CHAPTER III.
"Oh, when shall I visit the land of my birth, The loveliest land on the face of the earth? When shall I those scenes of affection explore, Our forests, our fountains, Our hamlets, our mountains, With the pride of our mountains, the maid I adore?" --MONTGOMERY.
It was truly news for an American, who had been so long cut off fromintelligence from home, thus suddenly to be told that some of the scenesof the middle ages--scenes connected with real wrongs and gross abusesof human rights--were about to be enacted in his own land; that countrywhich boasted itself, not only to be the asylum of the oppressed, butthe conservator of the right. I was grieved at what I had heard, for,during my travels, I had cherished a much-loved image of justice andpolitical excellence, that I now began to fear must be abandoned. Myuncle and myself decided at once to return home, a step that indeed wasrequired by prudence. I was now of an age to enter into the fullpossession of my own property (so far as "new laws and new lords" wouldpermit); and the letters received by my late guardian, as well ascertain newspapers, communicated the unpleasant fact that a great manyof the tenants of Ravensnest had joined the association, paid tributefor the support of "Injins," and were getting to be as bad as any of therest of them, so far as designs and schemes to plunder were concerned,though they still paid their rents. The latter circumstance was ascribedby our agent to the fact that many leases were about to fall in, and itwould be in my power to substitute more honest and better-disposedsuccessors for the present occupants of the several farms. Measures weretaken accordingly for quitting Paris as soon as possible, so that wemight reach home late in the month of May.
"If we had time, I would certainly throw in a memorial or two to thelegislature," observed my uncle, a day or two before we proceeded toHavre to join the packet. "I have a strong desire to protest against theinvasion of my rights as a freeman that is connected with some of theircontemplated laws. I do not at all like the idea of being abridged ofthe power of hiring a farm for the longest time I can obtain it, whichis one of the projects of some of the ultra reformers of free and equalNew York. It is wonderful, Hugh, into what follies men precipitatethemselves as soon as they begin to run into exaggerations, whether ofpolitics, religion, or tastes. Here are half of the exquisitephilanthropists who see a great evil affecting the rights of humannature in one man's hiring a farm from another for as long a term as hecan obtain it, who are at the very extreme in their opinion on freetrade! So free-trade are some of the journals which think it a capitalthing to prevent landlords and tenants from making their own bargains,that they have actually derided the idea of having established fares forhackney-coaches, but that it would be better to let the parties stand inthe rain and higgle about the price, on the free-trade principle. Someof these men are either active agents in stimulating the legislature torob the citizen of this very simple control of his property, or passivelookers-on while others do it."
"Votes, sir, votes."
"It is indeed votes, sir, votes; nothing short of votes could reconcilethese men to their own inconsistencies. As for yourself, Hugh, it mightbe well to get rid of that canopied pew----"
"Of what canopied pew? I am sure I do not understand you."
"Do you forget that the family-pew in St. Andrew's Church, atRavensnest, has a wooden canopy over it--a relic of our colonialopinions and usages?"
"Now you mention it, I do remember a very clumsy, and, to own the truth,a very ugly thing, that I have always supposed was placed there, bythose who built the church, by way of ornament."
"That ugly thing, by way of ornament, was intended for a sort of canopy,and was by no means an uncommon distinction in the State and colony, asrecently as the close of the last century. The church was built at theexpense of my grandfather, General Littlepage, and his bosom friend andkinsman, Colonel Dirck Follock, both good Whigs and gallant defenders ofthe liberty of their country. They thought it proper that theLittlepages should have a canopied pew, and that is the state in whichthey caused the building to be presented to my father. The old workstill stands; and Dunning writes me that, among the other arguments usedagainst your interests, is the fact that your pew is thus distinguishedfrom those of the rest of the congregation."
"It is a distinction no man would envy me, could it be known that I haveever thought the clumsy, ill-shaped thing a nuisance, and detestable asan ornament. I have never even associated it in my mind with personaldistinction, but have always supposed it was erected with a view toembellish the building, and placed over our pew as the spot where suchan excrescence would excite the least envy."
"In all that, with one exception, you have judged quite naturally. Fortyyears ago such a thing might have been done, and the majority of theparishioners would have seen in it nothing out of place. But that dayhas gone by; and you will discover that, on your own estate, and in thevery things created by your family and yourself, you will actually havefewer rights of any sort, beyond those your money will purchase, thanany man around you. The simple fact that St. Andrew's Church was builtby your great-grandfather, and by him presented to the congregation,will diminish your claim to have a voice in its affairs, with many ofthe congregation."
"This is so extraordinary, that I must ask the reason."
"The reason is connected with a principle so obviously belonging tohuman nature generally, and to American nature in particular, that Iwonder you ask it. It is envy. Did that pew belong to the Newcomes, forinstance, no one would think anything of it."
"Nevertheless, the Newcomes would make themselves ridiculous by sittingin a pew that was distinguished from those of their neighbors. Theabsurdity of the contrast would strike every one."
"And it is precisely because the absurdity does not exist in your case,that your seat is envied. No one envies absurdity. However, you willreadily admit, Hugh, that a church and a church-yard are the two lastplaces in which human distinction ought to be exhibited. All are equalin the eyes of Him we go to the one to worship, and all are equal in thegrave. I have ever been averse to everything like worldly distinction ina congregation, and admire the usage of the Romish Church in evendispensing with pews altogether. Monuments speak to the world, and havea general connection with history, so that they be tolerated to acertain point, though notorious liars."
"I agree with you, sir, as to the unfitness of a church for alldistinction, and shall be happy on every account to get rid of mycanopy, though that has an historical connection, also. I am quiteinnocent of any feeling of pride while sitting under it, though I willconfess to some of shame at its quizzical shape, when I see it hasattracted the eyes of intelligent strangers."
"It is but natural that you should feel thus; for, while we may missdistinctions and luxuries to which we have ever been accustomed, theyrarely excite pride in the possessor, even while they awaken envy in thelooker-on."
"Nevertheless, I cannot see what the old pew has to do with the rents ormy legal rights."
"When a cause is bad, everything is pressed into it that it is believedmay serve a turn. No man who had a good legal claim for property, wouldever think of urging any other; nor would any legislator who had soundand sufficient reasons for his measures--reasons that could properlyjustify him before God and man, for his laws--have recourse to slang tosustain him. If these anti-renters were right, they would have no needof secret combinations or disguises, blood-and-thunder names, andspecial agents in the legislature of the land. The right requires nofalse aid to make it appear the right; but the wrong must get suchsupport as it can press into its service. Your pew is calledaristocratic, though it confers no political power; it is called apatent of nobility, though it neither gives nor takes away, and it ishated, and you with it, for the very reason that you can sit in it andnot make yourself ridiculous. I suppose you have not examined veryclosely the papers I gave you to read?"
"Enough so to ascertain that they are filled with trash."
"Worse than trash, Hugh; with some of
the loosest principles, and mostatrocious feelings, that degrade poor human nature. Some of thereformers propose that no man shall hold more than a thousand acres ofland, while others lay down the very intelligible and distinct principlethat no man ought to hold more than he can use. Even petitions to thateffect, I have been told, have been sent to the legislature."
"Which has taken care not to allude to their purport, either in debateor otherwise, as I see nothing to that effect in the reports."
"Ay, I dare say the slang-whangers of those honorable bodies willstudiously keep all such enormities out of sight, as some of themdoubtless hope to step into the shoes of the present landlords, as soonas they can get the feet out of them which are now in. But these are theprojects and the petitions in the columns of the journals, and theyspeak for themselves. Among other things, they say it is nobility to bea landlord."
"I see by the letter of Mr. Dunning, that they have petitioned thelegislature to order an inquiry into my title. Now, we hold from thecrown----"
"So much the worse, Hugh. Faugh! hold from a crown in a republicancountry! I am amazed you are not ashamed to own it. Do you not know,boy, that it has been gravely contended in a court of justice that, inobtaining our national independence from the King of Great Britain, thepeople conquered all his previous grants, which ought to be declaredvoid and of none effect?"
"That is an absurdity of which I had not heard," I answered, laughing;"why, the people of New York, who held all their lands under the crown,would in that case have been conquering them for other persons! My goodgrandfather and great-grandfather, both of whom actually fought and bledin the revolution, must have been very silly thus to expose themselvesto take away their own estates, in order to give them to a set ofimmigrants from New England and other parts of the world."
"Quite justly said, Hugh," added my uncle, joining in the laugh. "Nor isthis half of the argument. The State, too, in its corporate character,has been playing the swindler all this time. You may not know the fact,but I as your guardian do know, that the quit-rents reserved by thecrown when it granted the lands of Mooseridge and Ravensnest, wereclaimed by the State; and that, wanting money to save the people fromtaxes, it commuted with us, receiving a certain gross sum insatisfaction of all future claims."
"Ay, _that_ I did not know. Can the fact be shown?"
"Certainly--it is well known to all old fellows like myself, for it wasa very general measure, and very generally entered into by all thelandholders. In our case, the receipts are still to be found among thefamily papers. In the cases of the older estates, such as those of theVan Rensselaers, the equity is still stronger in their favor, since theconditions to hold the land included an obligation to bring so manysettlers from Europe within a given time; conditions that were fulfilledat great cost, as you may suppose, and on which, in truth, the colonyhad its foundation."
"How much it tells against a people's honesty to wish to forget suchfacts, in a case like this!"
"There is nothing forgotten, for the facts were probably never known tothose who prate about the conquered rights from the crown. As you say,however, the civilization of a community is to be measured by itsconsciousness of the existence of all principles of justice, and afamiliarity with its own history. The great bulk of the population ofNew York have no active desire to invade what is right in this anti-rentstruggle, having no direct interests at stake; _their_ crime is apassive inactivity, which allows those who are either working forpolitical advancement, or those who are working to obtain other men'sproperty, to make use of them, through their own laws."
"But is it not an embarrassment to such a region as that directly aroundAlbany, to have such tenures to the land, and for so large a body ofpeople to be compelled to pay rent, in the very heart of the State, asit might be, and in situations that render it desirable to leaveenterprise as unshackled as possible?"
"I am not prepared to admit this much, even, as a general principle. Oneargument used by these anti-renters is, for instance, that the patroons,in their leases, reserved the mill-seats. Now, what if they did? Someone must own the mill-seats; and why not the patroon as well as another?To give the argument any weight, not as law, not as morals, but as mereexpediency, it must be shown that the patroons would not let thesemill-seats at as low rents as any one else; and my opinion is, that theywould let them at rents of not half the amount that would be asked, werethey the property of so many individuals scattered up and down thecountry. But, admitting that so large an estate of this particular sorthas some inconveniences in that particular spot, can there be twoopinions among men of integrity about the mode of getting rid of it?Every thing has its price, and, in a business sense, everything isentitled to its price. No people acknowledge this more than theAmericans, or practise on it so extensively. Let the Rensselaers betempted by such offers as will induce them to sell, but do not let thembe invaded by that most infernal of all acts of oppression, speciallegislation, in order to bully or frighten them from the enjoyment ofwhat is rightfully their own. If the State think such a description ofproperty injurious in its heart, let the State imitate England in herconduct toward the slaveholders--_buy_ them out; not _tax_ them out, and_wrong_ them out, and _annoy_ them out. But, Hugh, enough of this atpresent; we shall have much more than we want of it when we get home.Among my letters, I have one from each of my other wards."
"'Still harping on my daughter,' sir!" I answered, laughing. "I hopethat the vivacious Miss Henrietta Coldbrooke, and the meek Miss AnneMarston, are both perfectly well!"
"Both in excellent health, and both write charmingly. I must really letyou see the letter of Henrietta, as I do think it is quite creditable toher; I will step into my room and get it."
I ought to let the reader into a secret here that will have someconnection with what is to follow. A dead-set had been made at me,previously to leaving home, to induce me to marry either of three youngladies--Miss Henrietta Coldbrooke, Miss Anne Marston, and MissOpportunity Newcome. The advances in the case of Miss HenriettaColdbrooke and Miss Anne Marston came from my uncle Ro, who, as theirguardian, had a natural interest in their making what he was pleased tothink might be a good connection for either; while the advances onaccount of Miss Opportunity Newcome came from herself. Under suchcircumstances, it may be well to say who these young ladies actuallywere.
Miss Henrietta Coldbrooke was the daughter of an Englishman of goodfamily, and some estate, who had emigrated to America and married, underthe impulse of certain theories in politics which induced him to imaginethat this was the promised land. I remember him as a disappointed anddissatisfied widower, who was thought to be daily growing poorer underthe consequences of indiscreet investments, and who at last got to be sovery English in his wishes and longings, as to assert that the commonMuscovy was a better bird than the canvas-back! He died, however, intime to leave his only child an estate which, under my uncle's excellentmanagement, was known by me to be rather more than one hundred andseventy-nine thousand dollars, and which produced a net eight thousand ayear. This made Miss Henrietta a belle at once; but, having a prudentfriend in my grandmother, as yet she had not married a beggar. I knewthat uncle Ro went quite as far as was proper, in his letters, in theway of hints touching myself; and my dear, excellent, honest-hearted,straightforward old grandmother had once let fall an expression, in oneof her letters to myself, which induced me to think that these hints hadactually awakened as much interest in the young lady's bosom, as couldwell be connected with what was necessarily nothing but curiosity.
Miss Anne Marston was also an heiress, but on a very diminished scale.She had rather more than three thousand a year in buildings in town, anda pretty little sum of about sixteen thousand dollars laid by out of itssavings. She was not an only child, however, having two brothers, eachof whom had already received as much as the sister, and each of whom, asis very apt to be the case with the heirs of New York merchants, wasalready in a fair way of getting rid of his portion in riotous living.Nothing does a young American so much good, und
er such circumstances, asto induce him to travel. It makes or breaks at once. If a downrightfool, he is plucked by European adventurers in so short a time, that theagony is soon over. If only vain and frivolous, because young andill-educated, the latter being a New York endemic, but with somefoundation of native mind, he lets his whiskers grow, becomes fuzzyabout the chin, dresses better, gets to be much better mannered, soonloses his taste for the low and vulgar indulgences of his youth, andcomes out such a gentleman as one can only make who has entirely thrownaway the precious moments of youth. If tolerably educated in boyhood,with capacity to build on, the chances are that the scales will fallfrom his eyes very fast on landing in the old world--that his ideas andtastes will take a new turn--that he will become what nature intendedhim for, an intellectual man; and that he will finally return home,conscious alike of the evils and blessings, the advantages anddisadvantages, of his own system and country--a wiser, and it is to behoped a better man. How the experiment had succeeded with the Marstons,neither myself nor my uncle knew; for they had paid their visit while wewere in the East, and had already returned to America. As for Miss Anne,she had a mother to take care of her mind and person, though I hadlearned she was pretty, sensible and discreet.
Miss Opportunity Newcome was a belle of Ravensnest, a village on my ownproperty; a rural beauty, and of rural education, virtues, manners andhabits. As Ravensnest was not particularly advanced in civilization, or,to make use of the common language of the country, was not a very"aristocratic place," I shall not dwell on her accomplishments, whichdid well enough for Ravensnest, but would not essentially ornament mymanuscript.
Opportunity was the daughter of Ovid, who was the son of Jason, of thehouse of Newcome. In using the term "house," I adopt it understandingly;for the family had dwelt in the same tenement, a leasehold property ofwhich the fee was in myself, and the dwelling had been associated withthe name of Newcome from time immemorial; that is, for about eightyyears. All that time had a Newcome been the tenant of the mill, tavern,store, and farm, that lay nearest the village of Ravensnest, or LittleNest, as it was commonly called; and it may not be impertinent to themoral of my narrative if I add that, for all that time, and forsomething longer, had I and my ancestors been the landlords. I beg thereader to bear this last fact in mind, as there will soon be occasion toshow that there was a strong disposition in certain persons to forgetit.
As I have said, Opportunity was the daughter of Ovid. There was also abrother, who was named Seneca, or Seneky, as he always pronounced ithimself, the son of Ovid, the son of Jason, the first of the name atRavensnest. This Seneca was a lawyer, in the sense of a license grantedby the Justices of the Supreme Court, as well as by the Court of CommonPleas, in and for the county of Washington. As there had been a sort ofhereditary education among the Newcomes for three generations, beginningwith Jason, and ending with Seneca; and as the latter was at the bar, Ihad occasionally been thrown into the society of both brother andsister. The latter, indeed, used to be fond of visiting the Nest, as myhouse was familiarly called, Ravensnest being its true name, whencethose of the "patent" and village; and as Opportunity had earlymanifested a partiality for my dear old grandmother, and not less dearyoung sister, who occasionally passed a few weeks with me during thevacations, more especially in the autumns, I had many occasions of beingbrought within the influence of her charms--opportunities that I feelbound to state, Opportunity did not neglect. I have understood that hermother, who bore the same name, had taught Ovid the art of love by avery similar demonstration, and had triumphed. That lady was stillliving, and may be termed Opportunity the Great, while the daughter canbe styled Opportunity the Less. There was very little difference betweenmy own years and those of the young lady; and, as I had last passedthrough the fiery ordeal at the sinister age of twenty, there was notmuch danger in encountering the risk anew, now I was five years older.But I must return to my uncle and the letter of Miss HenriettaColdbrooke.
"Here it is, Hugh," cried my guardian, gayly; "and a capital letter itis! I wish I could read the whole of it to you; but the two girls mademe promise never to show their letters to any one, which could mean onlyyou, before they would promise to write anything to me beyondcommonplaces. Now, I get their sentiments freely and naturally, and thecorrespondence is a source of much pleasure to me. I think, however, Imight venture just to give you one extract."
"You had better not, sir; there would be a sort of treachery in it, thatI confess I would rather not be accessory to. If Miss Coldbrooke doesnot wish me to read what she writes, she can hardly wish that you shouldread any of it to me."
Uncle Ro glanced at me, and I fancied he seemed dissatisfied with my_nonchalance_. He read the letter through to himself, however, laughinghere, smiling there, then muttering "capital!" "good!" "charming girl!""worthy of Hannah More!" etc., etc., as if just to provoke my curiosity.But I had no desire to read "Hannah More," as any young fellow offive-and-twenty can very well imagine, and I stood it all with theindifference of a stoic. My guardian had to knock under, and put theletters in his writing desk.
"Well, the girls will be glad to see us," he said, after a moment ofreflection, "and not a little surprised. In my very last letter to mymother, I sent them word that we should not be home until October; andnow we shall see them as early as June, at least."
"Patt will be delighted, I make no doubt. As for the other two youngladies, they have so many friends and relations to care for, that Ifancy our movements give them no great concern."
"Then you do both injustice, as their letters would prove. They take theliveliest interest in our proceedings, and speak of my return as if theylook for it with the greatest expectation and joy."
I made my uncle Ro a somewhat saucy answer; but fair dealing compels meto record it.
"I dare say they do, sir," was my reply; "but what young lady does notlook with '_expectation_ and joy' for the return of a friend, who isknown to have a long purse, from Paris?"
"Well, Hugh, you deserve neither of those dear girls; and, if I can helpit, you shall have neither."
"Thank'ee, sir!"
"Poh! this is worse than silly--it is rude. I dare say neither wouldaccept you, were you to offer to-morrow."
"I trust not, sir, for her own sake. It would be a singularly palpabledemonstration were either to accept a man she barely knew, and whom shehad not seen since she was fifteen."
Uncle Ro laughed, but I could see he was confoundedly vexed; and, as Iloved him with all my heart, though I did not love match-making, Iturned the discourse, in a pleasant way, on our approaching departure.
"I'll tell you what I'll do, Hugh," cried my uncle, who was a good dealof a boy in some things, for the reason, I suppose, that he was an oldbachelor; "I'll just have wrong names entered on board the packet, andwe'll surprise all our friends. Neither Jacob nor your man will betrayus, we know; and, for that matter, we can send them both home by the wayof England. Each of us has trunks in London to be looked after, and letthe two fellows go by the way of Liverpool. That is a good thought, andoccurred most happily."
"With all my heart, sir. My fellow is of no more use to me at sea thanan automaton would be, and I shall be glad to get rid of his ruefulcountenance. He is a capital servant on _terra firma_, but a perfectNiobe on the briny main."
The thing was agreed on; and, a day or two afterward, both ourbody-servants, that is to say, Jacob the black and Hubert the German,were on their way to England. My uncle let his apartment again, for healways maintained I should wish to bring my bride to pass a winter init; and we proceeded to Havre in a sort of incognito. There was littledanger of our being known on board the packet, and we had previouslyascertained that there was not an acquaintance of either in the ship.There was a strong family resemblance between my uncle and myself, andwe passed for father and son in the ship, as old Mr. Davidson and youngMr. Davidson, of Maryland--or Myr-r-land, as it is Doric to call thatState. We had no concern in this part of the deception, unlessabstaining from calling my supposed father "uncl
e," as one wouldnaturally do in strange society, can be so considered.
The passage itself--by the way, I wish all landsmen would be as accurateas I am here, and understand that a "voyage" means "out" and "home," or"thence" and "back again," while a "passage" means from place toplace--but our passage was pregnant with no events worth recording. Wehad the usual amount of good and bad weather, the usual amount of eatingand drinking, and the usual amount of ennui. The latter circumstance,perhaps, contributed to the digesting of a further scheme of my uncle's,which it is now necessary to state.
A reperusal of his letters and papers had induced him to think theanti-rent movement a thing of more gravity, even, than he had at firstsupposed. The combination on the part of the tenants, we learned alsofrom an intelligent New Yorker who was a fellow-passenger, extended muchfurther than our accounts had given us reason to believe; and it wasdeemed decidedly dangerous for landlords, in many cases, to be seen ontheir own estates. Insult, personal degradation, or injury, and evendeath, it was thought, might be the consequences in many cases. Theblood actually spilled had had the effect to check the more violentdemonstrations, it is true; but the latent determination to achievetheir purposes was easily to be traced among the tenants, in the face ofall their tardy professions of moderation, and a desire for nothing butwhat was right. In this case, what was right was the letter and spiritof the contracts; and nothing was plainer than the fact that these werenot what was wanted.
Professions pass for nothing, with the experienced, when connected witha practice that flatly contradicts them. It was only too apparent to allwho chose to look into the matter, and that by evidence which could notmislead, that the great body of the tenants in various counties of NewYork were bent on obtaining interests in their farms that were notconveyed by their leases, without the consent of their landlords, andinsomuch that they were bent on doing that which should bediscountenanced by every honest man in the community. The very fact thatthey supported, or in any manner connived at, the so-called "Injin"system, spoke all that was necessary as to their motives; and, when wecome to consider that these "Injins" had already proceeded to theextremity of shedding blood, it was sufficiently plain that things mustsoon reach a crisis.
My uncle Roger and myself reflected on all these matters calmly, anddecided on our course, I trust, with prudence. As that decision hasproved to be pregnant with consequences that are likely to affect myfuture life, I shall now briefly give an outline of what induced us toadopt it.
It was all-important for us to visit Ravensnest in person, while itmight be hazardous to do so openly. The Nest house stood in the verycentre of the estate, and, ignorant as we were of the temper of thetenants, it might be indiscreet to let our presence be known; andcircumstances favored our projects of concealment. We were not expectedto reach the country at all until autumn, or "fall," as that season ofthe year is poetically called in America; and this gave us the means ofreaching the property unexpectedly, and, as we hoped, undetected. Ourarrangement, then, was very simple, and will be best related in thecourse of the narrative.
The packet had a reasonably short passage, as we were twenty-nine daysfrom land to land. It was on a pleasant afternoon in May when thehummock-like heights of Nevesink were first seen from the deck; and anhour later we came in sight of the tower-resembling sails of thecoasters which were congregating in the neighborhood of the low point ofland that is so very appropriately called _Sandy_ Hook. The light-housesrose out of the water soon after, and objects on the shore of New Jerseynext came gradually out of the misty background, until we got nearenough to be boarded, first by the pilot, and next by the news-boat; thefirst preceding the last, for a wonder, news usually being far moreactive, in this good republic, than watchfulness to prevent evil. Myuncle Ro gave the crew of this news-boat a thorough scrutiny, and,finding no one on board her whom he had ever before seen, he bargainedfor a passage up to town.
We put our feet on the Battery just as the clocks of New York werestriking eight. A custom-house officer had examined our carpet-bags andpermitted them to pass, and we had disburdened ourselves of the effectsin the ship, by desiring the captain to attend to them. Each of us had atown-house, but neither would go near his dwelling; mine being only keptup in winter, for the use of my sister and aunt, who kindly took chargeof her during the season, while my uncle's was opened principally forhis mother. At that season, we had reason to think neither was tenantedbut by one or two old family servants; and it was our cue also to avoidthem. But "Jack Dunning," as my uncle always called him, was rather moreof a friend than of an agent; and he had a bachelor establishment inChambers Street that was precisely the place we wanted. Thither, then,we proceeded, taking the route of Greenwich Street, fearful of meetingsome one in Broadway by whom we might be recognized.