooden
houses are bruised and battered as though they had been
engaged in a battle with time and been worsted ; they are
covered with discolourations and patches, naked and lan-
guishing for a new coat of paint. There are no dainty
green sun blinds here, but heavy worm-eaten wooden shut-
ters and queer timber-doors hung on clumsy iron hinges ;
here and there we get a glimpse of the dingy interiors while
a few bearded men are lounging smoking in the doorways,
and a few children, clattering like French magpies, are play-
ing on the threshold. Everything is quiet and dull — a sort
of Rip Van Winkle-ish sleep seems drooping its drowsy
wings and brooding everywhere, till a lumbering dray comes
clattering over the cobble stones, and sends a thousand
echoes flying through the lonely streets.

From these stony regions, past the little old-fashioned
church where the good Catholics worshipped a century ago
and we emerge upon Canal Street, the principal business
thoroughfare of the city ; it is thronged with people at this
time of day, busy crowds are passing to and fro, the shop
windows are dressed in their most attractive wares, tempt-
ingly exposed to view. Confectioners, fruit and fancy

274 A GLIMPSE AT NEW ORLEANS HOUSES

stores overflow into open stalls in front and spread along
the sidewalk ; huge bunches of green bananas, strawberries,
peas, pines, cocoa-nuts and mangoes, mingled with dainty
vegetables, are lying in heaps. We are tempted to try a
mango, the favourite southern fruit, of whose luscious
quality we have so often heard, but the first taste of its
sickening sweetness satisfies our desires. The street is
very wide, and the jingle-jangle of the car-bells, the rattling
of wheels and the spasmodic shriek and whistle of the
steam engine — all mingle together in a not unsweet con-
fusion. Lumbering vehicles, elegant carriages, street-cars
and a fussy little railway, all run in parallel lines along the
wide roadway. This is the great backbone of the city,
whence all lines of vehicular traffic branch off on their
diverse tracks into all the highways and byways of the
land. Here we get on to a car which carries us through
the handsomest quarter of the city. Quaint old-fashioned
houses, surrounded by gardens of growing flowers, and
magnificent magnolias, now in full bloom, stand here and
there in solitary grandeur, or sometimes in groups like a
conclave of green limbed giants, clothed in white raiment,
and perfumed with the breath of paradise. Past lines of
elegant residences, where the elite of the city have their
abode, and we soon reach a rough wooden shed yclept a
" depot."

The architectural beauty of New Orleans is unique, and
wholly unlike any other Southern city ; the avenues are wide
and beautifully planted, a generous shade spreads every way

A GLIMPSE AT NEW ORLEANS HOUSES 275

you turn. The dwelling-houses which line St. Charles's
Avenue are graceful, classical structures, no blending to-
gether of ancient and modern ideas, and running wild into
fancy chimney-pots, arches, points and angles like a Twelfth
Cake ornament. Some are fashioned like Greek temples,
most impressive in their chaste outline and simplicity of
form ; others straight and square, with tall Corinthian col-
umns or fluted pillars, sometimes of marble, sometimes of
stone. The severe architectural simplicity, the pure white
buildings shaded by beautiful magnolias and surrounded by
brilliant shrubs and flowers, form a vista charming to the
eye and soothing to the senses, and all stands silhouetted
against the brightest of blue skies — a blue before which the
bluest of Italian skies would seem pale.

The aspect of the city changes on every side ; we leave
the fashionable residential regions and enter broad avenues
lined with grand old forest trees, sometimes in double rows,
the thick-leaved branches meeting and forming a canopy
overhead. The ground is carpeted with soft green turf, and
bare-legged urchins, black and white, are playing merry
games ; a broken down horse is quietly grazing, and a cow
is being milked under the trees, while a company of pretty
white goats, with a fierce-looking Billie at their head, are
careering about close by. Pretty pastoral bits of landscape
on every side cling to the skirts and fringe the sides of this
quaint city. As we get farther away from St. Charles's
Avenue, the better class of residences get fewer and fewer,
till they cease altogether, and we come upon pretty green.

276 A GLIMPSE AT NEW ORLEANS HOUSES

shuttered cottages, with their porches covered with blos-
soms and rows of the old-fashioned straw bee-hives in
front. Here and there are tall tenement houses built of
cherry-red bricks, which are let out in flats to the labouring
classes.

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL

MAJOR A. C. YATE

THE history of Canada that is destined to live is that
of its earliest explorers and colonists, amongst whom
the French rank first and the English second. One of the
most interesting monuments of that history is the Chateau
de Ramezay in Montreal, of which I propose to record here
what little I have been able to learn during a short visit to
Canada. It was built about 1705 by Claude de Ramezay,
" a distinguished soldier of noble birth," who was Gov-
ernor of Montreal from 1703 to 1724. In some books I
find the name spelt Ramsay or Ramesay, but Ramezay is
the spelling adopted by the Numismatic and Antiquarian
Society of Montreal. It is practically certain that the
Governor of Montreal who bore the name was of Scotch
extraction. In the Seventeenth Century the cadets of many
families of the French nobility emigrated to Canada (" La
Nouvelle France," as it was then called), while the nominal
Vice-royalty was held by several of the highest nobles of
the land, viz., the Prince de Conde, Due de Montmorenci,
and Due de Ventadour. The emigrant nobles were granted
seigneuries in various parts of New France, and in some
cases these seigneuries have remained in their families to
the present day. The Chateau de Ramezay is the town
mansion of one of these seigneurial families. Very little,
however, seems to be known of Claude de Ramezay. An

2/8 THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY. MONTREAL

autograph letter of his, presented by Judge Baby, is in the
museum. In 1703, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Command-
ant of Montreal, succeeded the Chevalier de Calliere (who
had also in his day been Governor or Commandant of Mon-
treal) as Governor of Canada. Claude de Ramezay ap-
parently succeeded De Vaudreuil as Military Governor of
Montreal. He appears to have been a man of capacity and
to have interested himself keenly in the pioneering and ex-
ploring work to which so many men at that time devoted
themselves. In 1702, during his Governorship, a French
post was established at Detroit, and in 1717, another at the
mouth of the Kaministiquia River, on Lake Superior, where
Fort William now is. Nor was M. de Ramezay backward
in organizing military expeditions against the English settle-
ments in the New England States. During the whole of
De Ramezay's Governorship the English and French colo-
nies in America were at war, as indeed they almost always
were, whether the mother-countries were at peace or not.

The Governorship of Claude de Ramezay is said to have
ended in 1724, whether owing to his death or retirement we
are not told. In 1745, the Chateau passed into the hands
of " La Compagnie des Indes" and remained with them till
September, 1760, when Montreal surrendered to the united
forces of Amherst, Haviland and Murray. We are not told
what use was made of the Chateau from 1724 to 1745.
Tradition associates with the Chateau the name of De
Vaudreuil, one celebrated in the annals of " La Nouvelle
France" but it is not explicit as to date, or indeed any de-
tail. The first Marquis de Vaudreuil, after having been

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL 279

for some years Commandant of Montreal, became Governor
of Canada in 1703, and retained that post until he died,
respected and regretted in 1725.

It is said that when Claude de Ramezay died (no date
given), his heirs found themselves unable to bear the ex-
pense of keeping up so large a residence, and sold it to
44 La Compagnie des Indes" From 1745 to 1760, it was
thus the headquarters of a great French trading-company,
the resort of Indian voyageurs and coureurs de bois^ coming in
from the north and west with their loads of furs, and selling
or bartering them to the agents of the company, by whom
they were shipped to France. This company also held by
charter a monopoly in the purchase and sale of all imports
and exports in the Colony. When Canada passed into the
possession of Great Britain, in 1760, the Chateau de Rame-
zay became General Amherst's headquarters, and subse-
quently for a short time those of General Gage. We find
from Withrow's History that it was a De Ramsay (as
With row spells it), who surrendered Quebec to General
Townshend after Wolfe's victory on the Heights of
Abraham.

When Canada was ceded to the British, the Chateau de
Ramezay was not at first annexed as the residence of the
Governor of Montreal. It was purchased from the " Com-
pagnie des Indes " by William Grant, Baron de Longueuil.1

1 The Grants, Barons de Longueuil, hold the only Colonial peerage in
the British Empire. Their barony, though created by the Bourbons, is
held in right of their domair in Canada, and as such is now recognized
by the Herald's office.

280 THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL

It is doubtful if the Grants ever occupied the Chateau, fol
it continued to be known for some ten years after the ces-
sion by the name of the " Indian House." The Governor
of Canada then, finding it necessary to provide the Lieuten-
ant-Governor with a suitable residence, leased it. The
first Lieutenant-Governor who attended it was Mr. Cra-
mahe. He had scarcely settled there when the approach
of General Montgomery, in November, 1775, with a force
of New England Revolutionists compelled him to vacate it
and retire to Quebec. There, pending the arrival of
General Sir Guy Carleton, he made energetic preparations
for the defence of Quebec, and declined to give any answer
to Benedict Arnold's summons to surrender, which was
made on the I4th of October. On the igth Sir Guy
Carleton arrived, and assumed command of the defence.
It was on the I2th of November, 1775, that General Mont-
gomery entered Montreal, and on the 4th of December
his forces and those of Arnold, about 1,200 men in all, ap-
peared before Quebec. Montgomery was slain in a vain
attempt to capture the town on the night of the 3151 of
December, 1775. Finally, early in May, 1776, the Amer-
icans were driven from before Quebec, leaving guns, stores,
provisions, and even their sick behind. Meanwhile three
American Commissioners, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase
and Charles Carroll, came to Montreal to urge the Canadians
to join the revolted colonies against Great Britain. Ben-
jamin Franklin, certainly, if not the other two Commission-
ers, resided when in Montreal in the Chateau de Ramezay,
and here a certain M. Mesplet, under the orders of Ben-

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL 28 1

jamin Franklin, set up the first printing-press in Mon-
treal.

The first printing-press in Canada was set up in Quebec
in 1764, and on the 2ist of June of that year the first num-
ber of the Quebec Gazette^ a journal which till recently was
still published, made its appearance. Benedict Arnold,
after his failure at Quebec, went to Montreal and took
command of the Revolutionary troops there. He resided
in the Chateau de Ramezay.

After the withdrawal of the Americans, the Chateau de
Ramezay remained untenanted until the government bought
it from the Grants, and made it the official residence of the
Governors of Lower Canada temporarily resident in Mon-
treal. Their permanent residence was at Quebec, and for
years the Governors, when they visited Montreal, had to
bring their own furniture with them. At last, however, a
grant of money was voted to them for the purchase of
permanent furniture for their Montreal residence. For half
a century it was occupied by successive Governors, who
made many alterations and additions. Lord Metcalfe
(1843-1844) was the last resident Governor, the seat of
Government between the years 1841 to 1858, being fixed
successively at Quebec, Kingston, Montreal, then at
Toronto and Quebec alternately, and finally, by Her
Majesty's decision, at Ottawa, where it has since re-
mained.

The union of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Can-
ada was formerly proclaimed on the loth of February, 1841.
After the establishment of the Governor-General in a new

282 THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL

Government House, and again, when the headquarters of
the provincial government of the Lower Province was trans-
ferred to Quebec, the Chateau de Ramezay was used for
various governmental purposes. Among others, the Law
Courts sat there, and afterwards certain rooms were used
for classes of the Normal School and of the Medical Fac-
ulty of Laval. The extensive vaults and cellars below the
house had in the Eighteenth Century been used by the
French as store-houses for the large quantities of supplies
which, owing to the hostility of the Indians it was neces-
sary to maintain there. So incessant were at times the
raids of the Iroquois, whether instigated by the New Eng-
land Government or not, that cultivation was almost an im-
possibility, and all food supplies had to be imported from
France and stored in Montreal. Some of the vaults also
were used as dungeons, and at times refractory Indian chiefs
were probably incarcerated there to give them time to see
reason ; while in some cases they were detained as hostages
for the good faith of their tribe. There was also a deep
well in one vault, now boarded over. Under the English
Governors, these vaults were used as wine-cellars, servants'
offices and quarters for the Governor's guard, for the preser-
vation of the old French and English official and other rec-
ords, and for the storage of fuel and supplies. In one vault we
still find the kitchen. The huge fireplace was fitted up above
with an arrangement for smoking ham and bacon, while on
one side opened a large oven, about five feet in diameter,
for baking bread. In a recess close by was hung a drum,
in which worked, like a squirrel in a cage, the turnspit-dog

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL 283

that roasted the joints. In a corner of another vault still
lies a portion of* the first system of water-pipes used in
Montreal. It is the trunk of a tree, ten or twelve feet long,
by nine or ten inches in diameter, hollowed out. The walls
of the vaults are in some places of great thickness ; ranging
from five to eight feet. In the early part of the Eighteenth
Century, when a good house was built, it was solidly built.
It is stated that some fifty years ago, soon after the Chateau
ceased to be the residence of the Governors, the City Coun-
cil authorized the demolition of a portion of it, in order to
open up a thoroughfare. The building was thus cut in two.
The portion which is now used as the museum was retained
by the civic authorities. The remainder was turned into a
hotel in which Jenny Lind and Charles Dickens, amongst
others, are said to have stayed. Between 1880 and 1890
the City Magistrates of Montreal meted out justice for petty
misdemeanours in this building. Rooms which had been
tenanted by a Governor-General, and which for a hundred
and forty years had been the centre of the French and Brit-
ish rule in Montreal thus gradually sank to the level of a po-
lice magistrate's court. About this time, however, public
attention was drawn to this building (largely owing to the
exertions of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of
Montreal), and to its antiquarian and historical interest.
When, in 1893, ^e Provincial Government offered it for
sale by public auction, it was bought by the Corporation of
the City of Montreal with the view of preserving the build-
ing and establishing in it a free public, archaeological, scien-
tific and historical musuem. In 1895, the custody of the

284 THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL

Chateau, on behalf of the people of the city, was vested in
the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society.

It was in the Chateau de Ramezay that met from 1838
to 1840, the Special Council (half English and half French),
which was appointed by the Home Government to act in
place of the legislature of Lower Canada during the Rebel-
lion and so-called " Patriotic War " of 1837-1838. The
Constitution was for the time suspended. The Special
Council paved the way for the Act of Union of 1840, which
was a step towards the present Constitution of the Do-
minion. The confederation of 1866 was the final step.

Two of the principal rooms in the Chateau are now
known as the Salle du Conseil and the Library. With the
former, tradition associates many names (already mentioned),
well-known to history, and on whom the varying fortunes
of Canada have depended. Its walls are now hung with
engravings and documents that commemorate those names
and those fortunes. The old fireplace in the Library has
only recently been discovered, having been walled up for
many years. The treasures that have already been collected
in this, the first Canadian Museum of Antiquities, are most
interesting and valuable, and some are unique. There are
113 portraits, 82 historical pictures and 74 old prints, which
illustrate the most celebrated names and the most famous
scenes and events of Canadian history, from Jacques Car-
tier to Sir John Macdonald. Early explorers, Jesuit mis-
sionaries, governors and generals, both French and English ;
old maps and prints of Canada, Quebec and Montreal, etc.,
are the subjects. In addition, there is a collection of scarce

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY, MONTREAL 285

books, papers, documents and magazines connected with
Canada, weapons of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centu-
ries, and many quaint and curious relics both of war and
peace.

THE CITY HALL, NEW YORK

ARTHUR SHADWELL MARTIN

IT is a great pity that the open space now known as City
Hall Park is so restricted in area, because the City
Hall is an admirable architectural edifice apart from its his-
torical associations, and is worthy of a better setting. As it
is, it suffers terribly from its surroundings, being dwarfed,
crushed and overwhelmed, by the " World " building, office
sky-scrapers and other unsightly buildings that surround it.
If we want to realize the architect's intent, we must level
the monster structures in the immediate vicinity and restore
the scene of the date when the City Hall was designed.

A tablet under the Mayor's office informs us that here
Washington read the Declaration of Independence to the
troops, but the City Hall did not occupy that site in those
days. The present miniature park is a very small part of
the original common land known as the " Commons," or
the " Fields." Under the Dutch, this open space was
called the Vlackte (the Flat). In Colonial days, the Bride-
well, and the New Jail, and the stake at which negroes
were occasionally burnt were situated on it. King's Col-
lege was on the West ; on the North was the Collect Pond
and the stream flowing to the Hudson through Lispenard's
Meadow. A powder house also stood on the Commons
and the old Boston Post Road (now Chatham St.) passed

THE CITY HALL, NEW YORK 287

through it on the East. At the corner of Park Row and
Nassau St. was the Brick Presbyterian Church. The Sons
of Liberty used to assemble in the "Fields"; and the
present Post Office covers the spot whereon the Liberty
Pole was raised.

.The first City Hall, or Stadt Huys, was modest enough.
It was a stone house built for a tavern by Governor Kieft,
in 1642. The site, on the " Waal," at the corner of Pearl
St. and Coenties Alley, was selected on account of its being
convenient to the ferry. Thirteen years later, it was ceded
to the city authorities for the sittings of the Burgomasters
and Schepens of New Amsterdam. It was used also as a
prison. This old Dutch house, with its " crow-stepped "
gable and cupola, stood till 1700.

The next City Hall, which lasted throughout the Eight-
eenth Century, was situated almost on the site of the pres-
ent Sub-Treasury on Wall St.

In 1800, the corporation of the city of New York felt
the need of a more spacious and imposing civic building,
so a prize of $350 was offered for a plan and elevations of
a town-hall of four facades. One of those sent in received
the approbation of the City Fathers two years later ; and
the Common Council immediately appointed a building
committee, and appropriated $25,000 for the work. The
architect was a native of New York : his name was John
McComb. Born in 1763, he had already gained distinction
in his profession by his plans for the front of the Govern-
ment House, Washington Hall, St. John's Church, the
Murray St. and Bleecker St. churches, and many other

288 THE CITY HALL, NEW YORK

public and private edifices in New York, Philadelphia, and
other cities.

Mr. McComb was quite abreast with the architectural
tastes of his day. He had no sympathy with the Gothic
style, nor is his work in the least reminiscent of the great
Renaissance town-halls of the Netherlands. He seems to
have almost slavishly followed the English school of archi-
tects, particularly the Adam brothers and Sir William
Chambers. The works of the latter especially were held in
the highest esteem and admiration by the New York
architect.

It is not difficult to trace the sources from which Mr.
McComb derived his inspiration for a City Hall which even
to-day is unsurpassed in dignity, simplicity, beauty and
purity of design by any building of this kind in the country.
Cross-sectioned north and south it strongly resembles the
Register Office, Edinburgh, that was built by the Adams in
1774. About the same date they were responsible for the
Assembly Rooms, Glasgow, the stairway of which the one
in the City Hall greatly resembles, but the latter is more
graceful and better proportioned. In fact, the interior de-
tails show an intimate acquaintance with the works of the
Adam brothers.

For the principal elevations, the architect went to Inigo
Jones's plans for Whitehall Palace : with the exception of
the Banqueting House, these had never been carried out.
Sir William Chambers was closely followed in the exterior
details; and Adam, Richardson, Soane, Campbell and
Richardson, in the plan and interior work.

THE CITY HALL, NEW YORK 289

When the site was chosen, it was considered that he
would indeed be a wild dreamer who would expect the city
to spread further up town than what is now City Hall
Park : the chief facade therefore looked at the city lying
below it, and the back towards the open country was left
plain and unornamented, — for who would ever see that side ?

The front, therefore, was built of Stockbridge marble, the
sides of Morrisania or Verplanck marble, and the rear of
brown stone. The marble was carved by John Lemair,
whom the architect held in high esteem. He wrote : u I
have visited the carver's shop almost daily, and I have al-
ways been pleased with Mr. Lemair's attention, mode of
working and finishing the capitals, — work which is not sur-
passed by any in the United States and but seldom seen
better executed in Europe and which for proportion and
neatness of workmanship will serve as models for carvers
in future."

The work on the interior, however, was not so satisfac-
tory j t e execution of the wood-carving is very inferior:
there was a scarcity of good wood-carvers in New York at
that date. On account of the scarcity of labour and funds,
;t took ten years to build ; but on the whole the work was
well done and economically, for it cost no more than half
a million dollars.

In the original design, a clock was placed in the centre
window of the attic story front : this clock was not sup-
plied till 1830, when it was placed in the cupola which
was altered to receive it. This change was detrimental re
the general effect as originally intended.

290 THE CITY HALL, NEW YORK

In 1811, before it was quite completed, the Fourth of
July was celebrated in the new City Hall ; and the Alder-
men took up their quarters there in August of that year.
From that time it became the nucleus of municipal life, and
its grounds were visited for recreation as well as business.
The park gave its name to the famous Park Theatre, that
stood on the south-east side.

A writer of the day describes the Park as " a piece of
inclosed ground in front of the new City Hall, consisting
of about four acres, planted with elms, planes, willows and
catalpas, the surrounding foot-walk encompassed with rows
of poplars. This beautiful grove in the middle of the city,
combines in a high degree ornament with health and pleas-
ure ; and to enhance the enjoyments of the place, the
English and French reading-room, the Shakespeare gallery,
and the theatre, offer ready amusement to the mind ; while
the mechanic-hall, the London hotel and the New York
gardens present instant refreshment to the body. Though
the trees are but young, and of few years' growth, the Park
may be pronounced an elegant and improving place."

The artistic beauty of the building has more than once
suffered from overzealous repairs and renovations. Two
or three years ago, the exterior was scoured and cleaned
with a sand-blast process that deprived the marble of all the
mellow tones and tints with which Time had beautified it :
but Time can also heal this wound.

In 1858, at the great celebration in honour of the suc-
cessful laying of the first Atlantic cable, there was a grand
display of fireworks, during which a stray spark set fire to

THE CITY HALL, NEW YORK 291

some inflammable material stored at base of the cupola.
The latter was consumed, and the low dome over the
stairway was also damaged. This was not the only dam-
age done by this fire, for the clock was also destroyed, and
the scales fell from the hands of Justice, — the figure that
surmounted the cupola. Moreover, when the old bell hang-
ing there, that had so often clanged forth its alarm to
summon the citizens, was removed, the cornice was in-
jured. For several years, no effort was made to repair the
damage; the windows were boarded up, and the facade
remained smoke-blackened. When the work of repair was
finally taken in hand, there was no attempt to restore any-
thing but the general appearance of the original, so that
both dome and cupola suffered in that Medean cauldron.

The City Hall has often been the scene of important
functions. On Feb. 22, 1819, a grand ball was given in
honour of General Andrew Jackson j and in 1825, General
Lafayette was escorted there immediately after his arrival
at Castle Garden. A great dinner was given to him within
its walls ; and in the " Portrait Room " he held public re-
ceptions every day from twelve to two o'clock, during his
stay in New York.

Nearly every important foreigner and distinguished "guest
of the nation " has been welcomed at the City Hall by the
Mayor : a brilliant reception to Prince Henry of Prussia
was among the latest.

The City Hall, too, has frequently been illuminated in
celebration of some event of importance. That of 1825,
in honour of the opening of the Erie Canal was considered

2Q2 THE CITY HALL. NEW YORK

magnificent at the time. Considering that they had neither
gas nor electricity, they did very well, for no less than
2,306 lights were displayed, including wax candles, and
lamps of various colours. There was a transparency on
the front representing the Erie Canal, emblematical figures,
etc., etc. There was also a lavish display of fireworks.

Another remarkable demonstration occurred at the City
Hall when the Croton Water Works were given to the
city in 1842. There was a great procession and a foun-
tain was formally opened in the City Hall Park. This
was much admired ; and by manipulating the pipes the
fountain was made to assume such shapes as the " Maid of
the Mist," the " Croton Plume," the "Vase," the "Dome,"
the "Bouquet," the "Wheat Sheaf" and the "Weeping
Willow."

THE WHITE HOUSE

THE long low white mansion with its white colonnades
surrounded by green lawns and tall shade trees
standing some little distance from Pennsylvania Avenue is
familiar to every one in the United States. Even those
who have not visited the house — and these are few in
number — know it well by means of pictures. Perhaps the
prettiest view of the building is the less familiar one of the
South Portico, below which the greensward stretches down
almost to the Potomac and is broken by fountains and
flower beds. The view is very pretty, too, from the Portico
itself, embracing the shining river and the tall Monument
on the right.

We cannot help regretting that the first President of the
United States was never an occupant of the White House
and that he did not know it would be popularly called by
a name associated with his wife. He took the greatest
interest in the architectural plans for it, and with Mrs.
Washington visited the mansion just before the arrival of
Mr. and Mrs. Adams.

The story of the White House is as follows: — In 1792,
the United States Government offered a prize of five
hundred dollars for the best plan for the official residence
of the President. The fortunate architect was James
Hoban, an Irishman by birth, but at this time a resident
of South Carolina. Hoban selected for his model the
Duke of Leinster's new house in Dublin, built in the

294 THE WHITE HOUSE

fashionable classic style of the day. The original plan
for the Presidential mansion called for three stories, and
Hoban suggested that wings adorned with colonnades
should be added as need for extension arose. Public
opinion, however, was aghast at such magnificence, and,
although Washington liked the plan, the architect was
obliged to modify it.

The stone of which it is built was quarried at Rock
Creek, near Washington. The corner-stone was laid by
General Washington in 1792; but the house was not
finished until 1799. By this time John Adams had
become President of the United States and he and Mrs.
Adams were the first occupants. Mrs. Adams's description
shows very plainly that the Mansion was not, in any sense,
palatial. She says in one of her chatty letters :

" The house is upon a grand and superb scale, requiring
about thirty servants to attend and keep the apartments in
proper order, and perform the ordinary business of the
house and stables — an establishment very well proportioned
to the President's salary. The lighting the apartments
from the kitchen to parlours and chambers is a tax indeed,
and the fires we are obliged to keep to secure us from daily
agues is another very cheering comfort ! To assist us in
this castle, and render less attendance necessary, bells are
wholly wanting, not one single one being hung through
the whole house, and promises are all you can obtain.
This is so great an inconvenience that I know not how to
do, or what to do. . . . We have not the least fence,
yard or other conveniences without, and the great unfinished

THE WHITE HOUSE 295

audience-room [the East Room] I make a drying-room of to
hang my clothes in. Six chambers are made comfortable;
two lower rooms, one for a parlour and one for a ballroom."

Little or nothing was done to make the Executive
Mansion more sumptuous during either Jefferson's or
Madison's administrations ; and it must have been a sur-
prise to visitors from other parts of the world to see such a
simple dwelling. Writing home in 1804, Thomas Moore
says : " The President's house is encircled by a very rude
pale, through which a common rustic stile introduced
visitors."

The Madisons, whose home it became in 1809, were
noted for the old-fashioned Virginia hospitality that they
extended to those invited to both public and private entertain-
ments. The famous Dolly Madison was a gracious hostess,
and her abundant table did not escape criticism.

The Madisons were compelled to flee from the house on
the approach of the British troops in 1814. Many stories
are told of how Mrs. Madison saved the valued portrait of
Washington that had been hanging in the State Dining-
Room since 1800 ; but her own is the best. Mrs.
Madison did not cut the picture from the frame as the
legend has it, but ordered this to be done. Just before her
flight, she writes to her sister on the 23d of August,
1814:

" My husband left me yesterday morning to join General
Winder. He inquired anxiously whether I had courage or
firmness to remain in the President's House until his
return on the morrow, or succeeding day, and on my

296 THE WHITE HOUSE

assurance that I had no fear but for him, and the success
of our army, he left, beseeching me to take care of myself,
and of the Cabinet papers, public and private. I have
since received two despatches from him written with a
pencil. The last is alarming, because he desires I should
be ready at a moment's warning to enter my carriage and
leave the city ; that the enemy seemed stronger than had at
first been reported, and it might happen that they would
reach the city with the intention of destroying it. I am
accordingly ready ; I have pressed as many Cabinet papers
into trunks as to fill one carriage ; our private property
must be sacrificed, as it is impossible to procure wagons
for its transportation. I am determined not to go myself
until I see Mr. Madison safe so that he can accompany me,
as I hear of much hostility towards him."

After the Battle of Bladensburg, she continues :
" Our kind friend Mr. Carroll has come to hasten my
departure, and in a very bad humour with me, because
I insist on waiting until the large picture of General
Washington is secured, and it requires 'to be unscrewed
from the wall. The process was found too tedious for
these perilous moments; I have ordered the frame to be
broken and the canvas taken out. It is done ! and the
precious portrait placed in the hands of two gentlemen
from New York for safe keeping. And now, dear sister,
I must leave the house, or the retreating army will make
me a prisoner in it by filling up the road I am directed to
take. Where I shall again write to you, or where I shall
be to-morrow I cannot tell ! DOLLY."

THE WHITE HOUSE 297

The British troops entered the Mansion and set fire to it.
" I have indeed to this hour," wrote an eye-witness in 1855,
" the vivid impression upon my eye of columns of smoke and
flame ascending all through the night of August 24, 1814,
from the Capitol, President's house and other public build-
ings, as if the whole were on fire, some burning slowly
others with bursts of flames, and sparks mounting high in
the dark heavens.''

This spectator was with President Madison, the Sec-
retary of the Navy and others across the river, watching
the spectacle.

After the fire of 1814, the Madisons lived in rented
houses in Washington.

When the Mansion was partially restored and again
made habitable, the blackened exterior was painted white
and the building received the name White House in
honour of Mrs. Washington's early home in Virginia.
President and Mrs. Monroe held the first public reception
in 1818, on New Year's Day.

The White House was refurnished in 1825, for the
visit of General Lafayette. Congress allowed John
Quincy Adams $14,000 for this purpose. Another allow-
ance of $13,000 was made to Martin Van Buren for
further decorations and furnishings, and President Johnson
was allowed $30,000 to repair the building after the Civil
War.

The portico on the North Side was added in President
Jackson's time.

The most important changes, however, have taken place

298 THE WHITE HOUSE

during President Roosevelt's administration. About half a
million dollars have been spent in making architectural im-
provements, both within and without. A terrace has been
added on the west side, leading to the executive offices, and
by the removal of the conservatory, the state dining-room
has been enlarged. This room has also been refurnished
with panels, tapestries and trophies of the chase.

The historical rooms are the great " East Room," where
the public receptions are held and where the brilliant mar-
riages of Nelly Grant and Alice Roosevelt took place ; the
"State-Dining-room"; the "Red Room," the "Blue
Room" and the "Green Room"; and although the
furniture and draperies of these rooms have been changed
from time to time, the colours have been rigidly adhered to.

The " Blue Room," of which Jefferson was particularly
fond, is the President's reception-room. It is oval in
shape. At present the walls are covered with blue silk and
the window curtains are blue sprinkled with golden stars.

Scattered through the various rooms are many portraits
of the Presidents and their wives.

The conservatory of the White House, which owes
much to President Grant, has always been noted, and sup-
plies choice flowers and plants for the state dinners and
other important entertainments.

The White House is full of memories and associations
of the public and private life of the Presidents. Weddings,
funerals, and births have occurred here. Within its walls
President Lincoln signed the Proclamation of Emancipa-
tion. Here Garfield languished for weeks after his assassi-

THE WHITE HOUSE 299

nation. The last notable event was the wedding of Miss
Alice Roosevelt, the President's daughter, to Mr. Nicholas
Longworth, — the most brilliant entertainment that the
White House has ever seen.

THE WHITE HOUSE OF THE CONFEDERACY,
RICHMOND

ONE of the Meccas of the Southern States is a house
in Richmond formerly known as " The White
House of the Confederacy," and now as " The Confed-
erate Museum." It is a plain, substantial house with col-
umns at the back and is a typical residence of Richmond
and of the Nineteenth Century. The house was built in
1819 by Dr. Brockenbrough for his residence and must
have been more imposing with the original garden.

In 1862 Mr. Lewis Crenshaw, the owner, sold it to the
city of Richmond for the use of the Confederate Govern-
ment; and the city, having furnished.it, offered it to Jeffer-
son Davis, the President of the Confederate States for his
residential and official home. Mr. Davis refused to accept
the gift, and it was then rented from the Confederate States
for the " Executive Mansion." President Davis and his
family lived here for three years until the evacuation of
Richmond, when he left with the government officials on
the night of April 2, 1865. The "Mississippi Room"
was his study, and in it all the important conferences of the
President and his officers were held. It may be interesting
to quote here from Mrs. Davisvs Memoirs of Jefferson Davis,
regarding this historic house. She writes :

" In July we moved to the old Brockenbrough house, and
began to feel somewhat more at home when walking through

WHITE HOUSE OF CONFEDERACY, RICHMOND JO I

the old-fashioned terraced garden or the large airy rooms in
the seclusion of family life.

"The mansion stands on the brow of a steep and very
high hill that is sharply defined against the plain at its foot
through which runs the Danville railway that leads to the
heart of Virginia. The house is very large, but the rooms
are comparatively few, as some of them are over forty feet
square. The ceilings are high, the windows wide and the
well-staircases turn in easy curves towards the airy rooms
above. The Carrara marble mantels were the delight of
our children. . . .

44 The tastes, and to some extent, the occupations and
habits of the master of the house, if he, as in this case, as-
sisted the architect in his design, are built in the brick and
mortar, and like the maiden's blood in the great bell, they
proclaim aloud sympathy or war with those whom it shelters.
One felt here the pleasant sense of being in the home of a
cultivated, liberal, fine gentleman, and that he had dwelt
there in peaceful interchange of kind offices with his neigh-
bours. The garden, planted in cherry, apple and pear-
trees sloped in steep terraces down the hill to join the plain
below. To this garden or pleasance came always in my
mind's eye a lovely woman, seen only by the eye of faith,
as she walked there in c maiden meditation/

" Every old Virginia gentleman of good social position
who came to see us, looked pensively out on the grounds
and said, with a tone of regret, something like this : c This
House was perfect when lovely Mary Brockenbrough used to
walk there, singing among the flowers ' ; and then came a

302 WHITE HOUSE OF CONFEDERACY, RICHMOND

description of her light step, her dignified mien, her sweet
voice and the other graces which take hold of our hearts
with a gentle touch and hold them with a grip of steel. At
first it seemed odd and we regretted our visitor's disappoint-
ment, but after a while Mary came to us, too, and remained
the titular goddess of the garden. Her name became a
household word. 4 Whether Mary would approve ' was
a question my husband playfully asked, when he liked the
arrangement of the drawing-rooms."

When General Godfrey Witzel, in command of the
Northern troops entered the city on the morning of April
3, 1865, ne made this house his headquarters; and it was
used as the headquarters of the United States Government
during the five years that Virginia was under military rule
and was called " District No. I." When Abraham Lincoln
passed through Richmond a few days after the evacuation,
he was received in the " Georgia room " of this old
house.

After the war " The White House of the Confederacy "
became the home of the first public school established in
Richmond and was used as such for more than twenty years.
Finally, to save it from destruction, for the house was fail-
ing into decay, a mass-meeting was held in Richmond to
take measures for its preservation. A society was formed
called the " Confederate Memorial Literary Society " whose
first act was to petition the city to yield it to its charge for
the purpose of establishing a Museum of Confederate relics
and a memorial to President Davis.

WHITE HOUSE OF CONFEDERACY, RICHMOND 303

The Museum was formally opened in 1890. Quoting
from the charter :

" The purposes for which it is formed are to establish in
the city of Richmond, in the State of Virginia, the capital
of the late Confederate States of America, a Confederate
Memorial Literary Society or Association, to collect and re-
ceive, by gift, purchase, or otherwise, all books and other
literary productions pertaining to the late war between the
States, and of those engaged therein ; all works of art or
science, all battle-flags, relics, and other emblems of that
struggle, and to preserve and keep the same for the use of
said Society and the public."

A room, bearing the distinctive name, shield, and colours
of the State it represents, is assigned to each State of the
Confederacy, and is a repository for memorials from that
State. A Regent and Vice-Regent are appointed to repre-
sent each State and to assume the care and expense of their
respective rooms — collecting by loan, donation, or other-
wise, contributions of what they think will make their rooms
attractive.

The Solid South is represented by a general reception
room, library and gallery in which the portraits of the Presi-
dent of the Confederate States and of his Cabinet as well as
those of the distinguished civil and military leaders are
hung. On the left is the " Virginia Room " and on the
right the " Georgia Room " and beyond that the " Missis-
sippi Room," in which the Confederate Cabinet sat. The
relics of Jefferson Davis are appropriately placed here. The

304 WHITE HOUSE OF CONFEDERACY, RICHMOND

Kentucky, Alabama, South and North Carolina and Mary-
land Rooms are in the second story, and in the third, the
Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri, Louisi-
ana and Texas Rooms are situated.

The collection is exceedingly large and of great interest
to the student of the great struggle of 1861-1865.

THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON1

EDWARD G. PORTER

THE Old State House stands upon the site of the orig-
inal market-place, opposite the first meeting-house
in which, for a quarter of a century, the town-meetings
were held, according to the custom of the time.

In the year 1656 Captain Robert Keayne, one of the
founders of the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company,
left, in his voluminous and eccentric will, " the sum of
three hundred pounds, current money," for a Town House,
which was to furnish room for the market, as well as for
the courts, a library, an exchange, an armoury, etc. An
equal amount was contributed by citizens, and a wooden
structure was erected on this spot which served the purposes
of the town until it was destroyed in the great fire of 1711.
There are good descriptions extant of this first building, but
no pictures or plans. It was the scene of the administra-
tion of Endicott, Bellingham, Leverett, Bradstreet, Andros,
Phips, Stoughton, Bellomont, and Joseph Dudley. By this
time the Town House had become such a necessity that its
successor was immediately provided for, one-half the ex-
penses being borne by the Province, and the other half by
the Town and the Country in equal proportion.

The first Governor who presided in this building was
Joseph Dudley, and after him came Tailer, Shute, Dummer

1 From Rambles in Old Boston (Boston, 1887). By permission of th
publishers, Messrs. Cupples, Upham, and Company.

306 THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON

Burnet, Belcher, and Shirley. It was during the latter's
brilliant a ministration that the famous expedition against
Louisburg was planned and successfully carried out in 1 746
under General (afterwards Sir William Pepperell) and Com-
modore Warren.

The following year the Town House (at that time com-
monly called the Court House) was seriously injured
by fire, which began in the second story and destroyed much
of the interior, and nearly all the records, pictures and
furniture. The building, however, was reconstructed very
much as before ; and from that day to this, no essential
changes have taken place in its appearance.

An interesting description of it is found in a journal dated
1750:—

" They have also a Town House, built of brick, situated
in King's Street. It's a very Grand Brick Building, Arch'd
all Round and Two Storie Heigh, Sash'd above ; its Lower
Part is always open, design'd as a Change, tho the Merchants
in Fair Weather make their Change in the Open Street, at
the eastermost end. In the Upper Story are the Council
and Assembly Chambers. It has a neat Capulo, Sash'd all
Round, which on rejoycing days is Elluminated."

The administrations of Pownall, Bernard, and Hutchin-
son bring us to the stirring events immediately preceding the
Revolutionary War. At that time many eyes were turned
to this building in hope or fear, as the scene of the royal
authority in the Council Chamber, and of the popular de-
mands for Liberty in the Hall of Representatives. The
obnoxious measures of the Crown, which followed so rap-

OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON

THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON JO?

dly upon the accession of George III. in 1760, were here
officially promulgated by the Governors, and vehemently
denounced by the patriots.

The collision which finally came in 1775, was foreshad-
owed in the speeches of James Otis and Samuel Adams, in
the protests of the Legislature against the unjust imposition
of taxes, in the arrival of the British regiments, and in the
massacre of March 5, 1770, which occurred almost under
the windows of the Council Chamber.

The quartering of troops in the Town House and the
planting of cannon at its doors gave great offence to the
people, and served only to increase the difficulty. Under
General Gage, the last of the Royal Governors, were de-
veloped those military movements which made Lexington,
Concord and Bunker Hill immortal, and which led to the
organization of an American army, by whose achievements
the British were compelled to evacuate Boston on the I7th
of March, 1776.

In July of the same year, the Declaration of Independ-
ence was read to the citizens of Boston from the famous
east window of the Council Chamber, where in the earlier
time the Royal succession had been in three instances pro-
claimed "with Beat of Drum and Blast of Trumpet," and
where also had been announced in turn the appointment of
eight governors of Massachusetts under the Crown, and
where at last, in 1783, the Proclamation of Peace was read
by the Sheriff of Suffolk, amid the grateful shouts of the
multitude and the salutes of thirteen cannon at the forts.

In this building John Hancock was inaugurated the first

308 THE OLD STATE HOUSE, BOSTON

Governor under the Commonwealth j and here presided his
successors, James Bowdoin, Samuel Adams, and Increase
Sumner. In 1789, General Washington, during his last
visit to Boston, reviewed the procession from a temporary
balcony erected at the west end of the Hall of Representa-
tives.

Here the Legislature of Massachusetts met for the last
time in 1798, and then marched in a body to the more
imposing structure which had just been completed on
Beacon Hill.

The old building has since then been given up to busi-
ness purposes, except during an interval of ten years,
1830-1839, when it was occupied by the municipality as
a City Hall.

In 1882, it was carefully restored and formally re-dedi-
cated to the public use as a memorial hall. The second
floor, containing the ancient Council Chamber and Repre-
sentatives Hall, has been confided to the custody of the
Bostonian Society for a term of years. Valuable portraits,
engravings, documents, and other historical relics may here
be inspected daily by the public without charge. The
tower, the quaint roof, the lion and unicorn, the central
stairway, and, in fact, all the details of the building, present
with almost absolute accuracy the characteristic features of
the old Town House of the fathers. And it is confidently
believed that the venerable structure will continue to grow
more and more in the affections of the people of Boston,
because it was here that "the child Independence was
born."

THE MORRIS-JUMEL HOUSE, NEW YORK

COMMANDING an extensive view, or " prospect,"
as they would have said in Colonial days, of the
Harlem River and Long Island Sound, there stands a dwell-
ing of the Georgian period famous under two names, — the
41 Morris House" and the "Jumel Mansion." The house
was built by Colonel Roger Morris, an English officer who
came to this country with General Braddock and was
wounded in the ill-fated expedition to Fort Du Quesne.
He also served under General Wolfe at Quebec and left
the army in 1764 to settle in New York, where he became
a member of the King's Council. He bought the property
on Harlem Heights and erected the house now standing as
a present for his wife, Mary Philipse, daughter of Frederick
Philipse, whom he married in 1758. The Morrises made
a charming home here and entertained with lavish hospi-
tality the most distinguished guests until the beginning of
the Revolution, when, being Tories, they were forced to
leave their house. Eventually, included in the bill of at-
tainder, they went to England, and their house and prop-
erty in Harlem Heights were confiscated and sold.

Immediately after the battle of Long Island, August 27,
1776, General Washington retreated with his army to
Harlem and selected the Morris House for his head-
quarters. Here Aaron Burr, associated with the later des-
iimes of the house, served as secretary to Washington.

One day, after nearly three months' residence, Wash-

3 1 0 THE MORRIS-JUMEL HOUSE, NEW YORK

:ngton started out on a reconnoitering expedition and about
fifteen minutes after he had left, the British troops under
Sir Thomas Stirling took possession of this desirable place ;
and from that moment until the evacuation of New York
in 1783, the "Morris House" was the headquarters of
General Knyphausen and his Hessian soldiers.

In 1785, the house became a tavern and was used as
such for several years. It next looms into importance in
1810, when it was purchased by Stephen Jumel, whose
handsome and clever American wife and the society that
she gathered around her brought it once more into notoriety.

There have been several conflicting stories regarding
Madame JumePs parentage ; but Mr. Josiah Collins
Pumpelly in an article published in the New England
Genealogical and Biographical Record (1903) obtained the
following statement from a relative: "Eliza (Bowen)
Jumel was born, April 2, 1777, in Providence, R. L, but
not in a poor-house, as was asserted by her enemies
during the lawsuit,, The statement made in Appleton's
Cyclopaedia of National Biography that the lady's name was
Capet, and that she was born at sea, is not sustained by
reliable history. Eliza Jumel was the daughter of Phoebe
and John Bowen. Her father was a sea-captain and
owned his own vessels ; her brother and father were
drowned together."

In 1804, she was married to Stephen Jumel, a rich coffee
planter of San Domingo, who, during an insurrection on the
island and massacre of the French, escaped to New York
about 1790. He was much older than his beautiful bride i

THE MORRIS-JUMEL HOUSE, NEW YORK 31 1

for at the time of his marriage he was nearly fifty and she
twenty-seven. In 1810, they purchased the " Morris
House " on Harlem Heights where they lived in great
style. Subsequently the Jumels had a home in Paris,
where they also entertained sumptuously until M. Jumel's
large fortune melted away. In 1821, Madame Jumel re-
turned to her New York home. It seems that Madame
Jumel immediately disposed of her rich furniture and other
treasures, for in 1821 the following advertisement appears
in the New York newspapers : " On Monday, the i6th
of April next, at the Mansion House of Mrs. Jumel,
Harlem Heights, the whole of her Furniture and Gallery
of original Paintings, together with Kitchen Furniture,
Carriages^ Horses, and other implements on the premises.
Any attempt to describe those superb and elegant articles
would hardly convey an idea of what they are; and as
people will be at liberty to go and see them one week pre-
vious to the sale, it is deemed sufficient to say that such a
collection has never been offered to the public and con-
noisseurs in this country ; being a careful selection made in
Paris by the best judges from the museum and palace of
the late Emperor."

M. Jumel returned to New York in 1828 and recovered
his lost fortune. From that date till his death in 1832, the
house again witnessed scenes of gay society. Among the
distinguished visitors at this period were Joseph Bo'iaparte
and Louis Napoleon.

Again to quote from Mr. Pumpelly :

u After the death of her husband Madame Jumel carried

3 1 2 THE MORRIS-JUMEL HOUSE, NEW YORK

on her business affairs by herself. She displayed in them
excellent judgment and ability. The varied experiences of
her life had sharpened her faculties, and the poor Rhode
Island girl, with whom scandal had made free, had
developed into a woman of culture, tact and superior
powers. She furnished her mansion with somewhat of its
former splendour. It displayed abundant souvenirs of the
First Empire and its renowned master. There were eight
chairs which had belonged to the First Consul, a table, the
marble top of which had been brought to her from Egypt, a
clock which the Emperor had used in the Tuilleries, a
chandelier that he had once given to Moreau, tapestries and
paintings which had been collected by Josephine ; also a set
of drawing-room furniture which had once been owned by
Charles X. ; a bedstead upon which Napoleon had slept for
many months and his army chest. Visitors also told of a
stand that was said to have belonged to Voltaire, a black
leather trunk which was supposed to have been used by
Napoleon on the march to Moscow, and an elaborate
embroidery of flowers surrounded by a golden chain, which
had been made by the Empress. On the furniture was
emblazoned the symbolic ' N ' of the Empire in com-
memoration of its great chief."

In 1833, Madame Jumel was married in the drawing-
room of this historic house to Aaron Burr. After her
death in 1865, the house became the property of Mr.
Nelson Chase, whose first wife was Madame Jumel's
niece. It now belongs to the Daughters of the American
Revolution,

FORT SUMTER

IZA DUFFUS HARDY

THE next morning we sally forth early under a
tropical sky of burning blue and take our way to
the market, a bright and busy scene, and cool and pleasant
even this hot day, the breeze blowing gently through the
long airy sheds, supported by open archways, the abundant
array of fruit and flowers and vegetables refreshing to the
eye. The negro element is in almost exclusive possession
behind the stalls, the white in front, but not exclusively,
There is a negro majority in South Carolina, in the market
as well as elsewhere. Here are all shades of black, yellow
and brown ; here a good-looking brown girl with immense
gold earrings, sits half hidden behind tempting great heaps
of rosy tomatoes, golden Florida oranges and crimson
plantains ; there an old woman, black as a coal, coifed in a
gorgeous striped bandana, presses green peas upon our atten-
tion ; here the tourist is buying bananas and the housekeeper
pricing pineapples.

We linger among the fruit-stalls and do not hurry our-
selves past the fishmonger's department, where the cool
shining fish lie on slabs spread with green leaves. But we
hasten through the butcher's quarter ; it is too hot to look
at raw beef. We observe strutting about here, picking up
pieces under the stalls and perching over the doorways, a
number of large birds, which we take at first for turkeys.

31 4 FORT SUMTER

They are, however., buzzards, unfit to eat, but useful in
picking up offal, and therefore encouraged about this quarter
of the market.

Returning to the main street of Charleston, we pass by
the ruins of the old church.

" Burnt during the war, of course ? "
" No, madam, burnt by accident before the war."
There its ruined and blackened walls stand still, the long
grass growing where aisle and altar were. We pass by the
shops and soon come to the private houses, pretty and pic-
turesque detached villas (residences " unattached," are, of
course the rule in these warm climes). Many are surrounded
by their own gardens ; some nestle in the shadow of tall
trees ; others are buried from basement to roof in the lux-
uriant purple blossoms of the wisteria. At the end of this
street we come upon the Battery, the most beautiful spot
in this beautiful city by the sea.

Here, facing the strip of park which lies between them
and the water, stand the finest residences in Charleston,
built in the palmy days before the war, some of them sur-
vivals of the old Colonial times. No two of these hand-
some houses are alike; each is stamped with its own char-
acter and individuality; they are of all styles — Greek,
Gothic, Elizabethan, and nondescript, and of all pale tints
of cool grey, white, and light brown. They all luxuriate
in balconies, piazzas, verandahs, and every device for en-
joying an almost tropical air in shade and sunshine, and
many of them rejoice in their own shadowing trees. The
scorching breath of the Southern summer has not yet rusted

FORT SUMTER 315

the green of the turf and tree ; the grass in the Battery Park
is the richest velvet sward that our feet have ever pressed ;
the spring-leafage of the scrub-oaks is fresh and tender,
though the warmer tints of autumn linger yet here and there
among the boughs. At the further border of the long nar-
row slip of park is a fine sea-wall, beyond which the sleepy
waters of Charleston Harbour lap the stone of the embank-
ment. Here on the Battery stand various monuments, one,
of course, in memory of " the brave who are no more." It
is here, all along this walk, that the ladies of Charleston
collected in crowds, on one memorable I2th of April, to
watch the bombardment of Fort Sumter in the distance.

Fort Sumter, of course, is the first excursion the tourist
takes from this city. A short cut through the market leads
us to the wharf where the little paddle-steamer waits to
carry us thither. The sun blazes fiercely in a heaven of
dazzling sapphire blue, the little waves lap and gurgle softly
in transparent ripples of emerald, as the boat cuts its calm
way along. We pass the sunny shores, the green trees and
white villas of Mount Pleasant — well so named ! — we pass
Sullivan's Island ; we near Fort Moultrie ; and now we are
in sight of Sumter. The deck is crowded with excursion-
ists, most of them Northern tourists; there are a few
Southerners, one or two Germans — we discover no English
except ourselves. We make acquaintance with some of
cur fellow-passengers j all seem sociably inclined j all gather
together along the bulwarks at the first sight of Fort Sum-
ter. Here are North and Souths "Yankee" and rebel
harmoniously and amicably associating on a pleasure excur-

316 FORT SUMTER

sion to the scene of the first conflict of the terrible four
years' struggle, the spot where " twenty years and more "
ago, that first shot was fired which rang through the civi-
lized world, which thrilled like a bugle-call through the
hearts of North and South, and " let slip the dogs of war "
to their dreadful work. Here this morning are the men
who wore the vanquished grey and those of the victorious
blue, brothers once more ! In sight of the shattered walls
of Sumter, no word except of friendliness is heard,

We observe in the conversation of the various groups
that they one and all delicately refrain from speaking of the
" other side " in audible tones except as " Federal " and
" Confederate," although to each other, in their sotto voce
discourse, we catch the old terms " Yank " and " Reb "
passing freely.

The Federal element, as represented on board this boat,
does not appear very well informed as to the facts and de-
tails of the siege. We inquire in vain : How many were
in the fort ? What was the besieging force ? How many
lives were lost ? In answer to this last question, there are a
variety of answers, apparently most of them conjectural,
and ranging from " three hundred " down to " none."

" It was from Fort Moultrie yonder that the first gun
was fired," observes one tourist, drawing from his next
neighbour the mild correction : " Pardon me, sir, the very
first shot was from Fort Johnson."

Hereupon both parties pull out of their pockets — no, not
revolvers, but little blue paper— covered " Guides to Charles-
ton."

FORT SUMTER 317

Meanwhile we are drawing nearer and nearer to the low,
sandy island that is the goal of our excursion. We won-
der, as we look on that barren sand-heap scorching in the
yellow sand-glare, was that^ once upon a time, the lofty
fort of Sumter ? Could ever those fragments of battered
wall have towered up towards these blue skies in proud de-
fiance ? In fancy, we see the pall of smoke wrap Sumter
round again, hear the thunder of the cannonade, and above
the " burning battlehell " of fire and smoke, we see stream-
ing to the wind the ghost of the " Stars and Bars ! "

We land on the little pier, and pick our way along nar-
row planks laid across the heavy sand, amongst heaps of
cannon balls, old guns, new guns, up steps, down steps, un-
derground and overground, in and out of gloomy bomb-
proofs, from the loopholes of which the " dogs of war "
thrust forth their huge, black muzzles. One of the little
garrison of the fort shows us round, and acts as general
cicerone to our party. He answers our questions — the
Northern tourists put quite as many as we strangers do ; is
it not twenty-two years since the siege ? A whole world
behind to them j but our soldier-guide has the whole story
fresh in his mind. So has a bronzed and grizzled South-
erner, who now for the first time, in the subterranean shades
of a bombproof-tunnel, comes to the fore, and thenceforth
divides public interest and attention with the lawful cicerone.

Somebody puts to this new authority the old question —
how many lives were lost in the opening bombardment ?

" Not one, sir," is the prompt answer, " not one by the
Confederate attack. Seems strange, but so 'tis. There

318 FORT SUMTER

was one lift lost, and that was after the fort had surrendered.
A man was blown up and killed. He laid a mine, as a trap
to blow up the Confederates, and he tripped his foot,
stumbled, and touched it off, and was killed by his own
mine."

A gentle smile of contemplative satisfaction irradiated the
Confederate's countenance as he narrated this anecdote — of
which we afterwards heard divers and contrasting versions.
I was walking with a gentleman from Massachusetts, but, as
my escort did not appear able to feed my feminine curiosity
with all the details I desired, I drew the better-informed
Confederate authority to join us; and we rambled on in
an exemplarily harmonious trio.

Our Southerner was brimming over with reminiscences,
all uttered in dulcet and lamb-like tones which would well
have befitted an idyllic love-story.

" With a seven-inch bore, like this," he observed, resting
his boot-heel tenderly on a big gun that lay half buried in
the sand, " we sunk the first monitor that came along. Hit
the turret and made her careen, and then the lower battery
took her right between wind and water."

He smiled softly, as if cherishing sweet and tender
memories,

" I put a little Confederate flag on the buoy out there,"
he continued, pointing to a spot on the sunny water, " and
it stayed there all the time."

" Didn't we come after it ? " inquired the tourist from
Massachusetts.

" Oh, yes ; the Federals, they came after it several times ;

FORT SUMTER 319

but they didn't happen to get it," the mild Carolinian re-
plied in his soft lingering drawl.

I do not know how much or how little correct history
was current amongst us that day ; but there certainly was a
good deal of information to be had for the asking.

" Getting ready for our cousins ! " observed a New York
girl, patting a fine new gun approvingly.

" What cousins ? " I inquired.

"Our English cousins," was the reply. "They might
take a fancy to come over here ! "

" 1 don't think we want to come over, except as tourists,
as we have come to day," I observed, mildly deprecating.

" I guess you and the Southerners have had enough of
that," replied the young lady contentedly.

Our bronzed Southerner was picking up a sea-shell from
the sand as a souvenir for me, and, probably by way of a
coal of fire, he picked up a finer shell for her, and polished
it with his pocket handkerchief.

In every group some chapter of the story of the siege
was being told — I fear occasionally coloured according to
the bias of the narrator. The names of Beauregard, Sher-
man, Lee, Anderson, were echoing on every side. Indeed
it was not 1883, it was 1861, in which we all lived that
hour !

Time was up ; the whistle sounded. \Ve left the sandy
isle of Fort Sumter — deserted now, save for a little garri-
son to be counted on the fingers of one hand — and returned
to our boat, and to the present year of our Lord, 1883.

OLD STONE TOWER, NEWPORT

BENSON J. LOSSING

THE object of greatest attraction to the visitor at New-
port is the Old Tower or windmill, as it is some-
times called. On the subject of its erection history and
tradition are silent, and the object of its construction is alike
unknown and conjectural. It is a huge cylinder composed
of unhewn stones — common granite, slate, sandstone, and
pudding-stone — cemented with coarse mortar, made of the
soil on which the structure stands, and shell lime. It rests
upon eight round columns, a little more than three feet in
diameter and ten feet high from the ground to the spring of
the arches. The wall is three feet thick, and the whole
edifice is twenty four feet high. The external diameter is
twenty-three feet. Governor Gibbs informed me that, on
excavating the base of one of the pillars, he found the soil
about four feet deep, lying upon a stratum of hard rock,
and that the foundation of the column, which rested upon
this rock, was composed of rough-hewn spheres of stone^
the lower ones about four feet in circumference. On the
interior, a little above the arches, are small square niches,
in depth about half the thickness of the wall, designed ap-
parently to receive floor-timbers. In several places within,
as well as upon the inner surface of some of the columns,
are patches of stucco, which, like the mortar, is made of
coarse sand and shell lime, and as hard as the stone it cov-

OLD STONE TOWER, NEWPORT

OLD STONE TOWER, NEWPORT 32 1

ers. Governor Gibbs remembers the appearance of the
tower when it was partially covered with the same hard
stucco upon its exterior surface. Doubtless it was origi-
nally covered within and without with plaster, and the now
rough columns, with mere indications of capitals and bases
of the Doric form, were handsomely wrought, the whole
structure exhibiting taste and beauty. During the posses-
sion of Rhode Island by the British in the Revolution, the
tower was more perfect than now, and the walls were three
or four feet higher than at present* The British used it
for an ammunition magazine, and when they evacuated the
island, they attempted to demolish the old "mill," by
igniting a keg of powder within it. But the strong walls
resisted the vandals, and the only damage the edifice
sustained was the loss of its roof and two or three feet
of its upper masonry. Such is the Old Tower at New-
port. Its early history is yet unwritten and may forever
remain so.

There has been much patient investigation, with a great
deal of speculation, concerning chis ancient edifice., but no
satisfactory conclusion has yet been obtained. Of its ex-
istence prior to the English emigration to America there is
now but little doubt ; and it is asserted that the Indians^ of
whom Mr. Coddington and other early settlers upon
Aquitneck (now Rhode Island) solicited information con-
cerning the structure, had no tradition respecting its origin,
Because it was called a " mill " in some old documents,
some have argued, or rather, have flippantly asserted, that
it was built by the early English settles s for a windmill.

322 OLD STONE TOWER, NEWPORT

Thus Mr. Cooper disposes of the matter in his preface
to Red Rover. A little patient inquiry would have given
him a different conclusion; and if the structure is really
ante-colonial, and perhaps ante-Columbian, its history
surely is worthy of investigation. That it was converted
into and used for a windmill by some of the early settlers
of Newport, there is no doubt, for it was easily convertible
to such use, although not by a favourable arrangement.
The English settlement upon the island was commenced in
1636, at the north end, and in 1639 the first house was
erected on the site of Newport, by Nicholas Easton.
Mention is made in the Colonial records of a windmill by
Peter Easton, in 1663, twenty-five years after the founding
of Newport j and this was evidently the first mill erected
there, from the fact that it was considered of sufficient im-
portance to the Colony to induce the General Court to
reward Mr. Easton for his enterprise, by a grant of a tract
of fine land, a mile in length, lying along what is still known
as Ration's Beach. That mill was a wooden structure, and
stood upon the land now occupied by the North Burying-
ground in the upper suburbs of Newport, The land on
which the tower stands once belonged to Governor Benedict
Arnold, and in his will, bearing the date of 1678, forty
years after the settlement, he mentions the " stone-mill,"
the tower having evidently been used for that purpose. Its
form, its great solidity, and its construction upon columns,
forbid the idea that it was originally erected for a mill ; and
certainly, if a common windmill made of timber was so
highly esteemed by the people, as we have seen, the con-

OLD STONE TOWER, NEWPORT 323

struction of such an edifice, so superior to any dwelling or
church in the colony, would have received special attention
from the magistrates and the historians of the day. And
wherefore, for such a purpose, were the foundation-stones
wrought into spheres and the whole structure stuccoed
within and without?

When, in 1837, the Royal Society of Northern Anti-
quaries of Copenhagen published the result of their ten
years' investigations concerning the discovery of America
by the Northmen in the Tenth Century, in a volume en-
titled Antiquitates- Americana, the old mill at Newport, the
rock inscription at Dighton, in Massachusetts, and the dis-
covery of skeletons evidently of a race different from the
Indians, elicited the earnest attention of inquirers, as sub-
jects in some way connected with those early discoveries.
Dr. Webb, who was then a resident of Providence, and
secretary to the Rhode Island Historical Society, opened a
correspondence with Charles C. Rafn, the Secretary to the
Royal Society of Copenhagen, Dr. Webb employed Mr.
Catherwood to make drawings of the mill, and these, with
a particular account of the structure, he transmitted to
Professor Rafn. Here was opened for the society a new
field of inquiry, the products of which were published, with
engravings from Mr. Catherwood's drawings. According
to Professor Rafn, the architecture of this building is in the
ante-Gothic style, which was common in the north and
west of Europe from the Eighth to the Twelfth Centuries.
" The circular form, the low columns, their thickness in
proportion to their distance from each other, and the entire

324 OLD STONE TOWER, NEWPORT

want of ornament," he says, " all point out this epoch."
He imagines that it was used for a baptistery, and accounts
for the absence of buildings of a similar character by the
abundance of wood in America. The brevity of the so-
journ of the Northmen here was doubtless another, and per-
haps principal reason, why similar structures were not
erected. The fact that the navigators of Sweden, Norway
and Iceland visited and explored the American coast, as far
as the shores of Connecticut, and probably more southerly,
during the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries (five hundred
years before the voyages of Columbus), appears to be too
well attested to need further notice here. For the proofs
the reader is referred to the interesting work alluded to An-
tiquitates- Americana.

ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK

CHARLES HEMSTREET*

IN the chapel of St. Paul's, and in the graveyard that sur-
rounds it, there are sights enough to keep a thoughtful
person busy during more than one long day. To see the
people hurrying along Broadway, without even a glance at
the dim, old building, you would never think so. Close by
the chapel door, which faces the churchyard, there is a
bench which I occupy so often that I have come to feel that
it is my personal property. It rests close by the ivy-cov-
ered wall, and, although it is but a dozen steps from the
street, the intervening churchyard gives it relief and quiet
so that all sight and sound of the bustling city seem shut off.
Sometimes there are visitors, doubtless attracted by my
at-home appearance as I sit there, who ask me questions
about the church and the churchyard. I always like to be
asked these questions, and answer them as best I can. If
the questioners are interested, I deliver a sort of lecture, tell-
ing how very small the city was in the year 1764, when the
cornerstone of the church was laid, and how the building
was opened in the second year after that. Then I wander
on and tell how there were fields all around in those days,
and how they sloped from the church door right down to the
river. Sometimes, when there is a word of surprise at the

'From When Old New York Was Young ( New York, 1902). By per-
mission of the author.

326 ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK

many houses that now stand between the church and the
river, I explain that a great deal of the land has been filled
in during the one hundred and thirty odd years that have
passed and that it has become too valuable to be left as a
green field.

My last inquirer was an old gentleman, who was so much
more in earnest than the usual curiosity seeker, that I asked
him if he had lived long in the city.

" I am only here for a time, from the West," said he.
" This is my first visit to St. Paul's although I love every
stone in the old building. My father, when he was a child,
lived near here, and, although he left the city with his par-
ents in his youth, he often talked to me ot this church, and
how he had played among the tombstones when he was a
boy. But the church seems smaller than I have imag-
ined it."

And then I told him that to me, too, the church seemed
to grow smaller each year, but this was, doubtless, caused
by the tall buildings growing up around it ; and that the
church had, in the time when his father knew it, been con-
sidered a giant of a building.

The old man nodded his head. " Yes, yes ; doubtless
so," said he. Then, on my invitation, he gladly followed
me into the chapel, and I led the way to the pew, off the
north aisle, where George Washington used to sit when he
attended service, and which has been preserved as he
used it.

"So this is the Washington pew ! " said my companion,
as he tenderly tapped the woodwork against which he leaned,

ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK

ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK 327

and looked admiringly at the coat-of-arms of New York on
the wall above.

" Yes, and you will remember that in 1776, when the in-
vading British force came, the city was fired, Trinity Church
was burned, with all its records, and the flames swept away
a great part of the western side of the city. St. Paul's
Chapel was saved, and here, during the British occupation,
Lord Howe, the English commander, and many soldiers of
the King attended service. And when the British left New
York, and the American forces came, Washington and his
army took their places in the church. And to this church,
on the day that he was inaugurated as first President of the
United States, came Washington, and sat in this pew in
which we now sit. Those who visited the church in Wash-
ington's time have left the record that he was Commander-
in-Chief, and in the days when he was President, he always
attended the church without the slightest display, that he
walked in very quietly, and that when he was in his seat he
paid not the slightest attention to anything except his prayer-
book and the clergyman. During all the time that he was
in the city, he regularly, each week made the entry for
Sunday in his diary : 4 Went to St. Paul's Chapel in the
forenoon.*

" And there you see the sounding-board on the pulpit,
with the coat-of-arms of the Prince of Wales on the top.
During Revolutionary days, patriots rushed through the
city and destroyed everything that suggested allegiance to
England. In some way, this sounding-board escaped
destruction, so that now it is the only pre-Revolu-

328 ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK

tionary relic remaining in the place where it originally
stood.

" There, beside the west wall, is a bust of John Wells,
erected by the members of the City Bar. He was a talented
lawyer, who died in 1823. Wells was the sole survivor of
a large family, all the members of which, except himself,
were killed by Indians at the Cherry Valley Massacre.
That he lived was due to his being at the time away from
home attending school. He came to the city, practised
law successfully for many years, and died regretted by the
entire fraternity."

These things and others in the chapel I pointed out to
my companion, and then he followed me out into the
churchyard again. We noted the spot, close by Vesey
Street, where lay the remains of George Eacker, who killed
the son of Alexander Hamilton in a duel, a few years
before the great statesman was himself killed in the self-
same way. There was another grave, almost in the centre
of the yard, of a man who, in his day, had made a name
for himself, which is almost forgotten now. It was the
grave of Christopher Colles. He first conceived the idea
of the Erie Canal, and delivered lectures on the subject,
long years before DeWitt Clinton carried the project to a
successful conclusion. It was this same Christopher Colles
who built a reservoir by the Collect Pond, giving New York
her first water-works, and applying steam practically to his
pumping-station ten years before Fulton applied it to navi-
gation. Colles died in 1821, a poor man.

The tall monument to the south of the church, erected

ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK 329

to the memory of Thomas Addis Emmett, the jurist and
brother of Robert Emmett, interested my companion more
than anything else. He took a deep interest in decipher-
ing the inscription on the west side — a curious inscription
for a tombstone, for it reads,

40 42' 40" N.,

74 03' 21" 5 W. L. G.,

and tells the exact latitude and longitude in which the
monument is.

When we came to the monument set in the chancel
window facing the street, my companion looked at me
inquiringly. It was just after the celebration of Decora-
tion Day, and a wreath of fresh flowers, bound with a trail-
ing ribbon of imperial purple, quite hid the inscription on
this tomb. Then we talked over the story of the brave
hero of Quebec — Major-General Richard Montgomery —
whose body lies beneath the chancel ; spoke of how he had
fallen in that fateful battle of 1775 calling on the men of
New York to follow where he led j how the men had fol-
lowed him, and how many of them had fallen with their
general ; of the day forty-three years later, when the nation
for which he had died, remembering his brave deeds, had
brought his body home to the city from its first resting
place in Quebec ; how on that day the city had been draped
in mourning j how the streets had resounded to the tread
of marching feet, and how the body had been interred
beneath the chancel, where a monument was already set
up to a great and good man, and a reminder to all that the
deeds of men live after them.

330 ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK

And then we reached the gate which opens into the
churchyard from Broadway. For a few moments we stood
silently looking at the crowds that hurried past. I do not
know what were my companion's thoughts just then, but
my own were of those other men who a hundred years
before had hurried along the same thoroughfare, and of
whom the only reminders now are the tombstones in the
churchyard. My companion then left me, mingled with
the crowds and was soon lost to sight.

I meant to have told him that to know all the pictur-
esqueness of Old St. Paul's, it should be visited on a night
in early winter; one of those dreary nights when the rain
falls blurring the glare of lights until those from each sepa-
rate store-window seem to melt together. Then all the
noise and bustle settle down into a sullen roar. Wet and
dripping horses flounder past ; cable cars glide along with
clanging sound of bell ; people knock umbrellas together
as they hurry on. The rain, the noise, the confusion, the
lights bewilder the brain. As one passes the Astor House,
where the confusion is greatest, the lights most dazzling,
the crowds largest and most in a hurry, you suddenly come
upon the churchyard. It is merely to cross narrow Vesey
Street, — but it is like stepping from day to night. The
sight of the dark old church and the quiet tombs behind
the tall iron fence breathe of silence and comfort. In the
daytime the tombstones are brown and faded, but on these
rainy nights the lights creeping in through the bars make
them white as snow.

FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON

ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, NEW YORK 33!

A quaint, curious corner, side by side with the roar and
rush of the city. The rusty iron railing is a barrier seem-
ing to shut out noise and life, as though to protect the
sleepers in their well-earned rest.

FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON

EDWARD G. PORTER •

IN 1740 Peter Faneuil, a Huguenot resident of Boston,
who had recently inherited a large fortune from his
uncle, offered to build a market-house at his own expense
and give it to the town, provided they would pass a vote
agreeing to accept and maintain it under proper regulations.
Accordingly a town-meeting was called to consider the
matter, and the thanks of the meeting were unanimously
extended to Mr. Faneuil, for his generous offer. But upon
the question of accepting it, there was such a division of
opinion, that the vote stood 367 in favour and 360 against
it. Thus narrowly, by only seven votes in a large meet-
ing, did the project succeed, so slow were the people to see
the advantages of the new system.

We can hardly conceive of Boston now without its
Faneuil Hall ; but the crowds who daily gather about it
little imagine how much they are indebted to the energy
of its earliest friends in that critical moment when its very
existence was hanging in the balance.

The structure was completed in 1742, John Swibert, the
portrait painter, being the architect, and Samuel Ruggles
the builder. Mr. Faneuil enlarged the original plan and

1 From Rambles in Old Boston (Boston, 1887). By permission of the
publishers, Messrs. Cupples, Upham and Co.

FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON 333

added a hall above the market, — and additional proof
of his munificence which was gratefully recognized by the
town in its public acceptance of the gift, on which oc-
casion the name " Faneuil Hall " was given to it
to be retained forever ; and " as a further testimony
of respect, it was voted that Mr. Faneuil's picture be
drawn at full length and placed in the hall." The town
also added the Faneuil arms, beautifully carved and gilt by
Moses Deshon.

The building was constructed of brick, two stories and a
half high, one hundred feet long and forty feet wide, with
open arches below and a tower above, and was in many
respects the most important edifice in the town. Its
architecture was considered imposing and ornate. The
spacious hall would contain a thousand persons, and there
were various rooms besides. The town-meetings were
held here after this, and the selectmen's offices were
removed from the old Town-House in King, now State
Street, which was left chiefly to the Legislature and the
courts.

Most unexpectedly, a few months after the building was
completed, its founder died ; and the first oration pronounced
in the hall, was his own eulogy by John Lovell, the well-
known master of the Latin School.

In January, 1761, the interior of the building caught
fire, and nothing but the bare walls remained. The
records, fortunately, and some other documents were
saved. The hall was rebuilt on the old plan, and opened
again in March, 1763, when James Otis, Jr.> delivered the

334 FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON

dedicatory address. The cause of the patriots was now
making such progress in Boston that large meetings were
held in Faneuil Hall to give expression to the popular feel-
ing ; and hence arose the name " Cradle of Liberty," which
it has borne ever since, and which it so well deserves.

In March, 1767, the hall was illuminated by vote of the
town, to commemorate the repeal of the Stamp Act. The
following year, a convention of representatives from nearly
all the towns in the Province was in session here for a
week in September, to consider what measures could be
taken in view of the expected arrival of a large force of
British troops. Governor Bernard refused to recognize
the convention, although its proceedings were throughout
orderly and constitutional. The fleet arrived immediately
after j and the Fourteenth Regiment, Colonel Dalrymple,
was quartered in Faneuil Hall for a month, by order of the
Governor, though not without a vigorous protest from the
people.

During the stormy period preceding the outbreak of
the Revolution, many notable town-meetings were con-
vened here, as on the occasion of the Boston Massacre
and on the arrival of the "detestable tea." But the
hall at that time could not hold as many people as the
Old South, and this explains why some of the large meet-
ings adjourned to the latter place.

During the siege of Boston the building was at first used
as a storehouse for arms and furniture, and then converted
into a theatre for the diversion of the troops. Among the
performances, the tragedy of Zara and the comedy of The

FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON 335

Busybody were frequently given ; and, once, at least, a local
farce written by General Burgoyne, and entitled The
Blockade of Boston. This would be an interesting relic of
the period if it could be found, but it does not appear ever
to have been printed. After the evacuation of Boston, the
portraits of Peter Faneuil, George II., Governor Shirley,
General Conway, and Colonel Barre, which had hung in
Faneuil Hall, were missing, nor has any trace of them ever
been discovered.

In the year 1806, with the new era of prosperity, the
hall was very much enlarged by doubling the width and
adding a third story. This, of course, has greatly changed
the appearance of the structure, although its original style
has been fairly well preserved.

The interior, with its lofty galleries and classic columns,
has become well known to thousands. Here the great
questions of the century, touching the commercial, political
and philanthropic interests of Boston, have been eloquently
discussed by the foremost orators of the time. Many a
Bostonian can recall the occasions when he has stood on
the sanded floor for hours with a patient and patriotic
crowd, applauding the sentiments of one speaker after
another as they came forward upon the platform and em-
phasized the issues of the hour. Here great public recep-
tions have been given to distinguished guests, together with
many civic and military banquets. Here, formerly, were
held the industrial exhibitions of the Massachusetts Chari-
table Mechanic Association. It is emphatically the people's
hall, and will always remain soj for, by a provision in the

336 FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON

city charter, neither Faneuil Hall, nor Boston Common,
can ever be sold or let for money.

The collection of portraits attracts many visitors. On
the west wall is Healy's large painting of Webster replying
to Hayne in the Senate, and near it are Stuart's Washington
and Copley's Hancock, Warren and Samuel Adams. There
are also portraits of Peter Faneuil, John Quincy Adams,
Edward Everett, Governor Andrew, Senator Wilson, Rob-
ert Treat Paine, Caleb Strong, Commodore Preble, General
Knox, Rufus Choate, President Lincoln, Anson Burlin-
game, Admiral Winslow and Wendell Phillips. Back of
the rostrum are busts of John Adams, Samuel Adams and
Daniel Webster. The clock was presented to the city by
the school children of Boston in 1850.

The upper hall has been chiefly used as an armory by
various military corps, especially of late by the Ancient and
Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest military organi-
zation in the country. The Massachusetts Historical So-
ciety held some of its early meetings in the northwest corner
of the upper story in the old building from 1792 to 1794°

The grasshopper vane is an interesting survivor of the
former structure. It was made by Shem Drowne, the well-
known copper-smith of the last century, who also made and
repaired the cockerel vane for the Second Church. The
famous Indian vane on the Province House was also his
handiwork. He died in 1774, at the age of ninety years.

The insect is remarkably well preserved, and shows the
fidelity with which it was made ; all the details being care-
fully worked out in copper, as if they were to be closely in-

FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON 337

spected. The eyes are of glass and shine in the sunlight
with great brilliancy. The grasshopper is supposed to have
been suggested by the vane on the Royal Exchange of Lon-
don. It was also the device for the vane on the summer
house of the Faneuil estate on Tremont Street.

LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD

ESTHER SINGLETON

ON Bedloe's Island, a mile and a half below the Bat-
tery, on the site formerly occupied by Fort Wood,
the most famous statue in America greets and welcomes
every ship that enters the beautiful harbour of New York.

Just as soon as you leave the lower New York Bay and
note the Brooklyn Bridge — which at this distance and in
the twilight appears like a filmy cobweb, so airily suspended
above the East River that it seems as if the lightest breeze
might blow it away — the eye is fascinated by the sparkling.,
bluish light from Liberty's uplifted torch. Ever larger and
brighter it grows, as your boat speeds through the dying
tints of sunset, more brilliant than the silver stars in the
sky, the red and green lights of the river craft, and the
golden beads that now begin to outline the fairy bridge.

On entering the Harbour in the daytime, the tall, grace-
ful figure silhouetted against the sky soon attracts your at-
tention ; and if you are approaching New York from the
south, long before you reach the city, long before the
sharp, salt, invigourating air from the sea — sweet to smell and
sweet to taste — strikes nostril and lip, across the flat mead-
ows of Jersey, you see the great effulgent Star of Liberty
shining like Rigel, Sirius, or Arcturus.

The island on which the colossal statue stands was called
Minnisais in the Indian language, meaning " small island."
In Colonial days it was the summer home of Captain Ken-

STATUE OF LIBERTY, NEW YORK

LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD 339

nedy, of the Royal Navy, afterwards the Earl or Cassilis.
In 1753} it is described in an advertisement as follows : " To
be Let. Bedloe's Island, alias Love Island, together with
the dwelling-house and lighthouse being finely situated for
a tavern, where all kinds of garden stuff, poultry, etc., may
be easily raised for the shipping outward bound, and from
where any quantity of pickled oysters may be transported ;
it abounds with English rabbits."

In 1758, Bedloe's Island became a quarantine station,
and during the War of the Revolution, it was chosen as an
asylum for Tory refugees ; but the buildings prepared for
their reception were burned on the night of April 2, 1776.

A strong star fort was erected here in 1814 when the de-
fences of New York were strengthened ; and it is on the
site of Fort Wood that the great pedestal rests.

The idea of this colossal statue originated with the French
Sculptor, Bartholdi, in 1871, while on a visit to New York,
and it was first discussed in the house of M. Laboulaye
at Glavigny, near Versailles. In 1875, M. Bartholdi sub-
mitted his design to the Union Franco- Americaine, which
had been formed in France for the purpose ot presenting
the people of the United States with a gift in honour of the
country's celebration of its hundred years of independence.
When the design was accepted, the French society poetically
expressed its intention as follows:

" We desire to erect in the unequalled harbour of New
York a gigantic statue on the threshold of the New World,
to rise from the bosom of the waves and represent Liberty
enlightening the World.'*

340 LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD

The French people subscribed enough to pay for the cost
of the work — more than $250,000, and the wrist and hand
with the torch were sent to the Centennial Exhibition of
1876 held at Philadelphia. In 1877, the citizens of New
York held a meeting and appointed a committee to raise the
necessary funds and procure the necessary legislation for
the erection of this gift to the nation. Congress authorized
its acceptance and passed a resolution to provide for
its erection on Bedloe's Island and also for its care.
The public subscriptions were devoted to the founda-
tion and the pedestal. In 1884, the statue was finished
and presented to the United States Minister in Paris and in
the following year it was taken to pieces and shipped in the
French man-of war, here. The statue arrived in New
York Harbour on June 17, 1885, and two days later it was
taken to Bedloe's Island. It was dedicated on October
28, 1886, with much ceremony. The day was unfor-
tunately misty and foggy. President Cleveland was pres-
ent and many distinguished French guests, among whom
was M. de Lesseps. The ceremony is thus described :

" After a prayer by the Rev. Dr. Storrs, the Comte de
Lesseps was introduced and made a brief speech on the part
of France, and then Senator William M. Evarts in an ex-
tended address, delivered the statue to the people of the
United States through the President. M. Bartholdi himself
with trembling hand pulled the covering from the face of
the great statue, and when the roar of the answering can-
nons had in a measure subsided, President Cleveland, in a
tew words, accepted the gift M. W A. Lefaivre as the

LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD 341

accredited representative of the French nation, made a short
address, and the ceremonies were brought to an end by an
eloquent oration from Mr. Chauncey M. Depew."

The ideal significance of the statue was thus happily ex-
pressed : " We dedicate this statue to the friendship of na-
tions and the peace of the world ; the spirit of Liberty em-
braces all races in common brotherhood, it voices in all
languages the same needs and aspirations."

Figures are rarely interesting ; but as Liberty Enlighten-
ing the World is the highest statue in the world, its dimen-
sions are worth noting. The figure itself is in feet high,
and to the extremity of the torch 151-41 feet. The head
is 13^ feet high, the thumb is 12 feet in circumference,
and the forefinger is 7 feet 1 1 inches long. The extremity
of the torch is 305 feet n inches above mean'tide. The
statue may be ascended by means of stairways within ; a
stairway leads into the head, which can accommodate forty
persons at a time, and a stairway also leads into the ex-
tended arm. The pedestal also contains stairways and bal-
conies near the top

The foundation for the pedestal, which is 89 feet high
and built of cut stone, was made within the walls of the
old fort. The dimensions of the pedestal are 63 feet
square at the base and 43}^ at the top. The torch
and diadem are lighted by electricity. The statue is com-
posed of 300 bronze plates and weighs 220 tons. General
Charles P. Stone was the engineer of the pedestal and Mr.
Richard M. Hunt, its architect.

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