The life of Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune

Front matter

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Chapter I. The Scotch-ieish Of New Hampshire

PARS

Londonderry in Ireland— The Siege— Emigration to New England— Settlement of Londonderry, New Hampshire— The Scotch-Irish introduce the culture of the potato and the manufacture of linen— Character of the Scotch-Irish— Their simplicity-Love of fun— Stories of the early clergymen— Traits in the Scotch-Irish character— Zeal of the Londonderrians in the Revolution— Horace Greeley's alusion to his Scotch-Irish ancestry 19

Chapter II. Ancestors. — Parentage. — Birth

Origin of the Family— Old Captain Ezekiel Greeley— Zaccheus Greeley— Zaccheus the Second— Roughness and Tenacity of the Greeley race— Maternal Ancestors of Horace Greeley— John Woodburu— Character of Horace Greeley's Great-grandmother— His Grandmother— Romantic Incident— Horace Greeley is born "as black as a chimney"— Comes to hia color— Succeeds to the name of Horace 28

Chapter III. Early Childhood

The Village of Amherst— Character of the adjacent country— The Greeley farm— The Tribune In the room in which its Editor was bom— Horace learns to read- Book up-side down— Goes to school in Londonderry— A district school forty years ago— Horace as a young orator — Has a mania for spelling hard words — Gets great glory at the spelling school— Recollections of his surviving schoolfellows—His future eminence foretold— Delicacy of ear— Early choice of a trade— His courage and timidity — Goes to school in Bedford — A favorite among his schoolfellows— His early fondness for the village newspaper— Lies in ambush for the post-rider who brought it— Scours the country for books— Project of sending him to an academy— The old sea-captain— Horace as a farmer's boy— Let us do our stint first— His way of fishing 34 xil CONTENTS.

Chapter IV. . His Father R-jine D — R Em Oval To Vermont

PAOB

New Hampshire before the era of manufactures— Causes of his father's failure- Rum in the olden time — An execution in the house — Flight of the father — Horace sud the Rum Jug— Compromise with the creditors— Removal to another farm — Final ruin — Removal to Vermont — ^The winter journey— Poverty of the family- Scene at their new home — Cheerfulness iu misfortune 52

Chapter V. At Westhaven, Vermont

Description of the country— Clearing up Land— AH the family assist 4 la Swisa- Family-Robinson— Primitive costume of Horace— His early indifference to dress —His manner and attitude in school— A Peacemaker among the boys— Gets into a scrape, and out of it — Assists his school-fellows in their studies — An evening scene at home — Horace knows too much — Disconcerts his teachers by his questions — Leaves school — The pine-knots still blaze on the hearth — Reads incessantly — Becomes a great draught player — Bee-hunting — Reads at the Mansion House — Taken for an Idiot— And for a possible President— Reads Mrs. Hemans with rapture— A Wolf Story— A Pedestrian Journey— Horace and the horseman- Yoking tlie Oxen— Scene with an old Soaker— Rum in Westhaven- Horace's First Pledge— Narrow escape from drowning— His religious doubts— Becomes a Universalist— Discovers the humbug of " Democracy"- Impatient to begin his apprenticeship

Chapter VI. A Pprentice Ship

The Village of East Poultney— Horace applies for the Place— Scene in the Garden —He makes an Impression— A diflSculty arises and is overcome— He enters the office — Rite of Initiation — Horace the Victor — His employer's recollections of him — The Pack of Cards — Horace begins to paragraph — Joins the Debating Society — His manner of Debating — Horace and the Dandy — His noble conduct to his father— His first glimpse of Saratoga— His manners at the Table— Becomes the Town-Encyclopedia— The Doctor's Story— Recollections of one of his fellow apprentices—Horace's favorite Poets— Politics of the time— The Anti-Mason Excitement—The Northern Spectator stons— The Apprentice is Fre* 82

CONTENTS. XIU

Chapter VII. He Wanders

PAGB

Horace loaves Pojiltney— Ilis first Overcoat— Home to his Father's Log House- Ranges the country for work— The Sore Leg Cured— Gets Employment, but Utile Money- Astonishes the Draught-Players— Goes to Erie, Pa.— Interview with an Editor— Becomes a Journeyman in the Office— Description of Erie— The Lake— His Generosity to his Father— His new clothes— No more work at Erie— Starts for New York --*-«• 105

Chapter VIII

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The journey— a night on the tow-path— He reaches the city— Inventory of his property-Looks for a boarding-house— Finds one— Expends half his capital upon clothes — Searches for employment — Berated by David Hale as a runaway apprentice — Continues the search — Goes to church — Hears of a vacancy — Obtains

work— The boss takes him for a < fool,' but changes his opinion— Nicknamed

'the Ghost'— Practical jokes— Horace metamorphosed— Dispute about commas —The shoemaker's boarding-house— Grand banquet on Sundays. , 118

Chapter IX. Feom Office To Office

Leaves West's— Works on the ' Evening Post '—Story of Mr. Leggett— ' Commercial Advertiser '— ' Spirit of the Times '—Specimen of his writing at this period— Naturally fond of the drama— Timothy Wiggins— Works for Mr, Redfield— The first lift 133

Chapter X. The First Penny Pape R — A Nd Who Thought Of It

Importance of the cheap daily press — The originator of the idea — History of the idea— Dr. Sheppard's Chatham-street cogitations— The Idea is conceived— It is born— Interview with Horace Greeley— The Doctor thinks he is 'no common boy' —The schemer batfled— Daily papers twenty-five years ago— Dr. Sheppard comes to a resolution — The firm of Greeley and Story — The Morning Post appears — And fails— The sphere of the choap press— Fanny Fern and the poa-nut merchant 137 xiv ' CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XL

THE FIEM CONTINUES.

PAGB

Lottery printing— The Constitutionalist— Dudley S. Gregory— Tiie lottery suicide- The firm prospers — Sudden death of Mr. Story — A new partner — Mr. Greeley as a master— A dinner story— Sylvester Graham— Horace Greeley at the Graham House— The New Yoiker projected— James Gordon Bennett ]46

Chapter XII. Editoe Of The New Yoekee

Character of the paper— Its early fortunes— Happiness of the Editor— Scene in the Office— Specimens of Horace Greeley's Poetry— Subjects of his Essays— His Opinions then— His Marriage— The Silk-stocking Story— A day in Washington- His impressions of the Senate — Pecuniary difficulties — Cause of the New Yorker's ill-success as a Business — The missing letters — The Editor gets a nickname — The Agonies of a Debtor— Park Benjamin— Henry J. Raymond > 151

Chapter XIII. The Jeffee80nian

Objects of tho Jeffersonian— Its character— A novel Glorious-Victory paragraph— The Graves and Cilley duel— The Editor overv/^orked 174

Chapter XIV. The Log Cabin. — "tippecanoe And Tylee Too."

Wire-pulling— The delirium of 1840— The Log Cabin— Unprecedented hit— A glance at its pages— Log Cabin jokes— Log Cabin song- Horace Greeley and the cake-basket— Pecimiary difficulties continue— The Tribune announced 180

. • CHAPTER XY.

STAETS THE T E I B TJ N E .

'he Capital— The Daily Press of New York in 1841— The Tribune appears— The Omens unpropitious — The first week— Conspiracy to put down the Tribune— The Tribune triumphs— Thomas McElrath— The Tribune alive— Industry of the Editors— Their, independence— Horace Greeley and John Tyler— The Tribune a Fixed Fact 191

/ CONTENTS. X7

Chapter XVI. The Teibune And F0ukieri8m

PAGE

What made Horace Greeley a Socialist— The hard winter of 1838— Albert Brisbane —The subject broached— Series of articles by Mr. Brisoane begun— Their effect- Cry of Mad Dog — Discussion between Horace Greeley and Henry J. Raymond — How it arose— Abstract of it in a conversational form. 199

CHAPTER xyn.

Increase of price— The Tribune offends the Sixth Ward fighting-men — The office Threatened— Novel preparations for defense — Charles Dickens defended— The Editor travels— Visits Washington, and sketches the Senators— At Mount Vernon -At Niagara— A hard hit at Major Noah 217

CHAPTER XVm.

THE TEIBUNE AND J. FENIMOEE COOPER.

The libel— Horace Greeley's narrative of the trial— He reviews the opening speech of Mr. Cooper's counsel — A striking illustration— He addresses the jury— Mr. Cooper sums up — Horace Greeley comments on the speech of the novelist— In doing so he perpetrates new libels— The verdict— IMr. Greeley's remarks on the same— Strikes a bee-line for New York— A new suit— An imaginary case 224

CHAPTER XIX.

THE TEIBUNE CONTINUES.

The Special Express system— Night adventures of Enoch Ward— Gig Express— Express from Halifax— Baulked by the snow-drifts— Party warfare then— Books published by Greeley and McElrath— Course of the Tribune— The Editor travels — Scenes in Washington — An incident of travel — Clay and Frelinghuysen — The exertions of Horace Greeley— Results of the defeat— The Tribune and Slavery —Burning of the Tribune Building— The Editor's reflections upon the fire 240

CHAPTER XX.

MAEGAEET FULLER.

Her writings in the Tribune— She resides with Mr. Greeley — His narrative — Dietetic Sparring— Her manner of writing— Woman's Rights— Her generosity— Her independence—Her love of children— Margaret and Pickie— Her opinion of Mr. Greeley— Death of Pickie 253

XVI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXI.

EDITOEIAL EEPAETEES.

PAGE

At war with all the world— The spirit of the Tribune— Retorts vituperative— The Tribune and Dr. Potts— Some prize tracts suggested— An atheist's oath— A word for domestics— Irish Democracy— The modern drama— Hit at Dr. Hawks— Dissolution of the Union— Dr. Franklin's story— A Picture for Polk— Charles Dickens and Copyright— Charge of malignant falsehood— Preaching and Practice— Col. Webb severely hit— Hostility to the Mexican war— Violence incited— A few sparks— The course of the Tribune— Wager with the Herald 263

CHAPTER XXH.

1848!

Revolution in Europe— The Tribune exults— The Slievegammon letters— Taylor and Fillmore— Course of the Tribune— Horace Greeley at Vauxhall Garden— His election to Congress 282

CHAPTER XXni.

THEEE MONTHS IN CONGE ESS.

His objects as a Member of Congress— His first acts— The Chaplain hypocrisy— The Land Reform Bill— Distributing the Documents— Offers a novel Resolution— The Mileage Expos6— Congressional delays— Explosion in the House— Mr. Turner's oration— Mr. Greeley defends himself— The Walker Tariff— Congress in a pet- Speech at the Printer's Festival— The house in good humor— Traveling dead-head—Personal explanations— A dry haul— The amendment game— Congressional dignity— Battle of the Books— The Recruiting System— The last night of the Session— The ' usual gratuity'— The Inauguration Ball— Farewell to his constitu- ATits 2Rfi

CHAPTETw XXIY.

ASSOCIATION IN THE T E I B TJ N E OFFICE.

Accessions to the corps— The course of the Tribune— Horace Greeley in Ohio— The Rochester knockings— The mediums at Mr. Greeley's house— Jenny Lind goes to see them— Her behavior— Woman's Rights Convention— The Tribune Association—The hireling system 319

CONTENTS. XVll

CHAPTER XXV.

ON THE PLATFOE M. — H INTS TOWARDS EEFOliMS.

PAGK

The Lecture System — Comparative popularity of the leading Lecturers — Horace Greeley at the Tabernacle — His audience — His appearance — His manner of speaking— His occasional addresses— The 'Hints' published— Its one subject, the Emancipation of Labor — The Problems of the Time — The 'successful' man — The duty of the State— The educated class— A narrative for workingmen— Tne catastrophe 326

CHAPTER XXVL

THEEE MONTHS IN EUEOPE.

The Voyage out— First impression of England— Opening of the Exhibition— Characteristic observations — He attends a grand Banquet — He sees the Sights — He speaks at Exeter Hall — The Play at Devoushire House — Robert Owen's birth-day —Horace Greeley before a Committee of the House of Commons— He throws light upon the subject— Vindicates tho American Press— Journey to Paris— The Sights of Paris— The Opera and Ballet— A false Prophet— His opinion of tho French— Journey to Italy— Anecdote— A nap in the Diligence— Arrival at Rome —In the Galleries— Scene in the Coliseum— To England again- Triumph of the American Reaper— A week in Ireland and Scotland— His opinion of the English —Homeward Bound— His arrival— The Extra Tribune 346

CHAPTER XXYIl.

R EOENTL Y.

Deliverance from Party— A Private Platform— Last Interview with Henry Clay- Horace Greeley a Farmer — He irrigates and drains — His Advice to a Yoimg Man —The Daily Times— A costly Mistake— The Isms of the Tribune— The Tribune gets Glory— The Tribune in Parliament— Proposed Nomination for Governor— His Life written— A Judge's Daughter for Sale 375

CHAPTER XXYHI.

DAY AND NIGHT IN THE TRIBUNE OFFICE.

The streets before daybreak— Waking the newsboys— Morning scene in the press-room— The Compositor's room— The four Phalanxes— The Tribune Directory— A lull in the Tribime office— A glance at the paper— The advertisements— Telegraphic marvels— Marine Intelligenee— New Publications— Letters from the peo-

XVm CONTENTS.

rxei pie— Editorial articles— The editorial Rooms— The Sanctum Sanctorum— Solon Robinson— Bayard Taylor— William Henry Fry— George Ripley— Charles A. Dana— F. J. Ottftrson— George M. Snow— Enter Horace Greeley^His Preliminary botheration— The composing-room in the evening— The editors at work- Mr. Greeley's manner of writing— Midnight-Three o'clock in the morning— The carriers 391

CHAPTER XXIX.

POSITION AND INFLUENCE OF HORACE GREELEY.

At the head of his Profession— Extent of his Influence— Nature of his Influence— A Conservative-Radical- His Practical Suggestions— To Aspiring Young Men- Have a Home of yoiir own—To Young Mechanics— Coming to the City— A Labor-Exchange—Pay as you go— To the Lovers of Knowledge— To Young Orators — The Colored People— To young Lawyers and Doctors— To an inquiring Slaveholder—To Country Editors— In Peace, prepare for War— To Country Merchants —Tenement Houses 411

CHAPTER XXX.

APPEARANCE — MANNERS — HABITS.

His person and countenance- Phrenological developments— His rustic manners- Town eccentricities— Horace Greeley in Broadway— 'Horatius' at church— Horace Greeley at home 421

CHAPTER XXXI.

GOKOLU'UON 434

THE LIFE OF HORACE GREELEY.

Chapter I. The Scotch-ikish Of New Hampshire

Londonderry in Ireland— The Siege— Emigration to New Eng^^and— Settlement of Londonderry, New Hampshire— The Scotch-Irish introduce the culture of the potato and the manufacture of linen— Character of the Scotch-Irish— Their sim* plicity— Love of fun— Stories of the early clergymen— Traits in the Scotch- Irish character — Zeal of the Londonderrians in the Revolution — Horace Greeley's allusion to his Scotch-Irish ancestry.

New Eampshiee, the native State of Horace Greeley, was settled in part by colonists from Massacliusetts and Connecticut, and in part by emigrants from the north of Ireland. The latter were called Scotch-Irish, for a reason which a glance at their history will show.

Ulster, the most northern of the four provinces of Ireland, has been, during the last two hundred and fifty years, superior to the rest in wealth and civilization. The cause of its superiority is known. About the year 1612, when James I. was king, there was a rebellion of the Catholics in the north of Ireland. Upon its suppression, Ulster, embracing the six northern counties, and containing half a million acres of land, fell to the king by the attainder of the rebels. Under roy^l encouragement and furtherance, a company was formed in London for the purpose of planting colonies in that fertile province, which lay waste from the ravages of the recent war. The land was divided into shares, the largest of which did not exceed two thousand acres. Colonists were invited over from England and Scotland. The natives were expelled from their fastnesses in the hills, and forced to settle upon the plains. Somo efforts, it appears, were made to teacli them arts and agriculture. Robbery and assassination were punished. And, thus, by the infusion of new blood, and the partial improvement of the ancient race, Ulster, which had been the most savage and turbulent of the Irish provinces, became, and remains to this day, the best cultivated, the richest, and the most civilized.

One of the six counties was Londonderry, the capital of which, called by the same name, had been sacked and razed during the rebellion. The city was now rebuilt by a company of adventurers from London, and the county was settled by a colony from Argyleshire in Scotland, who were thenceforth called Scotch-Irish. Of what stuff these Scottish colonists were made, their after-history amply and gloriously shows. The colony took root and flourished in Londonderry. In 1689, the year of the immortal siege, the city was an important fortified town of twenty-seven thousand inhabitants, and the county was proportionally populous and productive. William of Orange had reached the British throne. James II. returning from France had landed in Ireland, and was making an effort to recover his lost inheritance. The Irish Catholics were still loyal to him, and hastened to rally round his banner. But Ulster was Protestant and Presbyterian ; the city of Londonderry was Ulster's stronghold, and it was the chief impediment in the way of James' proposed descent upon Scotland. "With what resolution and daring the people of Londonderry, during the ever-memorable siege of that city, fought and endured for Protestantism and freedom, the world well knows. For seven months they held out against a besieging army, so numerous that its slain numbered nine thousand. The besieged lost three thousand men. To such extremities were they reduced, that among the market quotations of the times, we find items like these:— a quarter of a dog, five shillings and six-pence ; a dog's head, two and six-pence ; horse-flesh, one and six-pence per pound ; horse-blood, one shilling per quart ; a cat, four and six-pence; a rat, one shilling; a mouse, six-pence. When all the food that remained in the city was nine half-starved horses and a pint of meal per man, the people were still resolute. At the very last extremity, they were relieved by a provisioned fleet, and the army of James retired in despair.

On the settlement of the kingdom under William and Mary, the

EMIGRATION TO NEW ENGLAND. 21

Presbyterians of Londonderry did not find themselves in tlio enjoyment of the freedom to which they conceived themselves entitled. They were dissenters from the established church. Their pastors were not recognized by the law as clergymen, nor their places of worship as churches. Tithes were exacted for the support of the Episcopal clergy. They were not proprietors of the soil, but held their lands as tenants of the crown. They were hated alike, and equally, by the Irish Catholics and the English Episcopalians. When, therefore, in 1617, a son of one of the leading clergyman returned from New England with glowing accounts of that * plantation,' a furor of emigration arose in the town and county of Londonderry, and portions of four Presbyterian congregations, with their four pastors, united in a scheme for a simultaneous removal across the seas. One of the clergymen was first despatched to Boston to make the needful inquiries and arrangements. He was the bearer of an address to " His Excellency, the Eight Honorable Colonel Samuel Smith, Governor of JSTew England," which assured his Excellency of " our sincere and hearty inclination to transport ourselves to that very excellent and renowned plantation, upon our obtaining from his Excellency suitable encouragement." To this address, the original of which still exists, two hundred and seven names were appended, and all but seven in the hand- writing of the individuals signing — a fact which proves the superiority of the emigrants to the majority of their countrymen, both in position and intelligence. One of the subscribers was a baronet, nine were clergymen, and three others were graduates of the University of Edinburgh.

On the fourth of August, 1718, the advance party of Scotch- Irish emigrants arrived in five ships at Boston. Some of them remained in that city and founded the church in Federal street, of which Dr. Channing was afterwards pastor. Others attempted to settle in Worcester; but as they were Irish and Presbyterians, such a storm of prejudice against them arose among the enlightened Congregationalists of that place, that they were obliged to flee before it, and seek refuge in the less populous places of Massachusetts. Sixteen families, after many months of tribulation and wandering, selected for thoir permanent abode a tract twelve miles square, called l^utfield, whicli. now embraces the townships of London derry, Deny and Windham, in Eockingham county, New Hamp shire. The land was a free gift from the king, in consideration ol the services rendered his throne by the people of Londonderry in the defence of their city. To each settler Avas assigned a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, a house lot, and an out lot of sixty acres. The lands of the men who had personally served during the siege, were exempted from taxation, and were known down to the period of the revolution as the Exempt Farms. The settlement of Londonderry attracted new emigrants, and it soon became one of the most prosperous and famous in the colony.

It was there that the potato was first cultivated, and there that linen was first made in ISTew England. The English colonists at that day appear to have been unacquainted with the culture of the potato, and the familiar story of the Andover farmer who mistook the balls which grow on the potato vine for the genuine fruit of the plant, is mentioned by a highly respectable historian of New Hampshire as " a well-authenticated fact."

"With regard to the linen manufacture, it may be mentioned as a proof of the thrift and skill of the Scotch-Irish settlers, that, as early as the year 1748, the linens of Londonderry had so high a reputation in the colonies, that it was found necessary to take measure3 to prevent the linens made in other towns from being fraudulently sold for those of Londonderry manufacture. A town meeting was held in that year foi* the purpose of appointing " fit and proper persons to survey and inspect linens and hollands made in the town for sale, so that the credit of our manufactory be kept up, and the purchaser of our linens may not be imposed upon with foreign and outlandish linens in the name of ours." Inspectors and sealers were accordingly appointed, who were to examine and stamp " all the hollands made and to be made in our town, whether brown, white, speckled, or checked, that are to be exposed for sale ;" for which service they were empowered to demand from the owner of said linen " sixpence, old tenor, for each piece." And this occurred within thirty years from the erection of the first log-hut in the township of Londonderry. However, the people had brought their spinning and weav* ing implements with them from Ireland, and their industry was not once interrupted by an attack of Indians.

These Scotch-Irish of Londonderry were a very peculiar people.

CHARACTER OF THE SCOTCH-IRISH. 23

They were Scotcli-Irisli in character and in name ; of Irish vivacity, generosity, and daring; Scotch in frugality, industry, and resolution ; a race in whose composition nature seems, for once, to have kindly blended the quahties that rerfSer men interesting with those that render them prosperous. Their habits and their minds were simple. They lived, for many years after the settlement began to thrive, upon the fish which they caught at the falls of Amoskeag, upon game, and upon such products of the soil as beans, potatoes, samp, and barley. It is only since the year 1800 that tea and coffee, those ridiculous and effeminating drinks, came into anything like general use among them. It was not till some time after the Revolution that a chaise was seen in Londonderry, and even then it excited great wonder, and was deemed an unjustifiable extravagance. Shoes, we are told, were little worn in the summer, except on Sundays and holidays ; and then they were carried in the Tiand to within a short distance of the churchy where they loere put on ! There was little buying and selling among them, but much borrowing and lending. " If a neighbor killed a calf," says one writer, " no part of it was sold ; but it was distributed among relatives and friends, the poor widow always having a piece ; and the minister, if he did not get the shoulder, got a portion as good." The women were robust, worked on the farms in the busy seasons, reaping, mowing, and even ploughing on occasion; and the hum of the spinningwheel was heard in every house. An athletic, active, indomitable, prolific, long-lived race. For a couple to have a dozen children, and for all the twelve to reach maturity, to marry, to have large families, and die at a good old age, seems to have been no uncommon case among the original Londonderrians.

Love of fun was one of their marked characteristics. One of their descendants, the Rev. J. H. Morrison, has written — " A prominent trait in the character of the Scotch-Irish was their ready wit. Fo subject was kept sacred from it ; the thoughtless, the grave, the old, and the young, alike enjoyed it. Our fathers were serious, thoughtful men, but they lost no occasion which might promise sport. Weddings, huskings, log-rolhngs and raisings — what a host of queer stories is connected with them ! Our ancestors dearly loved fun. There was a grotesque humor, and yet a seriousness, pathos and strangeness about them, which in its way has, perhaps, never been equalled. It was tlie sternness of the Scotch Covenanter, softened hy a century's residence abroad, amid persecution and trial, wedded to the comic humor and pathos of the Irish, and then grown wild in the woods among their own New England mountains."

There never existed a people at once so jovial and so religious. This volume could be filled with a oollection of their rehgious repartees and pious jokes. It was Pat. Larkin, a Scotch-Irishman, near Londonderry, who, when he was accused of being a Catholic, because his parents were Catholics, replied : " If a man happened tc be born in a stable, would that make him a horse ?" and he won his bride by that timely spark.

Quaint, bold, and witty were the old Scotch-Irish clergymen, the men of the siege, as mighty with carnal weapons as with spiritual. There was no taint of the sanctimonious in their rough, honest, and healthy natures. During the old French war, it is related, a British ofiicer, in a peculiarly " stunning " uniform, came one Sunday morning to the Londonderry Meeting House. Deeply conscious was this individual that he was exceedingly well dressed and he took pains to display his finery and his figure bj: standing in an attitude, during the delivery of the sermon, which had the effect of withdrawing the minds of the young ladies from the same. At length, the minister, who had botli fought and preached in Londonderry ' at home,' and feared neither man, beast, devil, nor red-coat, addressed the officer thus : " Te are a braw lad ; ye ha'e a braw suit of claithes, and we ha'e a' seen them ; ye may sit doun.^'' The officer subsided instantly, and old Dreadnought went on with his sermon as though nothing had happened. The same clergyman once began a sermon on the vain self-confidence of St. Peter, with the following energetic remarks : " Just like Peter, aye, mair forrit than wise, ganging swaggering about wi' a sword at his side ; an' a puir hand he made of it when he came to the trial ; for he only cut off a chiel's lug, an' he ouglit to lid) split down his hsady On another occasion, he is said to have opened on a well-known text in this fashion : " ' I can do all things ;' ay, can ye Paul? rU bet yea dollar o' that (placing a dollar on the desk). But stop! let's see what else Paul says: 'I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me ;' ay, sae can I, Paul. I draw ray bet," and he returned the dollar to his pocket. Thej

TRAITS IN THE SCOTCH CHARACTER. 25

prayed a joke sometimes, those Scotcli-Irish clergj^men. One pastor, dining with a new settler, who had no table, and served up his dinner in a basket, implored Heaven to bless the man " in his haskel, and in his store;" which Heaven did, for the man afterwards grew rich. "What is the difference," asked a youth, "between the Congregationalists and Presbyterians ?" " The difference is," replied the pastor, with becoming gravity, "that the Congregationalist goes home between the services and eats a regular dinner ; but the Presbyterian puts off his till after meeting."

And how pious they were ! For many years after the settlement, the omission of the daily act of devotion in a single household would have excited general alarm. It is related as a fact^ that the first pastor of Londonderry, being informed one evening that an individual was becoming neglectful of family worship, immediately repaired to his dwelling. The family had retired ; he called up the master of the house, inquired if the report were true, and asked him whether he had omitted family prayer that evening. The man confessed that he had ; and the pastor, havmg admonished him of his fault, refused to leave the house until the delinquent had called up his wife, and performed with her the omitted observance. The first settlers of some of the towns near Londonderry walked every Sunday eight, ten, twelve miles to church, taking their children with them, and crossing the Merrimac in a canoe or on a raft. The first public enterprises of every settlement were the building of a church, the construction of a block-house for defense against the Indians, and the establishment of a school. In the early times of course, every man went to church with his gun, and the minister preached peace and good-will with a loaded musket peering above the sides of the pulpit.

The Scotch-Irish were a singularly honest people. There is an entry in the town-record for 1734, of a complaint against John Morrison, that, having found an axe on the road, he did not leave it at the next tavern, ' as the laws of the country doth require.' John acknowledged the fact, but pleaded in extenuation, that the axe was of so small value, that it would not have paid the cost of pro^ claiming. The session, however, censured him severely, and exhorted him to repent of the evil. The following is a curious extract from the records of a Scotch-Irish settlement for 1756 : " Voted^ to give Mr. Jolin Houston equal to forty pounds sterling, in old tenor, as the law shall find the rate in dollars or sterling money, for his yearly stipend, if he is our ordained minister. And what number of Sabbath days, annually, we shall think ourselves not able to pay him, he shall have at his own use and disposal, deducted out of the aforesaid sum in proportion." The early records of those settlements abound in evidence, that the people had an habitual and most scrupulous^regard for the rights of one another.