The Chainbearer; Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts
CHAPTER XXIV.
"Well may we sing her beauties This pleasant land of ours, Her sunny smiles, her golden fruits, And all her world of flowers. And well would they persuade us now, In moments all too dear, That, sinful though our hearts may be, We have our Eden here."--SIMMS.
The following day was Sunday. I did not rise until nine, and when Iwithdrew the curtains and opened the shutters of my window, and lookedout upon the lawn, and the fields beyond it, and the blue void thatcanopied all, I thought a lovelier day, or one more in harmony with thetranquil character of the whole scene, never shone from the heavens. Ithrew up the sash, and breathed the morning air which filled mydressing-room, pregnant with the balms and odors of the hundredsweet-smelling flowers and plants that embellished the shrubberies. Therepose of the Sabbath seemed to rest on man and beast; the bees andhumming-birds that buzzed about the flowers, even at their usualpursuits, seemed as if conscious of the sanctity of the day. I think noone can be insensible to the difference there is between a Sabbath inthe country and any other day of the week. Most of this, doubtless, isthe simple consequence of abstaining from labor; but, connected with thehistory of the festival, its usual observances, and the holy calm thatappears to reign around, it is so very obvious and impressive, that aSunday in a mild day in June is to me ever a delicious resting-place, asa mere poetical pause in the bustling and turmoil of this world's time.Such a day was that which succeeded the night through which we had justpassed, and it came most opportunely to soothe the spirits, tranquillizethe apprehensions, and afford a moment for sober reflection.
There lay the smouldering ruins of the barn, it is true; a blackenedmonument of a wicked deed; but the mood which had produced this wasteand wrong appeared to have passed away; and in all other respects, farand near, the farms of Ravensnest had never spread themselves before theeye in colors more in consonance with the general benevolence of abountiful nature. For a moment, as I gazed on the broad view, I felt allmy earlier interests in it revive, and am not ashamed to own that aprofound feeling of gratitude to God came over me, when I recollected itwas by his Providence I was born the heir to such a scene, instead ofhaving my lot cast among the serfs and dependents of other regions.
After standing at the window a minute, in contemplation of that pleasingview, I drew back, suddenly and painfully conscious of the character andextent of the combination that existed to rob me of my rights in it.America no longer seemed America to my eyes; but in place of its ancientsubmission to the law, its quick distinction between right and wrong,its sober and discriminating liberty, which equally avoided submissionto the injustice of power, and the excesses of popular delusions, therehad been substituted the rapacity of the plunderer, rendered formidableby the insidious manner in which it was interwoven with politicalmachinery, and the truckling of the wretches intrusted with authority;men who were playing into the hands of demagogues, solely in order tosecure majorities to perpetuate their own influence. Was, then, theState really so corrupt as to lend itself to projects as base as thoseopenly maintained by the anti-renters? Far from it: four men out offive, if not a larger proportion, must be, and indeed are, sensible ofthe ills that their success would entail on the community, and wouldlift up heart and hand to-morrow to put them down totally and withoutpity; but they have made themselves slaves of the lamp; have enlisted inthe ranks of _party_, and _dare_ not oppose their leaders, who wieldthem as Napoleon wielded his masses, to further private views,apostrophizing and affecting an homage to liberty all the while! Such isthe history of man!
When the family met in the breakfast-room, a singular tranquillityprevailed among us. As for my grandmother, I knew her spirit and earlyexperience, and was not so much surprised to find her calm andreasonable; but these qualities seemed imparted to her four youngcompanions also. Patt could laugh, and yield to her buoyant spirits,just the same as if nothing had occurred, while my uncle's other wardsmaintained a lady-like quiet, that denoted anything but apprehension.Mary Warren, however, surprised me by her air and deportment. There shesat, in her place at the table, looking, if possible, the most feminine,gentle, and timid of the four. I could scarcely believe that theblushing, retiring, modest, pretty daughter of the rector could be theprompt, decided, and clear-headed young girl who had been of so muchservice to me the past night, and to whose coolness and discretion,indeed, we were all indebted for the roof that was over our heads, andsome of us, most probably, for our lives.
Notwithstanding this air of tranquillity, the breakfast was a silent andthoughtful meal. Most of the conversation was between my uncle andgrandmother, and a portion of it related to the disposal of theprisoners. There was no magistrate within several miles of the Nest, butthose who were tainted with anti-rentism; and to carry Seneca and hiscompanion before a justice of the peace of this character, would be, ineffect, to let them go at large. Nominal bail would be taken, and it ismore than probable the constable employed would have suffered a rescue,did they even deem it necessary to go through this parade of performingtheir duties. My uncle, consequently, adopted the following plan. He hadcaused the two incendiaries to be transferred to the old farm-house,which happened to contain a perfectly dry and empty cellar, and whichhad much of the security of a dungeon, without the usual defects ofobscurity and dampness. The red-men had assumed the office of sentinels,one having his station at the door, while another watched near a windowwhich admitted the light, while it was scarcely large enough to permitthe human body to squeeze through it. The interpreter had receivedinstructions from the agent to respect the Christian Sabbath; and nomovement being contemplated for the day, this little duty just suitedtheir lounging, idle habits, when in a state of rest. Food and water, ofcourse, had not been forgotten; and there my uncle Ro had left thatportion of the business, intending to have the delinquents carried to adistant magistrate, one of the judges of the county, early on Mondaymorning. As for the disturbers of the past night, no signs of them wereany longer visible; and there being little extensive cover near theNest, no apprehension was felt of any surprise.
We were still at breakfast, when the tone of St. Andrew's bell camefloating, plaintively, through the air, as a summons to prepareourselves for the services of the day. It was little more than a mile tothe church, and the younger ladies expressed a desire to walk. Mygrandmother, attended by her son, therefore, alone used the carriage,while we young people went off in a body, on foot, half an hour beforethe ringing of the second bell. Considering the state of the country,and the history of the past night, I was astonished at my ownindifference on this occasion, no less than at that of my charmingcompanions; nor was it long before I gave utterance to the feeling.
"This America of ours is a queer place, it must be admitted," I cried,as we crossed the lawn to take a foot-path that would lead us, bypleasant pastures, quite to the church-door, without entering thehighway, except to cross it once; "here we have the whole neighborhoodas tranquil as if crime never disturbed it, though it is not yet a dozenhours since riot, arson, and perhaps murder, were in the contemplationof hundreds of those who live on every side of us. The change iswonderful!"
"But, you will remember it is Sunday, Hugh," put in Patt. "All summer,when Sunday has come, we have had a respite from disturbances and fears.In this part of the country, the people are too religious to think ofdesecrating the Sabbath by violence and armed bands. The anti-renterswould lose more than they would gain by pursuing a different course."
I had little or no difficulty in believing this, it being no unusualthing, among us, to find observances of this nature clinging to thehabits of thousands, long after the devout feeling which had firstinstilled it into the race has become extinct. Something very like itprevails in other countries, and among even higher and more intellectualclasses, where it is no unusual thing to find the most profound outwardrespect manifested toward the altar and its rites, by men who live inthe hourly neglect of the first and plainest commands of the decalogue.We are not alone, therefore, in this ph
arisaical spirit, which exists,in some mode or other, wherever man himself is to be found.
But this equivocal piety was certainly manifested to a striking degree,that day, at Ravensnest. The very men who were almost desperate in theircovetous longings appeared at church, and went through the service withas much seeming devotion as if conscious of no evil; and a general truceappeared to prevail in the country, notwithstanding there must have beenmuch bitterness of feeling among the discomfited. Nevertheless, I coulddetect in the countenances of many of the old tenants of the family, analtered expression, and a coldness of the eye, which bespoke anythingbut the ancient friendly feeling which had so long existed between us.The solution was very simple; demagogues had stirred up the spirit--notof the institutions, but--of covetousness, in their breasts; and so longas that evil tendency predominated, there was little room for betterfeelings.
"Now I shall have another look at the canopied pew," I cried, as weentered the last field, on our way to the church. "That offensive, butunoffending object, had almost gone out of my mind's eye, until my unclerecollected it, by intimating that Jack Dunning, as he calls his friendand council, had written him it _must_ come down."
"I agree with Mr. Dunning altogether," answered Martha, quickly. "I wishwith all my heart, Hugh, you would order that hideous-looking thing tobe taken away this very week."
"Why this earnestness, my dear Patt? There has the hideous thing beenever since the church was built, which is now these threescore years,and no harm has come of it, as I know."
"It is harm to be so ugly. It disfigures the church; and then I do notthink distinctions of that sort are proper for the house of God. I knowthis ever has been my grandmother's opinion; but finding herfather-in-law and husband desirous of such an _ornament_, she consentedin silence, during their lives."
"What do _you_ say to all this, Miss Warren," I asked, turning to mycompanion, for by some secret influence I was walking at her side. "Areyou 'up canopy' or 'down canopy'?"
"'Down canopy,'" answered Mary, firmly. "I am of Mrs. Littlepage'sopinion, that churches ought to contain as little as possible to markworldly distinctions. Such distinctions are inseparable from life, Iknow; but it is to prepare for death that we enter such buildings."
"And your father, Miss Warren--have you ever heard him speak of myunfortunate pew?"
Mary hesitated an instant, changed color, then looked up into my facewith a countenance so ingenuous and lovely, that I would have forgivenher even a severe comment on some act of folly of my own.
"My father is an advocate for doing away with pews altogether," sheanswered, "and, of course, can have no particular wish to preserveyours. He tells me, that in the churches of the Romanists, thecongregation sit, stand, or kneel, promiscuously before the altar, orcrowd around the pulpit, without any distinction of rank or persons.Surely, that is better than bringing into the very temple the mostpitiful of all worldly classifications, that of mere money."
"It _is_ better, Miss Warren; and I wish, with all my heart, the customcould be adopted here. But the church that might best dispense with thesupport obtained from pews, and which by its size and architecture, isbest fitted to set the example of a new mode, has gone on in the oldway, I understand, and has its pews as well as another."
"Do we get our custom from England, Hugh!" demanded Martha.
"Assuredly; as we do most others, good, bad and indifferent. Theproperty-notion would be very likely to prevail in a country likeEngland; and then it is not absolutely true that everybody sits incommon, even in the churches of the continent of the old world. Theseigneur, under the old regime, in France, had _his_ pew, usually; andhigh dignitaries of the State in no country are found mingling with themass of worshippers, unless it be in good company. It is true, a_duchesse_ will kneel in the crowd, in most Romish churches, in thetowns, for there are too many such persons to accommodate all withprivileged seats, and such honors are reserved for the very great; butin the country, there are commonly pews, in by-places, for the greatpersonages of the neighborhood. We are not quite so bad as we fancyourselves, in this particular, though we might be better."
"But you will allow that a canopied pew is unsuited to this country,brother?"
"Not more to this than to any other. I agree that it is unsuited to allplaces of worship, where the petty differences between men, which arecreated by their own usages, should sink into insignificance, in thedirect presence, as it might be, of the power of God. But, in thiscountry, I find a spirit rising, which some persons would call the'spirit of the institutions,' that is forever denying men rewards, andhonors, and credit exactly in the degree in which they deserve them. Themoment a citizen's head is seen above the crowd of faces around him, itbecomes the mark of rotten eggs, as if he were raised in the pillory,and his fellow-creatures would not tolerate any difference in moralstature."
"How do you reconcile that with the great number of Catos, and Brutuses,not to say of the Gracchi, that are to be found among us?" asked MaryWarren, slyly.
"Oh! these are the mere creatures of party--great men for the nonce.They are used to serve the purposes of factions, and are be-greated forthe occasion. Thus it is, that nine-tenths of the Catos you mention areforgotten, even by name, every political _lustrum_. But let a man rise,_independently of the people_, by his own merit, and see how the peoplewill tolerate him. Thus it is with my pew--it is a _great_ pew, andbecome great without any agency of the 'folks;' and the 'folks' don'tlike it."
The girls laughed at this sally, as light-hearted, happy girls willlaugh at anything of the sort; and Patt put in her retort, in her owndirect, spirited manner.
"It is a _great_ ugly thing, if that concession will flatter yourvanity," she said, "and I do entreat it may come down _greatly_, thispresent week. Really, you can have no notion, Hugh, how much talk it hasmade of late."
"I do not doubt it, my dear. The talk is all aimed at the leases;everything that can be thought of, being dragged into the accountagainst us poor landlords, in order to render our cause unpopular, andthus increase the chances of robbing us with impunity. _The good peopleof this State little imagine that the very evils that the enemies of theinstitutions have long predicted, and which their friends have as warmlyrepudiated, are now actively at work among us, and that the greatexperiment is in imminent danger of failing, at the very moment thepeople are loudly exulting in its success. Let this attempt on propertysucceed, ever so indirectly, AND IT WILL BE FOLLOWED UP BY OTHERS,WHICH WILL AS INEVITABLY DRIVE US INTO DESPOTISM, AS A REFUGE AGAINSTANARCHY, AS EFFECT SUCCEEDS TO CAUSE_. The danger exists, now, in itsvery worst form--that of political demagogueism--and must be met, faceto face, and put down manfully, and on true principles, or, in my poorjudgment, we are gone. Cant is a prevailing vice of the nation, moreespecially political and religious cant, and cant can never be appeasedby concessions. My canopy _shall_ stand, so long as anti-rentism existsat Ravensnest, or be torn down by violence; when men return to theirsenses, and begin to see the just distinctions between _meum_ and_tuum_, the cook may have it for oven-wood, any day in the week."
As we were now about to cross the stile that communicated with thehighway, directly in front of the church, the conversation ceased, asunsuited to the place and the occasion. The congregation of St. Andrew'swas small, as is usually the case with country congregations of itssect, which are commonly regarded with distrust by the descendants ofthe Puritans in particular, and not unfrequently with strong aversion.The rowdy religion--half-cant, half-blasphemy--that Cromwell and hisassociates entailed on so many Englishmen, but which was not without adegree of ferocious, narrow-minded sincerity about it, after all, hasprobably been transmitted to this country, with more of its originalpeculiarities than exist, at the present day, in any other part of theworld. Much of the narrow-mindedness remains; but, unhappily, whenliberality does begin to show itself in these sects, it is apt to takethe character of latitudinarianism. In a word, the exaggerations andfalse principles that were so common among the religious fanatics of th
eAmerican colonies in the seventeenth century, which burnt witches,hanged Quakers, and denounced all but the elect few, are now runningtheir natural race, with the goal of infidelity in open view beforethem. Thus will it be, also, with the abuses of political liberty, whichmust as certainly terminate in despotism, unless checked in season; suchbeing not the "_spirit_ of the institutions," but the tendency of humannature, as connected with everything in which the right is abandoned tosustain the wrong.
Mr. Warren, I found, was a popular preacher, notwithstanding thedisfavor with which his sect was generally regarded. A prejudiced andprovincial people were naturally disposed to look at everything thatdiffered from their own opinions and habits with dislike; and the simplecircumstance that he belonged to a church that possessed bishops, was ofitself tortured into a proof that his sect favored aristocracy andprivileged classes. It is true that nearly every other sect in thecountry had orders in the church, under the names of ministers, elders,and deacons, and was just as liable to the same criticism; but then theydid not possess _bishops_, and having that which we do not happen tohave ourselves, usually constitutes the _gist_ of an offence, in casesof this sort. Notwithstanding these obstacles to popularity, Mr. Warrencommanded the respect of all around him; and, strange as it may seem,none the less because, of all the clergy in that vicinity, he alone haddared to rebuke the spirit of covetousness that was abroad, and which itsuits the morals of some among us to style the "spirit of theinstitutions;" a duty he had discharged on more than one occasion, andwith great distinctness and force, though temperately and under the fullinfluence of a profound feeling of Christian charity. This conscientiouscourse had given rise to menaces and anonymous letters, the usualrecourse of the mean and cowardly; but it had also increased the weightof his character, and extorted the secret deference of many who wouldgladly have entertained a different feeling toward him, had it been intheir power.
My grandmother and uncle were already seated in the canopied pew when wepedestrians entered the church. Mary Warren turned into another aisle,and proceeded to the pew reserved for the rector, accompanied by mysister, while the other two ladies passed up to the chancel, and tooktheir customary places. I followed, and for the first time in my lifewas seated beneath the offensive canopy, vested with all the rights ofownership. By the term "canopy," however, the reader is not to imagineanything like festooned drapery--crimson colors and gilded laces; ourambition had never soared so high. The amount of the distinction betweenthis pew and any other in the church was simply this: it was larger andmore convenient than those around it, an advantage which any other mighthave equally enjoyed who saw fit to pay for it, as had been the casewith us, and it was canopied with a heavy, clumsy, ill-shaped sort of aroof, that was a perfect caricature of the celebrated _baldachino_ ofSt. Peter's in Rome. The first of these advantages probably excited noparticular envy, for it came within the common rule of the country, of"play and pay;" but as for the canopy, that was aristocratic, and wasnot to be tolerated. Like the leasehold tenure, it was opposed to the"spirit of the institutions." It is true, it did no real harm, as anexisting thing; it is true, it had a certain use, as a memorial of pastopinions and customs; it is true, it was property, and could not betouched without interfering with its privileges; it is true, that everyperson who saw it secretly felt there was nothing, after all, so veryinappropriate in such a pew's belonging to a Littlepage; and, most ofall, it was true that they who sat in it never fancied for a moment thatit made them any better or any worse than the rest of theirfellow-creatures. There it was, however; and, next to the feudalcharacter of a lease, it was the most offensive object then existing inRavensnest. It may be questioned if the cross, which occupied the placethat, according to provincial orthodoxy, a weathercock should haveadorned, or Mr. Warren's surplice, was one-half as offensive.
When I raised my head, after the private devotions which are customarywith us semi-papishes, on entering a place of worship, and lookingaround me, I found that the building was crowded nearly to overflowing.A second glance told me that nearly every eye was fastened on myself. Atfirst, the canopy having been uppermost so lately in my mind, I fanciedthat the looks were directed at _that_; but I soon became satisfied thatI, in my own unworthy person, was their object. I shall not stop torelate most of the idle and silly reports that had got abroad, inconnection with the manner and reason of my disguised appearance in thehamlet the preceding day, or in connection with anything else, thoughone of those reports was so very characteristic, and so entirelypeculiar to the subject in hand, that I cannot omit it. That report wassimply a rumor that I had caused one of my own barns to be set on fire,the second night of my arrival, in order to throw the odium of the acton those "virtuous and hard-working husbandmen," who only maintained anillegal and armed body on foot, just to bully and worry me out of myproperty. Yes, there I sat; altogether unconscious of the honor done me;regarded by quite half that congregation as the respected andjust-minded youth who had devised and carried out precisely such arascally scheme. Now no one who has not had the opportunity to compare,can form any idea how much more potent and formidable is the American"folks say," than the vulgar reports of any other state of society. TheFrench _on dit_ is a poor, pitiful report, placed by the side of thisvast lever, which, like that of Archimedes, only wants a stand for itsfulcrum, to move the world. The American "folks say" has a certainomnipotence, so long as it lasts, which arises from, not the spirit, butthe _character_ of the institutions themselves. In a country in whichthe people rule, "folks" are resolved that their "say" shall not passfor nothing. So few doubt the justice of the popular decision, that holywrit itself has not, in practical effect, one-half the power that reallybelongs to one of these reports, so long as it suits the common mind toentertain it. Few dare resist it; fewer still call in question itsaccuracy; though, in sober truth, it is hardly ever right. It makes andunmakes reputation, for the time being _bien entendu_; it even makes andunmakes patriots themselves. In short, though never quite truth, and notoften very much like the truth, paradoxical as it may appear, it istruth, and nothing but the truth, _pro hac vice_. Everybody knows,nevertheless, that there is no permanency to what "folks say" aboutanything; and that "folks" frequently, nay, almost invariably, "unsay"what has been said six months before; yet, all submit to the authorityof its _dicta_, so long as "folks" choose to "say." The only exceptionto this rule, and it merely proves it, is in the case of politicalparties, when there are always two "folks say" which flatly contradicteach other; and sometimes there are half-a-dozen, no two of which areever precisely alike!
There I sat, as I afterward learned, "the observed of all observers,"merely because it suited the purposes of those who wished to get away myestate to raise various reports to my prejudice--not one of which, I amhappy to have it in my power to say, was in any manner true. The firstgood look that I took at the congregation satisfied me that very muchthe larger part of it consisted of those who did not belong to St.Andrew's Church. Curiosity, or some worse feeling, had trebled thenumber of Mr. Warren's hearers that day--or, it might be more correct tosay, of my observers.
There was no other interruption to the services than that which wasproduced by the awkwardness of so many who were strangers to the ritual.The habitual respect paid to religious rites kept every one in order;and, in the midst of a feeling that was as malignant and selfish as wellcould exist under circumstances of so little provocation, I was safefrom violence, and even from insult. As for myself, little was or couldbe known of my character and propensities at Ravensnest. School,college, and travelling, with winter residences in town, had made me asort of stranger in my own domain, and I was regarded through thecovenants of my leases, rather than through any known facts. The samewas true, though in a less degree, with my uncle, who had lived so muchabroad as to be considered a sort of half foreigner, and one whopreferred other countries to his own. This is an offence that is rarelyforgiven by the masses in America, though it is probably the most venialsin that one who has had the opportunities of co
mparing can commit. Oldnations offer so many more inducements than young nations to tempt menof leisure and cultivation to reside in them, that it is not surprisingthe travelled American should prefer Europe to his own quarter of theworld; but the jealousy of a provincial people is not apt to forgivethis preference. For myself, I have heard it said, and I believe it tobe true, to a certain extent, that countries on the decline, supposingthem to have been once at the summit of civilization, make pleasanterabodes for the idler than nations on the advance. This is one of thereasons why Italy attracts so many more visitors than England, thoughclimate must pass for something in such a comparison. But these longabsences, and supposed preferences for foreign life, had made my uncleRo, in one sense, unpopular with the mass, which has been taught tobelieve, by means of interested and fulsome eulogies on their own stateof society, that it implies something more than a want of taste, almosta want of principle, to prefer any other. This want of popularity,however, was a good deal relieved by a wide and deep conviction of myuncle's probity, as well as of his liberality, his purse having no morestring to it than General Harrison's door was thought to have a latch.But the case was very different with my grandmother. The early part ofher life had been spent at the Nest, and it was impossible so excellenta woman could be anything but respected. She had, in truth, been a soreimpediment with the anti-renters; more especially in carrying out thatpart of their schemes which is connected with traduction, and itslegitimate offspring, prejudice. It would hardly do to traduce thisnoble-minded, charitable, spirited, and just woman; yet, hazardous asthe experiment must and did seem, it was attempted, and not altogetherwithout success. She was accused of an aristocratic preference of herown family to the families of other people. Patt and I, it was urged,were only her grandchildren, and had ample provision made for us inother estates besides this--and a woman of Mrs. Littlepage's time oflife, it was said, who had one foot in the grave, ought to have too muchgeneral philanthropy to give a preference to the interests of meregrandchildren, over the interests of the children of men who had paidher husband and sons rent, now, for quite sixty years. This attack hadcome from the pulpit, too, or the top of a molasses hogshead, which wasmade a substitute for a pulpit, by an itinerant preacher, who had takena bit of job-work, in which the promulgation of the tenets of the gospeland those of anti-rentism was the great end in view.
As I have said, my good grandmother suffered somewhat in publicestimation, in consequence of this assault. It is true, had any oneopenly charged the circulators of this silly calumny with their offence,they would have stoutly denied it; but it was none the less certain thatthis charge, among a hundred others, varying from it only in degree, andnot at all in character, was industriously circulated in order to renderthe Littlepages unpopular; unpopularity being among us the sin that isapt to entail all the evil consequences of every other offence.
The reader who is not acquainted with the interior of our social habits,must not suppose that I am coloring for effect. So far from this, I amquite conscious of having kept the tone of the picture down, it being anundeniable truth that nothing of much interest, nowadays, is left to thesimple decision of principles and laws, in this part of the country atleast. The supremacy of numbers is so great, that scarce a private suitof magnitude is committed to a jury, without attempts, more or lessdirect, to influence the common mind in favor of one side or the other,in the hope that the jurors will be induced to think as the majoritythinks. In Europe, it is known that judges were, nay, _are_, visited andsolicited by the parties; but here, it is the public that must betreated in the same way. I am far from wishing to blazon the defects ofmy own country, and I know from observation, that corresponding evils,differing in their exterior aspects, and in their mode of acting, existelsewhere; but these are the forms in which some of our defects presentthemselves, and he is neither a friend to his country, nor an honestman, who wishes them to be bundled up and cloaked, instead of beingexposed, understood, and corrected. This notion of "_nil nisi bene_" hasdone an infinite degree of harm to the country; and, through thecountry, to freedom.
I do not think the worship of the temple amounted to any great matterthat day in St. Andrew's Church, Ravensnest. Quite half the congregationwas blundering through the liturgy, and every man who lost his place inthe prayer-book, or who could not find it at all, seemed to fancy it wasquite sufficient for the ritual of us semi-papists if he kept his eye on_me_ and my canopied pew. How many pharisees were present, who actuallybelieved that I had caused my own barn to be burned, in order to throwopprobrium on the "virtuous," "honest," and "hard-working" tenants, andwho gave credit to the stories affecting my title, and all the rest ofthe stuff that calculating cupidity had set afloat in the country, Ihave no way of knowing; but subsequent circumstances have given mereason to suppose they were not a few. A great many men left the houseof God that morning, I make no doubt, whose whole souls were wrapped upin effecting an act of the grossest injustice, professing to themselvesto thank God that they were not as wicked as the being whom they desiredto injure.
I stopped to say a word to Mr. Warren, in the vestry-room, after thepeople were dismissed, for he had not passed the night with us at theNest, though his daughter had. After we had said a word about theoccurrence of the morning, the good rector having heard a rumor of thearrest of certain incendiaries, without knowing who they were, I made amore general remark or two previously to quitting the place.
"Your congregation was unusually large this morning, sir," I said,smiling, "though not altogether as attentive as it might have been."
"I owe it to your return, Mr. Littlepage, aided by the events of thepast day or two. At one moment I was afraid that some secret project wason foot, and that the day and place might be desecrated by some scene ofdisgraceful violence. All has gone off well in that respect, however,and I trust that no harm will come of this crowd. We Americans _have_ arespect for sacred things, which will ordinarily protect the temple."
"Did you, then, think St. Andrew's ran any risk to-day, sir?"
Mr. Warren colored a little, and he hesitated an instant before heanswered.
"You doubtless know, young sir," he said, "the nature of the feelingthat is now abroad in the country. With a view to obtain its ends,anti-rentism drags every auxiliary it can find into its ranks, and,among other things, it has assailed your canopied pew. I own, that, atfirst, I apprehended some assault might be contemplated on _that_."
"Let it come, sir; the pew shall be altered on a general and rightprinciple, but not until it is let alone by envy, malice, andcovetousness. It would be worse to make a concession to these than tolet the pew stand another half century."
With these words in my mouth, I took my leave, hastening on to overtakethe girls in the fields.