Chapter XXIV: Introduction (3)

Whatever might be the importance of American independence in the history of England, it was of unequaled moment in the history of the world. If it crippled for a while the supremacy of the English nation, it founded the supremacy of the English race. From the hour of American Independence the life of the English people has flowed not in one current, but in two; and while the older has shown little signs of lessening, the younger has fast risen to a greatness which has changed the face of the world. In 1783 America was a nation of three millions of inhabitants, scattered thinly along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It is now [1877] a nation of forty millions, stretching over the whole continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In wealth and material energy, as in numbers, it far surpasses the mother-country from which it sprang. It is already the main branch of the English people; and in the days that are at hand the main current of that people’s history must run along the channel not of the Thames or the Mersey, but of the Hudson and the Mississippi.

But distinct as these currents are, every year proves more clearly that in spirit the English people are one. The distance that parted England from America lessens every day. The ties that unite them grow every day stronger. The social and political differences that threatened a hundred years ago to form an impassable barrier between them grow every day less. Against this silent and inevitable drift of things the spirit of narrow isolation on either side the Atlantic struggles in vain. It is possible that the two branches of the English people will remain forever separate political existences. It is likely enough that the older of them may again break in twain, and that the English people in the Pacific may assert as distinct a national life as the two English peoples on either side the Atlantic. But the spirit, the influence, of all these branches will remain one.

And in thus remaining one, before half a century is over it will change the face of the world. As two hundred millions of Englishmen fill the valley of the Mississippi, as fifty millions of Englishmen assert their lordship over Australasia, this vast power will tell through Britain on the old world of Europe, whose nations will have shrunk into insignificance before it. What the issues of such a world-wide change may be, not even the wildest dreamer would dare to dream. But one issue is inevitable. In the centuries that lie before us, the primacy of the world will lie with the English people. English institutions, English speech, English thought, will become the main features of the political, the social, and the intellectual life of mankind.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= John Richard Green (1837-1883) was born at Oxford,
England. In his early life he entered the ministry and became
not only an eloquent preacher, but an effective worker among his
parishioners. Ill health caused him to resign and devote his time
entirely to writing. He was a noted English historian, the author of
_A History of the English People_ and _The Making of England_. His
vivid imagination enabled him to picture the life of the people and
to make history interesting and popular.

=Discussion.= 1. What do you think of the reasoning in the first
paragraph? 2. What victory was there in the political defeat of
the British government? 3. How is the distance between England and
America lessened today? 4. How are the ties between the two countries
being strengthened? 5. What does the author hint at in the last part
of the second paragraph? 6. What do you think of the prophecy in the
first sentence of the last paragraph? 7. Is his dream any nearer
reality today than when the author wrote these lines? 8. Pronounce
the following: Thames; isolation; inevitable; primacy.

=Phrases=

unequaled moment, 338, 2
material energy, 338, 12
impassable barrier, 338, 23
inevitable drift, 338, 24
narrow isolation, 338, 24
political existences, 338, 27
assert their lordship, 339, 3
one issue is inevitable, 339, 7
primacy of the world, 339, 8
English institutions, 339, 9

ENGLAND AND AMERICA IN 1782

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

O Thou, that sendest out the man
To rule by land and sea,
Strong mother of a Lion-line,
Be proud of those strong sons of thine
Who wrench’d their rights from thee!

What wonder, if in noble heat
Those men thine arms withstood,
Re-taught the lesson thou hadst taught,
And in thy spirit with thee fought—
Who sprang from English blood!

But Thou rejoice with liberal joy,
Lift up thy rocky face,
And shatter, when the storms are black,
In many a streaming torrent back,
The seas that shock thy base!

Whatever harmonies of law
The growing world assume,
Thy work is thine—the single note
From that deep chord which Hampden smote
Will vibrate to the doom.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 49.

=Historical Note.= John Hampden (1594-1643) was a celebrated English
statesman and patriot. When Charles I attempted to impose a tax upon
his subjects without the authority of Parliament, Hampden refused to
pay. The King’s government brought suit against him, and although the
case was decided against Hampden, later the House of Lords ordered
the judgment of the court to be canceled.

=Discussion.= 1. Why does the poet think England should be proud of
America? 2. Name some of the rights won by those of “English blood”
before this. 3. Read the lines that tell, in figurative language,
what England and Englishmen will do when their rights are attacked.
4. Notice in the last stanza how the words _harmonies_, _note_,
_chord_, _smote_, and _vibrate_ all help to carry out the thought,
expressed in figurative language. 5. What was the “chord which
Hampden smote”? 6. Is it still “vibrating”? 7. Did the poet use the
same riming scheme in each of the stanzas?

=Phrases=

strong mother of a Lion-line, 340, 3
wrench’d their rights, 340, 5
in noble heat, 340, 6
thine arms withstood, 340, 7
re-taught the lesson thou hadst taught, 340, 8
thy rocky face, 340, 12
harmonies of law, 340, 16

ENGLAND TO FREE MEN

JOHN GALSWORTHY

Men of my blood, you English men!
From misty hill and misty fen,
From cot, and town, and plow, and moor.
Come in—before I shut the door!
Into my courtyard paved with stones
That keep the names, that keep the bones,
Of none but English men who came
Free of their lives, to guard my fame.

I am your native land who bred
No driven heart, no driven head;
I fly a flag in every sea
Round the old Earth, of Liberty!
I am the Land that boasts a crown;
The sun comes up, the sun goes down—
And never men may say of me,
Mine is a breed that is not free.

I have a wreath! My forehead wears
A hundred leaves—a hundred years
I never knew the words: “You must!”
And shall my wreath return to dust?
Freemen! The door is yet ajar;
From northern star to southern star,
O ye who count and ye who delve,
Come in—before my clock strikes twelve!

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= John Galsworthy (1867-⸺) was born in Coombe, Surrey,
England, and has led the life of the typical English gentleman. After
spending five years at Harrow he went to Oxford University. In 1890
he was admitted to the bar, but he disliked the profession of law and
never practiced it. He spent several years, after leaving college, in
foreign travel, and did not begin to write until he was thirty years
old. He has written a number of dramas dealing with social questions,
such as “Justice” and “Strife.” He is also well-known for his short
stories and novels. During the recent World War, Mr. Galsworthy
served several months in an English hospital for French soldiers.

The poem “England to Free Men” was written when England was for the
first time about to adopt conscription as a method of recruiting an
army to oppose German aggression in Belgium and France.

=Discussion.= 1. Who is supposed to be speaking in this poem? 2. Whom
does the speaker address? 3. Of what “courtyard” does the poet speak?
4. What is the meaning of the first two lines of the second stanza?
5. What kind of flag does the poet say England “flies in every sea”?
6. Explain the “wreath” mentioned in the last stanza. 7. What does
the poet mean by “before my clock strikes twelve”? 8. What has been
America’s attitude toward conscription? 9. What impression of the
author do you gain from this poem? 10. Tell what you know of him.

=Phrases=

men of my blood, 341, 1
free of their lives, 341, 7
who bred no driven heart, 341, 9
that boasts a crown, 341, 13
the door is yet ajar, 342, 7
ye who delve, 342, 9

“MEN WHO MARCH AWAY”

(Song of the Soldiers)

THOMAS HARDY

What of the faith and fire within us
Men who march away
Ere the barn-cocks say
Night is growing gray,
Leaving all that here could win us;
What of the faith and fire within us
Men who march away?

Is it a purblind prank, O think you,
Friend with the musing eye,
Who watch us stepping by
With doubt and dolorous sigh?
Can much pondering so hoodwink you!
Is it a purblind prank, O think you,
Friend with the musing eye?

Nay. We well see what we are doing,
Though some may not see,
Dalliers as they be;
England’s need are we;
Her distress would leave us rueing:
Nay. We well see what we are doing,
Though some may not see!

In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just,
And that braggarts must
Surely bite the dust,
Press we to the field ungrieving,
In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just.

Hence the faith and fire within us
Men who march away
Ere the barn-cocks say
Night is growing gray,
Leaving all that here could win us;
Hence the faith and fire within us
Men who march away.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Thomas Hardy (1840-⸺) was born in Dorsetshire, England.
He was educated at local schools and by private tutors. At the early
age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an architect of Worcester, in
which line of work he made sufficient success to win a prize for
design from the Architectural Association. At the same time he was
writing some verse and an occasional short story, and was at a loss
to know which kind of work to follow for a profession. However, after
1870 he spent most of his time in writing. He excels as a short story
writer, his “The Three Strangers” appearing in a number of lists of
the one hundred best short stories. Among his other works, _Laughing
Stock and Other Verses_, _Under the Greenwood Tree_, and _A Pair
of Blue Eyes_ are widely known. Mr. Hardy was given the Order of
Merit in 1910. The Poem “Men Who March Away,” from _Selected Poems
of Thomas Hardy_, was written at the time the English soldiers were
entering the World War.

=Discussion.= 1. What “faith and fire” must the soldier have who
freely enlists in the service of his country in war? 2. Whom does
the poet address in the second stanza? 3. Use other words instead
of “purblind prank.” 4. Explain the meaning of the fourth and fifth
lines of the third stanza. 5. Why does the poet say the soldiers
march away to war ungrieving? 6. What reason is given for the “faith
and fire” of the soldiers? 7. In the fourth stanza, with what belief
does the author accredit us? 8. What effect does the poet create by
repeating the first stanza in closing the poem?

=Phrases=

the faith and fire within us, 343, 1
purblind prank, 343, 8
friend with the musing eye, 343, 9
dalliers as they be, 343, 17
bite the dust, 343, 25
to the field ungrieving, 343, 26

EARLY AMERICAN SPIRIT OF FREEDOM

GRANDFATHER’S CHAIR

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

HOW NEW ENGLAND WAS GOVERNED

The children had now learned to look upon the chair with an interest which was almost the same as if it were a conscious being and could remember the many famous people whom it had held within its arms.

Even Charley, lawless as he was, seemed to feel that this venerable chair must not be clambered upon or overturned, although he had no scruple in taking such liberties with every other chair in the house. Clara treated it with still greater reverence, often taking occasion to smooth its cushion and to brush the dust from the carved flowers and grotesque figures of its oaken back and arms. Laurence would sometimes sit a whole hour, especially at twilight, gazing at the chair and by the spell of his imagination summoning up its ancient occupants to appear in it again.

Little Alice evidently employed herself in a similar way, for once, when Grandfather had gone abroad, the child was heard talking with the gentle Lady Arbella as if she were still sitting in the chair. So sweet a child as little Alice may fitly talk with angels such as Lady Arbella had long since become.

Grandfather was soon importuned for more stories about the chair. He had no difficulty in relating them, for it really seemed as if every person noted in our early history had on some occasion or other found repose within its comfortable arms. If Grandfather took pride in anything, it was in being the possessor of such an honorable and historic elbow-chair.

“I know not precisely who next got possession of the chair after Governor Vane went back to England,” said Grandfather, “but there is reason to believe that President Dunster sat in it when he held the first commencement at Harvard College. You have often heard, children, how careful our forefathers were to give their young people a good education. They had scarcely cut down trees enough to make room for their own dwellings before they began to think of establishing a college. Their principal object was to rear up pious and learned ministers, and hence old writers call Harvard College a school of the prophets.”

“Is the college a school of the prophets now?” asked Charley.

“It is a long while since I took my degree, Charley. You must ask some of the recent graduates,” answered Grandfather. “As I was telling you, President Dunster sat in Grandfather’s chair in 1642 when he conferred the degree of bachelor of arts on nine young men. They were the first in America who had received that honor. And now, my dear auditors, I must confess that there are contradictory statements and some uncertainty about the adventures of the chair for a period of almost ten years. Some say that it was occupied by your own ancestor, William Hawthorne, first Speaker of the House of Representatives. I have nearly satisfied myself, however, that during most of this questionable period it was literally the chair of state. It gives me much pleasure to imagine that several successive governors of Massachusetts sat in it at the council board.”

“But, Grandfather,” interposed Charley, who was a matter-of-fact little person, “what reason have you to imagine so?”

“Pray do imagine it, Grandfather,” said Laurence.

“With Charley’s permission I will,” replied Grandfather, smiling. “Let us consider it settled, therefore, that Winthrop, Bellingham, Dudley, and Endicott, each of them, when chosen governor, took his seat in our great chair on Election day. In this chair, likewise, did those excellent governors preside while holding consultation with the chief councilors of the province, who were styled assistants. The governor sat in this chair, too, whenever messages were brought to him from the chamber of Representatives.”

And here Grandfather took occasion to talk rather tediously about the nature and forms of government that established themselves almost spontaneously in Massachusetts and the other New England colonies. Democracies were the natural growth of the new world. As to Massachusetts, it was at first intended that the colony should be governed by a council in London. But in a little while the people had the whole power in their own hands, and chose annually the governor, the councilors, and the representatives. The people of Old England had never enjoyed anything like the liberties and privileges which the settlers of New England now possessed. And they did not adopt these modes of government after long study, but in simplicity, as if there were no other way for people to be ruled.

“But, Laurence,” continued Grandfather, “when you want instruction on these points you must seek it in Mr. Bancroft’s History. I am merely telling the history of a chair. To proceed. The period during which the governors sat in our chair was not very full of striking incidents. The province was now established on a secure foundation, but it did not increase so rapidly as at first, because the Puritans were no longer driven from England by persecution. However, there was still a quiet and natural growth. The legislature incorporated towns and made new purchases of lands from the Indians. A very memorable event took place in 1643. The colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth Connecticut, and New Haven formed a union for the purpose of assisting each other in difficulties, for mutual defense against their enemies. They called themselves the United Colonies of New England.”

“Were they under a government like that of the United States?” inquired Laurence.

“No,” replied Grandfather; “the different colonies did not compose one nation together; it was merely a confederacy among the governments. It somewhat resembled the league of the Amphictyons, which you remember in Grecian history. But to return to our chair. In 1644 it was highly honored, for Governor Endicott sat in it when he gave audience to an ambassador from the French governor of Acadia, or Nova Scotia. A treaty of peace between Massachusetts and the French colony was then signed.”

“Did England allow Massachusetts to make war and peace with foreign countries?” asked Laurence.

“Massachusetts and the whole of New England were then almost independent of the mother country,” said Grandfather. “There was now a civil war in England, and the King, as you may well suppose, had his hands full at home, and could pay but little attention to these remote colonies. When the Parliament got the power into their hands they likewise had enough to do in keeping down the Cavaliers. Thus New England, like a young and hardy lad whose father and mother neglect it, was left to take care of itself. In 1646, King Charles was beheaded. Oliver Cromwell then became Protector of England, and, as he was a Puritan himself and had risen by the valor of the English Puritans, he showed himself a loving and indulgent father to the Puritan colonies in America.”

Grandfather might have continued to talk in this dull manner nobody knows how long, but, suspecting that Charley would find the subject rather dry, he looked sidewise at that vivacious little fellow and saw him give an involuntary yawn. Whereupon Grandfather proceeded with the history of the chair, and related a very entertaining incident which will be found in the next chapter.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was a master of the
short story as a means for interpreting character. His ancestors
were men of action—soldiers, seamen, and public officials. But he
was unlike them; all his life he was a dreamer who loved solitude
better than society. The subject of his dreaming was human character,
particularly the character of the Puritan founders of New England.
He told many legends of colonial times, some of them portraying the
stern methods of Governor Endicott, or telling a humorous story of
the Pine-Tree Shillings, or recounting the weird story of the old
gray champion who defied Governor Andros. But besides these legends
he wrote stories, visions of life in which one can scarcely draw
the line between reality and illusion; stories of lovers who sought
vainly for happiness; stories of a great stone face on the mountain
side, and what it signified. Somewhat longer than these tales—_Twice
Told Tales_ he called them—are his romances, such as _The Scarlet
Letter_, and _The House of the Seven Gables_. Besides his longer
romances he popularized New England history in the form of stories
for children. From one such book, _Grandfather’s Chair_, these
stories have been taken.

=Discussion.= 1. What can you tell of the character of each of the
children, Charley, Clara, Laurence, and Alice, from their treatment
of the chair? 2. What interesting facts did you learn about Harvard
College and President Dunster? 3. Mention some of the famous
governors that sat in Grandfather’s chair. 4. What does Grandfather
mean by saying that “democracies were the natural growth of the new
world”? 5. Tell about the union known as the United Colonies of
New England. 6. What famous governor sat in the chair in 1644? 7.
What was the occasion? 8. Why was Oliver Cromwell friendly to the
colonies? 9. State three interesting facts which you have learned
regarding the government of New England. 10. Pronounce the following:
grotesque; importuned; tediously; spontaneously; memorable; vivacious.

=Phrases=

a conscious being, 345, 2
venerable chair, 345, 6
grotesque figures, 345, 10
ancient occupants, 345, 13
took my degree, 346, 18
council board, 346, 31
striking incidents, 347, 24
league of the Amphictyons, 348, 2
gave audience, 348, 5
indulgent father, 348, 21

THE PINE-TREE SHILLINGS

“According to the most authentic records, my dear children,” said Grandfather, “the chair about this time had the misfortune to break its leg. It was probably on account of this accident that it ceased to be the seat of the governors of Massachusetts, for, assuredly, it would have been ominous of evil to the commonwealth if the chair of state had tottered upon three legs. Being therefore sold at auction—alas! what a vicissitude for a chair that had figured in such high company!—our venerable friend was knocked down to a certain Captain John Hull. This old gentleman, on carefully examining the maimed chair, discovered that its broken leg might be clamped with iron and made as serviceable as ever.”

“Here is the very leg that was broken!” exclaimed Charley, throwing himself down on the floor to look at it. “And here are the iron clamps. How well it was mended!”

When they had all sufficiently examined the broken leg Grandfather told them a story about Captain John Hull and the Pine-tree Shillings.

The Captain John Hull aforesaid was the mint-master of Massachusetts, and coined all the money that was made there. This was a new line of business, for in the earlier days of the colony the current coinage consisted of gold and silver money of England, Portugal, and Spain. These coins being scarce, the people were often forced to barter their commodities instead of selling them.

For instance, if a man wanted to buy a coat, he perhaps exchanged a bear-skin for it. If he wished for a barrel of molasses, he might purchase it with a pile of pine boards. Musket-bullets were used instead of farthings. The Indians had a sort of money called wampum, which was made of clam-shells, and this strange sort of specie was likewise taken in payment of debts by the English settlers. Bank-bills had never been heard of. There was not money enough of any kind, in many parts of the country, to pay the salaries of the ministers, so that they sometimes had to take quintals of fish, bushels of corn, or cords of wood instead of silver or gold.

As the people grew more numerous and their trade one with another increased, the want of current money was still more sensibly felt. To supply the demand the general court passed a law for establishing a coinage of shillings, sixpences, and threepences. Captain John Hull was appointed to manufacture this money, and was to have about one shilling out of every twenty to pay him for the trouble of making them.

Hereupon all the old silver in the colony was handed over to Captain John Hull. The battered silver cans and tankards, I suppose, and silver buckles, and broken spoons, and silver buttons of worn-out coats, and silver hilts of swords that had figured at court—all such curious old articles were doubtless thrown into the melting-pot together. But by far the greater part of the silver consisted of bullion from the mines of South America, which the English buccaneers—who were little better than pirates—had taken from the Spaniards and brought to Massachusetts.

All this old and new silver being melted down and coined, the result was an immense amount of splendid shillings, sixpences, and threepences. Each had the date 1652 on the one side and the figure of a pine tree on the other. Hence they were called pine-tree shillings. And for every twenty shillings that he coined, you will remember, Captain John Hull was entitled to put one shilling into his own pocket.

The magistrates soon began to suspect that the mint-master would have the best of the bargain. They offered him a large sum of money if he would but give up that twentieth shilling which he was continually dropping into his own pocket. But Captain Hull declared himself perfectly satisfied with the shilling. And well he might be, for so diligently did he labor that in a few years his pockets, his money-bags, and his strong box were over-flowing with pine-tree shillings. This was probably the case when he came into possession of Grandfather’s chair; and, as he had worked so hard at the mint, it was certainly proper that he should have a comfortable chair to rest himself in.

When the mint-master had grown very rich, a young man, Samuel Sewell by name, came a-courting to his only daughter. His daughter—whose name I do not know, but we will call her Betsey—was a fine, hearty damsel, by no means so slender as some young ladies of our own days. On the contrary, having always fed heartily on pumpkin pies, doughnuts, Indian puddings, and other Puritan dainties, she was as round and plump as a pudding herself. With this round, rosy Miss Betsey did Samuel Sewell fall in love. As he was a young man of good character, industrious in his business, and a member of the church, the mint-master very readily gave his consent.

“Yes, you may take her,” said he, in his rough way, “and you’ll find her a heavy burden enough.”

On the wedding-day we may suppose that honest John Hull dressed himself in a plum-colored coat, all the buttons of which were made of pine-tree shillings. The buttons of his waistcoat were sixpences, and the knees of his small clothes were buttoned with silver threepences. Thus attired, he sat with great dignity in Grandfather’s chair, and, being a portly old gentleman, he completely filled it from elbow to elbow. On the opposite side of the room, between her bridesmaids, sat Miss Betsey. She was blushing with all her might, and looked like a full-blown peony or a great red apple.

There, too, was the bridegroom, dressed in a fine purple coat and gold-lace waistcoat, with as much other finery as the Puritan laws and customs would allow him to put on. His hair was cropped close to his head, because Governor Endicott had forbidden any man to wear it below the ears. But he was a very personable young man, and so thought the bridesmaids and Miss Betsey herself.

The mint-master also was pleased with his new son-in-law, especially as he had courted Miss Betsey out of pure love, and had said nothing at all about her portion. So, when the marriage ceremony was over, Captain Hull whispered a word to two of his men-servants, who immediately went out, and soon returned lugging in a large pair of scales. They were such a pair as wholesale merchants use for weighing bulky commodities, and quite a bulky commodity was now to be weighed in them.

“Daughter Betsey,” said the mint-master, “get into one side of these scales.”

Miss Betsey—or Mrs. Sewell, as we must now call her—did as she was bid, like a dutiful child, without any question of the why and wherefore. But what her father could mean, unless to make her husband pay for her by the pound (in which case she would have been a dear bargain), she had not the least idea.

“And now,” said honest John Hull to the servants, “bring that box hither.”

The box to which the mint-master pointed was a huge, square, iron-bound oaken chest; it was big enough, my children, for all four of you to play at hide-and-seek in. The servants tugged with might and main, but could not lift this enormous receptacle, and were finally obliged to drag it across the floor. Captain Hull, then took a key from his girdle, unlocked the chest, and lifted its ponderous lid. Behold! it was full to the brim of bright pine-tree shillings fresh from the mint, and Samuel Sewell began to think that his father-in-law had got possession of all the money in the Massachusetts treasury. But it was only the mint-master’s honest share of the coinage.

Then the servants, at Captain Hull’s command, heaped double handfuls of shillings into one side of the scales while Betsey remained in the other. Jingle, jingle, went the shillings as handful after handful was thrown in, till, plump and ponderous as she was, they fairly weighed the young lady from the floor.

“There, son Sewell!” cried the honest mint-master, resuming his seat in Grandfather’s chair, “take these shillings for my daughter’s portion. Use her kindly and thank Heaven for her. It is not every wife that’s worth her weight in silver.”

The children laughed heartily at this legend, and would hardly be convinced but that Grandfather had made it out of his own head. He assured them faithfully, however, that he had found it in the pages of a grave historian, and had merely tried to tell it in a somewhat funnier style. As for Samuel Sewell, he afterward became chief justice of Massachusetts.

“Well, Grandfather,” remarked Clara, “if wedding portions nowadays were paid as Miss Betsey’s was, young ladies would not pride themselves upon an airy figure, as many of them do.”

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Discussion.= 1. Describe bartering in the early colonial days. 2.
When was the coinage of money established by law? 3. Who was the
first mint master? 4. Upon what conditions did he manufacture the
coins? 5. What do you think of Captain Hull’s bargain? 6. Where did
the silver come from? 7. Describe the pine-tree shillings. 8. Tell
the story of the romance between Betsey Hull and Samuel Sewell. 9.
To what great position did Samuel Sewell attain? 10. Find out all
you can about our government mints today. 11. Where are some of them
located? 12. Where does the gold, silver, nickel, and copper come
from? 13. Pronounce the following: authentic; ominous; specie.

=Phrases=

authentic records, 349, 1
ominous of evil, 349, 5
knocked down, 349, 9
current coinage, 350, 13
barter their commodities, 350, 15
strange sort of specie, 350, 21
English buccaneers, 351, 5
personable young man, 352, 16
bulky commodities, 352, 25
enormous receptacle, 353, 1

THE STAMP ACT

“Charley, my boy,” said Grandfather, “do you remember who was the last occupant of the chair?”

“It was Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson,” answered Charley. “Sir Francis Bernard, the new governor, had given him the chair instead of putting it away in the garret of the Province-house. And when we took leave of Hutchinson he was sitting by his fireside and thinking of the past adventures of the chair and of what was to come.”

“Very well,” said Grandfather, “and you recollect that this was in 1763 or thereabouts, at the close of the Old French War. Now, that you may fully comprehend the remaining adventures of the chair, I must make some brief remarks on the situation and character of the New England colonies at this period.”

So Grandfather spoke of the earnest loyalty of our fathers during the Old French War and after the conquest of Canada had brought that war to a triumphant close.

The people loved and reverenced the King of England even more than if the ocean had not rolled its waves between him and them, for at the distance of three thousand miles they could not discover his bad qualities and imperfections. Their love was increased by the dangers which they had encountered in order to heighten his glory and extend his dominion. Throughout the war the American colonists had fought side by side with the soldiers of Old England, and nearly thirty thousand young men had laid down their lives for the honor of King George. And the survivors loved him the better because they had done and suffered so much for his sake.

But there were some circumstances that caused America to feel more independent of England than at an earlier period. Canada and Acadia had now become British provinces, and our fathers were no longer afraid of the bands of French and Indians who used to assault them in old times. For a century and a half this had been the great terror of New England. Now the old French soldier was driven from the north forever. And even had it been otherwise, the English colonies were growing so populous and powerful that they might have felt fully able to protect themselves without any help from England.

There were thoughtful and sagacious men who began to doubt whether a great country like America would always be content to remain under the government of an island three thousand miles away. This was the more doubtful because the English Parliament had long ago made laws which were intended to be very beneficial to England at the expense of America. By these laws the colonists were forbidden to manufacture articles for their own use or to carry on trade with any nation but the English.

“Now,” continued Grandfather, “if King George III and his counselors had considered these things wisely, they would have taken another course than they did. But when they saw how rich and populous the colonies had grown, their first thought was how they might make more profit out of them than heretofore. England was enormously in debt at the close of the Old French War, and it was pretended that this debt had been contracted for the defense of the American colonies, and that therefore a part of it ought to be paid by them.”

“Why, this was nonsense!” exclaimed Charley. “Did not our fathers spend their lives, and their money too, to get Canada for King George?”

“True, they did,” said Grandfather, “and they told the English rulers so. But the King and his ministers would not listen to good advice. In 1765 the British Parliament passed a stamp act.”

“What was that?” inquired Charley.

“The stamp act,” replied Grandfather, “was a law by which all deeds, bonds, and other papers of the same kind were ordered to be marked with the king’s stamp, and without this mark they were declared illegal and void. Now, in order to get a blank sheet of paper with the king’s stamp upon it, people were obliged to pay threepence more than the actual value of the paper. And this extra sum of threepence was a tax and was to be paid into the king’s treasury.”

“I am sure threepence was not worth quarreling about!” remarked Clara.

“It was not for threepence, nor for any amount of money, that America quarreled with England,” replied Grandfather; “it was for a great principle. The colonists were determined not to be taxed except by their own representatives. They said that neither the King and Parliament nor any other power on earth had a right to take their money out of their pockets unless they freely gave it. And, rather than pay threepence when it was unjustly demanded, they resolved to sacrifice all the wealth of the country, and their lives along with it. They therefore made a most stubborn resistance to the stamp act.”

“That was noble!” exclaimed Laurence. “I understand how it was. If they had quietly paid the tax of threepence, they would have ceased to be freemen and would have become tributaries of England. And so they contended about a great question of right and wrong, and put everything at stake for it.”

“You are right, Laurence,” said Grandfather, “and it was really amazing and terrible to see what a change came over the aspect of the people the moment the English Parliament had passed this oppressive act. The former history of our chair, my children, has given you some idea of what a harsh, unyielding, stern set of men the old Puritans were. For a good many years back, however, it had seemed as if these characteristics were disappearing. But no sooner did England offer wrong to the colonies than the descendants of the early settlers proved that they had the same kind of temper as their forefathers. The moment before, New England appeared like a humble and loyal subject of the Crown; the next instant she showed the grim, dark features of an old king-resisting Puritan.”

Grandfather spoke briefly of the public measures that were taken in opposition to the stamp act. As this law affected all the American colonies alike, it naturally led them to think of consulting together in order to procure its repeal. For this purpose the legislature of Massachusetts proposed that delegates from every colony should meet in congress. Accordingly, nine colonies, both Northern and Southern, sent delegates to the city of New York.

“And did they consult about going to war with England?” asked Charley.

“No, Charley,” answered Grandfather; “a great deal of talking was yet to be done before England and America could come to blows. The Congress stated the rights and grievances of the colonists. They sent a humble petition to the King and a memorial to the Parliament beseeching that the stamp act might be repealed. This was all that the delegates had it in their power to do.”

“They might as well have stayed at home, then,” said Charley.

“By no means,” replied Grandfather. “It was a most important and memorable event, this first coming together of the American people by their representatives from the North and South. If England had been wise, she would have trembled at the first word that was spoken in such an assembly.”

These remonstrances and petitions, as Grandfather observed, were the work of grave, thoughtful, and prudent men. Meantime the young and hot-headed people went to work in their own way. It is probable that the petitions of Congress would have had little or no effect on the British statesmen if the violent deeds of the American people had not shown how much excited the people were. Liberty Tree was soon heard of in England.

“What was Liberty Tree?” inquired Clara.

“It was an old elm tree,” answered Grandfather, “which stood near the corner of Essex street, opposite the Boylston Market. Under the spreading branches of this great tree the people used to assemble whenever they wished to express their feelings and opinions. Thus, after a while it seemed as if the liberty of the country was connected with Liberty Tree.”

“It was glorious fruit for a tree to bear,” remarked Laurence.

“It bore strange fruit sometimes,” said Grandfather. “One morning in August, 1765, two figures were found hanging on the sturdy branches of Liberty Tree. They were dressed in square-skirted coats and smallclothes, and as their wigs hung down over their faces they looked like real men. One was intended to represent the Earl of Bute, who was supposed to have advised the King to tax America. The other was meant for the effigy of Andrew Oliver, a gentleman belonging to one of the most respectable families in Massachusetts.”

“What harm had he done?” inquired Charley.

“The King had appointed him to be distributer of the stamps,” answered Grandfather. “Mr. Oliver would have made a great deal of money by this business; but the people frightened him so much by hanging him in effigy, and afterward by breaking into his house, that he promised to have nothing to do with the stamps. And all the King’s friends throughout America were compelled to make the same promise.”

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Discussion.= 1. Describe the loyalty of the colonists to King
George. 2. Give two reasons why the colonies began to feel more
and more independent. 3. What were some of the laws passed by the
English Parliament that made the colonies wish for independence? 4.
What was the Stamp Act? 5. Would you have felt as Clara did or as
Laurence felt? 6. Describe the change that these wrongs wrought in
the colonists. 7. Describe the congress proposed by the Massachusetts
legislature. 8. What did this congress do? 9. Why was this congress
so important? 10. How did Liberty Tree get its name? 11. What “fruit”
did it bear? 12. Pronounce the following: comprehend; sagacious;
tributaries; effigy; Parliament.

=Phrases=

sagacious men, 355, 11
illegal and void, 356, 1
stubborn resistance, 356, 17
the aspect of the people, 356, 24
oppressive act, 356, 26
subject of the Crown, 356, 33
public measures, 356, 34
humble petition to the King, 357, 12
memorable event, 357, 18
remonstrances and petitions, 357, 22
violent deeds, 357, 27
hanging him in effigy, 358, 13

BRITISH SOLDIERS STATIONED IN BOSTON

The next evening, Clara, who remembered that our chair had been left standing in the rain under Liberty Tree, earnestly besought Grandfather to tell when and where it had next found shelter. Perhaps she was afraid that the venerable chair, by being exposed to the inclemency of a September gale, might get the rheumatism in its aged joints.

“The chair,” said Grandfather, “after the ceremony of Mr. Oliver’s oath, appears to have been quite forgotten by the multitude. Indeed, being much bruised and rather rickety, owing to the violent treatment it had suffered from the Hutchinson mob, most people would have thought that its days of usefulness were over. Nevertheless, it was conveyed away under cover of the night and committed to the care of a skillful joiner. He doctored our old friend so successfully that in the course of a few days it made its appearance in the public room of the British Coffee-house in King Street.”

“But why did not Mr. Hutchinson get possession of it again?” inquired Charley.

“I know not,” answered Grandfather, “unless he considered it a dishonor and disgrace to the chair to have stood under Liberty Tree. At all events, he suffered it to remain at the British Coffee-house, which was the principal hotel in Boston. It could not possibly have found a situation where it would be more in the midst of business and bustle, or would witness more important events, or be occupied by a greater variety of persons.”

Grandfather went on to tell the proceedings of the despotic King and ministry of England after the repeal of the stamp act. They could not bear to think that their right to tax America should be disputed by the people. In the year 1767, therefore, they caused Parliament to pass an act for laying a duty on tea and some other articles that were in general use. Nobody could now buy a pound of tea without paying a tax to King George. This scheme was pretty craftily contrived, for the women of America were very fond of tea, and did not like to give up the use of it.

But the people were as much opposed to this new act of Parliament as they had been to the stamp act. England, however, was determined that they should submit. In order to compel their obedience two regiments, consisting of more than seven hundred British soldiers, were sent to Boston. They arrived in September, 1768, and were landed on Long Wharf. Thence they marched to the Common with loaded muskets, fixed bayonets, and great pomp and parade. So now at last the free town of Boston was guarded and overawed by red-coats as it had been in the days of old Sir Edmond Andros.

In the month of November more regiments arrived. There were now four thousand troops in Boston. The Common was whitened with their tents. Some of the soldiers were lodged in Faneuil Hall, which the inhabitants looked upon as a consecrated place because it had been the scene of a great many meetings in favor of liberty. One regiment was placed in the Town House, which we now call the Old State House. The lower floor of this edifice had hitherto been used by the merchants as an exchange. In the upper stories were the chambers of the judges, the representatives, and the governor’s council. The venerable councilors could not assemble to consult about the welfare of the province without being challenged by sentinels and passing among the bayonets of the British soldiers.

Sentinels likewise were posted at the lodgings of the officers in many parts of the town. When the inhabitants approached, they were greeted by the sharp question, “Who goes there?” while the rattle of the soldier’s musket was heard as he presented it against their breasts. There was no quiet even on the Sabbath day. The pious descendants of the Puritans were shocked by the uproar of military music, the drum, fife, and bugle drowning the holy organ-peal and the voices of the singers. It would appear as if the British took every method to insult the feelings of the people.

“Grandfather,” cried Charley, impatiently, “the people did not go to fighting half soon enough! These British red-coats ought to have been driven back to their vessels the very moment they landed on Long Wharf.”

“Many a hot-headed young man said the same as you do, Charley,” answered Grandfather, “but the elder and wiser people saw that the time was not yet come. Meanwhile, let us take another peep at our old chair.”

“Ah, it drooped its head, I know,” said Charley, “when it saw how the province was disgraced. Its old Puritan friends never would have borne such doings.”

“The chair,” proceeded Grandfather, “was now continually occupied by some of the high Tories, as the King’s friends were called, who frequented the British Coffee House. Officers of the custom-house too, which stood on the opposite side of King Street, often sat in the chair wagging their tongues against John Hancock.”

“Why against him?” asked Charley.

“Because he was a great merchant and contended against paying duties to the King,” said Grandfather.

“Well, frequently, no doubt, the officers of the British regiments, when not on duty, used to fling themselves into the arms of our venerable chair. Fancy one of them a red-nosed captain in his scarlet uniform, playing with the hilt of his sword and making a circle of his brother officers merry with ridiculous jokes at the expense of the poor Yankees. And perhaps he would call for a bottle of wine or a steaming bowl of punch and drink confusion to all rebels.”

“Our grave old chair must have been scandalized at such scenes,” observed Laurence—“the chair that had been the Lady Arbella’s and which the holy apostle Eliot had consecrated.”

“It certainly was little less than sacrilege,” replied Grandfather; “but the time was coming when even the churches where hallowed pastors had long preached the word of God were to be torn down or desecrated by the British troops. Some years passed, however, before such things were done.”

Grandfather now told his auditors that in 1769 Sir Francis Bernard went to England, after having been governor of Massachusetts ten years. He was a gentleman of many good qualities, an excellent scholar, and a friend to learning. But he was naturally of an arbitrary disposition, and he had been bred at the University of Oxford, where young men were taught that the divine right of kings was the only thing to be regarded in matters of government. Such ideas were ill adapted to please the people of Massachusetts. They rejoiced to get rid of Sir Francis Bernard, but liked his successor, Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson, no better than himself.

About this period the people were much incensed at an act committed by a person who held an office in the custom-house. Some lads or young men were snowballing his windows. He fired a musket at them and killed a poor boy only eleven years old. This event made a great noise in town and country, and much increased the resentment that was already felt against the servants of the Crown.

“Now, children,” said Grandfather, “I wish to make you comprehend the position of the British troops in King Street. This is the same which we now call State Street. On the south side of the Town House, or Old State House, was what military men call a court of guard, defended by two brass cannons which pointed directly at one of the doors of the above edifice. A large party of soldiers were always stationed in the court of guard. The custom-house stood at a little distance down King Street, nearly where the Suffolk Bank now stands, and a sentinel was continually pacing before its front.”

“I shall remember this tomorrow,” said Charley, “and I will go to State Street, so as to see exactly where the British troops were stationed.”

“And before long,” observed Grandfather, “I shall have to relate an event which made King Street sadly famous on both sides of the Atlantic. The history of our chair will soon bring us to this melancholy business.”

Here Grandfather described the state of things which arose from the ill-will that existed between the inhabitants and the red-coats. The old and sober part of the townspeople were very angry at the government for sending soldiers to overawe them. But those gray-headed men were cautious, and kept their thoughts and feelings in their own breasts, without putting themselves in the way of the British bayonets.

The younger people, however, could hardly be kept within such prudent limits. They reddened with wrath at the very sight of a soldier, and would have been willing to come to blows with them at any moment. For it was their opinion that every tap of a British drum within the peninsula of Boston was an insult to the brave old town.

“It was sometimes the case,” continued Grandfather, “that affrays happened between such wild young men as these and small parties of the soldiers. No weapons had hitherto been used except fists or cudgels. But when men have loaded muskets in their hands, it is easy to foretell that they will soon be turned against the bosoms of those who provoke their anger.”

“Grandfather,” said little Alice, looking fearfully into his face, “your voice sounds as though you were going to tell us something awful.”

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Discussion.= 1. What act did Parliament pass after the repeal of
the Stamp Act? 2. What did England do to compel the colonists to
submit to this new act? 3. Why was it a good thing for the chair to
be in the British Coffee House? 4. Describe the British soldiers in
Boston, on the Common, in Faneuil Hall, and in the Old State House.
5. How was the Sabbath spent? 6. What did the chair experience during
these days? 7. What happened at the custom-house? 8. What was the
difference in behavior between the older townspeople and the younger
ones? 9. What was the King’s purpose in stationing the British
soldiers in Boston? 10. Pronounce the following: inclemency; aged;
edifice; frequented.

=Phrases=

exposed to the inclemency, 359, 5
under cover of the night, 359, 12
committed to the care, 359, 13
skillful joiner, 359, 13
craftily contrived, 359, 33
the Common, 360, 9
pomp and parade, 360, 10
venerable councilors, 360, 22
arbitrary disposition, 362, 2
divine right of kings, 362, 4
court of guard, 362, 20
within such prudent limits, 363, 3

THE BOSTON MASSACRE

Little Alice, by her last remark, proved herself a good judge of what was expressed by the tones of Grandfather’s voice. He had given the above description of the enmity between the townspeople and the soldiers in order to prepare the minds of his auditors for a very terrible event. It was one that did more to heighten the quarrel between England and America than anything that had yet occurred.

Without further preface Grandfather began the story of the Boston Massacre.