Lionel Lincoln : or, The leaguer of Boston

Front matter

LIBRARY

OF THE

GIFT OF

Preface

landlord furnished him with materials to be woiited up into a book, in order that the profits might go to discharge the arrearages of a certain con sumptive lodger, who made his exit so unceremoniously as to leave the last item in his account, his funeral charges.

He is indebted to no garrulous tale-teller for beguiling the long winter evenings ; in ghosts he has no faith ; he never had a vision in his life ; and he sleeps too soundly to dream.

He is constrained to add, that in no " puff," " squib," " notice," " article," nor " review," whether in daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly publication, has he been able to find a single hint that his humble powers could improve. No one regrets this fatality more than himself; for these writers generally bring such a weight of imagination to their several tasks, that, propeily improved, might secure the immortality of any book, by rendering it unintelligible.

He boldly asserts, that he has derived no information from any of the learned societies — and without fear of contradiction ; for why should one so obscure be the exclusive object of their favours !

Notwithstanding he occasionally is seen in that erudite and abstemious association, the " Breadand-Cheese Lunch," where he is elbowed by lawyers, doctors, jurists, poets, painters, editors, congressmen, and authors of every shade and quatt

PREFACE.

fication, whether metaphysical, scientific, or imaginative, he avers, that he esteems the lore which is there culled, as far too sacred to be used in any work less dignified than actual history.

Of the colleges it is necessary to speak with reverence ; though truth possesses claims even superior to gratitude. He shall dispose of them by simply saying, that they are entirely innocent of all his blunders ; the little they bestowed having long since been forgotten.

He has stolen no images from the deep, natural poetry of Bryant ; no pungency from the wit of Halleck ; no felicity of expression from the richness of Percival ; no satire from the caustic pen of Paulding ; no periods nor humour from Irving ; nor any high finish from the attainments exhibited by Verplanck.

At the " soirees" and " coteries des has bleus" he did think he had obtained a prize, in the dandies of literature, who haunt them. But experiment and analysis detected his error; as they proved these worthies unfit for any better purpose than that which their own instinct had already dictated.

He has made no impious attempt to rob Joe Miller of his jokes ; the sentimentalists of their pathcs ; nor the newspaper Homers of their lofty inspirations.

His presumption has not even imagined the vivacity of the eastern states ; he has not analyzed

PttRFACf.

the homogeneous character of the middle ; and he has left the south in the undisturbed possession of all their saturnine wit.

In short — he has pilfered from no black-letter book, nor any six-penny pamphlet ; his grandmother unnaturally refused her assistance to his labours ; and, to speak affirmatively, for once, he wishes to live in peace, and hopes to die in the fear of God

TO

LIONEL LINCOLN.

In this tale there are one or two slight anachronisms ; which, if unnoticed, might, with literal readers, draw some unpleasant imputations on its veracity. — They relate rather to persons than to things. As they are believed to be quite in character, connected with circumstances much more probable than facts, and to possess all the harmony of poetic colouring, the author is utterly unable to discover the reason why they are not true.

He leaves the knotty point to the instinctive sagacity of the critics.

The matter of this " Legend" may be pretty equally divided into that which is publicly, and that which is privately certain. For the authorities of the latter, the author refers to the foregoing preface ; but he cannot dispose of the sources whence he has derived the former, with so little ceremony xii

PREFACE.

The good people of Boston are aware of the creditable appearance they make in the early annals of the confederation, and they neglect no commendable means to perpetuate the glories of their ancestors. In consequence, the inquiry after his torical facts, is answered, there, by an exhibition of local publications, that no other town in the union can equal. Of these means the author has endeavoured to avail himself ; collating wi'h care and selecting, as he trusts, with some of tha* know ledge of men and things which is necessary to present a faithful picture.

Wherever he may have failed, he has done it honestly.

He will not take leave of the £ cradle of liberty, ? without expressing his thanks for the facilities which have been so freely accorded to his undertaking. If he has not been visited by aerial brings, and those fair visions that poets best love to cr ate, he is certain he will not be misconceived whe - he says, that he has been honoured by the notic of some resembling those, who first inspired t! «i\ fancies.

I IONEL LINCOLN ;

OR

TBS LEAGUER OF BOSTON

Chapter I

■ My weary soul they seem to soothe, u And, redolent of joy and youth, M To breathe a second spring."

Gray.

No American can be ignorant of the principal events that induced the parliament of Great Britain, in 1774, to lay those impolitic restrictions on the port of Boston, which so effectually destroyed the trade of the chief town in her western colonies. Nor should it be unknown to any American, how nobly, and with what devotedness to the great principles of the controversy, the inhabitants of the adjacent town of Salem refused to profit by the situation of their neighbours and fellow-subjects. In consequence of these impolitic measures of the English government, and of the laudable unanimity among the capitalists of the times, it became a rare sight to see the canvass of any other vessels than such as wore the pennants of the king, whitening the forsaken waters of Massachusetts Bay.

Towards the decline of a day in April, 1 775, 2

LIONEL LINCOLN .

however, the eyes of hundreds had been fastened on a distant sail, which was seen rising from the bosom of the waves, making her way along the forbidden track, and steering directly for the mouth of the proscribed haven. With that deep solicitude in passing events which marked the period, a large group of spectators was collected on Beacon- Hill, spreading from its conical summit far down the eastern declivity, all gazing intently on the object of their common interest. In so large an assemblage, however, there were those who were excited by very different feelings, and indulging in wishes directly opposite to each other. While the decent, grave, but wary citizen was endeavouring to conceal the bitterness of the sensations which soured his mind, under the appearance of a cold indifference, a few gay young men, who mingled in the throng, bearing about their persons the trappings of their martial profession, were loud in their exultations, and hearty in their congratulations on the prospect of hearing from their distant homes and absent friends. But the long, loud rolls of the drums, ascending on the evening air, from the adjacent common, soon called these idle spectators, in a body, from the spot, when the hill was left to the quiet possession of those who claimed the strongest right to its enjoyment. It was not, however, a period for open and unreserved communications. Long before the mists of evening had succeeded the shadows thrown from the setting sun, the hill was entirely deserted ; the remainder of the spectators having descended from the eminence, and held their several courses, singly, silent, and thoughtful, towards the rows of dusky roofs that covered the lowland, along the eastern side of the peninsula. Notwithstanding this appearance of apathy, rumour, which, in times of great

LIONEL LINCOLN.

excitement, ever finds means to convey its whisperings, when it dare not bruit its information aloud, was busy in circulating the unwelcome intelligence, that the stranger was the first of a fleet, bringing stores and reinforcements to an army already too numerous, and too confident of its power, to respect the law. No tumult or noise succeeded this unpleasant annunciation, but the doors of the houses were sullenly closed, and the windows darkened, as if the people intended to express their dissatisfaction, alone, by these silent testimonials of their disgust.

In the mean time the ship had gained the rocky entrance to the harbour, where, deserted by the breeze, and met by an adverse tide, she lay inactive, as if conscious of the unwelcome reception she must receive. The fears of the inhabitants of Boston had, however, exaggerated the danger ; for the vessel, instead of exhibiting the confused and disorderly throng of licentious soldiery, which would have crowded a transport, was but thinly peopled, and her orderly decks were cleared of every incumbrance that could interfere with the comfort of those she did contain. There was an appearance, in the arrangements of her external accommodations, which would have indicated to an observant eye, that she carried those who claimed the rank, or possessed the means, of making others contribute largely to their comforts. The few seamen who navigated the ship lay extended on different portions of the vessel, watching the lazy sails as they flapped against the masts, or indolently bending their looks on the placid waters of the bay ; while several menials, in livery, crowded around a young man who was putting his eager inquiries to the pilot, that had just boarded the vessel off the Graves. The dress of this vouth was studiously neat, and from the excessive pains bestowed on its adjustment, it was obviously deemed, by its wearer, to be in the height of the prevailing customs. From the place where this inquisitive parly stood, nigh the main-mast, a wide sweep of the quarterdeck was untenanted ; but nearer to the spot where the listless seaman hung idly over the tiller of the ship, stood a being of altogether different mould and fashion.

He was a man who would have seemed in the very extremity of age, had not his quick, vigorous steps, and the glowing, rapid glances from his eyes, as he occasionally paced the deck, appeared to deny the usual indications of many years. His form was bowed, and attenuated nearly to emaciation. His hair, which fluttered a little wildly around his temples, was thin, and silvered to the whiteness of at least eighty winters. Deep furrows, like the lines of great age and long endured cares united, wrinkled his hollow cheeks, and rendered the bold haughty outline of his prominent features still more remarkable. He was clad in a simple and somewhat tarnished suit of modest gray, which bore about it the ill-concealed marks of long and neglected use. Whenever he turned his piercing look from the shores, he moved swiftly along the deserted quarter deck, and seemed entirely engrossed with the force of his own thoughts, his lips moving rapidly, though no sounds were heard to issue from a mouth that was habitually silent. He was under the influence of one of those sudden impulses, in which the body, apparently, sympathized so keenly with the restless activity of the mind, when a young man ascended from the cabin and took his stand among the interested and excited gazers at the land, on the upper deck, The age of this gentleman might have been five and twenty. He wore a military cloak, thrown

LIONEL LINCOLN.

carelessly across his form, which, in addition to such parts of his dress as were visible through its open folds, sufficiently announced that his profession was that of arms. There was an air of ease and high fashion gleaming about his person, though his speaking countenance, at times, seemed melancholy, if not sad. On gaining the deck, this young officer, encountering the eyes of the aged and restless being who trod its planks, bowed courteously before he turned away to the view, and in his turn became deeply absorbed in studying its fading beauties.

The rounded heights of Dorchester were radiant with the rays of the luminary that had just sunk behind their crest, and streaks of paler hght were playing along the waters, and gilding the green summits of the islands which clustered across the mouth of the estuary. Far in the distance were to be seen the tall spires of the churches, rising out of the deep shadows of the town, with their vanes glittering in the sun-beams, while a few rays of strong light were dancing about the black beacon, which reared itself high above the conical peak, that took its name from the circumstance of supporting this instrument of alarms. Several large vessels were anchored among the islands and before the town, their dark hulls, at each moment, becoming less distinct through the haze of evening, while the summits of their long lines of masts were yet glowing with the marks of day. From each of these sullen ships, from the low fortification which rose above a small island deep in the bay, and from various elevations in the town itself, the broad, silky folds of the flag of England were yet waving in the currents of the passing air. The young man was suddenly aroused from 2*

LIONEL LINCOLN.

gazing at this scene, by the quick reports of the evening guns, and while his eyes were yet tracing the descent of the proud symbols of the British power, from their respective places of display, he felt his arm convulsively pressed by the hand of his aged fellow-passenger.

" Will the day ever arrive," said a low, hollow voice at his elbow, M when those flags shall be lowered, never to rise again in this hemisphere !"

The young soldier turned his quick eyes to the countenance of the speaker, but bent them instantly in embarrassment on the deck, to avoid the keen, searching glance he encountered in the looks of the other. A long, and, on the part of the young man, a painful silence succeeded this remark. At length the youth, pointing to the land, said —

" Tell me, you who are of Boston, and must have known it so long, the names of all these beautiful places I see.'*

" And are you not of Boston, too ?" asked his old companion.

" Certainly by birth, but an Englishman by habit and education."

" Accursed be the habits, and neglected the education, which would teach a child to forget its parentage !" muttered Ihe old man, turning suddenly, and walking away so rapidly as to be soon lost in the forward parts of the ship.

For several minutes longer, the youth stood absorbed in his own musings, when, as if recollecting his previous purposes, he called aloud — " Meriton !"

At the sounds of his voice the curious group around the pilot instantly separated, and the highly ornamented youth, before mentioned, approached the officer, with a manner in which pert familiarity and fearful respect were peculiarly blended.

LIONEL LINCOLN.

Without regarding the air of the other, however, or indeed without even favouring him with a glance, the young soldier continued —

" 1 desired you to detain the boat which boarded us, in order to convey me to the town, Mr. Meriton ; see if it be in readiness."

The valet flew to execute this commission, and in an instant returned with a reply in the affirmative.

" But, sir," he continued, " you will never think of going in that boat, I feel very much assured, sir."

" Your assurance, Mr. Meriton, is not the least of your recommendations ; why should I not ?"

" That disagreeable old stranger has taken possession of it, with his mean, filthy bundle of rags ; and—"

" And what ? you must name a greater evil, to detain me here, than mentioning the fact that the only gentleman in the ship is to be my companion."

" Lord, sir !" said Meriton, glancing his eye up ward in amazement ; " but, sir, surely you know best as to gentility of behaviour — but as to gen tility of dress — "

" Enough of this," interrupted his master, a little angrily ; " the company is such as I am content with ; if you find it unequal to your deserts, you have my permission to remain in the ship until the morning — the presence of a coxcomb is by no means necessary to my comfort for one night."

Without regarding the mortification of his disconcerted valet, the young man passed along the deck to the place where the boat was in waiting. By the general movement among the indolent menials, and the profound respect with which he was attended by the master of the ship to the gangway,

LIONEL LINCOLN.

it was sufficiently apparent, that, notwithstanding

his youth, it was this gentleman whose presence had exacted those arrangements in the ship, which have been mentioned. While ail around him, however, were busy in facilitating the entrance ol the officer into the boat, the aged stranger occupied its principal seat, with an air of deep abstraction, if not of cool indifference. A hint from the pliant Meriton, who had ventured to follow his master, that it would be more agreeable if he would relinquish his place, was disregarded, and the youth took a seat by the side of the old man, with a simplicity of manner that his valet inwardly pronounced abundantly degrading. As if this humiliation were not sufficient, the young man, perceiving that a general pause had succeeded his own entrance, turned to his companion, and courteously inquired if he were ready to proceed. A silent wave of the hand was the reply, when the boat shot away from the vessel, leaving the ship steering for an anchorage in Nantasket.

The measured dash of the oars was uninterrupted by any voice, while, stemming the tide, they pulled laboriously up among the islands ; but by the time they had reached the castle, the twilight had melted into the softer beams from a young moon, and the surrounding objects becoming more distinct, the stranger commenced talking with that quick and startling vehemence which seemed his natural manner. He spoke of the localities, with the vehemence and fondness of an enthusiast, and with the familiarity of one who had long known their beauties. His rapid utterance, however, ceased as they approached the naked wharves, and he sunk back gloomily in the boat, as if unwilling to trust his voice on the subject of his country's wiongs Thus left to his own thoughts, the youth

LIONEL LINCOLN.

gazed, with eager interest,.at the long ranges of buildings, which were now clearly visible to the eye, though with softer colours and more gloomyshadows. A few neglected and dismantled ships were lying at different points ; but the hum of business, the forests of masts, and the rattling of wheels, which at that early hour should have distinguished the great mart of the colonies, were wanting. In their places were to be heard, at intervals, the sudden bursts of distant, martial music, the riotous merriment of the soldiery who frequented the. taverns at the water's edge, or the sullen challenges of the sentinels from the vessels of war, as they vexed the progress of the few boats, which the inhabitants still used in their ordinary pursuits.

" Here indeed is a change !" the young officer exclaimed, as they glided swiftly along this desolate scene ; u even my recollections, young and fading as they are, recall the difference I"

The stranger made no reply, but a smile of sin gular meaning gleamed across his wan features, imparting, by the moonlight, to their remarkable expression, a character of additional wildness. The officer was again silent, nor did either speak until the boat, having shot by the end of the long wharf, across whose naked boundaries a sentinel was pacing his measured path, inclined more to the shore, and soon reached the place of its destination.

Whatever might have been the respective feelings of the two passengers, at having thus reached in safety the object of their tiresome and protracted voyage, they were not expressed in language. The old man bared his silver locks, and, concealing his face with his hat, stood as if in deep mental thanksgiving at the termination of his toil, while his more

LIONEL LINCOLN.

youthful companion trod the wharf on which tht J landed with the air of a man, whose emotions weie too engrossing for the ordinary use of words.

" Here we must part, sir," the officer at length said ; ¥ but I trust the acquaintance, which has been thus accidentally formed between us, is not to be forgotten now there is an end to our common privations."

" It is not in the power of a man whose days, like mine, are numbered," returned the stranger, " to mock the liberality of his God, by any vain promises that must depend on time for their fulfilment. I am one, young gentleman, who has returned from a sad, sad pilgrimage, in the other hemisphere, to lay his bones in this, his native land ; but should many hours be granted me, you will hear further of the man, whom your courtesy and kindness have so greatly obliged."

The officer was sensibly affected by the softened but solemn manner of his companion, and pressed his wasted hand fervently as he answered —

" Do ; I ask it as a singular favour ; I know not why, but you have obtained a command of my feelings that no other being ever yet possessed — and yet — 'tis a mystery, 'tis like a dream ! I feel that I not only venerate, but love you !"

The old man stepped back, and held the youth at the length of his arm for a moment, while he fastened on him a look of glowing interest, and then, raising his hand slowly, he pointed impressively upward, and said —

"'Tis from heaven, and for God's own purposes— smother not the sentiment, boy, but cherish it in your heart's core !"

The reply of the youth was interrupted by sudden and violent shrieks, that burst rudely on the stillness of the place, chilling the very blood

LIONEL LINCOLN.

of those who heard them, with their piteousness. The quick and severe blows of a lash were blended with the exclamations of the sufferer, and rude oaths, with hoarse execrations, from various voices, were united in the uproar, which appeared to be at no great distance. By a common impulse, the whole party broke away from the spot, and moved rapidly up the wharf in the direction of the sounds. As they approached the buildings, a group was seen collected around the man, who thus broke the charm of evening by his cries, interrupting his waitings with their ribaldry, and encouraging his tormentors to proceed.

" Mercy, mercy, for the sake of the blessed God, have mercy, and don't kill Job !" again shrieked the sufferer ; " Job will run your aVnds ! Job is half-witted ! Mercy on poor Job ! Oh ! you make his flesh creep !"

" I'll cut the heart from the mutinous knave," interrupted a hoarse, angry voice, " to refuse to drink the health of his majesty !"

" Job does wish him good health — Job loves the king — only Job don't love rum."

The officer had approached so nigh as to perceive that the whole scene was one of disorder and abuse, and pushing aside the crowd of excited and deriding soldiers, who composed the throng, he Woke at once into the centre of the circle.

Chapter II

* They'll have me whipped for speaking true ;

" Thoul't have me whipped for lying ;

"And sometimes I'm whipped for holding my peace

" I had rather be any kind of a thing

■ Than a fool."

Ltm

" What means this outcry ?" demanded the young man, arresting the arm of an infuriated soldier, who was inflicting the blows ; . " by what authority is this man thus abused ?"

" By what authority dare you to lay hands on a British grenadier?" cried the fellow, turning in his fury, and raising his lash against the supposed townsman. But when, as the officer stepped aside to avoid the threatened indignity, the light of the moon fell full upon his glittering dress, through the opening folds of his cloak, the arm of the brutal soldier was held suspended in air, with the surprise of the discovery.

" Answer, I bid you," continued the young officer, his frame shaking with passion ; " why is this man tormented, and of what regiment are ye ?"

" We belong to the grenadiers of the brave 47th, your honour," returned one of the bystanders, in a humble, deprecating tone, " and we was just polishing this 'ere natural, because as he refuses to drink the health of his majesty."

" He's a scornful sinner, that don't fear his

LIONEL LINCOLN.

Maker," cried the man in duresse, eagerly bending his fece, down which big tears were rolling, towards his protector. " Job loves the king, but Job don't love rum !"

The officer turned away from the cruel spectacle, as he bid the men untie their prisoner. Knives and fingers were instantly put in requisition, and (he man was liberated, and suffered to resume his clothes. During this operation, the tumult and bustle, which had so recently distinguished the riotous scene, were succeeded by a stillness that rendered the hard breathing of the sufferer painfully audible.

" Now sirs, you heroes of the 47th !" said the young man, when the victim of their rage was again clad, " know you this button ?" The soldier, to whom this question was more particularly addressed, gazed at the extended arm, and, to his vast discomfiture, he beheld the magical number of his own regiment reposing on the well-known white facings that decorated the rich scarlet of the vestment. No one presumed to answer this appeal, and after an impressive silence of a few moments, he continued —

" Ye are noble supporters of the well-earned fame of c Wolfe's own !' fit successors to the gallant men who conquered under the walls of Quebec ! away with ye ; to-morrow it shall be looked to."

" I hope your honour will remember he refused his majesty's health. I'm sure, sir, that if colonel Nesbitt was here himself — "

" Dog ! do you dare to hesitate ! go, while you have permission to depart."

The disconcerted soldiery, whose turbulence had thus vanished, as if by enchantment, before the frown of their superior, slunk away in a body, 3

LIONEL LINCOLN.

a few of the older men whispering to their com* rades the name of the officer, who had tlms unex pectedly appeared in the midst of them. The angry eye of the young soldier followed their retiring forms, while a man of them was visible ; after which, turning to an elderly citizen, who, supported on a crutch, had been a spectator of the scene, he asked —

" Know you the cause of the cruel treatment this

Eoor man has received ? or what in any manner as led to the violence ?"

" The boy is weak," returned the cripple ; " quite an innocent, who knows but little good, but does no harm. The soldiers have been carousing in yonder dram-shop, and they often get the poor lad in with them, and sport with his infirmity. It these sorts of doings an't checked, I fear much trouble will grow out of them ! Hard laws from t'other side of the water, and tarring and feathering on this, with gentlemen like Colonel Nesbitt at their head, will — "

" It is wisest for us, my friend, to pursue this subject no further," interrupted the officer. u I belong myself to i Wolfe's own,' and will endeavour to see justice done in the matter ; as you will credit when I tell you that I am a Boston boy. But, though a native, a long absence has obliterated the marks of the town from my memory; and 1 am at a loss to thread these crooked streets. Know you the dwelling of Mrs. Lechmere ?"

" The house is well known to all in Boston,'' returned the cripple, in a voice sensibly altered by the information that he was speaking to a townsman. " Job, here, does but little else than run of errands, and he will show you the way out of gra titude ; won't you, Job ?"

The idiot, — for the vacant eye and unmeaning

LIONEL LINCOLN.

boyish countenance of the young man who had just been liberated, but too plainly indicated that he was to be included in that miserable class of human beings, — answered with a caution and reluctance that were a little remarkable, considering the recent circumstances.

u Ma'am Lechmere's ! Oh ! yes, Job knows the way, and could go there blindfolded, if — if — "

" If what, you simpleton !" exclaimed the zealous cripple.

" Why, if 'twas daylight."

" Blindfolded, and daylight ! do but hear the silly child ! Come, Job, you must take this gentleman to Tremont-street, without further words. 'Tis but just sundown, boy, and you can go there and be home and in your bed before the Old South strikes eight !"