Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Satanstoe; or, The Littlepage Manuscripts
.pdf
SATANSTOE; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
spoken. He bore the local rank of Brigadier,32 and seemed to
be the very soul of the army. It was not his personal consideration alone, that placed him so high in the estimation of
the public and of the troops, but his professional reputation,
and professional services. There were many young men of
rank in the army present; and, as for younger sons of peers,
there were enough to make honourables almost as plenty, at
Albany, as they were at Boston. Most of the colonial families of mark had sons in the service, too; those of the middle
and southern colonies bearing commissions in regular regiments, while the provincial troops from the eastern were led,
as was very usual, in that quarter of the country, by men of
the class of yeomen, in a great degree; the habits of equality
that prevailed in those provinces making few distinctions, on
the score of birth or fortune.
Yet it was said, I remember, that obedience was as marked,
among the provincials from Massachusetts and Connecticut,
as among those that came from farther south; the men deferring to authority, as the agent of the laws. They were fi ne
troops, too; better than our own colony regiments, I must acknowledge; seeming to belong to a higher class of labourers;
32
The ordinary American reader may not know that the rank
of Brigadier, in the British army, is not a step in the regular line of
promotion, as with us. In England, the regular military gradations
are from Colonel to Major-general, Lieut. General, General, and
Field Marshal. The rank of Brigadier is barely recognised, like that
of Commodore, in the navy, to be used on emergencies; usually as
brevet, local rank, to enable the government to employ clever colonels at need.
401
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
while, it must be admitted, that most of their offi cers were
no very brilliant representatives of manners, acquirements,
or habits, that would be likely to qualify them for command.
It must have been that the offi cers and men suited each other; for, it was said all round, that they stood well, and fought
very bravely, whenever they were particularly well led, as did
not always happen to be the case. As a body of mere physical
men, they were universally allowed to be the fi nest corps in
the army, regulars and all included.
I saw Lord Howe two or three times, particularly at the residence of Madam Schuyler, the lady I have already had occasion to mention, and to whom I had given the letter of introduction procured by my mother, the Mordaunts visiting her
with great assiduity, and frequently taking me with them. As
for Lord Howe, himself, he almost lived under the roof of excellent Madam Schuyler; where, indeed, all the good company
assembled at Albany, was, at times, to be seen.
Our party was a large one; and, it might have passed for
a small corps of the army itself, moving on in advance; as was
the case with corps, or parts of corps, now, almost daily. Herman Mordaunt had delayed our departure, indeed, expressly
with a view to render the country safe, by letting it fi ll with
detachments from the army; and our progress, when we were
once in motion, was literally from post to post; encampment to
encampment. It may be well to enumerate our force, and to
relate the order of our march, that the reader may better comprehend the sort of business we were on.
Herman Mordaunt took with him, in addition to the ladies, a black cook, and a black serving-girl; a negro-man, to
402
SATANSTOE; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
lake care of his horses, and another as his house-servant.
He had three white labourers, in addition – men employed
about the teams, and as axe-men, to clear the woods, bridge
the streams, and to do other work of that nature, as it might
be required. On our side, there were us three gentlemen, Yaap,
my own faithful negro, Mr. Traverse, the surveyor, two chainbearers, and two axe-men. Guert Ten Eyck carried with him,
also, a negro-man, who was called Pete; it being contrary to
bonos mores to style him Peter or Petrus; the latter being his
true appellation. This made us ten men strong, of whom eight
were white, and two black. Herman Mordaunt mustered, in
all, just the same number, of which, however, four were females. Thus, by uniting our forces, we made a party of twenty souls, altogether. Of this number, all the males, black and
white, were well armed, each man owning a good rifl e, and
each of the gentlemen a brace of pistols in addition. We carried the latter belted to our bodies, with the weapons, which
were small and fi tted to the service, turned behind, in such
a way as to be concealed by our outer garments. The belts were
also hid by the fl aps of our nether garments. By this arrangement, we were well armed without seeming to be so; a precaution that is sometimes useful in the woods.
It is hardly necessary to say, that we did not plunge into
the forest in the attire in which we had been accustomed to appear in the streets of New York and Albany. Cocked hats were
laid aside altogether; forest caps, resembling in form those we
had worn in the winter, with the exception that the fur had
been removed, being substituted. The ladies wore light beavers,
suited to their sex; there being little occasion for any shade for
403
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
the face, under the dense canopies of the forest. Veils of green,
however, were added, as the customary American protection
for the sex. Anneke and Mary travelled in habits, made of light
woman’s cloth, and in a manner to fi t their exquisite forms
like gloves. The skirts were short, to enable them to walk with
ease, in the event of being compelled to go a-foot. A feather
or two, in each hat, had not been forgotten – the offering of
the natural propensity of their sex, to please the eyes of men.
As for us men, buckskin formed the principal material of
our garments. We all wore buckskin breeches, and gaiters,
and moccasins. The latter, however, had the white-man’s soles;
though Guert took a pair or two with him that were of the pure
Indian manufacture. Each of us had a coatee, made of common
cloth; but we all carried hunting-shirts, to be worn as soon as
we entered the woods. These hunting-shirts, green in colour,
fringed and ornamented garments, of the form of shirts to be
worn over all, were exceedingly smart in appearance, and were
admirably suited to the woods. It was thought that the fringes,
form, and colour, blended them so completely with the foliage,
as to render them in a manner invisible to one at a distance;
or at least, undistinguished. They were much in favour with all
the forest corps of America, and formed the usual uniform of
the rifl emen of the woods, whether acting against man, or only
against the wild beasts.
Neither Mr. Worden, nor Jason, moved with the main
party; and it was precisely on account of these distinctions of
dress. As for the divine, he was so good a stickler for appearances, he would have worn the gown and surplice, even on
a mission to the Indians; which, by-the-way, was ostensibly his
404
SATANSTOE; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
present business; and, at the several occasions, on which I saw
him at cock-fi ghts, he kept on the clerical coat and shovel-hat.
In a word, Mr. Worden never neglected externals, so far as
dress was concerned; and, I much question, if he would have
consented to read prayers without the surplice, or to preach
without the gown, let the desire for spiritual provender be as
great as it might. I very well remember to have heard my father
say, that, on one occasion, the parson had refused to offi ciate of
a Sunday, when travelling, rather than bring discredit on
the church, by appearing in the discharge of his holy offi ce,
without the appliances that belonged to the clerical character.
«More harm than good is done to religion, Mr. Littlepage»,
said the Rev. Mr. Worden, on that occasion, «by thus lessening
its rites in vulgar eyes. The fi rst thing is to teach men to respect
holy things, my dear sir; and a clergyman in his gown and surplice, commands threefold the respect of one without them.
I consider it, therefore, a sacred duty to uphold the dignity of
my offi ce on all occasions».
It was in consequence of these opinions, that the divine
travelled in his clerical hat, clerical coat, black breeches, and
band, even when in pursuit of the souls of red men among
the wilds of North America! I will not take it upon myself to
say, these observances had not their use; but I am very certain they put the reverend gentleman to a great deal of
inconvenience.
As for Jason, he gave a Danbury reason for travelling in
his best. Everybody did so, in his quarter of the country; and,
for his part, he thought it disrespectful to strangers, to appear
among them in old clothes! There was, however, another and
405
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
truer reason, and that was economy; for the troops had so far
raised the price of everything, that Jason did not hesitate to
pronounce Albany the dearest place he had ever been in. There
was some truth in this allegation; and the distance from New
York, being no less than one hundred and sixty miles – so reported – the reader will at once see, it was the business of quite
a month, or even more, to re-furnish the shelves of the shop
that had been emptied. The Dutch not only moved slow, but
they were methodical; and the shopkeeper whose stores were
exhausted in April, would not be apt to think of replenishing
them, until the regular time and season returned.
As a consequence of these views and motives, the Rev.
Mr. Worden and Mr. Jason Newcome left Albany twenty-four
hours in advance of the rest of our party, with the understanding they were to join us at a point where the road led
into the woods, and where it was thought the cocked hat and
the skin cap might travel in company harmoniously. There was,
however, a reason for the separation I have not yet named, in
the fact that all of my own set travelled on foot, three or four
pack-horses carrying our necessaries. Now Mr. Worden had
been offered a seat in a government conveyance, and Jason
managed to worm himself into the party, in some way that to
me was ever inexplicable. It is, however, due to Mr. Newcome to confess that his faculty of obtaining favours of all
sorts, was of a most extraordinary character; and he certainly
never lost any chance of preferment for want of asking. In this
respect, Jason was always a moral enigma, to me; there being
an absolute absence, in his mind, of everything like a perception of the fi tness of things, so far as the claims and rights of
406
SATANSTOE; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
persons were connected with rank, education, birth, and experience. Rank, in the offi cial sense, once possessed, he understood and respected; but of the claims to entitle one to its
enjoyment, he seemed to have no sort of notion. For property
he had a profound deference, so far as that deference extended to its importance and infl uence; but it would have caused
him not the slightest qualm, either in the way of conscience or
feeling, to fi nd himself suddenly installed in the mansion of
the patroons, for instance, and placed in possession of their estates, provided only he fancied he could maintain his position.
The circumstance that he was dwelling under the roof that
was erected by another man’s ancestors, for instance, and that
others were living who had a better moral right to it, would
give him no sort of trouble, so long as any quirk of the law
would sustain him in possession. In a word, all that was allied to sentiment, in matters of this nature, was totally lost on
Jason Newcome, who lived and acted, from the hour he fi rst
came among us, as if the game of life were merely a game of
puss in the corner, in which he who inadvertently left his own
post unprotected, would be certain to fi nd another fi lling his
place as speedily as possible. I have mentioned this propensity of Jason’s at some little length, as I feel certain, should this
history be carried down by my own posterity, as I hope and
design, it will be seen that this disposition to regard the whole
human family as so many tenants in common, of the estate
left by Adam, will lead, in the end, to something extraordinary. But, leaving the Rev. Mr. Worden and Mr. Jason Newcome to journey in their public conveyance, I must return to
our own party.
407
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
All of us men, with the exception of those who drove
the two wagons of Herman Mordaunt, marched a-foot. Each of
us carried a knapsack, in addition to his rifl e and ammunition;
and, it will be imagined, that our day’s work was not a very
long one. The fi rst day, we halted at Madam Schuyler’s, by invitation, where we all dined; including the surveyor. Lord Howe
was among the guests, that day, and he appeared to admire
the spirit of Anneke and Mary Wallace greatly, in attempting
such an expedition, at such a time.
«You need have no fears, however, ladies, as we shall
keep up strong detachments between you and the French», he
said, more gravely, after some pleasant trifl ing on the subject.
«Last summer’s work, and the disgraceful manner in which
poor Munro was abandoned to his fate, has rendered us all
keenly alive to the importance of compelling the enemy to remain at the north end of Lake George; too many battles having
already been fought on this side it, for the credit of the British
arms. We pledge ourselves to your safety».
Anneke thanked him for this pledge, and the conversation changed. There was a young man present, who bore
the name of Schuyler, and who was nearly related to Madam,
with whose air, manner and appearance I was much struck.
His aunt called him ‘Philip;’ and, being about my own age, during this visit I got into conversation with him. He told me he
was attached to the commissariat under Gen. Bradstreet, and
that he should move on with the army, as soon as the preparations for its marching were completed. He then entered into
a clear, simple explanation of the supposed plan of the approaching campaign.
408
SATANSTOE; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
«We shall see you and your friends among us, then, I hope»,
he added, as we were walking on the lawn together, previously to the summons to dinner; «for, to own to you the truth,
Mr. Littlepage, I do not half like the necessity of our having
so many eastern troops among us, to clear this colony of its
enemies. It is true, a nation must fi ght its foes wherever they
may happen to be found; but there is so little in common, between us and the Yankees, that I could wish we were strong
enough to beat back the French alone».
«We have the same sovereign and the same allegiance»,
I answered; «if you can call that something in common».
«That is true; yet, I think you must have enough Dutch
blood about you to understand me. My duty calls me much
among the different regiments; and, I will own, that I fi nd more
trouble with one New England regiment, than with a whole
brigade of the other troops. They have generals, and colonels,
and majors, enough for the army of the Duke of Marlborough!»
«It is certain, there is no want of military rank among
them – and they are particularly fond of referring to it».
«Quite true», answered young Schuyler, smiling. «You will
hear the word ‘general’ or ‘colonel’ oftener used, in one of
their cantonments, in a day, than you shall hear it at Head
Quarters in a month. They have capital points about them, too;
yet, somehow or other, we do not like each other».
Twenty years later in life, I had reason to remember this remark, as well as to refl ect on the character of the man who had
uttered it. I, or my successors, will probably have occasion to
advert to matters connected with this feeling, in the later passages of this record.
409
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
I had also a little conversation with Lord Howe, who complimented me on what had passed on the river. He had evidently received an account of that affair from some one who
was much my friend, and saw fi t to allude to the subject in a way
that was very agreeable to myself. This short conversation was
not worth repeating, but it opened the way to an acquaintance
that subsequently was connected with some events of interest.
About an hour after dinner, our party took its leave of
Madam Schuyler, and moved on. The day’s march was intended to be short, though by this time the roads were settled, and
tolerably good. Of roads, however, we were not long to enjoy
the advantages, for they extended only some thirty miles to
the north of Albany, in our direction. With the exception of
the military route, which led direct to the head-waters of
Lake Champlain, this was about the extent of all the avenues
that penetrated the interior, in that quarter of the country.
Our direction was to the northward and eastward, both Ravensnest and Mooseridge lying slightly in the direction of
the Hampshire Grants.
As soon as we reached the point on the great northern road,
or that which led towards Skeenesborough, Herman Mordaunt
was obliged to quit his wagons, and to put all the females on
horseback. The most necessary of the stores were placed on
pack-horses; and, after a delay of half a day, time lost in making these arrangements, we proceeded. The wagons were to
follow, but at a slow pace, the ladies being compelled to abandon them on account of the ruggedness of the ways, which
would have rendered their motion not easy to be borne. Our
cavalcade and train of footmen made a respectable display
410
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]