Memoirs of James Gordon Bennett and his times

Introduction

The histories of individuals and of nations would not be what they are, had a truly Christian spirit inspired and animated men in their intercourse with their fellows, and with the world and its circumstances. Enmity and friendship, self-interest and idolatry have colored every record of the progress of minds and governments, so that the lineaments of Truth have been deprived of those exact proportions which inflexible Justice alone has the power to unfold. To err in judgment in one of two extremes is natural — and he only who has the rare power of watching his own proclivity to praise on the one hand, or to censure on the other, can hope to thread his way with safety between the mental Scylla and Charybdis.

The author of these pages has sought no person's counsel upon his theme or its mode of treatment. Neither Mr. Bennett, nor any one connected with him, -has been consulted, either directly or indirectly, with respect to the writing or publication of these Memoirs. In truth, the execution of the work is a spontaneous act of literary justice, which it is hoped will carry along with it internal evidence of this fact, and not a few valuable lessons.

Certainly, the work has been prepared with so little aid, except from published writings, and a protracted and patient study, that it bears in its own features a very positive compliment to the man whose mind and industry

INTRODUCTION.

have left such marked traces of his progress through the thorny ways of Journalism, as to furnish ample materials for a history.

It would have been easy, had circumstances permitted and he been willing, for Mr. Bennett himself to supply some points in his career which he alone can justly elucidate, but the desire of the author has been to be free from influences which might arise from personal inquiries, the object being to show how the Editor of the New York Herald appears in the light of his own public works, when taken in connexion with certain facts which were derived some years since from personal observation.

The result is before the reader, who has the means within his own power to form such an estimate as may suit his own mode of judging the acts of his neighbor. Had Mr. Bennett been a less abused man, these Memoirs might never have been published ; but there is a compensating principle in the mental and moral, as well as in the physical world, and it has been brought into action from its own inherent force, with what success time will determine.

The original intention was to embrace in this volume sketches of the principal journals and journalists of the United States, together with historical records to illustrate the progress of American thought and civilization. Another volume is in preparation to do justice to the subject, and in that work Mr. Bennett's contemporaries will receive the attention which is due to their public usefulness. The period at which the contemplated work may be published will depend upon the interest excited by the labors attending the present effort in the cause of the most powerful institution of a democratic government — an unshackled Press.

CON TENT IS.

Chapter I. 1800-20

Highlands of Scotland — Banffshire — Duff House — Gordon Castle — New Mill, Keith — Scenery, and its influences — Inhabitants of Keith — Saturdaynight — The Bible — The Bennett, or Benoit family — Earl of Tankerville — Birth of James Gordon Bennett — Rev. James Gordon — Catholic seminary on the Dee — Aberdeen— "Walter Scott — Glasgow — Dr. Chalmers — Emigration to America — Decision to embark — Arrival at Halifax — A school teacher — Portland, Maine — Boston — Scenes of the Revolution — Dorchester Heights — Ways of Providence — A proof reader — Juvenile verses — Description of Boston — Loan to a countryman — Ingratitude — Source of slanders — Residence — The Kean insult and riot in Boston — True account of Kean's flight — Joseph T. Buckingham — Boston Press — New York Journalists of 1820 — Mr. Bennett's residence in Charleston, South Carolina — Early lessons, 25-46

Chapter II. 1820-23

Circumstances necessarily to be considered in estimating character — Missouri compromise — Slavery nationalized and denationalized — Opening of the slavery agitation — Historical facts — Colonization — Liberia — Anti-slavery movement — James Monroe, President — Mr. Bennett's permanent commercial school — Announcement — National Advocate — Quarrel of Mr. Noah with the proprietors — History of the case — Sale of the Advocate — New York National Advocate — Enquirer, when commenced — Quarrel with business men — Tariff of 1824 — Change of opinions — Bank ckartere — Lobbying — Building -with stone — American museum — Innovations unacceptable — Actors of this period, 47-57

XVI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IIL 1825.

Novelties — Cotton speculations — The city a lottery office — Lotteries — Thunders of the Press — Libel suits — Street fights of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia — Election of John Quincy Adams — Electoral votes — Administration of President Adams — Restoration of the Jews — Grand Island — Mr. Noah's proclamation as Governor and Judge of Israel — Mr. Bennett's references to him — New York Courier — John Tryon — Sunday Press — Samuel Jenks Smith — Mr. Bennett and the Courier — Mr. Bennett's industry — First Italian Opera in New York — Sontag — Alboni — La Grange — Garcia and his daughter' — Mr. Bennett's account of the debut — Farewell of Malibran — Her death — Italian Opera — Financial panic in Great Britain — Character of the Joint-stock Companies there — The amount of capital embarked — Results — Panama congress — Monroe doctrine — Service of plate to De Witt Clinton — Erie canal, . . . 58-69

Chapter IV. 1826

The financial panic of 1826 in New York — Jacob Barker and Henry Eckford — Quarrels with Mr. Noah — Life and Fire Insurance company — Its condition and liabilities — Trial of conspirators — Sun Fire Insurance company — Morris Canal bank — United States Lombard association — New Jersey Protection and Lombard bank — Sixty-six millions of capital to be chartered — Mr. Bennett's opportunities for knowledge — His position — A suggestion — Report of the trials — Fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — Thomas Jefferson and John Adams — In death not divided — Their political writings — Mr. Bennett becomes known to the Press — Cooper, Conway, and Macready, 10-11

Chapter V. 1827

Young men in the political field — Utica convention — "William H. Seward — Sale of the National Advocate to the Adams party — Mr. Bennett's retirement — Martin Yan Buren's early friend — Noah's Enquirer — W. G. Graham — Duel and death at Hoboken — Strange verdict — Duelling practices — Tammany party — Its history — Henry Eckford and Hugh Maxwell, the District Attorney — Eckford's statement — Inflammatory publications — Indictment — District Attorney in the Grand Jury room — Trial of eight persons — Complaint against the District Attorney's conduct — Trials of 1826 — Result — Condition and position of the Press — Mr. Bennett at Washington — His studies — Style of composition — Politics — Rush's report on the tariff — Wines and teas — Inveterate tea-drinkers — Squint-eyed, but not squint-hearted — John Wilkes — Freedom of the Press — New York Journalists — Bankruptcy law — Greek cause — Public amusements — Performers, . 78 88

CONTENTS. XV11

Chapter VI. 1828

Mr. Bennett's devotion to the democratic party — Studies — Investigations on the literary acquirements of public men — Spelling — Correspondence — Habits — Visit to Virginia — Tariff — Calico printing in the United States — Editorial quarrelling — A specimen — Duelling — M. M. Noah and E. J. Roberts — Personal chastisement for offences — Mr. Bennett's unsuccessful attempts to harmonize the Press — Miscellaneous subjects — Edward Everett — Robert Walsh — Improving Journalism — Economy in buying hickory wood — Government expenditures and extravagance — Necessity for reform, 89-98

CHAPTER VH.

1829.

The Presidential votes — Financial position, imports, exports, public debt — Paper currency — Mr. Bennett in Washington — Inauguration ceremonies — The political parties — Love of democracy — Mr. Bennett's position and avowal as a republican — Political slanders — Won't stay scratched — Journal of Commerce — Unition of the Courier and the Enquirer — A vacation — Philadelphia letter to Jesse Hoyt — Origin of the Washington Globe — Washington letter to Jesse Hoyt — Courier and Enquirer 's certificate for Mr. Bennett — Albany letter to Jesse Hoyt — Charter of the United States Bank — War between Russia and Turkey — Number of newspapers in New York — Mr. Bennett becomes associate editor of the Courier and Enquirer — Reply to the charge of being a foreigner — Dramatic literature — Copyrights — Woodcut advertisements, 99-112

Chapter VIII. 1830

Christian party in politics — Rights of the church even to blood — Hard names for James K. Polk — Quarrel between James Watson Webb and Duff Green — An editor's secession from Journalism — An editor addresses a legislature — Albany Evening Journal established — Good enough Morgan — Sunday travelling — Arrest and incarceration of a lady — Anti-auction crusade — Difficulty between President Jackson and Vice-President Calhoun — Proscription of Northern editors by the Senate of the United States — Agrarian party — The Salem murder — Boston — Salem — Nahant — East India curiosities — Mr. Bennett's opinion on captains — Concord visited — Franklin Pierce — The trial at Salem — Privileges of the Press — The Press the living jury of the nation — Interdiction of the Press by the Courts — Lowell and its factories — The three days of July, Charles X. — Death of George IV. — Marriage of Mrs. Morgan — At Washington again — Charles Kean, A. A. Addams, Signorina Da Ponte, .... 113-123

XV111 CONTENTS.

Chapter IX. 1831

Betting upon elections — Journals proposing and accepting wagers — Mr. Bennett's return from Washington — Articles on the Bank of the United States — Article of the 5th of February — Safety Fund System of banking — Bolivar's death — Knowledge of events — Sale of part of the Courier and Enquirer to M. M. Noah or Silas E. Burroughs — A veto on Bank opposition — Mr. Webb and the Quaker's bribe — The Press — Rupture of President's cabinet — Mrs. J. H. Eafon — Trip to the valley of the Mohawk — Little Falls — National Anti-masonic Convention — Free Trade Convention — Death of James Monroe, July 4th — M. Chabert, the Fire King — Tariff convention — Democratic festival — Mr. Bennett's position and his toast — A rampant Jackson blockhead — Boston Morning Post — What an editor ought to be — Express in fifteen hours from Washington — News boats — A hoax upon the association of journalists — Mademoiselle D' Jack — Seeing the Elephant, 124-135

Chapter X. 1832

At Washington — William L. Marey — The governorship — Martin Yan Buren — Nomination as Vice-President — Certificate of character — United States Bank articles and their authorship — Editorial position in the Courier and Enquirer — Editorial quarrels — Reports on the United States Bank — Opinion of John Quincy Adams — Ownership of the Courier and Enquirer Its course under Mr. Webb's control — Mr. Bennett and the democratic party — Mr. Bennett's letter to the editor of the Standard — Important facts — Mr. Bennett's letter to Mr. Webb — New York Globe — Events of the year — Finale to the New York Globe — Mr. Bennett's narration of his connection with the Courier and Enquirer, 136-150

Chapter XI. 1833-4

Mr. Bennett's contributions to the literary journals — Popularity as an author — Contributor to the New York Mirror — A specimen: Two Yards of Jaconet, or a Husband, 150-159

Chapter XII. 1833

Mr. Bennett's removal to Philadelphia — Purchase of the Pennsylvanian — Loan of twenty-five hundred dollars — The Yan Buren party — Compliments of the Globe — Mr. Bennett's letters to Jesse Hoyt — Jesse Hoyt's letters to Mr. Bennett — Attempt to obtain the required assistance — The disappointment — Yan Buren's friends and friendship — Political advice

CONTENTS. XIX

and not a little scolding — Reply on the independent principle — Deposit question — Globe reads Mr. Bennett out of the party — Case summed up — Consistency towards Van Buren's interests, after receiving injury — Origin and cause of the intrigue against Mr. Bennett — Letters in the Philadelphia Enquirer on the kitchen cabinet — Waiting for a turn of the tide — Pride wounded — Journalism prior to 1833 — Literary periodicals, 160-177

Chapter XIII. 1833-35

The Penny Press — Horatio David Sheppard — Morning Post — The father of the Penny Press — Benjamin H. Day — Pioneers on the Penny Press — Newspaper distribution — Sale of routes — The Sun — Transcript — Man — Working Man's Advocate — Morning Star — Philadelphia Ledger — Baltimore Sun — Morning Despatch — Sale of the Sun — General facts, 178-185

Chapter XIV. 1835

Anderson and Smith — James Gordon Bennett & Co. — New York Herald — ■ "Wall street — Habits — Jealousies — Great fire in Ann street — Forged documents — Discoveries in the moon — The hoax — Opinions on the science of Herschel — Treatment of the Penny Press by its neighbors — Boston Herald — Boston Times — Five hundred dollars to begin anew with — Experience of politicians and parties — Satire — Mock messages — News — Political topics — Animal magnetism — Phrenology — Express companies — Harnden — Adams — Pickford & Co. — Dramatic celebrities, . . 186-196

Chapter XV. 1835-6

The war of Journalism — Advertisements — Loco-foco matches — Pills and dancing parties — Popular medicines — Matchless Sanative — Ayer's Cherry Pectoral — Cerevisia Anglicana — Threatened attack — Penny wisdom — Code of courtesies for journalists — French Indemnities — Mr. Webb's assault on Mr. Bennett — Declaration of independence — Brief history — An opinion of Mr. Bennett — H. Hastings Weld — Helen Jewett's murder — Silly accusation — Libels — Verbal crimination — Poole and Morrissey — A duty of the Press, 197-213

Chapter XVI. 1836

■^ Second assault on Mr. Bennett by Mr. Webb — The Sphinx of Journalism — Falsehoods and assaults — Bachelor's sin — Age of the Press — Civilization — An affected age — Reply to two Scotchmen — Nativity — Perpetuation

XX -CONTENTS.

of nationalities — A charmed existence — Originality of character— Reliance on Providence — The Graham assault — The Press — Negro minstrelsy of Journalism — The Black Swan — Literary taste, 214-226

Chapter XVII. 1836-7

Maria Monk — Price of the Herald increased — The Hamblin attack — Purpose of Mr. Bennett — Frederick Hudson — Who is Ariel ? — Influence of that sprite — Prospero — Interesting interview between Joseph Price and Mr. Bennett — Men not so bad as they seem — Card of Mr. Price — Generosity to a fallen foe — Encouragement and assistance, . . . 22*7-232

CHAPTER XYHL

1838.

Insurrection in Canada — Texas scrip — Cilley and Graves duel — Arrival of the Sirius and the Great Western steamers — Enthusiasm of Mr. Bennett on this event — Labors as a writer — Embarkation for England — Devonshire — Screw propellers— Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton — Embarkation for Scotland — Edinburgh — Emotions — Robert Forrest — Influence of the gowans— Children at play — Aberdeen revisited — Byron — Beattie — Balgounie's brig — Approach to Keith — Isla — New Mill — Duff House — Home found again — A mother's love — Interviews — Catholic church — Soliloquy — Farewell — Rest at Aberdeen — Maternal Influence — Glasgow — Paris — Brighton — Return to New York — Atlantic steam navigation — Correspondence — Independence — With the people, 233-252

Chapter XIX. 1839

Southern tour — Nicholas Biddle — William H. Harrison — Political sagacity — Sam Houston — Texas — Public morals — Taste of the people — Winfield Scott — The presidency — Herald's influence — Murders in New York — Satire — Boston and Saratoga visited — Mr. Cunard — Hartford visited — Suspension of specie payments — Sir Robert Peel — Anti-corn-law league — American corporation credits, 253-260

Chapter XX 1840

Philadelphia banks and their suspension of payments — Defence of the course of the Herald — Daily express from Washington — Burning of the Lexington steamer — Presidential election — William H. Harrison — Reports of speeches — Success — New journals — The moral war — Tactics of the opposition — Moral lightning — Modification of style — Mr. Bennett charged

CONTENTS. XXI

with being a pedler — Reply — Hand grenades and bomb shells — Strange contest — Religious views: — Death of Cosmo Bennett — Items in the account — Mr. Bennett's political tactics — Reforms in society — Selfishness the basis of improvement — Philanthropy — Quarrels for opinion's sake — ■ Censures on recrimination — Astor House — Charles A. Stetson — Newspaper abuse — Atheism and religion — Bible — Influence of it on style — Virgin Mary — Charitable donations — Marriage — The Crean family — Mrs. Bennett — James Gordon Bennett, Jun. — The Heralds themes — Letters from Magara Falls, 261-282

Chapter XXI. 1841

Mr. Bennett charged with bribery — Finance — Loss of steamer President — Death of Harrison — National Bank — Subjects treated upon — JohnHughes, the Catholic bishop — American citizens — Texas, railroad to the Pacific — Diplomatic questions — Undermining of the political parties — Political deterioration — Herald reporters at Washington — Senate rules against the Herald reporters — Henry Clay appealed to— Mr. Bennett's letter — Mr. Clay's reply — Forged and false reports — Illinois State bonds — Forgery of Mr. Bennett's name — Pseudo-democracy — Commercial panics of 1825 and 1837 — Evening Star — M. M. Noah — Correspondent of the Washington Madisonian, 283-295

Chapter XXII. 1842

Murder of Adams — Somers mutiny — History of the former transaction — Colt's conduct — Condemnation — Day of the execution — Result — Spencer on board the Somers — His fate — Conduct of the Herald on the Court Martial — Classes of society — Bankruptcy law — Publication of schedule a libel — Charles Dickens — Rhode Island war — Libels on James Fennimore Cooper originate in a political combination — Criticism — Tyranny of opinion — Thomas* F. Marshall's duel with Mr. Webb — Cigars — Wit — Tour to the Lakes — Ashburton treaty — Moral and physical aspects — Immigration — Aliens — Mormonism — Political parties estimated — Insulted — Code of honor — Foreign Quarterly Review — Reply — Internal power of the Herald — Cheap publications of the year — Their origin — Lancet — Government printing — Biography, 296-320

CHAPTER XXIH. 1843.

Circulation of the Herald, what it was and what it is — An assassination and a murder — Second essay of the Foreign Quarterly Review — Mr. Bennett's reply — Shakspeare as a journalist — Inventors — Sir Robert Peel — Daniel

XX11 CONTENTS.

Webster — Presidency — Libel on Mrs. Bennett — President Tyler's tour- Mr. Bennett with his family sails for England — Editorial correspondence — Dublin — O'Connell's attack on Mr. Bennett — Mr. Bennett's answer addressed to the London Times — Again at home in Scotland — Family — Illness — Sympathy of the people and Press of England and Scotland — Mr. Bennett's letter to the New York Herald — Paris letter — Kachel — Return to New York — Labors continued — Condition of the world — Presidential election — Native American party — Morse's electric tele graph, 321-842

Chapter XXIV. 1844

O'Connell affair explained — The Stockton gun — Catastrophe — Philadelphia riots — Native American party's growth — Catholic vote — The most dangerous man in the country — Protection of character — Sale of editorial space — Money articles — Attention to financial subjects — Onderdonk trial — Ecclesiastical trials — Polka — James K. Polk-^Journals of short-lived existence — Empire Club — Progress of the Herald, 343-355

Chapter XXV. 1845

Modern biography — Whiskers — Jem Grant — Anti-rentism — Thomas Skidmore — Radicalism — Frances "Wright — Tribune — Mr. Bennett's views on social and political reform — Henry Clay's defeat — Inauguration of James K. Polk — Treaty with China — Oregon question — Magnetic telegraph, and its influences — Enthusiasm and labors of Mr. Bennett — Patron of art and literature — Acting — Edwin Forrest — Death of Andrew Jackson — Great fires in 1845 — Roorbacks — Calumnies on public men — Mexican war foretold — A law without the President's signature, 35 6-3*71

Chapter XXVI. 1846

Boston journals — Expresses — Their history — Effect on commercial affairs — Improvements — Journalism — Holy alliance against the Herald — Last express — News by electricity — Telegraph lines — Mr. Clay's speech at Lexington, Kentucky — Washington topics contrasted with those of New York — General Taylor's army of occupation — Duel at Richmond, Virginia — California annexed — Mr. Bennett bearer of despatches to England — Mexican war — Railroad to the Pacific — Public topics — Lady Morgan — Visits to the old Continent : Switzerland, Italy, Istria, Hungary, Bohemia, Saxony, and Prussia — Taglioni and Cerito — Grisi and Mario — Mont Blanc— Niagara Falls — Style of thinking and expression, . . 3*72-885

CONTENTS. XX111

Chapter XXVII. 1847

Mexican war — Famine in Ireland — American contributions for the Irish people — Speculation in bread-stuffs — Residence in Paris — Presented at the court of Louis Philippe — Costume — Correspondence of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett — Modern art — Condition of Europe — Studies for the political philosopher — Parisian statesmen — Press in Europe — Press of Paris examined — London Press — Influence of Herald — Another visit to Scptland — Commercial revulsion in Great Britain — Railway speculations — Elections in England — Parties — Bribery — Condition of Great Britain — Facts — Character of Mr. Bennett's European correspondence — Improvements in the Herald establishment, 386-403

CHAPTER XXYHI.

1848.

Year of revolutions — Zachary Taylor nominated for the Presidency — Changes in European governments — Revolution in France — Flight of Louis Philippe — Opera house — Hundred dollar bribe disposed of — Correspondence on the subject — Treaty between Mexico and the United States — Incarceration of Mr. Nugent — Code of New York — Discovery of gold in California — Mr. Bennett's views on the subject — Cheap postage — Macready riot — Collins steamers — New York Herald and London Times — Walter and Bennett — Companions — Mr. Bennett's genius — Founder of a new school of Journalism, 404-416

Chapter XXIX. 1849

Inauguration of Zachary Taylor — Journalism — Annexation of Cuba — President's proclamation — A Southern man — Advertisements — Horace Greeley's evidence in the House of Commons — Cobden's reply — President Taylor's cabinet — Mr. Bennett's letter to General Taylor — Reply — Mr. Clayton — Topics of the season — Journalism — Right of journals to refuse advertisements — Theobald Mathew — European politics— Journalist of the people, 417-429

Chapter XXX. 1850

Right of search — Facts — Monroe doctrine-r-Drury trials — Warner torpedo — Dangers — Forrest divorce case — Galphin cabinet — Compromise measures^Slavery — Not sectional — Nashville convention — Spirit of the Herald — Action in Massachusetts — Death of President Taylor — Activity of the Herald — The war of the Crimea foretold — British navy list — Facts — Sir Charles Napier's declaration — Jenny Lind, Parodi, Catherine Haye§,

XXIV CONTENTS.

music, and art — Difficulties attending criticism — Mr. Bennett visits Cuba — Invasion by Lopez — Payment to one of his comrades by the Herald establishment — Private charities — Considerations in forming a judgment — Review of the condition of society — Prospects of the United States of America, 430-451

Chapter XXXI. 1851-2-3-4

Expedition to Japan originated by the Herald — Canal enlargement bill — Arrival of Louis Kossuth — Course of the Herald — Reflections — Another European visit — Franklin Pierce — Mission to France — Temperance, Anti-slavery, and Know-Xothing movements — Xext presidential election — Agitation of moral themes — Fernando Wood — Police system, . 452-459

CHAPTER XXXTT. 1855.

A day in the Herald office — Morning hours — Editorial rooms — Newspapers — Mr. Bennett's mode of editing — Conclusion of the morning's work — Visit to his associates — Hints — Talk with the conductor — Purchase of the site occupied by the offices — Apartments — Occupants and assistants — Sentiments — John Quincy Adams — Reformers — Operation of the Herald on the public mind — Expositions in finance — Edward "W". Hudson — Church and State — Future of the Herald — Brief resume of Mr. Bennett's history — Character — Phrenological survey — Slanders — One man's power — An enthusiast in Journalism — Alien to the soil — Design of this work — Hopes for Journalism — The conclusion, 460-488

JAMES GORDON BENNETT AND HIS TIMES.

Chapter I

At the close of the last centur y, the Highlands of Scotland were marked by little of that enterprise now apparent there in trade and agriculture. Large tracts of country were held by heritors, or lords, whose lands were feued, and who could exact from tenants services at once onerous in themselves and withering to industry.

In some regions, the inhabitants were more blessed than their neighbors by the enlightened action of the lords of the soil, and the shire of Banff enjoyed the growing reform as soon and as extensively as any other district of the North.

Banff contained several proprietary residences, but the principal ones were Braco, or Duff House, and Gordon Castle — the latter a princely estate, celebrated as the home of the Gordons, and distinguished for its miles of parks and its wealthy appliances, while the former was celebrated for its architectural peculiarities and many objects of interest within its walls, as well as for its hospitality and the lordly possessions of its proprietor, the Earl of Fife.

It was within the very shadow of Duff House that the father and mother of James Gordon Bennett reared an interesting family, the members of which will be noticed in the course of these pages. They lived at Old Town, as it was then called, but as it is now designated, at New Mill.

26 HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

This locality was a part of Keith, which, in the last century had been a vicarage. It belonged to Lord Fife, but it was not included in his feued property, which extended to the New Town of New Mill, a place where a village has been erected within the last fifty years. Keith is not far from Banff, the county -town ; and near it, at the foot of the hill, is Duff House, erected upon an extensive lawn, and commanding a complete view of the picturesque vale, which is encircled by hills of romantic beauty, enshrined by the genius of history.

Sixty years ago, the general aspect of nature in Banff-shire, in particular, was not refined by that culture which now imparts the beauty of industry to the fields, and wealth to its inhabitants. In its original, romantic, and wild scenery there was much more to excite an ardent and enthusiastic temperament than at the present hour. Cultivation has the power to soothe the natural ardor of youthful emotions ; where it does not exist the soul feels few fetters and is subjected by little allegiance.

A boy trained fifty years ago in the scenes around the residence of the Earl of Fife, if born with a mind capable of being excited by noble passions, could not but imbibe the inspirations which belong to the power of nature, and are impressed upon man by the magic of her livery. There were the glens, the lawns, the woods, the hills, the mountains, and the varied streams, which, in silver characters, engrave their graceful beauties on the page of that volume which is never closed to the memory.

The very rocks echoed with traditions of man's early struggles : the light, lisping sugh of the trembling leaves of the forest whispered of perished ambitions ; the ruins of lordly towers rested in their crumbling darkness against the remote sky of the fading past, as it gathers its decreasing glories into the starry forms which illumine the night of antiquity ; the dateless tombs of the nameless dead, in cairns, or barrows, or in unsculptured stone coffins, aroused conjecture by some buried symbol of human prowess that had endured beyond the ashes with which it was entombed. Upon the lawn, or on

LAND OF SONG AND STORY. 27

the hill, the air was vocal with a hymn consecrating all honorable human effort, while the dull round of that daily toil then known in Banff, muttered only of the insignificance of modern ambition as contrasted with the incitements to great achievements which glorify the past. There, too, the unaided voices of nature were choral with melodies from the unfrightened songsters of the majestical woods. The pheasant in the autumn, the field-fare in the winter, and the plover in the spring, added their interest to the drouthy, babbling brook, to the icy stream, or to the bounding flood and torrent, as the seasons in turn ushered into the heart's existence the animating summer of the soul.

In such a scene of natural beauty, associated with the trials of man's virtue and valor, and with the mutations of his weakness and wants, what else could be expected from a nature sensitive to impressions which stimulate the intellect than an aspiration for something higher than those unintellectual occupations which engrossed the activity of the inhabitants 1 What scenes of natural grandeur can be imagined, which could have more favorable charms for a glowing fancy, intellectually trained, amid the traditions and histories of a vigorous and warlike people 1 A land of song and story, everywhere filled with unnumbered points on which the thrilling legends of early trials, wrongs, and struggles, could not have been less than a delightful home to any youthful mind liable to take its coloring from the examples of antiquity, as the light of heaven itself receives hues from the mediums through which it is transmitted.