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Файл:The Chainbearer; or, The Littlepage Manuscripts
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
CHAPTER XIX
«Peculiar both!
Our soil’s strong growth
And our bold natives’ hardy mind;
Sure heaven bespoke
Our hearts and oak
To give a master to mankind».
OUNG.
– Y
Thousandacres and the magistrate held their way directly toward the storehouse; and the log of the sentinel offering a comfortable seat, that functionary was dismissed, when
the two worthies took his place, with their backs turned toward
my prison. Whether this disposition of their persons was owing to a deep-laid plan of the squatter’s, or not, I never knew;
but, let the cause have been what it might, the effect was to
render me an auditor of nearly all that passed in the dialogue
which succeeded. It will greatly aid the reader in understanding the incidents about to be recorded, if I spread on the record the language that passed between my late agent and one
who was obviously his confi dant in certain matters, if not in
all that touched my interests in that quarter of the world. As
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
for listening, I have no hesitation in avowing it, inasmuch as
the circumstances would have justifi ed me in taking far greater
liberties with the customary obligations of society in its everyday aspect, had I seen fi t so to do. I was dealing with rogues,
who had me in their power, and there was no obligation to
be particularly scrupulous on the score of mere conventional
propriety, at least.
«As I was tellin’ ye, Thousandacres», Newcome continued the discourse by saying, and that with the familiarity of
one who well knew his companion, «the young man is in this
part of the country, and somewhere quite near you at this moment» – I was much nearer than the ‘squire himself had any
notion of at that instant – «yes, he’s out in the woods of this
very property, with Chainbearer and his gang; and, for ‘tinow
[for aught I know], measuring out farms within a mile or two of
this very spot!»
«How many men be there?» asked the squatter with interest. «If no more than the usual set, ‘twill be an onlucky day
for them, should they stumble on my clearin’!»
«Perhaps they will, perhaps they wunt; a body never knows.
Surveyin’ ‘s a sort o’ work that leads a man here, or it leads
him there. One never knows where a line will carry him, in
the woods. That’s the reason I’ve kept the crittur’s out of my
own timber-land; for, to speak to you, Thousandacres, as one
neighbor can speak to another without risk, there’s desp’rate
large pine-trees on the unleased hills both north and east of
my lot. Sometimes it’s handy to have lines about a mill, you
know, sometimes ‘t isn’t».
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
«A curse on all lines, in a free country, say I, ‘squire», answered Thousandacres, who looked, as he bestowed this characteristic benediction, as if he might better be named Tenthou-
sandacres; «they’re an invention of the devil. I lived seven whull
years in Varmount state, as it’s now called, the old Hampshire
Grants, you know, next-door neighbor to two families, one
north and one south on me, and we chopped away the whull
time, just as freely as we pleased, and not a cross word or an angry look passed atween us».
«I rather conclude, friend Aaron, you had all sat down under the same title?» put in the magistrate with a sly look at his
companion. «When that is the case, it would exceed all reason to quarrel».
«Why, I’ll own that our titles were pretty much the same; –
possession and free axes. Then it was ag’in York colony landholders that our time was running. What’s your candid opinion about law, on this p’int, ‘Squire Newcome? – I know you’re
a man of edication, college l’arnt some say; though, I s’pose,
that’s no better l’arnin’ than any other, when a body has once
got it – but what’s your opinion about possession? – Will it
hold good for twenty-one years, without writin’s, or not? Some
say it will, and some say it wunt».
«It wunt. The law is settled; there must be a shadow of title,
or possession’s good for nothin’; no better than the scrapin’s of
a fl our-barrel».
«I’ve heer’n say the opposyte of that; and there’s reason
why possession should count ag’in everything. By possession,
however, I don’t mean hangin’ up a pair of saddle-bags on
a tree, as is sometimes done, but goin’ honestly and fairly in
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
upon land, and cuttin’ down trees, and buildin’ mills, and
housen and barns, and cuttin’ and slashin’, and sawin’ right
and left, like all creation. That’s what I always doos myself,
and that’s what I call sich a possession as ought to stand in
law – ay, and in gospel, too; for I’m not one of them that
fl ies in the face of religion».
«In that you’re quite right; keep the gospel on your side
whatever you do, neighbor Thousandacres. Our Puritan fathers didn’t cross the ocean, and encounter the horrors of
the wilderness, and step on the rock of Plymouth, and undergo
more than man could possibly bear, and that all for nothin’!»
«Wa-a-l, to my notion, the ‘horrors of the wilderness,’ as you
call ‘em, is no great matter; though, as for crossin’ the ocean,
I can easily imagine that must be suthin’ to try a man’s patience and endurance. I never could take to the water. They
tell me there isn’t a single tree growin’ the whull distance atween Ameriky and England! Floatin’ saw-logs be sometimes
met with, I’ve heer’n say, but not a standin’ crittur’ of a tree
from Massachusetts Bay to London town!»
«It’s all water, and of course trees be scarce, Thousandacres;
but let’s come a little clusser to the p’int. As I was tellin’ you,
the whelp is in, and he’ll growl as loud as the old bear himself,
should he hear of all them boards you’ve got in the creek – to
say nothin’ of the piles up here that you haven’t begun to put
into the water».
«Let him growl», returned the old squatter, glancing
surlily toward my prison; «like a good many other crittur’s
that I’ve met with, ‘twill turn out that his bark is worse than
his bite».
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
«I don’t know that, neighbor Thousandacres, I don’t by any
means know that. Major Littlepage is a gentleman of spirit and
decision, as is to be seen by his having taken his agency from
me, who have held it so long, and gi’n it to a young chap who
has no other claim than bein’ a tolerable surveyor; but who
hasn’t been in the settlement more than a twelvemonth».
«Gi’n it to a surveyer! Is he one of Chainbearer’s measurin’
devils?»
«Just so; ‘tis the very young fellow Chainbearer has had
with him this year or so, runnin’ lines an’ measurin’ land on
this very property».
«That old fellow, Chainbearer, had best look to himself!
He’s thwarted me now three times in the course of his life, and
he’s gettin’ to be desp’rate old; I’m afeard he won’t live long!»
I could now see that Squire Newcome felt uneasy. Although
a colleague of the squatter’s in what is only too apt to be considered a venal roguery in a new country, or in the stealing of
timber, it did not at all comport with the scale of his rascality to
menace a man’s life. He would connive at stealing timber by
purchasing the lumber at suffi ciently low prices, so long as
the danger of being detected was kept within reasonable limits, but he did not like to be connected with any transaction
that did not, in the case of necessity, admit of a tolerably safe
retreat from all pains and penalties. Men become very much
what – not their laws – but what the administration of their
laws makes them. In countries in which it is prompt, sure, and
suffi ciently severe, crimes are mainly the fruits of temptation
and necessity; but a state of society may exist, in which justice falls into contempt, by her own impotency, and men are
355
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
led to offend merely to brave her. Thus we have long labored
under the great disadvantage of living under laws that, in
a great degree, were framed for another set of circumstances.
By the common law, it was only trespass to cut down a tree in
England; for trees were seldom or never stolen, and the law
did not wish to annex the penalties of felony to the simple
offence of cutting a twig in a wood. With us, however, entire
new classes of offences have sprung up under our own novel circumstances; and we probably owe a portion of the vast
amount of timber-stealing that has now long existed among
us, quite as much to the mistaken lenity of the laws, as to
the fact that this particular description of property is so much
exposed. Many a man would commit a trespass of the gravest
sort, who would shrink from the commission of a felony of
the lowest. Such was the case with Newcome. He had a certain sort of law-honesty about him, that enabled him in a degree to preserve appearances. It is true he connived at the unlawful cutting of timber by purchasing the sawed lumber,
but he took good care, at the same time, not to have any such
direct connection with the strictly illegal part of the transaction as to involve him in the penalties of the law. Had timberstealing been felony, he would have often been an accessory
before the act; but in a case of misdemeanor, the law knows no
such offence. Purchasing the sawed lumber, too, if done with
proper precaution, owing to the glorious subterfuges permitted by «the perfection of reason», was an affair of no personal
hazard in a criminal point of view, and even admitted of so
many expedients as to leave the question of property a very
open one, after the boards were fully in his own possession.
356
THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
The object of his present visit to the clearing of Thousandacres, as the reader will most probably have anticipated, was to
profi t by my supposed proximity, and to frighten the squatter
into a sale on such terms as should leave larger profi ts than
common in the hands of the purchaser. Unfortunately for
the success of this upright project, my proximity was so much
greater than even Squire Newcome supposed, as to put it in
danger by the very excess of the thing that was to produce
the result desired. Little did the honest magistrate suppose
that I was, the whole time, within twenty feet of him, and that
I heard all that passed.
«Chainbearer is about seventy», returned Newcome, after
musing a moment on the character of his companion’s last remark. «Yes, about seventy, I should judge from what I’ve heerd,
and what I know of the man. It’s a good old age, but folks often
live years and years beyond it. You must be suthin’ like that
yourself, Thousandacres?»
«Seventy-three, every day and hour on’t, ‘squire; and days
and hours well drawn out, too. If you count by old style,
I b’lieve I’m a month or so older. But I’m not Chainbearer. No
man can say of me, that I ever made myself troublesome to
a neighborhood. No man can p’int to the time when I ever disturbed his lines. No man can tell of the day when I ever went
into court to be a witness on such a small matter as the length
or breadth of lots, to breed quarrels atween neighbors. No,
‘Squire Newcome, I set store by my character, which will bear
comparison with that of any other inhabitant of the woods
I ever met with. And what I say of myself I can say of my sons
and da’ghters, too – from Tobit down to Sampson, from Nab to
357
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
Jeruthy. We’re what I call a reasonable and reconcilable breed,
minding our own business, and having a respect for that of
other people. Now, here am I, in my seventy-fourth year, and
the father of twelve living children, and I’ve made, in my time,
many and many a pitch on’t, but never was I known to pitch on
land that another man had in possession; – and I carry my
idees of possession farther than most folks, too, for I call it possession to have said openly, and afore witnesses, that a man
intends to pitch on any partic’lar spot afore next ploughin’
or droppin’ time, as the case may be. No, I respect possession,
which ought to be the only lawful title to property, in a free
country. When a man wants a clearin’ or wants to makeone, my
doctrine is, let him look about him, and make his pitch on calcerlation; and when he’s tired of the spot, and wants a change,
let him sell his betterments, if he lights of a chap, and if he
doos’nt, let him leave ‘em open, and clear off all incumbrances,
for the next comer».
It is probable that Jason Newcome, Esq., – magistrates in
America are extremely tenacious of this title, though they
have no more right to it than any one else – but Jason New-
16
come, Esq.,
did not carry his notions of the rights of squatters,
16
In order to understand Mr. Littlepage in what he says of “es-
quires,” a word of explanation may be necessary. The term “esquire” is,
as every well-informed person knows, a title of honor, standing next in
degree below that of knight. On the continent of Europe the “écuyer” properly infers nobility, I believe, as nobility is there considered,
which is little if any more than the condition of the old English gentry, or of the families having coat-armor. By the English law, certain
persons are born esquires, and others have the rank ex offi cio. Among
the last is a justice of the peace, who is legally an “esquire” during
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
and of the sacred character of possession, quite as far as did his
friend Thousandacres. Newcome was an exceedingly selfi sh,
but withal, an exc eedingly shrewd man. I do not know that
the term clever, in its broadest signifi cation, would fi tly apply to him, for in that sense, I conceive, it means quickness
and intelligence enough to do what is right; but he was fully
entitled to receive it, under that qualifi cation by which we say
a man is «a clever rogue». In a word, Mr. Newcome understood
himself, and his relations to the community in which he lived,
too well to fall into very serious mistakes by a direct dereliction from his duties, though he lived in a never-ceasing condition of small divergencies that might at any time lead him
into serious diffi culties. Nevertheless, it was easy enough to see
he had no relish for Thousandacres’ allusions to the termination of the days of my excellent old friend, Chainbearer; nor
his offi cial term. Now this rule prevailed in the colonies, and American magistrates were, perhaps legally, esquires, as well as the English.
But titles of honor were abolished at the revolution, and it is a singular contradiction, in substance, to hold that the principle is destroyed
while the incident remains. The rank of esquire can no more legally
exist in America, than that of knight. In one sense, neither is noble, it
is true: but in that broad signifi cation by which all constitutions are, or
ought to be interpreted both would come within the proscribed category, as set forth in art. 7th, sect. 9th, and art. 1st, sect. 10th, Const. U.
S. Nevertheless, so much stronger is custom than positive law, that not
only every magistrate, but every lawyer in the country fancies himself
peculiarly an “esquire!” It is scarcely necessary to add that, by usage,
the appellation is given by courtesy, wherever the English language is
spoken, to all who are supposed to belong to the class of gentlemen.
This, after all, is the only true American use of the word. – E.
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
can I say that they gave me any particular concern, for, while
I knew how desperate the squatters sometimes became, I had
a notion that this old fellow’s bark would prove worse than his
bite, as he had just observed of myself.
It would hardly repay the trouble, were I to attempt recording all that passed next between our two colloquists; although
it was a suffi ciently amusing exhibition of wily management to
frighten the squatter to part with his lumber at a low price, on
one side, and of sullen security on the other. The security proceeded from the fact that Thousandacres had me, at that very
moment, a prisoner in his storehouse.
A bargain conducted on such terms was not likely soon to
come to a happy termination. After a great deal of chaffering
and discussing, the conference broke up, nothing having been
decided, by the magistrate’s saying –
«Well, Thousandacres, I hope you’ll have no reason to repent; but I kind o’ fear you will».
«The loss will be mine and the b’ys’ if I do», was the squatter’s answer. «I know I can get all the boards into the creek;
and, for that matter, into the river, afore young Littlepage can
do me any harm; though there is one circumstance that may
yet turn my mind»
Here the squatter came to a pause; and Newcome, who had
risen, turned short round, eagerly, to press the doubt that he
saw was working in the other’s mind.
«I thought you would think better of it», he said; «for, it’s
out of doubt, should Major Littlepage l’arn your pitch, that
he’d uproot you, as the winds uproot the fallin’ tree».
360
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