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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ACQUIRED BY EXCHANGE

AMERICAN ANECDOTES

ORIGINAL AND SELECT,

BY AN AMERICA

AJJ

*'The genius of my country shiill aiiae
A cedar towering o*er tlie wilderness—,
Wafting its native incense to the .skies."

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL.

BOSTON :
PUBLISHED BY PUTNAM & HUNT,
3 Cornhill  late Market Street.
MDCCCXXX.

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS,— <o wit ,•
District Clerk'i Office.
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty second day of April,
A, D, 1830, in iho fifty fourth year of the independence of the United
States of America, PUTNAM & HUNT, ofthe said district, have de
posited in this office, the title ofa book, the right whereof they claim at
proprietors, in the words following, to wit :
"American Anecdotes: Original and Select. By an
American. In two volumes.
" The genius of my country shall arise
A cedar towerinjj o'er the wilderness, —
Wafting its native incense to the skies."
In conformity to Iho Act of tho Congress of the United States, enti
tled, " An Act for tho encouragement of learning, by securing the copies
of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such
copies, during the times therein mentioned ;" and also to an Act enti
tled " An Act supplementary to an Act entitled, an Act for the en
couragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and
books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the timcu
therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of de-
isigning, engraving and etching historical and other prints."
JNO. W, DAVIS,
Clerk ofthe District of MassachusettM.

PHESS OF PUTNAM & HUNT,

PREFACE.

"The whole course of affairs in the French Revolution," says a
distinguished writer " raight have been changed, if the king, in his
flight frorn Paris, had not stopped to breakfast ; or had not Drouet,
the Post Master of Varennes, happened to recognise him." The
editor of the following pages will be exceedingly disappointed, if the
reading of the above quotation does not lead many to whom the fact
named is new, to read the entire history of those memorable trans
actions, so intimately connected with this fact. The human mind
is a machine, if it may be so called, of the most wonderful construc
tion. If an object be faithfully presented ; if the right string be
touched, its ten thousand wheels will be immediately put in motion.
If curiosity be properly awakened, habits of slothfalness, of indif
ference, of indecision, will at once be laid aside ; and the individ
ual w.hose mind was before a mere blank, will devote himself to
reading and study with the most happy results. Hundreds have in
this way risen from obscurity to renown ; from ignorance to the high
est eminence in literature and science.
A work on the plan of the following well prepared, is the best cal
culated to produce such effects on the intellectual character of man,
A well chosen historical or biographical anecdote will frequently in
duce persons to a course of reading, that will make them familiar
with a great variety of events, of which they were before ignorant.
If the anecdote evinces wit, or genius, or exceiitricity, iu the indi
vidual of whom it is related; or, if it evince some rare concatenation
of circumstances in human conduct, or some single fact, peculiarly
connected with interesting consequences, it will open to the inquisi
tive inlellect a mine for literary and philosophical research, whieh
will not be abandoned, till all its hidden lore is possessed. Thi»
may rationally be the case ; for anecdotes of such a desciiption ars

IV. PREFACE.
indices to the various peculiarities in human character. They record
those scintillations of genius, which suddenly and unexpectedly es
cape to delight the eye of the beholder, or those sallies of wit,
which burst forth, when the mind is uncontrolled by the unnatural
and fastidious restraints of education.
It is believed, that the following anecdotes will be found peculiar
ly interesting, as many of them relate to that portion of American
history, and to those distinguished men forever dear to the virtuous
and patriotic bosom. Whatever tends to illustrate the principles,
and to display the characters of those who achieved our revolution,
will be read with pleasure, as long as the love of country shall ani
mate the breast.
The editor has employed the leisure hours of an active life in col
lecting what he has here thrown together. It has been his aim,
to combine instruction with amusement ; nothing has been admitted
into the work calculated to create a feeling of irreverance for any of
the social or christian sympathies of our nature, and although the
compiler lays no claim to originality of diction, care has been taken
to suit the language, as well as the sentiments to the most fastidious
taste. It would bean almost endless task, to enumerate the various
sources from which the facts comprised in this series have been
drawn.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

I. Dr. FranJcliri's Visit to his Mother.
Doctor Benjamin Franklin, after the decease of his
father, returned to Boston, in order to pay his respects
to his mother, who resided in that city. He had been
absent some years, and at that period of life, when the
greatest and raost rapid alteration is made in the human
appearance j at a time when the querulous voice of
the stripling assumes the commanding tone of the adult,
and the smiling features ofthe youth are succeeded by
the strong lines of manhood. The Doctor was sensi
ble such was the alteration of his person, that his moth
er could not know him, except by that instinct, which
it is believed can cause a mother's heart to beat violent
ly in the presence of a child, and point the 'rnaternal
eye, with quick and sudden glance, to a beloved son.
To discover the existence of this instinct by actual
experience, Franklin resolved to intoduce himself, as a
stranger, to his mother, and to watch narrowly,
for the moment in which she should discover her son,
and then to determine with the cool precision of the
2

6 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
philosopher, whether that discovery was the effect of
tliat instinct of affection — that intuitive love — that in
nate attachment, which is conjectured to cement rela
tives of the same blood : and which by according the
passions of parent and child, like a well tuned viol,
would at the first touch, cause them to vibrate in unison,
and at once evince that they were but different chords
of the same instrument.
On a sullen chilly day, in the month of January, in
the afternoon, the Doctor knocked at his mother's door,
and asked to speak with Mrs. Franklin. He found
the old lady knitting before the parlour fire — introduced
himself, by observing, that he had been informed, she
entertained travellers, and requested a night's lodging.
She eyed him with that cold look of disapprobation
which most people assume when they imagine them
selves insulted, by being supposed to exercise an em
ployment but one degree below their real occupation in
life ; assured him, that he had been misinformed — ^that
.she did not keep tavern ; but that it was true to oblige
some members of the Legislature, she took a. number
of them into her family, during the session ; that she
then had four members of the council, and six of the
House of Representatives, who boarded with her —
that all the beds were full; and then betook herself to
her knitting with that intense application, which ex
pressed, as forcibly as action could do, if you have
concluded your business, the sooner you leave the
house the better. But upon the Dr.'s wrapping his
coat around him, affecting to shiver with cold, and ob-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 7
serving it was veiy chilly weather, she pointed to a
chair, and gave him leave to warm himself.
The entrance of her boarders precluded all furtlier
conversation — colfee was soon served, and the Doctor
partook with the family. To the coffee, according to
the good old custom of the times, succeeded a plate of
pippins, pipes, and a paper of M'Entire's best, when
the whole family formed a cheerful smoking semicir
cle before the fire. Perhaps no man ever possessed
the colloquial powers to a more fascinating degree,
than Dr. Franklin ; and never was there an occasion
when he displayed those powers to greater advantage,
than at this time. He drew the attention of the com
pany, by^ the solidity of modest remark — instructed
them by the varied, new and striking hghts, in which
he placed his subject, and delighted them with apt and
amusing anecdotes. Thus employed, the hours passed
merrily along, until eight o'clock, when, punctual to a
moment, Mrs. Franklin announced supper. Busied
with her household affairs, she fancied the intruding
stranger had quitted the house, immediately after cof
fee, and it was with difficulty she could restrain her re
sentment, when she saw him, without molestation, seat
himself at the table with the freedom of a member of
the family.
Immediately after supper, she called an elderly gen
tleman, a member of the Council, in whom she was ac
customed to confide, to another room — complained bit
terly of the rudeness of the stranger — told the manner
of his introduction to the house — observed that he ap-

8 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
peared hke an outlandish man ; and, she thought, had
something very suspicious in his appearance, conclud
ing, by soliciting her friend's advice with respect to the
way in which she could' most easily rid herself of his
presence. The old gentleman assured her, that the
stranger was certainly a young man of education, and
to all appearance a gentleman ; that, perhaps, being in
agreeable company, he had paid no attention to the
lateness of the hour ; and advised her to call him aside,
and repeat to him, her inability to lodge him. She ac
cordingly sent her maid to him, and then, with as
much temper as she could command, recapitulated the
situation of her family ; observed that it grew late, and
mildly intimated, that he would do well to seek himself
a lodging. The Doctor replied, that he would, by no
means, incommode her family ; but that, with her
leave, he would smoke one pipe more with her board
ers, and then retire.
He returned to the company, filled his pipe, and
with the first whiff, his powers of converse returned
with double force. He recounted the hardships — he
extolled the piety and policy of their ancestors. A gen
tleman present mentioned the subject of the day's de
bate in the House of Representatives. — Abill had been
introduced, to extend the prerogatives of the Royal
Governor. The Doctor immediately entered upon the
subject — supported the colonial rights with new and
forcible arguments — was familiar with the name of the
influential men in the House, when Dudley was Gov-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 9
ernor — recited their speeches, and applauded the noble
defence of the Chamber of rights.
During a discourse so appropriately interesting to
the company, no wonder the clock struck 11, unper-
ceived by the delighted circle : nor was it wonderful
that the patience of Mrs. Franklin grew quite exhaust
ed. She now entered the room, and, before the whole
company, with much warmth, addressed the Doctor ;
told him plainly, she thought herself imposed on'f ob
served, that it was true, she was a lone woman, but
that she had friends who would protect her, and con
cluded, by insisting on his leaving the house. The
Doctor made a slight apology, deliberately put on his
great coat and hat, took a polite leave of the company,
and approached the street door, lighted by the maid
and attended by tlie mistress. While the Doctor and
his companions had been enjoying themselves within, a
most tremendous snow-storm, had, without, filled the
streets knee-deep — and no sooner had the maid lifted
up the latch, than a roaring north-easter forced open
the door, extinguished the light, and almost filled the
entry with drifted snow and hail. As soon as the can
dle was rehghted, the Doctor cast a woful look towards
the door, and thus addressed his mother — My dear
Madam, can you turn me out of your house in this
dreadful storm, I am a stranger in this town, and shall
certainly perish in the streets. — ^You look hke a char
itable lady : I should'nt think you could turn a dog
from your door, on this tempestuous night. Don't tell
me of charity said the offended matron — Charity be-
2*

10 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
gins at home. It is your own fault you tarried so long.
To be plain with you. Sir, I do not like your looks, or
your conduct — and I fear you have some bad designs,
in thus introducing yourself to my family.
¦ The warmth of this parley had drawn the company
from the parlour, and by their united interference, the
stranger was permitted to lodge in the house ; and as
no bed could be had, he consented to repose on an easy
chair before the parlour fire. Although her board
ers appeared to confide, perfectly, in the stranger's
honesty, it was not so with Mrs. Franklin ; witli sus
picious caution, she 'collected her silver spoons, pepper
box, and porringer, from her closet ; and after securing
the parlour door, by sticking a fork over the latch —
carried the plate to the chamber — charged the negro
man to sleep with his clothes on — to take the great
cleaver to bed with him, and to waken and seize the
vagrant at the first noise he made in attempting to plun
der the house. Having thus taken every precaution,
she retired to bed with her maid, whom she compelled
to sleep in her room.
Mrs. Franklin rose' before the sun', roused her do
mestics, unfastened the parlour door with timid cau
tion, and was agreeably surprised, to find her guest qui
etly sleeping in the chair. A sudden transition from
extreme mistrust to perfect confidence, was natural.
She awakened him with a cheerful good morning  in
quired how he had rested — and invited him to partake
of her breakfast, which was always served previous to
that of the boarders. And pray. Sir, said the old lady,

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. H
as she sipped her chocolate, as you appear to be a
stranger here, to what distant country do you belong ?
I, Madam, 1 belong to the city of Philadelphia ! At the
mention of Philadelphia, the Doctor declared, he for
the first time, perceived any emotion in her. Phila
delphia .'' said she, and all the mother suffused her eye.
— If you live in Philadelphia, perhaps you know our
Ben. Who, Madam ? — ^Why Ben Franklin ; my Ben ;
oh ! he is the dearest child that ever blest a mother !
What, said the Doctor, is Ben Franklin the Printer,
your son ; why he is my most intimate friend : he and
I lodge in the same room. Oh ! God forgive me ! ex
claimed the old lady, raising her watery eyes to heav
en — and have I suffered an acquaintance of my Benny
to sleep on this hard chair, while I, myself, rested on a
good bed !
How the Doctor discovered himself to his mother he
has not informed us : but, from the above experiment,
he was firmly convinced and was often afterwards
heard to declare, that natural affection does not exist.

II. Or. FranJcIin in Congress.
When the Declaration of Lidependence was under
the consideration of Congress, there were two or three
unlucky expressions in it, which gave offence to some
members. The words ' Scotch aqd other auxiliaries,'
excited the ire of a gentleman or two of that country.
Severe strictures on the conduct of the British King,
in negativing our repeated repeals of the law which

12 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
permitted the importation of slaves, were disapproved
by some southern gentlemen, whose reflections were
not yet matured to the full abhorrence of that traffic.
Although the offensive expressions were immediately
yielded, those gentlemen continued their depredations
on other parts of the instrument. I* was sitting by Dr.
Franklin, who perceived that I was not insensible to the
mutilations. " I have made it a rule," said he, "when
ever it is in my power, to avoid becoming the draughtsman
of papers to be reviewed by a pubhc body. I took my
lesson from an incident which I will relate to you.
When I was a journeyman printer, one of my compan
ions, an apprentice hatter, having served his time, was
about to open shop for himself. His first concern was
to have a handsome signboard, with a proper inscrip
tion. He composed it in these words : — ' John
Thompson, Hatter, makes and sells hats for ready
money,' with the figure of a hat subjoined. But he
thought he would submit it to his friends for their
amendments. The first he showed it to, thought the
word ' halter ' tautologous, because followed by the
words ' mafces hats,' which shew he was a hatter. — It
was struck out. The next observed that the word
' makes ' might as well be omitted, because his cus
tomers would not care who made the hats ; — if good
and to their mind, they would buy, by whomsoever
made. He struck it out. A third said he thought the
words ' for ready money ' were useless, as it was not
the custom of the place to sell on credit — every one
* Late President JeSerson.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 13
who purchased expected to pay. — They were parted
with and the inscription now stood, 'John Thompson
sells hats.' Sells hats ? says his next friend ; why, no
body will expect you to give them away. What then
is the use of that word .'' It was stricken out, and 'hats'
followed it, the rather as there was one painted on the
board; so his inscription was reduced ultimately to
•John Thompson,' with the figure of a hat subjoined.

III. Capt. Peter Powers and his wife.*
When this couple first pitched their tent in HoUis,
which was a little north-west of the present meeting
house in that town, the traces of which are still visible,
their nearest neighbor Hved in the eastern part of Dun
stable, N. H., a distance, probably at this time, of ten
miles, and could not be made at that time much less
than twelve, as they had no road but a single track,
and spotted trees for their guide. This journey could
not be made in the summer season without fording the
Nashua, which was done at a place a litde south-east
of a small island, visible at the left as you now pass the
bridge leading from Hollis to Dunstable, Mass. ; and
here the river was fordable only when streams were
* The first settlers of Hollis, on the southern borders of New Hamp
shire, were Capt. Peter Powers and Anna, his wife, who made a set
tlement in the wilderness in 1731. Their trials were oftentimes very
great — and the dangers and hardships to which they were sometimes
exposed, may be learnt from the following anecdote, derived by the
writer from the adventurous female who is the subject of it. It was
originally communicated for the Historical Collections published in
Goncord, N, H but appeared in the Journal at Plymouth, after the
former work was discontinued.

14 AMERICAN ANECDOTES,
low. Of course, the lonely adventurers made their
visits but seldom, and never with a view to be absent
from their habitations during the night, as they were
then the parents of two children, whom they were ne
cessitated to leave at home in a cabin surrounded with
Indians. Indeed, seldom, if ever, did both parents
leave their children and perform this route in compa
ny. Now it happened on a summer's morning in the
month of August, that the wife, Anna, found it neces
sary for her to visit her neighbor, and mounting at an
early hour, a fine Narragansett, a faithful and tried
companion in adventures, the river was soon forded,
and the whole distance was made, long ere it was high
noon. The interview was such as characterized the
first settlers in this new country, where warmth of af
fection more than supplied the place of a thousand
ceremonies, and a sense of dependence prompted to
the discharge of kinder offices, than mere refinement
would recognize as obhgatory on her. The 'hours
passed swiftly away — they lived fast — -they ate, they
drank, they talked much,- ' and blessed God and their
king. Nor did a single occun-ence tend to interrupt
their festivity until about three past meridian, when all
were suddenly aroused by a distant, though heavy dis
charge of heaven's artillery. All rushed to the door to
witness the aspect of the elements, when lo ! it was
raost threatening and appalling. Nature all around
slept, or seemed to be awed into a death-like silence.
Not a leaf moved but when the foundations" of the
earth responded to the voice of heaven. Already from

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 15
north to south, the whole western horizon was mantled
in black, and the gathering tempest moved forward as
slowly and sublimely as though fully conscious of its
power to deride all resistance. Not until this moment
did anxious concern possess the breast of Anna for
the objects of her affections, whom she had left in that
lone, dear cell. In a kind of momentary distraction,
she demanded that Narraganset should be pannelled,
for she must return to her family that afternoon, what
ever might be the consequences to herself. She had
rather brave the tempest returning, than endure her
foreboding with her sheltered friends. But a sudden
change in the elements did more to dissuade her from
so rash an attempt than the entreaties and expostula
tions of her friends. From an apparent calm, nature
now awoke and seemed to be rushing into ruin. As
though the north called unto the south, and the west
unto the east, the Four Winds came on to the con
flict. Clouds were driven hither and thither in angry
velocity, and all seemed to be propelled in directions
counter to each other. The tempest soon burst upon
them, and on the whole adjacent country, in an unpar-
allelled torrent. Nothing was heard but the crack or
roll of thunder, and the roar- of winds and waters —
nothing seen but the successive blaze of lightning —
Intonuere jpoli, et crebris micat ignibus cether. The
said Anna lived until rising somewhat of ninety years,
and could remember distinctly, perhaps eighty-five
years, but in all this time she never witnessed such a
scene, nor could she relate any thing, which seemed

16 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
to raise such sublimity of feeling in her mind as this.
The tempest lay upon them with unabated force
several hours, nor did it appear to spend itself until the
sun was just sinking below the horizon, when it broke
in upon drowned nature in all its smiles, and reflected
its golden beams upon the black cloud at the east, in
the most enchanting manner. This was the moment
for Anna to renew her resolve of returning to her fami
ly that night, and contrary to all reasoning and persua
sions, she immediately put it in execution. She
mounted her horse, and bidding adieu to her friends,
she entered the twelve mile forest just as the sun took
his leave of her. She calculated upon a serene and
star light evening, and the extraordinary instinct of her
beast, as well as her experience in the way and at the
fords. But in regard to the former she was wholly dis
appointed. The wind soon shifted and rolled the same
cloud back again, the rain recommenced as the night
set in, and the wind ceased. At that season of the
year the term of twilight was short ; the earth being
warm and moistened, evaporation was rapid, and a
dense fog arose which soon obstructed vision, and long
before she arrived at the fords she was enveloped in
total darkness. Her only guide now was her faithful
Narraganset, and the beasts of the forest her compan
ions. She however made the best of her circum
stances. She entered into conversation with her mare,
as was her custom when riding alone, and when her
beast stopped suddenly, tossed up her head and snort
ed at some wild animal crossing the track before her

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 17
as was supposed, Anna would exhort her to possess
courage, assuring her " that nothing could harm her,
for the beasts were mere cowards in the presence of a
brave horse," &c. After this manner the long way to
the ford was passed over in Egyptian darkness ; nor
had the tliought once occurred to Anna that so consid
erable a river as now rolled before her would be mate
rially affected by a thunder storm of a few hours ;
whereas, so great was the fall of water in this tirae,
that the river, although wide at this place, was bank
full, and pressed on in great rapidity. Nor could the
murmur of the waves be heard by reason of the rain
still pouring upon the forest around her. She there
fore determined to give the rein to .her experienced
beast, believing that she would keep the ford and land
her on the opposite shore at the proper place. The
horse entered the stream as soon as at the bank, and
in a moment lost her foothold of terra firma, and was
rolling in the waves at a full swim. Such, however,
was vVnna's presence of mind, that she made no exer
tion to rein her beast, but endeavored simply to retain
her seat, which was now under water, whilst the waves
beat with violence against her waist. The faithful
beast made for the opposite shore, but so strong was
the current, that she was either carried below the ford,
or in her exertions to resist it, she overacted and as
cended above it, where at one sweep of her fore feet
she struck upon a rock in the bed of the river, which
suddenly raised her somewhat from the water forward,
but she as soon plunged again, for the rock was clear-
3

18 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
ed the second sweep. This plunge was so deep, that
Anna was borne from her pannel by the gravity of the
water ; but pitching forward, she seized Narraganset's
mane, as she rose, nor quit her grasp until they were
both safely landed on the happy shore ! Adjusting her
clothes, she remounted, and soon found that her beast
was in her accustomed track, and in little more than
one hour, she ahghted at the door of her peaceful cab
in, where, by her well known signal, she broke the
slumbers of her husband and babes, and upon entering,
related in no purer gratitude, or greater joy, than they
experienced in hearing the result of that adventurous
night !

IV. Colonel MLane. ^
This venerable and distinguished soldier of the revo
lution, after having reached the patriarchal age of
eighty-three, closed his earthly pilgrimage at Wilming
ton, Delaware, in 1829.
Colonel M'Lane was distinguished for daring per
sonal courage, and for his unremitted activity as a par
tisan officer. He was long attached to Lee's famous
legion of horse, which, tliroughout the war, was the
terror of the British. An instance of his personal
prowess, related to us by himself, we may be permitted
to give. While the British occupied Philadelphia, colonel M'
Lane was constantly scouring the adjacent country,
particularly the upper part of Philadelphia, Bucks, and

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 19
Montgomery counties — seizing every opportunity to cut
off the scouting parties of the enemy, to intercept their
supphes of provisions, and to take advantage of every
opening which offered for strildng a sudden blow. In
this capacity, he rendered many important services to
the army, and caused great alarm to the British ; and
though they fi-equently attempted to surprise and take
him, yet such was his constant watchfulness, that none
of their attempts succeeded. Having concerted with
captain Craig, the plan of an attack upon a small de
tachment of the enemy, they agreed to rendezvous at a
house near Shoemake town, eight miles from Phila
delphia, on tlie Willow Grove turnpike. Colonel M'
Lane, having ordered his httle band of troopers to fol
low at some distance, commanded two of them to pre
cede the main body, but also to keep in his rear ; and
if they discovered an enemy to ride up to his side and
mform him of it without speaking aloud. Whil^ lei
surely approaching the place of rendezvous, in this or
der, in the early gray of the morning, tlie two men di
rectly in his rear, forgetting their orders, suddenly call
ed out, " Colonel, the British !" faced about, and
putting spurs to their horses, were soon out of sight.
The colonel, looking around, discovered that he was in
the centre of a powerful ambuscade, into which the
enemy had silently allowed him»to pass, without liis ob
serving them. They lined both sides of the road, and
had been stationed there to pick up any stragghng party
of the Americans that might chance to pass. Immedi
ately on finding they were discovered, a file of soldiers

20 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
rose from the side of the highway, and fired at the
colonel, but without effect — and as he put spurs to his
horse, and mounted the road side into the woods, the
other part of the detachment also fired. The colonel
miraculously escaped : but a shot striking his horse
upon the flank, he dashed through the woods, and in a
few minutes reached a parallel road upon the opposite
side of the forest. Being famihar with the country, he
feared to turn to the left, as that course led to the
city, and he might be intercepted by another ambus
cade. Turning, therefore, to the right, his frightened
horse carried him swiftly beyond the reach of those
who fired upon him. All at once, however, on emerg
ing from a piece of woods, he observed several British
troopers stationed near the road side, and directly in
sight ahead, a farm house, around which he observed a
whole troop of the enemy's cavalry drawn up. He
dashed by the troopers near him, without being molest
ed, they believing he was on his way to the main body
to surrender himself. The farm house was situated at
the intersection of two roads, presenting but few ave
nues by which he could escape. Nothing daunted by
the formidable array before him, he gallopped up to the
cross roads ; on reaching which he spurred his active
horse, turned suddenly to the right, and was soon fairly
out of the reach of their pistols, though as he turned,
he heard them call loudly, surrender or die. A dozen
were instantly in pursuit ; but, in a short time, they all
gave up the chase, except two. Colonel M'Lane's
horse, scared by the first wound he had ever received.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 21
and being a chosen animal, kept ahead for several
, miles, while his two pursuers followed with unwearied
eagerness. The piu^uit at length waxed so hot that, as the
colonel's horse stepped out of a small brook which
crossed tlie road, liis pursuers entered at the opposite
margin. In ascending a litde hiU the horses of the
three were greatly exhausted, so much that neitlier
could be urged faster than a walk. Occasionally, as
one of the troopers pursued on a little in advance of
his companion, the colonel slackened his pace, anxious
to be attacked by one of the two — but no sooner was
his willingness discovered, than the other fell back to
his station. They at length approached so near that a
conversation took place between them : the troopers
calhng out — " Surrender, you damned rebel, or we'll
cut you to pieces." Suddenly, one of them rode up
on the right side of the colonel, and without drawing
his sword, laid hold of his collar. The latter, to use
his own words " had pistols which he knew he could
depend upon." Drawing one from the holster, he
placed it to the heart of his antagonist, fired, and
tumbled him dead on the ground. Instantly the other
came up on his left, vrith sword drawn, and also seized
him by the collar of his coat. A fierce and deadly
struggle here ensued ; in the course of which colonel
M'Lane was desperately wounded in the back of his
left hand, cutting asunder the veins and tendons of that
member. Seizing a favorable opportunity, he drew
his other pistol, and with a steadiness of purpose which
3* .

22 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
appeared even in his recital of the incident, placed it
directly between the eyes of his adversary, pulled the
trigger, and scattered his brains on every side of the
road. Fearing that others were in pursuit, he aban
doned his liorse in the highway : and apprehensive,
from his extreme weakness, that he might die from loss
of blood, he crawled into an adjacent mill pond, entire
ly naked, and at length succeeded in stopping the pro-,
fuse flow of blood, occasioned by his wound.*

V. Heroism of Compassion.
Mr. Wilham Tewksbury and his son were at work
near Winthrop's head, Deer Island, when a boy came
running from Point Shirley, and told them that a
pleasure boat had upset between Deer Island and Long
Island. Mr. T. and son immediately set a small fore
sail in their canoe, and run for Broad Sound. He
stood in a direction for Long Island nearly half a mile,
without discovering the object of liis search. Tliis in
duced him to keep on the same course, and in a short
time he saw heads above water ; and as they rose and
fell, it- seemed that twenty were buffeting with the
waves, and contending against death. His hght canoe
already nearly buried herself in the waves, and he well
knew the extreme peril of himself and son if his frail
bark should be seized on by men in the agonies of
death. However, he took in his sail, and rowed among
* A painting representing this contest, used to be quite common in
our auction rooms, but of late years has become scarce.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 23
the drowning men, resolved to save some or perish him
self. By an almost incredible exertion of skill, he
saved seven, and was attempting to save the eighth,
when his son exclaimed, "father ! father ! the canoe is
sinking." This exclamation called his attention to
their dangerous situation. Six inches of water in the
canoe ; nine on board ; her gunwale only three inches
above water ; the wind high ; the sea violent ; and
nearly a mile from land. In order to save nine they
were obhged to leave one unfortunate man hanging
on the stern of the jolly belonging to the pleasure boat.
Five of the rescued men were apparently lifeless ; and
Mr. T. not having room to row, was obhged to paddle
before the wind till they reached the extremity of sound
point, when the canoe struck, and filled with water.
Great exertions were still necessary to save the five
helpless men in the bottom of the boat. Mrs. Tewks
bury gave her assistance at this time, and was much in
jured by a convulsive grasp of agony from one of the
sufferers. They were all conveyed to Mr. T.'s house,
were they finally recovered. Mr. T. hastened back
to the rehef of the man on the jolly boat, with all possi
ble expedition ; but the waters had closed over him.
Eleven were in the pleasure boat when she overset, and
seven were saved.
The Humane Society of New York voted seventy
dollars and a silver medal to Mr. T. ; thirty-five dollars
to his son ; twenty to Mrs. T. ; and five to the boy
who ran with the information.

24 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
VI. Eloquence in the Wilderness.
" I was one Sunday travelhng through the county
of Orange, on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, says
Wirt, in his British Spy, when my eye was caught by
a cluster of horses tied near a rumous wooden house,
in the forest, not far from the road side. Having' fre
quently seen such objects before, I had no difficulty in
understanding that this was a place of rehgious worship.
Curiosity to hear the preacher of such a wilderness,
induced me to join the congregation. On my entrance,
I was struck with his supernatural appearance. He
was a tall and very spare old man ; his head, which
was covered with a white hnen cap, his shrivelled
hands, and his voice, were ah shaking under the influ
ence of palsy ; and a few moments ascertained to me
that he was perfectly blind. It was the day of the
sacrament — his subject was the passion of our Saviour;
and he gave it a new and more sublime pathos than I
had ever before witnessed. When he descended from
the pulpit to distribute the mystic symbols, there vicas a
pecuhar, a more than human solemnity in his voice
and manner which made my blood run cold, and my
whole frame shiver. His pecuhar phrases had that
force of description, that the original scene seemed act
ing before our eyes. We saw the very faces of the
Jews ; the staring, frightful distortions of mahce and of
rage. But when he came to touch on the patience,
the forgiving meekness of our Saviour ; when he drew
to the hfe his blessed eyes streaming with tears ; his

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 25
voice breathing to God the gentle prayer, " Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do " — ^the
voice of the preacher, which had all along faltered,
grew fainter and fainter, until his voice being entirely
obstructed by the force of his feelings, he raised his
handkerchief to his eyes, and burst uito aloud and irre
pressible flood of grief. The effect was inconceivable.
The whole house resounded with mingled groans, and
sobs, and shrieks. I could not imagine how the speak
er could let his audience down from the height to wHch
he had wound them, without impairing the solemnity
ofhis subject, or shocking them by the abruptness of
his faU. But the descent was as beautiful and sublime,
as the elevation had been rapid and enthusiastic. The
tumult of feehng subsided, and a death-hke stillness
reigned throughout the house, when the aged man re
moved his handkerchief from his eyes, still wet with
the torrent of his tears, and slowly stretching forth his
palsied hand, he exclaimed, " Socrates died like a phi
losopher," — then pausing, clasping his hands with fer
vor to his heart, hfting his " sighdess balls " to heaven,
and pouring his whole soul into his tremulous voice, he
continued — " but Jesus Christ died hke a God." Had
he been an angel of light, the effect could have scarce
ly been more divine,"

VII. Cobbett.
Cobbett showed no small exultation in recapitulating
the naval victories of the Americans. He was one day

26 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
speaking somewhat boldly on the subject in the pres
ence of an Enghsh officer, who pettishly observed,
" There is good reason for it. I went on board then-
men of war after our defeat, and found half theiv sail
ors were English." " And had you not all English ?"
asked the undaunted radical.

VIII. George Washington travelling on Sunday.
In the town of  , in Connecticut, where the roads
were extremely rough, Washington was Overtaken by
night, on Saturday, not bein^ able to reach the viUage
where he designed to rest on the Sabbath. Next morn
ing, about sunrise, his coach was harnessed, and he was
proceeding forward to an inn, near the place of worship,
vvhich he proposed to attend. A plain man, who was
an informing officer, came from a cottage, and inquired
of the coachman whether there was any urgent reasons
for his travelhng on the Lord's day. The General, in
stead of resenting this as an impertinent rudeness, or
dered the coachman to stop, and with great civihty ex
plained the circumstances to the officer, commending
hira for his fidehty ; and assured him that nothing was
farther frora his intention, than to treat with disrespect
the laws and usages of Connecticut, relative to the Sab
bath, which met with his most cordial approbation.

tX. Punctuality of Washington.
Washington accomplished the most part of his great

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 27
works with apparent ease, by a rigid observance of
punctuality. It is known that whenever he assigned to
meet Congress at nobii, he never failed to be passing
the door ofthe hah when the clock struck twelve. His
dining hour was four, when he always sat down to his
table, only allowing five minutes for the variation of time
pieces, whetlier his guests were present or not. It was
frequently the case with new members of Congress,
that they did not arrive until dinner was nearly half over,
and he would remark, gentleman we are punctual here ;
my cook never asks whether the company has arrived,
but whether the hour has. When he visited Boston in
1789, he appointed eight o'clock in the morning as the
hour when he should set out for Salem, and while the
Old South clock was striking eight, he was crossing his
saddle. The company of cavalry which volunteered to
escort him, not anticipating this strict punctuahty, were
parading in Tremont street, after his departure ; and i',
was not until the President had reached Charles river
bridge, where he stopped a few minutes, that the troop
of horse overtook hira. On passing the corps, the Pres
ident with perfect good nature said : — " Major  , I
thought you had been too long in ray family, not to know
when it vvas eight o'clock." The following anecdote
was related by Captain Pease, the father of the stage
estabhshment in the United States. He had purchased
a beautiful pair of horses, which he wished to dispose of
to the President, who he knew was an excellent judge
of horses. The President appointed five o'clock in the
morning to examine them at his stable. The captain
thinking the hour was too early for so great a man to be

28 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Stirring, did not arrive with the horses untU a quarter
after five, when he was told by the groom that the Pres
ident was there at five, and was then fulfilling other en
gagements. Pease was much mortified, and caUed on
Major Jackson, the Secretary, to apologise for his delay,
and to request the President to appoint some new time ;
and he added that he found the .President's tirae was
wholly pre-occupied for several days, and that he was
corapelled to stay a week in Philadelphia on expense,
before the exaraination took place merely for delaying
the first quarter of an hour.

X. Eloquence of Patrick Henry.
The versatihty of talent for which Patrick Henry, the
American orator and patriot was distinguished, was hap
pily illustrated in a trial which took place soon after the
war of independence. During the distress of the Re
publican army, consequent on the invasion of Cornwal
lis and Phillips, in 1781, Mr. Venable, an army com
missary, took two steers for the use of the troops,
from Mr. Hook, a Scotchman, and a man of wealth,
who was suspected of being unfriendly to the American
cause. The act had not been strictly legal ; and on
the estabhshment of peace. Hook, under the advice of
Cowan, a gentleman of some distinction in the law ;
thought proper to bring an action of trespass against Mr.
Venable, in the District Court of New-London. Mr.
Henry appeared for the defendant ; and is said to have
conducted himself in a manner much to the enjoyment

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 29
of his hearers, the unfortunate Hook always excepted.
After Mr. Henry became animated in the cause, he ap
peared to have complete control over the passions of his
audience : at one time he excited their indignation
against Hook ; vengeance was visible in every counte
nance ; again, when he chose to relax and ridicule him,
the whole audience was in a roar of laughter. He
painted the distress ofthe American army, exposed, al
most naked, to the rigour of a winter's sky ; and mark
ing the frozen groimd over which they marched, with
the blood of their unshod feet. "Where was the man"
he said, " who had an American heart in his bosom,
who would not have thrown open his field, his barns,
his cellars, the doors of his house, the portals of his
breast, to have received with open arms the meanest
soldier in that httle band of famished patriots ? ' Where
is the man ? — There he stands ; but whether the heart
of an American beats in his bosom, you gentlemen are
to judge." He then carried the jury, by the power of
his imagination, to the plains around York, the surren
der of which had followed shortly after the act com
plained of. He depicted the surrender in the most
glowing and noble colors of his eloquence ; the audi
ence saw before tlieir eyes the humihation and dejec
tion of the British, as they marched out of their trench
es ; they saw the triumph which hghted up every pat
riot's face ; they heard the shouts of victory, the cry o*"
Washington and liberty, as it rung and echoed through
the American ranks, and was reverberated fi'om the
hills and shores of the neighboring river ; " but hark !"
4

30 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
continued Henry, " what notes of discord are those
which disturb the general joy, and silence the acclama
tions of victory ? They are the notes of John Hook,
hoarsely bawling through the American camp, 'beef !
beef!' beef!'"
The Court was convulsed with laughter; — when
Hook, turning to the Clerk, said, — " Never mind yon
mon ; wait till Billy Cowan gets up, and he'U show him
the la." But Mr. Cowan was so completely over
whelmed by the torrent which bore upon his chent, that
when he rose to reply to Mr. Henry, he was scarcely
able to make an intelhgible or audible remark. The
cause was decided almost by acclamation. The jury
retired for form sake, and instantly returned with a ver
dict for the defendant.

XI. General Andrew Jackson.
All mihtary men who have made themselves ac
quainted with the position of the Enghsh and American
armies near New Orleans, after the battle of the 8th of
January, 1815, are decidedly of opinion that had Gen
eral Jackson pursued the British army after their de
feat, the chances were nine in ten that he would have
captured or destroyed the whole of them. So satisfied
was General Gaines of the certainty of success which
would have attended pursuit, that on his arrival at New
Orleans, on the evening of the 22d of January, and in
his first interviews with General Jackson, he pointed
out to him the brilhant opportunity he had lost of add-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 31
ing to lys own reputation and that of the nation, widiout
jeoparding the safety of the country.
" I saw the opportunity that presented itself," said
the General ; " and with a perfect knowledge of every
thing attending our respective situations, estimated the
chances in my favor even higher than you do. Suc
cess was almost certain, but would have been attended
with a terrible destruction of human life, and there was
a possibihty of failure ! What would have been the
consequences of such failure } Would not the people
have said, and truly too, that I had sacrificed the whole
western country with a view of adding to my individual
fame ? Would the conquest of the British army have
rendered the country any safer than it now is by their
defeat? How then could I have justified to a reflect
ing people, even if I had succeeded, an act which might
have been attended vrith such disastrous effects ? Be
lieving as I did that the safety of the country did not
require their capture, I could not consent to purchase
additional laurels by the sacrifice of some eight or ten
hundred of my fellow citizens, who had assumed arms
in defence of their native soil, and not to win a reputa
tion for tiieir leader."
On relating this anecdote. General Gaines remarked;
" I had long known General Jackson to be a meritori
ous, high-minded man, but never till then did I properly
estimate the patriotism which had marked every act of
his pubhc hfe, and taught him to despise personal fame.
An intimate intercourse with hira for raany years, has
forcibly impressed upon me the conviction, that both as

32 AMERICAN ANECDOTES,
a pubhc and private man, he more closely resembles
Washington, than any individual that America has pro
duced."

XII. First cause of the American Revolution.
Wheij the late President Adams was minister at the
Court of St. James, he often saw his countryman, Ben
jamin West, the late President of the royal academy.
One day Mr. West asked his friend if he should like to
take a walk with him and see the cause of the Ameri
can Revolution. The rainister smiled at the proposal,
and said he should like to accompany his friend West
anywhere. The following day he called according to
agreement, and took Mr. Adams into Hyde Park to a
spot near the Serpentine river, where he gave him the
following narrative. The king came to the throne a
young man surrounded by flattering courtiers ; one of
whose frequent topics it was, to declaim against the
meanness of his palace, which was wholly unworthy a
monarch of such a country as England. They said
there was not a sovereign in Europe lodged so poorly ;
— that his sorry, dingy, old, brick palace of St. James,
looked hke a stable, and that he ought to hold a palace
suited to his kingdom. The king was fond of architec
ture, and would therefore more readily hsten to sugges
tions, which were in fact all true. The spot that you
see here, was selected for the site, between this and
this point, which were marked out. The king applied
to his ministers on the subject ; they inquired what suni

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 33
would be wanted by his majesty, who said that he would
begin with a milhon. They stated tiie expenses of the
war, and the poverty of the treasury, but that his maj
esty's wishes should be taken into full consideration.
Some time afterwards the king was informed, that the
wants of the treasury were too urgent to admit of a sup
ply from their present means, but tiiat a revenue might
be raised in America to supply all the king's wishes.
This suggestion was followed up, and the king was in
this way first led to consider, and then to consent, to the
scherae of taxing the colonies.

XIII. Patriotism of Benjamin West.
Mr. West met with mtmificent patronage in England,
but " he always retained a strong and unyielding affec
tion for his native land." The countenance which the
king nobly bestowed upon this highly gifted American,
could not fail to excite envy among his courtiers. A
mahcious individual, knovring his partiality for the land
of his birth, resolved to make him give some unguarded
proof of it which would be unpleasant to his majesty,
incensed as he then was against the American colonies.
Whh an air of much satisfaction, he one day informed
the king that the Americans had lately met witii a most
disastrous defeat ; and turning to Mr. West, he exult-
ingly asked, " How do you hke these tidings, sir .'"
Mr. West, bowing low to his majesty, answered, " I am
a loyal and grateful subject to my king, but I can never
rejoice at any misfortune which befals my native land."
4*

34 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
" A noble reply," said his sovereign ; " and I assure
you, Mr. West, no man will ever fah in my estimation,
because he loves his country." Mr. West retained his
love of America to the day of his death ; and he refus
ed immense suma for some of his most magnificent pic
tures, which he painted as affectionate gifts to the pub
hc institutions of his native state.

XIV. Kingly conduct of George the third.
The king of England acted with true dignity when
Mr. Adams, the first American Ambassador, was pre
sented to hira, " Sir," said he, " I was the last man in
my kingdom to consent to your independence ; and I
shall be the last to do any thing to infringe it."

XV. West viewing an Apollo.
America could furnish this wonderful artist with no
specimens ofthe sublime and beautiful either in statuary
or painting ; of course, when he arrived in England,
great curiosity was excited as to the effect which some
of those stupendous works of art would produce upon
his mind. A magnificent Apollo was first shown to
him, where the god was represented with bow and ar
row, in all the intense eagerness of the chace. There
was a hfe — a vitality about it, which West had never be
fore seen. He raised his hand in astonishment, and,
true to all his earhest associations, he exclaimed, " My
God ! how hke a young Mohawk warrior !"

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 35
XVI. Logan, the Indian Chief.
This , celebrated Indian chief, who had always been
a zealous friend of the Enghsh, and had often distin
guished himself in their service, was taken prisoner,
and brought before the General Asserably of Virginia,
who hesitated whether he should be tried by court mar
tial as a soldier, or at the criminal bar for high treason.
Logan stated tiiat they had no jurisdiction to try him ;
that he owed no allegiance to the king of England, be
ing an Indian chief, independent of every nation. In
answer to their inquiries as to his motives for taking up
arms against the English, he thus addressed the Assem
bly. " I appeal to any white man, to say if ever he
entered Logan's cabin hungry, and I gave him not
meat ; if ever he came cold or naked, and I gave him
not clothing. During the last long and bloody war,
Logan reraained idle in his tent, an advocate 'for peace;
nay such was ray lore for the whites, that those of my
country pointed at rae, as they passed by, and said,
' Logan is the friend of white men.' I had ever
thou<rht to hve with you but for the injuries of one man.
Colonel Cressap, the last spring, in cold blood, and un
provoked, cut off all the relations of Logan, not sparing
even my women and children. There runs not a drop
of my blood in the veins of any human creature. This
called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I have
killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For
my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do
not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear. Lo
gan never felt fear. He wiU not turn his heel to save

36 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
his hfe. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one!"
This pathetic speech touched the sensibihty of aU
who heard it. The General Assembly applauded his
noble sentiments, and unmediately set him at hberty.
The inhabitants of Virginia vied with each other who
should entertain him the best, or show him the greatest
respect ; and he returned to his native country loaded
with presents and honours.

XVII. Franklin and Electricity.
Doctor Frankhn was the first philosopher who suc
ceeded in obtaining electricity from the clouds. This
he did by means of a common kite, to which an iron
point was affixed. To the lower end of the hempen
string was attached a piece of silk cord, to prevent the
electiic fluid from passing off; and where the hempen
string terminated, a key was fastened. He raised this
kite during a thunder storm, and on presenting his
knuckle to the key, he received a strong spark. He
afterwards used to repeat this experiment, and collect
the fluid thus obtained, in bottles and jars. This cir
cumstance gave rise to the following anecdote. While
he was Ambassador to the Enghsh court, a lady, who"
was about to be presented to the king, noticed his ex
ceedingly plain appearance, and inquired who he was.
"That, madam," answered the gentleman on whose
arm she was leaning, "is Benjamin Frankhn, the
Ambassador from North America." " The North
American Ambassador, so shabbily dressed !" exclaim-

AMERIC.4.N ANECDOTES. 37
ed the lady. " Hush, madam, for heaven's sake,"
whispered the gentleman, "he is the man that bottles up
thunder and lightning."

XVIII. Cudjoe, the Faithful African.
A New England sloop, trading to Guinea, in the year
1752, left the second mate, Wilham Murray, sick on
shore, and sailed without him. Murray was at the house
of a negro, named Cudjoe, with whom he had contract
ed an acquaintance during their trade. He recovered,
and the sloop being gone, he continued with his black
friend till some other opportunity should offer ofhis get
ting home. In the mean time a Dutch ship came into
the road, and some of the negroes coming on board her,
were treacherously seized, and carried off as slaves.
Their relations and friends, transported with sudden
rage, ran to the house of Cudjoe, to take revenge by
killing Murray. Cudjoe stopped them at the door, and
demanded what they wanted .'' " The white raen," said
they, have carried away our brothers and sons, and we
wiU kill all white men. Give us the white man you
have in your house, for we will kill hira." " Nay,"
said Cudjoe, the white men that carried away your re
lations, are bad men — ^kill them, when you can take
thera ; but this white raan is a good man, and you must
not kill him." " But he is a white man," they cried, ^
and the white men are all bad ; we will kill them aU."
"Nay," says he, "you must not kill a man that has
done you no harm, only for being white. This man i

38 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
my friend ; my house is his post ; I am his soldier, and
must fight for him ; you must kiU me before you can
kill him. What good man will ever again come under
my roof, if I let my floor be stained with a good man's
blood .?"
The negroes, seeing his resolution, and being con
vinced that they were wrong, went away ashamed ; and
afterwards declared that they were glad they had not
killed the innocent man, for their God would have been
very angry. XIX. Effects of Fear.
In the time of the American Revolutionary war,
while the army was encamped at West Point, a party of
soldier's discovered an eagle's nest, half way down a
precipice, adjacent to the fort. To get at the nest, a
soldier was let down by a rope, fastened round his mid
dle. When he had descended near to the nest, the
eagle came upon him with hideous screams, aiming at
his head. He had no way of defending himself, but by
taking out his knife, with which he kept her off by strik
ing at her. In one of the passes he made at her, he
had the misfortune to strike the rope, and cut one of
the strands entirely off. The other strand began to un
twist, while his companions drew him up as soon as
possible. In this situation, he every moment expected
the rope to part, when he must have fallen from the
tremendous height among the rocks. However, he
was drawn up to the top of the precipice, when the re^
maining strand of the rope was nearly reduced to a wisp

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 39
of tow. He was only 25 years old ; but in tiie course
of a few hours, his raven black hair was changed to the
whiteness of wool.

XX. Gen. Jackson and the Methodist.
On a Sunday during the late war, having given di
rections that there should be no working or unnecessary
noise in the camp, one of his officers carae to him and
complained that some Methodist soldiers had assembled,
in violation of his order, and opened a prayer raeeting
— " Go then and join them," said the General, " and
request that they will not forget me in their prayers —
God forbid that praying should be an uncommon noise
in my camp."

XXI. Gen. Jackson and the Missionary.
A young missionary from the Dutch Reformed
Church, while on his way some years ago to his station
among some of the western Indians, fell sick near Nash
ville, Tennessee. His funds were small, and the Class-
is of Albany Or thereabouts, from which he came, were
slow in their remittances. His money soon went away
for medicine and boarding,; his horse followed; and
after awhile he had little remaining of the things
of this world but a relapsed bihous fever, and a scanty
pair of saddlebags. He caUed his landlord, and an
nounced his condition : his remnant of clothing, he said
would scarcely defray the expenses of his burial ; and

40 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
if he continued longer a living inmate of the tavern, it
must be without the hope of compensation to those
around him. The innkeeper was embarassed ; for his
own slender means did not invite to the exercise of
costly hospitality ; yet his conscience refused to turn
tiie sick stranger from his house. A plan at last struck
him for the relief of botii parties : " You must be car
ried, he said, to the Hermitage, to General Jackson's."
It was, indeed, a severe trial for the young missionary^
to become the volunteer guest of so formidable a per
sonage, the murderer of Arbuthnot and Arabrister, who
had hung the prophet Francis, and shot the six raihtia-
men. But there was no alternative : he had no right to
remain where he was ; and when the General's carriage
arrived to convey him away, he entered it with the de
termined feeling of a martyr. His disease was violent
and obstinate ; but after a fortnight of alraost unremit
ting delirium, during which, his iniagination was busy
witii scalps, and tomahavvks, and deeds of blood, his
constitution triumphed. Awaking to a consciousness of
his situation, he found himself in an airy, comfortable
apartment, where every thing was quiet, siraple, and
unostentatious. The elderly matron, who sat watching
silently by his pillow, might have served for a model of
that charity, which suffereth long, and is kind ; and her
venerable partner, who came in soon after, had nothing
about him of the fierce and vindictive expression, with
which a morbid fancy had painted him. As his strength
returned, the stranger had many opportunities of study.
mg the character of his host, and of observing the esti-

AMERICAN .¦VNECDOTES. 4[
mation in which otiiers held him. He saw him frank,
intelhgent, and kind-hearted ; ^^le guardian of the or
phan, the adviser of the friendless, and the favorite de
pository of all those trusts, which are considered most
responsible and sacred among men. He found his
house the refuge of the widow and the poor, and his
table the pattern of the simple, but cordial hospitahty of
the west. He stood with hira in the morning and even
ing circle of family devotion, and heard him pray for
the forgiveness of his eneraies. He srailed at his own
delusion, as he contrasted the excellent old chief, witii
the portrait which his iraagination had delineated. Some
four weeks afterv/ards, the young clergyman was seen,
renewed in health, well mounted, and his purse well
filled by the General's liberality, plodding his way to the
missionary station. His first letter to his friends, told of
all these things, and invoked the blessing of heaven on
the good Samaritan, who had relieved him in his hour
of need.

XXII. Capture of Ethan Allen.
" Over with you boys !" said old Ethan, as a boat,
crowded with his raen, pushed off into the St. Law
rence ; " Over with ye, and keep quiet, or ye'll have
warm work on't."
" Ay, ay, CurnelH" was responded from the boat as
it passed heavily through the water. Ethan and the re
mainder of his band stood upon the bank, watching its
slow and toilsome progress, until it was no longer dis-
5

42 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
cernible through the darkness of night. The dull sound
of oars was still heard,^oming at intervals upon the fit
ful and gusty night-breeze.
" WeU, boys," said Ahen, as the sound died away in
the distance, " we've got a devihsh hard job before us,
but we'h just let the red coats know we're the size for
it." " Sartin, Curnell," returned a six foot Green Moun
tain Boy at his elbow. " You may depend on the Var-
tnounters. They war'nt born in the woods to be scared
at owls — but I teU you what, I don't like these ere Can-
ady chaps. I'd give 'em aU for half their number of
true-blue Varmounters."
" The devU you would !" said a Canadian, turning
fiercely on the last speaker. " If it war'nt for making
a rumpus, I'd learn ye better manners."
" Come on, and be darn'd to ye," said the unblench-
ing Vermonter. " I could hck a dozen like ye." ,
The uplifted arm of the Canadian was struck down
by the treraendous fist of Allen. " What, are ye for
fighting ?" he exclaimed ; " ye'll have enough of that
before morning, and you, Mike Hunter," turning to his
tovvnsman, "let me hear no more of your palavering, or"
—and he clinched his determination vrith a terrible oath
— " I'll knock you into the river."
" WeU, jist as you say, CurneU," said the Vermont
er, somewhat mortified at the rebuke ofhis commander,
" but hang me if I don't think I'm right, arter ah."
" Silence !" thundered Allen.
The whole party knew the mood of their commander,

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 43
and an almost breathless silence succeeded. In a few
moments tiie sound of oars was again heard, and a dark
object appeared moving on the river.
"Who goes there," demanded Ethan: "friend or en
emy !"
" Joe Cady," was the laconic answer.
" Ay — 'tis the boat," said Ethan ; " make yourselves
ready, my men, we must aU go now."
The boat soon came to land, and Cady, a stout
rough-featured fellow, stepped from it leisurely. " Have
you got a drop of comfort for a body ?" he inquired,
dropping his tobacco quid into the river.
" Holloa there ! Bring out the rum bottle," vocifer
ated Allen.
He drank long and heartily, and handed it to Cady,
who in his turn passed it to his companions.
" Are ye ready ?" demanded Ethan.
" Ay, ay, sartin !" was the quick response of the
company, who were exhilarated by the draught the)-
had just taken.
" Tumble in then, all hands," said AUen, seating him
self in the boat, where he was speedily followed by his
company. " Off, off with ye," he shouted. " Here's
for Montreal or a turf jacket !"
" Amen !" was responded from a dozen voices, as
the loaded boat ploughed deeply into the river. A long
silence succeeded, broken only by an occasional growl
from old Ethan. He sat at the head of the boat, up
right and as firm as a pillar, the grira outhne of his
countenance just visible in the star -hght. He had now

44 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
leisure to reflect coolly on the hazard of his gigantic en
terprise, and had the hght been stronger, his compan
ions might have witnessed the struggle of his feelings —
the alternate sunshine and shadow which passed over
his rugged features.
The boat ground heavily on the shore. Ethan and
his party left it in silence, and proceeded to join their
companions. After a few brief inquiries, AUen ordered
sentinels to be posted between his party and the town,
Arith orders to intercept all who attempted to pass or re-
jiass them. By this time the sun was just rising. Im-
jiatience and anxiety became visible in the countenance
of Ethan. He strode rapidly backwards and forwards,
now cursing such of his party as happened to cross his
way, and then starting wildly, as the morning breeze
brought to his ear the murmur of the distant town,
where as yet no sign of alarm was visible.
A solitary individual was now seen stealing round the
eminence, behind which the party were stationed. He
proved to be one of their companions, who had just re
turned from the other side of the island.
The long strides of AUen were at once checked.
'• What news from Brown ?" he demanded.
" He han't corae yet," returned the messenger.
" Not yet ?" repeated AUen, in atone in which disap
pointment and rage were blended.
" No, Curnell, and we've got into a darned putty kit
tle of fish," returned the other ; — " them plaugy Mon-
trealers will drive us clean into the river."
" Go to the devU, you cursed scare-crow !" roared
Ethan. " I could handle a regiment of 'em myself."

AMERICAN ANECDOTES, 45
*' Yes, you could, I'spose," said the messenger, "but
I've heard it said that Brag was a good dog, but Hold
fast was better."
It was weU for the speaker that this remark was un
heard by Allen, who had now otiier objects to engage
his attention. The quick roll of the enemy's drum, fix
ed every eye upon their fortress. A moment more,
and a column of British infantry made their appearance,
where the Lion of St. George swayed heavily to the
breeze. There was an almost breathless sUence throughout
the httle band of adventurers, as the firm and disciphn-
ed enemy bore down upon them, with a movement,
rapid but regular. Even old Ethan hiraself seemed
parahzed by the suddenness of the spectacle, and with
out issuing a word of command, stood gazing in an at
titude of defiance upon the imposing array before him.
" To the boats ! to the boats ! there is a thousand of
'em I" rang suddenly from a dozen voices.
" Shut your clam-sheUs, every raan of ye !" roared
Ethan, brandishing a huge horse-pistol — " The raan
that turns his back on the red-coats, shall smell gun
powder." This had the desired effect. Every one saw the im-
possibihty of crossing the river ; and yielding to the ne
cessity, made preparation for an immediate encounter.
Each rifle was carefuUy examined — the rum bottie cir
culated freely, and, after taking a fresh supply of to
bacco quids, those hardy and ignorant hunters awaited
the onset of the enemy.
5*

46 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
" Now Stand your ground, boys," said Allen as a par
ty of British soldiers moved towards them, from the
main body, at double quick time.
" Let 'em come on and be darn'd," said a taU, reso
lute young fellow at his side. " Only give us the word,
CurneU," and he dropped his rifle to his eye as he
spoke. " Fire !" shouted the British officer.
" O God !" exclaimed the young man, as the blaze
of the musketry flashed full in his face, " I am a dead
man !" He staggered — the rifle fell from his hands —
he dropped dead at the feet of his coraraander.
The hardy followers of Ethan shrank back from the
ghastly spectacle. They had been sprinkled with the
blood of their comrade — they had seen for the first time,
the horrible struggles of a hfe extinguished by violence,
and nothing short of the powerful example of their lead
er could have roused them to resistance.
" Fire and brirnstoiie !" he exclaimed, in a voice
which sounded in their ears like the coming on of an
earthquake, " Why don't you let 'em have it ?"
The fire of the enemy was now returned with con
siderable effect, for several were seen to stagger and
fall. As the number of combatants increased, the field
of action was enlarged, and every rock and tree and
fence became a citadel. But the party of AUen rapidly
diminished ; several were killed on the spot, and others
sought safety in flight.
Old Ethan was left alone. An officer of the enemy
pressed closely ' upon him. Both leveUed and dis-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 47
charged their muskets at the same moment, without in
jury to either ; and Ethan, who saw his chance of es
cape was hopeless, gave up his sword to the officer.
Thus ended the famous expedition of Ethan Allen
agahjst Montreal. As his companions, who had also
yielded themselves up as prisoners, passed over the field
of action, many a rough settier paused to weep over his
slaughtered brethren. There they lay — ^the young and
strong hmbed hunters, who but an hour before had stood
up with the energy of hfe, stretched out on the bloody
turf, their features rigid and grim in death. Even Al
len, stern and hardened as he was, gave tokens of sen
sibihty, and turned firom gazing on the ghastly victims of
his enterprize, to bestow his bitterest curses on the en
emy.

XXIII. Patriotic Hatter.
During the visit of General La Fayette to the United
States, when all classes of citizens were eager to testify
the respect and gratitude which they felt for the last
General of the Revolutionary army, a hatter in New
York sent him a hat of the best American manufacture.
His son, George Washington La Fayette, was so much
pleased with it, that he ordered a similar one for him
self. It was most readily furnished ; but when his ser
vant offered money, " TeU your master," said the
grateful American, " that aU the hats I can furnish the
Fayette family, were amply paid for, forty years ago."

48 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
XXIV. Compliment to Mr. Lowndes.
Mr. Roscoe, the elegant historian of the Medici
family, one morning entered the Liverpool Library,
when a friend said to him, " I have just now seen the
tallest, the best bred, and the most sensible man that I
have seen for twenty years. I wonder who it could
be?" " That must be Mr. Lowndes, of South Caroli
na," answered Roscoe ; " for I know of no other man
that can answer your description."

XXV. General Reed.
In the year 1779, an attempt was made to compro
mise the differences with the American colonies; and
for this purpose, three commissioners were sent out to
that part of the world, viz. : the Earl of Carlisle, Mr.
Eden, and Governor Johnstone ; but it was plain to
every man of common sense, that, after the sword had
been used so long, it was in vain to think of settling
th.e dispute with a few strokes of the pen. This ne-
gociation, however, we chiefly mention for the sake
of a noble and high-spirited answer that was given by
Mr. Reed, an American General, to one of the com
missioners who had offered him the sum of ten thou
sand pounds, and any office in his majesty's gift in the
colonies, provided he would use his influence in bring
ing about an accommodation. This offer Mr. Reed
considered as an attempt to bribe him : and he there
fore rephed — " I am not worth purchasing ; but such

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 49
as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough
to do it."

XXVI.- Capt. George Little.
Among the vessels which were buUt by the State of
Massachusetts during the war of the Revolution, was
the sloop Winthrop. She was built in the then District
of Maine, and for the express purpose of protecting
our coasting trade, which had suffered much by the
captures, &c. of the enemy. She mounted thirteen
guns, and was coraraanded by Capt. George Littie of
Mansfield, who had been the first Lieut, of the staff
ship Protector, John Foster Williams, Esq. command
er, and who, in our quasi war with France, in 1798,
commanded the frigate Boston. His first Lieut, in the
Winthrop, was Edward Preble, of Portland, who also
had been an officer on board the Protector, and who
was afterwards Cora. Preble. The Winthrop was a
very fortunate vessel, and more than answered the
expectations of those who built her. She protected the
coasting trade, made many prizes, and covered herself
with glory. Soon after sailing on her first cruise, she
fell in with two ships which made a formidable appear
ance, -but boldly running down upon them, she captured
thein both. They proved to be two stout British Let
ters of Marque, and she immediately returned with
them to Boston. She made a number of prizes after
wards, and recaptured some American vessels. In
one of her cruises, she recaptured a sloop belonging to

50 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
the late WiUiam Gray, Esq. which had been taken by
the British brig Meriam, of equal or superior force to
the Winthrop, and with a prize master and crew on
board, was ordered for Penobscot, to which place the
Meriam herself had gone. Captain Littie immediately
resolved upon the daring plan of cutting her out. Dis
guising his vessel, so as to give her as much as possible
the appearance of the prize sloop, he entered the har
bor of Penobscot in the evening; as he passed the
fort, he was hailed, and asked what sloop that was — he
answered, " The Meriara's Prize." It is said that the
fort had some suspicions of hira, but they suffered him
to pass. He then ran up towards the brig, and as he
approached her, was again haUed and gave the same
answer — " Take care (said they on board the Meriam^
you'U run foul of us." He informed them that he had
been ashore on a reef and lost his cables and anchors,
and requested them to throw him a warp, which was
imraediately done. The sloop was then hauled up to
the brig, and Lieut. Preble, as had been appointed,
jumped on board with a number of men, who had their
various duties assigned them — while some slipped the
cables, others made sail, &c. Preble himself, with a
few foUowers, entered the cabin, where the officers were
just changing their dress for the purpose of going on
shore. They made some attempts to get their arras
for defence, but were soon subdued. When they
were coming out of the harbor, the fort fired upon
them, but Capt. Little judged it best not to return the
fire— he kept steadily on his course, and when out of

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 51
reach of their shot, triumphantly let off thirteen sky
rockets. In tiie same cruise he took two other vessels,
one of which was a schooner of eight guns, which he
had driven ashore. He manned out his boats, went on
shore, made the crew prisoners, and got off the schoon
er — witii his four prizes he returned to Boston. The
five vessels, entered the harbor together in fine style
with a leading breeze; and a gallant show they made.

XXVII. Dr. Hunt and the wag.
Old Dr. Hunt used to say when he could not dis--
cover the cause of a man's sickness, "We'U try this—'
and we'U try that. We'U shoot into the tree, and if
any thing faUs, weU and good." — "Aye, (replied a wag)
I fear that is too commonly the case, and in your
shooting hito the tree, the first thing that generally falls
is the patient."

XXVIII. John Randolph.
During some period of Mr. Randolph's pohtical ca
reer, he had the ill fortune to offend a coxcombish
young fellow, who determined to avenge himself by in
sulting the Roanoke orator on the first opportunity that
occurred. At length the opportunity presented itself,
when the young sprig, meeting Randolph on the pave
ment, walked up to him very impudently, and said, " I
never give the way to a damned rascal." Mr. Ran-

52 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
dolph immediately pulhng off his hat, and making the
gentleman a low bow, rephed, " Well, sir, I always
do ;" and gave him the pavement.

XXIX. Ueut. Gov. Phillips.
Many years since, when the late Lieut. Gov. Phil
lips, of Andover, Mass. was a student at Harvard Col
lege, owing to some boyish freak, he quit the University
and went home. His father was a grave man, of sound
mind, strict judgment, and of few words. He inquired
into the business, but deferred expressing any opinion
until the next day. At breakfast he said, speaking to
his mfe, " My dear, have you any tow cloth in the
house suitable to make Sam a frock and trowsers."
.She rephed, yes. "Well," said the old gentleman, "fol
low me, my son." Samuel kept pace with his father as
he leisurely walked near the comraon, and at length
ventured to ask, what are you going to do with me,
father ?" " I am going to bind you an apprentice to
that blacksmith," rephed Mr. PhiUips. " Take your
choice ; return to college, or you must work." " 1
had rather return," said the son. He did return, con
fessed his fault, was a good scholar, and became a re
spectable man. If all parents were like Sir. Phillips,
the students at our colleges would prove better stu
dents, or the nation would have a plentiful supply of
blacksmiths.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES, 53
XXX. Mr. Forrest, the Tragedian.
My. Booth had been announced to play Richard,
for his benefit and last appearance at the Bowery
Theatre, New York. In the course of the afternoon,
intelhgence was received by him, that an interesting
cliUd, whom he had left a few days before at Boston,
had died, and the effect of the afllicting dispensation
upon a mind uncommonly sensitive, was such, as al
most deprived him of reason. In this state, he acci-
dentaUy met Tvlr. Forrest, and communicated the cause
of his distress, and stated his utter inability to appear
on the stage, and that the tirae was so late as to pre
vent a change of performance, it being witliin an hour
of die tirae of commencement. Mr. Forrest, with that
warmth of friendship for which those who know him
best, esteem hira most, immediately offered his ser
vices, notwithstanding he had not read it for six
months, and was wholly unprepared, by recent indis
position, to encounter the physical exertion necessary
to sustain that most arduous character. He did, how
ever, perform it, and in a manner to delight and aston
ish a crowded audience. Such an instance of good
feeling finds its own reward, and is an additional evi
dence of the good qualities possessed by one who has
done so much to exalt the character of native talent.
6

54 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
XXXI. Commodore Perry.
At the tremendous battie of Lake Erie, when in the
sweeping havoc which was sometimes madej a number
of men were shot away from around a gun, the survi
vors looked silently around to Perry — and then step
ped into their places. When he looked at the poor
feUows who lay wounded and weltering on the deck,
he always found their faces turned towards him, and
their eyes fixed on his countenance. It is impossible
for words to heighten the simple and affecting eloquence
of .this anecdote. It speaks volumes in praise of the
heroism of the commander, and the confidence and af
fection of his men.

XXXII. Sudden death.
During the naval action on Erie, Perry observed
that a brave and favorite sailor, then captain of a gun,
found great difficulty in managing it, the firelock
having been broken. Perry approaching him in his
usual affable and encouraging manner, inquired what
was the matter. The honest tar, exhibiting signs of
just vexation, turned round and exclaimed, " Sir, my
gun behaves shamefully — shamefully." Then, level
ling his piece, and taking aim, he raised himself up in
a fine, martial style, as if wishing to appear to the best
advantage in tiie presence of the Commodore, when he
was suddenly struck, in the breast by a cannon ball,
and he feU dead without a groan.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

XXXIII. Coolness in time of danger.
The second lieutenant of the Lawrence, standing
close by Perry, was struck in the breast by a chain shot,
which having passed through the bulwark, was so far
spent as to have no other effect than to knock him
down. The shot lodged in the bosom of his waistcoat.
He fell, stunned by the violence of the blow. Perry
approaching him, and perceiving no marks of a wound,
observed that he thought he could not be hurt. Upon
this, the Lieutenant, having revived, pulled the shot
out of his bosom, and exclaiming, "no sir, but this is
my shot," thrust it, with great sang froid, into his
pocket. XXXIV. Humorous Reply.
The name of Isaac Winslow, one of the forefathers
of New England, descended to his grandson. The
child was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Gardiner, who, in
the course of his prayer, said, " We beseech thee, O
Lord, that this child may inherit one half the virtues
of his illustrious grandfather." In after life. Doctor
Winslow related this circumstance to the facetious Gad
Hitchcock, who rephed, " and it is a great pity that
such a reasonable request was never but half granted."

XXXV. Bunker Hill.
A sea captain, who chanced to be in London during
oav revolutionary war, met several British officers in a

50 a:\ierican anecdotes.
tavern, v\ho were busily discussing American affairs.
" We should have conquered thera long ago," said one,
" had it not been for that arch rebel, Washington."
" Witii all his skilful mancKuvres, they are the same as
conquered, already," observed another. The Ameri
can said nothing, but his countenance bore strong marks
of honest indignation. " What, Jonathan, are you frora
the rebel colonies ?" asked the officers. " I am from
New England, gentlemen." " WeU, what news do
}"ou bring ? Will your crops be heavy enough to feed
the regulars ?" " My countrymen tell rae," replied he,
" that British blood is the best manure they have ever
had. Turnips larger than a peck measure are raised
on Bunker Hill."

XXXVI. Shrewd Answer.
A late municipal Judge in Boston, as famous for his
ready wit, as for the lowness of his stature, was one
day walking with five or six gentiemen of unusual
height. "WeU, Judge, how do you feel, walking
among so many taU feUows ?" said one of his compan
ions. " How do I feel ?" replied the Judge ; " why,
I feel like four pence ha' penny araong six cents."

XXXVII. Forgetful Minister.
The Rev. Mr. Parker, of Provinc'etown, had been
for years in the habit of praying for the British Govern
ment ; but at the eventful period of the American

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 57
Revolution, he, together with most other clergymen of
that tirae, was zealously opposed to the oppressive
measures of England ; however, by a strange absence
of mind, he, one Sabbath, long after America! had been
declared independent, continued his usual prayer, "We
beseech thee to bless the King, the Queen, and all the
Royal Family," — then pausing, with evident embar
rassment and vexation, he added, " Pshaw ! pshaw !
it was the Continental Congress, I meant."

XXXVIII. America, a spacious Farm.
After Great Britain acknowledged the independence
of her colonies in America, a gentleman from Boston,
was at the Theatre, in Drury Lane, and chanced to sit
very near Prince Edward. When the curtain drop
ped, choosing to play the wag, he reached over into
the royal box, and caUed out to the Prince, " Don't
your daddy think he has lost a plaguy good farm ?"
The uidignation of the populace was such, that he was
glad to escape with all possible speed.

XXXIX. A Judge instructing a Prisoner.
When the tithing laws were in full operation in a
neighboring state, a young man traveUing from one
parish to another, was arrested for breach of the Sab
bath. A court was hastily summoned, to try the cul
prit, who, when asked whether he was " guUty, or not
6*

58 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

gui

^„ilty," answered, in a timid, embarrassed tone, "guil
ty, sir." "Zounds, Sam," exclaimed the learned
judge, " never say guilty. Now I'U begin again ; and
when I say 'guilty, or not guilty?' do you say 'not
guilty, sir.' Zounds, Sam, you should never say
guilty." The examination was again commenced, and
the prisoner, having answered as he was directed, was
formally acquitted.

XL. Judge Parsons.
The foUowing anecdote, Ulustrative of the character
of the late Judge Parsons, is, both in thought and lan
guage, sublime. A gentleman had been concerned in a
duel ; the ball of his antagonist struck his watch, and
remained there. It thus saved his hfe. The watch
was afterwards exhibited, with the ball remaining in it,
in a company where Judge Parsons was present. It
was observed by several, that it was a valuable watch.
"Yes," said Parsons; "very excellent: it has kept
Tirae /row Eternity."

XLI. Pittsburg unknown at Leghorn.
Pittsburg is a port of entry, and ship-building has
been carried on with spirit, even at the source of the
Ohio. A curious incident connected with this subject,
was mentioned by Mr. Clay, on the floor of Congress.
" To iUustrate the commercial habits of tiie American
people, he said he would relate an anecdote of a vessel

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 59
built and cleared out at Pittsburg, for Leghorn. When
she arrived at her place of destination, the master pre
sented his papers to the proper officer, who would not
credit thera ; but said to him, " Sir, your papers are
forged. There is no such place as Pittsburg in the
world I Your vessel must be confiscated." The trem
bling Captain laid before the officer the map of the
United States — directed him to the Gulf of Mexico —
pointed out to him tiie mouth of the Mississippi — led
him a thousand miles up to the mouth of the Ohio,
and thence another tiiousand up to Pittsburg. "There,
sir, is tiie port where my vessel cleared out !" The
astonished officer, before he had seen the map, would
as readily have beheved that this vessel had been navi
gated from the moon."

XLII. Witty Knavery.
A yankee lately brought into Boston, a load of mis
erable water-soaked birch wood. A gentleman after
asking his price, said, " What kind of wood do you
call this, my friend ?" "It is exceUent wood," re
plied the other, "for two reasons : it kindles quick, and
burns a great while. They caU it knot walnut." On
burning the wood, the gentleman found he had been
shamefully deceived ; and meeting the man in the
market, not long after, he said to hira, " How could
you do such a knavish trick as to sell me that wood
for walnut ?" " I deny the charge," replied the seUer
of wood : " I told you it was not walnut." " You told

60 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
me it was excellent wood, however." " I told you it
was exceUent, for two things ; for kindhng quick, and
lasting long. Nobody wiU deny tiiat birch bark catch
es fire quick, and if you have not found it long enough
in burning out, I am mistaken."

XLIII. Flax and Tow.
A member of an Agricultural Society in New
England, whose learning far exceeded his every-day
sense, having heard there was a great demand for tow
cloth, seriously proposed to the Society, to buy up a
quantity of tow seed. This gentleman doubtless knew
that flax was of Egyptian origin ; its class, its order,
&;c. ; but he did not know that tow was the coarser
part of flax separated from the finer.

XLIV. Sarcastic Retort.
A noted wit was one day complaining of the tardi
ness and non-attendance of the Circuit Judges of Com
mon Pleas, when one of the judges, being present, ob
served, " I think I may venture to say, that I am the
least absent of any of the gentlemen." " And the least
present, likewise," was the reply.

XLV. Blundering upon Wealth.
A native of Massachusetts, "more famed for liis
money than his wit," very anxiously inquired of some

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 61
merchants, whom he knew, how he should dispose of
a few hundred dollars. WUhng to hoax him, they an
swered, " Why, buy a cargo of warming-pans, and
send them to the West Indies, to be sure." Not sus
pecting the trick, he bought all the warming-pans he
could find, and sent tiiem to a climate, where there
was every reason to suppose, that ice would be far
more acceptable. But " Providence sometimes shows
his contempt of wealth, by giving it to such fools."
The warming-pans raet with a rapid sale ; the tops^be-
ing used for strainers, and the lower part for dippers,
in the manufacture of molasses. With the proceeds of
this profitable cargo, he built a vessel ; and being in
formed by the carpenter, that wales were wanting, he
called on an acquaintance, and said, " My head work
man sends me word, that he wants wales for the vessel.
What does he mean?"" "Why, whale bones, to be
sure," answered the man ; who, like every body else,
was willing to impose on his stupidity. Whale bones
were accordingly bought ; but finding that Boston
could not furnish enough, he emptied New York and
Philadelphia. The ship carpenters, of course, had a
heart}^ laugh at his expense ; but, by a singular turn of
fortune, this blunder also was the means of increasing
liis wealth. It soon after became fashionable for ladies
to wear stays completely lined with whale-bone ; and
as none was to be found in the country, ;it brought an
immense price. Thus his coffers were a second time
fiUed by his odd speculations.

62 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
XL VI. Allen and his Attorney.
Mr. B. an attorney of Vermont, once received 'fi-om
some person in Boston, a note of hand for £60, agamst
AUen, for coUection. It being inconvenient for him at
that time to pay the note, it was sued. When the case
came on for trial, Allen employed a lawyer to get the
action continued until he could raise money to settle the
demand, and accordingly the attorney, as the readiest
means of accomphshing his object, determined to deny
the genuineness of the signature. This would obhge
the plaintiff to produce the witnesses to the note, who
resided in Boston, and could not be brought forward on
the instant. The effect of the manoeuvre would be to
cause the plaintiff to postpone the trial tiU the next
court. When the cause was caUed, it happened that AUen
was in a remote part of tiie court house, and to his ut
ter astonishment, heard his lawyer gravely deny the
signature of the note. With long and erect strides, he
rushed through the crowd and confronted the amazed
" limb of the law," rebuking him in a voice of thunder.
" Mr.  ,,I did not hire you to come here and
he — that is a true note — I signed it— I'll swear to it  ¦
and I'U pay it. I want no shufiling, I want time. What
I employed you for was to get this business put over to
the next court ; not to lie and juggle about it." The
resuh was that the postponement of the claim was ami
cably arranged between the two lawyer,?.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

63

XLVII. Col. Allen McLane.
The following anecdote of Col. Allen McLane of
Wilmington, (Del.) tiie father of Mr. McLane, for many
years a member of C ongress, and appointed by Presi
dent Jackson, minister of the court of St. James, evin
ces great bravery.
On the 6th of June, 1778, aftei- day break. Captain
M'Lane, with two dragoons, was moving on the Bustie-
town road towards Frankford, and near that village feU
into an ambuscade of infantry, who fired upon him, and
forced him into the field on the right, towards the Ox
ford road, where he discovered a party of British dra
goons galloping towards him. To silence the fire of
the infantry, he placed himself between them ^nd the
dragoons, and approached the latter until within twenty
paces, when he suddenly wheeled to the right, passed
tiiem and gained the Oxford road. Two dragoons
were detached in pursuit of him, and to escape them,
he turned off the road to his left, and pushed for a
branch in his front, which he crossed, and was ascend
ing the opposite height, when the dragoons came up on
his right and left, and beheving he had surrendered,
dropped their swords to the straps. M'Lane had a pis
tol in his right hand, with which he fired into the right
breast of the dragoon on his left, who feU ; he at the
same time seized the tassel of the dragoon's sword on
his right, and struck him with his pistol a back handed
blow across his nose, which he repeated untU he dis
abled and brought him to the pummel of his saddle, and

64 ABIERICAN ANECDOTES,
then rode off with a wound on his left hand, which he
received as the dragoon attempted to draw his sword,
the tassels of which he had seized.

XLVIII. The American Captain and the British
Admiral.
When, during the late war. Admiral Warren was ly
ing in the Chesapeake, Capt. Smith was sent by Com.
Stewart, then at Norfolk, to negociate an exchange of
prisoners. The news had just arrived of the capture
of the Java, and the Admiral speaking of that event,
asked Captain Smith how it happened that our frigates
were so successful in taking theirs. Captain S. an
swered that he knew no reason for it, unless that we
fought better. " No," said the Admiral, " that cannot
be ; but the reason is, that two-thirds of your crews
are British seamen." "Then," rephed Captain Smith,
" the other third being Americans, makes the whole
difference." The admiral attempted no ftirther expla
nations or argument on the knotty subject.
We doubt if the records of wit can produce a more
happy repartee. It was prompt and sharp ; and, at the
same time, goes to the very marrow and heart of the
question. It is one of those pushes that can neither be
parried nor returned. It closed the game ; the Admi
ral had not' another move.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 65
XLIX. General Lee.
Gen. Lee was remarkably slovenly in his dress and
manners ; and has often, by the meanness of his appear
ance, been subject to ridicule and insult. He was once
attended by Gen. Washmgton, to a place distant from
the camp. Riding on, he arrived at the house where
they were to dine, sometime before the rest of the com
pany. He went directly to the kitchen, demanding
something to eat, when the cook, taking him for a ser
vant, told him she would give him some victuals in a
moment — ^but he must help her off with the pot. This
he complied vrith, and set down to some cold meat,
which she had placed before him on the dresser. The
girl was remarkably inquisitive about the guests who
were coming, particularly of Lee, who she said she had
heard was one of the oddest and ugliest men in the
world. In a few moments, she desired the General
again to assist her in placing on the pot, and scarcely
had he finished, when she requested him to take a buck
et and go to the well. Lee made no objections, and
began drawing water. In the mean time. Gen. Wash
ington arrived, and an aid-de-camp was despatched in
search of Lee ; whom to his surprise, he found engaged
as above. But what was the confusion of the poor girl
on hearing the aid-de-camp address the man with the
titie of General. The mug fell from her hands, and
dropping on her knees, she began crying for pardon ; —
when Lee, who was ever ready to see the impilipriety
of his own conduct, but never wilhng to change it, gave
7

66 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
her a crown, and turning to his aid-de-camp, observed,
" you see, young man, the advantage of a fine coat —
the man of consequence is indebted to it for respect —
nekher virtue nor abilities without it, will make you
look like a grentleman."

L. Vanderlyn, the Painter.
When Aaron Burr was at the height of his power,
and wearing the honors of the republic, in journeying
through the interior of New York, he was struck, one
day at a tavern, with the singular spirit apparent in a
little pen and ink drawing that hung over the fire-place
in the bar-room. Upon inquiry, he ascertained that
this was the production of the landlord's son, an ap
prentice to a neighboring blacksmith. Col. Burr ex
pressed sorae curiosity to see the lad, who was accord
ingly sent for. His conversation and appearance gave
evidence of innate genius, and the expediency of send
ing him to the city, in order to furnish him with the ru
diments of an education, was suggested. To this, how
ever, the father demurred — suspecting from the inter
est which the traveUer had expressed in the child's wel
fare, that he was really a more valuable meraber of the
family than he had ever been esteeraed.
Just before leaving the house, CoL Burr said to the
youth, in a low tone of voice, as he passed him, " put
a shirt in your pocket — corae to New York and inquire
for Aarfin Burr ; he wUl take care of you," and imme
diately mounted his horse. Several months went by.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 67
and the circumstance we have related passed from the
mind of Col. B., when one morning a raw country boy
was ushered into the breakfast room, who instantly
pulled out a nicely rolled package from his pocket, and
laid it upon the table. Col. Burr opened it, and was
surprised to find it contained nothing more than a coarse
cotton shirt, which he was then reminded, he had desir
ed should be brought to him at the metropolis, from
such a village. The bearer was young Vanderlyn, and
from that day his better fortune commenced. Under
the patronage of the Vice President of the United
States, he was sent to Italy, where he completed his
studies, and prepared himself for those greater labors,
which have since given him a place in the first rank of
our native artists.

LI. Honor among Indians.
There is no class of human beings on earth, who
hold a pledge more sacred and binding, than do the
North American Indians. A sample of this was wit
nessed during the Winnebago war of 1827, in the per
son of Dekker-re, a celebrated chief of that nation,
who, among four other Indians of his tribe, was taken
prisoner at Prairie du Chien. Colonel Snelling, of the
Sth regiment of infantry, who then commanded that
garrison, despatched a young Indian into the nation,
vrith orders to inform the other chiefs of Dekker-re's
band, that unless those Indians who were perpetrators
ofthe horrid murders of some of our citizens, were

68 .-VMERICAN ANECDOTES.
brought to the fort and given up within ten days, Dek
ker-re and the other four Indians who were retained as
hostages, would be shot at the end of that time. The
awful sentence was pronounced in the presence of Dek
ker-re, who, though proclaiming his own innocence of
the outrages which had been committed by others of
his nation, exclaimed that he feared not death, though
it would be attended with serious consequences, inas
much as he had two affectionate wives, and a large
family of small children who were entirely dependant
on hira for their support ; but if necessary, he was vrill-
ing to die for the honor of his nation. The young In
dian had been gone several days, and no intelligence
was yet received from the murderers. The dreadful
day being near at hand, and Dekker-re being in a bad
state of health, asked permission of the Colonel to go to
the river to indulge in his long accustomed habit of
bathing ; in order to improve his health. Upon which.
Col. S. told him that, if he would promise, on the hon
or of a chief, tiiat he would not leave the town, he
might have his liberty, and enjoy aU his privileges, un
til the day of the appointed execution. Accordingly
he first ga\ie his hand to the Colonel, thanked him for
his friendly offer, then raised both his hands aloft, and
in the most solemn adjuration, promised that he would
not leave the bounds prescribed, and said, if he had a
hundred lives, he would sooner lose them aU than for
feit his word, or deduct frora his proud nation one par
ticle of its boasted honor. He was then set at liberty .
He was advised to flee to the wilderness, and make his

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 09
escape. " But no," said he, " do you think I prize
hfe above honor? or tiiat I would, betray a confidence
reposed in me, for the sake of saving my life ?" He
then complacently reraained until nine days of the ten
which he had to hve had elapsed, and nothing heard
from the nation with regard to the apprehension of the
murderers, his immediate death became apparent ; but
no alteration could be seen in the countenance of the
chief. It so happened that on that day, Gen. Atkin
son arrived with his troops from Jefferson Barracks, and
the order for execution was countermanded, and the
Indians permitted to repair to their homes.

LII. Washington's Likeness.
" At Harper's Ferry, there is said to be a wonderful
hkeness of Washington, formed in the stupendous roclis
which overhang the Potomac. It is situated high up
the promontory, on the Maryland side of the river,
looking northward. When you are in front of the ho
tel, on the Main street, it may be easily discerned by
directuig your vision to a yellow patch in the rocks op
posite, just above which the profile is tolerably large.
The nose, hps, and chin, are admirably formed, and
bear the seinblance of studied art. The fore-head is
obscure — yet there is sufficient to convey to the mind a
just idea ofthe noble form and dignified carriage, with
the mildness of feature, which the original possessed so
pre-eminently as to inspire all rnen with a profound rev
erence toward his august personage. When the sun is
7*

70 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
near meridian, the profile shows to advantage, and the
landing place affords the best riew."
This extraordinary production of nature may per
haps derive its resemblance, partly firom a vivid imagi
nation ; but it is too weU authenticated to be entirely
disbeheved. LIII. Ingenuity of a JYegro.
Before the revolution, it was the custom in Massa
chusetts to keep slaves. In Boston they were gener
ally house servants, humanely treated, and leading rath
er an easy life. They were a careless, laughing race,
faithful, subservient, impudent, and affectionate ; and
under the pretence of being slaves, often took great hb
erties. The following anecdote may serve as an in
stance. However, it is necessary to make some pre
vious remarks on the characters of Doctors Cooper
and Chauncy, in order to render the story intelhgible.
Dr. Cooper, who was a man of accomphshed manners,
and fond of society, was able, by the aid of fine tal
ents, to dispense with some of the severe study that oth
ers engaged in. This, however, did not escape the
envy and mahce of the world, and it was said in a kind
of petulant and absurd exaggeration, that he used to
walk to the south-end, of a Saturday, and if he saw a
man riding into town in a black coat, would stop, and
ask him to preach the next day. Dr. Chauncy was a
close student, very absent and irritable. On these
traits in the character of tiie two clergymen, a servant
of Dr. Chauncy's laid his scheme to obtain a particular

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. , 71
object from his master. Scipio went into his master's
study one morning to receive some directions, which
the Doctor having given, resumed his writing ; but the
servant still remained. The master, looking up a few
minutes afterward, and supposing he had just come in,
said, " Scipio, what do you want ?" " I want a new
coat, massa." " WeU go to Mrs. Chauncy, and tell
her to give you one of my old coats ;" and was again
absorbed in his studies. The servant remained fixed.
After a while, the Doctor, turning his eyes that way,
saw him again, as if for the first time, and said, " what
do you want, Scip?" " I want a new coat, massa."
" Well go to my wife, and ask her to give you one of
my old coats ;" and fell to writing once more. Scipio
remained in the same posture. After a few minutes,
the Doctor looked towards him, and repeated the ques
tion, " Scipio, what do you want ?" " I want a new
coat massa." It now flashed over the doctor's mind
that there was something of repetition in this dialogue.
" Why, have I not told you before, to ask Mrs. Chaun
cy to give you a coat ? get away." " Yes, massa, but
I no want a black coat ?" " Not want a black coat I
and why not ?" " Why massa, I 'fraid to teU you, but
I ddn't want a black coat." " What is the reason you
don't want a black coat ? teU me directly." O ! massa
I 'fraid to tell you the reason, you so passionate."
"You rascal! wiU you teU me the reason?" "O!
.fcassa, I am sure you be angry." " If I had my cane,
•'^ou viUain, I'd break your bones : will you tell me
what you mean ?" " I 'fraid to teU you, massa, I know

72 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
you be angry." The doctor was now highly irritated,
and Scipio perceiving by his glance at the tongs, that
he might' find a substitute for the cane, and that he was
sufficiently excited, said, " WeU, massa, you make me
teU, but I know you be angry. — I 'fraid, massa, if I
wear another black coat. Dr. Cooper ask me to preach
for him." This unexpected termination reahsed the
negro's calculation. His irritated master burst into a
laugh : " Go, j-ou rascal, get my hat and cane, and teU
Mrs. Chauncy, she may give you a coat of any colour ;
a red one, if you choose."
Away went the negro to his mistress, and the doctor
to teU the story to his friend. Dr. Cooper.

LIV. Prophetic Wish.
The noblest rainds are sometimes exasperated to
make use of riolent expressions by the petty and des
picable insolence of those who accuse them of coward
ice. The brave and enthusiastic General Warren, hav
ing his lofty spirit fretted by the taunts of the British
officers, said to a friend, " These fellows say we won't
fight ; by heaven, I hope I shaU die up to my knees in
blood." A few weeks after, this young, vahant, and
much lamented officer was found mangled and dust
covered, araong the slain on the battie ground of Bun
ker HiU.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES, 73
LV. Patriotic Father.
When the news of a skirmish at Lexington reached
Barnstable, a company of mihtia immediately assem
bled and marched off to Cambridge. In the front
rank, there was a young man, the son of a respectable
farmer, and his only child. In marching from the vil
lage, as they passed his house, he came out to meet
them. There was a momentary halt. The drum and
fife paused for an instant. The father, suppressing a
strong and evident emotion, said, " God be with you all,
my friends ! and, John, if you, my son, are caUed into
battle, take care that you behave manfuUy, or else let
rae never see your face again." A tear started into
every eye, and the march was resumed.

LVI. Patriotic School Boys.
In November, 1776, the General Court ordered
four brass cannon to be purchased for the use of the
artUlery companies in Boston. Two of these guns
were kept in a gun house that stood opposite the Mall,
at the corner of West street. A school house was the
next budding, and a yard enclosed with a high fence
was common to both. Major Paddock, who then com
manded the company, having been heard to express his
intention of surrendering these guns to the British ar
my, a few hidividuals resolved to secure for the coun
try a property which belonged to it, and which, in the
emergency of the times, had an importance very dis
proportionate to its intrinsic value.

74 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Having concerted their plan, the party passed through
the school house into the gun house, and were able to
open the doors which were upon the yard, by a small
crevice, through which they raised the bar that secured
them. The moment for the execution of the project
was that of the roU call, when the sentinel, who was
stationed at one door of the building, would be less
hkely to hear their operations.
The guns were taken off their carriages, carried into
the school roora, and placed in a large box under the
master's desk, in which wood was kept. Immediately
after the roll call, a Ueutenant and sergeant came into
the gun house to look at the cannon, previously to re
moving thera. A young raan, who had assisted in their
removal, remained by the building, and followed the of
ficer in, as an innocent spectator. When the carriages
were found without the guns, the sergeant exclaimed,
" By G — , they're gone ! I'U be d  d if these fel
lows won't steal the teeth out of your head, while you're
keeping guard." They then began to search the buUd
ing for them, and afterward the yard ; and when they
came to the gate that opened into the street, the officers'
observed that they could not have passed that way, be
cause a cobweb across the opening was not broken.
They next went into the school house, which they exam
ined all over, except the box, on which the master
placed his foot, which was lame ; and the officer, with
true courtesy, on that account excused him from rising.
Several boys were present, but not one lisped a word.
The British officers soon went back to the gun house,

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 75
and gave up tiie pursuit in vexation. The guns re
mained in that box for a fortnight, and many of the boys
were acquainted with the fact, but not one of them be
trayed the secret. At the end of that time, the per
son who had withdrawn tiiem, came in the evening
with a large trunk on a wheelbarrow ; the guns were
put into it and carried up to a blacksmith's shop at
the South-end, and there deposited under the coal.
After lying there for a while, they were put into a
boat in the night, and safely transported within the
American hnes.

LVII. Gen. La Fayette.
The General was dining with his family circle at
Alexandria, when the landlord of the hotel entered,
and whispered to Mr. C. that a very old revolutionary
soldier, from Delaware, wished to see the General.
He was an exceedingly old man, had travelled a great
way, they had given him a dinner, and he awaited an
audience. " Shew him in," was the reply : " the Gen
eral is always at home to his ancient comrades." Re
spectfully assisted by the landlord, the veteran entered
the room. " Your servant, General ; an old man's
blessing be with you. They caU you old ; but you are
quite a boy to rae. I ara ninety-six. You are much
akered, truly, since I saw you at Brandywine — ^ah !
there was hot work there. I am heartily glad to see
you. I have traveUed aU the way frpm Wilmington on
foot. Sure, sorae kind gentiemen offered to pay the

76 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
old fellow's passage in the stage ; but no— I have al
ways marched, and I can march stUl ; though I am in
pretty quick steps to the grave. The sight of you
brings the remembrance of former times. Do you re
collect that when a deserter fired at you in New Jer
sey, you, sergeant Pierce, and I, caught the rascal?
Do you remember Jemmy, the Rover ? poor Jemmy,
he was a half witty body and full of his jokes, but he
could never stand fire. I beheve the American army
thought I was a man who could. You remember old
Allen of Delaware. We were distantly related. The
Mc'Lean's were never famous for turning their backs
on any enemy." Here La Fayette fiUed a glass of
wine, saying, " drink with me, my good friend ; here
is your health." The veteran took the glass, bowed
his acknowledgments, and attempted to raise it to his
lips ; but the palsied hand of extreme age, refused to
do its office. The wine was nearly all spilled ; but
the little that reraained, served to warm his heart, as
though he had quaffed " long and deep." The soldier
continued, " I am a very poor raan, and must beg a
pair of shoes to set me horae ; these are worn out in
my long journey." La Fayette arose, and taking the
arm of the veteran, hurried him into his chamber and
shut the door. They soon returned ; the last of the
Revolutionary Generals, whom assembled senates had
risen to honor, supporting the poor old soldier of the
Revolution. " FareweU, my good friend," said he :
" may Heaven bless you." The Mc'Lean would have
answered ; his lips moved, but gave forth no sound ;

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 77
his eyes, whose lustre nearly a hundred years had dim
med, alone spoke the language of his heart. All who
were present, attended him to the door, and bade fare
well to the hero of ninety-six.

LVIII. The Harmless Shot.
A man by the narae of Jerohnam, while loading a
musket at the battle of Springfield, received a shot in
the left side, just below the elbow. The ball broke
two ribs and entered the cavity of the storaach ; where
it quietly reposed forty-eight years. At the end of
that time, the veteran expired ; desiring that the bullet
might be extracted, as he did not choose to be buried
with British lead in him.

LIX. Disinterestedness of La Fayette.
In 1803, the American Congress granted to General
La Fayette, 11,520 acres of land, in what was' then
caUed the Territory of Orleans; but by sorae inadver
tency, a portion of the same land was afterwards grant
ed to the Corporation of New Orleans. La Fayette
was advised to bring forward his claim ; and eminent
lawyers assured him it was perfectly legal. However,
he promptly directed his agent to rehnquish the entry,
observing, "I cannot consent even to inquire into the
vahdity of my title. It was gratuitously bestowed by
Congress, and it is for them to say what was given. 1

78 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
cannot for a moment think of entering into litigation
with any public body in the Unked States." On this
tract, so generously and delicately relinquished, the
. most valuable part of the city of New Orleans is now
bulk ; and the value is impartially estimated at 4 or
500,000 doUars.

LX. Excommunication.
A farmer in Vermont, who was a plain, pious man,
regular in the discharge of his duty, both to God and
his neighbor, was for a long time plagued by an over
grown bear, which had learned its cue so thoroughly,
as only to comrait its depredations on the Sabbath,
when he knew by experience, the coast was clear.
Wearied out with his repeated trespasses, the good man
resolved to take his gun and conceal himself in the
fields on the following Sunday. The bear came, ac
cording to custom ; he fired, and shot it dead. This
explosion, during the hours of worship, put the pious
people in great consternation. As soon as the minis
ter and deacons ascertained the cause, they ordered
him to attend a special church meeting, and show cause,
if he had any, why he should not be excommunicated
for his daring impiety. He did attend ; but not satis
fied to be so pubhcly scandahzed, for an action he be
lieved to be his duty, he went to the appointment witii
a loaded gun. Scarcely had the holy parson pronoun
ced ^the words "offending brother," when the honest
veteran leveUed his deadly weapon, and cried out.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 79
" Proceed, if you dare, — proceed, and you are a dead
man." After a pause, the terrified parson gave the
paper to the eldest deacon, and desired him to read it.
The deacon, with stammering accents and startling
eyes, began as he was ordered ; but again the devoted
victim aimed his gun, and exclaimed, " Desist and
march. I will not hve in shame. March, I say, or
you are all dead men." The parson leaped frora the
desk, the deacons followed in great trepidation ; and
the women with shrieks, sought their homes. The
victor, thus left to himself, locked the church, sent the
keys to the pastor, witii his best respects, and lived
thirteen years after, a brother in full communion.

LXI. Franklin's Toast.
Long after Washington's victories over the French
and English, had made his name famihar to all Europe,
Dr. Franklin chanced to dine with the English and
French ambassadors, when, as nearly as I can recol
lect the words, the following toasts were drunk. By
the British ambassador. " England — the sun whose
bright beams enlighten and fructify the remotest cor
ners ofthe earth." The French ambassador, glowng
with national pride, but too polite to dispute the pre
vious toast, drank, " France — the moon, whose mild,
steady, and cheering rays are the delight of all nations :
consoling them in darkness, and making their dreari
ness beautiful." Doctor Frankhn then arose and,
With his usual dignified simphcity, said, " George

80 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Washington — the Joshua, who commanded the sun and
moon to standstill; and they obeyed him."

LXII. Aged Soldiers.
During the American Revolution, eighty old Ger
man soldiers, who, after having served different mon
archs in Europe, had retired to America, and convert
ed their swords into ploughshares, voluntarily formed
diemselves into a company, and distinguished them
selves in various actions on the side of liberty. The
captain was nearly one hundred years old, — had been
in the army forty years, and present in seventeen bat
tles. The drummer was ninety-four ; and the young
est man in the corps on the verge of seventy. Instead
of a cockade, each man wore a piece of black crape,
as a mark of sorrow for being obhged, at such an ad
vanced age, to bear arras. " But," said the veterans,
" we should be deficient in gratitude, if we did not act
in defence of a country, which has afforded us a gen
erous asylura, and protected us from tyranny and op
pression." Such a band of soldiers probably never
before appeared in any field of action.

LXIII. Death of Major Andre.
In the year 1780, General Arnold, who, from his
rank and talents, had been in great favor with the Amer
icans, quitted their ranks and joined the British army.
This, though a valuable acquisition, was too dearly pur-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 81
chased by the degradation and death of the brave and
amiable Major Andre, who volunteered his services, to
make arrangements with Arnold on the occasion. By
some accident. Major Andre was corapelled to remain
disguised within the American lines all night, and next
morning was discovered, after he had passed them on
his way to New York. He was seized, confined, tried,
and sentenced to be hung as a spy, notwithstanding
every remonstrance that could be urged against it.
The American officers who guarded him the day be
fore his execution, describe him as maintaining the ut
most firmness and composure ; and when they were si
lent and melancholy, he would, by some cheerful re
mark, endeavor to dispel the gloom. However, his
composure was not the result of a want of sensibility,
or a disregard of life ; but of those proud and lofty
feelings, the characteristics of true greatness, which
raises the soul above the influence of events, and ena
bles the soldier, with unfaultering nerve and steady eye,
to meet death in whatever form it may approach him ;
for in his sleep, nature would play her part — and home
and friends — ^his country and his fame — his sisters and
his love, would steal upon his heart, contrasting fancied
pleasures vrith certain pain, rendering his dreams dis
turbed, and his sleep fitful and troubled. Early in the
morning, the hour of his execution was announced.
His countenance did not alter. His servant burst into
tears. " Leave me," said he, with greatness, " until
you can behave more manfully." The breakfast was
furnished from the table of General Washington. He
8*

82 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
ate as usual, then shaved and dressed himself; placed
liis hat upon the table, and cheerfully said, " I am
ready at any moment to wak upon you, gentlemen."
Lieutenant Bowman describes k as a day of settied
melancholy, and that Major Andre was, apparently,
the least affected. To General Washington it was a
trial of excruciating pain. It was with great difficulty
that he placed his name to the warrant of his execu
tion. Captain  and Lieutenant Bowman walked
arm in arm with Major Andre. It is well known that
he solicited to be shot ; and it was not until he came
within sight of the gallows, that he knew the manner
of his death. " It is too much," said he, momentarily
shrinking. " I had hoped," added he, recovering him
self, " that ray death might have been otherwise. But
I pray you to bear witness that I die like a soldier."

LXIV. The Remains of Columbus.
This celebrated navigator was at St. Doraingo, when
he was seized and sent home to Spain in irons. On
his arrival at Cadiz, the king and queen ordered him
to be released, and apologized for the treatment he had
received. But Columbus could never forget the igno
miny. He preserved the fetters, hung them up in his
apartment, and ordered them to be buried in his grave.
In comphance with his request, his body was removed
from SeviUe to the island of St. Domingo, and deposit
ed, with his chains, in a brass coffin, on the right ofthe
high akar of the Cathedral of St. Domingo. There

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. §3
his bones remained until the Spanish part of the island
was ceded to France, in 1795. In consequence of
this cession, the descendants of Columbus requested
that his remains might be removed to Cuba. On tiie
19th of January, 1796, the brass coffin which contain
ed the ashes of this great raan, together with a chain
which served as a memorial of his sovereign's weak
ness, was carried down to the harbor in procession,
under fire of the forts, and put on board a brig of war,
to be removed to Havana. The brig arrived safely
in the harbor of Havana, and the remains of the dis
coverer of America were buried with all the pomp and
cereraony that could be bestowed upon them."

LXV. William Penn's Treaty.
The treaty which Wilham Penn made with the nu
merous Pennsylvania tribes, seated in a semi-circle
ai-ound the great elm tree at Kensington, has been
more praised than any other treaty ever was. " This,"
says Voltaire, " was the oMy treaty between Indians
and Cliristians that was not ratified by an oath ; and it
is the only one that never was broken." During the
first American war, the British General Siracoe was
quartered at Kensington, and he so much respected
the elm under which this famous treaty was made, that
when his soldiers were cutting down every tree they
could find, for fire-wood, he placed a sentinel beneath
it, that not one of its branches might be touched. A
few years since, it was blown down, when cups, boxes,

84 AME-RICAN ANECDOTES,
fee. were made from ks wood, to be kept as memori
als of it. The roll of parchment containing the treaty,
was-shown by the Mingoes, Shawanese, and other In
dians, to Governor Keith, at a conference in 1722.
Their veneration for Wilham Penn is so great, that to
this day the garb and language of a Quaker is a sure
passport to their respect and confidence.

LXVI. Remains of Major Andre.
At Tappan, August 10th, 1821, on Friday, at one
o'clock, a large concourse of ladies and gentlemen as
sembled to witness the interesting ceremony of disin
terring the remains of Major Andre. The British
Consul, with several gentlemen, accompanied by the
proprietor of the land and his laborer, commenced
their operations .at 11 o'clock, by removing the loose
stones that surrounded and partly covered the grave.
Great care was taken in reraoving a small peach tree
that was growing out of tl^ grave, as the Consul stated
his intention of sending it to his majesty; to be placed
in one of the Royal Gardens. Considerable anxiety
was felt, lest the coffin could not be found ; as various
rumors existed of its having been removed many years
ago. However, when at the depth of three feet, the
laborers came to it. The hd was broken in the cen
tre, and had partly fallen in ; but was kept up by rest
ing on the skuU. The hd being raised, the skeleton of
Major Andre appeared entire ; bone to bone, each in
its place, without a vestige of any other part of his re-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 85
mains, save some of his hair, which appeared in small
tufts : and the only part of his dress, was the leather
string with which it was tied. The spectators formed
themselves into a large circle, and the undertaker
having uncovered tiie sarcophagus, the remains were
carefuUy removed into it. This depository was made
at New York, in imitation of those used in Europe.
It was of mahogany, tiie pannels covered with rich
crimson velvet, surrounded by a gold bordering, the
rings of deeply burnished gold, the velvet edged with
gold, the inside lined with black, and the whole sup
ported by four gUded balls. The sarcophagus, con
taining the remains of this much lamented officer, was
conveyed on board his majesty's ship, and safely land
ed in England.

LXVn. The Farmer and his Hog.
In a country village, there was a laborer who killed
his hog ; and as it was the ciuitom, in such cases, to
send pieces of meat, sausages; black puddings, liver.
Sic, to all the neighbors, our farmer, who had already
received innumerable presents of this kind, and who
found, if he adhered to this custom, he should have
nothing left for himself, — confiding in one of his neigh
bors, told him, " I have kiUed my hog, and if I should
send a piece to all from whom I have received, there
wiU be none left for myself; now, I pray you, advise
me what is best to be done?" To which his neighbor
rephed, " If I were in your case, I would hang up my

86 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
hog at my open window for the greater part of the
night, and the next day I would tell every body it was
stolen. By this means, I should be excused from
making presents." The laborer, much pleased with
his friend's advice, returned home and put it in prac
tice. The giver of this friendly advice, not failing to
profit by the darkness of tiie night, seized the hog, and
carried it home. How astonished was the farmer,
when early in the morning, he found nothing of his
hog ! He raved at his neighbor's invention, which he
had the evening before, so much approved of. He
sallied out to give the alarm, and the first he met was
his friendly adviser ; to whom he related the whole af
fair, saying, " Oh neighbor, what do you think ? They
have stolen my hog !" " There, there," says his neigh
bor, " that's right; stand to k. TeU the same story to
every body you meet, and I've no doubt they wiU all
beheve you." The farmer began to swear, and to pro
test most solemnly that it was no joke — that his hog
was absolutely gone. But the stronger he was in his
expressions of grief and%exation, the more his neigh
bor exclaimed, " That's right, that's right, my friend.
Stand to it weU, and they'U aU excuse your present." •

LXVIII. JVames alter Things.
A few years since, a tract of land belonging to
North Carolina, was ceded to South Carolina. A
young lady very ivisely observed, " I am sorry father's
plantation is in that tract ; for every body says North
Carohna is more healthy than South Carolina,"

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 87
LXIX. Simplicity ofa Young Quaker.
An honest lad had been employed by a wealthy
member of the society of Friends, to carry some pork
to market. " What is tiiy price ?" asked the young
Quaker. "Thee mayest ask eight cents; but thee
mayest take six, if thee can do no better," was the an
swer. When arrived at the market town, the lad was
soon asked the price of his pork. " Friend Hutchins
told me to ask eight cents, and to take six, if I could
do no better," replied the young Friend, in the sim
phcity of his honest heart. After this impolitic con
fession, the pork, of course, sold for six cents per
pound; and friend Hutchins for the future, went to
market for himself.

LXX. Musical Pun.
The late dehghtful and lamented Mr. Buckminster
sometimes gave way to the sportiveness of wit.
Coming from a crowded coircert on an exceedingly
dark and slippery night, he exclaimed to some of his
friends," If you don't C sharp, you'll B flat.

LXXI. JVancy Hart.
Nancy Hart and her husband settled before the revolu
tionary struggle, a few miles above the ford on Broad
river, known by the name ofthe Fishdamford,in Elbert
county, Georgia, in the bend of the river, near a very

88 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
extensive canebrake ; — an apple orchard stiU remains to
point out tiie spot, and to prove the provident powers of
ks planters.
In altidude, Mrs. Hart was almost Patagonian, and
remarkably weU limbed and muscular — in a word she
was ' lofty and sour ;' she possessed none of that nobili
ty of nerve, which characterizes modern times ; marked
by nature with prominent features, circurastances and
accident added not a littie to her pecuharities ; she
possessed none of those graces of motion which a poet
ical eye might see in the heave of the ocean's wave, or
the change of the summer's cloud ; nor did her cheeks
(I will not speak of her nose) exhibit those rosy tints
that dwell on the brow of the evening or play in the
gUded bow ; no one claims for her throat that it was
lined vrith fiddle strings, but this must be acknowledged,
that her step bespoke energy, and be it said only for the
sake of truth, that she could round off a sentence re
gardless of being called a hard swearer.
The perforating punch of the grate-maker never did
closer vrork on the yielding tin than did that dreadful
scourge of beauty, the SraaU Pox, when it set its em
phatic signature on her face ! she was horribly cross
eyed, as weU as cross grained, but nevertheless she was
a sharp shooter. Nothing was more common than to
see her in full pursuit of the bounding stag — the huge
antlers that hung round her cabin, or upheld her trusty
¦ gun, gave proof of her skill in gunnery, and the white
comb drained of its honey, and hung up for ornament,
testified her powers in bee finding. She was remarka-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 89
olefor her frequent robberies on these patterns of indus
try, and piqued herself on the invention of an infaUible
bait for their discovery. Many can testify to her mag
ical art in the mazes of cookery, being able to get up a
pumpkin in as many forms as there, are days in the week :
she was extensively known and employed for her pro
found knowledge in the manageraent of all ahments and
yielded the pahn to no one in the variety and rarity of
her medicaments.
Her skiU and knowledge took wider and more profit
able range, for it is a well known fact that she held a
tract of land by the safe tenure of a first survey, which
was made on the Sabbath, hatchet in hand. But she
was most remarkable for her military feats. She pos
sessed high toned ideas of liberty ; not even the mar
riage knot could restrain her on that subject ; like ' the
wife of Bath,' she received over her tongue-scourged
husband " The reins of absolute command,
" With ail the government of house and land,
" And empire o'er his tongue and o'er his hand,"
The clouds of war gathered and burst with a dread
ful explosion in this state. Nancy's spirit rose with the
tempest ; she declared and proved herself a friend to
her country, ready ' to do or die.' All accused of
whigism had to hide or swing — the lilly-livered Mr.
Hart was not the last to seek safety in the canebrake with
his neighbors ; they kept up a prowhng, skulking, kind
of hfe, occasionaUy sallying forth in a kind of predatory
style. The Tories at length determined to beat the
brake for them. They however concluded**^^ give
9

90 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Mrs. Hart a caU, and in true soldier manner ordered a
repast. Nancy soon had the necessary materials for a
good feast spread before them ; the smoking venison,
the hasty hoe cake, and the fresh honeycomb, were
"sufficient to provoke the appetke of a gorged epicure !
They simultaneously stacked their arms and seated
themselves, when quick as thought, the dauntless Nan
cy seized one of the guns, cocked it, and with a blaz
ing oath declared that she would blow out the brains of
the first mortal that offered to rise or to taste a mouth
ful. They all knew her character too weU to imagine
that she would say one thkig and do another, especiaUy
if it lay on the side of Satan. ' Go,' said she to one of
her sons, ' and teU the Whigs that I have taken six
d  d Tories.' They sat stiU, each expecting to be
offered up, with doggedly mean countenances, bearing
the marks of disappointed revenge, shame, and unap-
peased hunger. Whether the incongruity between
Nancy's eyes caused each to imagine himself her im
mediate object, or whether her commanding attitude,
stem and ferocious fixture of countenance, overawed
them, or the powerful idea of their unsoldierhke con
duct unnerved them, or the certainty of death, it is not
easy to determine. They were soon reheved, and deak
with according to the rules of the times. This heroine
lived to see her country free ; she however found b;ees
and game decreasing, and the country becommg old so
fast, that she sold out her possessions, in spke of the
remonstrances of her husband, and was amongst,the
first of the pioneers who paved the way to the wilds qf
the west.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 91
LXXn. Harriet Ackland.
" During a halt of the army, in their retreat on tiie
Sth of October," says General Burgoyne, "I received
a message firom Lady Harriet Ackland, submitting to
my decision a proposal of passing to the American
camp, and requesting Gen. Gates' permission to attend
her husband, who, wounded, was a prisoner. Though
I was ready to beheve, for I had experienced that pa
tience and fortitude in a supreme degree were to be
found, as well as every other virtue, under the most
tender forms, I was astonished at this proposal. After
so long an agitation of spirits, exhausted not only for
want of rest, but want of food, drenched in rains for
twelve hours together, that a woman should be capable
of such an undertaking as dehvering herself to the ene
my, probably m the night, and uncertain what hands
she might first fall into, appeared an effort above human
nature. " The assistance I was enabled to give was small in
deed ; I had not even a cup of wine to offer her ; but I
was told that she had found from some kind hand, a
httle rum and dirty water. All I could furnish to her
was an open boat and a few hnes, written on dirty
wet paper, to Gen Gates, recommending her to his pro
tection. The chaplain who had officiated at the funeral
of Gen. Frazer accompanied her, and with one female
servant, and the Major's valet, who had then, in his
shoulder a baU received in the late action, she rowed
down the river to meet the enemy."

93 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
LXXIII. Indian Coquetry.
The Chawanon Indians, inhabiting the lake of Mar-
cotti, and who are considered the most warlike and civ
ihzed of the American Indians, have a manner of court
ship which we believe to be peculiar to themselves.
When such of their young women as have pretensions
to beauty, attain their twelfth year, which is the usual
period of their marriage, they either keep themselves
quite secluded at home, or when they go out muffle
theraselves up in such a manner, that nothing is seen
but their eyes. On these indications of beauty, they
are eagerly sought in marriage, and those suitors who
have acquired the greatest reputation as warriors or
hunters, obtain the consent of the family. After this,
the lover repairs to the cabin, where the beauty is ly
ing enveloped on her couch. He gently approaches
and uncovers her face, so that his person may be seen,
and if this be to her mind, she invites him to he down
by her side ; if not, she again conceals her face, and
the lover retires. A husband has the privilege of
marrying aU his wife's sisters as they arrive at age, so
that after, often before, his first wife is thirty, he has
married and abandoned at least a dozen.

LXXIV. Early American Heroism.
During one of the former wars, between France and
England, in which the then Colonies bore an active
part, a respectable individual, a member of the society

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 93
of Friends, of tiie name of  , coramanded a fine
ship which sailed frora an Eastern port, to a port in
England. This vessel had a strong and effective crew,
but was totally unarraed. When near her destined
port, she was chased, and ultimately overhauled, by a
French vessel of war. Her coraraander used every
endeavor to escape, but seeing frora the superior sail
ing of the Frencbraan that his capture was inevitable,
he quietly retired below : he was followed into the cab
in by his cabin boy, a youth of activity and enterprize,
naraed Charles Wager : he asked his coraraander if
nothing more could be done to save the ship — his com
mander replied that it was irapossible, that every thing
had been done that was practicable, there was no es
cape for them, and they must submit to be captured.
Charles then returned upon deck and summoned the
crew around hira — he stated in a few words what was
their captain's conclusion — ^then, with an elevation of
raind, dictated by a soul formed for enterprise and no
ble daring, he observed, " if you wUl jilace your selves
under my coraraand, and stand by me, I have conceiv
ed a plan by which the ship may be rescued, and we in
turn become the conquerors." The sailors no doubt
feeling the ardor, and inspired by the courage of their
youthful and gaUant leader, agreed to place themselves
under his command. His plan was communicated to
them, and they awaited vrith firmness, the raoraent to
carry their enterprise into effect. The suspense was of
short duration, for the Frenchman was quickly along
side, and as the weather was fine, immediately grappled
9*

94 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
fast to the unoffending merchant ship. As Charles had
anticipated, the exhUarated conquerors, elated beyond
measure, with the acquisition of so fine a prize, poured
into his vessel in crowds, cheering and huzzaing ; and
not foreseeing any danger, they left but few men on
board their ship. Now was the moment for Charles,
who, giring his raen the signal, sprang at then* head on
board the opposing vessel, while sorae seized the arms
which had been left in profusion on her deck, and with
which they soon overpowered the few men left on
board ; the others, by a simultaneous movement, re
lieved her from the grapphngs which united the two
vessels. Our hero now having the command of the
French vessel, seized the helm, and placing her out of
boarding distance, hailed, with the voice of a conquer
or, the discomfited crowd of Frenchmen who were
*left on board of the peaceful bark he had just quitted,
and sumraoned thera to follow close in his wake, or he
would blow them out of water, (a threat they well knew
he was very capable of executing, as their guns were
loaded during the chase.) They sorrowfully acqui
esced with his commands, while gaUant Charies steered
into port, foUowed by his prize. The exploit excited
universal applause — the forraer master of the merchant
vessel was examined by thfj Admiralty, when he stated
the whole of the enterprize as it occurred, and declared
•that Charles Wager had planned and effected the gal
lant explok, and that to him alone belonged the honor
and credit of the achievement. Charies was immedi
ately transferred to the British navy, appointed a mid-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 95
shipman, and his education carefully superintended.
He soon after distinguished himself in action, and un
derwent a rapid promotion, until at length he was cre
ated an Admiral, and known as Sir Charles Wager. It
is said, that he always held in veneration and esteem,
that respectable and conscientious Friend, whose cabin
boy he had been, and transmitted yearly to his old
MASTEK, as he termed him, a handsome present of Ma
deira, to cheer his dechnirig days.

LXXV. Retort Courteous.
Judge R  , who presided in, a County Court in
an American state, was fond of indulging in a joke at
the expense of CounseUor B  , with whom he was
very intimate, and for whora he had a high regard.
When pleading a cause at the bar, on a certain occa
sion, Mr. B. observed that he would conclude his re
marks on the foUowing day, unless the court would
consent to set late enough for him to finish that even
ing. " SiV, sir," said tiie judge, not«e^; hens set."
" I stand corrected," rephed the counsellor, bowing.
Not long after, while giving an opinion, the Judge re
marked, that under such and such circumstances, an
action-would not lay. " Lde, may it please your hon
or," said the counsellor, " not lay ; hens lay."

LXXVI. Sitting of the Court.
A debate once took place in an American court, as
to how long they should set to dispose of the business

96 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
before them. Three weeks were at last determined
on. " Why, in the name of wonder," inquired a wag
at the bar, " do they not set four weeks, hke other
geese ?"
LXXVII. Captain Smith and Pocahontas.
Perhaps a raore extraordinary man never appeared
on the theatre of life, than the celebrated Captain John
Smith, some time President of Virginia. " He was the
pure abstraction of chivalry ; brave, to a fault, and
high minded, to a miracle ; ' the soul of councU, and
the nerve of war ;' — now coasting the Chesapeake, —
now thrown into the sea for a heretic, — now saved by
an Indian woraan from the block, — and now chaUeng-
ing an Ottoman army."
Being one of the principal adventurers to Virginia,
in 1607, he had made several excursions to explore
the country. In one of these, he was taken prisoner by
the Indians, and several of his companions were killed.
An ivory compass and dial, which he presented to the
chief, afforded the Indians much amusement. At
length, curiosity being satiated, they fastened hira to a
tree, and prepared to despatch him with their arrows.
At this moment, the chief holding up the corhpass,
which they esteemed as a divinity, they laid aside their
arras, and forraing a military procession, led him in tri
umph to their vUlage, Orapaze. After carrying him
through several nations, inhabiting the banks of the Po
tomac and Rappahannoc, and performing several
strange incantations, to divine whether his intentions

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 97
were friendly or hostUe, they brought him to the em
peror Powhatan, who received him in royal state,
clothed in a robe of raccoon skins, and seated on a
kind of throne, elevated above the floor of a large hut,
in the midst of which was a fire. At each side of the
prince, sat a beautiful girl, his daughters ; and along
each side of the house, a number of his counsellors,
painted, and adorned with feathers and shells. On the
entrance of Smith, a great shout was made. The
Queen of Appamatox brought him water to wash his
hands, and another served him with a bunch of feathers,
instead of a towel. Having feasted him, according to
their custom, a long consultation was held ; which, be
ing finished, two large stones were brought in ; on one
of which the head of Smith was laid, and clubs raised
to kill him. At this critical moment, Pocahontas, the
king's favorite daughter, then only twelve years of age^
flew to Smith, took his head in her arms, and laid her
own upon it. Her tender entreaties prevailed. The
king consented that Smith should hve to make hatchets
for hira, and ornaments for his daughter. •
Two days after. Captain Smith was released, on the
condition of sending sorae presents to Powhatan and his
- daughter; which promise, on reaching tiie fort at James-
tovra, he did not neglect. Pocahontas was afterwards
takfen prisoner by the English, and married a Mr. John
Rolfe, who brought her to England. Captain Smith,
then m London, wrote to the queen, stating the merits
of the Indian princess, and the important services she
had rendered him and the colony at Virginia. She was

08

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

introduced at court, and received by the royal family
with great complacency : nor did she prove unworthy
of their notice and respect. After remaining some time
in Englarfd, her husband was preparing to return to
Virginia, when she was taken iU, and died at Graves-
end, leaving an kifant son, Thomas Rolfe, from whom
are descended several famihes in Virginia, who hold
their lands by inheritance from the humane and amia
ble Princess Pocahontas. The present celebrated
John Randolph is one of her descendants.

LXXVin. Washington's friendship for Gen. Knox.
Washington always kept this useful and' scientific of- 1
ficer near his own person ; and he not only honored
him with confidence, but with brotherly affection. Af
ter the defeat of Gates' army, at Camden, General
Greene was offered the arduous command of the
southern department. The quaker General, with his
usual modesty, rephed, " Knox is the man for that dif
ficult undertaking ; aU obstacles vanish before him ;
his resources are infinite." " True," answered Wash
ington, " and therefore I cannot part with him,"

LXXIX, Diffidence of Washington.
When General Washington, the immortal saviour of
his country, had closed his career m the French and
Indian war, and had become a member of the house of
burgesses, the speaker, Robinson, was directed, by a

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 99
vote of the house, to return then- thanks to that gentle
man, on behalf of the colony, for the distinguished
mUitary services which he had rendered to his country.
As soon as Washington took his seat, Mr. Robinson,
in obedience to this order, and following the unpulse
of his own generous and grateful heart, discharged this
duty with great dignity ; but with such warmth of col
oring and strength of expression, as entirely confound
ed the youn^ hero. He rose to express his acknowl-^
edgments for the honor ; but such was his trepidation
and confusion, that he could not give distinct utterance
to a single syllable. He blushed, stammered, and
trembled, for a second ; when the speaker reheved
him, by a stroke of address, that would have done hon-
^r to Louis XIV. in his proudest and happiest mo
ments. " Sit down, Mr. Washington," said he, with
a concihating smUe ; " your modesty is equal to your
valor ; and that surpasses the power of any language
that I possess."

LXXX. Generosity of La Fayette.
In the year 1787, there was a destructive fire in
Boston, in consequence of which raany of the inhabit
ants were reduced to want. The Marquis La Fayette,
who was then in France, having heard of the calamity,
immediately wrote to his friend, Samuel Breck of Bos
ton, expressing his sympathy for the sufferers, and di
recting him to draw a biU on hira for 300 pounds ster
ling, to be apphed towards their rehef. The biU was

100 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
accordingly drawn, and the money was received, and
applied according to his directions.
Mr. Brock's son stiU preserves this letter as a pre
cious raeraorial of the philanthropy and American feel
ing of La Fayette.
This Araerican feeling has indeed been manifested
tiiroughout his . whole hfe. His only son bears the
name of George Washington, and his two daughters
are called Carolina and Virginia. ^

LXXXI. Doctor Lathrop.
Doctor Lathrop was a man of genuine piety, but
much opposed to the noisy zeal that seeketh " to be
known of men."
A young divine, who was ranch given to enthusiastic
cant, one day said to him, " Do you suppose you have
any real religion ?" " None to speak of," was the ex
cellent reply. LXXXII. John Ledyard.
Perhaps the world never afforded a more wonderful
combination of enterprise, perseverance, and resolution,
than our countryman, Ledyard. " In his boyhood, he
rambled among the Indians, on our frontiers ; he was
the first to descend Connecticut river in a canoe, and
in one which was constructed by his own hands, and
managed by himself alone ; he studied law and divmi-
ty ; he enhsted as a soldier at Gibralter ; he went round

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 101
the world with Captain Cook ; he projected the first
trading voyage to the North West Coast ; he was inti
mate with Robert Morris in PhUadelphia, with Paul
Jones in Paris, with Sir Joseph Banks in London, and
Professor Pallas in Petersburgh ; he was the friend and
correspondent of Jefferson and La Fayette ; he was
one season in New York, the next in Spain and France,
the next in ^iberia, and the next under the pyramids
of Egypt ; ^ was the first to open the field of African
discovery, and there death extinguished the enthusiasm
and love of adventure, which he could only relinquish
with hfe itself." He was a great pedestrian, and in
his own language, " trampled half tne globe beneath
his feet." He once traveUed through the greater part
of Europe on foot, and scarcely had he entered Lon
don, on his return, when he heard that a company had
been for-med for the purpose of penetrating into the in
terior of Africa ; but that they could find no traveUer
wiUing to undertake the dangerous enterprise. With
his usual promptness and energy, he waited on the
gentiemen, told his name, and offered his services.
" You are exactly the man we want, Mr. Ledyard,"
said they ; "but," glancing at his dusty clothes, and
his face flushed with exertion, " we are sorry you have
so lately returned from a fatiguing journey. Our ves
sels have long since been ready to saU." " They shall
not wait for me," replied Ledyard. He caught a hasty
supper, went on board that night, received aU necessa
ry directions, and was actuaUy ready to leave the har
bor at early sunrise. 10

102 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
LXXXIII. Miraculous Escape of Gen. Washington.
Major Ferguson, who commanded a rifle corps a day
or two previous to the battle of Brandywine, was the
hero of a very singular accident, which he thus de
scribes in a letter to a friend. It illustrates, in a most
forcible manner, the over-tuling hand of Providence in
directing the operations of a man's mind, fi moments
when he is least of aU aware of it. w
" We had not lain long, when a rebel officer, re
raarkable by a hussar dress, pressed toward our army,
within a hundred yards of my right flank, not perceiv
ing us. He was loUowed by anotiier, dressed in dark
green and blue, mounted on a bay horse, with a re
markable high cocked hat. I ordered three good shots
to steal near and fire at them ; but the idea disgusting
rae, I recaUed the order. The hussar, in returning,
made a circuit, but the other passed within a hundred
yards of us; upon which, I advanced frora the woods
towards him. Upon ray caUing, he stopped ; but after
looking at me, proceeded. I again drew his attention,
and made signs to him to stop, levelling ray piece at
him ; but he slowly cantered away. By quick firing, I
could have lodged half a dozen* baUs in, or about him,
before he was out of my reach. I had only to deter
mine ; but k was not pleasant to fire at the back of an
unoffending individual, who was very coolly acquitting
himself of his duty ; so I let him alone.
The next day the surgeon told me that the wounded
rebel officers informed him that General Washington

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 103"
was all the morning with the hght troops, and only at-
leaded by a French officer in a hussar dress, he himself
dressed and mounted as I have above described. I
am not sorry that I did not know who it was at the
time."

LXXXIV. Washington' s fav<Jrite Horses. '
GeneralWashington had two favorite horses ; one a
large, elegant parllde horse, of a cliSsnut color, high
spirited, and of a gallant carriage : this horse had be
longed to the British army. The other was smaUer,
and his color, sorrel. This he us^ always to ride in
time of action ; so that whenever the General mounted
him, the word ran through the ranks, " We have busi
ness on hand." *

LXXXV. General Wayne's War Horse.
At the battle of Germatfitovyi, General Wayne rode
his gallant roan ; anfl in charging the enemy, his horse
received a wound in his" head, and ftll, as was sup
posed, dead. "Two days after, the roan returned to
the American camp, not materially. injured ; and was
again fit for service.

LXXXVI. Eloquence of Patrick Henry.
Patrick Henry was the son of^olonel John Henry,
a native, of Aberdeen, in Scotiand, and born at Stud-

J 04 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
ley, in the county of Hanover, and State of Virginia.
In his youth, he gave no signs of future greatness. -No
persuasion could induce hira either to read, or to work ;
but he ran wild in the forest, and divided his time be-r
iween the uproar ofthe chase, and the languor of in
action. He married at eighteen ; he was for some time a
farmer, and theri'-entered into mercantUe ijMdertakings,
which in a few years, rendered him a blpkrupt, and
reduced hira to Epstate of wretchedness. He now de
termined to try the bar. About this time, the famous
contest between the clergy on the one hand, and the
legislature and the people on the other, concerning the
stipends of the former, took place ; and he exhibited
isuch displays of eloquence in " the parson's cause," as
it was terraed, as drew the adrairation of all his fellow
citizens. His exertions were so unexampled, so unex
pected, so instantaneous, that he obtained the appella
tion of" The Orator of Natur^." When the question
wns first agkated concerning the right of the British
parhament to tax America, he gave, as has been truly
remarked, " the first impulse to the ball of the revolu
tion." Men who were on other occasions distinguished
for intrepidity and decision, hung back, unvrilhng to
submit, yet afraid to speak out, in language of bold and
open defiance. ¦ .^ In this hour of despondency, sus
pense, and , consternation, Henry arose, to cheer the
drooping spirits of his countrymen, and to caU forth aU
the energies of the Americans, to contend for their
freedom. When tiie house of Burgesses was within

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

105

three days of its expected close, Henry produced, and
carried the far-famed resolutions concerning the stamp
act, which formed the first firm opposition to the scheme
of taxing America by the British parhament. In 1774,
he appeared in the venerable body of the old conti
nental congress of the Unked States, when it met for
the first time. Henry broke the sUence, which for
a whUe, overawed the minds of aU present, and as he
advanced, rose with the magnitude and importance of
the subject, to the noblest displays of argument and of
eloquence. " This," said he, " is 'not the time for
ceremony : the question before the house is one of aw
ful moment to this country. It is nothing less than
freedom, or slavery. If we wish to be free, ive must
fight. I repeat it, sir, we must fight ! an appeal to
arms, and to the God of Hosts, is aU that is left us.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentiemen
may cry, peace ! peace ! but there is no peace. The
war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps
from the north, wiU bring to our ears the clash of re
sounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field!
Why stand we here idle ? What is it that gentiemen
wish? What would they have? Is hfe so dear, and ¦
peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of
chains and slavery ? Forbid it. Almighty God ! I know
not what course others may take ; but as for me,"
cried he, with both his arms extended^aloft, his brows
knit, every feature marked with the resolute purpose
of his soul, and his voice sweUed to its boldest note of
exclamation, " give me hberty, or give me death !"
10*

106

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

He took his seat, and the cry " to arms !" seemed to
quiver upon every lip, and gleam from every eye.
Henry lived to witness the glorious issue of that re
volution, which his genius had set in motion ; and, to
use his own prophetic language, before the commence
ment of that revolution, " to see America take her sta
tion amongst the nations of the earth."

LXXXVII. American Prisoners bravel'f re-taken.
Mr. Jasper, a 'sergeant in the revolutionary army,
had a brother who had joined the British, and who like
wise, held the rank of sergeant in their garrison at Eb
enezer. No man could be truer to the American
cause, than sergeant Jasper ; yet he warmly loved his
tory brother, and actually went to the British garrison
to see hira. His brother was exceedingly alarmed,
lest he should be seized, and hung as an American spy ;
for his name was well known to many of the British
officers. " Do not trouble yourself," said Jasper ; " I
am no longer an American soldier."
"Thank God for that, Wilham," exclaimed his
brother, heartily shaking him by the hand ; " and now
only say the word my boy, and here is a commission
for you, with regimentals and gold to boot, to fight for
his raajesty, king George."
Jasper shook his head, and observed, that though
there was but little encourageraent to fight /or his coun
try, he could not find it in his heart to fight against
her. And there the conversation ended. After stay-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 107
ing two or three days with his brother, inspecting and
hearing all that he could, he took his leave, returned
to the Araerican camp, by a circuitous route, and told
General Lincoln aU that he had seen.
Soon after, he made another trip to the English gar
rison, taking with hira his particular friend, sergeant
Nekton, who was a young man of great strength and
courage. His brother received him with his usual
cordiality ; and he and his friend spent several days at
the British fort, witiiout giving the least alarm. On
the morning of the tiiird day, his brother observed that
he had bad news to tell him.
" Aye ! what is it ?" asked WiUiam.
" Why," rephed his brother, " here are ten or a
dozen American prisoners, brought in this raorning, as
deserters, frora Savannah, whither they, are to be sent
immediately ; and, frora what I can learn, it will be apt
to go hard with them, — for it seems they have all ta
ken the king's bounty."
"Let us see them," said Jasper. So ' his brother
took him and his friend Newton to see them. It was
indeed a melancholy sight, to see the poor fellows
hand-cuffed upon the ground. But when the eye rest
ed on a young woman, wife of one of the prisoners,
vrith her chUd, a sweet littie boy of five years, all pity
for the male prisoners was forgotten. Her humble
garb showed that she was poor ; but her deep distress,
and sympathy, with her unfortunate husband, proved
that she was rich in conjugal love, more precious than
aU gold. She generally sat on the ground, opposite to

103 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
her husband, with her littie boy leaning on her lap, and
her coal black hak spreading in long, neglected tresses
on her neck and bosom. Sometimes she would sk si
lent as a statue of grief, her eyes fixed upon the earth :
then she would start with a convulsive throb, and gaze
on her husband's face with looks as piercing sad, as if
she aheady saw him struggling in the halter, herself a
widow, and her son an orphan. While the chUd, dis
tressed by his mother's anguish, added to the pathos of
the scene, by the artiess tears of childish suffering.
Though Jasper and Newton were undaunted in the
field of battie, their feelings were subdued by such
heart-stirring misery. As they walked out into the
neighboring wood, the tears stood in the eyes of both.
Jasper first broke sUence. " Newton," said he, " my
days have been but few ; but I beheve their course is
nearly finished."
" Why so, Jasper ?"
" Why, I feel that I must rescue those poor prison
ers, or die with them ; otherwise, the remembrance of
that poor woman and her child will haunt me to my
grave." " That is exactiy what I feel, too," rephed Newton ;
" and here is my hand and heart to stand by you, my
brave friend, to the last drop. Thank God, a man
can die but once ; and why should we fear to leave
this life in the way of our duty ?"
The friends embraced each other, and entered into
the necessary arrangements, for fulfilhng their despe
rate resolution.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 109
Iraraediately after breakfast, the prisoners were sent
on their way to Savannah, under the guard of a ser
geant and corporal, with eight men. They had not
been gone long, before Jasper, accompanied by his
friend Newton, took leave of his brother, and set out on
some pretended errand to the upper country. They
had scarcely, however, got out of sight of Ebenezer,
before they struck into the woods, and pushed hard af
ter the prisoners and their guard, whom they closely
dogged for several miles, anxiously watching an oppor
tunity to raake a blow. The hope indeed, seeraed
extravagant; — for what could two unarmed men do
against ten, equipped with loaded muskets and bayonets?
However, unable to give up their countrymen, our he
roes stUl traveUed on.
About two mUes from Savannah, there is a famous
spring, generaUy called the Spa, well known to travel
lers, who often stopped there to quench thek thirst.
" Perhaps," said Jasper, " the guard raay stop there.
Hastening on through the woods, they gained the Spa,
as their last hope, and there concealed themselves
amongthe thick bushes that grew around the spring..
Presently, the mournful procession came in sight of
the spring, where the sergeant ordered a halt. Hope
sprung afresh in the bosoms of our heroes, though no
doubt mixed with great alarms ; for " it was a fearful
odds." The corporal, with his guard of four men,
conducted the prisoners to the spring, while the ser
geant, with the other four, having grounded their arms
near the road, brought up the rear. The prisoners,

no

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

wearied with their long walk, were permitted to rest
themselves on the earth. Poor Mrs. Jones, as usual,
took her seat opposke to her husband, and her littie
boy, overcome with fatigue, feU asleep in her lap.
Two of the corporal's raen were ordered to keep
guard, and the other two to give the prisoners drink out
of their canteens. These last approached the spring,
where our heroes lay concealed, and, resting thek
muskets against a pine tree, dipped up water. Having
drank themselves, they turned away with replenished
canteens, to give to the prisoners also. " Now, New
ton, is our time," said Jasper. Then, bursting hke h-
ons from their concealment, they snatched up the two
muskets that were resting against the pine, and in an
instant, shot down the two soldiers who were upon
guard. It was now a contest who should get the load
ed muskets that feU from the hands of the slain ; for
by tills time, a couple of brave Enghshmen, recovering
frora their momentary panic, had sprung and seized
upon the muskets; but before they could use them, the
swift-handed Americans, with clubbed guns, leveUed a
, final blow at the heads of their brave antagonists. The
tender bones of the skull gave way, and down they
sunk, pale and quivering, without a groan. Then has
tily seizing the muskets, which had thus a second time
fallen from the hands of the slain, they flew between
their surviving enemies and their weapons, grounded
near the road, and ordered them to surrender ; which
they instantly did. They then snapped the hand-cuffs
ofthe prisoners, and armed them with muskets.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. HI
At the commencement of the fight, poor Mrs. Jones
had fallen to the earth in a swoon, and her little son
stood screaming piteously over her. But, when she
recovered, and saw her husband and his friends freed
from their fetters, she behaved like one frantic with joy.
She sprung to her husband's bosom, and with her arms
round his neck, sobbed out, " My husband is safe —
bless God, my husband is safe." Then, snatching up
her child, she pressed him to her heart, as she exclaim
ed, " thank God ! my son has a father yet." Then
kneehiig at the feet of Jasper and Newton, sfie pressed
their hands vehemently, but in the fullness of her heart
she could only say, " God bless you ! God Almighty
bless you !"
For fear of being re-taken by the Enghsh, our heroes
seized the arras and regiraentals of the dead, and with
their friends and captive foes, re-crossed the Savan
nah, and safely joined the Araerican army at Puris-
burgh, to the inexpressible astonishment and joy of all.

LXXXVIII. Disinterested Patriotism of Hancock.
During the seige at Boston, General Washington con-
suked Congress upon the propriety of borabarding the
town of Boston. Mr. Hancock was then President of
Congress. After General Washington's letter was read,
a solemn silence ensued. This was broken by a mem
ber making a motion that the House should resolve it
self into a committee of the whole, in order that Mr.
Hancock might give his opinion upon the important

11.2 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
subject, as he was deeply interested from having all his
estate in Boston. After he left the chair, he addressed
the chairman of the committee of the whole in the fol
lowing words. " It is true, Sk, nearly aU the property
I have in the worid is in houses and other real estate in
the town of Boston; but if the expulsion of the British
army from k, and the liberties of our country require
their being burnt to ashes — issue the order for that pur
pose immediately !"

LXXXIX. Emily Geiger.
At the time General Greene retreated before Lord
Rawdon from Ninety-six, when he had passed Broad
River, he was very desirous to send an order to Gen.
Sumter, who was on the Wateree, to join hira, that they
might attack Rawdon, who had divided his force. But
the General could find no man in that part of the state
who was bold enough to undertake so dangerous a mis
sion. The country to be passed through for many miles
was full of blood thirsty tories, who on every occasion
that offered, imbrued their hands in the blood of the
whigs. At length Emily Geiger presented herself to
Gen. Greene, and proposed to act as his messenger :
and the General both surprised and delighted, closed
with her proposal. He accordingly wrote a letter and'
delivered k, and at the same time communicated the
contents of k verbally, to be told to Sumter in case of
accidents. Emily was young, but as to her person or
adventures on the way, we have no further information,

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 113
except that she was mounted on horseback, upon a
side-saddle, and on the second day of her journey she
was intercepted by Lord Rawdon's scouts. Coming
from the direction of Greene's army, and not being able
to tell an untruth without blushing, EmUy was suspect
ed, and confined to a room ; and as the officer in com
mand had the modesty not to search her at the time, he
sent for an old tory matron as more fittmg for that pur
pose. Emily was not wanting in expedient, and as soon
as the door was closed and the bustle a little subsided
she ate up the letter piece by piece. After a while the
matron arrived, and upon searching carefully nothing
was to be found of a suspicious nature about the priso
ner, and she would disclose nothing. Suspicion being
thus aBayed, the officer commanding the scouts suffer
ed Emily to depart for where she said she was bound ;
but she took a route somewhat circuitous to avoid fur
ther detention, and soon after struck in the road to
Sumter's camp, where she arrived in safety, Emily
told her adventure, and delivered Greene's verbal mes
sage to Sumter, who in consequence soon after joined
the main army at Orangeburg, Emily Geiger after
wards married Mr. Threrwits, a rich planter on the
Congaree. She has been- dead 35 years, but it is
trusted her name will descend to posterity among those
of the patriotic females of the revolution.

XC. Captain Ross.
During the first American war. Captain Ross of the
Brkish army, made engagements with a young ladjt in
11

114 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
England which, her parents refused to ratify. Honor
and duty compelled him to go to America, and the ob
ject of his affections was resolved to follow him. She
departed in men's clothes, and just arrived at the scene
of war time enough to learn that a sanguinary skirmish
had taken place between the savages and the detach
ment commanded by the object of her search. She
flew to the field of battie, found it strewed with dead
bodies, in the midst of which she perceived the form of
captain Ross ! She instantly caught him in her arms,
and thought she fek his heart beat. She discovered he
was wounded, and she endeavored to staunch the
wound, which was yet bleeding, and for some tirae she
applied her lips to it and sucked it. This remedy, well
known, but seldom resorted to, insensibly restor * him
to hfe. In the mean tirae she feared, by making Jier-
self known, she might cause an emotion to her lover,
which might be attended with certain danger. She
therefore disguised her complexion and her features, as
she had already disguised her sex and with unremit
ting care, nursed and attended him for forty days ; at
the end of which, perfectly assured of his restoration to
health, she made herself known to him, who during his
long indisposition had never ceased to speak of her, and
express the regret he fek, that ere he quitted this world
he should not have the satisfaction of bemg unked to
her he so fondly loved. It is not easy to describe the joy
of the lovers in a meeting so unhoped for. They de
parted together for Philadelphia, where they ratified
their vows of eternal affection at the altar.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 115
But scarcely had they tasted the cup of felicity,
when a langour, that no medical art could heal, attacked
the system and threatened the existence of Mrs. Ross.
It was soon known that her husband had been wounded
with a poisoned arrow, and that sucking the wound she
had imbibed the venom, which by degrees had changed
the whole mass of blood into an impoisoned state.
Capt. Ross, could not survive this last cruel stroke ;
he died the victim of despair, at seeing the frustration
of his hopes, destroying in her, who had perished in re
storing him to life. He expired at Johnstown, in the
sprkig of 1778, Mrs, Ross suported herself after the
loss of her husband, by the certain hope of soon fol-
lowii;g him. But she had again fortitude to cross tho
Atlanuc, to implore pardon of her parents, with whom
she .languished a short time, and died at Haramer-
smith, in the month of July, aged 25 years. A monu
ment is erected to her memory in Hammertoith church,
recording this memorable event." *

XCI. The Silver Hook.
Doctor Franklin observing»one day a hearty young
fellow whom he knew to be an extraordinary black
smith, sitting on the wharf bobbing for httle mudcats,
and eels, he called to him, " Ah, Tom, what a pity 'tis
you cannot fish with a silver hook," The young man
rephed, " he was not able to fish with a silver hook."-p-
Some days after this, the doctor passing tiiat way, Saw^
Tom out at the end ofthe wharf again with his longj)ole'
bending over the flood — "What, Tom !" cried the JDoc-

]]6 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
tor, " have you got the silver hook yet ?" "God bless
you Doctor," cried the blacksmith " I am hardly able
to fish with an Iron hook." " Poh ! Poh !" rephed the
Doctor, " go home to your anvil, and you wiU make sil-
^er enough in one day to buy more and better fish than
you can catch here in a month."

XCII. Bostonian Boys.
The British troops which were sent to Boston, to keep
that rebeUious town in order, were everywhere received
with the most unequivocal marks of anger and detesta
tion. During their stay "the very air seemed filled with
suppressed breatiiings of indignation." _
" The insolence and indiscretion of some subaltern
officers increased the ill will of the citizens ; and vexa
tions and quarrels multiphed daily." At this period of
public exasperation, the boys were much in the habit of
liuilding hiUs of snow, and shding from them to the
pond in the Common. The English troops, from the
mere love of tantalizing, destroyed all their labours.
They complained of the injury, and kidustriously set
about repairs. However, when they returned from
sch^l, they found the snow-hiUs again levelled, Sev-
ei-al of ".them now waited upon the British Captain to
inform Tiira of the misconduct of his soldiers. No no
tice was taken of their complaint, and the soldiers every
day grew more provokingly insolent^ At last, they re
solved to call a meeting of all the largest boys in town,
and wait upon General Gage, Commander in Chief of
tlie British forces. When shown into his presence, he

AAJERICAN ANECDOTES. 117
asked, with some surprise, why so many chUdren had
called to see him. " We come, sir," said the foremost,
'* to claim a redress of grievances." " What, have
your fathers been teaching you rebeUion, and sent you
here to utter it ?" " Nobody sent us, sir," rephed the
speaker, while his cheek reddened, and his dark eye
flashed : " we have never injured or insulted your
troops ; but they have trodden down our snow-hiUs,
and broken the ice on our skatmg ground. We com
plained, and they called us young rebels, and told us to
help ourselves, if we could. We told the Captain o^
this, and he laughed at us. Yesterday our works were
a third tirae destroyed ; and now we will bear it no
longer." General Gage looked at them with undis
guised admiration, and turning to an officer who stood
near him, he exclaimed, " Good heavens ! the very
children draw in a love of liberty with the air they
breatiie" — and added, " You may go, my brave boys ;
and be assured that if any of my troops hereafter molest
you, they shall be severely punished."

XCIII. Martin and Craft.
Mr, Craft, a young man of considerable promise Irom
AUeghany county, having thought proper to , answer
Mr, Martin, of PhUadelphia county, on the subject of
connecting an important subject with party feehng, Mr.
Martin answered Mr. Craft, by saying that he would
quote the foUovring poetry for the gentleman's instruc
tion : 11*

118

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

" Largo vessels can — may venture more.
But little Craft must keep the shore,"

:\]r. Craft replied, that when the gentleman offered
arguraent he should condescend to answer him ; but as
he had been pleased to amuse the house with poetry,
he would add the remainder of the couplet :
" The noble swallow seeks the sky.
But foolish Martins can but try."

XCIV. Piety of Franklin.
While the important question of the representation
of the states in the Senate, was the subject of debate^
and the states were alraost equally divided upon it. Dr.
Franklin moved that prayers should be attended in the
Convention every morning, and in support of his motion
thus addressed the President :
' Mr. President — The small progress we have made
after four or five weeks of close attendance and contin
ual reasoning with each other, our different sentiments
on almost every question, several of the last producing
as many noes as ayes, is methinks, a melancholy proof
of the imperfection ofthe human understanding. We in
deed seera to feel our own want of political wisdom, since
we have been running aU about in search of it. We
have gone back to ancient history for models of gov
ernment, and examined the different forms of those
Republics which having been originally formed, with
the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist;
and we have viewed modern states all round Europe,

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 119
but find none of their constitutions suitable to our cir
cumstances. In this situation of this assembly, groping
as it were, in the dark, to find pohtical truth, and scarce
able to distinguish it when presented to us ; how has it
happened. Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought
of humbly applying to the Father of Lights, to Ulumi-
nate our understandings ? In the beginning ofthe con
test with Great Britain, when we were sensible of dan
ger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine pro
tection ! Our prayers. Sir, were heard, and they were
graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in
the struggle, must have observed frequent instances of
a superintending Providence in our favor. To that
kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of con
sulting in peace, on the means of establishing our fu
ture national felicity. And have we now forgotten that
powerful friend ? — or do we imagine we no longer need
his assistance ? I have lived. Sir, a long time ; and the
longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this
truth, that God governs in the affairs of men ! And if a
sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is
it probable that an empire can rise without his aid ?
We have been assured. Sir, in the sacred writings, that
" except the Lord buUd a house, they labor in vain that
build k." I firmly beheve this ; and I also believe,
that without his concurrkig aid, we shall succeed in
this political building no better than the builders of Ba
bel ; we shaU be divided by our littie partial local inter
ests, our projects wiU be confounded, and we ourselves
shaU become a reproach tmd a by-word down to future

120 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter,
from this unfortunate instance, despair of estabhshing
governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance,
war, or conquest,
' I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth,
prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its
blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly
every morning, before we proceed to business ; and
that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested
to officiate in that service,'

XCV, Death of Baron de Kalb.
Imraediately on receiving orders of departure, we
waited on the good old de Kalb to take our leave, and
to express our deep regret at parting with him, " It
is with equal regret, my dear sirs, that I part with you,"
said he ; "because I feel a presentiment that we part to
meet no more,"
We told him we hoped better things,
" Oh no !" rephed he, " k is impossible. War is a
kind of game, and has ks fixed rules, whereby, when
we are weU acquainted with them, we can pretty cor
rectly teU how the trial wiU go. To-morrow, it seeras,
the die is to be cast ; and, in my judgment, without the
least chance on our side. The militia wiU, I suppose,
as usual, play the back-game ; that is, get out of , battie
as fast as their legs wiU carry them. Hut that, you
know, won't do for me, I am an old soldier, and can
not run ; and I believe I have some brave fellows that

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 121
will stand by me to the last. So, when you hear of
our battle, you will probably hear that your old friend,
de Kalb, is at rest."
I never was more affected in my life ; and I per
ceived tears in the eyes of General Marion. De Kalb
saw them too ; and taking us by the hand, he said, with
a flrm tone, and animated look, " No ! no ! gentlemen ;
no emotion for me, but those of congratulation. I am
happy. To die is the irreversible decree of him who
made us. Then what joy to be able to meet death
without dismay. This, thank God, is ray case. The
happiness of man is ray wish ; that happiness I deem
inconsistent with slavery. And to avert so great an
evil from an innocent people, I will gladly meet the
British to-morrow, at any odds whatever."
As he spoke this, a fire flashed frora his eyes, which
seemed to me to demonstrate the divinity of virtue, and
the immortality of the soul. We left him with feehngs
which I shall never forget; while memory maintains
her place in ray aged brain.
It was on the morning of August 15th, 1780, that
we left the array in a good position^ near Rugeley's
mills, twelve miles from Camden, where the enemy
lay. About ten, that night, orders were given to march
and surprise the enemy, who had at the same time,
coramenced a march to surprise the Americans. To
their mutual astonishment, the advance of both armies ,
met at two o'clock, and began firing on each other.
It was, however, soon discontinued by both parties,
who appeared very wiUing to leave the matter to be

122

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

decided by day-hght. A council of war was caUed,
in which de Kalb advised 'that the army should fall
back to Rugeley's miUs, and wait to be attacked.
General Gates not gnly rejected this excellent counsel,
but threw out insinuations that it originated in fear.
Upon this, the brave old man leaped frora his horse,
and placed himself at the head of his command on foot,
saying, with considerable warmth, " WeU, sir, perhaps
a few hours will show who are the brave."
As day-hght increased, the frightened mUitia began
to discover the woods, reddened aU over with the scar
let uniform of the British army, which soon, with rat-
thng drums and thundering cannon, came rushing on to
the charge ; and they scarcely waited to give them a
distant fire before they broke, 'and fled in every direc
tion. General Gates clapped spurs to his horse, as he
said, " to bring the rascals back." However, he did
not bring himself back, nor did he stop tiU he reached
Ch^lotte, eighty mUes from the field of battle. Two
thirds of the army having thus shamefully taken them
selves off, the brave old de Kalb and his handful of
continentals werejeft to try the fortune of the day.
More determined valor was never displayed : for
though out-numbered raore than two to one, they sus
tained the whole British force for more than an hour.
Glorying in the bravery of his continentals, de Kalb
towered before thenvlike a pillar of fire. But, alas I
what can valor do against equal valor, aided by such
fearful odds ? While bending forward to aniraate his
troops, the veteran received eleven wounds. Fainting'

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 123
with loss of blood, he feU to the ground, whUe Britons
and Americans were kUled over hira, as they furiously
strove to destroy, or to defend. In the midst of clash
ing bayonets, his only surviving aid, Monsieur de Buy-
son, stretched his arms over the faUenhero, and called
out, " Save the Baron de Kalb ! save the Baron de
Kalb !" The British officers then interposed, and pre
vented his immediate destruction.
De Kalb died, as he had lived, the. unconquered
friend of liberty. When an English officer condoled
with him for his misfortune, he replied, " I thank you,
sir, for your generous sympathy ; but I die the death I
always prayed for ; the death of a soldier, fighting for
the rights of man." He survived but a few hours,
and was buried in the plains of Camden, near which
his last battle was fought.
Many years after, when the great Washington visited
Camden, he eagerly inquired for the grave of de Kalb.
It was shown to him. Gazing upon it thoughtfully,, he
exclaimed, with a deep sigh, "So, there hes the brave
de Kalb ; the generous stranger, who came from a dis
tant land, to fight our battles, and to water, with his
blood, the tree of our hberty. Would to God he had
lived to share its fruits!"

XCVI. Gen. Putnam's entranc^ into the Army.
When the intelligence of the battie of Lexington,
which took place on the 19th of AprU, 1775, reached
General Putnam, he was engaged in ploughing on his

124

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

farm, at Brooklyn, in Connecticut. He instantly un
yoked his cattle, left his plough standing in the unfin
ished furrow, in tiie midst of the field, and without
stopping to change his dress, immediately setoff for die
scene of mihtary transactions, in the vicinity of Boston.
Upon entering the army, he was appointed to the rank
of Major General. On tiie conclusion of the war,
General Washington wrote a letter to General Putnam,
in which he warmly expressed the sense he entertained
of his serrices. "The name of Putnam," says he,
" is not forgotten ; nor wiU k be, but with that stroke
of time which shall oblkerate from my mind the re
membrance of aU those toils and fatigues through which
we have struggled, for the preservation and establish
ment of the rights, liberties, and independence of our
country."

XCVII. A Fahle, by Samuel Adams.
A meeting was called in Boston, in consequence of
some new inroads upon the rights and liberties of the
people. Adams, who sat sUent, hstening to all theff'
, violent harangues, at last arose, and after a few re
marks, concluded with saying, — " A Grecian philoso
pher, who was lying asleep upon the grass, was roused
by the bite of some animal, upon the palm of his hand.
He closed his hand suddenly, as he awoke, and found
that he had caught a field mouse. As he was examin
ing the littie animal that had dared to attack him, it
unexpectedly bk him a second time. He dropped it.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 125
and it made its escape. Now, fellow citizens, what
think you was the reflection I made upon this trifling
circumstance ? It was this : that there is no animal,
however weak and contemptible, which cannot defend
its own liberty, if it will only fight for it."
The cause of American independence owed much to
the zeal and intrepidity of this individual. In com
parison with the politicians of expediency and intrigue,
his love of liberty, his sincerity, his honesty, and his
consistency of character, raised him into true dignity.
The memory of this distinguished patriot is enroUed
among the defenders of his country, and repeated with
gratitude and respect, by the humblest citizen of that
state, which he contributed to render free.

XCVIII. JVoble conduct ofthe Earl of Effingham.
When the unhappy contest broke out between Brit
ain and her American colonies, the Earl of Effingham,
who commanded the 22nd regiment, was one of those
WM "thought and dedared, that the Americans only
1!l)ntended foi- that freedom which was tiieir birthright.
The 22nd, being one of the regiments which were af.
terwards destined to reduce the colonies to obedience
by force of arms, his lordship had no alternative, but
either to resign his command, or take the field against
his principles. The choice could not be for a moment
doubtful. His lordship sent in a resignation, charac
terised by his own eloquent integrity. The king was
so well convinced of the conscientious rnotives of Lord
12

126 AMERICAN ANECDOTES,
Effinghara, that, while he regretted the loss of his ser
rices, he was pleased to declare, that he 'should not
lose the benefit of his rank upon any future occasion.
In a subsequent debate, in the House of Lords, allu
ding to his resignation, he thus feelingly expresses hira
self : " Ever since I was at an age to have any arabi-
tion at aU, my highest has been to serve my country
hi a military capacity. If there was on earth an event
I dreaded, it was to see this country so situated, as to
make tiiat profession incompatible with my duty as a
citizen. That period is, in my opinion, arrived; and
I have thought myself bound to relinquish all the hopes
I had formed, by a resignation ; which appeared to me
as the only method of avoiding the guilt of enslaving
ray country, and embruing ray hands in the blood of
her sons."

XCIX. American trade to China. '
The fir,st American vessel that went on a tfading
voyage to China, sailed from New York, in f ebruary,
1784 ; but so rapidly did the comraerce, thus openeC
increase, that in, 1789, there were fifteen vessels at
Canton ; being a greater number than from any other
natien, except Great Britain. The United States now
impdrt raore goods frora China than are wanted for
horae consuraption, and the surplus is exported to other
countries. America sends between two and three
miUions of specie to Canton annually.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 127 ,
C.%De Kalb's Account ofhis Family.
His excerency, Horatio Gates, was the commander
in chief; but as he had not yet arrived, the command
rested on that brave old German general, the Baron de
Kalb. Colonel Semp introduced us in very flattering
terms ; styhng us " continental colonels, and two of
the wealthiest and most distinguished patriots of South
Carolina!" I shall never forget what I felt when introduced to
this gentleman. He appeared to be rather elderly;
but though the snow of winter was on his locks, his
cheeks were still reddened over with the bloom of
spritig. His person was large and manly, above the
oomraon size, vrith great nerve and activity ; while his
fin^ blue eyes beamed vrith the mild radiance of intel-
ligapVe and goodness.
5Je received'us with great pohteness, saying, " I am
glad to see you ; especially as you are the first Caroh-
niana that*! have seen ; which has not a littie surprised
me. I thought that British tjTanny would have sent
great numbers from South Carolina to join our arms;;
but so far fPora it, we are told they are all running to
take Biitish protection. Surely, they are not already
tired of fighting for liberty."
" I assure you, sir," rephed Colonel Marion,'* "that
though kept under by fear, they stiU mortally hate the
British ; and will, I am confident, the moment they see
an army of friends at their doors, fly to their standard,
like a generous pack to the sound of the hunting b'orrf-"

128 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
" I trust it wiU prove so," answered de Kalb. Af
ter some general conversation, while we weft comfort
ably enveloped in fragrant clouds of tobfRco smoke,
he said to Colonel Marion, " Can you answer me one
question ?"
" A thousand, raost gladly, if I can, general."
" WeU, colonel, can you tell me my age ?"
" Why, truly, that is a hard question, general."
" A hard question ! How do you make that out ?"
"Why sir," rephed Marion, " there is a strange Jan
uary and May sort of contrast between your locks and
your looks, that quite confuses me. By your locks
you seem to be in the winter, by your looks in the
summer of your days. You may be about forty."
" Good heavens ! no more than forty ?"
" Not a day more, upon a soldier's honor."
" Ha ! ha ! ha ! — WeU, colonel, I would not for a
thousand guineas, that your riflemen shot as wide off
the mark, as you guess. Forty-two years I have»been
in the service ofthe king of France ; and 1 am- now
sixty-three." « Irapossible !" we both exclaimed at once.' "Such
youthful bloom at sixty-three !" •
" If you are surprised at my looks, gentiemen, what
would you have thought, to have seen my father, at the
age of eighty-seven ?"
" Is your father yet alive, general ?"
" Alive ! yes, thank God ; and I trust he wiU be for
many a good year yet to come. The very christmas
before I sailed for America, I went to see him. It

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 129
was fuU three hundred mUes from Paris. On arriving
at the houSe, I found ray dear old mother at her wheel,
in her eighly-third year, whUe one of her great grand
daughters carded the wool, and sung a hymn for her.
Soon as the first transport of meeting was over, I ea
gerly inquired for my father. " Do not be uneasy, my
son," said she ; "your father has only gone to the woods
with his three great grand-children, to cut some fuel
for the fire, and they will all be here presently." In a
short time, I heard them coning. My father was the
foremost, with his axe under his arm, and a stout bUlet
of wood on his shoulder ; and the children, each with
his httle load, staggering along, and pratthng to my fa
ther with all their might. Be assured, gentlemen, it
was a most delicious raoraent to me. Thus, after a
long absence, to meet a beloved father, not only alive,
but enjoying health and dear domestic happiness a|)ove
the lot of kings. Also to see the two extremes of hu
man Ufe, youth and age, thus sweetly meeting and
minghng in that cordial love, which turns the cottage
into a paradise."
While telhng this story of his aged father, the gener
al's fine countenance caught an animation which per
fectly charmed us all.

CI, Gen. Marion's Address to his Soldiers.
After the destruction of the American army at Cam
den, Colonel Marion, with his httle band of volunteer
troops,- being in the immediate neighborhood, were in
12*

130 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
iminent danger. When he heard the dreadful tidings
of defeat, he retreated to the woods, and crrdering his
company to hak and forra, he addressed»them as fol
lows. "Gentiemen, you are aware of our situation — so
widely different from what k once was. Once we were
a happy people ! Liberty shone upon our land, bright
as the sun that gUds yon fields ; and we and our fa
thers rejoiced in its beams, as gay as the birds that en
liven our forests. But, alas ! those golden days have
fled, and the clouds of vjar now hang dark and lower
ing above our heads. Our once peaceful land is filled
with uproar and death. Foreign ruffians invade our
very firesides and akars, and leave us no alternative,
but slavery or jleath. Two gallant armies have march
ed to our assistance, but l?oth are lost. That under
General Lincoln, fluped and butchered at Savannah ;
and that under General Gates, imprudently oyermarch-
ed, IS now cut up at Camden. Thus all our hopes
from the north, are at an end ; and poor Carohna is
left to fight for herself. A sad alternative indeed,
when her own chUdren are madly uniting with the ene
my, and not one in a thousand will rise to take her
part. My countrymen ! I wish to know your minds
on this momentous subject. As for myself, I consider
my hfe as but a moment ; and to fiU that moment with
duty, is my aU. To guard this innocent country from
the evUs of slavery, now seems my greatest duty : and
I am therefore determined, that while I live, she shaU
never be enslaved. She may come to that wretched
state, — but these eyes shall never behold it. She shah

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 131
t
never clank her chains in my eyes, and, pointing toT
the ignominious badge, exclaim, " It was your coward
ice that brought me to this."
One and all, they answered, " We will conquer for
our country, or die with you,"
" Then, my brave friends," said he, " draw your
swords ! Now for a circle, emblematical of our eternal
union ! and, pointing your blades to heaven, the bright
throne of hira who rhade us free, swear you will never
be the slaves of Britain !" It was all devoutly done.
The reader vrill be pleased to hear that this brave
man rose to a high rank in the army, and hved to
enjoy the peace and prosperity of the country he so
ably defended, • His wife survived him ; and as long
as she was able td ride, the poor people of Carohna
used to press round her carriage, «ind bless her, as they
exclaimed, " That is the widow of our glorious old
Marion !" . *

CII. Columbus and the Egg. ,
' Columbus, after his discovery of America, was per
secuted by the envy of the Spanish courtiers, for the
honors that were heaped upon him by the sovereign ;
and once, at a table, when all decorum was banished
by the heat of wine, they murmured loudly at the ca
resses he received, having, (as they said) with mere
animal resolution, pushed his voyage a few leagues be
yond what any one had chanced to have done before.
Columbus beard them wkh great patience, and taking

132 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
'an egg from the dish, proposed that they should ex
hibit their ingenuity, by making it stand on one end.
It went all around, but no one succeeded. " Give it
to me, gentlemen," said Columbus ; who then took it,
and breaking it at one of the ends, it stood at once.
They aU cried out, " Why, I could have done that."
" Yes, if the thought had struck you," replied Colum
bus; and if the thought had struck you, you might
have discovered the New World."

CIII, Eustis' Monument,
,The Monument erected to the memory of Gov,
EUSTIS, at Lexington is a plain Tuscan Pedestal, the
die of which is two feet in diameter, surmounted by a
shaft of the Pyramid *forra. The height of the monu
ment from the ground is about 10 feet. The whole
with the exception of the plinth, which is of granite, is
of American marble, from Stockbridge, in the county
of Berkshire, and was executed by Messrs, Cary and
Dickinson, of Boston, On the front ofthe Pedestal, is
the foUowing inscription : —
HERE LIES
the body of His Excellency
WILLIAM EUSTIS,
who was born at Cambridge, June 10, 1758,
and died in Boston, February 6, 1825.
He served his country as a Surgeon through
the Revolutionary War. In her political
affairs he subsequently took an active lead :
He successively filled the distinguished places of
Secretary at War of the United States,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
to the Court of the Netherlands,
¦ Representative to the National Congress, and
GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
MASSACHUSETTS.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 133

On the reverse side ofthe die, is the following :
To the honored and revered memory
OP A REVOLUTIONARY PATRIOT,
A Servant ol his Country in its highest trusts,
A friend to his Country in its darkest hours.
An eloquent Orator, a practical Statesman,
A dutiful Son, an affectionate Husband j
This monument, is erected by his mournful widow,
CAROLINE LAN GOON EUSTIS.
He hastened to his country's service on
the eventful morning of the 19lh of April, 1775;
and here, wilhin the precincts hallowed by the blood
which was shed Ihat day,
after an honorable and useful life,
he rests In peace and hope,
conformably to his last wish,
by his Mother's side.

CIV, Fidelity.
When Lord Rawdon was in South Carolina, during
the American War, he had to send an express of great
importance through a country filled with the enemy,
which a corporal of the 17th dragoons, of known cour
age and intelhgence, was selected to escort. They
had not proceeded far when they were fired Opon, the
express killed, and the corporal , Wounded in the side.
Careless of his wound, he thought but of his duty ; he
snatched the despatch from the dying nian, and rode
on tiU from the loss of blood he fell ; when fearing the
despatch would be taken by the en^my, he thrust it into
the wound until it closed upon it. He A^as found next
day by a British patrole with a smile of conscious vir
tue on his countenance, with only hfe sufficiently re-
maming to point to the fatal depository of his secret.
In searching the wound was found the cause of his
death ; for the surgeon declared that it was not itself
mortal, but rendered so by the insertion of the paper.

134 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CV, Rev. Thomas Allen.
Rev. Thomas Allen was the first minister of Pitts-
field. When the Araerican revolution coramenced, he
like the great body of the clergy, ardently espoused
the cause of the oppressed colonies, and bore his testi
mony against the oppression of the mother country.
When in anticipation of the conflict which finally took
place at Bennington, the neighboring country was rous
ed to arras, he used his influence to increase the band
of Patriots, by exciting his townsmen to proceed to the
battle ground. A company was raised in his parish
and proceeded. Some causes, however, were found
to retard their progress on the way. Hearing of the
delay, he proceeded immediately to join them, by his
influence quickened their march, and soon presented
them to Gen. Stark. Learning frora him that he med
itated an attack on the eneray, he said he would fight,
but could not wiUingly bear arms against them, until he
had invited them to submit. He was insensible to fear,
and accordingly proceeded so near as to make hiraself
distinctly heard in their carap, where, after taking *a
stand on a convenient eminence, he coraraenced his pious
exhortations, urging thera to lay down their arms. He
was answered by a volley of musketry, which lodged
their contents in the log on which he stood. Turning
calmly to a friend who had foUowed him under cover of
the breast work which formed his footstool, he said —
" Now give me a gun ;" and this is said to be the first
Araerican gun which spoke on that meraorable occa-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 135
sion. He continued to bear his part till the battle was
decided in favor of the American arms, and contributed
honorably to that result.

CVI. Proposed King.
While doctor Franklin resided in France, as minis
ter from America, during the war, he had numerous
proposals made to him by projectors of every country
and every kind, who wished to go to the land that flow-
eth with milk and honey, America ; and among the
rest, there was one who offered himself to be king.
He introduced his proposals to the doctor by letter,
which is now in the hands of M. Beaumarchais, of Pa
ris — stating, first, that as the Americans had disraissed
or sent away their king, they would want another.
Secondly, that hiraself was a Norman. Thirdly, that
he was of a more ancient family than the dukes of Nor
mandy, and of a more honorable "descent, his line hav
ing never been bastardized. Fourthly, that there was
already a precedent in England, of kings coraing out of
Normandy; and on these grounds he rested his offer,
enjoining that the doctor would forward it to America,
But as the doctor did not do this, nor yet send him an
answer, the projector wrote him a second letter ; in
which he did not, it is true, threaten to go over and
conquer America, but only, with great dignity, propos
ed, that if his offer was not accepted, an acknowledg
ment of about £30,000 might be made to him for his
generosity !

J3g AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CVII. The brave Mariner.
In the year 1775, Capt, *******, now of New-
London, then quite a young man — was a sailor on
board a sloop from this port. On their return from the
West Indies, baring arrived atthe East end of Montauge
Point, they were boarded by a tender from the cutter
commanded by Sfr Wilham WaUace, then stationed on
this Coast as a Guarda Costa. The weather was calm
and still — the sloop being unarmed was easily captured
— the son of Sur Wilham with four others took posses
sion ofthe sloop and took out the crew, all but the cap
tain, mate, and young ********, at the same time, in
forming them of the battle at Lexington, and ordered
her to proceed to Boston as a prize. The captured as
may be supposed, felt disconsolate at this unexpected
seizure, almost in sight of their home. In this situation
young ******** proposed to the Captain and mate, if
they would stand by him he would retake the sloop.
They however declined the enterprize either from an
unwillingness to take life which they supposed would be
the consequence, or fromdoiibts as to the actual state of
hostihties. Young ******** assured them he could
effect it without blood-shed, but they refused to join in
the attempt. It so happened that there was but one gun
on board. Young ********j secreted the powder
and ball. Pretty soon a boat with two men was seen
approaching the sloop. WaUace armed his men with
such weapons as they could find, the gun, harpoon and
handspikes, and ordered the boat to keep off, which she

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 137
did. Young ******** deeming this the only chance
to rescue the sloop, as Sir WUham Wallace was then ly
ing with the cutter, becalmed at some distance to the
Eastward — he conceived the bold expedient — he run
out on the beam, plunged into the ocean, regardless of
his life — swam to the boat, got on board and pulled for
Block Island, where he found some militia who had re
paired tliither, to take off the cattle : he soon made
known his errand to the commander, was furnished with
men and two row-boats, and in a short time had pos
session ofthe sloop, with Sir WiUiam's son and his men,
and towed them all safe into the port of NeW-London,
where he delivered the sloop to the owners, and con
signed young Wallace and his crew to the civil authori
ty. Afterwards young ********j ^vas appointed a mid
shipman on board a United States ship, was promoted
to saihng master, from that advanced to a Lieutenant,
in which capacity he sailed under the vahant Paul
Jones — was afterwards transferred to another public
ship, in which he was taken, carried into England, and
put in Faulkland Prison, from which he made his es
cape, by digging a trench beyond the outer wall, fled to
France, and from thence returned to America, took
command of a privateer, and greatly annoyed the
British comraerce, capturing several vessels and bring
ing them safe into port.

CVIII. President Monroe.
Mr. Monroe, who was the United States' Ambassa-
13

138 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
dor in France, during the French revolution, and after
the faU of Robespierre, said to Madame Campan, at
Saint-Germain: " Fortune is rolling 'down the kennel,
and any one may stop and pick it up." During a walk
in the wood of Saint-Germain, he was talking in defence
of his country, which he held to be finer than ours : his
daughter, who was but a child, a pupU in the establish
ment of Saint-Germain, interrupted hira by saying "Yes,
papa, but there are no streets in America like those,"
pointing at the sarae tirae towards the same roads.
"Very true," said Mr. Monroe, "our nation maybe
compared to a new formed household ; we are in want
of raany things, but we possess the finest thing of all —
liberty." CIX. American Gratitude.
During the administration of Sir Robert Walpole, the
transportation of convicts to this country proved a very
great grievance. Dr. Franklin wrote to the Minister
the thanks ofthe colonies for the maternal care of Bri
tain to the country, so strongly manifested in this in
stance ! and as a satisfactory proof of Araerican grafi-
tude, sent him a coUection of ratde snakes, which he
advised him to have introduced into his majesty's gar
dens at Kew, in order that they might propagate and in
crease — assuring him that they would be as beneficial
to his majesty's Enghsh dominions, as the British con-
ricts were to America.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. ]39
ex. Dr. Franklin's Spectacles.
It is well known that Dr. Frankhn was for many
years obliged to wear spectacles suited to the condition
ofhis eyes. In passing through one of the crowded
streets of London, the Doctor happened to jostle a por
ter, who was staggering along under a heavy burden at
the rate of sixpence a mUe. The porter feehng the
shock, immediately turned round, and perceiving the
Doctor, exclaimed with much resentment, " Damn your
spectacles." " Thank you, honest friend," rephed
the Doctor, " this is not the first time my spectacles
have saved ray eyes."

CXI. Dr. Franklin's method of saving Beer.
" Friend Franklin," said Myers Fisher, the celebra
ted Quaker lawyer of PhUadelphia, one day, to the
Doctor, " thee knows alraost every thing : can thee tell
rae how I am to preserve ray sraall beer in the back
yard .'' My neighbors are often tapping it of nights."
" Put a barrel of old Madeira by the side of it," rephed
the Doctor — " let them but get a taste of the Madeira,
and I will engage that they will never trouble the small
beer any more." This same great philosopher used to
say, " that if parents would but give their sons an early
taste for the Madeira of Learning, they would hardly
ever take to the detestable smaU beer of vice."

140 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CXII. Dr. Franklin on confederation.
The confederation of the states, whUe on the carpet
before the old congress, was strenuously opposed by the
smaUer states, under the apprehension that they would
be swallowed up by the larger ones. We were long
engaged in the discussion ; it produced great heats,
much iU humor and intemperate declarations from some
members. Dr. Frankhn at length brought the debate
to a close with one of his little apologues. He observ
ed that "at the time of the union of England and Scot
land, the Duke of Argyle was most violently opposed to
that measure, and araong other things predicted, that as
the whale had swallowed Jonah, so Scotland would be
swallowed by England. However, (said the doctor)
when Lord Bute carae into the government, he soon
brought into its administration so many of his country
men, that it was found in the event that Jonah swallow
ed the whale." This httle story produced a general
laugh, restored good humor, and the article of difficulty
was passed. CXIII. The American Soldier.
In the battle of  , Colonel Jesup suspecting
that his troops had expended nearly aU their cartridges,
passed along the rear of the line, to make inquiry as to
the fact. Several soldiers who lay mortally wounded,
some of thera actually in the agonies of death, hearing
the inquiry, forgot for a raoraent, in their devotion to
their country, both the pain they endured and the ap-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 141
proach of death, and called out, each one for himself,
" Here are carti'idges in my box, take and distribute
•thera among my companions."
A soldier in the hne exclaimed to his commander,
" my musket is shot to pieces." — His comrade, who
lay expiring with his wounds at the distance of a few
feet, replied, in a voice scarcely audible, " My musket
is in excellent order — ^take and use her."
It is no extravagance to assert, that an army of such
men, commanded by officers of corresponding merit is
literally invincible.

CXIV. Benedict Arnold, the traitor.
Every body knows, we ¦ presume, that Benedict Ar
nold was the object of scorn and contempt in England,
after his treachery, and that he was often grossly in
sulted in that country. The foUowing anecdote, how
ever, which we have never seen in print, may be new
to some of our readers.
Shortly after the peace of '83, Arnold was presented
at court. While the King was conversing with him,
Lord Balcarras, a stately old nobleman, who had fought
under Gen. Burgoyne in the campaigns of America,
was presented. The King hitroduced them with,
"Lord Balcarras — Gen. Arnold."
" What, Sire," said the haughty old Earl, drawing up
his lofty form, " the traitor Arnold," and refused to
give him his hand.
The consequence, as may be anticipated, was a chal-
13*

]42 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
lenge frora Arnold. They met, and it was arranged
diat the parties should fire together. At the signal,
Arnold fired; but Lord Balcarras, throwing down his
pistol, turned on his heel, and was walking away, when
Arnold exclaimed,
" Why don't you fire, my Lord ?"
" Sir," said Lord B. looking over his shoulder, " I
leave vou to the executioner." •

CXV. Running for Life.
While Lewis and Clarke were exploring the head wa
ters of the Missouri, the Blackfoot Indians becarae
greatly incensed with Lewis, for having kiUed one of
their tribe ; and they raade their usual desperate reso
lution to revenge it upon a white man. Two of Lewis
and Clarke's company were examining their traps ear
ly in the morning, about six miles frora Jefferson's
Fork, when they were surprised by a party of six hun
dred Indians. Escape was irapossible. One was shot
to death wilh arrows ; and having ' seized the other,
they stripped hini naked, and began to consult on the
manner in which he should be put to death. ¦ At first,'
they were inchned to set him up as a mark to shoot at ;
but the chief interfered, and seizing hira by the shoul
der, asked him if he could run fast. Mr. Colter, who
had some knowledge of the Blackfoot language, and
was also weU acquainted with Indian customs, knew
that he had now to run for life, with the fearful odds of
six hundred armed Indians against him. The hunters

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. I43
considered him as remarkably swift, but he cunningly
rephed, that he was a very bad runner. The party
then led him out on the prairie, and releasing hira, bid
liira save hiraself if he could. At that instant, the
dreadful war-whoop sounded, and Coker ran with a
speed at which he was hiraself surprised. He had to
traverse a plain six miles in breadth, abounding with
the prickly pear, on which he was every moment tread-
mg with his naked feet. He ran nearly half across,
before he ventured to look back ; when he perceived
that he had gained a considerable distance from the
main body ; but one Indian, who carried a spear, was
not more than a hundred yards frora hira. Escape
now seemed possible ; and the hope of life urged hira
to such exertion, tliat the blood gushed from his nos
trils and flowed over his body. He heard the sound
of footsteps ; and turning his head, he saw the savage
within twenty yards. Determined to avoid the ex
pected blow, he suddenly turned round and spread out
his arms. The Indian, surprised by the suddenness of
the action, also attempted to stop ; but exhausted with
running, he feU, whilst endeavoring to throw his spear,
which stuck in the ground, and broke in his hand.
Coher snatched up the point, pinned hira to the earth,
and continued his flight. When the foremost of tlie
Indians came up to the place, they stopped, and set up
a hideous yell. Every moment of this tirae was im
proved by Colter, who gained the skirting of cotton
wood trees, on the border of Jefferson's Fork, and
plunged into the river. Fortunately for him, there was

144 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
an island, against which a raft of drift timber had lodg
ed. He dived under the raft, and kept his head above
water, covered with the trunks of trees, and small
wood, to the depth of several feet. Scarcely had he
hid himself, when the Indians arrived, screeching and
yeUing at the disappearance of their victim. They
were on the raft frequently during the day, and Colter
distinctly saw them through the chnks. In horrible
suspense, he remained until night ; when, hearing no
more of the Indians, he swam down the river to a con
siderable distance, landed, and travelled all night.
Although happy in having escaped, he was stiU in a
dreadful situation. He was naked, under a burning
sun ; his feet were filled with the thorns of the prickly
pear ; he was hungry, without the means of killing
game, and at a great distance from the nearest settle
ment. Any man but an American hunter, would have
despaired under such circumstances ; but the fortitude
of Coker remained unshaken. After seven days sore
travel, with no other sustenaifce than the root called
psoralea esculenta, he arrived in safety at Lisa's fort,
on the Big Horn branch of the Roche Jaune river.

CXVI. General Putnam's successful escapp.
When General Putnam was pursued by General Ty-
ron at the head of fifteen hundred men, his only meth
od of escape was precipitating his horse down the steep
dechvity of the rock, tcaUed Horseneck ; and as none
of his pursuers dared to follow, he escaped. But an

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 145
act of still more daring intrepidity, was his clearing in
a boat, the tremendous waterfalls of Hudson's river.
This was in the year 1756, when Putnam was engaged
in a war with the French and their alhes, the Indians.
He was accidentally with a boat and five men on the
eastern side of the river, when the raen on the opposite
side informed hira, by signal, that a large body of sava
ges were advancing to surround hira, and that there was
not a moment to lose. Three modes of conduct were
at his option — to remain, fight, and be sacrificed : to
attempt to paiss on the other side, exposed to the full
shot of the eneray ; or to saU down the waterfaUs, with
almost a certainty of being overwhelmed. Putnam did
not hesitate ; and jumped into his boat at a fortunate
instant ; for one of his companions, who was at a little
distance, was a victim to the Indians. His eneraies
soon arrived, and discharged their muskets at the boat,
before he could get out of their reach. No sooner
had he escaped this danger, through the rapidity of the
current, but death prese(|pd itself under a raore terrific
forrai Rocks, whose points projected above the sur
face of the water ; large raasses of timber, that nearly
closed the passage ; absorbing^ulfs, and rapid descents
for more than a quarter of a mile, left hira little hope
of escape. Putnara, however, directed the helra with
the utmost tranquility. His companions saw him with
admiration, terror, and astonishment, avoid with the ut
most address the rocks and threatening gulfs, which
they every instant expected to devour hira. He disap
peared, and rose again, till he at length gained the even

146 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
surface of the river, at the bottom of this dreadful cas
cade. The Indians considered k a miracle. They
looked upon Putnam as invulnerable ; and they feared
to offend the Great Spirit by attempting the life of a
man so visibly under his immediate protection.

CXVII. General Putnam and the Wolf.
Soon after Mr. Putnam removed to Connecticut,
the wolves, then very numerous, broke into his sheep-
fold, and kiUed seven fine sheep, besides wounding
larabs and kids. This havoc was committed by a she-
wolf, which with her annual whelps, had several timeS
infested the vicinity. The young were destroyed by
the vigUance of the hunters ; but the old one was too
sagacious to come within gun-shot ; upon being closely
pursued, she would generally fly to the western woods,
and return the next winter with another litter of whelps.
This wolf becarae such an intolerable nuisance, that
Mr. Putnam entered into a dHlbination with five ofhis
neighbors to hunt alternately'until they could destroy
her. It was known that baring lost the toes of one
foot by a steel trap, sl^gmade one track shorter than
the other. By this peculiarity, the pursuers, in a light
snow, were able to trace the destructive animal. Af
ter foUowng some tirae, they traced her back to Pora-
fret, and at ten o'clock the next morning, the blood
hounds had driven her into a den, three mUes from Mr.
Putnam's house. The people soon collected with
dogs, guns, straw, fire, and sulpher, to attack the com-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 147'
mon enemy. But nothing could force the wolf from
her retirement ; and the dogs, badly wounded, refused
to return to the charge. Wearied with their unsuc
cessful efforts, Mr. Putnam, at^lO o'clock at night,
proposed to his negro, to go down and shoot the wolf;
but he dechned. Rlr. Putnam, declaring he would
have no coward in his family, resolved to kill the fero
cious beast himself, or perish in the attempt. Having
divested himself of his coat and waistcoat, and fixed a
rope round his body, by which he raight, at a concert
ed signal, be drawn from the cave, he entered, head
foremost, wkh a blazing torch in his hand. The most
terrifying darkness appeared in front of the dim circle
of light afforded by his torch. It was silent as the
tomb ! None but monsters of the desert had ever be
fore explored this solitary mansion of terror. Mr. Put
nam cautiously groped his way onward tiU he came to
a steep ascent, which he mounted on his hands and
knees, and then discovered the glaring eyebaUs of the
wolf, at the extremity of^e cavern. Startled at the
sight of fire, she gnashed her teeth, and gave a sullen
growl. As soon as he had made the discovery, he
gave the signal for pulling him out of the cave. The
people at the mouth of the den, hearing the angry
growl, and supposing their friend to be in the raost im
minent danger, drew hira forth with such celerity, that
his shirt was stripped over his head, and his body much
lacerated. After he had adjusted his clothes, and
loaded his gun with nine buck shot, with a torch in one
hand and his musket in the other, he descended a see-

14S AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
ond time. He approached the wolf nearer than be
fore, who assumed a still more terrible appearance,
howhng, roUing her eyes, and gnashing her teeth. At
lengthy dropping her head between her legs, she pre
pared to spring at him. At this critical moment, he
levelled his piece, and shot her in the head. Stunned
and nearly suffocated with smoke, he immediately
found himself drawn out of the cave. Having re
freshed himself, and permitted the smoke to clear, he
entered the cave a third time, and found the wolf dead.
He took her by the ears, and making the necessary
signal, his friends, with no small exultation, drew Mr.
Putnam and the wolf both out together.

CXVIII. John Hancock, President of the Continental
Congress.
" The absence of the late worthy president of Con
gress, Mr. Randolph, and tha arrival of Mr. Hancock,
at Philadelphia, at the forttmate moment, when the
enthusiasm inspired by Gage's proclamation was at the
height, both concurred to promote his elevation. He
was chosen to preside in the respectable assembly of
delegates, avowedly on the sole principle of his having
been proscribed by general Gage, It was uncouthly
said by a raeraber of Congress, that they would show
Mother Britain, how httle they cared for her, by
choosing a Massachusetts man, for their president, who
had been recently excluded frora pardon by pubhc
proclaraation," The choice was suddenly made, and

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 149
with rather too much levity for the times, or for the
dignity of tlie office.
Mr. Hancock's modesty prompted hira for a mo
ment to heskate on the unexpected event, as if diffi
dent of his own quahfications, when one of the mem
bers, of a more robust constitution, and less dehcacy of
manners, took him in his arms, and placed him in the
presidential chair.
From this interesting incident, the reader is forced
to draw an hiference, which, beyond a doubt, is erro
neous in itself, and unjust in relation to the persons al
luded to. It is absurd to impute any thing hke fear to
Hancock ; for were he really deficient in decision and
firmness, his acceptance of the presidency of Congress
would scarcely have increased the odium under which
he already labored ; he had previously passed the Ru
bicon, and had been long raarked out as one of the first
objects of royal vengeance. We must seek for some
other cause ofthe backwardness displayed, by this dis
tinguished patriot, on mis occasion, and none offer
themselves to our mind, more natural than modesty
and unobtrusiveness, which are ever the attendants of
real merit. And eminent and prominent as he was,
he could still say, with great truth, in reference to his
colleagues, " Never before stood I in such a presence."
But there are other reasons ; Mr. Hancock, was not
the only member nominated for this office ; among
others, Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, was spoken of,
and he is the " southern member," alluded to in the ex-
14

150 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
tracte above made. This gentlemen, one of the most
distinguished and zealous men of his state, occupied a
conspicuous station, in our political ranks, from the
moment of his arrival in Philadelphia as a delegate.
Inheriting a princely estate, which enabled him to in
dulge, to the raost hberal extent, the natural hospitality
of his character, he forraed a noble estabhshment in the
city, and kept what is caUed in the south, " an open
house." Enthusiastic in the cause of independence,
decided in the raeans to be eraployed, and unwearied
in the pursuit ofhis object, his friends viewed him, as
k is said, as a proper person to preside, at this critical
juncture, over the Continental Congress. He was also
nearly connected with the late venerable president,
Peyton Randolph. He repelled all advances on this
subject, and joined those, who perceived a peculiar fit
ness, in selecting a northern gentleman, who, in addi
tion to his unbounded devotion, to the cause of free
dom, appeared on the floor of Congress, as the particu
lar object of ministerial jealousy and proscription. Mr.
Harrison took a decided part in his election ; when the
appointment was announced, and Mr. Hancock evinced
sorae degree of embarrassraent, he stepped forward
and bore him to the chair, not rudely or indelicately,
but with that kind of good humored and easy famiUari-
ty, which characterizes the gentry of the south. Ben-
jansin Harrison was a polished gentleman, and always
high in the confidence of his country ; when he retked
from Congress, he becarae a member of the Virginia
house of delegates, and continued as such, untU after

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 151
the seige of York-Town, when he succeeded- Mr. Nel
son, as governor of Virginia.

CXIX. Mr. Ogihie.
iMr. Ogilvie, forraerly so well known in Virginia as a
supporter of the Godwenian phUosophy, conceiving a
veheraent desire to see the western country, set off
from Richmond, for Lexington, in Kentucky. It was
in the month of October, after a raost lonely and wea-
risorae day's ride, that a httle before sunset, he carae to
a sraall cabin on the road, and fearing he should find
no other opportunity of procuring refreshment for him
self and his jaded horse, he stopt, and inquired if he
could be accommodated for the night. An old woman,
the only person he saw, civilly answering him in the af
firmative, he gladly alighted, and going in to a tolera
ble fire, enjoyed the luxury of rest, while his hostess
was discharging the duties of hostler and cook. In no
long time, she set before him a supper of comfortable,
but homely fare, of which, having hberaUy partaken,
and given divers significant nods, the old woman re
marked she " expected " he " chose bed," and, point
ing to one which stood inacorner of theroom, immedi
ately went into the yard a whUe, to give hira an oppor
tunity of undressing. Before he had been long in bed,
and whUe he was congratulating himself on his good
fortune, the latch ofthe door was drawn, and there en
tered a dark looking raan of gigantic stature and form,
with stiff black hak, eyebrows, and beard. He was

15:2 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
apparently about eight and twenty, was dressed in a
brown hunting shirt, which partly concealed a pair of
dirty buckskin overalls, and he wore moccasins of the
same material. JMr. O. thought he had never seen any
thing half so ferocious. As soon as this man entered
ihe room, his mother, for so she proved to be, pointing
to the bed, motioned him to make no noise ; on which,
wilh inaudible steps, he walked to the chimney, put his
gun upon a rude rack provided for that and other arms,
and sat softly down at the fire, then throwing a bright
blaze round the roora.
Our iravcUer not hking the looks ofthe new comer,
and not caring to be teazed by conversation, drew his
head under the bed clothes, so that he could see what
was passing, without leaving his own face visible. The
two soon entered into conversation, but in so low a
voice, that Mr. O. could not distinguish what was said.
His powers of attention were wrought up to the most
painful pkcli of intensity. At length, the man, looking
towards the bed, made some remark to his mother, to
which Mr. O. heard her reply, " no, I hardly think he's
asleep yet," — and they again conversed in a low voice,
as before. After a short interval, while the man sat
with his feet stretched out towards the fire, on which
he vvas intently gazing.
'^ Don't you think he's asleep now;" he was heard
to say.
" Stop," says she, " I'll go and see ;" and moving
near the bed, under the pretext of taking something
from a smaU table, she approached so near, as to see

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 153
the face of our traveller, whose eyes were indeed
closed, but who was any thing but asleep. On her re
turn to the fire place, she said, " Yes, he's fast asleep
now." On this the mountaineer, rising from his stool, reach
ed up to the rack, and taking down with his right hand,
an old greasy cutlass, walked with the same noiseless
step towards the traveller's bed, and stretching out the
other hand, at the moment that Mr. O. was about to
implore his pity, took down a venison ham \>-hicli hung
on the wall near the head of the bed, walked softly
back to the fire, and began to shoe some pieces for his
supper, and Mr. O., who lay, raore dead than ahve,
and whose romantic fancy heightened the terrors of aU
he saw, had the unspeakable gratification to find thai
these kind hearted children ofthe forest 'had been talk
ing low, and that the hungry hunter, who had eaten
nothing since the morning, had forbore making a noise,
lest they should interrupt the slurabers of their way
worn guest. The next day, Mr, O. who was an en
thusiast in physiognoray, discovered reraarkable be
nevolence in the features of the hunter, which, by the
false and deceitful glare of the fire hght, had escaped
him, and in his recital of this adventure, which furnish
ed him with a favorite occasion of exercising his pow
ers of declamation to great advantage, in a matter of
real life, he often declared that he had never taken a
more refreshmg night's rest, or raade a more grateful
repast than he had done in this humble cottage.
14*

154 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
We cannot forbear to add that the subject of our
memoir was reserved for a different, though not less
iragical fate, than that which seemed here to threaten
him. After having been an object of criticism or ad
rairation, as a professed rhetorician and declairaer, in
'all the principal cities of the Union — after trying his
oratorical powers in the Surry institute — after encoun
tering in various forms, disappointment, obloquy, and,
to use one of his own aUiterations, the miseries of debt
and destitution, he becarae heir to a title and a large
estate, in Scotland, and unable either to do without the
use of opium, or to bear that deterioration ofthe facul
ties which its habitual use superinduced, he very soon
afterwards put an end to his weary existence, by a pis
tol.

CXX. True Honesty.
Sorae years ago, two aged men, near Marshalton,
traded, or according to Virginia parlance, swapped
horses, on this condition, — that on that day week, the
one who thought he had the best of the bargain, should
pay to the other two bushels of wlreat. The day came,
and as luck would have it, they raet about half way
between their respective homes. " Where art thou
going ?" said one. " To thy house with the wheat,"
answered the other. " And whither art thou riding ?"
" Truly," replied the first, « I was taking the wheat to
thy house." Each pleased with his bargain, had
thought the wheat justly due to his neighbor, and was
going to pay it.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 155
CXXI. Origin of Yankee Doodle.'^
The array of (Shirley and Johnston)f durmg the
summer, lay on the eastern bank of the Hudson, a Ihtle
south of the city of Albany. In the early part of June,
the troops of the Eastern provinces began to pour in,
company after company ; and such a motly assembly
of men never before thronged together on such an oc
casion, unless an example may be found in the ragged
regiment of Sir John FalstafF. It would have relaxed
the gravity of an Anchorite, to have seen the descend
ants of the puritans, marching through the streets of
that ancient city [Albany,] take their situations to the
left of the British army, some with long coats, some
with short coats, and others with no coat at all, with
colors as varied as tlie rainbow, some with their hair
* A writer in Poulson's Advertiser, says that in Watson's '' MS. An
nals of Philadelphia," is a new account given of the origin of ' Yankee
Doodle.' He says, an a^f^ed and respectable lady, born in New England,
tells me she remembers it well, long before the revolution, under another
name. It was once universally cjilled ' L.ydifi Fisher,' and was a favor
ite New-England jig. It was there the practice with it, as with Yankee
Doodle now, to sing it with various impromptu verses, such as, —
*' Lydia Locket lost her pocket,
Lydia Fisher found it !
Not a bit of money in it,
Only binding round it.'*
Perhaps there may be something in this, for within our recollection,
the * gals and boys' of Massachusetts, had something like it in their
sports. But our version is a little different from the old lady's and runs
thus ; — " Xiucy Locket lost her pocket.
In a RAINY shower J
Philip Carteret he run arter it,
And found it in an hour."
fin the simultaneous attacks that were made upon the French posts
in America in 1755, that against Fort Du Quesne, (the present site of
Piittsburgh,) was condticted by Gen. Braddock, and those against Niag
ara and Frontenac, by Gov. Shirley, of Massachusetts, and Gen. John
ston, of New York.

256 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
cropped like the army of Cromwell, and others with
wigs, the locks of which floated with grace around
then- shoulders. Their march, their accoutrements,
and the whole arrangeraents of the troops, furnished
matter of amuseraent to the rest of the British array.
The music played the airs of two centuries ago, and
the tout ensemble, upon the whole, exhibited a sight to
the wondering strangers to which they had been unac
customed. Among the club of wits that belonged to the
British army, there was a Doctor Shackburg, attached
to the staff, who combined with the science of a sur
geon, the skill and talents of a musician. To please
the new comers, he composed a tune, and with fnuch
The following letter to the editor ofthe Columbian Gazette may, per
haps, throw some light on the subject.
Washington City, \9th February, 1830.
Sir : — Some years ago a friend of mine, at Cheltenham, England,
turned his attention to the musical antiquitie.s of that country, and a tune
in his collection, which I perfectly remember, seems so much like the
foundation of your national air that I am induced to offer you a few re
marks in aid ofthe end which is aimed at by the several writers whose
researches were published, from other papers, in yours of yesterday.
The tune to which I allude was traced down below the reign of Charles
the rirst, together with many different copies of verses. One of these
songs, written in ridicule of the Protector, — began with this line : —
" The Roundheads and the Cavaliers," another set of words to the
same tune was entitled " Nankee Doodle ;" and ran thus : —
" Nanke^ Doodle came to town,
Upon a little Poney,
With a feather in his hat,
Upon a Maccaroni."
These words have a striking similiarity with those quoted by one ofthe
correspondents of Poulson's Advertiser, of which the following is a
copy : "Yankee Doodle came to town.
For to buy a firelock.
We will tar and feather him,
And so we mill John Hancock."
The first line is the same in both versions with the exception of the N,
for which Y was substituted. The occurrence of the word " Feather,"

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 157
gravity recommended it to the officers as one of the
most celebrated airs of martial music. The joke took,
to the no small amusement of the British — Brother
Jonathan exclaimed it was nation fine, and in a few
days nothing was heard in the provincial camp but the
air of Yankee Doodle. Little did the author, in his
composition, then suppose, that an air made for the
purpose of levity and ridicule, should be marked for
such high destinies. In twenty years from that time,
the national march inspired the heroes of Bunker's
Hill, and in less than thirty. Lord Cornwallis and his
army marched into the American lines to the tune of
Yankee Doodle."
is no less remarkable. These verses, (with a long string) were said to
allude to the coming of Oliver Cromwell, (on a small horse) into Ox
ford, with his single plume, which he wore, fastened in a sort of knot
which the adherents of the Royal party called " a maccaroni," out of de
rision. Wliat renders the history of this tune the more remarkable is
that to this very day the words of" Lydia Locket," alias " Lucy Lock
et," are sung to it by school children.
The lune is written in the same Time, and has the same number of
Bars as Yankee Doodle, and from its close resemblance, together with
the identity ofthe words, I have little doubt but that the latter (" Yan
kee Dtfjodle") was composed as a sort of Parody to the more ancient
one. Knowing how few presses are supplied with musical type, I shall
attempt to convey this tune to your readers in such a manner as will
enable them to reduce it to music paper. The key is that of C, — the
time 2-4. The letters represent their corresponding notes, — and are all
quavers. The letters in italic, are notes immediately above the five ruled bars,
— so that G is four notes above C.
The bars are separated by perpendicular lines.
PART 7.
CDC£|GECE|DEDE1DBGB cdce|gece|acbd|c— c —
PART II.
G-^GFIEDCEIDEDCIBAGG
GjiGFEDCBACBDlC — C —

15S AMERICAN ANECDOTES,
CXXn. A Military Vision.
During one of our wars with Great Britain, an Am
erican commander, of daring courage and high distinc
tion, lay encamped before a Bridsh fort, which, after
reconnoitering and having consulted his officers, he de
termined to attempt to carry by assauU. Arrange
ments were accordingly made for the enterprise. On
the morning of a certain day the assauh, which was ev
idently of very doubtful issue, was to be attempted.
On the preceding night, the American commander,
fuU of solicitude for the events of the next day, retired
to rest. During his sleep a vision appeared to him, aw
ful, magnificent and indescriably impressive.
Between hira and the hostile post arose a spacious
palace of great height and inconceivable splendor.
Frora the top of it, surrounded by a dark cloud was
seen the face of the Alraighty regarding him with a
frown. To the right, as if coming out of the palace,
appeared his aged father, who had been dead for seve
ral years, dressed in a coat which he had been accus
tomed to wear, and followed by a favourite dog that
had long been his attendant in his walks around his
farm. This venerable shade, with a placid counte
nance and a look of kindness, advanced towards his
son, but wkhout stopping or speaking, passed slowly by
hira, directing his course towards the rear of the camp.
The General awoke in the utmost agony and pertur
bation of mind. The vision was felt by him as an aw
ful reality. He drew from it a two-fold lesson, con
veyed to him in symbols clear and irresistible.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. t59
In the frown of the Almighty, appearing in his front,
he perceived a rebuke for his temerity in meditating an
attack on a fortress that was impregnable to him, while
the shade of his father, to show him that he was not de
serted by Providence, had marshalled him the course
which it was at once his interest and duty to pursue.
He resolved in a moment to obey the admonition. Ac
cordingly, in the raorning, instead of persevering in his
plan for attacking the fort, he issued his orders to pre
pare for a retreat. His officers obeyed without reluc
tance ; for, although enamoured of danger, and prodi
gal of tlieir blood, they were not insensible that the re
sult of their meditated enterprise was extremely doubt
ful. Having relinquished his design on the fort, in con
sequence of the interdicting frown of the Most High,
the general's next object was to act in perfect obedi
ence to what he supposed to be the meaning of -the
other part of his vision. Hence, with as little delay as
possible , he marched his army in the direction desig
nated by the moveraent of his father's iraage. But a
short time had clasped before events occurred to con
vince hira still further of the reality of the high and
solemn injunctions conveyed to hira in his sleep. Two
signal victories over his eneray, which he soon after
wards gained, were the result of his compliance with
what he has never ceased to consider as an unequivo
cal disclosure ofthe will of heaven.
Several of the general's future measures, although
disapproved of by others at the time as unnecessarily

leO AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
and indiscreetly daring and hazardous, were adopted in
consequence of the same behef, and pursued with a
firmness which did not escape the charge of temerity.
Nor did one of them fail to eventuate in success.

CXXIII. Soldier and the Indian.
A soldier in the American army, belonging to Wes
ton, N. Y. about the time Gen. Brock was killed in
battle, was on a scouting party one day. Being a man
of courage, enterprise, and sagacity, he was determin
ed, if possible, to obtain an accurate knowledge of the
position of the enemy. For this purpose he ventured
to separate frora his companions. In the course of his
reconnoitering alone, in the open field, he approached
a wood, the under brush of which Avas very thick.
His watchful eye discovered what he supposed to be
some animal among the bushes. He iraraediately saw
his raistake — it was an^ Indian crawling on his hands
and feet, with his rifle in his hand, and watching the
soldier, evidently with the intention of advancing suf
ficiently near to raake him a sure mark. For the sol
dier to retreat was now impossible ; he thought he
could not escape, and he remembered too, that his
father had told him never to return with a backside
wound. He pretended not to see the Indian, and
walked slowly towards him, with his gun cocked by
his side, carefully observing all his movements. They
approached nearer and nearer ; at length he saw the
Indian bringing the gun to his shoulder — at that instant

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 161
the soldier fell to the ground — the ball whistled its
deadly music over his head. The soldier lay motion
less. The Indian uttered tlie dreadful yell which sig
nifies the death of an enemy, and drawing the bloody
scalping knife, (but forgetting to reload his piece,) ad
vanced with hasty strides, thirsting for murder, and an
ticipating the reward for the scalp. The soldier, mo
tionless permitted him to approach within ten paces, he
then with the utmost composure sprung upon his feet.
The savage stood aghast ! The soldier with deliberate
aim, put two balls directly through his heart. A hoarse
groan was the only sound that issued from the fahen
savage. This son of the forest was at least six feet,
five inches in height. The soldier took the Indian's
rifle, returned to the camp, and sold it for 25 dollars.

CXXIV. Miss JYewman.
An unfortunate whig, flying before a party of the
eneni}', intent upon his destruction, rushed into the
dwelling house of Mr. Trapier, and entering the apart
ment of Miss Newman, an inmate of the family, ex
claimed — " Protect me, Madara, or I ara lost."
" Quickly conceal yourself," rephed the lady, " be si
lent, and rest assured, that I will do ah that I can to
save you." She had scarcely tirae to corapose herself,
before admission was demanded frora without, and an
officer presented hiraself, insisted that the place of
concealraent to which the fugitive had retired should
be immediately pointed out. " It is little probable,"
15

162 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
said Miss Newman, " that a soldier, to whom I am
probably altogether unknown, would, even under the
terrors of death, seek security by intruding himself in
to my chamber, but, as I ara confident that no credit
will be given to my assertions, and that the power of
search rests with you, its indulgence must necessarily
follow. Yet, I trust, from your character as a soldier,
and appearance as a gentleman, with the delicacy due
to a lady's feehngs." The composure so happily as
sumed, calmed the violence of the party, and the offi
cer, beheving that it could alone be exhibited from an
entire ignorance of the hiding place of the object of his
pursuit, bowed and retired.

CXXV. Female Patriotism.
In the speech of Mr. Pearce, on the bih for the re
hef of Penelope Denny, he mentioned the under flan
nel of Mrs. Bailey, of Stonington, instead of Groton,
the scene of her patriotic heroism. (Mr. Barber, her
next door neighbor, raight have corrected Mr. P.)
The introduction of so singular an article in a congres
sional debate, might excite a smile, unless accompanied
by an explanation. In 1814, when Com. Decatur's
squadron was blockaded by Com. Hardy, Stonington
was attacked by the enemy, and gained immortal honor
by repulsing them. Attacks were also threatened on
New-London and Decatur, daily, nightly, and hourly,
either in earnest, or by way of harassing diversion. On
one occasion, the hostile ships were within half an hour's
sail of New-London. The forts and lines were man-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 163
ned there and at Groton, half a mile distant, on the op
posite side of the river. In the urgency of the case,
two 18 or 24 pounders, which were unoccupied, were
taken by the citizens not on duty, and mounted on an
old breast-work, and measures taken to furnish ammu
nition for them. In the constant state of alarm that ex
isted, the dry goods had been removed from the stores,
and the clothing from the houses in the village, for fear
ofa repetition of its fate in 1781 , when it was burnt and
plundered. Paper being found insufficient for cartridg
es, flannel was sought for, and very little found. In
this critical emergency, with the enemy almost within
gunshot, Mrs. Bailey, wife of Capt. Elijah Bailey, post
master, a genuine daughter of seventy-six, who had
remained firm at her post, loosened and kicked off her
flannel ; bidding them take it in defence of her coun
try ; and if any other garment would be of service, diey
might have that also. Maj. Smith, present high sheriff
of the county, gave his drawers for the sarae purpose.
The flannel, however, was not raade into cartridges
by the gallant volunteers, who made a standard, of it,
declaring they would fight under it to the last drop of
their blood, rather than strike it to the enemy. Presi
dent Monroe, on his tour through Connecticut, was in
troduced to Mrs. Bailey, and told the story, which was
also repeated to La Fayette on his visit to that place,
and seeing the heroine of the anecdote.

]{54 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CXXVI. Maternal Tenderness.
The superiority to all selfish consideration which
characterizes maternal tenderness, has often elevated
the conduct of women in low hfe, and perhaps never
appeared raore admirable than in the wife of a soldier
ofthe 55th regiment, in America, during the carapaign,
in 1777. Sitting in a tent with her husband at breakfast,
a bomb entered, and fell between them and a bed
where their infant lay asleep. The mother begged her
spouse would go around the bomb, before it exploded,
and take away the child, as his dress would allow hira
to pass the narrow space between the dreadful messen
ger of destruction and the bed. He refused, and left
the tent, calling to his wife to hasten away, as in less
than a rainute the fuse would communicate to the great
mass of corabustibles. The poor woman, absorbing all
care in anxiety to save her child, tucked up her gar
ments to guard against touching the bomb, snatched the
unconscious innocent, and was hardly out of reach,
when all the murderous materials were scattered
around. Major C  , of the 55th regiment, hearing
of this action, distinguished the heroine with every mark
of favor. She survived raany years to lament his fate
at Fort Montgomery, in the following month of October.

C XXVIII. Female Intrepidity.
When the war of extermination between the Indians
and Kentuckians was at its height, those who inhabited

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 165
tlie back parts of tiie state of Kentucky, were obhged
to have their houses built very strong, with loop holes
all around ; and doors always fastened, so as to repel
any attack frora the Indians. While the owner of' one
of these domestic fortresses was with his slaves, at work
on the plantation, a negro who was posted near the
house, saw approaching a party of Indians. He imrae
diately ran to the house, and the foremost Indian after
him. The Indian was the fleetest, and as the door
opened to admit the negro, they both jumped in togeth
er. The other Indians being some distance behind,
the door was instantly closed by the planter's wife
witiiin, when the Indian and negro grappled. Long
and hard was the struggle, for as in the case of Fitz
James and Roderick Dhu, the one was the strongest
and the other more expert, but strength this time was
the victor, for they feh, the Indian below; when the
negro, placing his knees on his breast, and holding his
hands, kept hira in that position, until the woraan, seiz
ing a broad axe, and taking the Indian by his long hair,
at one blow severed his head from his body. The ne
gro, then seizing the guns, fired them at the other In
dians, which as fast as discharged, were loaded again by
the planter's wife, until the party from the field, hearing
the firing, arrived, and the Indians took to flight.

CXXVII. Maternal Intrepidity.
The wife of Mr. Lemuel Alexander, of Smithfield, in
Rhode-Island, went to the well to draw water, with a
15*

IQQ AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
young child in her arms. While in the act, from some
cause the child slipped or sprung from her, and plung
ed into the well, which was about 30 feet deep. The
mother imraediately seized the weh-pole with which
she descended a part of the distance and then juraped
down to the rehef of her child, which was raised from
the water and held in that position, until the cries of
Mrs. A. brought Mr. Joshua Arnold to her rehef.
Both the mother and child were taken from the well,
without having received material injury.

CXXIX. Washington's Liberality.*
While the American army, under the command of
Washington, lay encamped in the environs of Morris-
town, New Jersey, it occurred that the service of the
communion (there observed semi-annually only,) was
to be administered in the Presbyterian Church of that
village. In a morning of the previous week, the Gen
eral, after his accustomed inspection of the camp, visit
ed the house of the Rev. Dr. Jones, then pastor of that
church, and after the usual preliminaries, thus accosted
him. " Doctor, I understand that the Lord's supper is
to be celebrated with you next Sunday ; I would learn
if it accords with the cannons of your church to admit
communicants of another denomination ?" The Doc
tor rejoined — " Most certainly: ours is not the Presby-
* This anecdote which, it is believed, has never before been given to
the public, is from the appendix ofa work just published, entitled '¦(Me
moir of De Witt Clinton, by David Hosack, M. D." Dr. H. received
it from a venerable clergyman, who had it from the Rev. Dr. Jones
himself.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 167
terian table, General, but the Lord's table ; and we
hence give the Lord's invitation to all his followers 6f
whatever name." The General rephed, " I am glad of
it : that is as it ought to be ; but as I was not quite
sure of the fact, I thought I would ascertain it from
yom'self, as I propose to join with you on that occa
sion. Though a member ofthe Church of England, I
have no exclusive partiahties." The Doctor re-assur
ed him of a cordial welcome, and the General was
found seated with the communicants the next Sabbath.

CXXX. Indian Encounter.
In the old French War, Massachusetts maintained a
garrison at Hoosack, near the hne of New York. The
commander, having discovered that Indians were lurk
ing in the woods around it, despatched a Mr. Craw
ford, with another person, to Pittsfield, to apprize
the inhabitants of their danger. He directed thera not
to speak aloud to each olher on the way, and by all
means to avoid every travelled route. Having pro
ceeded about twenty miles, Crawford discovered an
Indian near him, who appeared to be tying his mocca
sin. He made a sign to his companion, and while
they were whispering together, the Indian rose, and es
pied the two soldiers looking intently at him. He
screamed and ran, leaping like a deer over the bush-
wood. Crawford fired, when, leaping higher and far
ther than before, he fell dead. Another Indian then ran
from behind a tree, whom Crawford's companion fired

168 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
at and wounded. His cries of pain, or of alarm,
brought others to the spot. The soldiers fled, the sav
ages pursued, but the former arrived safe at Pittsfield.
As a premiura of forty pounds was then given for
Indian scalps, Crawford a short tirae afterwards, went
with a Stockbridge Indian, to search for the body of
the one he had killed. On arriving near the place, the
Stockbridge Indian, saying nothing, looked around for
dead bushes, and when he found one, endeavoured to
pull it up. He at length found one that came up read
ily. Here, said he to Crawford, is the body. They
dug there and found it, took off the scalp, carried it to
Boston, and received the premium.

CXXXI. Humanity of President Adams.
During the presidency of the late venerable patriarch
John Adams, the whiskey insurrection took place in
Pennsylvania, which, as is weh known to our read
ers, created much excitement throughout the coun
try, and a number of persons were arrested on a
charge of high treason. Among them was a German,
by the name of John Fries, who was, after an im
partial trial, sentenced to be hung, which sentence
received the sanction of President Adams. From a
comraunication in the Democratic Press, we copy
the foUowing affecting account of the manner in which
his pardon was procured. The recital is full of in
terest. Fries was an aged character and had a family.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 169
consisting of a wife and ten children. Sorae short
time previous to the period of his expected execution,
his aged companion arrived in the city with her ten
children, one of the number being a suckling ; when
her arrival became generally known, her appearance
and her numerous progeny excited great comraissera-
tion; the sympaUiy manifested was such, that the voice
of Philadelphia was simultaneously in favor of a pardon.
Accordingly, a petition was prepared and signed by
thousands, and through the influence of friends, an au
dience was sohcited ofthe President and acquiesced in.
Upon advisement, however, it was considered of vital
importance to the fate of Fries, that his consort, accom
panied by her nuraerous ofisprings, should present the
petition. A few confidential persons conducted her to
the presence of President Adaras ; as soon as they ap
proached hira, the aged raatron with her nine children
and one at her breast, kneeled before the President, and
in that humble posture sued for the life of her husband
and the father of her innocent children. Upon this
presentation the President became so sensibly affected,
that tears, in great profusion, flowed down his manly
cheeks, his utterance was completely choaked, and
with streaming eyes and hands raised up towards heav
en, he pushed from the room of audience to his closet,
and returned and presented Mrs. Fries with a free and
fuU pardon for her husband.
The scene as represented by those who were pres
ent, was the most affecting that conception can paint.
A wife and nine children prostrate, almost ovenorae

270 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
with agonizing despondency, pleading for the life of a
husband and parent, was far more eloquent than lan
guage can portray."

CXXXII. A blustering Yankee.
An anecdote is related in some of the Enghsh
papers of a blustering American at Havana, who had
for a long time annoyed the other inmates of his
boarding house by his bullying. At length, an ad
dition of two or three Enghshmen was made to the
boarders, and at dinner tirae, the Yankee, among
other bold expressions, jumped upon his legs, and
brandishing his carving knife, exclaimed with a men
acing tone, " who said he don't hke beef ?" One of the
Enghshmen hereupon rose, and sternly replied, " I said
so !" " Well then," said the Yankee, quietly sitting
down, " you can have mutton,"

CXXXIII. Origin of the Indian Bridge.
In the fah ofthe year 1753, Sabatis and Plausawa,
two Indians, were at the place where Deacon Sawyer
now lives, in Canterbury. There, Joshua Noyes and
Thomas Thorla, from Newbury, who were looking af
ter cattle which had been turned into the woods the
spring before, raet them. Plausawa had been several
times at Newbury and knew Noyes and Thorla, and
they knew him. The Indians appeared not much
pleased at seeing them, and began to put their baggage

\ \ \

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. I71
into their canoe, and to prepare to go away. Sabatis
appeared sullen and disposed to do mischief, but was
kept frora it by Plausawa. Noyes and Thorla pro
posed to buy their furs. At first they refused to seU,
saying they would not trade with the English, but
would go to Canada. Afterwards they offered to sell
furs for rum. Those men had brought rum on pur
pose to trade with the Indians, but seeing their temper,
especially that of Sabatis, tiiey refused to let them have
any, and concluded to go away and leave them. As
they were departing, Plausawa in a friendly manner
advised them to go horae, and to avoid meeting with
Indians lest they should be hurt. When they had
gone a little distance from the_Indians, Sabatis called
thera, and said, " no more you Enghsh come here —
me heart bad, me kill you." Thorla replied, " no kill
— English and Indians now all brothers." They soon
met Peter Bowen going towards the Indians, told him
in what temper the Indians were, and advised him not
to go to them, and by no means to let them have a
drop of rum. He rephed that he was not afraid of
them ; that he was acquainted with Indians, and knew
how to deal with thera. The Indians had got into
tiieir canoe and were going up the river. Bowen call
ed them, and asked them to go to his house and stay
that night, and told them he would give them some
rum. It was then near night. They went with Bow
en to his house, which was in Contoocook, at some
distance below where they then were. He treated
them freely with rum, which made them at first very

] 72 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
well pleased, but as they became more intoxicated,
they began to be troublesome. Bowen, who had eve
ry quahty of an Indian, had lived much with them,
and knew perfectly well how they would conduct ;
fearing tiiey might do mischief, he took the precaution
to make his wife engage their attention while he drew
the charges frora their guns, which were left behind
the door in the entry. After this was done, the night
was spent in a drunken Indian frohc, for which Bowen
had as good a relish as his guests. The next morning,
they asked Bowen to go with his horse and carry their
baggage t6 the place where their canoe was left the
evening before. He went, and carried their packs on
his horse. As they went, Sabatis proposed to run a
race with the horse. Bowen suspecting mischief was
intended, declined the race, but finally consented to
run. He however took care to let the Indian outrun '
the horse. Sabatis laughed heartily at Bowen, be
cause the horse could run no faster. They then pro
ceeded apparently in good humor. After a while, Sa
batis said to Bowen — " Bowen walk woods" — mean
ing, "go with me as a prisoner." Bowen said, "no
walk woods, ah one brothers." They went on togeth
er until they were near the canoe, when Sabatis pro
posed a second race, and that the horse should be un
loaded of the baggage and should start a littie before
him. Bowen refused to start so, but consented to start
together. They ran, and as soon as the horse had got
a littie before the Indian, Bov/en heard a gun snap.
Looking round, he saw the smoke of powder and the

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 173
gun aimed at him ; he turned and struck his tomahawk
in the Indian's head. He went back to meet Plausa
wa, who, seeing the fate of Sabatis, took aim with his
gun at Bowen ; the gun flashed. Plausawa feh on
his knees and begged for his hfe. He pleaded his in
nocence and former friendship for the Enghsh ; but all
in vain. Bowen knew there would be no safety for
him, while the companion and friend of Sabatis was
hving. To secure himself, he buried the same toma
hawk in the skull of Plausawa. This was done in the
road on the bank of Merrimac river, near the northerly
line of Contoocook, now Boscawen. Bowen hid the
dead bodies under a smaU bridge in Sahsbury. The
next spring the bodies were discovered and buried.
That Bridge has ever since to this day been caUed In
dian Bridge.

CXXXIV. Hon. Nathaniel Peabody.
In early life. General Peabody was" a good ' Physi
cian, and practised with success, and general applause ;
m his latter days he far excelled any tyro, or young
medical practitioner, however learned, both in experi
ence, and the judicious selection and application of
remedies. He continued to administer to the health
of others tiU he could no longer help hiraself. Patients
came to him from distant parts, and he cured or alle
viated many difficult chronic cases beyond the skill of
his younger contemporaries. His manner, as well as
his apphcation was always pleasing, and his wit and hu-
16

174 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
mor made him popular. About a year before he died,
a young girl was brought to him troubled with a hu
mor or glandular sweUing in her neck : the anxious
mother dreaded the scrofula, which she caUed by the
ancient name of King's Evil. She asked him if it was
not the king's evil, and feared he would answer in the
affirmative. The General replied, " king's evil, king's
evil ! I know of none who have the king's evil, but to
ries." This answer excited a laugh, dispelled her
fears, and produced a good effect. Many such witti-,
cisras were interspersed through his whole life, which,
if collected, would raake his biography very entertain
ing. Many sayings, infinitely more witty than this, are
witiiin the knowledge of the writer, but to record them
woidd surpass the limits of this sketch.

CXXXV. Lydia Darrah.
The superior officers of the British army, were ac
customed to hold theh consuUations oh all subjects of
iraportance at the house of Wilham and Lydia Darrah,
members of the Society of Friends, immediately oppo
site to the quarters of the Commander in chief, in Sec
ond street. It was in December, in" the year that they
occupied the city, that the Adjutant* General ofthe ar
my desired Lydia to have an apartraent prepared for
the reception of hiraself and friends,;i%nd to order her
family early to bed : adding, when ready to depart,
notice shall be given to you to let us out, and to extin
guish the fire and candles. The manner of delivering

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. I75
this order, especially that part of it which comraanded
the early retirement of her family, strongly excited
Lydia's curiosity, and determined her, if possible, to
discover the mystery of their meeting. Approaching
without shoes, die room in which the conference was
held, and placing her ear to tiie key-hole, she heard
the order read for the troops to quit the city on the
night of the 4th, to attack the American army en
camped at White Marsh. Returning immediately to
,her room, she laid herself down, but in a httie while, a
loud knocking at the door, which for sorae time she
pretended not to hear, proclaimed the intention of the
party to retire. Having let them out, she again sought
her bed, but not to sleep; tiie agitation of her mind
precluded the possibihty of enjoying it. She thought
only of the dangers that threatened the lives of thou
sands of her countrymen, and believing it to be in her
power to avert the evil, determined at all hazards to
¦ tipprize General Washington of his danger. Telling
her husband at early dawn, that flour was wanting for
doni^stic purposes, and that she Should go to Frankford
to obtain it. She repaired to Head Quarters, got ac
cess to General Howe, and obtained perraission to pass
thejpritish hnes. Iicaving her bag at the mill, Lydia
nOw pressed forward towards the Araerican army, and
meeting Captain Allen M'Lean, an officer from his su
perior intelligence and activity, selected by General
Washington to gain intelligence, discovered to him the
iraportant -secret, obtaining his promise not to jeopard
ize her safety by teUiflg from whora he had obtained it.

176 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Captain M'Lean with ah speed, informed the Com
mander in chief of his danger, who, of course, took
every necessary step to baffle the contemplated enter
prise, and to show the eneray that he was prepared to
receive them. Lydia returned home with her flour,
secretly watched the movements of the British army,
and saw them depart. Her anxiety during their ab
sence was excessive, nor was it lessened when on their
return, the Adjutant General summoning her to his
apartment and locking the door with an air of mystery,
demanded, " Whether any of the faraily were up on_
the night that he had received corapany at her house ?"
She told him, " that without an exception, they had all
retired at 8 o'clock." " You, I know, Lydia, were
asleep, for I knocked at your door three times before
you heard me, yet, although I am at a loss to conceive
who gave the information of our intended attack to
General Wasjiington, it is certain that we were betray
ed. For, on arriving near his encampment, we found
his cannon mounted — his troops under, arras, and at
every point so perfectly prepared to receive us, that
we were compelled like fools to ,make a retrogade
movement, without inflicting on our enemy any man
ner of injury \\hatsoever."

CXXXVI. Escape of Captain Plwnkett.
Captain Plunkett, a high-spirhed Irishman, whose
attachment to the cause of liberty had led hira to seek
a commission in the Continental army, had, by th e

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 177
chances of war, been compelled to give up his sword,
and to surrender himself a prisoner to the eneray.
Previously to this untoward event, by the suavity of
his manners, and uniformly correct conduct, he had
rendered himself an acceptable guest in many families
in Philadelphia, and particularly so, to one ofthe So
ciety of Friends, who, however averse to warfare,
were not insensible of the clairas of those to their re
gard, who, by the exercise of manly and generous
feehngs, dehghted to soften its asperities. There was
among them a female, mild and gentle as a dove, yet,
in firmness of mind, a heroine, and in personal charms,
an angel. She saw the sufferings of the captive sol
dier, and under the influences of pity, or perhaps a
more powerful passion, resolved, at all hazards, to re
heve him. It accidentally happened, that the uniform
of Captain Plunkett's Regiment bore a striking resem
blance to that ofa British corps, which Vas frequently
set as a guard over the prison in which he was confined.
A new suit of regimentals was in consequence pro
cured and conveyed, without suspicion of sinister de
sign, to the Captain. On the judicious use of these
rested the hopes of the fair friend to give him free
dom. It frequently happened that officers of inferior
.grade, while their superiors affected to shun all inter
course with rebels, would enter the apartments of the
prisoners, and converse with them with kindness and
famiharity, and then at their pleasure retire. Two
centinels constantly walked the rounds without, and
the practice of seeing their officers walking in and out
16*

178 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
of the interior prison, becarae so famihar, as scarcely
to attract notice, and constantiy caused them to give
way without hesitation, as often as an officer showed a
disposition to retire. Captain Plunkett took the ad
vantage of this circumstance, and putting on his new
coat, at the raoraent that the relief of the guard was
taking place, salhed forth, twirling a switch carelessly
about and ordering the exterior door of the prison to
be opened, walked without opposition into the street.
Repairing witiiout delay to the habitation of his fair
friend, he was received with kindness, and for some
days secreted and cherished with every manifestation
of affectionate regard. To elude the vigilance of the
British Guards, if he atterapted to pass into the coun
try, in his present dress, was deeraed impossible.
Woman's wit, however, is never at a loss for contrivan
ces, while swayed by the influences of love or benevo-,
lence. Both, in this instance, raay have aided inven
tion. Plunkett had three strong claims in his favor :
he was a handsome raan — a soldiei; — and an Irishman.
The general propensity of the Quakers, in favor of the
Royal cause, exempted the sect in a great measure
frora suspicion, in so great a degree indeed, that the
barriers of the city were generally entrusted to the
care of their members, as the best judges of the char
acters of those persons who raight be allowed to pass
thera, without injury to the British interests. A fe
male Friend, of low origin, ofiiciating as a servant on a
farm near the city, was in the family, on a visit to a
relative. A pretext was formed to present her with a

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. I79
new suit of clotiies, in order to possess tiiat which she
wore when she entered the city. Captain Plunkett
was immediately disguised as a woraan, and appeared
at the barrier accompanied by his anxious deliverer.
" Friend Roberts," said the enterprising enthusiast,
" may this damsel and myself pass to visit a friend at a
neighboring farm ?" " Certainly," said Roberts, " go
forward." The city was speedily left behind, and
Capt. Plunkett found hiraself safe under the protection
of Colonel Allen M'Lean, his particular friend.

CXXXVII. Mrs. Bratton, of S. C.
At a period, when an absolute want of arms and
ammunition precluded; -in a great degree, the possibili
ty of effectual resistance, a smaU depot of powder was
entrusted to Mrs. Bratton, wife of Colonel Bratton, an
active officer, serving in the field. The treachery of
an individual communicated the important secret to the
enemy, and a British detachment was pushed forward
to secure so valuable a prize. Mrs. Bratton, informed
of their near approach, imraediately laid a train of '
powder from the depot to the spot on which she stood,
and seeing no chance of saving her charge, blew it
up. " Who," exclaimed the irritated officer who led
the detachment, " has dared to do this atrocious act .¦"
Speak quickly, that they may meet the punishment
they deserve." "Know then," said Mrs. B., "'twas I
— ^^and let the consequence be what it wiU, I glory in
having frustrated the mischief contemplated by the
merciless enemies of my country."

180 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CXXXVni. Colonel! E. Howard, of Maryland.
After the disasters at Washington, when the city of
Baltimore was threatened, vnth the immediate horrors
of war, a suggestion was made in the Committee of
Vigilance and Safety, of which Colonel Howard was a
member, that it would be the best course for the city to
capitulate. He indignantly opposed the very mention
of the proposition, declaring, that though the bulk of
his property was at stake, and he had four sons in the
field, he would rather behold his property reduced to
ashes, and his sons weltering in their blood, than wit
ness tiie adoption of a measure, so disgraceful to the
honor and character of his country^

CXXXIX. Gen. Andrew Pickens.
In September, 1776, General Andrew Pickens,^ be
ing then a Major, belonged to an array of two thousand
men, coraposed of Regulars and Militia, commanded
by Colonel WiUiamson, which was sent on an expedi
tion against the Cherokees, who had been instigated by
British emissaries, to wage a war of extermination
against the frontier inhabitants of the country, now
composmg AbbeviUe, Laurens, and Spartanburgh Dis
tricts. When this array had proceeded into the Indian
country, as far as the upper part of what is now. Pick
ens District, it was halted for a day or two, either for
rest or to gain inteUigence. During this time. Major
Pickens obtained permission to take twenty-five choice

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. IgJ
»
men, to scout and reconnoitre the adjacent country.
He had not proceeded more than two mUes, when,
early in the morning, after crossing a stream, now call
ed Littie River, in passing through an old Indian field,
ak)ng the margin of the stream, which was covered
with a thick grass, four or five feet high, ¦ more th&n
two hundred Indians, painted for war in the most hide
ous manner, were seen rushing down the point of a
ridge, directly upon them, with their guns swinging in
their left hands, and thek tomahawks raised in their
right ; their leader animating and exhorting them not
to fire a gun, but to tomahawk the white men, for they
were but a handful. Brennan, a half-breed, was one
of the twenty-five, and he, understanding them, told
what they said. Major Pickens and all his party were
on foot, and he, as well as every other, had his trusty
rifle. He ordered his men not to fire until he did, to
take deliberate aim, and fire two at a time in succes
sion, and to fall in the grass and load. Brennan was
by his side in front, and when the Indian chief ap
proached within about twenty-five yards, he and Bren
nan fired, and two Indians fell ; the fire of his other
men was in succession, as directed, and equally effect
ive. This invincible firmness, in so sraall a band, as
tonished and struck terror into the savage ranks, and
they immediately recoiled upon each other, dropped
their tomahawk«, and resorting to their guns, gradually
fell back, and were picked out at leisure by the steady
and unerring aim of this sraall band of firm Militia.
After the first ar second fire, Brennan was shoi down.

182

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

But few were kiUed or wounded of the whites ; if they
had not been brave men, and true, not one would have
escaped. Major Pickens, in loading in a hurry, soon
choaked his gun, when he picked up Brennan's and
continued to use it while the Indians were in reach.
How many of thera were kiUed, could not be known,
as tiie Indians, in those times, always carried off their
dead, whenever they could, to prevent their eneraies
frora acquiring their savage trophy, the scalp ; but, it
was beheved a great number were kiUed, in proportion
to the number of combatants opposed to them.
During the action, one of the men observed that
there was a constant firing from behind a tree-root, and
watching his opportunity when its occupant had to ex
pose himself to take aim, shot him in the head, and
when one of his comrades had taken up the dead body,
and was making off with it, shot him also, with, as much
coolness, as if he was shooting at a target, and they
fell, one upon the other. The firing was heard at Wil
liamson's carap, when Major Pickens' youngest broth
er, Joseph, (kiUed at the seige of '96,) who was a
Captain, imraediately summoned his followers, and
hastened to his brother's assistance. But, before he
could reach him, the Indians were beaten back, and
dispersing, and fleeing to the neighboring mountains.
Captain Pickens, was a man of great animation and
zeal, and was often bold and loud in his abuse and
crimination of men, who were tardy in their movements
for the dehverance of his brother, accusing them of
cowardice, but Major Pickens pacifiad and rebuked
hira for his warmth."

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 183
CXL. The Spectre Warrior.
On the night previous to the battie of Lexington a
stranger warrior, mounted on a spirited charger, rode
furiously through the streets of some of the principal
towns in the vicinity of Boston, giving inteUigence that
the British troops had left that city on their march to
¦ Concord. He waited for no salutations — no one knew
him — ^but he gave the alarra and passed on. From the
circumstance of the alarm being given in such wide and
various directions, at the same time, in the same singu
lar manner, and by apparently the same person — it was
looked upon by many as an interposition of Providence
in behalf of the colonists. Such at least was the tradi
tion ; and long was the spectre warrior remembered,
when the scenes of '76 were recounted by the winter's
fireside. Heard you not that war-horse trampling?
Heard you not that iron tread ! '
When the earth and skies are darkling — •
Sounds like these naight rouse the dead!
Hark! that shout, it swells to heaven,
Loud as pealing thunders roar;
When the mountain oak is riven —
These the thrilling sounds it bore —
Rouse, ye slumberera ! sleep no longer,
Foemen's feet are on their way; —
Wake to glory, wake to danger.
Gird ye to the bloody fray.
Even now their bayonets glancing,
Mock the shroud of murky night:
Hark! the squadrons proudly prancing.
Guides the hero to the fight!

184 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Sluniberers wake! away to battle —
Nerve your heart, and nerve yonr arm,
Hear you not the war-drums rattle!
Hear you not the dread alarm? —
Wail you till yonr wives and daughters
Victims fall before your eye?
Till your towering spires — your altars,
Low in smoking ruins lie?
Sleep you when red ruin lowefs
O'er your friends, your hearths, your home?
Is there one whose spirit cowers ?
Bid the wretch in slavery roam ! •
Sleep no longer, grasp your weapon !
Pledge at freedom's shrine your life.
Bathe with blood the ground you meet on,
Triumph waits the glorious strife!
Sleep you when the chains are clanking.
Which oppressors forge for you?
When the tyrant's hate is rankling —
Hate which pardon never knew!
See— where yonder clouds are breaking,
Star-lit banners wave on high!
Follow them, and proudly waking.
Freemen live, or conquerors die!
Sleep no longer, wake to glory!
Bid the haughty foe come on ;
Teach him Freedom's soil is gory.
Strike the blow at Lexington.
Strike as patriots born for freedom-
Men who've sworn they will be free 
Burst the servile chains that wreath you!
Strike for God! for Liberty!
By your sires' unconquered spirit!
By the green turf o'er their graves!
By the rights you here inherit —
Swear to never live as slaves!

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 185
The trampling pass'd on, the sounds died away —
But the patriot flew to the field ;
And ere the next sun show'd tho close of the day.
With his blood had our liberty seal'd!

CXLI. Military Courtesy.
When Major General Ryal, who was made prisoner
at the battie of Niagara, proffered his sword, in token of
submission, to Colonel Jesup, who commanded the cap
turing party, the generous young Araerican courteously
dechned accepting it, with the compliraentary observa
tion, that he could not deprive of his sword an officer
who had worn it with such distinguished honor.
On the foUowing day, when Jesup was sitting in his
tent, smarting under his wounds, Ryal entered, and af
ter eulogising his conduct as an officer, thanking him for
his magnanimity, and expressing his regret at the inju
ries he had sustained in battie, begged his acceptance,
as a favor to himself, of the same sword which he had
refused when he might have claimed it by right of con
quest. It is a plain gold-hilted sabre, with a blade un
adorned by any figures, lettering, or device, but of the
finest metal and most exquisite polish.

CXLII. An American Sergeant.
In the battle of Niagara, such was the carnage
among Col. Jesup's officers, that he was obliged to
place his standard in the hand of a sergeant, whose
name, we, think, was Fitch. While the colours, pierced
17

186 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
with about seventy baUs, were waving in the hand of
this brave fellow, a shower of grape-shot coming from
tiie enemy, cut the staff into three pieces, Fitch de
liberately gathering up the scattered fragments, turned
to Jesup, who was near him, and with a smile, " Look,
Colonel, how they have cut this." In a moment after
wards, a baU passed through his body.- But even that
was insufficient to move him. Alike powerful in per
son and resolute in raind, he neither feU nor flinched ;
but continued to wave his rautUated standard, untU, be
coraing faint with the loss of blood, he was forced to
resign it into the hands of another.
Fitch recovered from his wound, and his good con
duct being reported to the secretary of war, he was
promoted to a second lieutenancy, his commission bear
ing date from the day on which he had thus distinguish
ed hiraself. CXLIII. The young Indian Chief*
This young warrior, of fine size, figure and counte
nance, is now about 25 years old; At the age of 21 his
heroic deeds had acquired for him in his nation the rank
of " bravest of the brave." The savage practice of tor
turing and burning to death their prisoners existed in
this nation. An unfortunate female taken in war, of the
Paduca nation, was destined to this horrible death.
The fatal hour had arrived, the trembling victim, far
* This interesting fact of a young Indian Chief of the Pawnee nation,
at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, who was on a visit to Washington
in the winter of 1824, is extracted from a letter of the Rev. Richard
Keece, to the editor ofthe London Wesleyan Methodist Magazine.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. (87
from her home and her friends, was fastened to the
stake ; the whole tribe was assembled on the surround
ing plain to witness the awful scene. Just when the
fire was about to be Jcindled, and the spectators on the
tiptoe of expectation, tiiis young warrior, who sat com
posedly among the chiefs, having before prepared two
fleet horses, with the necessary provisions, sprung from
his seat, rushed through the crowd, loosed the victim,
seized her in his arms, placed her on one of the horses,
mounted the other hiraself, and made the utmost speed
towards the nation and friends of the captive. The
multitude, dumb and nerveless with amazement at the
daring deed, made uo effort to rescue their victim from
her dehverer. They viewed it as an act of the Great
Spirit, submitted to it without a raurmur, and quietly re
turned to their village. The released captive was ac
companied through the wilderness towards her home,
tiU she was out of danger. He then gave her the horse
on which she rode, with the necessary provisions for the
remainder of the journey and they parted. On his re
turn to the village, Such was the respect entertained for
him, that no' inquiry was made into his conduct; no
censure was passed on it, and since the transaction, no
human sacrifice has been offered in this or any other of
the Pawnee tribes. Of what influence is one bold act
in a good cause.
On the pubhcation of this anecdote at Washington,
the young ladies of Miss White's Seminary, in that
city, presented that brave and humane Indian with a
handsome sUver medal, on which was engraven an ap-

198 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
propriate inscription, accompanied by an address, of
which the foUowing is the close : — " Brother, accept
this token of our esteem ; always wear it for our sake ;
and when you have again the power to save a poor wo
man from death and torture, think of this, and of us, and
fly to her rescue."

CXLIV. Justice Swift.
At the time the late Chief Justice Swift, of Connec
ticut, was publishing his Digest, he wrote to a gentle
man of considerable le^al celebrity residing in the coun
ty of Washington, Rhode Island, requesting his aid in
introducing it into use in that State. The gentleman
acknowledged the reception of the Judge's letter, and
rephed that he could forraerly have been of essential
service to him, as his influence had been, perhaps, as
extensive as any man in the State ; indeed, to such an
extent was it felt that he could at any tirae have had a
negro hung for his amusement ; but of late his influence
had becorae so depreciated, that he had to make the
greatest efforts to avoid being hung himself.

CXLV. Col. Isaac Hayne.
Aftej the city of Charleston had fallen into the hands
of Lord Cornwallis, his lordship issued a proclara ation,
requiring of the inhabitants of the colony, that they
should no longer take part in the contest, but continue
peaceably at their homes, and they should be most sa-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 189
credly protected in property and person. This was
accompanied with an instrument of neutrahty, which
soon obtained the signatures of many thousands of the
citizens of South Carohna, among whom was Colonel
Hayne, who now conceived that he was entitled to
peace and security for his family and fortune. But it
was not long before Cornwallis put a new construction
on the instrument of neutrahty denominating it a bond
of allegiance to the King, and called upon aU who sign
ed it to take up arms against the Rebels ! ! ! threaten
ing to treat as deserters those who refused ! This fraud
ulent proceeding in Lord CornwaUis roused the indig
nation of every honorable and honest man. Col. Hayne
now being compelled in violation of the most solemn
compact, to take up arras, resolved that the invaders of
his native country should be the objects of his venge"-
ance. He withdrew from the British, and was invest
ed with a coramand in the continental service ; but it
vias soon his hard fortune to be captured by the enemy
and carried to Charleston. Lord Rawdon, the com
mandant, immediately ordered him to be loaded with
irons, and after a sort of mock trial, he was sentenced to
be hung ! This sentence seized all classes of people
with horror and dismay. A petition, headed by the
British Governor Bull, and signed by a number of Roy
alists, was presented in his behalf, but was totally disre
garded.. The ladies of Charleston, both whigs and to
ries, now united in a petition to Lord Rawdon, couch
ed in the most eloquent and moving language, praying
that the valuable life of Col. Hayne, might be spared ;
17*

190 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
but this also was treated with neglect. It was next pro
posed that Col. Hayne's chUdren (the mother had re
centiy expired with the small pox,) should in their
mourning habiliaments, be presented to plead for the
life of their only surviving parent. Being introduced
into his presence, they feh on their knees, with clasped
hands and weeping eyes, they lisped their father's name
and plead most earnestly for his hfe. [Reader ! what
is your anticipation — do you imagine that Lord Raw
don, pitying their motherless condition tenderly embrac
ed the affiicted children and restored them to the fond
embrace of their father ? No ! the unfeeling man was
still inexorable — he suffered even those httie ones to
plead in vain !] His son, a youth of thirteen, was per
mitted to stay with his father in prison, who beholding
his own parent loaded with irons and condemned to
die, was overwhelmed with grief and sorrow. "Why,"
said he, " my son, will you thus break your father's
heart with unavaihng sorrow ? Have I not often told
you that we carae into this world but to prepare for a
better ? For that better life my dear boy, your father is
prepared. Instead then of weeping, rejoice with rae,
my son, that my troubles are so near an end. To-mor
row I set out for immortality. You will accompany
me to the place of my execution, and when I am dead
take, and bury me by the side of your mother." The
youth here fell on his father's neck, " Oh, my father !
I wiU die with you?" Col. Hayne, would have return-
ed'the strong embraces of his son ; but alas ! his hands
were confined with irons. "Live," said he, "my son, live

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 191
to honor God by a good hfe, hve to serve your country;
and hve to take care of your brother and little sisters !"
Tlie next mornuig Col. Hayne was conducted to the
place of execution. His son accompanied him. Soon
as they came in sight of the gallows, the father strength
ened hiraself and said^" Now my son, show yourself
a man ! That tree is the boundary of ray life, and all
my hfe's sorrows. Beyond that the wicked cease from
troubhng and the weary are at rest. Don't lay too ranch
to heart our separation from you : it will be but short.
It was but lately your mother died. To day I die, and
you, my son, though but young, must shortly follow us."
"Yes, my father," rephed the broken hearted youth, "I
shall shortly follow you ; for indeed I feel that I can
not hve long."
On seeing, therefore, his father in the hands of the
executioner, and then struggling in the halter, he stood
hke one transfixed and motionless with horror. Till
then he had wept incessantly, but soon as he saw that
sight, the fountain of his tears was staunched, and he
never wept more. He died insane, and in his last mo
ments often caUed on the name of his father in terras
that brought tears from the hardest heart.

CXL VI. Lieut. John Mayrant.
As the frigate South Carolina, coramanded by Com.
GiUon, was cruising between the Bahama Islands and
the Florida Keys, it happened one night, (Lieut. John
Mayrant being officer of the deck,) that he was order-

192 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
ed to keep a good look-out and the lead a-going ; and
a Midshipman with a night-glass was placed at each
quarter. About two hours before day, the one station
ed on the starboard, announced, that he perceived a
rock : upon a nearer mspection, it proved to be a fleet,
and on drawing still nearer, a Jamaica fleet. About
4 A. M. the frigate was close aboard four of them, and
another ship was to be seen at about five miles to wind
ward ; to secure the whole prize was now the object of
the Commodore, but one, which there was no possi
bUity of attaining without having recourse to artifice ;
and, after a hasty consultation with his officers, the fol
lowing hne of conduct was deterrained on : — In the
first place, the frigate having British colors flying, hail
ed the four ships nearest to her, ordering them to heave
to, and promising to send a boat abo'ard of them.
Lieutenant Mayrant, was then ordered to take a barge,
and with twenty-four choice men and about four or five
marines, (himself, as well as the marines) being aU in
British uniform, to make for the furthest vessel, he did
so, and when arrived under her stern, and rounding
upon her quarter, in answer to the Captain's inquiry,
as to what boat that was, rephed that it was the barge
of the D'Artois, commanded by Captain M'Bride ; the
Captain ordered him to keep off, threatening to fire
into him. Lieutenant Mayrant, in return, commanded
him to heave a rope immediately, and asking if he
would dare to fire into His Majesty's boat, ordered his
men to puU along side : on hearing this, the British
ship, without further dispute hove a rope, and manned

AMERICAN -4.NECD0TES. 193
her sides ; such being the ceremony usually observed
in receiving an officer. Lieutenant Mayrant immedi
ately stept on board, having previously ordered his
men not to follow, but on receiving a concerted signal ;
the Captain received him with great politeness, and the
usual inquiries having been made and answered. Lieu
tenant Mayrant desired to see his papers, in order to
examine them. No sooner had the captain gone be
low, in the search of them, than Lieutenant Mayrant's
men, receiving the expected signal, stept on board, to
the number. of twenty, all armed with cutlasses, and
havmg pistols concealed under their jackets. The
Captain having returned, Lieut. Mayrant, after exam
ining the papers, inquired how many men he had on
board, and on his replying that there were forty, or
dered him to take his papers and twenty men, and to
go with them on board of the frigate ; he replied,
' why, surely Sir, you do not mean to impress my men
at sea.' Lieut. M. rephed, ' certainly not, but Cap
tain M'Bride being a very particular man, wishes to
examine the men and papers himself. The Captain
sfiU hesitated, upon which Lieut. Mayrant reiterating
his order, made a sign to his men to draw their sabres,
on perceiving which, the Captain, not choosing to risk
a contest, obeyed Lieut. M. ; ordered him to row off,
while he would undertake to carry the ship down to the
frigate. As soon as the Captain was fairly off, Lieut.
M. ordering the remainder of the crew below, reversed
the British colors. At which sight, the consternation
of the Captain, who, from the barge, was a spectator

194 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
of what passed, may be better conceived than express
ed ; he declared it to be a damned Yankee trick ;
but, the deception was discovered too late, and he
found himself obhged to go on board of the frigate : by
this raeans, Commodore GiUon was enabled to capture
the whole fleet, consisting of five Jamaica men, heavily
laden with sugar and rum.
Lieutenant Mayrant, remained in possession of the
ship, which he had been instrumental in taking, and
which proved to be the NeUy, Captain Foble, with
fourteen eighteen pound carronades, comphraent of for
ty men, bound from Jamaica to Glasgow, laden with
four hundred hhds. of sugar, and one hundred of rum.
After having been in coramand of her two or three
days, and sailing in the Gulf Stream, it happened that
a man, whora he had ordered to heave the lead, was,
by a pitch of the ship, thrown from the main chains,
overboard : the ship was iraraediately hove to, and
several coops and chests thrown overboard to him ; it
was then attempted to lower the boats to his rehef, but
on trial, they were found to have remained dry so long,
as to be unfit for the purpose. Lieut. M. was then
obhged to raake sail on the ship, as she had drifted
considerably, from having her sails aback ; he then,
by making a stretch and a tack, succeeded in coming
up with the man, and brought him to about twenty feet
on his weather-bow. Lieut. M. then called to some
of his raen to jump overboard and carry hira a rope :
but, though none refused, they hesitated so long, that
Lieut. Mayrant, perceiving that there was no time to

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. I95
be lost, as the ship was drifting fast, took hold of the
end of a rope himself, jumped overboard, and swimming
up to the man, put it in his hands. The ship being at
this time in the Gulf Stream, with all her sails aback,
drifted so rapidly, that Lieut. M. and the saUor were
drawn, at tiie end of the rope, considerably under wa
ter; the saUor now letting go the rope, clung round
Lieut. M.'s neck, who found himself obliged also to let
go his hold, in order to extricate himself, which he
succeeded in doing ; as soon as they rose to the sur
face, tiiey both then swam to a hen-coop, of which
they took hold, one at each end ; on this coop they
remained three hours and a half. MeanwhUe, the
frigate South Carohna, perceiving the Nelly, (which"
was about ten mUes distant from her,) wearing and
steering, and putting out signals of distress, concluded
that the prisoners on board had risen and retaken the
ship, but on making up to her, was informed that Lieut.
M. and one of the men were overboard ; the direction
being pointed out, in which they were last seen, they
were soon after perceived by a man at the mast-head
of the frigate, who pointed them out ; the fi'igate, as
soon as she carae near them, lowered five boats, -which
spread themselves, and about half an hour before dark,
Lieut. M. and the sailor were taken up by one of
them; the sea was, at this time, running so high, that
the boats could not discern them, and the sun was
down.

195 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CXLVII. Sergeant Mitchell.
The intrepidity of tiiis exceUent soldier, merits par
ticular notice. There were no Ensigns attached to
the coramand, and when it was ascertained that a con
test must ensue with Tarlton, the Adjutant selected
MitcheU to bear the colors, as he had always been dis
tinguished for correctness of conduct, and was connect
ed with a family of high respectabihty. In the pro
gress of the battie, Tarlton led an attack on the centre
of the hne where MitcheU was posted, with his Stand
ard. The intrepid Sergeant was cut down, and the
staff of his colors broken. Grasping the part to which
the colors were attached, he retained it firmly in his
hands, while dragged to' a distance of fifteen yards.
The British Dragoons now gathered round him, and
would iraraediately have mangled him to death, but
Captain Kinloch dismounted and protected him from
their rage, declaring that so gallant a soldier, though
an eneray, should not perish. Mitchell survived his
wounds, though severe, reraoved, at the close of the
war to Georgia, became, from his acknowledged mer
its, a Brigadier General, and was, but a few years
back, a hale and hearty man.

CXLVIII. General Stuart.
'General Stuart, of Maryland, who served at Eutaw,
as a Lieutenant, under Cblonel Wm. Washington, and
who in the action was severely wounded, being recent-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

197

ly caUed upon to read the Declaration of Independ
ence, before a nuraerous assemblage of citizens, cele
brating the birth-day of our liberty, appeared in full
militaiy costume, fashioned according to the tiraes in
which he served. A friend familiarly comraenting on
the singularity of his appearance, and the improved
style of modern mihtary dress, drew from him the fol
lowing observations : — " Our Regiraentals, in forraer
days, v^ere fashioned according to the exigencies of
the times, and were made more for use than show. I
admire the ancient garb exceedingly, and but for the
death of my venerated mother, should this day have
appeared before the pubhc, clad in the very'waistcoat
I had on, when shot through the body at Eutaw. The
good lady regarded it as a trophy, and earnestly re
quested, that at her death, I would allow her the privi
lege of carrying it with her to the tomb. I was sensi
ble how much the affectionate feeling of parental love
glowed in her bosom, and of the pride she felt that I
had bled in my country's service. To have denied
her request, would have evinced an insensibility, which
I could never experience. Consent, on my part, was
instantaneous and decided, and she actually wore the
waistcoat in question beneath the shroud in which she
was interred."
CXLIX. Major MDonough.
A day or two before the battie of Long Island, a
Council of War, was sumraoned to raeet in the city of
New York, which occasioned the coramand of the

198 ASIERICAN ANECDOTES.
Delaware Regiment to devolve on Major M'Donough,
the Colonel and Lieut. Col. being both members under
orders to attend the Council. The Regiment was
greatly distinguished in the action, and its Command
er rewarded by the flattering approbation of General
Washington. During the remainder of the campaign,
it gained increase of reputation, but sustained some
losses, and its Colonel being killed at Princeton, and
the time of its service expired, it was disbanded. The
zeal of Delaware was, however, unabated, and it ap
pearing evident, that a new corps could, without diffi
culty, be organized. Governor M'Kinly assembled his
Council at Wilmington, to appoint the officers, who
were to hold the commissions. Major M'Donald, both
frora rank and high military reputation, was without
hesitation naraed as Colonel. Information was imrae
diately given that the honor was declined, and that his
resolution to retire frora service was not to be over
come. A gentieman of high rank was then appointed
to coraraand, but he, unwiUing from a want of experi
ence to occupy a post of such high responsibility,
modestly said, " allow me to use my influence to in-
dwce Major M'Donough to take the command which
has been offered to hira, and I wiU willingly serve un
der his orders as his Lieutenant Colonel." His propo
sition was acceded to, and he immediately went for
ward, earnestly hoping that his mission would prove
successful. Arriving in the evening, at the Major's
house, the purpose of his visit was made known.
Overpowered by his feelings and due sense of the hon-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. I99
or conferred upon him, he could make no reply ; but
having, after a time, recovered his composure, he said,
" do me the honor of breakfasting with me to-morrow
morning, and I vriU give you my answer." The visit
or was punctual in his attendance, and was presented
to Mrs. M'Donough, who sat at her breakfast table,
her chUdren, all sraall and neatly dressed, being ar
ranged on each side of her. She was an engaging and
accomphshed woman, who inspired with respect all
who approached her ; the Major, a handsome man, of
very gentlemanly deportment. Breakfast being end
ed, and the lady and children retired, the Major ad
dressed his visitor to this effect, " I am deeply indebted
to the Governor and Council, and to you. Sir, for the
honor of this visit, and the application which is the ob
ject of it, but circumstances forbid me to indulge my
own inchnation. The small farm which I inhabit is
my only possession, and I am compeUed, having some
"knowledge of physic, to make it a profession, the bet
ter to support my wife and the children, who have now
left us. My heart is my country's, and I ara not witii
out ambition to acquire military fame ; but, if I was to
faU, what would become of thera ?" These few words,
contained an appeal that was unanswerable. The Ma
jor remained at home.

CL. La Fayette and an old Soldier, at Montgomery.
When on his last visit to America, while at Mont
gomery, in the State of Alabama, he was visited by a

200 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
veteran who had served under him in many battles,
whom he immediately recognized, as an orderly and
most gallant soldier. After rauch interesting and fa
miliar conversation, the old man said, " there is one
thing. General, which it puzzles me to account for —
when wc served together, I beheved myself to be the
youngest man of the two. But my locks are now per
fectly grey, and you do not appear to have a grey hair
in your head." " My good friend," rephed the Gener
al, " you are altogether in error, the advantage is to
tally on your side. The hair of your head is grey — ¦,
while I canno't boast a single hair on my head — I wear
a wig !" CLI. Red Jacket.
It happened during the Revolutionary war, that a
treaty was held wilh the Indians, at which La Fayette
was present. The object was to unite the various
tribes in amity with America. The majority of the
Chiefs were friendly, but there was much opposition
raade to it, raore especially by a young warrior, who
declared that when an alhance was entered into with
America, he should consider the sun ofhis country as
set forever. In his travels through the Indian country,
when lately in.Araerica, it happened at a large assem
blage of Chiefs, that La Fayette referred to the treaty
in question, and turning to Red Jacket, said, " pray
teU me if you can, what 'has become of that daring
youth, who so decidedly opposed all our propositions
for peace and amity ? Does he stiU live — and what is

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 201
his condition ?" " I, myself, am the man," replied Red
Jacket, "the decided enemy of the Americans, as
long as the hope of opposing them with success re
mained, but now their true and faithful ally untU death."

CLII. General Isaac Huger.
An officer calling out to him, " General Huger, I
plainly see one of the enemy's riflemen taking deliber
ate aim to destroy you." " That is no concern of
mine," said the General. " If you think proper, order
one of your men to take the fellow off." " Dodge, or
change your position," rejoined the officer, " or you
are a dead man." " I will neither dodge nor quit my
post," rephed the General, " be the consequence what
it may." CLIII. Peter Francisco.
A marauder, attached to a British Regunent of
Dragoons, entered the chamber of a solitary habha-
tion, where Francisco was sitting unarmed, and totally
unconscious of the approach of an enemy. " Give up,
instantaneously, all that you possess of value," said the
soldier, " or prepare to die." " I have nothing to give
up," said Francisco : " so use your pleasure." " De
liver instantly," rejoined the soldier, " those massy sil
ver buckles which you wear in your shoes." " They
were a present to me from a valued friend," said Fran
cisco, " and it woitid grieve me to part witii them.
17*

202 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Give them into your hands I never wiU. You have
tlie power, take them if you think fit." The Dragoon
placed his sabre beneath his arm, the hilt of it being
invitingly presented in his front, which being quickly
perceived by Francisco, he seized it eagerly, and by a
deadly blow, not only severed the head of his antago
nist completely in two, but carried the division through
the entire neck to the point in which they were united
to the body. CLIV. Delaware Indians,
In the year 1785, an Indian murdered Mr. Evans of
Pittsburg. When, after a confinement of several
months, his trial was to be brought on, the chiefs of
the Delaware nation were invited to be present at the
proceedings, and speak in behalf of the accused, if
they chose. The chiefs instead of going, sent to the
civil officers the foUowing laconic answer : " Brethren •
you inform us that N. N. who murdered one of your
men at Pittsburg, is shortly to be tried by the laws of
your country, at which trial you request that some of
us may be present. Brethren ; knowing N. N. to
have been always a very bad man, we do not wish to
see him. We therefore advise you to try him by your
laws, and hang him, so that he may never return to us
again. ¦
CLV. Count Rumford,
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count of Rumford, was
bom in the town of Rumford, province of Massachu-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

203

setts. During tiie American war, he commanded a
regiment of Dragoons, and signalised himself in the
service of Great Britain. When the war terminated,
he obtained leave to travel on the continent, where he
hoped to find an opportunity of serving as a volunteer
in the Austrian army against the Turks. During his
travels, he met with the wife of General de Burghau-
sen, a women of great sense and knowledge, who 'cured
him of his martial folly, and gave a new turn lo his
ideas, by presenting in perspective, another species of
glory than that of conquering in battles.' In 1784,
Mr. Thompson entered the service of the Elector of
Bavaria. Madame Burghausen had awakened a phi-
lanthi'opic spirit within him, and he spent four years in.
gaining the pohtical and statistical knowledge necessa
ry for improving the condition of the poor. He found
ed a House of Industry at Manheim, and that noble
estabhshment, the House of Industry at Munich. The
estimation in which his numerous and important ser
vices were held by the Elector, may be estimated by
the marks of honor conferred upon him by his serene
highness. He was created Count of Rumford, knight
of the orders of the White Eagle, and of St. Stanis
laus. He was appointed chamberlain, privy counsellor
of state, lieutenant- general, colonel of artiUery, and
Commander m chief of the general staff in the army.
The inhabitants of Munich also testified their gratitude,
by erecting a splendid monument to commemorate the
good he had achieved in Bavaria.

204 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CLVL Sufferings of our Forefathers.
A day or two after the landing at Plymouth the cold
came on with great violence. Such a Christmas the
Enghsh pilgrims had never before seen. The poorer
sort were very much exposed, lying in tents and mis
erable hovels, with scarcely any thing to shield them
from the cold. They were so short of provisions, that
many of them were obliged to hve upon clams, mus
cles, and other shell fish, with ground nuts and acorns,
instead of bread. One that came to the governor's
house to complain of his sufferings, was, prevented,
being informed that even there the last batch was in
the oven. There were many instances of great calm
ness and resignation in this distress. A good man,
who had asked his neighbor for a dish of clams, after
dinner returned thanks to God, who had given him to
suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasure hid
in the sands. Nearly one half of them perished by
hunger, cold, the scurvy, and other distress.

CLVII. Kosciusko,
Thaddeus Kosciusko was ¦ very young when he was
informed that the Americans were preparing to shake
off the yoke of Britain. His ardent and generous
mind eagerly caught at the opportunity thus offered for
aspiring genius, and from that moment he became the
devoted soldier of liberty. His rank in the American
army gave him no great opportunity to distinguish him-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 205
self; but he was remarked throughout his service for
all the quahties that adorn humanity. His heroism in
the field could only be equalled by his moderation and
affability iir private life. The soldiers idohzed him for
his bravery, and the officers respected him for the
goodness of his heart and the greatness of his mind.
He might have remauied under the protection of Wash
ington, who loved and honored him, and in the bosom
of a nation for whose independence he had so bravely
fought : but he had drank deep at the fountain of free
dom, and Poland had a sacred claim to all his efforts
and aU his services.
How bravely and how unsuccessfully he defended
that unhappy country against Russia, is too well known.
To the eternal disgrace of the" Empress Catherine,
she kept him m the dungeons of Petersburg, when she
no longer had any thing to fear from him. Her suc
cessor, the Emperor Paul, gave him his liberty, and
offered him a present of fifty thousand ducats_; but
General Kosciusko, refused it, preferring to depend for
subsistence on the pay to which his services in Ameri
ca entitled him.
With this scanty fortune, he lived awhile in the Uni
ted States : then in France ; and lastly in Switzeriand.
In the invasion of France, 1814, some Polish troops
in the Russian service, passed through the viUage where
the exUed patriot then lived. Their piUaging brought
Kosciusko to tiie door. " When I was a Polish sol
dier," said he, " the property of the peaceful citizen
was respected."

206 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
" And who art thou," said an officer, " who address
es us in this tone of authority .''"
" I am Kosciusko !"
There was magic in the word. The march was
suspended. The soldiers gathered round him, and as
they gazed with astonishment and awe upon the mighty
ruin he presented, their iron hearts were softened, and
the tears trickled down their weather-beaten faces.
Kosciusko died at Soleure, on the 1 Sth of October,
1817. A magnificent funeral service was performed
in honor of the hero, at the church of St. Roche, in
Paris. Poland laments her patriot ; America her il
lustrious defender ; France and Switzerland the man
of beneficence and virtue ; and Russia admires the
enemy unshaken in his principles, and undaunted in
adversity. CLVIII. A glorious Example in Washington,
When Colonel Washington was stationed at Alex
andria, in 1754, there was an election for members of
the Assembly, when Mr. W. Payne opposed the can
didate supported by Washington. In the course ofthe
contest, Washington grew warm, and said something
offensive to Mr. Payne, who, at one blow, extended
him on the ground. The regiment heard that their
Colonel was murdered by the mob, and they were
soon under arms, and in rapid motion to the town to
inflict punishment on the supposed murderers. To
their great joy, he came out to meet them, thanking
them for such a proof of attachment, but conjuring

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 207
them by their love for him and their duty, to return
peaceably to their barracks. Feehng himself to be the
aggressor, he resolved to make honorable reparation.
Early next morning, he wrote a polite note to Mr.
Payne, requesting to see him at the tavern. Payne
repaired to the place appointed, in expectation of a
duel ; but what was his surprise to see wine and glasses
in lieu of pistols. Washington rose to meet him, and
smiluig as he offered his hand, began, " Mr. Payne, to
err is nature ; to rectify error is glory. I believe I
was wrong yesterday ; you have already had some sat
isfaction, and if you deem that sufficient, here is ray
hand-— let us be friends." An act of such subhme
virtue produced its proper effect, and Mr. Payne was
from that moment an enthusiastic admirer of Washing
ton. CLIX. Indian Gratitude and Wit.
Soon after Litchfield began to be settled by the En
glish, an unknown Indian came into the inn at dusk,
and requested the hostess to furnish hira with food and
drink ; stating, that he had had no success in hiinting,
and could not pay till he had better fortune. The wo
man refused ; calhng him- a lazy, drunken, good-for-
nothing fellow. A man who sat by, noticed the Indian
as he turned away from the inhospitable place, and
perceiving that he was suffering very severely from
want and weariness, he generously ordered the hostess
to furnish hirn with a good supper, and caU on him for
payment. After the Indian had finished his meal, he

208 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
thanked his benefactor again and again, and assured
him he should never forget his kindness, and would,
if it were ever in his power, faithfully recompense it.
He observed, that he had one more favor to ask ; if
tiie woman was wiUing, he wished to tell a story. The
hostess, whose good nature had been restored by mon
ey, readily consented. The Indian, addressing his
benefactor, said, " I suppose you read the Bible ?"
The man assented. "Well, the Bible says, God
make the world ; and then he took him, and looked
on him, and say 'all very good.' Then he made
light ; and took him, and looked on him, and say, ' aU
very good.' Then he made land and water, sun and
moon, grass and trees ; and he took him, and looked
on him, and say, ' aU very good.' Then he made
beasts, and birds, and fishes ; and he took him, and
looked on hira, and say, ' aU very good.' Then he
made raan ; and took hira, and looked on hira, and
gay, ' all very good.' Then he made woman ; and
took him, and looked at him, and  he no dai-e say
one such word."
Many years after this, the Indian's benefactor was
taken prisoner by an Indian scout, and carried into
Canada. He was saved from death by one of the
tribe, who asked leave to adopt him in the place of a
son, who had fallen in battie. Through the winter, he
experienced the .customary effects of savage hosphahty.
The foUowing summer as he was at work in the forest
alone, an unknown Indian came to him and appointed
a meeting at a certain place, on a given daj'. The

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 209
prisoner consented ; but afterwards, fearing mischief
might be intended, he neglected the engagement. The
Indian again sought him, reproved him for his want of
confidence in him, and assured him the raeeting would
be for his good. Encouraged by his apparent friend
ship, tiie man followed his dhections. He found" the
Indian provided witii muskets, ammunition, and knap
sacks. The Lidian ordere'd him to arm himself and
follow him. Their course was towards the south, and
day after day the Englishman followed, without being
able to conjecture the motives of his guide. After a
tedious journey, he arrived at the top of an eminence,
commanding a view of a. country somewhat cultivated
and populous. "Do you know that country?" said
the Indian, with an arch smile. "Oh, yes 1 it is Litch
field," replied the white man, as he cordially pressed
his hand. " Many years ago, you give weary Indian
supper there," said he. " He promise to payyou, and
he pay you now. Go home, and be happy."

CLX. Regicide Generals.
Three of the Judges who signed the death warrant of
Charles I., eluded the vengeance of Charles II. by es
caping to New England. Their names were Edward
WhaUey, WiUiam Goffe, and John DixweU. Here
they remauied nearly thirty years, concealed in gar
rets, miUs, and holes dug in the earth. Sometimes
the Indian hunting dogs drove them from their hiding
places, and sometimes the flaming eyes of the panther
19

210 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
urged tiiem to a precipitate flight. Though large re
wards were offered for them, the people were not dis
posed to discover their retreats, and they sometimes
ventured to make excursions into the most populous
towns. During their stay at Boston, a fencing master
had chaUenged any one to play with hira at swords.
Conscious of their superiority in fencing, one of the
regicides appeared on tiie stage with a cheese for a
shield, and a broom-stick for a spear. The broom
had been dipped in a mud-puddle, and much to the
amusement ofthe spectators, the face of the fencing
master was again and again besmeared. Exasperated
by his impudence, the gentleman dropped his smaU
sword, and took up his broad sword, in order to attack
hira with that. " Stop, sir," said the regicide ; " hith
erto I have been playing ; but if you attack me witii
broad sword, I will certainly take your life." The
gentleman noticed the firmness with which he spake,
and exclaimed, " You must be Goffe, WhaUey, or the
devil ; for no one else could beat me." It is still a
New England proverb, " nobody can beat him but
Goffe, WhaUey, or the devU."
At another tirae, wlnle they were secreted in Had-
ley, the town was attacked by king Phihp's Indians.
The inhabitants attempted to defend themselves^ but
were soon thrown into disorder. At a critical mo
ment, " a venerable stranger appeared among them,
ralhed them, arranged them in military order, led them
to the charge, defeated the Indians, and saved the
town." The people beheved that God had sent his

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 211
angel to protect them. The supposed -angel was Ma
jor General Goffe, who disappeared at the raoraent of
victory, and hid himself in a cave in the woods.

CLXI. Frederick W. Augustus Baron de Steuben.
After General Arnold treacherously deserted his post
ut West Point, tiie Baron de Steuben never failed to
manifest his indignation and abhorrence of his name
and character ; and while inspecting Colonel Shel
don's regiment of light horse, the name of Arnold
struck his ear. The soldier was ordered to the front.
He was a fine looking fellow, with horse and equip
ments in excellent order. " Change your name,
brother soldier," said General Steuben ; " you are too
respectable to bear the name of a traitor."
" What name shaU I take. General ?"
" Take any other name. Mine is at your service."
Most cheerfully was the offer accepted ; and his
name was entered on the roUs as Steuben. He, or
his children, now enjoy land given to him, in the town
of Steuben, by the Baron. This brave soldier met
him after the war. " I ara weU settied. General," said
he, " and have a wife and son. I have called my son
after you, sir."
" I thank you, my friend. What name have you
given the boy ?"
"I caUed him Baron.— What else could I call him ?"

212 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CLXII. Honorable conduct of the Baron de Steuben.
The Baron was rough as the ocean in a storm,
when great faults were committed ; but if, in a sudden
gust of passion, he had injured any one, ¦ the redress
was ample. At a review, near Morristown, Lieutenant
Gibbons, a brave and good officer, was arrested on the
spot, and ordered into the rear, for a fault, which it af
terwards appeared another had comraitted.
At a proper moment, the commander of the regi
ment came forward and informed the Baron of Mr.
Gibbon's innocence, of his wortii, and of his acute
feelings under this unmerited disgrace.
" Desire Lieutenant Gibbons to come to the front,
Colonel." " Sir," said the Baron to the young gentleman, " the
mistake which was raade, might, by throvring the line
into confusion, have been fatal in the presence of an
enemy. I arrested you as its author, — ^but I have rea
son to believe I was mistaken ; and that in this in
stance you were blameless. I ask your pardon. Re
turn to your command. I would not deal unjustly by
any ; rauch less by one whose character as an officer
is so respectable."
All this passed mth the Baron's hat off — the rain
pouring on his venerable head ! Do you think there
was an officer, or soldier, who saw it, unmoved by af
fection and respect? Not one.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 213
¦ CLXIII. Ready Wit ofthe Baron de^teulen.
While General Steuben was at the head of his di
vision, at Yorktown, waiting for the strildng of the
British flag, he perceived himself in danger from a
sheU thrown by the eneray, and suddenly threw hira
self into the trench* General Wayne, in the jeopardy
and hurry of tiie moment, feU upon him. The Baron,
turnmg his eye, saw it was his brigadier. " I always
knew you were brave. General," said he; "but I did
not know you were so perfect in every point of duty.
You cover your General's retreat in the best manner ,
possible." CLXIV. Baron de Steuben's Dinner to the British
Officers.
After the capture at Yorktown, the superior officers
of the American atmy, together with their aUies, vied
with each other in acts of civility and attention to the
captive Britons. Entertainments were given by aU
the major-generals, except Baron Steuben. , He was
above prejudice, or meanness ; but poverty prevented
him from displaying that liberality towards tiiem, which
had been shown by others. Such was his situation,
when cajhng on Colonel Stewart, and informing him
of his intention to entertain Lord Cornwallis, he re
quested that he would advance him a sum of money as
the price of his favorite charger. " 'Tis a good beast,"
s%id the Baron, " and has proved a faithful servant
through all the dangers of the war ; but, though pain-
19*

214 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
ful to my heart, we must part." Colonel Stewart im
mediately tendered his purse, recomraending the sale
or pledge of his watch, should the sum it contained
prove insufficient. " My dear friend," replied the
Baron, " 'tis already sold. Poor North was sick, and
wanted necessaries. He is a brave fellow, and pos
sesses the best of hearts. The trifle it brought, is set
apart for his use. My horse must go ; so no more, I
beseech you, to turn me from my purpose. I am a
major general in the service ofthe United States ; and
my private convenience must not be put in a scale TOth
the duty which my rank imperiously calls upon me to
perform."

CLXV. Washington in Danger.
Before our array evacuated New York, General
Howe's army landed under cover of five ships of war.
So soon as this was announced to our Commander in
Chief, by a heavy cannonade from the men of war, he
instantly rode toward our hnes ; but he was astonished
nnd mortified to find that the troops which had been
posted there, and also two brigades which had been
ordered to support them, were retreating in great con
fusion and disorder. He made every effort to rally
them, but without success; they were so panic-struck,
that even the shadow of an enemy seemed to increase
their precipitate flight. His ExceUency, distressed
and enraged, drew his sword and snapped his pistols,
to check them : but they continued their flight, witiiout
firing a gun ; and the General, regardless of his own

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 015
safety, was in so much hazard, that one of his attend
ants seized the reins, and gave his horse a different di
rection.

CLXVI. Calmness of Washington.
While Mr. Evans, one of the chaplains of the army
was standing near his ExceUency, a. shot struck the
ground so near as to cover his hat with sand. Much
agitated, he took off his hat and said " See here.
General." " Mr. Evans," rephed Washington, with
his usual composure, " you had better carry that home,
and show it to your wife and children."

CLXVII. Courage of Washington.
During the assault, the British kept up an incessant
firuig of cannon and musketry from their whole line.
General Washington, and Generals Knox and Lincoln,
with their aids, having dismounted, were standing in
an exposed situation to wait the result. Colonel Cobb,
one of General Washington's aids, sohcitous for his
safety, said to his ExceUency, " Sir, you are too much
expbsed here. Had you not better step a littie back?"
" Colonel Cobb," rephed the Commander in Chief,
" if you are afraid, you have liberty to move back."
CLXVni. Marquis de La Fayette.
For some months previous to the capture of Corn
waUis, and while his army were traversing the Caroli-

216 AMERICAN ANECDOTfiS.
nas and Vhginia, he was opposed by the Marquis de
La Fayette, witib an inferior force. So confident was
he oi" success, and so much did he despise the extreme
youth of La Fayette, that he unguardedly wrote, in a
letter, which was afterwards intercepted, " The boy
cannot escape me."
He once formed the plan of surprising the Marquis,
who was on the same side of James river with himself ;
but was prevented by the foUowing incident. General
La Fayette, wishing to ascertain the particular situa
tion of his opponent, contrived to send a spy into his
camp to obtain inteUigence. Having reached the
British camp, the spy was soon introduced to his lord
ship, — who inquired the reason of his deserting the
American army. Charles Morgan artfully replied, "I
have been in the continental service from the beginning ;
and while under Washington, I was well satisfied ; but
being now comraanded by a Frenchman, I am dissatis
fied, and have quitted their service. Lord CornwaUis
commended his conduct ; and Charley, without sus
picion, entered upon tiie double duties of an English
soldier and an American spy. While in conversation
with his officers. Lord CornwaUis asked Charley how
long it would take the Marquis to cross James river.
Pausing a moment, he rephed, " Three hours, my
Lord." " Three hours !" exclaimed his Lordship, —
" It will take three days." " No, my Lord," said
Charley, the Marquis has such a number of boats, and
each boat wiU carry so many men. If you wiU please
to calculate, you wUl find he can cross in three hours."

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 217
His Lordship, turning to his officers, said " the scheme
wiU not do."
After obtaining necessary information, Morgan pre
pared to return to the American camp ; and he pre
vailed on seven British soldiers to desert with him.
"Well, Charley, have you got back?" said the
Marquis, when he retm-ned to head quarters.
" Yes, please your Excellency ; and I have brought
seven men with me."
• The Major General offered to reward him, but he
refused money ; and when it was proposed to promote
him to the rank of sergeant, or corporal, he rephed,-
" I have abihty to discharge the duties of a comnion
soldier, and my character stands fair ; but should I be
promoted, I may fail and lose my reputation." He,
however, requested that his destitute comrades, who
came with him, might be furnished with shoes and
clothing ; which was very readily complied with.

CLXIX. Anecdote of a JYegro. 4
When the Count D'Estaing's fleet appeared near
the British batteries, in the harbor of Rhode Island, a
severe cannonade was commenced, and several' shot
passed through the houses in town, and occasioned
great consternation among the uihabitants. A shot
passed through the door of Mrs. Mason's house, just
above the floor. The family were alarmed, not know
ing where to flee for safety. A negro man ran and sat
himself down very composedly, with his back against

218 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
the shot-hole in the door ; and being asked by young
Mr. Mason why he chose that situation, he rephed,
" Massa, you never know two buHet go in one place."

CLXX. Washington's Retaliation.
It is now settled as a fact beyond dispute, that Gen
eral Gates was connected with General Lee in a wick
ed plan to supersede the illustrious Washington. The
Commander in Chief was well aware of the means
they used to deprive him of the affections of the army,
and the confidence of the people. How he sought re
venge, is shown in the following anecdote.
" I found General Gates traversing the apartraent
under the uifluence of high exciteraent. His agitation
was excessive — every feature of his countenance, every
gesture, betrayed it. He had been charged with un
skilful management at the battle of Camden, and he
had just received official dispatches, informing him that
the coraraand was transfeiTed to General Greene. His
countenance betrayed no resentment, however; it was
sensibility alone that caused his emotion. He held an
open letter in his hand, which he often raised to his
lips, and kissed with devotion, while he repeatedly ex
claimed — " Great man ! Noble, generous procedure !"
When the tumuk of his mmd had a littie subsided, with
strong expressions of feelmg, he said, " I have this day
received a communication from the Commander in
Chief, which has conveyed more consolation to my
bosom, more ineffable dehght to my heart, than I be-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

219

lieved it possible for it ever to have feh again. With
affectionate tenderness, he sympathises with rae in my
domestic misfortunes, and condoles witii me on the loss
I have sustained in the recent deatii of my only son ;
and then, with pecuhar dehcacy, lamenting my misfor
tune in battie, assures me that his confiden9e' in ray
zeal and capacity is so littie impaired, that tte com
mand of the right wing df the army will be bestowed
on nie, as soon as I can make it convenient to join hira,"

CLXXI. Despondency of Lord Cornwallis. ¦
After the capture of Lord CornwaUis, at Yorktown,
he was one day standing in the presence of General
Washington, with his head uncovered. His ExceUen
cy politely' said to hira, " My Lord, you had better be
covered frora the cold." His Lordship, applying his
hand to his head, rephed, " It matters not, sir, what
becomes of this head now."

CLXXII. Miss Polly Baker.
In the early part of the last century a Miss PoUy
Baker was brought before a court of justice in Connec
ticut; wherein she was prosecuted the fifth time for
havuig iUegitimatis children ; on which occasion, she
made the following eloquent and forcible appeal to her
judges :
" May it please the honorable bench to indulge me in
a few words. I am a poor unhappy woman, who have

220 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
no money to fee lawyers to plead for me, being hard put
to it to get a tolerable living. I shall nbt trouble your
honors witii long speeches ; nor have I tiie presumption
to expect, that you may, by any means, be prevaUed on
to deviate in your sentence from tiie law, in my favor.
All I humbly hope is, that your honors would charitably
move the Governor's goodness in my behalf, that my
fine may be remitted. This is the fifth time, gentiemen,
that I have been dragged before your court, on the same
account ; twice I have been brought to public punish
ment, for want of money to pay the fines. This may
have been agreeable to tiie laws, and I don't dispute it :
but since laws are sometimes unreasonable in them
selves and therefore repealed, and others bear so hard
on the subject in particular instances, and therefore there
is left a power somewhere to dispense with execution
of them, I take the hberty to say, that I think this law,
by which I am punished, is both unreasonable in itself^
and particularly severe with regard to me ; who have
always lived an inoffensive life in the neighborhood
where I was born, and de fy my enemies, if I have any,
to say I ever wronged man, woman, or child.
Abstracted from the law, I cannot conceive, may it
please the court, what the nature of my offence is. I
have brought five fine children into the world, at the
risque of my life ; I have maintained them well by my
own industry, without burdening the township, and
would have done it better, if it had not been for the
heavy charges and fines I have paid. Can it be a
crime (in the nature of things, I mean) to add the num-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 221
ber of the King's subjects, in a new country that reaUy
wants people ? I own it, I should think it a praise
worthy rather than a punishable action. I have de
bauched no other woman's husband, nor enticed any
youth ; these things I never was charged with, nor has
one the least cause of complaint against me, unless, per
haps, the minister of justice, because I have children
without being married, by which they have missed a
wedding fee. But, can this be a fault of mine? I ap
peal to your honors. You are pleased to aUow I don't
want sense ; but I must be stupified to the last degree,
not to prefer the honorable state of wedlock, to the con
dition I have lived in. I always was, and still am will
ing to enter into it ; and doubt not my behaving well in
it, haying all the industry, frugahty, fertility, and skill in
economy, appertaining to a good wife's character. I
,defy any person to say, I ever refused an offer of that
sort : on the contrary, I readily consented to the only
proposal of marriage that was ever made me, which,
was when I was a virgin ; but too easily confiding in the
person's sincerity that made it, I unhappily lost my hon
or, by trusting his, for he got me with child, and then
forsook me. That very person you all know ; he is
now a magistrate of this county ; and I had hopes he
would have appeared this day on the bench, and en
deavored to moderate the court in ray favor ; then I
should have scorned to mention it; but I must now
complain of it, as unjust and unequal, to be niy betray
er and undoer, the first cause of ah my faults and mis
carriages, (if they must be deemed such,) should be
20

222 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
advanced to honor and power in government, that pun
ishes my misfortunes with stripes and infamy.
I shall be told, 'tis like, that were there no act of as
sembly in this case, the precepts of religion are violated
by my transgressions. If mine is a rehgious offence,
leave it to rehgious punishments. You have already
excluded me frora the coraforts of your church com
munion. Is not that sufficient ? You beheve I have
offended heaven, and must suffer eternal fire ; will not
that be sufficient? What need is there, then, of your
additional fines and whipping ? Lown I do not think as
you do ; for if I thought what you call a sin, was reaUy
such, I would not presumptuously commit. But how
can it be beheved, that heaven is angry at my having
children, when by the littie done by me towards it, God
has been pleased to add his divine skill and admirable
workraanship m the formation of their bodies, and
crowned it by furnishing them with rational and immor
tal souls ?
Forgive me, gentiemen, if I taUi a httie extravagantly
on these matters. I ara no divine; but if you, gentlemen,
must be making laws, do not turn useful and natural ac
tions into crimes, by your prohibitions, But take into
your wise considerations, the great and growing num
ber of bachelors in the country, many of whom, from
the mean fear ofthe expenses of a family, have never
sincerely and honorably courted a woman in their lives ;
and by their raanner of living, leave unproducted
(which is littie better than murder) hundreds of their
posterity to the thousandth generation. Is not this a

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 223
greater offence against the public good than mine ?
Compel them, then, by law, either to marry, or pay the
double fine of fornication every year. What shall poor
young women do, whom custom hath forbid to solicit the
men, and who cannot force themselves upon husbands,
when tiie laws take no case to provide them any ; and
yet severely punish thera if they do their duty without
them ; the first great command of nature, and nature's
God — increase and multiply ! A duty from the steady
performance of which notliing has been able to deter
me ; but for its sake, I have hazarded the loss of the
pubhc esteem, and have frequently endured public dis
grace : and, therefore, ought in my humble opinion, in
stead of a whipping, to have a statue erected to my
memory." This powerful appeal to the feelings and understand
ings of her judges influenced them to dispense with her
punishment and induced one of them to marry her the
next day. She ever after sustained an irreproachable
character, and had fifteen chUdren by her husband.

CLXXIII. Commodore Tucker.
I* remember weU hearing this venerable man relate
his receiving his first coraraission in our navy. He was
at Marblehead, soon after his return from England, and
at the time Washington was at Cambridge. Tucker,
then a young man, was cutting wood before his mother's
door, when a gaily dressed officer rode down the street.
It was in the dark of evening, and the officer, seeing
* Veteran Editor of the Maine Register.

224 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Tucker thus employed, rode up to him and asked him if
he could inform hirn where the honorable Samuel
Tucker resided. Tucker, astonished, answered him in
the negative, saying there is no such man lives here ;
there is no other Sara Tucker in this town but myself.
Immediately on hearing this, the officer raised his bea
ver, and, bowing low, presented him his comraission in
the navy.
CLXXIV. American Air Guns.
Sorae British officers, soon after Gage's arrival in
Boston, walking on Beacon Hill after sunset, were af
frighted by noises in the air, (supposed to be flying bugs
and beetles,) which they took to be the sound of .bul
lets. They left the hill with great precipitation, spread
the alarm in their encampment and wrote terrible ac
counts to England of being shot at with air guns, as ap
peared by their letters, extracts of which were soon af
ter published in London Papers. Indeed for some
time they really believed that the Americans were pos
sessed of a kind of magic white powder, which explod
ed and kUled without a report. In that much celebrat
ed and admirable poem of the day, M'Fingal, the cir
cumstance is thus satirized :
No more the British colonel runs
From whizzing beetles as air guns j
Thinks horn-bugs, bullets, or thro' fear
Musketoes takes for musketeers;
Nor 'scapes, as if you'd gained supplies
From Beelzebub's whole host of flies.
No bug these warlike hearts appals ;
They better know the sound of balK

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 225
CLXXV. Lord Howe and John Adams.
I never knew said Adams, in the course of all the
pubhc troubles and distress which I've known, any thing
to be compared to that to which the defeat of Braddock
gave rise. At the time I was in Mr. Putnam's office, a
courier arrived tiiere, and inquired for Col. Chandler's.
I told him I would go with him there, and show hira
the way. It was at the distance ofa mile. Every man,
woman and child came out of their houses as we passed
to hear the news, and all were in despair. They said,
" the country was betrayed by the English — they had
sold us to the French — we were undone — they would
ruin us — they would raake Catholics of us all." We
arrived at Chandler's who was a Councillor. He wrote
to the Governor the news, and added the advice that
ten thousand men be instantly called out in this state,
(Massachusetts) and marched. It was done. One
company of horse went from Quincy, but they were
all stopped and countermarched before they-reached
Fort Wilham Henry. Never was a war more stupidly
conducted than the Enghsh did that. Lord Howe was
a fine young man, behaved weU in his coraraand, and
was deeply lamented. Afterward, when Frankhn and
I visited his brother Lord Howe on Staten Island, he
said to us, " Gentiemen, I am happy to see you ; my
instructions authorize me to meet and converse with
any gentiemen upon the subject of the differences be
tween us ; but I cannot receive or converse vrith you,
excepting as private gentiemen : my government does
20*

226 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

not acknowledge any Congress — I cannot receive you
as a coraraittee of it. I feel a great affection for the
people of this country, particularly for the people of
Massachusetts, (they erected a monument to his brother
in Westminster Abbey,) and should be sorry for the
fall of this country." Frankhn replied, " We will en
deavor to prevent your sorrow, my lord." I was not
so civil : I told him that he raight receive me in any
way but that of a British subject. He moved about,
looking fidgetty and troubled, and said, "Mr. Adams is
a determined man." I knew that I had been, with
Hancock, S. Adams, and others, excluded from par
don in Privy CouncU by the Kjng, he.
When in England after the treaty, one day at the
Queen's drawing-room door, I met Lord Howe, ex
changed the usual civihties of meeting, and I asked
him to point out the place assigned for the foreign am
bassadors in the apartraent ; he looked very archly as
he pointed it out, and said, -" You are now to be con
sidered as ^.foreigner."

CLXXVI. Bostonians.
At a fire in Boston, which happened some time since,
a foreign gentieman, observing the resolution and ac
tivity of the inhabitants in extinguishing the flames, ob
served to another, that Satan would not act with his
wonted cunning if he admitted any Bostonians into his
dominions. "Why so?" asked the other ; "because,"
rephed he, " tiiey would try to extinguish the blaze."

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 227
CLXXVII. Gen. Zebulon M. Pike.
*' There is a charm in footing slow,
.fVcross a silent plain.
Where patriot battle has been fought,
Where glory had the gain ;
There is a pleasure on tho hearth,
AVhere druids old have been.
Where mantles grey have rustled by,
And swept the nettles green. Keats.
The heroic Pike, as humane as he was brave, occu
pied himself, m removing a wounded British soldier
from a place of danger, and after having performed this
act of genoristy, was calmly seated on the stump of a
tree, in conversation with another prisoner, when sud
denly the air was convulsed by a tremendous explosion.
The British magazme, at a distance of 200 yards near
the barracks, had blown up ; huge stones and fragments
of wood- were rent asunder, and whirled aloft by the
exploding of 600 barrels of gunpowder. Immense
quantities of these feU in the midst of the victorious
column, kilhng and wounding upwards of 200, and
among the latter Gen. Pike. But the Araericans,
though for a moment confounded, soon recovered their
former order, the ranks were instantly closed, and their
undaunted spirit was evinced by their loud huzzas. The
wound of the gallant Pike was soon found to be mortal;
yet he stiU retained the fire and sohcitude ofthe soldier
and commander — " Move on, my brave boys," he ex
claimed, " and avenge your General !" — They instantly
obeyed. He was then carried on board a viessel, and
shortly afterwards gratified by the sight of the British

228 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
flag. On seeing the victorious trophy, his eyes over
which approaching death had already drawn the pro
phetic film, for a moment resumed their lustre and
making signs for it to be placed under his head, he
calmly expired.
If we know aught of the supremacy of the soul, it
was manifest in the dying moments of that heroic patri
ot and soldier.

CLXXVIII. Attack on Buchanan's Station, 1792.
" Beneath the very shadow ofthe fort,
 with lust of murd'rous deeds
Gleam'd like a basilisk from woods in view
The arabush'd foeman's eye  ."
GEKTRT7DE Or WtMOING.
In the early history of Indian warfare in the state of
Tennessee, the gaUant and successful defence of Bu
chanan's station holds a distinguished place. The" his
tory of this ' affair ' is briefly as follows :
In the sumraer of 1792, a conference was held at
the farra of General Jaraes Robertson, who has been
emphatically styled the " father of West Tennessee,"
between the Chickasaws, and Choctaws, for the purpose
of adjusting those differences which had caused the ef
fusion of so much blood. At this conference several
chiefs and warriors ofthe Cherokees attended, but fi:om
the course of subsequent events, it would seem, not
with a view of burying the tomahawk and smoking the
calumet of peace, but for the purpose of spying out the
"nakedness of the land," and ascertaining when and

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 229
where an attack might be made with the best prospect
of success. Amongst these chiefs and warriors, was
one, who was frequently heard to say, that " before the
leaves feU an attack would be made upon sorae of the
white settieraents." This intiraation excited some
al§rm in the different stations, as it was not known at
what point the gathering storra would burst ; it had,
however, the good effect of inducing the settiers to pre
pare for tiie worst, and after the discussion of the coun
cil, the stations were generally placed in a better state
of defence.
Buchanan's station was situated immediately on the
road leading frora NashviUe to the Cherokee nation,
fom- miles from the former place. It occupied a high
ground on the right bank of MiU creek, and hke all the
other stations or forts in the xountry, consisted of a few
log cabins, surrounded by a slender picket. Major
Buchanan, who was at the council abovementioned, in
vited several of the Cherokees to accompany him home,
where he entertained them with hospitality and kind
ness. They carefully viewed the situation of the fort ;
examined its condition and raeans of resistance, and
several times remarked to Major Buchanan, that "such
a fort could make but a feeble defence." On their re
turn to their nation, they no doubt reported all they had
seen, which, induced the determination, to undertake
that enterprise, which resulted, in their discomfiture and
defeat. When the Cherokees departed, the station
was placed in the best state of defence the means of
its occupants would permit, in order tiiat they might be
prepared for any emergency.

230 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
About the beginning of September, 1792, Joseph
Duratj^a Frenchman, who had resided several years
among the Indians, and Dick Fendleston, a half-breed
Cherokee, arrived from the Cherokee nation, and made
known that it was decided to attack Buchanan's sta
tion, on or about the 20th September, and if success
ful, it was intended to fall upon the other stations in the
neighborhood, and upon Nashville. General Robert
son, on receiving this information, conceived it to be
entitied to sufficient credit, connected whh the hints
thrown out at the council, to authorize a call upon the
militia. He accordingly ordered the militia to assemble
at Rain's station, properly provided with arms and am
munition ; and in obedience thereto, about three hun
dred men, nearly the whole effective force of the dis
trict, assembled at that place. In order to ascertain
the truth of the report of Durat, and be apprised in due
time of the approach of the expected enemy, Abraham
Castieman, a man of bold and daring spirit, an excel
lent woodsman, and well acquainted with Indian war
fare, was sent out as a spy. Castieman with all the
caution of an exceUent woodsman, proceeded as far as
the Black Fox camp, a littie beyond where Murfrees-
borough now stands, and having discovered Indian
tracks, he returned. This circumstance tended to
confirm the report of Durat, but as the time mentioned
by him for the attack had now escaped, and as Watts,
the Cherokee Chief, had repeatedly assurred Governor
Blount of his peaceful intentions, the apprehensions of
the settlers were quieted ; indeed so secure did they

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 331
feel, that the troops who had been coUected were dis
charged, and returned to their respective homes.
Those who were at Buchanan's station not feeling en
tirely secure, about the 26th of September, sent out
Jonatiian Gee and Seward Clayton as spies ; they pro
ceeded some distance, and being decoyed and killed,
(as was afterwards ascertained,) by the Indians, dressed
after the fashion of the whites, the fort remained in ig
norance of their approach. Relying upon their spies
and apprehending no danger, they had not taken the
usual precaution of placing " sentinels upon the walls."
About midnight, on the last day of September, the
moon full, and shining with unusual brightness, a body
of Indians, between seven and eight hundred in num
ber, advanced in hostile array, against this, to aU ap
pearance, feeble fort. They were comraanded by
Watts, a half breed Cherokee, of noble and coraraand-
ing person, who had given many proofs of magnanimity
and humanity, and a distinguished chief of the Shaw-
neese, whose narae is not recoUected. The station,
feeble as it was, contained within its waUs, bold and de
termined spirits, accustomed to deeds of daring, who
were never known to shrink frora danger, and to whose
ears the war whoop, so appalling to a novice in war,
was famUiar. The first intimation those within the
station had of their approach, was frora the noise of
cattle and the barking of dogs. Two men in a block
house, awaked by the noise, looked out, and distinctiy
saw a body of about sixty Indians approaching ; undis
mayed by their superiority of number, and the formi-

232 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
dable front they displayed, tiiey raised their guns and
fired ; the Indians iraraediately returned the fire, and
the woods resounded with their war-whoops. This
roused the remainder of the garrison, consisting of only
twenty men, and several women and children. Each
man flew to his post, determined to repulse the enemy,
or die a glorious death. The women were no less
bold and resolute ; in the hour of danger, they seemed
to have forgotten the tenderness of their nature, and
calhng into action aU their heroism, they shared the glo
ry of the defence with their fathers, husbands and
brothers. The Indians soon surrounded the fort, fired
into the port holes, and several tiraes attempted to set
fire to one of the block houses ; for a moment this little
garrison thought all was lost, surrounded as they were
by a numerous foe, and expected to fall victims to the
scalping knife and tomahawk. Determined, however,
to seU their hves dearly as possible, they kept up a vig
orous fire, and several of the assailants were seen to
faU. The action was maintained about an hour, when
the Shawnee chief ^was killed, and the leader Watts,
severely wounded. The face of affairs, now changed ;
dispirited by the death of the Shawnee, and the wound
of Watts, the Indians precipitately retreated, carrying
with them a quantity of corn and a number of hogs.
Their loss was never correctly ascertained, but at a trea
ty held subsequently, there were admitted to be about
thirty kiUed. In the fort not one was kiUed by the en
emy; one raan, a brave son of Erin, was severely
wounded by the bursting of a blunderbuss, into which
he had put a double charge.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

233

In consequence of this signal repulse and defeat, the
intended attack upon NashviUe was abandoned. It is
highly probable that if Watts and the Shawnee chief
had agreed in opinion, or had the advice of Watts been
adopted, the result would have been different, and aU
the stations in the neighborhood would have faUen.
Watts, more cool and calculating, was in favor of lying
near the fort until it should be open in the morning, and
its defenders dispersed, or off their guard, and rushing
in ; the Shawnee on the contrary, tiiought it so easy a
conquest^ that he was for attacking it at once and then
marchmg directly to Nashville, where he hoped to be
richly rewarded by the spoUs of the inhabitants. For
tunately for the whites, the advice of the latter was
adopted, and the fort saved from the horrors of an In
dian massacre.
CLXXIX. Yankee Valour.
At the battle of Etaw, after the. British line had been
broken, and the Old Buffs, a regiment that had boasted
of the extraordinary feats they were to perform, were
running fi-om the field, Lieut. Manning sprang forward
in pursuit, directing the platoon which he coramanded
to follow him. He did not cast an eye behind him un
tU he found the British men on ,aU sides of him, and
not an American nearer than one hundred and fifty or
two hundred yards. He did not hesitate a raoraent,
but springing at an officer who was near him, seized
him by the collar and exclaiming in a harsh tone,
21

234 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
" D  n you, Sir, you are my prisoner," wrested his
sword from his grasp, dragged him from the house into
which Cruger and his York volunteers had thrown
themselves, and keeping his body as a shield of defence
frora the heavy fire frora the windows, carried him off
without sustaining any injury. Manning has often re
lated, that at the moment when he suspected his priso
ner would have made an effort for liberty, he with great
solemnity coraraenced an enumeration of his titles —
" I am. Sir, Henry Barry, Deputy-Adjutant-General
of the British Array, Captain in the 32d Regiment,
Secretary to the Commandant of Charleston." —
" Enough, enough. Sir, you are just the man I was look
ing for ; fear nothing for your life ; you shall screen
me from danger, and I will take special care of you."
Manning was of inferior size, but strong and remarka
bly well formed. This probably led Barry, who could
not have wished the particulars of his capture to be
commented on, to reply, when asked by his brother
officers how he came to be taken, " I was overpower
ed by a huge Virginian."

CLXXX. " Fighting on my own Hook,"
At the battie of Yorktown, whilst the aids of the
American chief were issuing his orders along the hne,
a man was discovered a short distance from it, who
presented rather a grotesque appearance, being dressed
in the coarse comraon cloth worn at the time by the
tower orders in the back country, with an otter-cap, the

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 235
shape of which very much resembled the steeple of a
meeting house, and a broad leather apron. His equip
ments consisted of a sraall woodchuck's skin, sewed
together in the form of a bag, and partiy fiUed vrith
powder, and an old rusty gun, which measured about
seven feet, eight inches, from the muzzle to the end of
the breech, and which had probably lain in the smoke
ever since the landmg ofthe pilgrims. One ofthe aids
passing him in the course of his rounds, inquired of him
to what regiment he belonged. " I belong to no regi
ment," said the fellow, after he had fired his " long
carabine." A few momfents after the officer rode by
again; but seemg the fellow very busy, and sweating
with exertion, he once more inquired to what regiment
he belonged. " To no regiment," was the answer, the
speaker at the same time leveUeA his piece at a " red
coat," who was preparing to fire, but who dropped dead
before he had half raised his gun. " To what com
pany do you belong ?"— " to no company"—" to what
battahon do you oelong ?"— " to no battalion"—" then
where the d  1 do you belong, or who are you fight
ing for ?" "Dang ye, (said the fellow,) I don't belong
any where, I am fighting on my own hook I"

CLXXXI. The three deserted children.
In the Sabbath School at New Madrid we received
three chUdren, who were introduced to that place un
der the following curcumstances. A man was descend
ing the river with these three children in his pirogue.

336 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
He and his children had landed on a desert Island, on
a bitter snowy evening in Deceraber. There were but
two houses, which were at Littie Prairie, opposite the
Island, within a great distance. He wanted more
whiskey, although he had already been drinking it too
freely. Against the persuasions of his chUdren, he left
them, to cross over in his pirogue to these houses, and
renew his supply. The wind blew high, and the river
was rough. Nothing could dissuade him from this
dangerous atterapt. He told them that he should re
turn to them that night, left them in tears, and exposed
to the pitUess pelting of the storm, and started for his
carouse. The children saw the boat sink, before he
had half crossed the passage. The man was drowned.
These forlorn beings were left without any other cov
ering than their ovra scanty and ragged dress, for he had
taken his blanket with hira. They had neither fire
nor shelter; and no other food than uncooked pork and
corn. It snowed fast, and the night closed over them
¦ in this situation. The elder was a girl of six years, but
remarkably shrewd and acute for her age. The next
w as a girl of four, and the youngest a boy of two. It
was affecting to hear her describe her desolation of
heart, as she set herself to examine her resources..
She made them creep together and draw their bare
feet under her clothes. She covered them with leaves
and branches, and thus they passed the first night. In
the morning the younger children wept bitterly with
cold and hunger. The pork she cut into small pieces.
She then persuaded them to rim about lay setting them

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 237
the example. Then she made them return to chewing
corn and pork. It would seem as if Providence had a
special eye to these poor chUdren, for, in the course of
the day, some Indians landed on the Island, found thera,
and as they were coming up to New Madrid, took
them with them.

CLXXXn. Death of Gen. Wolfe.
The fall of Wolfe was noble indeed. He received a
wound in the head, but covered it from his soldiers
with his handkerchief. A second ball struck him in
the beUy : that too he dissembled. A third hitting him
in the breast, he sunk under the anguish, and was car
ried behind the ranks. Yet, fast as life ebbed out, his
whole anxiety centered on the fortune of the day. He
begged to be borne nearer to the action : but his sight
being dimmed by the approach of death, he entreated
to be told what they who supported hira saw. He was
answered, that the enemy gave ground. He eagerly
repeated the question — ^heard the enemy was totally
routed — cried, " I am satisfied !" — and expired.

CLXXXm. Nancy's Hill.
A few miles below the Notch of the White Moun
tains, in the valley of the Saco, is a littie rise of land
called "Nancy's Hill." It was formerly covered with
a thick growth of trees, a httie cluster of which is yet
suffered to remain, probably firom the sad story con-
31*

238 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
nected with the spot. The pass through the Gap of the
mountains was discovered by Nash, a hunter, who,
with others in their excursions long before the settie-
ment of that part of the country, used to make this hill
a resting place, and drew together the thick boughs and
tops of the smaller trees so as to provide a temporary
sheher. This spot for years after inhabitants began to
settle along the rivers, was a common halting-place,
and the grantees of our northern townships, many of
whora lived in and about Portsmouth, passed over
this route to their lands. Col. W  , of Ports
mouth, settled upon his fine township of Dartmouth
[Jefferson] in 1773; and among his domestics was
Nancy  , a young woman of respectable connex
ions, who had faUen deeply in love with a young man,
also in the sarae services. At the close of autumn
they had agreed to go to Portsmouth, where they were
to be married ; and the girl, confiding in the attach
ment of her lover, placed in his keeping her little stock
of money, the hard earnings of several years of indus
try. For some cause or other, she was induced, be
fore the tirae fixed for their departure, to visit Lancas
ter. When she returned, the young man was gone,
and she determined to follow him. The snows of an
early vrinter had already fallen to some depth ; there
was not a house between Dartmouth and Bartiett, a
distance of thirty miles ; and the way through the wUd
woods a foot path only. The family labored to dis
suade her from the journey ; but she persisted in her
design, and wrapping herself in her long cloak, pro-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 239
ceeded on her way. Snow after snow succeeded, and
tiie very sky seemed to ghsten with frost, for several
weeks, when some persons frora Bartiett, passing up
this route, reached tiie hiU at night. On lighting their
fires, an uneartiily figure stood before them, beneath
the bending branches, wrapped hi a robe of ice, and re
clining her head, as if in sleep, against the trunk of a
large tree. It was the lifeless form of Nancy, who,
fatigued with her journey thus far, had stopped here to
rest, and faUing asleep, died of tiie intense cold.

CLXXXIV. Thomas Paine's Political Rise.
He came to Philadelphia (says Dr. Rush) in the
year 1774, with a short letter of introduction frora Dr.
Franklin to one of his friends. His design was to
open a school for the instruction of young ladies, in
several branches of knowledge, which at that tirae was
seldom taught in the schools of our country. Mr. Ait
kin employed him as the editor of his Magazine, with
a salary of £25, currency a year. This work was well
supported by him. His song upon the death of Gen
eral Wolfe, and his reflections upon the death of Lord
Chve, gave it a sudden currency which few works of
that kind have since had in our country. In the sum
mer and autumn of 1776, he served as a volunteer in
the American war, under General Washington. Wheth
er he received pay and rations I cannot tell. He lived
a good deal with the officers of the first rank in the ar
my, at whose tables his ' Common Sense ' always made

240 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
him a welcome guest. The legislature of Pennsylva
nia gave Mr. Paine £500, as an acknowledgement of
the services he had rendered the United States, by his
pubKcations. ^
CLXXXV. Michael Docherty.
At the moment of the retreat, on the 12th May,
1782, when Col. Laurens, commanding the troops of
jGen. Green's army, beat up the quarters of the enemy
near Accabec, Michael Docherty," a distinguished sol
dier of the Delawares, said to a comrade who was near
— " It does my heart good to think that but httle blood
has been spilt this day and that we are hkely to see the
close of it without a fight." No notice was taken of
his speech at the time, but meeting him shortly after in
the camp, I inquired how he who was so much applaud
ed for uncommon gallantry, should have expressed so
great a delight on beholding the eneray indisposed for
action. " And who besides myself had a better right
to be released, I wonder," said Docherty  " Wounds
and captivity have no charms for me, and Michael has
never forgot, but as bad luck would have it, boTh have
been his portion. When I give a little piece of the
history of my past life, you wiU give credit for my wish
to be careful of the part that is to come. I was un
lucky frora the jump. At the battie of Brandywine,
acting as sergeant, my captain being killed, and lieu
tenant absenting himself from the field, for the greater
safety ofhis mother's son, I fought with desperation till
our amunition was expended, and^my comrades being

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 241
compelled to retire, I was left hopeless and wounded
on the ground, and feU into the hands of the enemy.
Confinement was never agreeable to rae. I could
never be asy within the waUs of a prison. A recruit
ing sergeant of the British, who was at horae in his
business, and up to aU raanner of cajolery by dint of
perpetual blarny, gained my good wiU, slipped the
bounty into my hand, which I pocketed, and entered a
volunteer into the 17th regiment. Stony Point was our
station, and I thought myself snugly out of harm's way,
when oiie ugly night when I did not dream of such an
accident, the post was carried at the point of the bayo
net, and an unlucky thrust laid me prostrate on the
earth. It was a great consolation, however, although
this was rather rough treatraent frora the hand of a
friend, that the Delawares were covered with glory,
and as their prisoner I was sure to meet the kindest at
tention. My wound once cured, and white-washed of
my sins, my ancient comrades received me with kind
ness and hght heart, and hoping to gain my quantity of
laurels in the South, I marched forward with the regi
ment as a part ofthe command, destined to recover the
Carohnas and Georgia. The bloody battle of Camden,
fought on the 16th day of August, (bad luck to the,
day,) brought me once again into trouble. Our regi
ment was cut up root and branch, and poor PUgarlic,
my unfortunate self, wounded and made prisoner. My
prejudices agamst a jaU, I have frankly told, and being
pretty confident that I should not a whit better rehsh a
lodging in the inside ofa ^.rison-ship, I once again suf-

242 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
fered myself to be persuaded, and listed in the infantry
of Tarleton's legion. O ! botheration — what a mistake
— I never had such bad company ; as a man of honor
I was out of my element, and should certainly have giv
en them leg bail, but that I had not time to brood over
my misfortunes, for the battle of Cowpens quickly fol
lowing, Howard and Kirkwood gave us the bayonet so
handsomely, that we were taken one and aU, and I
should have escaped unhurt had not a dragoon of
Washington's added a slight scratch or two to the ac
count already scored on my unfortunate carcass. As
to the miseries that I have endured — afflicted with a
scarcity of every thing but appetite and musquitoes, I
say nothing about them. My love for my country
gives me courage to support that, and e^ great deal more
when it coraes. I love my comrades and they love
Docherty. Exchanging kindness, we give aare to the
dogs ; but surely you will not be surprised after aU that
I have said, that I feel some quahns at the thought of
battie, since, take whatever side I wiU, I am always
sure to find it the wrong one,"

CLXXXVI. Imperfect Resolutions.
A farmer, who was in moderate circumstances, but
kept a respectable flock of sheep, when he added
his name to the long hst of those who had resolved to
abstain from the pernicious use of ardent spirits, he in
sisted upon an arrangement, which was tacitly admitted
that would permit him to sip his favorite beverage when-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 243
ever he should be engaged in washing sheep. An ab
stinence of a few days followed accordingly, and the
season for washing his flock arrived, which he improv
ed as usual, though not without observing a most liber
al construction of the articles of his dispensation. An
appetite for strong drink, which habit has rendered in
ordinate, was now increased by indulgence to a degree
that seemed to leave but slender prospect of his sus
taining his engagements with the society. He soon hit
upon an expedient, however, which apparently reheved
him from aU qualms of conscience. A stately and
aged buck, had long held a conspicuous place in the
flock, and our hero argued with hiraself, that his fleece,
being very thick, would be benefitted by a second
washing ; and accordingly the unsuspecting animal was
frequently caught, and underwent, again and again, the
" searching operation :" while his owner, at every re
petition, recognized by his potations the special reserva
tion m his recent contract. His neighbors and others
concerned, expostulated with him, and endeavored to
dissuade him from thus abusing a privilege which had
been reluctantly conceded — ^but all would not do ; and
at the time of our hearing the story, the daily ablutions
of the old buck, notwithstanding his venerable carriage
and lengthened physiognomy, were rigidly continued.

CLXXXVII. The Yankee Parson.
A facetious parson of a country parish was employed,
some' years ago, to unite a rustic pair in the holy bands

244 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
of matrimony. As soon as the knot was tied, " weU
sir," says Jonathan, "what's the damage?" — "Noth
ing, I hope," rephes his reverence, " if there is any
thing done, it is no fault of mine, you alone are answer
able for the consequences of the proceedings of this
evening." " But I mean, sir, what's to pay ?" " O,
that depends on circumstances. When I marry a cou--
pie, if the bridegroom is rather indifferent towards his
bride, he hands over only the legal fee, four and six
pence. If he is pretty fond of her, he wUl pay a dol
lar or a crown. If he is very deeply in love he will
not think of giving less than a couple of dollars, or two
crowns." What effect this gentie hint had on the
heart of Jonathan, tradition saith not.

CLXXXVIII. Effects of Intemperance.
A man apphed to me* for charity in Baltimore-
street on Wednesday. He had been a soldier in the
army for fifteen years, and then stood before me in the
ragged remains of his soldier's uniform. His language ,
his demeanor, and his inteUigent countenance, bespoke
at once a highly cultivated mind, and a man who had
seen better days. Surprised at finding such a man in
such a garb, I asked him the cause of his present situa
tion. He had enlisted in the army in 1812, he said,
and had been and then was afflicted with " a swelled
foot," which he showed me. It was enough — it was
the effect of Intemperance. I would have given all I
" A correspondent of the Baltimore Patriot.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 245
the rich stores of his mind, which by mtemperance
were made to him worth nothing. It was a precious
jewel in a disgustful casket. He was a being formed
by education and high natural endowments for an ele
vated station in hfe, sunk to the lowest depth of degra
dation by a passion for drink. He was an ornament to
his race — he is a beggar ; and this the effect of intera-
perance ! Could those who are just entering upon a
course of intemperance have seen and conversed with
this man, I am sure the baleful cup would have dropped
from their quivering lips forever.

CLXXXIX. Irish Humanity.
^ The ship Henry Clay, at this port from Havre, had
a very long passage, and brought over 150 passengers.
The passengers' as weU as the ship's provisions, having
become nearly exhausted when about two months out,
on the first of July, in lat. about 43 11, and Ion. 02,
they feU in with the British ship Comet, frora Liverpool
for New York, and the day being pleasant, and water '
smooth, Capt. Parker sent his boat with his first officer
and some of the hands, to endeavor to get relief from
the British ship. On the boat's getting alongside, how
ever, the officer in the boat was informed that no as
sistance would be afforded, notwithstanding the dis
tresses of the crew were represented to hira. The
captain of the Comet, for some cause, did not show him
self on deck, and the boat was about to return with as
litde as she went, when an Irish passenger hailed her
22

246 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
from the bows of the Comet, and asked the mate to
" come under there, and (stepping forward and observ
ing in the pecuhai- dialect of his country,) here's half a
bag of male for ye, which ye need not thank our cap
tain for — take it, it will do to make some water gruel
for the childer." — and it was applied in that way, and
preserved life until the ship fell in with other vessels,
who feehngly contributed to her relief.

CXC. The Election Ox.
One of the British Governors, Bernard, being rather
affi'onted with the Bostonians, thought to punish them
by ordering the General Court to convene at Cam
bridge on election day. The Bostonians, who were
always a match for a British Governor, soon found
means to thwart him. An advertisement was inserted
in the newspapers, that an elegant dinner would be pro
vided in FaneuU Hall on Election day, at one dollar
per head ; and to crown aU a fine fat ox would be
roasted whole on the common, and then be cut up in
the market. About a fortnight before the Election, a
spit made of timber, was prepared at a Blockmaker's
shop on Barrett's wharf, and exposed to all the school
boys, who used to go in flocks when school was done
to see it, and by that means became more interested in
the Election day, and served to spread the news far
and wide. On Tuesday before Election, a fine fat ox
was procured, slaughtered, and dressed completely for
the spit ; it was placed in a cart dressed out wEh box.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES., 247
lUacs, pianas. Sic. accompanied with music ; _ and was
paraded through Cornhill, Marlborough street and Win
ter street to the bottom of the Common, where there
used to be some hills ; on the one side of them a place
was made to fix it to roast, and wood prepared to light
a fire. Next morning at sunrise when a discharge of
cannon was to, and did, take place, large numbers of
boys were there, and the only difficulty the men had
was to keep them from quarrelling about whose turn it
was to turn the spit. Instead of Boston being thinned
by the Governor's measures, it was filled from the neigh
boring towns, particularly the Comraon, which was fill
ed to overflowing. At Cambridge, it was said, not a
sohtary tent was seen, and scarce people enough left to
cook the Governor and his partisans an ordinary din
ner. At one o'clock the ox was said to be well done,
and taken as it was on the spit, by volunteers (not hired
servants) carried to the Market, placed on a butcher's
block, and handsomely carved. Some nice pieces
were carried into the HaU ; the reraainder was cut in
smaU pieces and served out to the raen and boys in the
market, who aU said it was as good a piece of beef as
they ever ate. The day was fine, and no accident
happened to mar hs pleasures. The Common in the
afternoon, was fiUed with all kinds of sports customary
on Election days, and in the evening with a great va
riety of fire works. The Governor, with some of his
partisans, it was said, skulked into town after dark, be
ing ashamed to be seen wliUe the sun was above the
horizon. ^ native of boston.

248 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CXCI. Revolutionary Spirit of the Quakers.
During the momentous contest for Liberty and In
dependence, the Society of Friends, generally adhering
to their known pacific principles, would not take an ac
tive part therein. Two of their members, residing in
New Jersey, conversing on the subject, one observed,
that, considering the men in power destrained much
more of their property than the demand, he was dis
posed to submit and pay, especially as the Scriptures
said, " Render unto Csesar the things that are Caesar's."
The other inquiring who was Csesar? "Why, in an
cient tiraes there were several, as Augustus Csesar,
Tiberius Csesar, and Juhus Cfesar ; and if thou refus
es! /to pay the mUitary requisitions, the constable wiU be
thy Seisure." CXCII. Reuben Rouzy.
One Reuben Rouzy, of Virginia, owed the general*
about £1000. While President of the United States,
one of his agents brought an action for the money ;
judgraent was obtained, and execution issued against
the body of the defendant, who was taken to jail. He
had a considerable landed estate, but this kind of prop
erty cannot 1)e sold in Virginia for debts, unless at the
discretion ofthe person. He had a large family, and
for the sake of his chUdren, preferred lying in jaU, to
selhng his land. A friend hinted to him, that probably
Gen. Washington did not know any thing of the pro
ceeding, and that it might be weU to send him a peti-
* Washington.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 249
tion, with a statement of the circumstance. He did so,
and the very next post from PhUadelphia, after the ar
rival of his petition in that city, brought hira an order
for his immediate release, together with a full disc)iarge
and a severe reprimand to the agent for having acted in
such a manner. Poor Rouzy was, in consequence, re
stored to his family, who never laid down their heads at
night, witiiout presenting prayers to Heaven for their
" beloved Washington." Providence smUed upon the
labors of the grateful family, and in a few years, Rouzy
enjoyed the exquisite pleasure of being able to lay the
£1000, with the interest, at the feet of this truly great
man. Washington reminded hira that the debt was
discharged : Rouzy rephed, the debt of his faraily to
the father of their country and preserver of their parent
could never be discharged ; — and the General, to avoid
the pleasing importunity of the grateful Virginian, who
would not be denied, accepted the money, only, how
ever, to divide it among Rouzy's children, which he
immediately did.

CXCm. General Morgan.
General Morgan, distinguished as the commander of
a rifle corps during the revolutionary war, was a plain
home bred man. He always caUed his men his boys,
and his hearty familiarity made him popular ; and his
orders were obeyed in a moment. He would order a
draft of men at 3 o'clock in the morning to go 28 miles
before day-hght. Horsemen were always at hand to
22*

250 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
take the riflemen on behind them. No inquiries by the
men were allowed. He told his raen to shoot at those
who wore epaulettes, rather than the poor fellows who
fought for six-pence per day.

CXCIV. Letter on Duelling.*
" Sir — I raust absolutely decline the challenge you
sent me yesterday, by Robin, and frankly acknowledge
I dare not fight you. I ara sensible the world in gen
eral wUl call this cowardice, and that the odious appel
lation of scoundrel will be given me in every coffee
house ; but I hope you will not judge with the multi
tude, because you have been an eyewitness of my be
haviour in no less than seven engagements with the com
mon enemy. I had the reputation of being a brave
man, and am conscious that I am so stiU, even when I
once raore tell you I dare not fight you. The reasons
of my conduct in this affair are very valid, though very
few. To be brief, sir, I would rather endure the con
tempt of man, than the anger of ray Maker ; a temporal
evil, than svn eternal one. In one' of the wisest states of
the world, there was no law against a parricide, because
they thought it a crime which the worst of villains would
be incapable of. Perhaps the silence of our Legisla
ture, with regard to duelling, is owing to some such rea
son. What can be more enormous than for men (not
* This letter is said to hav e been written by Alexander Robinson, Esq.
a man who had much distinguished himself by his courage in the military
service, to a friend, whose name was Walter Smith, in jconsequencc of
a challenge received from him.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 251
to say Christians and friends) to thirst for the blood of
each other ; nay, raore, to aira the blow, with a true
Italian vengeance, at once both at the body and the soul ?
I hope, in tiie coolness of reflection, you will think as I
do ; if otherwise, I am as determineti to give you up to
the tyranny of passions, as I am to remain master of
my own. Yours, Sic. A. R."

CXCV. Indian Logic*
A few years since, whUst the mistaken zeal of raany
good men, led them to think that their red brethren of
the forest might be Christianized before they were civ
ilized, — a missionary was sent out among them to con
vert them to the Christian faith. The missionary was
unfortunately one of those preachers who dehght in spec
ulative and abstruse doctrines, and who teach the ineffi
cacy of all human exertions in obtaining salvation. He
caUed the Indians together to hear what he caUed the
Gospel. The Sachem or Chief of the tribe to which he
was sent, came with the rest. The missionary in the
course of his sermon, (which was upon the very simple
and intelhgible doctrine of election) undertook to prove,
that some were made to be saved, and some to be
damned, without any regard to their good or bad con
duct. As an iUustration of his doctrine, he cited the

* The Editor of the American Anecdotes, is not responsible for the
sentiments which any of the Anecdotes of this collection may seem to
illustrate. And although he has carefully omitted, such, as would tend
to corrupt, or exert an immoral influence on the character ; he disclaims
every political or religious partiality. The above has been introduced as
an interesting specimen of Indian logic.

252 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
case of Jacob and Esau, and attempted to show that
God loved the one and hated the other before either of
them vvas born. The Sachem heard him attentively,
and after meeting invited him to his wigwam. After
some conversation, the Sachem thus addressed the
Missionary : " Sir, me tell you a story : My wife have
two boys, twins ; both of them as pretty as the two you
tell rae about to-day. One of them she love and feed
hirn ; the other she let lie on the ground crying. I teU
her take him up, or he die. She no mind me. Pretty
soon he die. Now what shall I do to her?" — Why,
said the Missionary, she ought to be hung ! — " WeU,"
said the Sachem, " then you go home and hang your
God, for you say he do just so. You no preach any
more here, unless you preach more good than this."
The Missionary finding himself amongst a people too
enlightened to give credence to his narrow and heart
revolting principles, though it expedient to seek a new
field of labor.

CXCVI. Uncommon Self Possession.
On the banks of the Naugatuck, a rapid stream,
which rises in, and flows through a very mountainous
part of Connecticut, lived a respectable family by the
name of B  . The father, though not a wealthy,
was a respectable raan. He had fought the batties of
his country in the revolution, and frora his familiarity
with scenes of danger and peril, he had learned that it
is always raore prudent to preserve and effect an air of

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

253

confidence in danger tiian to betray signs of fear, and
especially so, since his conduct might have a great in
fluence upon tiie minds of those about him. He had
occasion to send a httle son across the river to the
house of a relation, on an errand, and as there was
no bridge, the river must be forded.
The lad was famihar with every part of the fording
place, and when the water was low, which was at this
time the case, could cross without danger. But he
had scarcely arrived at his place of destination and
done his errand, when suddenly, as is frequently the
case in mountainous countries, the heavens became
black with clouds, the winds blew with great violence,
and the rains fell in torrents ; it was near night, and be
came exceedingly dark. By the kindness of his friends
he was persuaded to relinquish the design of returning
m the evening, and to wait until raorning. The father
suspected the cause of his delay, and was not over
anxious on account of any accident that might happen
to him during the night. But he knew that he had
taught his son to render the raost obsequious obedience
to his father's commands; that he possessed a daring and
fearless spirit, and never would be restrained by force,
he would as soon as it should be sufficiently light in the
morning, atterapt to ford the river on his return. He
knew also that the immense quantity of water tiiat ap
peared to be falhng, would, by raorning, cause theriver
to rise to a considerable height, and make it dangerous
even for a man, in the fuU possession of strength and '
fortitude, to attempt to cross it. He therefore passed a

254 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
sleepless night ; anticipating with all a father's feelingl
what might befaU his child.
The day dawned ; the storra had ceased ; the wind
was StUl, and nothing was to be heard but the roar of
the river. The rise of the river exceeded even th^
father's expectations, and no sooner was it sufficiently
hght to enable hira to distinguish objects across it, than
he placed himself on the bank to watch for the api
proach of his son. The son arrived- on the opposite
shore at the same moment, and was beginning to enter
the stream. AU the father's feelings were roused into
action, for he knew that his son was in the most immi
nent danger. He had proceeded too far to return ; in
fact, to go forward or return, was to incur the sarae
peril. His horse had arrived in the deepest part of the
channel, and was struggling against the current, down
which he was rapidly hurried and apparently making
but httle progress toward the shore. The boy became
alarmed, and raising his eyes towards the landing place
he discovered his father. He exclaimed alraost frantic
with fear. ' O ! I shaU drown, I shall drown !' ' No !'
exclairaed his father in a stern and resolute tone, and
disraissing for a raoraent his feelings of tenderness, ' If
-you do, I'll whip you to death ; chng to your horse.'
The son who feared a father raore than the raging ele
ments, obeyed his coramand, and the noble animal on-
which he was mounted, struggling for sorae time, car
ried him safe to shore. ' My son,' said the glad father,
bursting into tears, ' remember hereafter, that in dan
ger you must possess fortitude, and determining to sur-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 255
viva, chng to the last hope. Had I addressed you
with the tenderness and fear which I felt, your fate was
inevitable ; you would have been carried away in the
current and I should have seen you no more.' What
an example is here ! The heroism, bravery, philoso
phy and presence of mind of this man, even echpses
the conduct of Csesar, when he said to his boatman,
Quid times'? Ccesardenwehis,

CXCVII. To every general proposition there is an
exception.
In the year 1820, an American gentleman embarked
at Philadelphia for the purpose of taking a " tour in
Europe." He visited in succession, France, Italy,
Spain, and Portugal. Having beheld the beautiful
scenery, and enjoyed the enchanting allure^ments which
these nations present, he passed over to " the fast-an
chored isle." After visiting the raore prorainent and
inviting portions of England, he went into Wales to be
hold the rich scenery of the Welch mountains. He
arrived at a small town, on a certain evening, at a late
hour. He travelled with more than ordinary splendor,
having his postilhons and out-riders. When he arrived
at the viUage, he inquired for the best house of enter
tainment in the town. " That," said an inhabitant
pointing to a house near where he was standing, " is
the only tavern in the place." In consequence of this
information, the stranger went imraediately to tha
house. On entering, he accosted the landlord with the

256 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
interrogatory — " Can you furnish refreshment for my
self, my servants, and my horses ?" Such an occur
rence as the arrival of a stranger in a splendid coach,
had not happened at the viUage, perhaps, for a century
— and the tavern-keeper was bewildered with amaze
ment. He replied to the question of the stranger in an
agitated and bustling raanner, — " Oh, sir, I am afraid I
can't entertain such a gentleman as you are." " Can
you take care of my horses i"' "Yes, sir; but I am
afraid I can't entertain such a gentleman as you are,"
which sentiment he uttered at every breath. The
stranger had travelled a considerable distance without
stopping. " Sir," said he to ' mine host,' " make no
excuses, but give me the best you can for supper, as I
have not dined to-day." The landlord said, he "had
nothing in the house fit to place before such a gentle
man" — ^but caUed aloud to his whole household to be
stir themselves, and prepare the gentleman's supper.
In a short time, it was announced. The gentleman sat
down, and, to his surprise, found a supper before him,
which an Alderman raight envy. Having sufficiently
refreshed hiraself, he addressed Boniface, " Why land
lord, you told me you had nothing for supper ; but I will
venture to say that I have eaten as good a supper as
any man in the town." "Except the Mayor," rephed
the landlord. " No I won't except any body. I re
peat it, I have eaten as good a supper as any man in the
town." By a statute, it is enacted that the Mayor, out
of respect to the dignity of his office, shall constitute an
exception in all cases of this nature — and the tavern-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 257
keeper, being a constable, deemed it his duty to inform
against the gentieman for violating the law. The next
morning just as he was about to depart, an officer sum
moned the stranger before the Mayor. His worship
received him with great dignity ; — and, after the pre-
hrainary formalities had been gone through with, the
gentleraan requested to be informed to what he was in
debted for the honor of the interview. He was told
that he had violated the law of the realm, inasmuch as
he had stated the evening previous that he had eaten as
good a supper as any man in the town, without except
ing the Mayor. He inquired the amount of the penal
ty, when his worship began to turn over the leaves of a
book to show him the law. The gentleman said he
did not want to see the law — he only wanted to know
the amount of the fine. He was told it was four-and-
six-pence. He drew the money out of his pocket, and
desired to know who informed against him. " There
stands the man that informed against you," said the
Mayor, with great solemnity. The gentieman turned
round, and, behold ! it was the tavern-keeper. He
then upbraided him for his ingratitude. " So, sir, it is
you, then, that informed against me ; — you, at whose
house I stopped, and to whom I have paid my money.
Now, sir, I'll teU you what — I am an American, I have
travelled through the United States, — I have visited
France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and England — 'and I
have never in my life seen so great a rascal as you are,
(turning and bowing very gracefully to his worship, and
handing him the fine,) except the mayor."
23

258 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

CXCVIII. Four good reasons for not Preaching
' Politics.
Doctor Byles was a tory, and of course his pohtical
opinions were extremely odibus to the majority of his
fellow citizens. However, he always avoided the sub
ject in the pulpit, and when the reason was asked, he
answered, " I have thrown up four breastworks, behind
which I have intrenched myself, neither of which can
be forced. In the first place, I do not understand poli
tics ; in the second place, you all do, every man and
mother's son of you ; in the third place, you have pol
itics all the week, pray let one day in seven be devoted
to religion ; in the fourth place, I am engaged in a work
of infinitely greater iraportance ; give me any subject
of more consequence than the truths I bring to you,
and I will preach on it the next sabbath."

CXCIX. Indian Fidelity.
Some time after the commencement of the Revolu
tionary war, when the northern Indians were beginning
to make inroads on the people living on the east side of
the Ohio river, this gentleman* having come out to the
upper Moravian town, on the Muskingum, on business,
and there taken lodging with a respectable and decent
» Gen. O'Hara.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

259

family of Indians in the village — I had one evening
scarcely laid down to sleep when I was suddenly rous
ed from my bed by an Indian runner, (or messenger)
who m the night had been sent to me, 9 miles, with the
foUowing verbal message, " My friend, see tiiat our
friend O'Hara, now at your town, be imraediately tak
en off to the settlement of white people, avoiding all
patiis leading to that river. Fail not in taking ray ad
vice, for there is .no time to lose — and hear my son
further on the subject."
The fact was, that eleven warriors frora Sandusky,
were far advanced on their way to take or murder
O'Hara ; who at break of day would be at this place
for the purpose. I iraraediately sent for this gentie
man, and told hira that I would furnish him with a con
ductor, on whom he might depend and having sent for
Anthony, (otherwise caUed Luke Holland) informed
him ofthe circumstance and requested his services ; he
(the Indian) wished first to know, whether my friend
placed confidence in him, and trusted to his fidelity ;
which question being answered by O'Hara himself, and
to his fuU satisfaction ; he rephed, 'well, our hves can-'
not be separated ! we must stand or faU together ! but
take courage, for no enemy shall discover us !'
The Indian then took Mr. O'Hara through the woods,
and arriving within a short distance of the Ohio river,
pointed oirt to him a hiding place, untU he, by strolhng
up and down the river, should discover white people on
the opposite shore ; when finally observing a house
where two white men were cleaning out a canoe for

260 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
use, he hurried back to bring on his friend, who, when
near the spot, advised his Indian conductor to hide him
self, knowing those people to be bad men, he feared
they might kUl him, for his services. The Indian fi
naUy seeing his friend safe across the river, returned
and made report thereof.
The young Indian, who had been the bearer of the
message frora his father to me, had immediately return
ed on seeing O'Hara off, in order to play a further de
ception on the war party, for the purpose of preventing
them even from going to our town, fearing, that if there,
and not finding their object, they might probably htint
for his track, and finding this, pursue him. He in
deed effected his purpose so completely, that while
they were looking him in one direction, his conductor
was taking him off in another.
The father of the young lad, who was the principal
cause that O'Hara's life had been saved, had long been
admired by all who knew him for his philanthropy ;
on account of which the traders had given him the name
of " the gentleman." Otherwise this Indian was not
in connection with the Christian Indian Society, though
a friend to them. He lived with his family retired and
in a decent manner.
Wliile I feel a dehght in offering to the relatives and
friends ofthe deceased, as also to the public, this true
and faithful picture of Indian fidelity — I regret that, on
necessarily having had to recur to the names ' Anthony'
and Luke Holland,' I am drawn from scenes of pleas
ure, to crimes of the blackest hue. The very Indian

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 261
just named, who at that time joyfully reported to me his
having conducted his friend out of danger, to a place of
safety, some years after approached me with the dole
ful news that every one of his children, (all minors) to
gether with his hoary headed parents, had been mur
dered by the white people, at Gradenhutten, on the
Muskingum. john heckelwelder.

CC. Dr. Franklin quoted against Himself.
Doctor Frankhn, Sir Joseph Banks, Doctor Lettsom,
Lord Laughborough, and Doctor Solander, once went
in a party to Spithead, to try the experiment of smooth
ing water with oil. A laughable scene took place be
tween Dr. Franklin and an officer on board the ship,
on the properties of thunder and lightning. The officer
continually contradicted the Doctor with saying, " Sir
you are quite viTong in your opinion ; Dr. Franklin
says so and so ; the Doctor and you are quite contrary
in your ideas. I never will allow that Doctor Frank
lin is wrong. I am certain he is right, and you are
wrong, begging your pardon."
The Dr. never altered a feature of his countenance
during the conversation; while all the company enjoy
ed a laugh except the disputants.

CCI. Dr. Franklin's Boyhood.
Almost aU the distinguishing features of Frankhn's
character may be traced to his childhood. He was in
23*

263 ' AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
his earliest days shrewd and artful, industrious and per
severing, and of habits the most economical. When at
school, Franklin distinguished himself among his play-
feUows by his strength and address, and he was gener
ally the leader in aU their scheraes. Their great de
light was in fishing for minnows ; and as their constant
trampling had made the edge of the pond a quagmire,
Franklin's active mind suggested the expedient of
building a little wharf for them to stand upon. Un
luckily a heap of stone was collected in the neighbour
hood for the purpose of building a new house ; and one
evening Franklin proposed to his companions to make
free with them after the workmen were gone home.
The project was executed with great industry : but the
stones being' missed, inquiry was made, and the boys
complained of. Frankhn pleaded, in excuse, the utili
ty of the work ; but his father wisely took the oppor
tunity of inculcating the exceUent maxim, that what is
not honest, cannot be useful.

ecu. Dreaming Match.
Sir William Jones, who was superintendent of In
dian affairs in America previous to the revolution, re
ceived several suits of clothes from England richly
laced, when Hendrick, king of one of the five nations
of Mohawks, was present. The chief admired them
much, but said nothing at the time. In a few days
Hendrick called on Sir William, and told him he had
had a particular dream. When Sir WiUiam inquired

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 263
what it was, he told him that he had dreamed that he
gave him one. of those fine suits which he had received
from over the water.
Sir WiUiam took the hint, and presented him with
one of the richest dresses ; and Hendrick, much pleased
with his generosity, retired. A short time after. Sir
WiUiam happening to be in company with the Indian
chief, told him that he also had had a dream. Hend
rick, being very sohcitous to know what it was. Sir
WiUiam informed him that he dreamed he had made
him a present of a particular tract of land of about
5000 acres. The land was the most valuable on the
Mohawk river; however, Hendrick immediately pre
sented it, with this shrewd remark, " Now, Sir Will
iam, I will never dream with you again. You dream
too hard for rae." The tract thus obtained is stiU call
ed Sh- WiUiam's Dreaming Land.

CCIII. Bold language of Patrick Henry.
When Patrick Henry, who gave the first impulse to
the ball of the American revolution, introduced his cele
brated resolution on the stamp act into the House of
Burgesses, of Vh-ginia, May, 1765, whUe descanting
on that hateful act, he exclaimed, " Caesar had his
Brutus : Charles the First had his Cromwell ; and
George the Third"  ("Treason !" cried the speak
er. " Treason ! Treason !" echoed from every part
ofthe house.) It was one of those moments which
are decisive of character. Henry faultered not for an

264 AMERIC.4.N ANECDOTES.
instant ; but rising to a loftier attitude, and fixing on
the speaker an eye flashing with fire, he cpntinued,
" and George the Third may profit by their example.
If there be treason in this, make the most of it."

CCIV. Kindness of an Indian Husband.
There was a famme in the land, and a sick Indian
woman expressed a great desire for a mess of Indian
corn. Her husband having heard that a trader at
Lower Sandusky had a httle, set off on horseback for
that place, one hundred mUes distant, and returned
with as much corn as filled the crown of his hat, for
which he gave his horse in exchange, and came home
on foot, bringing his saddle back with him.

CCV. Confidence in Indian Honesty.
In the year 1771, whUe I was residing on the Big
Beaver, I passed by the door of an Indian, who was a
trader, and had consequentiy a quantity of goods in his
house. He was going with his wife to Pittsburg, and
tiiey were shutting up the house, as no person remained
in it during their absence. This shutting up was no
thing else than putting a large hominy pounding block
against the door, so as to keep it closed. As I was
looking at this man with attention, whUe he was so em
ployed, he addressed me in these words. " See, ray
friend, this is an Indian lock that I ara putting to my
door." I answered, " WeU enough ; but I see you

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 265
leave much property in the house ; are you not afraid
that those articles will be stolen while you are gone ?"
" Stolen ! hy whom ?" "Why, by Indians, to be sure."
" No, no," rephed he, " no Indians would do such a
thing ; and unless a white man happens to come, this
way, I shall find ah safe at my return,"

CCVI. Sarcastic Reply of James Otis.
The talents and learning of Jaraes Otis placed him
so rauch above those of his own standing, that he had
no rival;, and though civil to those about him, he was
not very cautious in conceahng the contempt he felt for
political enemies, who were inferior to him in every
thing, but the power of their office, and who were, for
the promotion of their private advantage, he believed,
conspu'ing to ruin the country.
Having cited Domat, in the course of some discus
sion. Governor Bernard inquired, " who Domat was ?"
" He is a very distinguished civihan," answered Otis,
" and not the less an authority for being unknown to
your Excellency."

CCVn. Anecdote of Doctor Byles.
During the unhappy divisions preceding the Araeri
can Revolution, Doctor Byles was sentenced to be con
fined to his own house, with a guard placed over him.
On one~ occasion he exhibited his love of ridicule, by
persuading his sentinel to go on an errand for him prom-

266 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
ising to take his place. This he did very faithfully,
and to the great amusement of all who passed, the Doc
tor was seen very gravely marching before his door, the
musket on his shoulder, keeping guard over himself.
A short tirae after, it was thought best to relieve him
from the'presence ofa sentinel; on some further com
plaint, a guard was again placed over him ; but he was
soon freed, and no further noticed. Speaking of these
transactions, he said, " he had been guarded, reguard-
ed, and disreguarded."

CCVIII. Doctor Byles and the Selectmen.
Directiy opposite his house now standing at the angle
of Nassau Street, in Boston, there was forraerly avery
bad slough in wet weather. It happened one day, that
two of the selectmen who had the care of the streets,
drivuig in a chaise, stuck fast in this hole, and were
obliged to get out in the mud to endeavour to extricate
their vehicle. Dr Byles came out, and making them a
respectful bow, said ; " Gentlemen, I have often com
plained to you of this nuisance, without any attention
being paid to it, and I am very glad to see you stirring
in this matter now."

CCIX. The Dark Day.
In 1780, a most extraordinary obscurity pervaded
the atmosphere on a particular day, which is always de
signated as " the dark day." A lady who was a neigh-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 267
bour of Doctor Byles, sent her son with comphments
to him, to know if he could account for the uncommon
appearance of the day. His answer was, " My dear,
you vriU give my compliments to your mama, and tell
her that I am as much in the dark as she is."

CCX. New Lights.
A ship from London brought out 300 street lamps,
for the town of Boston. It chanced that a woman of
weak mind and whining manner, who belonged to the
sect called " New Lights," made a visit to Dr. Byles,
on the same day that these lamps arrived. Wishing to
rid himself of her company, he asked, in a tone calcu
lated to excite curiosity if she had heard the news ?
" Oh, no ! dear Doctor, — what news ?" " Why three
hundred new lights have come over in the ship from
London." " Bless me, I had not heard of it." " Yes,
and the selectmen have ordered them to be put in iron*
immediately." His visitor at once hurried away to
make further inquiries.

CCXI. Gen. Solomon Van Rensselaer.
There is no man who has contributed more to es
tabhsh the military reputation of our country, or v^hose
name is more intimately associated with American pat
riotism and valor than the subject of these remarks.
Many of his most prorainent services, and particularly
his acts of daring and feariess mtrepidity, are familiar

268 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
to all who have any acquaintance with our history.
The following interesting particulars, in addition to
those more generally known, are furnished by an in
teUigent gentleman who was an officer on the Niagara
frontier in 1812 and was personally acquainted with the
facts which he relates.
On the arrival of Col. Solomon Van Rensselaer upon
the frontier, the active, efficient and successful meas
ures he adopted for the better organization and more
perfect discipline of the army, coramanded universal
approbation, and were submitted to by all under his
command with a cordiality arising from a perfect con
viction of their wisdom and necessity. The change
which was at once produced in the appearance, feelings
and character of the array, was a subject of universal
reraark and adrairation. His first step was to concen
trate at Lewiston the troops which had hitherto been
scattered along the whole line leaving the necessary
guards of observation at different points. The camp
was forraed, and General Orders given for its govern
ment and disciphne. These orders were in aU re
spects military. The duties of officers and privates
were detailed with conciseness, but with a clearness
which left no roora for mistake, and whh a minuteness
which embraced every thing necessary to the most per
fect disciphne. In addition to this, his uniform deport
ment was such as to coraraand not raerely respect, but
an attachraent bordering on veneration.
The troops were regularly on parade at four o'clock
in the morning, and General (then Colonel) Van Rens-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 269
selaer was ever found among them, giving the neces
sary orders for then: exercise and disciphne, and per
sonaUy inquiring into their situations. Those who serv
ed under him are uniform in their expressions of grati
tude for the attention he bestowed upon them, and the
solicitude he evinced for their corafort and welfare.
Our informant observes, " None but an eye-witness can
form a correct idea of the order and regularity of the
camp, and his masterly arrangements along the whole
hne of the Niagara. The general orders were all writ
ten by him, and evinced a perfect acquaintance with
the art of war." The embarrassments of the army,
and particularly of the officers, arising from a want of
cannon and military stores, were very great. For a
tirae they had only 4 six, and 2 three pounders on the
line fit for service. Fifty or sixty boats loaded with
heavy cannon and military stores, were detained at Os
wego through fear of the British, who then had the, as
cendency on Lake Ontario. At this crisis an express
arrived from Gen. Dearborn, that an armistice had
been agreed upon between him and Sir George Pro
vost, embracing the whole line. Brock and HuU except
ed ; and that, in the arrangement with the British com
manding officer, it was stipulated that no British troops
should march from that district to aid Gen. Brock
against Gen. Hull. This was the only reservation made
by Gen. Dearborn. Col. Van Rensselaer, as usual,
was to carry this order into effect. Before leaving the.
tent of Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer, the command
ing officer, he observed, " Our situation is critical and
24

270 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
embarrassing; something must be done; we must have
the cannon and mUitary stores from Oswego : I shall
make every effort to procure the use of the navigable
waters, and for that purpose shall take such grounds as
wiU raake it irapossible for me to recede — and if I do
not succeed, Lovett, (the private Secretary of General
Van Rensselaer,) must go over and carry Gen. Dear
born's orders into effect." Gen. Van Rensselaer and
Lovett replied, " You may as well give that up : You
cannot succeed." Coolly observing, " If I do not it
shall not be ray fault," he started upon this important
and delicate mission. When he raet Gen. Shieffe, Col.
Myers and Maj. Evans of the British array were pres
ent. The proposition tbat no British troops should
leave that district to join Gen. Brock was immediately
submitted, and at once assented to by Gen. Shieffe ;
but when Col. Van Rensselaer proposed to him the use
of the navigable waters in comraon with themselves, he
promptiy refused, and said it was utterly inadmissible.
Much conversation passed on the subject, which result
ed in a direct refusal. Col. Van Rensselaer then ob
served to Gen. Shieffe, " Then, Sir, there can be no
armistice. General Van Rensselaer will take upon
himself the responsibility of preventing you from de
taching troops from this district." Gen,, Shieffe, tose
from his seat and rephed, " This is taking high ground.
Sir," and after walking tvs^o or three times hastily across
the room, requested Col. Van Rensselaer to be seated.
in a few minutes, he withdrew into an adjoining room,
with Col. Myers and Maj. Evans. After consulting

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 271
with them a short time he returned, and observed, that
" from amicable considerations he would consent that
we might use the waters during the armistice." Arti
cles of agreement were immediately signed and ex
changed. One express was dispatched for Oswego, to
order on the boats loaded with the cannon and military
stores, and another was sent to Ogdensburgh, to order
aU the Lake vessels, which had run into the Oswegat-
chie river for safety to Sacket's Harbor. With these
vessels. Commodore Chauncey gained the ascendency
on the lake ; and with these vessels. Gen. Dearborn
and the lamented Pike made the attack upon York.
The cannon and mUitary stores with troops, arrived
from Oswego, and before the last vessel left the river,
orders were received to put an end to the armistice.
Of these important services, which gained us the as
cendancy on Lake Ontario, and enabled us to maintain
our position, at a tirae when the army was so destitute
of every thing necessary to its defence that Gen. Dear
born recomraended the abandonment of Fort Niagara,
no public notice has yet been taken. The services
were the more important as they were rendered about
the tirae that a universal distrust pervaded the whole
array, in consequence of the sharaeful and cowardly
surrender of Hull and his army to the British. They
were marched down as prisoners of war, within a quar
ter of a mile of our troops, on the very day that it was
supposed they were in the possession of Fort Maiden.
In the mean time. Col. Van Rensselaer kept the
^oops at close drUl and field duty. He was constantly

272 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
among them, and the disaffected officers saw that his
eagle eye was upon thera. It was owing to the fear
and affection in which he was held, and the firmness
and decision which he manifested on all occasions, that
a determination among the troops to disband and re
turn home, was finally abandoned. When Gen. Brock
with all the force he could draw from the upper coun
try arrived, he intended to have taken Fort Niagara.
But the timely arrival of the cannon and military stores
fi'om Oswego, and their judicious disposal, alone pre
vented the intended attack.
" I cannot refrain," says our informant, " frora re
lating an anecdote which is so strongly characteristic of
this gallant and intrepid soldier." When Col. Van
Rensselaer, went over to the British side to ascertain
the situation of Hull's late army, (then prisoners of
war) in walking over the green, near Fort George, in
company with Colonel McDonald and other British
officers, he observed some sraall brass Grass-Hoppers,
and reraarked, " that he recollected those pieces well;
that they once belonged to Gen. Wayne's army, and
were used in an action against the Indians in 1794, in
which he was engaged ; and that after the defeat of the
Indians they were left at Detroit." Col. McDonald
observed, " they had taken them at that place." Col.
Van Rensselaer in great good humor, replied, " we
must try to take them back again ;" to which McDon
ald rejoined—" then we must try to defend them."
Little did .McDonald think that every thing was matur
ed, and that he and his gallant General would both fal^

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 273
the very next day, by an attack led on by the very man
with whom he was then conversing.
It is known that Col. Van Rensselaer led on this at
tack, and it was the first decisive blow struck by the
American forces after Hull's surrender. Taking into
consideration the disadvantages of crossing the river
and ascending a steep bank under a thick and constant
fire from the enemy, it was the most daring and suc
cessful enterprise of the whole war. Every precaution
had been taken to ensure s|iccess. Fifty of Captain
Leonard's old company of artillery were selected, and
furnished with matches, in order to turn upon the ene
my the guns ofthe batteries when taken. His platoons
were calculated to fill each one boat, and were doubly
officered. Not a gita was loaded or fired until he
gained and drove the enemy from the first bank. He
was the first man on shore, and sent off the boats so that
there could be no retreat. His detachment ascended
the bank, breasting a sheet of fire. The enemy were
defeated and driven to the village of Queenston. Al
though Col. Van Rensselaer received six severe wounds,
he concealed them, and coolly gave his orders to carry
the batteries. The troops at last filed off before him,
and it was not unTil the batteries were taken and the
excitement which sustained hira had passed away, that
" the gaUant hero fell. By his fall all was lost ; for had
he been spared, so great was the confidence of the
troops in him, that they would all have gone over ;
Shieffe would have been beaten in the afternoon, and
Fort George have faUen into our hands. When Col.
24*

274 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Van Rensselaer was conveyed from the river to the
carap, about ten o'clock in the forenoon, corapletely
riddled, and was about to be taken out, he declined,
and pointing to some wounded soldiers, said " take
those poor fellows out first."
Col. Van Rensselaer was a captain of dragoons in
Gen. Wayne's army in the great battle of 1794, when
the Indians were defeated. Gen. Wilkinson, speaking
of hira in his Memoirs, says, " that he beheld him in a
gaUant charge at the head of his troops, shot through
his lungs, and that he stiU sraUed with coraplacency."
He has been Adjutant General of the state of New-
York, through periods of high party exciteraent, and
under the administrations of Governors John Jay,
George Clinton, Morgan Lewis, D. D., Tompkins, and
De Witt Clinton, and he ever enjoyed their confidence
and attachment.
Gen. Van Rensselaer, has for some time past been
Post Master in the city of Albany.

CCXII. The Spanish Wreck.
About the year 1683, Sir WiUiam Phips, afterwards
celebrated for his attempts to take Quebec, in 1690,
applied to the English Government for aid and permis
sion to fit out a suitable vessel for the purpose of search
ing for the wreck of a Spanish ship which had been lost
near one of the West India Islands, richly laden with
silver. His request, after some delay, was granted
and a frigate caUed Algier Rose, carrying 18 guns and

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 275
manned with 95 men, was placed under his command.
He arrived in New England the same year and pro
ceeded forthwith to the place where the treasure was
reported to have been lost. He encountered many
difficulties in his voyage and came nigh, more than once,
losing his life by the mutiny of his crew. It is report
ed of him that while his ship lay by an island for the
purpose of enabling his raen to take on board a fresh
supply of wood and water, they agreed among them
selves to take the ship into their own hands, and make
a piratical expedition into the South Seas. They
were all on the island with the exception of Captain
Phips and eight or ten of the crew. Araong these was
the carpenter, whose services they could not well dis
pense with, and they accordingly sent to the ship, re
questing him to come to them, as they had something
for him to do. No sooner had he come among thera,
than they disclosed to him the cruel project, which was
to set the Captain, and the above naraed eight or ten
men upon the island, and then leave them to perish,
while they would take the ship into their own hands
and perform the proposed voyage. They gave the
carpenter half an hour to consider of the subject,
whether he would join with them or not, and sent him
back accorapanied by a seamen to prevent any inter
view between him and the Captain, by which a disclo
sure could be made. While at work on the ship, he
suddenly feigned an attack of the cholic, and rushed
into the cabin for the purpose of obtaining relief, and
while there gave the Captain an account of the deter-

276 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
mination of his crew. He directed the carpenter to
return upon the island, and give his consent to join the
conspiracy. When the carpenter had left the ship, the Captain
prdered the men on board, to prepare the pieces for
action, removed the plank by which a landing had been
effected, and ordered them not to permit any one of
those, save the carpenter to approach the ship. A
quantity of provisions had been carried on shore and
covered with a tent, and two or three guns placed near
to protect them from the Spaniards who might be pass
ing that way : these guns were all charged, ready to be
made use of in the event of an attack froni the ,iconspi-
rators. The disaffected part of the crew now returned
to the ship for the purpose of executing their plans.
No sooner had they corae in sight, than the captain or
dered thera not to approach, saying to them that their
intentions had been discovered, and that they were to
be left upon the island, there to remain and perish.
Seeing how hopeless their condition was becorae, they
gathered courage frora despair, and resolved to rescue
the provisions from the ship, and began to make a bold
push. As soon as they began to approach, the captain
in a resolute manner, cried out, " stand off, ye VTretch-
es, at your peril !" — They quietly relinquished their
determination to attack, and fell upon their' knees, im
ploring pardon, and offered to comply with any dispo
sal he might make of them, provided he would receive
them on board. After having kept thera on their knees
long enough, he granted their petition and received

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 277
them into the ship, and saUed immediately for the is
land of Jamaica, there put them on shore, and em
ployed other seamen in their place.
He novv commenced an examination for the wreck,
and after spending a long time in an almost fruitless
search, sailed for England. By the advice, however,
of an old Spaniard, he had satisfied himself of the pros
pect of succeeding in accomplishing his object, and de
termined to return again and prosecute his plan. His
crew being composed of strangers, made him think it
adviseable to change them for others in whom he could
have greater confidence in the event his labors should
be crowned with success.
On his return to England, his conduct gained the
royal approbation, and the applause of the nobles, and
many distinguished men encouraged him to engage in
a second expedition and under raore favourable and
promising circumstances.
His project was opposed, however, by many power
ful eneraies ; but, prorapted by the proverb, he who can
wait, hath what he desireth, he overcame every obsta
cle and disappointment, and, under the patronage of
the Duke of vVlbemarle, and a new ship fitted out with
a more honest crew, furnished with instruments and
conveniences suited to the nature of the expedition.
Arriving at Port de la Plata, he made a large canoe
from the cotton tree sufficient to carry eight men, and
with the old Spaniard for a guide, again commenced
examination for the wreck. There they floated about,
fishing for their treasure araong dangerous reefs and

278 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
shoals for many weeks without success. So fruitless
was the search that more than once had he, as well as
his men, determined to abandon the work. At length,
when returning to the ship, discouraged by repieated
disappointment, and the hopelessness ofa successful is
sue of the projetJt, one of the raen looking into the wa
ter discovered a feather, as he tiiought, growing out of
a rock. Thinking that they would not go back to the
Captain without something to present him, they order
ed an Indian to dive down and bring it up, which hav
ing done, he gave an account of many large guns
which he saw in his descent. The diver again went
down, and, to the joy and astonishment of the men, re
turned with a sow or lump of silver, which turned out
to be worth from ten to twelve hundred dollars. They
buoyed the place and returned to the Captain overjoy
ed with their good fortune, as it was well known that
the wreck was one of the ships belonging to the king of
Spain, v?hich had been lost on a returning voyage from
South America richly laden with silver buUion. The
loss of the ship is supposed to have happened about the
year 1G37, and the immense treasures which were re
ported to havl been sunk with her were often made the
subject of ingenious speculation, and many had sunk
their own fortunes in their efforts to find it. It was re
served, however, in the silent depths, that Capt. Phips
might be the fortunate finder of it at so late a period
after its loss. He now found in the bulhon brought to
him fuU assurance that destiny had aUoted to hira to
suck of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hid
in the sands.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 279
Having prepared his instruments for fishing up the
contents of the wreck, all hands were now busily em
ployed in the work, and in a short time they succeeded
in procuring the astonishing amount of thirty-two tons of
silver. In addition to this Captain Adderly, an adven
turer from Providence, and particular friend of Captain"
Phips, obtained six tons more from the same wreck at
the same time. It was by an agreement that Adderly
met Phips at the place of the wreck with a small vessel.
He was so overjoyed with the extent of his riches and
so elated at such unlocked for acquisitions, that he lived
but a little while to enjoy thera. It is said that he went
to tiie island of Bermudas where he became insane and
died about two years after the six tons of silver carae
into his hands. Phips, however, raade a more profita
ble account of the expedition, and hved to enjoy the
proceeds of it without prejudice to his health or de
struction of his mind. In a few weeks after leaving
the wreck, he arrived safe at London, in 1687, with a
cargo valued at near fifteen hundred thousand
DOLLARS. He raade an honest distribution of it among
those who aided him in fitting him out with a vessel and
proper conveniences, and received aboufseventy-five
thousand doUars for his share of the profits. The
Duke of Albemarie, out of respect to his honesty and
fidelity, presented his wife, who was then in New
England, a gold cup worth " near a thousand pounds."
And King James as a reward for his important services
in bringing such amount of property into the country
conferred on him the honor of Knighthood.

280

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

Sir WUliam Phips according to the very learned
Cotton Mather, " was born February 2, 1650, ata des
picable plantation on the river Kennebeck." He re
moved to Boston where he married a daughter of Rog
er Spencer, and pursued the business of a smith, which
was the occupation of his father. It is said that he fre
quentiy promised his wife that he would one day com^
mand a King's ship and be the owner of a fair brick
house in the Green lane of North Boston, all which
proved true, for after the discovery of the wreck, he
returned into New England in the summer of the year
1688, " able after five year's absence, to entertain his
lady with some accomplishment of his predictions : and
then buih himself a fair house in the very place which
he foretold." CCXIII. George Roberts.
George Roberts and myself* were fellow sailors
with Paul Jones, in his expedition against the British
in 1773, when he terrified the comraerce of that coun
try, by constantly hovering about the coasts of Scot
land and Ir^nd, though having only a ship of eighteen
guns. When Jones landed on the coast of Scotland,
and took away all the faraily plate of the Earl of Sel
kirk, Roberts was one of the sailors who inarched into
the castie while that strange deed was done ; I reraain
ing on board the ship. The plate was all brought on
board, and safely disposed of, though as it turned out,
* A correspondent ofthe Natchez Ariel, to whom we are indebted for
this highly interesting anecdote.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 281
much to tiie Commodore's loss, as he had afterwards to
buy it up in Paris, to return it to the owner. He in
tended to capture the Earl, and detain him as a hostage;
but being absent from home at the tirae we landed, it
was prevented.
In the next year, 1779, Roberts and I sailed again
with our brave commander from Brest, in France, in
the frigate Good Man Richard, carrying forty guns, and
four hundred and twenty men, or thereabouts, as near
as I can recollect. She was an old ship, not fit for the
hard service we put her to, as it afterwards came out.
On the 22d September, off Flamborough Head, which
is a high rock that overlooks the sea, we feU in with the
Baltic fleet, under the convoy of the frigate Serapis, of
fifty-eight guns, and the sloop Countess of Scarborough,
a very heavy ship, but I do not recollect having heard
how many guns she carried. Just as the moon rose, at
eight in the evening, the eneray fired his. first broadside,
when within pistol shot of us. And now a raost mur
derous scene began. The action raged with horrid
violence, and the blood ran ankle deep out of the ship's
scuppers. Our rigging was cut up to atoms, and finally
both ships took fire — so that friend and fdf were oblig
ed to rest from fighting, that they might extinguish the
flames. The Richard being old, was soon shot through,
and began to sink. In this awful condition, Jones'
voice, hke the roaring of a hon, was heard above the
din of the battie, ordering to " grapple with the enemy."
We accordingly made our ship fast to the Serapis :
and it was easily done, as the two were so near to each
25

282 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
other, that when I drew out the rararaer of the gun I
belonged to, the end of it touched the side of the Se
rapis !' Being thus fast and safe, we fought without any
resting, until nearly all our guns were burst or dis
mounted — the ship nearly full of water — our first lieu
tenant, Grubb, shot dead by Jones' own pistol, for
hauhng down the colors without orders, and which
happened only at ray own elbow — our decks covered
with dead and dying, and the ship cut up into sphnters.
While in this awful and desperate situation, ray
friend Roberts, seeing how near spent we were, jurap
ed on the main yard of our vessel, which projected di
rectly over the decks of the Serapis, with a bundle of
hand grenades. These he contrived to throw down
Upon the Serapis' deck, and succeeded in blowing up
two or three of their powder chests; the explosion of
which killed and wounded a great raany men. The
Captain of the Serapis, perceiving his activity, ordered
sorae shot to be fired at Roberts. One of thera struck
a rope by which he supported himself, and caused hira
to fall upon the gunwale of the enemy's ship, which I
observing, caught hold of him and puUed hira aboard.
He imraediaftly got up on the sarae yard arra again,
with a fresh supply of hand grenades, and made such
dreadful havoc on the enemy's deck, that in a few
minutes they surrendered. For this great bravery,
Paul Jones pubhcly thanked him on the quarter deck
ofthe Serapis, the next afternoon, giving hira double
the allowance of grog for the week afterwards.
It was near midnight when the action terminated.
The top of Flamborough Head was covered with peo-

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 283
pie watching the engagement, and no doubt the sight
must have been grand. The next day our ship sunk,
being fairly battered to pieces by the enemy's shot, as
they poured a shockingly murderous fire into us all
the while. Coraraodore Dale, who died in this city
about two years ago, was Jones' second Ueutenant, and
was badly wounded about the middle of the battie.
He was ordered to go below, though he stUl wished to
fight upon deck. After he went down, he was very
useful in taking care of a large number of Enghsh
prisoners we had on board. We had 174 men kiUed,
and nearly as many wounded and missing. The Sera
pis had 135 men kiUed, and about 80 wounded.
Captain Pai-sons, the English coraraander, fought
nobly, and defended his ship to the last'. He had nail
ed his flag to the mast, and was afraid to haul it down
when he surrendered, as none of his men would go up
to tear it away, because they dreaded the sharp shoot
ers in our round tops. So when he concluded to give
up, he mounted the gunwale just by where I was stand
ing, and called out in a loud voice, " We surrender,
we surrender." Capt. Jones not hearing this, I left
my gun and ran to him and told him of it. He instant
ly ordered the firing to cease, and the flag hauled down
— ^but no Enghshman would do it, as musket shots
were stiU exchanged between the two vessels. On
hearing this, George Roberts juraped aboard the ene
my's ship, mounted the tottering shrouds,_ and hacked
down the British ensign from its proud height. As it
fell, what I considered as very reraarkable, a capful of

284 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
wind took it, and laid it directly at Jones' feet, at the
same time spreading it nearly all over the dead body
of Lieut. Grubb, who in tjje heat of the fight, was still
lying dead on the deck. When the crew ofthe Rich
ard saw the flag fall, they gave thirteen tremendous
cheers, at which Captain Parsons shrunk back from his
high stand into the shadow of his mizen mast.
When we returned from this cruise, being affected in
my hearing by a splinter, which struck me under the
ear, I left the service, and saw and heard no more of
my friend Roberts, from that time until I saw his death
inserted in your paper. He was a true, honest, man,
and bold to a degree not to be daunted. He was
younger than me-^and yet he has closed his eyes in
that sleep to which all of us, soldiers or not, must one
day give up.

CCXIV. Captain Hale.
This young man was a student in Yale CoUege, when
the Revolutionary struggle commenced. He left his
studies for the post of danger ; and though not twenty
years of age, was appointed captain of a company in
the regiment of Colonel Knowlton. After the British
had obtained possession of Long Island, General Wash
ington, considered it of the utmost iraportance to obtain
inforraation of their strength and intentions. Captain
Hale offered himself a volunteer for this hazardous ser
vice. He passed in disguise to Long Island, examined
every part of the British army, and obtained the best

- AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 285
possible information respecting their situation and future
operations. In his attempts, to return, he was appre
hended, carried before Sir WiUiam Howe, and tiie
proof of his object vvas so clear, that he frankly ac
knowledged who he was, and what were his views.
Sir William Howe at once gave an order to the pro
vost marshal to execute hira the next raorning. The
order was accordingly executed in a most unfeeling
manner, and by as great a savage as ever disgraced hu
manity. A clergyman, whose attendance he requested,
was refused him ; a bible for a moment's devotion,
was not procured, though he requested it. Letters,
which, on the morning of his execution, he wrote to
his mother and other friends, were destroyed, and this
very extraordinary reason was given by the provost
marshal, ' that the rebels should not know they had a
man in their army who could die with so much firm
ness.' Unknown to all around him, without a single friend
to offer him the least consolation, thus fell as amiable
and promising a young man as America could boast,
with this as his dying observation, — ' that he only la
mented he had but one hfe to devote to his country.'
To the memory of Andre, England has erected a
magnificent monument, and bestowed on his family
high honors and liberal rewards. To the meraory of
Hale, not a stone has been erected, nor an inscription,
to preserve his name from oblivion. The following
tribute to his memory is from the pen of Mrs. S. J.
Hale, the editor of the Ladies Magazine.
25*

286 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
Died he as the soldier joys to die.
When the banner be follows is waving high,
And from voices, whose tones he remembers well.
Loudly the cheers of triumph swell ;
Till victory's shout on the free breeze floats,
He hath caught its sound, 'mid the wild war notes,
— One flash of hope, his eye grows dim —
The land he hathserved will remember him ?
Died he as the patriot prays to rest.
His labors all crowned, and his country blest ;
Garrulous age, his echo of fame.
Repeating the proud and cherisb'd name ;
While the spirit of youth, like a charger stirred
By the clarion's swell, at the glorious word.
Thirsting for danger, and spurning at fear,
Bounds to follow his hero's career !
He died, but not on the battle plain,
Where laurels are freshened with crimson rain !
Nor the rolling drum, nor file's shrill tone
Nerved him to stifle the low death groan :
Nor the clasp of a comrade his cold hand thrilled.
And bade his heart leap ere its pulse was billed,
Tbat a message of love from bis lips would be borne
To the fond friends who never might greet his return.
He died, and his memory passed away.
Like the rain-bow gleam from the torrent's spray ;
And ne'er at his country's high triumphs was beard
His name, that should be the signal word,
When from learning's halls, and I owers of mirth.
Young genius at Freedom's call, starts forth,
And ye read in the fearless, flashing eye,
He comes to the battle, ' to do or die !¦'
Hedird, and 'twas by the foeman's hand,
But not like a soldier by ball or brand, —
— A felon's fate was his fearful doom !
Yet gather young flowers to deck his tomb.

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 287
Spring's earliest buds— they shall emblems be
Of the hopes that woo'd him to victory —
O, bright they shone,— but there came a frown
And his sun in its morning light went down !
And he died, and his death was a bitter one»
For taunting foes were gazing on ;
He heard their scorn on his lov'dland poured,
Yet his fettered hand could not grasp his sword.
— He stood beneath the fatal tree.
And gazed on the cord undauntedly !
— If there came a pang, it blanched not his cheek —
And the wish they had mocked, he disdained to speak.
He died when the war-cloud was gathering fast,
When havoc aud horror were borne on the blast —
But sure to the martyr of Freedom is given
A glance of the future, when ripe for heaven —
— O didst thou not see, young Hale, in tbat hour.
The eagle's broad pinions in pride and power,
Bearing the banner of liberty.
Shadow thy own land from sea to sea !
And didst thou not feel, when pouring thy breathy
That duty<done, plucks the sting from death .'

CCXV. Dr. Byles paid in his own coin.
The Doctor having paid his addresses unsuccessfully
to a lady, who afterwards married a gentleraan named
Quincy, the Doctor on meeting her, said, " so madam,
it appears you prefer the Quincy to Byles." " Yes,"
retorted the lady, "for if there had been any thing worse
than biles, God would have afflicted Job with it."

288 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
CCXVI. Whitefield.
Doctor Franklin, in his memoirs, bears witness to
the effect which was produced by Whitefield's preach
ing in America. " I happened," said he, " to attend
one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived
he intended to finish with a coUection, and I silently re
solved he should get nothing from me. I had in my
pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver
dollars, and five pistoles in gold*^ As he proceeded, I
began to soften, and concludea to give the copper.
Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of
that, and determined me to give the stiver ; and he fin
ished so admirably, that I emptied ray pocket wholly
into the collector's dish, gold and aU. ,At this sermon
there was also one of our club, who being of my sen
timents respecting the building in Georgia, and sus
pecting a collection might be intended, had by precau
tion emptied his pockets before he came from home.
Towards the conclusion of the discourse, however, he
felt a strong inclination to give, and applied to a neigh
bor who stood near hira to lend him sorae money for
that purpose. The request was fortunately made to
perhaps the only man who had the firmness not to be
affected by the preacher. His answer was, " at any
other time, friend Hodgkinson, I would lend to thee
freely ; but not now, for thee seems to me to be out of
thy right senses."

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 289
CCXVII. Noble Revenue.
During General Burgoyne's destructive campaign in
New York, he ordered his troops to burn the beautiful
mansion of the American General Schuyler, and to de
stroy all the property they could find. Not long after.
General Burgoyne was obliged to surrender himself
and his army, as prisoners of war to the Americans.
The celebrated Lady Ackland, who followed the for
tunes of her husband with such remarkable constancy
and fortitude, was then in the British camp. " I went,"
says she, as nearly as I can recollect the words, "over
to the Araericans, soon after our surrender, taking my
children with me in my favourite calash. I acknowl
edge I felt timid as I passed through the enemy's carap;
but no insult was offered me, and I saw no symptoms
of any thing but respect, and compassion for my mis
fortunes. Arrived at General Gates's tent, a gentie
man came forward to hand me frora ray calasb, and
said in a soothing tone, " you tremble, madam, do not
be alarmed;" and when he took the chUdren from the
carriage, he clasped the youngest to his bosom and
kissed it tenderly. The tears came to my eyes, as I
said, "Surely, sir, you are a husband and a father,"
It was General Schuyler ! whose property had so re
cently been destroyed by our army. He afterwards
invited General Burgoyne and other officers to visit his
house for several days. " You treat me with great
kindness and hospitality," said the British General,
"though I have done you so much injury." " That

290 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
was the fortune of war," replied General Schuyler,
" let us think no more of it."

CCXVIII. Breaking up of the Revolutionary Army.
At the disbandment of the revolutionary army, when
inmates of the same tent, or hut, for seven long years,.
were separating, and probably forever ; when they
were grasping each other's hands in sUent agony, — I
saw the Baron Steuben endeavour to throw some ray
of sunshine on the gloom, to mix some drop of cordial
with the painful draught. To go, they knew not whith
er — all recollection of civil occupations lost, or never
known. Their hard-earned military knowledge worse
than useless. To be severed from friends, — from all
the joys and griefs which soldiers feel ; to be cast out
on a world, long since by them forgotten ; to go in si
lence and alone, and poor and hopeless. It was too
hard ! On that sad day how many hearts were wrung !
I saw it all, — nor can the scene be ever blotted from my
view. Lieutenant Colonel Cochran, from the Green
Mountains, was a stern old officer, who had met danger
and difficulty at almost every step from his youth, now,
for the first time, suffered the tears to flow down his
furrowed visage. The good Baron said aU that could
be said, to lessen his deep distress. " For myself,"
said Cochran, " I care not. I can stand it ; but my
wife and daughters are in the garret of that wretched
tavern. I know not where to remove ; nor have I
means for their removal !" " Come my friend," said

AMERICAN ANECDOTES. 201
tiie Baron, " let us go— I wiU pay my respects to Mrs.
Cochran and your daughters, if you please." I fol
lowed to the loft, the lower rooms bemg all filled with
soldiers, with drunkenness, despair and blasphemy ;
and when the Baron left the poor unhappy cast-aways,
he left hope with them, and all he had to give.
A black raan, with wounds unhealed, wept on the
wharf. There was a vessel in the streara, bound to
the place where he once had friends. He had not a
doUar to pay his passage ; and he could not walk.
Unused to tears, I saw them trickle down the good
Baron's cheeks, as he put into the hands of the- black
man the last doUar he possessed. The negro hailed
the sloop, and cried, " God Alraighty bless you, raas-
ter Baron." Can the children of Araerica ever for
get the men who thus put fortii a hand to help her, in
the hour of her deepest distress .''

CCXIX. Washington's Farewell to his Officers.
The principal officers of the array assembled at
Francis' tavern, in New York, to take a final leave of
their much loved Commander in Chief. Soon after,
his Excellency entered the roora. His emotions were
too strong to be concealed. Filling a glass, he turned
to thera, and said, " With a heart fuU of love and grat
itude, I now take leave of you. I raost devoutly wish
that your latter days raay be as prosperous and happy
as your former ones have been glorious and honour
able." Having drank, he added, " I cannot come to

292 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to
you if each of you will come and take me by the
hand." General Knox, being nearest, turned to him.
Incapable of utterance, Washington in tears, grasped
his hand, embraced and kissed him. In the same af
fectionate manner he took leave of each succeeding
officer. In every eye was the tear of dignified sen
sibility ; and not a whisper interrupted the eloquent si
lence, and tenderness of the scene. Leaving the
roora, he passed through the corps of light infantry,
and walked to White Hall, where a barge waited to
convey him to Paulus' Hook. The whole company
followed in mute and solemn procession, with dejecte4
countenances, testifying feehngs of delicious melan
choly, which no language can describe. Having entered
the barge, he turned to the corapany, and waving his
hat, bade them a sUent adieu. They paid him the
same affectionate coraphment, and after the barge had
-left thera, they returned, in the same soleran manner,
to the place where they had assembled. The passions
of human nature were never more agitated than in this
interesting and distressful scene.

CCXX. Remarkable Fact.
On the passage of General La Fayette to York, du
ring his visit to America in 1824, an eagle flew from
the Bluff, about two miles below Alexandria, and hov
ered over the steam-boat Petersburgh, in which the
General was on board. It followed him to Mount

AMERICAN ANECDOTES.

293

Vernon ; and continued flying over the tomb of Wash
ington, to which tiie General was devoting his whole
soul with the hohest feelings of grief. It would not
quit the spot ; but acted as if it had an intuitive sense
of the greatness and and solemnity of the scene.
When the General had fulfilled his pious devotions, the
bird took its final departure frora the sacred spot where
repose the remains of the iUustrious friend of La Fay
ette, and of aU mankind.

CCXXI. Odd Comparison.
An instance of quaint expression is related in a
town in the western part of Massachusetts, where the
clergyman was remarkable for giving his sermon very
little connexion with his text. It stood like a sign-post
before a house, where no tavern was kept. When this
pecuharity was a subject of conversation, one of his
parishioners observed to him, that " if his text had the
sraall pox, his serraon eould not catch it."

CCXXII. Sovereignty of the People.
At the parade of the artillery election, on Boston
coraraon, sorae confusion took place as the close of the
procession was entering the ground appropriated to the
cereraony. The crowd was pressing very hard at the
entrance, and the bar was put down before aU the rep
resentatives had got in. Some of them called out to
the officer who had charge of the passage, iu a tone
26

294 AMERICAN ANECDOTES.
expressive of their claim to admission, " We are rep
resentatives !" A man among the crowd immediately
vociferated, in the sarae tone, " We are the people
theraselves !"

CCXXIII. Ignorance of Fear.
A chUd of one of the crew of his majesty's ship
Peacock, during the action with the United States' ves
sel, Hornet, amused himself with chasing a goat be
tween decks. Not in the least terrified with destruc
tion and death all around him, he persisted, till a can
non baU came and took off both the hind legs of the
goat; when, seeing her disabled, he jumped astride
her, crying, " Now I've caught-you."

CCXXIV. Determined not to be outdone.
An old raan in Vermont was notorious for retailing
village news ; and he was always angry when any thing
happened without his being the first to teU of it. A
couple of wags met him one day, and said to him, " Do
you know, uncle Tom, they have caught a famous great
whale up in the creek yonder ?" (a whale, by the way, '
could not have been crowded into the creek.) " Ha !
have they cotched hira ?" said the old raan ; I haard
they was arter him."

INDEX. A
American Revolution, first cause of 32
" Captain and British Admiral, €4
" Heroism, gg
" Prisoners bravely retaken, 106
" trade to China, jgg
" Gratitude, J3g
" Soldier, 140
Air Guns, 224
Allen Ethan, capture of 4j
" and his attorney, gg
America a spacious farm, 57
A Judge instructing a prisoner, 57
Aged Soldiers, gO
Andre, death of Major gO
" Remains of 84
Ackland, Harriet 91
Adams Samuel, Fable by 124
Allen, Rev. Thomas, Patriotism of 135
Arnold, Benedict the Traitor, 141
Adaras, humanity of 168
" John 225
An American Sergeant, 185
Anecdote of a negro, 217
Attack on Buchanans Station, 1792, 228
B
Bunker Hill, 55
Blundering upon Wealth, 60
Bostonian Boys, 116
Bostonians, 226
Brave Mariner, 136
Bratton, Mrs. of S. C. 179
Baker, Miss Polly 219
Byles, four reasons for not preaching politics 258
" Doctor 265
" and Selectmen 266
" "paid in his own coin, 287
Breaking up of the Revolutionary Army, 290

296 INDEX. C
Cobbett, American feeling of 25
Cudjoe the faithful African, 37
Coolness in time of danger, 55
Columbus, Remains of 82
, " and the egg, 131
CornwaUis, despondency of 219
Confidence in Indian Honesty, 264
D
Darrah, Lydia 174
Delaware Indians, 202
Docherty, Michael 240
Dreaming Match, 262
Dark Day, 266
Deterrained not to be outdone, 294
E
Eloquence in the WUderness, 24
Effects of Fear, 38
" " Intemperance, 244
Excommunication, 78
Eustis' monument, 132
Election Ox, 246
Exception to general propositions, 255
F
Franklin, Dr. visit to his mother, 5
" in Congress, 11
" and Electricity, 36
Toast, 79
" SUver Plook, 115
" Piety of 118
" Spectacles, _ 139
" method of saving beer, 139
" on confederation, 140
" quoted against himself, 261
" Boyhood, 261
Forest, the Tragedian, 53
Forgetful Minister, 56
Flax and Tow, 60
Farmer and his Hog, 85
Fidelity, 133
Female Patriotism, I60
" Intrepidity, 164

INDEX. 297
Francisco, Peter 201
Fighting on my own Hook, 234
G
Geiger, Emily 112
Glorious Example in Washington, 206
H
Heroism of Compassion, 22
Henry, Patrick, Eloquence of 28
" " 103
" " bold language of 263
Hunt, Dr. and the wag, 51
numerous Reply, .55
Honor among Indians, 67
Harmless Shot, 77
Hart, Nancy 87
Hancock, disinterested Patriotism of 111
" President of the Continental Congress, 148
Howard, ColJ. E. of Maryland, IWO
Hayne, Col. Isaac 188
Huger, Gen. Isaac 201
Howe, Lord 225
Hale, Captain 284
I
Ingenuity of a Negro, 70
Indian Coquetry, 92
" Encounter, 167
" Bridge, origin of 170
" Chief, young 186
" Gratitude and Wit, 207
" Logic, 251
" Fidelity, 258
Imperfect Resolutions, 242
Irish Humanity, 24.'>
Ignorance of Fear, 294
Jackson, General Andrew 30
" and the Methodist, 39
" and the Missionary, 39
Justice Swift, 188
K
Kingly conduct of George III, 34
Kalb, Baron de, death of 120

298 INDEX.
Kosciusko, ^^*
Kindness of an Indian Husband, ^o*
L
Logan the Indian Chief, 35
Lowndes, compliment to 48
Littie, Capt. George 49
Lee, General ^5
La Fayette, General "^
" disinterestedness of 'T
" generosity of 9"
" and an old Soldier, 199
Lathrop, Dr. John 100
Ledyard, John 100
Letter on Duelling, 250
M
McLane, Colonel 18
" " Allen 63
Musical Pun, 87
Martin and Craft, 117
Marion, Gen. address to his Soldiers, 129
Munroe, President 137
Military Vision, , 158
" Courtesy, 185
Maternal Tenderness, 164
" Intrepidity, 165
Mayrant, Lieut. John 191
Mitchell, Sergeant 196
McDonough, Major 197
M. De La Fayette, 215
Morgan, General 249
N
Names alter things, 86
Noble conduct of Earl of Effingham, 125
" Revenge, 289
Newman, Miss 161
Nancy's HUl, 237
New Lights, 267
O
Oglive, Mr. 151
Origin of Yankee Doodle, 155
Otis, James, sarcastic reply of 265
Odd Comparison, 293

INDEX. 299
P
Peter Powers, Capt. and his wife, 13
Patriotic Hatter, 47
" Father, 73
" School Boys, 73
PhUIips, Lieut. Gov. 52
Perry, Commodore 54
Parsons, Judge gg
Pittsburg unknown at Leghorn, 58
Prophetic Wish, 72
Penn's, WUliam Treaty, 83
Putnam's entrance into the army, 123
" Gen. successful escapes, I44
" and the Wolf, 146
Proposed King, I35
Peabody, Hon Nathaniel 173
Plunket, Capt. escape of 176
Perkins, Gen. Andrew 180
Pike, Gen. Zebulon M. 227.
Paine's Thomas, political rise, 239
R
Reed, General 48
Randolph, John 51
Retort Courteous, 95
Ross, Captain 113
Running for Life, 142
Red Jacket, 200
Rumford, Count 202
Rejicide Generals, 209
Revolutionary spirit of the Quakers, 248
Rouzy, Reuben 248
Roberts, George 280
Remarkable Fact, 292
Sudden Death, 54
Shrewd Answer, 56
Sarcastic Retort, 60
Simplicity of a young Uuaker, 87
Sitting of the Court, 95
Smith, Capt. and Pocahontus, 96
Soldier and the Indian, 160
Spectre Warrior, 183

300 INDEX.

Stuart, General

196

Sufferings of our Forefathers,

204

Steuben, F. W. A. B. de

211

" Ready Wit of

213

" Dinner to the British officers,

213

Spanish Wreck,

271

Sovereignty ofthe People, T
True Honesty,

293

154

Tucker, Commodore

223

Three deserted children, U
Uncommon Self possession,

235

252

V
Vanderlyn the Painter,

66

Van Rensselaer,

267

W

Washington travelling on Sunday,

26

" Punctuallity of

26

" Likeness of

69

" Friendship of, for Gen. Knox,

98

" Diffidence of

98

" miraculous escape of

102

" Favorite Horses of

103

" Liberality of

166

" in Danger,

214

" Calmness of

215

" Courage of

215

" Retaliation of

218

" Farewell to his officers.

291

West, Benjamin, Patriotism of

33

" " viewing an Apollo,

34

Witty Knavery,

59

Wayne, Generals, War Horse,

103

Wolfe, death of

237

Whitefield,

288

Y

Yankee, blustering

170

" valour.

233

" Parson,

243

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