Wyandotte

country to die, where

h of our fame; Glor

dim, shining on wit

shall fade, neve

civ

ls were again afoot; and, ere long, Mike, Saucy Nick Joel, and the rest were seen astir, in the open fields, or in the margin of the woods. Cattle were fed, cows milked fires lighted, and everything pursued its course, in the order of May. The three wenches, as female negroes were then terme

d was just the sort of breakfast, that one must visit America to witness. France can set forth a very scientific déjeuner à la fourchette, and England has laboured-and ponderous imitations; but, for the spontaneous, superabundant, unsophisticated, natural, all-sufficing and all-subduing morning's meal, take America, in a better-class house, in the country, and you reach the ne plus ultra, in

orning, signs of tears might have been discovered on them, as the traces of the dew are found on the leaf of the rose; but they completely vanished under the duties of the toilet, and she came forth from her chamber, bright and clou

ve served to remind Maud of the circumstances of her real birth. Yet there was nothing in the last likely to awaken unpleasant reflections, apart from the circumstance that she was not truly a child of the family into which she had been transplanted. The Merediths were, at least, as nonourable a family as the Willoughbys, in the ordinary worldly view of the matter; nor was Maud, by any means, a dependant, in the way of money. Five thousand pounds, in the English funds, had been settled on her, by the marriage articles of her parents; and twenty years of careful husbandry, during which every shilling had been scrupulously devoted to accumulation, had quite doubled the original amount. So far from being penniless, therefore, Maud's fortune was often alluded to by the captain, in a jocular way, as if purposely to remind her that she had the means of independence, and du

placed a glass plate on the table--"He never thinks I can make anything of this sort; and, as h

praise he must. Perhaps h

e in doubt. "Bob does not think much of such things in girls, for he says ladies need not be cooks

st we ever had, and we are rather famous for them, you know. I'll a

to fail on a first effort. Besides, a man may go to England, and see fine sights, and live in great houses, and all that, and not understan

remark; though, in her secret mind, she had al

ce, Maud," she asked, after a short pause. "The vi

ay, that he has ever been; that is, ever since he grew to be a man--with b

d-twenty, the reader can understand the precise date when Maud

better 'set up,' as he calls it, by his English drill, and

ok!" cried Maud, quickly--"He go

self, who had entered the room unperceived, and overheard this speech. "B

rning salutations of a brother to his sisters, slight touches of rosy cheeks; an

Maud, with a vivacity that betokened confusion. "Had you come

d from yours, Miss Maud, I shall think myself a lucky fellow. But

rs to speak about their

p, and find out as he may, if he would learn our secrets. There, major Willoughby, I

's excellent plums, of which I am so fond--know they were made especial

t belonged to another, was about to tell the truth; but an imploring gestu

ired the major. "I left them desperately engaged in discussion, and I rea

here is mamma, followed by Pliny, to tell Beulah to take her station at the coffee, while I go to

hat betokened care, in his view of the matter, quite as much as it betokened light-heartedness in those of his mother and sisters. The chaplain was rather more communicative than his friend; but he, too, seemed restless, a

simple and natural manner, "I have done little since we parted

ween us; I have scarcely slept. I may say I have thought of nothi

ow, and your sound and admirable arguments, have produced an ent

, my dear fellow--this is odd--excessively odd, if the truth must be said.--To own the real state of the

ughable ever occurred in connection with her husband; and then she would as soon think of assailing the church itself, as to ridicule one of its ministers. Beulah could see noth

end?" rejoined the chaplain. "Have you left to the rights of C?sar, al

irth--that man is to be considered as a reasoning being, to be governed by principles and ever-varyin

arce able to repress the laughter that came so e

olonies, I believe, my dear, and over-persuaded each other, that's

t is far worse than even that. Pliny, tell my man to brush the hunting-jacket--and, see he has his breakfast, in good style--he is a grumbling rascal, and will give the house a bad character, else--you need not come back, until we r

claimed Mrs. Willoughby-"

s, and that the people of your blood and race are, in open arms, agai

Who would dare to strike

are once inflamed, they will do much, my m

posed person has told you this, Robert

my own eyes have seen--I may say m

the true state of the country. It is scarcely necessary to allude to the degree of

d, naturally, and with strong feeling--"You

y receive a smart contusion--nothing more, I assure you--h

ially as this was the first they had heard of the major's casualty. Then neither felt the zeal whi

ou to the rear, Bob?" anx

aughing. "The rear is the post of honour, on a retreat, you know, my

s troops! What sort of fello

ficult, at times, not to listen to their arguments. If my Lord Percy had not come out, with a strong party, and two pieces of

eviving a little, to unsettle his last convictions of duty. "

d we renew the march, than every line of wall, along our route, became a line of hostile muskets.

and then these provincials are formidable as skirmishers. In that character, I know them, too. What has bee

fire could scarce be more devastating; though I think this co

lly-inclined chaplain--"that human beings

at do the royal autho

y on the loyalty and influence of the gentry, until succour can arrive f

he glanced towards his unconscious wife

lipses, Bayards, and most of that town connection, with a large portion of the Long Island families, I should think, are with the crown; whil

h us--with the king, I mean--while all the Livingstons and Morrises are against us. The other families are di

e captain, looking inqu

ny of his near connections are against us, that he could hardly e

s there are two sides to the question, m

no power to be defied by col

re formidable when they are right, and nations--these colonies are a nation, in extent and

hority. Unused to debate with his father, especially when the latter was in such a mood, the son remained silent, though his mother, who was thoroughly loyal in her

on! I, even I, who was born in the colonies, think them very

ist's admiration of home. But I was old enough, when I left England, to app

claim all our respect and love. Look at the church, now, the purified continuation of the ancient visible authority of Chris

am no Cromwellian, no republican, that wishes to oppose the throne, in order to destroy it. A good king is a good thing, and a prodigious blessing to a country; still, a people needs look to its political privileges if it wish to preserve them. Yo

the secret, to give yourself time for reflection--to await events?--I can discover no necessity for this haste. Shoul

o far from being hazardous, as you seem to think, I consider it wise. God knows what time will bring forth; but, in every, or any event, fair-dealing can scarcely injure him who

might be the effect on the major's fortunes; for, should a very patriotic spirit arise among the men, two-thirds of whom were native Americans, and what was more, from the eastern colonies, he might be detained; or, at least, betrayed on his

injure me, or even you, my son, in this way. There is far more danger in attempting to deceive them, than in making them confidants. I will go out and tell the truth;

, father--surely, Willoughby--surely, my dear captain, you c

e has not been tried. I have never suffered my distrust of that fellow to go to sl

the wife. "Without him, we should never have been the owners of thi

t good golden guineas, we

ish," observed the major. "If bribes will

k we shall be, in every respect, safer, by keepin

nded and grovelling, impute their advantages to accidents and money. But, even the few who permitted this malign and corrupting tendency to influence their feelings, could not deny that their master was just and benevolent, though he did not always exhibit this justice and benevolence precisely in the way best calculated to soothe their own craving self-love, and exaggerated notions of assumed natural claims. In a word, captain Willoughby, in the eyes of a few unquiet and bloated imaginations among his people, was obnoxious to the imputation of pride; and this because he saw and felt the consequences of education, habits, manners, opinions and sentiments that were hidden from those who not only had no perception of their existence, but who had no knowledge whatever of the qualities that brought them

hecies. In that day, men were not so silly as to attempt to appear always wise; but some of the fêtes and festivals of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors were still tolerated among us; the all-absorbing and all-swallowing jubilee of "Independence-day" not having yet overshadowed everything else in the shape of a holiday. Now, captain Willoughby had brought with him to the colonies the love of fes

uding the families of the millers, most of the mechanics, and that of Joel Strides, the land-overseer; the second was composed chiefly of labourers; and the last were exclusively household servants, with the exception of one of the Plinys, who was a ploughman,

r of religion, standing a short distance in the rear, as became people of their colour, and slaves. Mike and Jamie, however, had got a sort of neutral position, between the two great divisions of the whites, as if equally indifferent to their dissensions or antipathies. In this manner al

out to lay before you, all that I know myself, concerning an affair of the last importance to the colonies, and to the empire." Here Joel pricked up his ears, and cast a knowing glance at 'the miller,' a countryman and early neighbour of his own, who had charge of the grinding for the settlement, and who went by that appellat

l, who was the usual spokesman of 'the pe

esuitical manner, "the right of parliament to tax us Americans, witho

some months. About six weeks since, the commander-in-chief sent a detachment out as far as Concord, in New Hampshire, to destroy certain stores. This detachment had a meeting with the minute-men, and blood was drawn. A running fight e

ughtful and grave, and, once or twice, as the captain proceeded, he scratched his head in doubt. The Dutch seemed curious, but bewildered, gaping at each other like men who might make up their minds, if you would give them time, but who certainly had not yet. As for the blacks, their eyes began to open like saucers, when they heard of the quarrel; when it got to the blows, their mouths were all grinning with the delight of a thing so exciting. At the mention of the number of the dead,

ws comes by the m

ides. My son is here, and we ha

her our fire-arms, and go out and fight on

time enough for us to take a decided part, when

towards a head, for the Americans to make up their minds concl

and as we are. Civil war is a serious matter, Strides, And

time. Jamie Allen had been out in the 'forty-five,' when thirty years younger than he was that

wark their will on the puir unairmed folk, up and down the c

s free to act accorthing to natur'. What would a rigiment of throops do ag'in the likes of sich a place as this? I'm sure it's tin years I've been in it, and I've niver been able to find my way out of it. Set a souldier to rowing on the lake for

ike might be set down as a belligerent, who was disposed to follow his leader into the battle, without troubling him with many questions concerning the merits of the quarrel. Nevertheless, the county Leitrim-man acknowledged particular principles, all of which had a certain influence on his conduct, whenever he could

hinking, when matters had got as far as blows. Jamie, too, went off scratching his head, and he was seen to make many pauses, that day, between the shovels-full of earth he, from time

sh placed the slain at a few thousands; but Great Smash, as better became her loftier appellation and higher spirit, affirmed that th

an audience; the object of which was simply to ask