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HISTORY 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 N°. II. 
 
 UNCLE PHILIP'S: 
 
 CONVERSATIONS WITH THE CHILDREN ADOUT 
 
 -• y 
 
 NEW-YORK. 
 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 329 & 331 PEARL STREET, 
 FRANKLIN SQUARE. 
 
 185 5. 
 
[Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by 
 
 Harper & Brothers, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York.] 
 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 CONVERSATION XIII. 
 
 Uncle Philip talks to the Children about Mr. Montgomery — Mr 
 Van Dam— Mr. Crosby and Mr. Clarke — Talks about the 
 Negro-plot in the city of New-York — Tells of the Execution of 
 many negroes, two white men, and two white women Page 5 
 
 CONVERSATION XIV. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children of the arrival of Governor Clin- 
 ton — Talks of a War between the English and French — Cap- 
 ture of Lewisburg by the English under Sir William Pepperell 
 — War continues until the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, in the 
 year 1748 22 
 
 CONVERSATION XV. 
 
 Uncle Philip goes out Fishing with the Boys, and talks to them 
 about their Countryman, Robert Fulton .34 
 
 CONVERSATION XVI. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children more about Robert Fulton and 
 his Inventions 55 
 
 CONVERSATION XVII. 
 
 Lncle Philip tells the Children about the plan of the French for 
 joining their Settlements, and the War which it produced be- 
 tween them and the English — Talks to them about Danvers 
 Osborne, who was Governor after Mr. Clinton, and who killed 
 himself— Tells of the Arrival of General Braddock, and the 
 three English Expeditions against Fort du Quesne, Crown 
 Point, and Fort Frontenac ; all of which failed — Talks of a 
 meeting of the English Governors to determine upon another 
 Attack upon Canada 74 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CONVERSATION XVIII. 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children more of the War between the 
 French and English — Talks of Lord Loudoun and his 
 Failures — Talks to them about Generals Abercrombie and 
 Amherst, and their Expeditions— Gives an Account of the 
 Battle of Quebec, when General Wolfe and General Montcalm 
 both died Page 9b 
 
 CONVERSATION XIX. 
 Uncle Philip talks about the Surrender of Canada to the Eng- 
 lish — Speaks of the Disputes between New-York and New- 
 Hampshire, about Boundary Lines — Passage of the Stamp 
 Act in England — The dissatisfaction it produces in America 
 — How it is received in New- York — First Colonial Congress 
 held in New-York city — Talks of the English Governors, 
 Moore, Colden, Dunmore, and Tryon — Congress of 1774 held 
 in Philadelphia — Speaks of the Battle of Lexington . .119 
 
 CONVERSATION XX. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children of the Capture of Ticonderoga 
 by Ethan Allen — Surrender of Crown Point to Seth "Warner 
 — Meeting of the second Continental Congress in May, 1775 — 
 Washington appointed Commander-in-chief of the American 
 army — Talks of the Capture of St. Johns and Montreal by 
 Richard Montgomery— Talks of the Siege of Quebec, where 
 Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded — Talks of 
 General Lee, General Thomas, and General Sullivan — The 
 Americans are forced to leave Canada — Tells the names of 
 the Delegates from New-York who signed the Declaration of 
 Independence which was adopted on the 4th of July, 1776 148 
 
 CONVERSATION XXI. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children something more about General 
 Richard Montgomery — Tells them a Story, and gives them a 
 List of the Governors of the New-York Colony — Also, a List 
 of the Sovereigns of England, from the time of Hudson's 
 Voyage in 1609, up to the time of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence in 1776 ... . . 183 
 
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 CONVERSATION XIII. 
 
 Uncle Philip talks to the Children about Mr. Montgomery — Mr 
 Van Dam— Mr. Crosby and Mr. Clarke— Talks about the 
 Negro-plot in the city of New-York — Tells of the Execution 
 of many negroes, two white men, and two white women. 
 
 " Here we all are once more. This morn- 
 ing I shall talk of two or three governors who, 
 I am afraid, my children, will not prove very 
 interesting men to you. One of them did very 
 little ; and the other was very busy always, but 
 his business was such as you cannot now 
 understand." ' * 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, do you go on, and we 
 will be interested, I think. Indeed, sir, I should 
 suppose, that any person who wishes to learn 
 history, would sometimes be forced to read tire- 
 some books, or hear tedious stories." 
 
 " That is a very good idea, Thomas. Now 
 tell me why you think so," 
 
D HISTORY OF 
 
 " Why, Uncle Philip, you told us that history 
 was but the story of different countries and 
 men ; and I am sure that some countries are 
 more interesting than others, and some men are 
 greater than others." 
 
 " Very good, my lad, that is all true ; and 
 now I will begin." 
 
 " Now then, Uncle Philip, for Mr. Mont- 
 gomery." 
 
 " John Montgomery came to this country in 
 the year 1728, and was governor here for three 
 years. — In that time nothing worthy of our no- 
 tice occurred. I must tell you, however, that 
 the French in his time thought of attacking 
 Oswego : and who, do you think, was the first 
 man to expose their designs ?" 
 
 "Mr. Schuyler, sir?" 
 
 " No, my lad ; you are wrong this time. — It 
 was the late governor, William Burnet." 
 
 " Ah, Uncle Philip, h£ was a noble man." 
 
 " He received the information in Massa- 
 chusetts, and wrote a letter to Mr. Montgomery, 
 telling him all about it. — This caused the 
 French to drop the plan altogether. So you 
 learn that he thought of the people in New- 
 York still, although at that time they did not 
 think much of him." 
 
NEW-YORK. 7 
 
 " And that shows a fine spirit, Uncle Philip. 
 In spite of their neglect, he was still their 
 friend." 
 
 " In 1729, the King of England repealed the 
 law which Burnet had made about the French 
 trade. So you see this law was not approved 
 at home." 
 
 " Well, sir, I cannot help thinking it was a 
 good law, notwithstanding it was repealed. 
 What King of England was it?" 
 
 " George the Second. Mr. Montgomery 
 died in the country in 1730, and Rip Van Dam 
 ruled the colony as president for a short time. 
 Now look at the map, my lads — do you see 
 Crown Point ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, sir. It is at the southern extremity 
 of Lake Champlain." 
 
 " Very good. It was while Van Dam was 
 president that the French built a fort at that 
 place. — If you will notice its situation closely, 
 you will see what a dangerous fort that must 
 have been to the English." 
 
 "How, Uncle Philip?" 
 
 " Do you not see that it has a communication 
 by water with Montreal ? You know, then, how 
 easy it was to keep it supplied with men and 
 
8 HISTORY OF 
 
 ' Yes, yes, Uncle Philip." 
 
 " The French had another advantage. After 
 making any ravages upon the English, their 
 men might retreat to this fort, and there defend 
 themselves." 
 
 " Yes ; and besides all this, Uncle Philip, they 
 might keep the English from moving on that 
 way toward Canada." 
 
 "Surely. New-York, Massachusetts, and 
 New-Hampshire, were all in danger from this 
 fort ; and the governor of Massachusetts made 
 great efforts to stop the building of it, but did 
 not succeed. You will remember this, also, as 
 the beginning of a plan which the French had 
 for driving the English out of the country. In 
 a little time we shall find them trying to build 
 a regular chain of forts, from the St. Lawrence 
 river to the state of Louisiana. 
 
 " President Van Dam, in the year 1732, gave 
 his place to William Crosby, who was sent out 
 by King George the Second as governor of 
 New-York and New-Jersey. Mr. Crosby had 
 before this been governor of Minorca, and had 
 treated the people there in a very cruel man- 
 ner." 
 
 " Where is Minorca, sir ?" 
 
NEW-YORK. 9 
 
 " Do none of you know where Minorca is ? 
 It is an island in the Mediterranean sea." 
 
 " And does that island belong to England, 
 Uncle Philip V* 
 
 " It did then, but it now belongs to Spain. 
 I think I can safely say that no appointment in 
 England could have given more satisfaction in 
 New- York than Mr. Crosby's. He had (as the 
 people supposed) interested himself for their 
 benefit in England. He seemed anxious to 
 please them, and they received him well ; but 
 he had one very great defect in his character 
 ■ — he was miserly. 
 
 " He disliked Mr. Van Dam very much, and 
 quarrelled with many other men, particularly 
 one named Zenger. And when you read a 
 larger history, you will see the causes of some 
 of his disputes. I hardly think you would like 
 to hear any thing about them now. Some of 
 the people became dissatisfied, and determined 
 to send complaints against him to the king. 
 So Mr. Morris was privately sent over with the 
 accusation. But this failed altogether; for in 
 England it was decided that the complaints 
 were not sufficient to remove him from office. 
 But he was removed very soon, notwithstanding 
 this decision." 
 
 IF. B 
 
10 HISTORY OF 
 
 " How, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " By death, my children. He removes us at 
 times when we least expect him. Mr. Crosby 
 died in 1736, and had few friends in this coun 
 try when he was taken out of the world. 
 
 " I should have told you before, that it was in 
 Crosby's time (I think in the year 1732) that 
 the first provision was made in New- York to 
 support a freeschool." 
 
 " Not until 1732, Uncle Philip ? There are 
 many of these schools in New-York now, sir." 
 
 "Not until 1732. There were colleges in 
 some of the other states before this ; but this 
 was the first freeschool here in our state. There 
 were Harvard College, in Massachusetts, and 
 Yale College, in Connecticut." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip ; and William and Mary, 
 that you told us of, in Virginia." 
 
 " Yes ; all these were in existence long be- 
 fore 1732; and I suppose the people in New- 
 York began to think, during this year, that it 
 was high time they had provided for education 
 as well as some of the other states. 
 
 " When Mr. Crosby died, many of the peo- 
 ple were delighted with the idea of having V an 
 Dam again to rule them. But here was a diffi- 
 culty Mr. Van Dam was the oldest member of 
 
NEW-YORK. 1 1 
 
 the council, and had a right to rule until the new 
 governor should come ; but it was discovered 
 that Mr. Crosby had privately suspended him 
 before his death." 
 
 " You mean, turned Van Dam out of office, 
 Uncle Philip?" 
 
 " Yes. So a part of the people were in fa 
 vour of a Mr. Clarke, who was the member of 
 the council next to Van Dam in age. So you 
 see the difficulty. Here was a dispute between 
 Van Dam and Clarke, as to which should gain 
 the people. Mr. Van Dam said that Crosby 
 had not suspended him properly, and Mr. Clarke 
 said that he had." 
 
 " Mr. Clarke's party was so determined, that 
 they obtained a quantity of gunpowder to de- 
 fend themselves ; but this did not frighten Van 
 Dam. He called together the council, and took 
 the title of commander-in-chief, and was getting 
 ready to oppose Clarke warmly. Just at this 
 time a commission arrived from England for 
 Mr. Clarke as lieutenant-governor, and so this 
 matter was ended." 
 
 " 'Twas just in time, Uncle Philip, to save 
 the shedding of blood, perhaps." 
 
 " I have no doubt that this commission pre- 
 vented the fighting which would have taken 
 
12 HISTORY OF 
 
 place, for both parties were angry. After this, 
 Van Dam and his party yielded to the com- 
 mands from England. 
 
 " Mr. Clarke had, just before this, called an 
 assembly ; and he now sent them an address, 
 rejoicing that the disturbances were over in the 
 colony, and entreating them to provide for new 
 forts, and particularly to give him money suf- 
 ficient to repair the old one at Oswego. The 
 legislature was willing to do this ; but Mr. Clarke 
 wished to have the money in his own hands, and 
 this displeased them." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip ; for they had been be- 
 fore so often cheated by the governors." 
 
 " He had heard that the French were trying to 
 buy a piece of land called by the Indians Iron- 
 dequot. This was near Oswego. Indeed, he 
 heard that the Senecas were actually treating 
 with Beauharnois, the French governor." 
 
 " You have spoken of that man before ; have 
 you not, sir ?" 
 
 " Yes. It is said by some that he was a son 
 to Louis the Fourteenth, the king of France. 
 But whether he was or was not, one thing is 
 very certain — he was an able man. So Clarke 
 went up to Albany to try and purchase this 
 same piece of land, but he was disappointed. 
 
NEW-YORK. 1 3 
 
 **It was rumoured at this time that the 
 French were about building another fort above 
 Albany at a place called Wood Creek; and 
 you will remember the one at Crown Point ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Well, I will now tell you what Mr. Clarke 
 did. He invited over to this country a large 
 number of Scotchmen, and promised to Mr. 
 Laughlin Campbell (who was their chief man) 
 thirty thousand acres of land for them to settle 
 upon." 
 
 " What did he wish to do with these men, 
 Uncle Philip?" 
 
 "His plan was to settle them upon Lake 
 George. He thought that they would be good 
 citizens, and assist him in defeating the French 
 plans. Campbell, induced by this promise, sold 
 his house and land at home, and shortly after 
 brought over, at his own expense, eighty-three 
 Scotch families, making in all more than four 
 hundred people." 
 
 " Well, sir, I think that this was a very good 
 plan." 
 
 " But it did not succeed. Campbell and his 
 men were treated badly ; the promise was 
 broken ; and he was left to get on as he could. 
 He applied for relief from the legislature here, 
 
14 HISTORY OF 
 
 and he also petitioned in England ; but, as I 
 said, without success in both places." 
 
 "Why, Uncle Philip, this was base. I do 
 not understand it. — Why was he treated in this 
 manner ?" 
 
 " Some say that he failed, because he would 
 not submit to the base views of Lieutenant- 
 governor Clarke and some others. They wished 
 to obtain a portion of the land. Campbell was 
 a man of spirit, and refused to accept it upon 
 their terms. 
 
 " Others say that Campbell was totally unfit 
 for such an enterprise ; and he failed because 
 his men were dissatisfied with him, and refused 
 to settle under him. This, I do not believe ; 
 for Campbell was a man of understanding, and 
 a good soldier. However, he could only pur- 
 chase a small plantation for himself, and his 
 countrymen were without homes in a strange 
 country. Shortly after this, the Spanish war, 
 as it is called, broke out ; and many of these 
 poor Scotchmen, anxious to get employment, 
 went out in an expedition against the Island of 
 Cuba. Afterward, most of these poor fellows 
 perished in an expedition against Carthagena. 
 
 " Mr. Clarke and the assemblies of the peo- 
 ple frequently disagreed, particularly about the 
 
NEW- YORK. 15 
 
 placing money at his disposal. Indeed, about 
 this time, the assemblies were more independ- 
 ent than was usual, and I wish to call your at- 
 tention to one thing especially. 
 
 " In the book which I hold in my hand, I 
 have one of his messages to one of his legis- 
 latures. Listen now to what he writes. After 
 finding much fault with them, he bids them ' to 
 remember, as to this province, a jealousy which 
 for some years has obtained in England, that 
 the plantations are not ivithont thoughts of 
 throwing off their dependance on the crown of 
 England. I hope and believe no man in this 
 'province has any such intention?" 
 
 " What year was this, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 "It was in 1741." 
 
 " And even then, Uncle Philip, it seems the 
 English government was suspecting the planta- 
 tions of declaring independence." 
 
 " It seems so ; and now I will find the 
 answer which the legislature sent to this. 
 Here it is. Talking about this suspicion in 
 England, ' they vouch that not a single person 
 in the colony has any such thought or desire , 
 for, under what government can we be better 
 protected, or our liberties and pr ope? ties so 
 well secured V 
 
16 HISTORY OF 
 
 " And do you know why I have read these 
 passages ?" 
 
 " I think I do, Uncle Philip." 
 
 "Why, my lad?" 
 
 " These messages were written in 1741, 
 you said ; and they prove that at that time the 
 colonies had no idea of declaring independence." 
 
 " Yes ; and this shows that they were satis- 
 fied with the English government ; and, there- 
 fore, did not think of fighting until they were 
 driven to it. Our ancestors, boys, were brave 
 and determined men ; but they were not rash 
 or foolish. And I think, moreover, that the 
 suspicion in England shows that the English 
 thought it was very natural for the colonists to 
 resist. Don't you think so ?" 
 
 " Why, yes, Uncle Philip, it appears so." 
 
 " Surely it does ;. and I wish you to think of 
 this, and you will then always bear in mind, 
 that when our ancestors did go to war with the 
 English, they had good cause for it, (as you 
 will hereafter see) ; and then, I think, you will 
 learn to prize liberty highly." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, considering all things, 
 I am not much disposed to like Mr. Clarke." 
 
 "We will look into his character farther, my 
 children, and then you will be better able to 
 
NEW-YORK. 17 
 
 judge ; and we come now to troublesome times 
 in his government. I am about to talk of the 
 ' Negro-plot,^ as it is commonly called." 
 
 " What do you mean by that, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " I mean a conspiracy, formed by the negroes 
 in New-Y.ork, to set fire to the city, murder 
 their masters, and make themselves free." 
 
 " I thought there were no slaves in New 
 York, sir ?" 
 
 " There are none now ; but formerly there 
 were slaves in this state. I told you this, I 
 think, before. It was on the 18th day of 
 March, that a fire broke out inside of what 
 was called the fort in New-York, and burned 
 many of the buildings and the chapel. It was 
 at first supposed that this fire was owing to the 
 carelessness of a workman, who was soldering 
 one of the gutters of the governor's house. 
 The roof was made of shingles, and the fire 
 was very rapidly spread by a high wind, so 
 that much property was destroyed. To make 
 matters worse, the inhabitants were afraid to 
 go to this fire to try to extinguish it, because 
 the fire was near the magazine." 
 
 " Why were they afraid of the magazine, 
 Uncle Philip? I -do not know what that 
 
18 HISTORY OF 
 
 " If you had known, my lad, you would 
 never have asked the question. A magazine is 
 a place where ammunition, such as powder and 
 matches, is kept. If the fire had reached 
 this, you know, it would have blown it up." 
 
 " Yes, yes, Uncle Philip." 
 
 " There was but one man in the colony who 
 thought that this fire was not the work of ac- 
 cident. His name was Van Home. He felt 
 so certain that it was the work of some wicked 
 individual, that he called some of the people to 
 arms, and set a watch at night. But most of 
 the people laughed at him, said that his fears 
 were ridiculous, and nicknamed him Major 
 Drum? 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, Major Drum, as they 
 called him, was right, after all their fun ?" 
 
 " You will see presently. A second fire 
 broke out on the 25th ; a third on the 1 st of 
 April ; and two on the 4th. The people were 
 all astonished, and were wondering what the 
 cause of so many fires could be." 
 
 "They were convinced now, I suppose, 
 Uncle Philip, that this was no accident ?" 
 
 " Yes, my children. Coals of fire were dis- 
 covered on the 5th day df the month, near a 
 haystack, and the day after, two other houses 
 
NEW-YORK. 19 
 
 took fire. The magistrates all assembled to 
 deliberate about this business ; and while they 
 were sitting, another house was set fire to ; and 
 before that was extinguished, another blaze 
 appeared, and a negro was seen to leap over a 
 fence in the neighbourhood, and run as though 
 he was trying to make his escape." 
 
 " Ah, Uncle Philip, now we are coming to 
 the discovery. This was the work of the ne- 
 groes. But they could not see who this negro 
 was." 
 
 " Mr Clarke had spoken to the assembly 
 after the first fire on the 15th, and he described 
 to them the accident about the gutter, as being 
 the only cause of the fire." 
 
 " Then he was deceived also, sir ?" 
 
 " Deceived, until the whole design was laid 
 open, and it was discovered by chance. I will 
 not tell you the evidence by which the dis- 
 covery was made, but — " 
 
 " Oh, if you please, Uncle Philip, tell us the 
 way in which this was found out." 
 
 " A girl, by the name of Mary Burton, was a 
 servant living in the house of Mr. Hughson, 
 a shoemaker in the city. She was the witness. 
 She said that many negroes used to come to 
 Hughson's house to buy liquor, and that she 
 
20 HISTORY OF 
 
 had heard them talk about a conspiracy ; but 
 that no white person heard them talking except 
 herself, Hughson and his wife, and another ser- 
 vant girl. Upon the testimony of this girl the 
 jails were crowded. It is said that twenty-one 
 white people, and more than one hundred and 
 fifty slaves were thrown into prison." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, was that girl very young ?" 
 " Yes, she was young. Why do you ask V 
 "I was thinking, that, perhaps, she was 
 frightened, and that her evidence was not good. 
 You know you told us that a good witness 
 must be able to understand what he sees and 
 hears, and then be honest enough to tell the 
 truth about it." 
 
 "Well, what then?" 
 
 " Why, I was thinking, that she was perhaps 
 so much frightened that she could not under- 
 stand." 
 
 "Well, my children, I have heard some 
 people say that her story was not always the 
 same, and possibly it was not true. At any rate, 
 the people acted as though it was true ; for thir- 
 teen blacks were burned alive at the stake 
 eighteen were hanged, and seventy transported." 
 " And what became of Hughson, sir ?" 
 " Hughson and one of the negroes were gib 
 
NEW-YORK. 21 
 
 ;3eted. His wife, and the other servant girl of 
 whom I spoke, and a man named Ury, died 
 upon the gallows." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, what do you mean by ' gib- 
 beted?"' 
 
 " Gibbeting people means hanging them in 
 chains. Besides this punishment, my children, 
 many laws were made against the negroes, 
 some of which I think were severe." 
 
 " This business was scarcely settled when 
 Mr. Clarke began again to demand money from 
 the assembly. In return to this they sent him 
 a very insolent message, telling him that they 
 were rejoiced to hear that they were soon to 
 have a new governor. He continued to have 
 lifficulties with them until the year 1743, when 
 he closed his administration. And I have but 
 one thing more to say about Mr. George Clarke 
 — that is, that he made money out of the colony ; 
 for he returned to England in 1745, and pur- 
 chased a very handsome estate with the money 
 which he obtained in New-York." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, I have now heard all 
 about him ; and I will repeat what I said before, 
 that I do not like this man." 
 
22 HISTORY OF 
 
 CONVERSATION XIV. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children of the arrival of Governor Clin- 
 ton — Talks of a War between the English and French — Cap- 
 ture of Lewisburg by the English under Sir William Pepperell 
 — War continues until the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, in the 
 year 1748. 
 
 " We have now, my children, got as far in 
 our history as the year 1743, when George 
 Clinton came over to take the place of Mr. 
 Clarke ; and you will remember that the people 
 were pleased with this appointment." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; for they told Mr. Clarke so." 
 
 " When Clinton arrived, a new assembly was 
 elected, and the governor sent them a mild 
 and kind message ; and they sent him a very 
 respectful answer in return. You see, there- 
 fore, that they commenced with a fair begin- 
 ning." 
 
 " Did the legislature have any thing to say 
 about putting the money into the governor's 
 hands ? You know, sir, they quarrelled with 
 Mr. Clarke about that." 
 
NEW-YORK. 23 
 
 " On this subject they prudently said not one 
 word ; but they were soon engaged in other dif- 
 ficulties, without making trouble among them- 
 selves. In 1744, war was declared between 
 France and England." 
 
 "At war again, Uncle Philip? Do tell us 
 what was the cause of this war, sir ?" 
 
 " I hardly think you will understand me if I 
 should tell you. You know that George II. 
 was at this time king of England; and you 
 will recollect that Louis XV. was the king of 
 France. It was while these two men were 
 kings, that Charles VI., emperor of Germany, 
 died ; and he was succeeded in his dominions 
 by his daughter, the celebrated Maria Theresa. 
 But another Charles, commonly called Charles 
 Duke of Bavaria, claimed the throne ; and, by 
 the help of Louis XV., was made emperor. 
 
 " King George II. took the side of Maria 
 Theresa, and said that she ought to succeed 
 her father ; and this dispute was the cause of 
 the war. It is commonly called the war of the 
 Austrian Succession. Is it all plain ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir/' 
 
 " Well, my lads, I only wish you to remem- 
 ber, now, that there was a war between England 
 and France. And as this war caused English- 
 
24 HISTORV OF 
 
 men and Frenchmen to be very busy in Europe, 
 so in America the colonies began their prepara- 
 tions ; and I am happy to say, that, in our own 
 state, New- York, the assembly voted a large 
 supply of money for defending the country. 
 
 " The English ministry instructed the gov- 
 ernor of New-York to carry the war into Can- 
 ada ; but he did not do this." 
 
 " Why, Uncle Philip, did he disobey ? I 
 should suppose that the instructions were just 
 such as would have pleased him." 
 
 " The assembly did not see fit to obey ; for 
 they thought that the enterprise would be very 
 expensive, and altogether without success : but, 
 to avoid displeasing the ministry, it is said, 
 they voted a large sum of money toward at- 
 tacking Lewisburg. I myself think, however, 
 that they gave that money, not because they 
 were afraid of the English ministry, but because 
 they supposed Lewisburg the most proper post 
 for an attack." 
 
 " That was the reason, I suppose, sir ?" 
 
 " I am almost sure of it ; for, before this, 
 Mr. Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, 
 had proposed to Governor Clinton to join him 
 in making that attack. At any rate, this new 
 plan was approved in England; and Commo 
 
NEW-YORK. 25 
 
 dore Warren sailed for the northern part of 
 America, and was commanded to aid the colo- 
 nies in this enterprise. So the English colonies 
 were joined together to make a*, attack upon 
 Lewisburg. 
 
 " Look ©n the map, and you will see thi fc 
 place. It is the capital of Cape Breton Island, 
 opposite the Gulf of St. Lawrence." 
 
 " We see it, sir, just north of Nova Scotia." 
 
 " The forces, that were to go in this expedi- 
 tion were rriven to the command of General 
 William Pcpperell. Commodore Warren's 
 fleet of tor*, ships arrived safely at Canso, and 
 the troops then embarked for Cape Breton." 
 
 " Canso, did you say, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " Yes ; it is in the eastern part of Nova 
 Scotia." 
 
 "Yes, yes; I see it, sir. But who was 
 William Pepperell, sir ? We have not heard 
 of him before." 
 
 " He was a native of the state of Maine, and 
 
 a very pious man, and a good soldier, as you 
 
 may know from the fact that he was chosen to 
 
 head this expedition ; and I can give you another 
 
 proof of his ability. The king of England, as 
 
 a reward for his services, conferred upon him 
 
 the dignity of a 'baronet of Great Britain.' 
 n. c 
 
26 HISTORY OF 
 
 This was a very great honour, and Sir William 
 Pepperell is the only native of New-England 
 who has ever received it. 
 
 " The sight of the English vessels gave the 
 alarm to the French ; for, until that moment, 
 they were not even suspecting such an attack. 
 They immediately sent down some of their 
 men to oppose the landing of the English ; but 
 while General Pepperell was pretending to 
 make an effort to land his men ^t one spot, he 
 was in reality landing them at another." 
 
 " And they did land, sir ?" 
 
 " Yes ; and on the next morning four hun- 
 dred of the English marched round to what 
 was called the Northeast harbour, and set fire 
 to all the houses and stores, till they came 
 within less than a mile of the principal battery. 
 The burning of the stores, in which there was 
 a large quantity of tar, caused a very dark and 
 heavy smoke, which hid the English forces. 
 But the fire frightened the French, and they 
 deserted the battery ; so the English took pos- 
 session of that." 
 
 " Well, sir, that was a town easily taken." 
 
 " But it was not taken yet, boys. Taking 
 the battery was not taking the town. But 
 when they got possession of the battery, they 
 
NEW-YORK. 27 
 
 were able to fire from it upon the town. Still 
 they wanted cannons ; and for fourteen nights 
 the men were employed in dragging these can- 
 nons over a swamp to the battery. They 
 were forced, too, to drag them themselves ; for 
 they could not use horses or oxen in such a 
 swamp. While they were doing this, Commo- 
 dore Warren, who was with them, you know, 
 captured the French ship Vigilant, with five 
 hundred and sixty men. This capture aided 
 the English very much, because it gave them 
 a large supply of stores. Shortly after this, 
 several English men-of-war joined the English 
 fleet." 
 
 " They were fortunate, Uncle Philip." 
 " Yes ; but before this arrival, the town had 
 been much injured. One of their gates was 
 beat down; their batteries were silenced; a 
 breach was made in the walls ; and there is no 
 doubt but that the town would have been taken 
 in a short time. When the French, however, 
 found that they were about to have a joint at- 
 tack, both by water and land, ' they surrendered 
 the city of Lewisburg and the island of Cape 
 Breton to his Britannic majesty.' This siege 
 lasted forty-nine days." 
 
 " Was not that a long time, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
28 HISTORY OF 
 
 " Oh, no ; some sieges last for years instead 
 of days. But you must not forget that the re- 
 duction of this place was principally owing to 
 the New-Englanders ; and I have related it to 
 you here because the people in New-York 
 bore a part in it, though not the most essential 
 part. 
 
 " But while the people were doing so well 
 abroad, at home they were doing badly. While 
 the attack was made upon Lewisburg, news 
 had been received in New-York that fifteen 
 hundred French and one hundred Indians were 
 about to surprise the English settlements near 
 the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, and 
 then to attack Oswego. This caused great 
 alarm. Colonel Schuyler and Major Collins, 
 who commanded a body of men at Saratoga, 
 were forced to stop the building of some block- 
 houses, which they had begun to make." 
 
 " On account of this news, sir V 
 
 " On account of something worse than ru- 
 mours. Their men were attacked by the 
 Indians employed by the French; and the 
 supplies on the way to Saratoga were con- 
 stantly cut off. Besides this, murders were 
 committed within a very few miles of Al- 
 bany. To stop this, two hundred men were 
 
NEW-YORK. 29 
 
 drafted to strengthen the garrisons at Albany 
 and Schenectady." 
 
 "What do you mean by drafted, Uncle 
 Philip ?" 
 
 " I mean drawn by lot, or selected from par- 
 ticular places. The settlements at Saratoga 
 and Hoosack, my children, were broken up ; and 
 most of the inhabitants fled to Albany." 
 
 " Do you mean that all the people deserted 
 those places, sir ?" 
 
 " T mean that most of the houses were burnt, 
 and most horrible massacres committed by the 
 Indians upen all who fell into their hands . 
 They scalped men, women, and children. The 
 New-England colonies suffered also. This, you 
 will recollect, was during the year 1745. 
 
 "In 1746 the Indians still continued their 
 plunder and their massacres ; but notwithstand- 
 ing this, it was during this year that the colonies 
 determined to make an attack upon Canada." 
 
 " I thought they were opposed to this, sir V 
 
 " They had been, but their success at Lewis- 
 burg had made them bold. Listen to their 
 plan for this attack, and tell me what you think 
 of it. The plan was, that a body of land forces 
 under General St. Clair, and a squadron com- 
 manded by Commodore Warren, should be sent 
 
30 HISTORY OF 
 
 from England. The soldiers raised in the NeW- 
 England colonies were to join the British forces 
 at Lewisburg, and then go up the St. Lawrence 
 river. The soldiers from New-York were to 
 meet at Albany, and march from that place 
 against Crown Point and Montreal." 
 
 " Indeed, sir, I like that plan. Were the 
 colonies all pleased with it ?" 
 
 " Very much pleased. They all were ready, 
 but they were disappointed ; for no forces 
 came frem England. But they were resolved 
 that all this preparation should not be useless, 
 and therefore they determined to attack Crown 
 Point. Governor Clinton succeeded in gaining 
 the help of the Five (or rather Six Nations) in 
 this undertaking, but here again they were 
 disappointed." 
 
 " Why, what was the matter now, sir ?" 
 
 " News arrived that the Duke d'Anville had 
 reached Nova Scotia, with a large fleet, from 
 France. He brought with him four thousand 
 soldiers. Of course, this induced the English 
 to abandon their expedition against Canada. 
 But they had hardly heard this when fresh 
 intelligence arrived, telling them of the mis- 
 fortunes of the French. The fleet had been 
 much injured by storms ; many of the men were 
 
NEW-YORK. 31 
 
 sick ; and the Duke d'Anville died suddenly in 
 a fit of apoplexy. Some of the few ships that 
 had escaped the first storm were wrecked in a 
 tempest off Cape Sable ; and so, out of forty 
 ships of war and many smaller vessels, only 
 three or four escaped to return to France." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, it seems that almost every 
 thing went badly with them." 
 
 "Yes, indeed. But this did not frighten 
 them. The French, in 1747, sent out another 
 expedition. Their fleet this time was over- 
 taken by a British squadron under Admiral 
 Warren and Admiral Anson ; and after fighting 
 very bravely, was compelled to surrender to 
 the English. And so ended another attempt." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, the French seem to have 
 been very resolute in making efforts to subdue 
 the English colonies." 
 
 " Very resolute, indeed. In fact, they were 
 quite as resolute in this as in any French un- 
 dertaking of which I have ever heard or read. 
 But the worst thing that I know about them in 
 this business was, their habit of sending men 
 among the Indians under pretence of teaching 
 them the Christian religion, but in reality to 
 destroy the friendship between the English and 
 these savages." 
 
32 HISTORY OF 
 
 " That was wicked, truly, sir. But after the 
 defeat of their fleet, what was done then, sir V 9 
 
 " They at that time sent out no other fleet ; 
 for I suppose their disappointments made them, 
 for the present, weary of the war. But the 
 French Indians, during that same year, attacked 
 the village of Saratoga a second time, destroyed 
 the remainder of the town, and murdered thirty 
 families. And these were all the inhabitants 
 of that village ; and if they had found more 
 
 they would have massacred them also, I sup- 
 
 11 * 
 pose. 
 
 " Uncle Philip, I do not like these Indian 
 wars. — They are too bloody." 
 
 " I am also sometimes tired of talking of 
 them ; and, fortunately for us both, Thomas, a 
 short stop was soon put to them." 
 
 " Another treaty, sir ?" 
 
 " Yes. In April, 1748, 1 think, a treaty was 
 signed at a place called Aix la Chapelle. It 
 is a very old town in the western part of Ger- 
 many. This 1 peace was concluded between the 
 English and the French, both in Europe and 
 America. But you will find hereafter that this 
 was only a short pause. We shall very soon 
 discover the English, the French, and the 
 Indians, all under arms again." 
 
NEW-YORK. 33 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, if you please, we will 
 be glad to hear more about this at another time. 
 William Cobb wishes to go home early to-day, 
 to do something for his mother." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip ; she desired me to be 
 at home before twelve o'clock." 
 
 " Very good, my lad ; I am glad that you 
 remember her wishes. Good morning. But 
 stop, here is a short note for each one of you 
 to take home to his parents. Be sure to deliver 
 them." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; we will be sure to do so." 
 
34 HISTORY or 
 
 CONVERSATION XV. 
 
 Uncle Philip goes out Fishing with the Boys, and talks to them 
 about their Countryman, Robert Fulton. 
 
 " Ah, good morning — good morning, Uncle 
 Philip; I am very much obliged to you, in- 
 deed, sir." 
 
 " And so am I, sir." 
 
 " And I, also, Uncle Philip." 
 
 " Oh yes, Uncle Philip ; and so are we all 
 very thankful to you, indeed." 
 
 " Good morning, my children ; but pray tell 
 me why are all these thanks given to me ?" 
 
 " Why, for the kind notes which you sent 
 home to our parents, sir ; for all of us have 
 got permission to go with you, and our sisters 
 will remain at home to-day." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip, and I have got my fi>h 
 ing tackle all ready." 
 
 " And so is mine, Thomas ; and the bait is 
 all prepared; and the morning is favourable, 
 
NEW-YORK. 35 
 
 and the wind is low, and this is a fine day for 
 fishing, and so we will be off. 
 
 " Take this basket with the bait in your 
 hand, Thomas ; and bring one of those nets 
 along, also. We may, possibly, find some 
 crabs under the bridge." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip ; and I will also take 
 your fishing-rod, if you will let me." 
 
 " No, no ; you will have enough to carry 
 without that. I prefer taking the rod myself. 
 And this reminds me of a story which I will 
 tell you as we walk along. It is about my 
 worthy old friend, Simon Fairly. He is by 
 many people supposed to be a strange and ec- 
 centric old man ; and he does sometimes act in 
 a very singular way, and has some thoughts 
 peculiar to himself. But, notwithstanding all 
 his peculiarities, he is a shrewd and honest old 
 gentleman ; and I feel very much disposed to 
 overlook my friend's faults for the sake of his 
 good qualities. Do you know him, boys V 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Don't you remember the old man, who is 
 so often seen sitting in the piazza of the large 
 yellow house in the village? You must see 
 him, surely, almost every day, on your way 
 through the main street to my house." 
 
36 HISTORY OF 
 
 "Do you mean the old man with a very 
 white head, and who wears knee-bree;hes, 
 Uncle Philip V J 
 
 " Yes, yes. His head is partially bald, and 
 the little hair that is left upon it is as white as 
 snow, and he always dresses in the way which 
 you describe ; and he wears his hair in a 
 queue " 
 
 " Oh, then, we know him, Uncle Philip. 
 What about him, sir ?" 
 
 "Be is now a very rich old man, and has 
 retired from business. He was formerly a 
 merchant' in New-York. He was born, boys, 
 in the very village in which he now lives ; went 
 to New-York a poor, ragged little boy, and had 
 to beg his food the first day that he was there. 
 But, although ho was poor, he was too proud 
 to be supported by others ; and on the second 
 day he commenced working. At first, he be- 
 gan to sweep the streetr. In a little time he 
 wns able to go to the book-auctions in the city, 
 and buy two or three old books ; and then he 
 would sell these books again, the next day, in 
 the street. So, by saving his money, and buy- 
 ing in this way, and selling again, he Avas en- 
 abled to live comfortably, and occasionally 
 send money to his mother and sisters at home." 
 
NEW-YORK. . 37 
 
 " After a while, he thought that he could do 
 better for himself, and went into a dry goods 
 shop as a clerk, and remained there for many 
 years, until at length he became a merchant 
 himself. He was what is called an East 
 India merchant." 
 
 " You mean one who trades with the East 
 Indies, Uncle Philip ; do you not ?" 
 
 " Yes ; and it was in this business that he 
 made his fortune. It was while he was en- 
 gaged in this trade, that his son Joe, a wild 
 young man, came home from college ; and the 
 old man thought that he would make Joe sober 
 and serious by making him a clerk in his busi- 
 ness. This son wanted industry very much. 
 He had a habit of postponing his duties, and 
 not unfrequently getting other people to perform 
 them for him. The old gentleman was aware 
 that Joe was wild, but did not think that he 
 was careless or lazy ; and so he frequently 
 placed business in his hands for execution, 
 You know, boys, that merchants are sometimes 
 forced to borrow money. Old Simon Fairly 
 had promised to pay a certain sum on a certain 
 day ; and as the day approached, he found that 
 he had not the money by him. He then wrote 
 a letter to a friend in the country (who had 
 
38 HISTORY OF 
 
 promised to lend him when he was in trouble), 
 requesting that he would send him the amount 
 wanted. This letter he placed in the hands of 
 his son Joe, and desired him to put it in the 
 postoffice that morning. But Joe was called 
 off for some other purpose shortly after, and 
 the letter was neglected." 
 
 " And so it did not go, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " No ; it did not reach the country friend. 
 No answer came on the next day ; and on the 
 day after that, Simon Fairly had promised to 
 pay the money. And, boys, mere accident 
 preserved his promise." 
 
 " How ?— how, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " His friend, on the next morning, called to 
 see him, for he had come to the city on partic- 
 ular business of his own ; and when Mr. Fairly 
 asked him if he had received his letter, he 
 knew nothing about it. He soon, however, 
 explained the nature of the letter, and obtained 
 the loan from him." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, mere chance did en- 
 able him to keep his promise." 
 
 " Yes, boys. And when Joe was asked 
 about the letter, he said that he had forgotten 
 to mail it ; and upon examination it was found 
 in his coat pocket. Old Mr. Fairly has often 
 
NEW-YORK. 39 
 
 told me this story, and always winds up by 
 saying to me, ' when you want your work well 
 done, do it for, yourself? And I assure you, 
 boys, this is a good piece of advice." 
 
 " But, Uncle Philip, you should have had 
 your fishing-rod when you asked for it, and I 
 should not have said I had forgotten it." 
 
 " Oh no, Thomas ; I do not believe that you 
 would. I did not mean to apply this story to 
 you. My only meaning was this : when we 
 are able, it is right that we should wait upon 
 ourselves ; and so I carry the rod for myself. 
 Am I not right ?" 
 
 " Surely, Uncle Philip." 
 
 " Yes, my lads ; for that is true independ- 
 ence. Doing for ourselves when we can, and 
 not allowing others to do for us, is real inde- 
 pendence. And I am sure none of you wish 
 to be dependant." 
 
 "Yes, yes, sir; I understand you. But, 
 Uncle Philip, you are going to try to catch 
 fish. These fish suffer very much on the 
 hook when they are taken. Do you not think 
 it cruel to catch them ?" 
 
 " Surely not, my lad, or I would not do it. 
 [ think that Providence placed them in the 
 water as food for man ; and I can see no harm 
 
40 HISTORY OF 
 
 in using the food which God has given to us. 
 You may with the same propriety call a butcher 
 cruel who kills a cow, a calf, or a hog, to pro- 
 vide food for man. These animals suffer when 
 killed, but still we cannot eat them alive. In- 
 deed, that would be still more cruel. But I 
 think, my children, that (if possible) Providence 
 has been more kind to the fish than many other 
 animals. He has made them cold-blooded, and 
 they therefore do not feel pain half so much as 
 many others. You may prove this before we 
 get home." 
 
 " How, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 "When you take a fish upon your hook, 
 take him off and throw him back into the 
 water, and see how soon he will swim away. 
 In fact, if the water is clear, you will see him 
 not unfrequently swim directly back to your 
 hook again. I have observed this often. I 
 hardly think that a fish, when he is killed, suffers 
 as much as a calf does when he is butchered. 
 But you will understand me here. — I do not 
 mean that we have a right to catch a fish, be- 
 cause the fish does not suffer much, but because 
 Providence has given it to man for his food." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, it is all clear now ; and I 
 did not intend to charge you with cruelty ; but I 
 
NEW-YORK. 41 
 
 have sometimes heard people call it cruel sport, 
 and I wished to hear your opinion about it." 
 
 " Don't you remember the command about 
 the fish in the book of Leviticus, in the Bible ?" 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Well, I remember it. It is in the eleventh 
 chapter and ninth verse, if my memory serves 
 me. The verse is this : — 
 
 " - These shall ye eat, of all that are in the 
 waters : whatsoever hath fins and scales, in the 
 waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall 
 ye eat. ' " 
 
 " Oh, that is all very plain ; and now, as we 
 are at the water, we will bait our hooks and 
 throw out, sir." 
 
 " Very good ; I will fish in deeper water." 
 
 " I am afraid it will rain, sir, before we get 
 home. The clouds look very dark.' 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip ; over in the distance 
 yonder it looks very heavy indeed. But that 
 surely cannot be a cloud. — Look, Uncle Philip ; 
 it rises higher and higher, in a black mass. And 
 see, just round the pond there, sir, it curls in the 
 air like smoke. Do you see it, sir '?" 
 
 " Oh yes, I see what you mean ; and that is 
 smoke, my lad, if I mistake not. That smoke, 
 I think, rises from the steam-boat ; and in ten or 
 
 II. D 
 
42 HISTORY OF 
 
 fifteen minutes we shall see her turn that point, 
 for she nears rapidly." 
 
 " What steam-boat, Uncle Philip, can it be ?" 
 
 " Why, the Flushing boat, in which I some- 
 times take passage to New-York. There she 
 is ; you can see her now." 
 
 " Oh yes, sir ; and she does move rapidly, 
 indeed. And this reminds me, Uncle Philip, 
 of our countryman, Mr. Fulton, about whom 
 you promised to talk to us. I wish to know 
 all about such a man. Will you tell us of him 
 now, sir?" 
 
 " What do all the other boys say ?" 
 
 " Oh, by all means, if you please, sir, talk 
 about him now. We are all anxious to hear." 
 
 " Our countryman, Robert Fulton, my chil- 
 dren, (of whom I before said we might all, as 
 Americans, feel very proud), was born in Lan- 
 caster county, in the state of Pennsylvania, in 
 the year 1765." 
 
 "Yes, Uncle Philip, and in a town called 
 Little Britain, you told us." 
 
 " True, I did. His parents were both Irish 
 people ; and, as far as I can learn, they were 
 very respectable. He was not born rich. His 
 parents were poor, and all that they could do 
 for their boy was to send him to school in Lan- 
 
NEW-YORK. 43 
 
 caster. At this school he was taught the com- 
 mon branches of an English education. But 
 Robert Fulton, when a boy, had a very peculiar 
 taste ; and he showed this taste while at school. 
 In his childhood, while other boys were play- 
 ing, all his hours of recreation were passed in 
 the shops of mechanics. And when sometimes 
 he would become tired of this, he would employ 
 himself in sketching pictures with his pencil. 
 In fact, I have heard it said, that the little fellow 
 always spent the little pocket money which he 
 sometimes had, in one particular way. He 
 always bought some thing which he wanted, 
 and which was necessary to aid him in grati- 
 fying his taste for mechanics and drawing." 
 
 "And did he learn well at school, Uncle 
 Philip?" 
 
 " Oh yes ; I feel sure of that, for his mind 
 was always busy. Indeed, boys, I do not think 
 that I ever heard of any man who disliked idle- 
 ness more than Robert Fulton. His under- 
 standing was always good and always employed, 
 even in childhood ; and you know, then, that he 
 must have learned readily." 
 
 " I should think, Uncle Philip, that he must 
 always have studied hard, and been very indus- 
 trious, to have made himself so great a man." 
 
44 HISTORY OF 
 
 " You are right. No man can be truly 
 great without labour ; and I am glad that you 
 have learned this fact so early in life. You 
 will remember this, I hope, as you grow older ; 
 and bear in mind that Providence has placed 
 no person in this world to be idle. We have 
 all some part to perform upon earth. You owe 
 duties to God — duties to your country — and 
 duties to yourselves ; and these duties cannot 
 be performed by idle men. And, besides all 
 this, boys, industry is the surest road to happi- 
 ness ; and I am sure we all wish to be happy." 
 
 " Oh yes, Uncle Philip ; and I heard my 
 father say, yesterday, ' that doing nothing ivas 
 the hardest and most painful business in the 
 world?" 
 
 " So, you see, Fulton was not idle as a boy, 
 but continued for some time to employ himself 
 in the manner which I have described. And, 
 my lads, by the time he was seventeen years 
 of age, he had learned so well the use of his 
 pencil, that he went to Philadelphia, and was 
 enabled to support himself there by painting 
 portraits and landscapes. He remained in that 
 place for four years, and became acquainted, du- 
 ring this time, with the great American philoso- 
 pher, Doctor Franklin," 
 
NEW-YORK. 45 
 
 " That was fortunate for him, Uncle Philip ; 
 for it seems to me that no person could have 
 gone near such a man as Dr. Franklin without 
 learning something. Don't you suppose he 
 taught him some useful things, sir ?" 
 
 " I do not know what passed between him 
 and Franklin while he was a boy ; I only 
 know that he made the acquaintance : and I 
 think with you, boys, that it was a profitable 
 companionship for him. However, Mr. Fulton, 
 in Philadelphia, made more than enough to pro- 
 vide for his want* ; for when he became twenty- 
 one years old, lie had saved enough to purchase, 
 in part, a small farm in the country, on which 
 he settled his mother. The farm was in Wash- 
 ington county, in the state of Pennsylvania. 
 
 " And now, boys, I must tell you of an acci- 
 dent which, perhaps, gave Fulton to the world 
 as a great man. Had he not met with this ac- 
 cident, he would, possibly, have lived and died 
 a painter. After he had bought this small 
 farm, and carried his mother to it, he started 
 upon his return to Philadelphia. In his way, 
 however, he visited the warm springs of Penn- 
 sylvania, where he met with several gentlemen 
 To these gentlemen he showed some of his 
 paintings ; and they were so much pleased with 
 
46 HISTORY OF 
 
 him, and admired his genius for painting so 
 highly, that they advised him to go to Eng- 
 land." 
 
 " Why could not he have remained at home, 
 sir ? Why was he advised to go to England ?" 
 
 " Ah, boys, at that time painting was more 
 valued in England than in this country. It is 
 an older country than our own, you will re- 
 member ; and the people knew more about the 
 fine arts than we did. I think it was very good 
 advice for that reason. But there was abetter 
 one still. Did you ever hear the name of Ben- 
 jamin West?" 
 
 " I think I have heard the name, sir ; but do 
 not know who he was." 
 
 " Mr. West was an American painter, who 
 was living in London at that time, and was 
 much distinguished by the King of England. 
 These gentlemen at the springs, then, advised 
 Fulton to visit Mr. West. They thought that 
 he might improve in his business by living 
 with so great an artist ; and they also thought 
 that Mr., West would treat him kindly. Fulton 
 followed this advice ; left his native country, 
 and arrived in England in the same year; 
 and, I assure you, he was received kindly by 
 his distinguished countryman. In fact, Mr. 
 
NEW-YORK. 47 
 
 West was a noble man. Like a truly great 
 man, he was always ready to aid a young man 
 in getting forward. He was so much pleased 
 with young Fulton, that he invited him to re- 
 main with him in his own house." 
 
 " And did he live with him, sir ?" 
 
 "Yes. He remained with him for several 
 years, and continued to improve under his in- 
 structions. Afterward, he left his house and 
 went to Devonshire. That is a county, you 
 know, in the southwestern part of England. 
 Here he remained for two years as a painter ; 
 and in that time, became acquainted with two 
 very celebrated men. One of them was the 
 Duke of Bridgewater, who was very famous on 
 account of his canals ; and the other was Lord 
 Stanhope, who was also fond of the mechanic 
 arts. And here Fulton began again to study 
 mechanics." 
 
 " Ah, Uncle Philip ; and you mean, if he 
 had not gone to England, he would never have 
 known these men : and this is the accident of 
 which you spoke V 
 
 " Yes, boys, this was the accident ; for here 
 he became very busy in another way. In a lit- 
 tle time I find him taking out patents for his 
 discoveries ; his improvements in canals, and 
 
48 HISTORY OF 
 
 many other things. You know what a patent 
 is ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, sir; you explained that before." 
 
 " And, my lads, I can assure you, that even 
 at this time Fulton had some idea of navigating 
 boats by steam. Some people have denied 
 this, but nevertheless it is true ; for I think 
 that I can show you at home, in one of my 
 books, a letter which he wrote to Lord Stan- 
 hope at this time upon this very subject." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, that proves that they 
 are wrong. In what year is his letter dated, 
 sir?" 
 
 "In 1793. But we will talk of this here- 
 after. We will now follow him into France, 
 where he, soon after this, went, and obtained 
 patents in that country also, for some of his 
 inventions. And he had also the good fortune 
 to make another valuable friend at Paris. 
 This was Mr. Joel Barlow, another American." 
 
 " Was Mr. Barlow fond of mechanics also, 
 sir?" 
 
 " No, no. He is commonly known as an 
 American poet. Mr. Fulton lived with him for 
 seven years. They were not years of idleness 
 either, my young friends ; for while he was 
 there, he not only studied his own business 
 
NEW-YORK. 49 
 
 closely, but he learned several foreign lan- 
 guages — the German, Italian, and French. 
 
 " And now I must tell you of another of his 
 inventions while there. I am about to speak 
 of Mr. Fulton's plunging-boat, or Nautilus, a? 
 he himself named it. This was a boat con- 
 structed so as to move under the water. The 
 object was to carry her in time of war under 
 an enemy's ship, and blow the ship up." 
 
 " But, Uncle Philip, how did they set fire to 
 the powder under water ?" 
 
 "Ah, my lads, he found no difficulty in this. 
 He invented what he called torpedoes, pur- 
 posely to carry down in these boats ; and these 
 torpedoes would go off under water." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, this is strange." 
 
 " Yes, boys, it seems strange to you. Men 
 now travel through the air, upon the water, and 
 under the water ; and I suspect that when the 
 Frenchman Montgolfier, in the year 1782, in- 
 vented a balloon, the people there were as 
 much surprised as you are now. Indeed, his 
 would have been a grand invention, if he had 
 only known how to guide his balloons." 
 
 " And has no one ever learned how to guide 
 balloons, sir V 
 
 "No. Several people have supposed that 
 
50 HISTORY OF 
 
 they have, but they were deceived. Balloons 
 are left at the mercy of the winds, and no man 
 knows, when he starts, where he will land." 
 
 " But, Uncle Philip, pray tell us about Ful- 
 ton's plunging-boat." 
 
 " I should have told you that this invention 
 was not a new idea of Mr. Fulton's, and, in fact, 
 he himself used to say that he was not the first 
 man who had thought of it. A man by the name 
 of David Bushnell, who lived in Connecticut, 
 had made some experiments with a boat under 
 water, during the revolutionary war. And now 
 I wish to tell you another thing, and it may 
 possibly serve to encourage some one of you 
 hereafter. When his plans were completed, 
 Mr. Fulton laid them before the French govern- 
 ment, hoping that he would be allowed a suf- 
 ficient quantity of money to finish his work : 
 in this he was disappointed. He then offered 
 them to the Dutch government : here again 
 he was unsuccessful. But when Napoleon 
 Bonaparte was made First Consul of France, 
 Mr. Fulton sent to him, requesting him to 
 patronise his plans : and the consul answered 
 him favourably ; for you know that he was a 
 very ambitious man, and I suppose that he 
 thought these plans of Fulton, when put into 
 
NEW-YORK. 51 
 
 execution, would aid him very much in making 
 conquests." 
 
 " And was Fulton enabled to make his experi- 
 ments, sir?" 
 
 "Yes. Do you know where the town of 
 Brest is situated ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; it is in the northwestern part of 
 France." 
 
 "Very well. It was at this place that he 
 first tried his plunging-boat ; and I wish you 
 were capable of understanding more about this 
 boat." 
 
 " But, Uncle Philip, you can tell us some- 
 thing about it, and tell us whether he succeeded 
 or not." 
 
 "He succeeded admirably. He had con- 
 structed this boat, boys, so that she could sail 
 upon the water, and at any moment dive under 
 the water. She moved slowly, sailing only 
 about two miles in an hour ; but what was very 
 remarkable was this : in two minutes, Fulton 
 could strike her masts and sails, and plunge her 
 into the water." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, that was rapid. And 
 how fast did she move under the water, sir ?" 
 
 " Why, of course, Uncle Philip, they could 
 
52 HISTORY OF 
 
 not tell that; for they could not see under 
 water." 
 
 " Stay, George, not so fast. If the men in 
 the boat had not been able to see, still, other 
 people, who were looking on, might notice the 
 time when the boat went down, and observe it 
 also when the boat rose again. — And this, I am 
 sure, would give the time. And you know they 
 must have seen the places also, where she sunk 
 and where she rose. And then if they measured 
 between these places, that would have given 
 them the distance" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Then, I am sure, they would have known 
 how fast the boat moved under the water." 
 
 " Oh yes, Uncle Philip ; and it was silly in 
 me not to think of that." 
 
 " But besides this, I say, the men in the boat 
 were able to tell the time. Fulton descended 
 in her himself, and he counted the number of 
 minutes upon the face of his watch, and found 
 that she moved five hundred yards in seven 
 minutes. I will tell you how he did this. He 
 had a glass window, not more than an inch and 
 a half in diameter, set in his boat, and that gave 
 him all the light which he wanted. And I will 
 
NEW-YORK. 53 
 
 tell you another thing which he found out. He 
 discovered that the compass would point as 
 accurately beneath the water as above it ; and 
 he could therefore steer his boat without dif- 
 ficulty." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, Bonaparte must have 
 been pleased with this success." 
 
 " Yes, my lads ; at first he was very much 
 pleased ; but, during the summer of the year 
 1801, when Mr. Fulton waited for some Eng- 
 lish vessel to come near the* coast of France 
 that he might blow her up, no vessel came. 
 At one time, he was very near one large Eng- 
 lish ship, but she moved off just in time to 
 save herself. So the people in France were 
 disappointed, and were no longer disposed to 
 aid him. 
 
 " But some of the people in England be- 
 came alarmed when they heard of his experi- 
 ment ; for they thought that Mr. Fulton might 
 become a very dangerous man to their country. 
 Lord Stanhope (who was acquainted with him 
 in England, you know) made a speech in the 
 English parliament, and spoke of this danger ; 
 and he thought it best for the English govern- 
 ment to invite Mr. Fulton to leave France, and 
 settle in their country. And it was through 
 
54 HISTORY OF 
 
 his influence that he was invited over by the 
 British minister." 
 
 " And did he go over, sir ?" 
 
 " He went over, and settled in London. 
 And now, boys, as we have taken as many fish 
 as we shall catch, I think we had best go 
 home. Fishing and talking will not do together 
 always." 
 
 No, Uncle Philip ; for talking frightens the 
 fish ; and I do not believe there has been one 
 near my hook for the last hour." 
 
 " Well, well. Take up the basket, Will- 
 iam, and we will go." 
 
 " Very good, Uncle Philip ; but you will talk 
 to us as we walk homeward ?" 
 
 " No. I have told you now as much as you 
 can remember for this morning. You must 
 tell your sisters what I have told you ; and to- 
 morrow they will be able to go on with us." 
 
NEW-YORK. 55 
 
 CONVERSATION XVI. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children more about Robert Fulton and 
 his Inventions. 
 
 " Many people, my children, have blamed 
 Mr. Fulton very much for leaving France to go 
 to England. Their reasons for this, I suppose, 
 were these. In the first place, he had offered 
 his services to the French government, and 
 they were accepted ; therefore he had no right 
 to leave France. In the second place, England 
 was the enemy of France ; and therefore he 
 acted basely to leave France for the express 
 purpose of giving his services to her enemy. 
 This is the way in which some talk of him 
 now, even when he is dead." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, what do you think of 
 his. conduct ?" 
 
 " Far from censuring him, my children, I 
 think he acted in a manner which entitles him 
 to great praise. The French, you know, had 
 ceased giving him and assistance ; and, besides, 
 
56 HISTORY OF 
 
 if they had not done this, I cannot blame Mr. 
 Fulton for quitting them. He knew, boys, 
 that many people thought, at that time, that he' 
 was acting wrong ; but this did not induce him 
 to hesitate. Fulton was working for the bene- 
 fit of mankind ; and he wanted money to en- 
 able him to make discoveries for their benefit. 
 And so, provided he could obtain money hon- 
 estly for this purpose, he cared not whence it 
 came. Was not that right ?" 
 
 " I should think so, sir." 
 
 " And that was the cause of my saying that 
 he deserved credit for going to England ; for, 
 when he was aware he was about to be blamed, 
 he still did what he thought was his duty. 
 And, to show you the perfect honesty of this 
 man, I must tell you another thing. He told 
 the people in France that he was about to 
 go to England when these English proposals 
 were made." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, that settles it. His 
 conduct was right ; for, I am sure, no person 
 who knows these facts can blame him. And 
 now, if you please, sir, we will hear you 
 talk about some of his experiments in Eng- 
 land." 
 
 " For my own part, I do not think he was 
 
NEW-YORK. 57 
 
 treated very well in England. And I think, 
 my lads, that I know the cause of it." 
 
 " What was it, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " England is now, and has been for a long 
 time, very celebrated on account of the strength 
 of her navy. You will perceive, then, at once, 
 that if Mr. Fulton's plan had succeeded for 
 blowing up ships, and that plan should have 
 ever become generally known, England would 
 have been a greater loser than any other na- 
 tion." 
 
 " Oh yes, sir, because she had more ships 
 to be destroyed." 
 
 " Well, my lads, he did succeed very well in 
 one experiment which he made for them. A 
 large brig was anchored out in the water, on 
 purpose that he might make a trial upon her 
 with his torpedoes. The brig was blown out 
 of the water and broken into fragments, in less 
 ^an a minute after the torpedo went off. This 
 was witnessed by several distinguished Eng- 
 lishmen. Notwithstanding this success, he 
 was neglected ; and, as I said a moment since, 
 neglected, I believe, for this very success." 
 
 "But, Uncle Philip, one thought on this 
 subject has just struck me ; and yet I do p.o* 
 wish to dispute your ouinion, sir '' 
 
58 HISTORY OF 
 
 " Speak out — speak out, my lad. I shall 
 not be offended." 
 
 " Then, sir, I was thinking this. You said, 
 yesterday, I believe, that the English invited 
 Fulton to their country because they were 
 afraid of the experiments which he had made 
 in France ; and, therefore, desired his ser- 
 vices." 
 
 "Well, what then?" 
 
 " And now (if I understand you, Uncle 
 Philip), you say that, for the success of those 
 very services, they disliked him." 
 
 "Very good. That is all clear. If Mr. 
 Fulton's experiments were to continue, the 
 English preferred that they should be made in 
 their own country rather than in France. But 
 they would have preferred, above all, that his 
 experiments should have ceased altogether. I 
 think I can prove this to you, George ; for I can 
 assure you, that in England, Mr. Fulton was 
 offered a large reward if he would promise to 
 suppress his discoveries, and not suffer them to 
 be known, either in his own country or in any 
 other." 
 
 M Is it possible, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, it is true. And now just reach 
 me that large book with the green cover, just 
 
NEW-YORK. 59 
 
 behind you, and I will read to you Mr. Fulton's 
 answer to this proposal. After that, you will 
 like him the better. Here is a part of his 
 answer, — listen to it. 
 
 " ' At all events, ivhatever may be your 
 award, I never will consent to let these inven- 
 tions lie dormant, should my country at any 
 time have need of them. Were you to grant 
 me an annuity of twenty thousand pounds a 
 year, I would, sacrifice all to the safety and in- 
 dependence of my country." 1 — Does not that 
 sound well ?" 
 
 " Ah, Uncle Philip, that must be the language 
 of a patriot. I am glad that you read that pas- 
 sage, sir ; for I shall think well of Fulton as 
 long as I live. And for my part, sir, had I 
 been in his situation, I am sure I would not 
 have remained in England." 
 
 " Then you would have done precisely as he 
 did ; for he left that country, and very wisely 
 determined to come to the United States. In 
 this country he was received, on his return, very 
 kindly. The government aided him in his 
 plans, and he made several experiments in 
 New-York, in some of which he succeeded, and 
 in others he failed. But very few people, my 
 children, thought that these failures were owing 
 
60 HISTORY OF 
 
 to him. And now we will talk about his in- 
 ventions in navigating boats by steam." 
 
 " Oh yes, Uncle Philip ; and that is what I 
 have been wishing you to come to." 
 
 "Before we begin, however, I must carry 
 you back a little. You remember my telling 
 you that Fulton had thought of this business as 
 early as the year 1793 ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir. And you said, Uncle Philip, that 
 you could show a letter which he wrote in that 
 year to Lord Stanhope upon this subject." 
 
 " So I did, and I will now look for it. Here 
 is the book. Let me see. I do not find Ful- 
 ton's own letter, but here is Lord Stanhope's 
 answer to his letter, dated in the same year. 
 And this will do just as well, for Lord Stan- 
 hope's answer proves not only that Fulton had 
 written to him, but had also written about steam 
 navigation : here it is : — 
 
 " ' Sir : I have received yours of the 30 th of 
 September, in which you propose to communi- 
 cate to me the principles of an invention, which 
 you say you have discovered, respecting the 
 moving of ships by the means of steamy 
 
 "Then, Uncle Philip, those people are cer- 
 tainly wrong who say that Mr. Fulton had not 
 thought of steam-boats so early as 1793." 
 
NEW-YORK. 61 
 
 "Surely they are. In the year 1801, while 
 Mr. Fulton was in Paris, another American gen- 
 tleman arrived in that city. This was Robert 
 R. Livingston, a distinguished man, who was at 
 that time sent out as minister to France by our 
 government." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, what do you mean by a min- 
 ister to France V 
 
 " I mean a man who is sent there by our 
 country for the purpose of doing public busi 
 ness with the French government. Do you 
 understand me ?" 
 
 "Not exactly, sir." 
 
 "You know that two men may sometimes 
 have business with each other, and they may 
 have clerks or agents to do that business ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir, that is plain enough." 
 
 " Two countries may also have business 
 together, and each country may appoint its 
 own agent to do that business. So a minister 
 is only a public servant. Is not that plain, 
 also ?» 
 
 " Yes, yes, sir ; I see what your meaning is, 
 Uncle Philip." 
 
 " Mr. Livingston then met Mr. Fulton in 
 Paris ; and as he was fond of the same sort of 
 studies which Mr. Fulton liked, these two men 
 
02 HISTORY OF 
 
 became intimate. Mr. Fulton was soon per- 
 suaded by his friend to turn his attention again 
 to steam-boats. 
 
 "And, in the year 1803, these two men 
 finished a boat, anchored her out in the river 
 Seine, and were ready to make an experiment. 
 This boat was built at their joint expense, but 
 the plan was Mr. Fulton's. And now I must 
 tell you a story about this boat. 
 
 " One morning, as Mr. Fulton was rising from 
 his bed, where he had not slept much the night 
 before, a messenger entered his room very 
 much frightened, and cried out, ' Oh sir, the boat 
 has broken in pieces, and gone to the bottom/ 
 Of course, this news depressed Mr. Fulton's 
 spirits very much ; for he had laboured for a 
 long time, and was just ready to try his work, 
 and see if it would prove useful, when this 
 accident occurred." 
 
 " And the boat had really gone to the bottom, 
 sir?" 
 
 " Oh, yes. They had made a mistake in 
 building her. She was too light, and too 
 weakly framed. So, when they placed the 
 steam-engine in her, (which, you know, is 
 made of metal, and is heavy), she at first bore 
 the weight. But on the night before they 
 
NEW-TORK. ()3 
 
 were to have tried her, the wind rose, and the 
 waves in the river became rough, and the boat 
 had been split into two parts, and the engine 
 had sunk." 
 
 "Well, Uncle Philip, I should have been 
 almost tempted to have given up the plan. 
 Indeed, to have been treated badly in France — 
 to have had such a misfortune as this — and af- 
 terward to have been disappointed in England ; 
 all these things, sir, were sufficient to cause 
 any man to tire in his labours. And, to tell 
 the truth, sir, I should have left this sort of 
 work, and gone into some other business." 
 
 " And yet, Thomas, this was not sufficient 
 to fatigue this man. It seems to me, that 
 Fulton only worked with more earnestness for 
 the difficulties which surrounded him. And 
 that, boys, is one of the marks of a great 
 man. Common people sink under misfortunes ; 
 but great men struggle under them, and over- 
 come them. Ah, my lad, Robert Fulton and 
 Thomas Little were very unlike, I am afraid ; 
 and I am now telling you this in hopes that 
 you will strive to be more like him. At any 
 rate, that you may learn to be firm as he was : 
 and that you will never allow troubles to master 
 you, but that you will learn to master troubles. 
 
64 HISTORY OF 
 
 And now, suppose that he had despaired under 
 his disappointments, and gone to some other 
 pursuit, what then f ' 
 
 " Why, then, Uncle Philip, the world would 
 never have been indebted to him for steam- 
 boats." 
 
 " True. And all that would have been said 
 of him would have been this — ' Robert Fulton 
 tried to be a great man, but failed.' 
 
 " So he was not discouraged, although he 
 thought that so many months' work was lost ; 
 but began to labour on that same day to relieve 
 himself. Indeed, I have heard, that he even 
 worked with his own hands for twenty-four 
 hours, to get that engine out of the water, and 
 that during that time he ate nothing." 
 
 " And did he succeed, sir ?" 
 
 " Yes. In a short time, he got the engine 
 up ; and after this, he built another and a 
 stronger boat, and made his experiment. In 
 this he succeeded so well, that he was per- 
 fectly satisfied that boats could be made to 
 move by steam. This was in the year 1803. 
 He determined at once to come to America, 
 and enrich his own country with the discovery. 
 But you will remember, that at this time he 
 received that invitation to go to England which 
 
NEW-YORK. 65 
 
 carried him there. And from England, you 
 know, he came to this country ?' 
 
 " Yes, sir. And in what year did he arrive 
 in America ?" 
 
 "It was in the year 1806, and so certain 
 was he of the success of his plans, that he im- 
 mediately commenced building a steam boat. 
 Mr. Livingston, too, aided him in this. They 
 continued constantly at their work until this 
 boat was completed ; and in the spring of the 
 year 1807, she was launched. The engine 
 was placed on board of her, and in August she 
 wa,s ready for the experiment." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, what did the people in New- 
 York think of this boat while she was build- 
 ing ? I should like to know that." 
 
 " Many of them thought that the plan was 
 perfectly ridiculous, and said so openly ; but I 
 was just about to tell you the history of her 
 first trip, to show you what the opinion of the 
 people was/'' 
 
 " If you please, sir. And I know, Uncle 
 Philip, if I had been in New-Yoik at that 
 time, I would have seen that experiment." 
 
 " When the boat was ready for starting, 
 crowds of people went down to the wharf to 
 gratify their curiosity. They did not suppose 
 
 II— F 
 
66 HISTORY OF 
 
 that Fulton would succeed. In fact, some 
 smiled ; others said that he was a foolish man, 
 who was wasting money; and almost every 
 person then expected a complete failure. But 
 when the boat moved off from the wharf, and, 
 as she went, moved faster, then they began to 
 wonder — then to admire Mr. Fulton's talents. 
 While she was going on, and the people upon 
 the shore all surprised, Fulton caused the boat 
 to be stopped." 
 
 " What for, sir ?" 
 
 " He thought that he could make her move 
 more rapidly. He made some alteration in the 
 wheels of the boat, and started 'her again; and 
 she did travel faster. And, my children, many 
 of those very people, who but a moment before 
 had laughed, now began to shout and applaud 
 Mr. Fulton." 
 
 " How he must have been pleased, Uncle 
 Philip ?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, it must have been gratifying 
 to Fulton and his friends, to find the very same 
 men who had gone there doubting of his suc- 
 cess, and smiling at his folly, shouting when 
 his boat moved off. 
 
 " This boat, in a short time, made another 
 trip. Indeed, the experiment which had been 
 
NEW-YORK. 67 
 
 made could hardly be called a trip, for she 
 went only as far as the Jersey shore. Her 
 next trip was to Albany. This place is about 
 one hundred and fifty miles from New- York. 
 And I remember reading in the newspaper at 
 that time, my children, that of the people upon 
 the shores of the Hudson, some were frightened 
 and all were astonished, on seeing such a thing 
 moving in the water. I have heard it said, 
 that one old man, who was very much fright- 
 ened, called the boat ' a monster, blowing 
 smoke and breathing fire as she moved.' " 
 
 " I suppose, Uncle Philip, that some of these 
 people were more alarmed than the Indians 
 were when they first saw Hudson's ship sailing 
 up the river. How many years since they saw 
 Hudson's vessel, sir?" 
 
 " It was one hundred and ninety-eight years 
 after Hudson sailed up that river, that Fulton 
 made his trip." 
 
 " And how long was she in travelling that 
 distance, sir?" 
 
 " Thirty-two hours in going, and thirty in 
 returning. You know that rate of travelling 
 was near five miles an hour. Mr. Fulton was 
 on board, and he said that the wind was ahead 
 all the way, both going and coming ; and that 
 
68 HISTORY OF 
 
 caused the boat to move more slowly than she 
 would have done otherwise. And I think this 
 was true ; for boats now move more than twice 
 as fast, you know." 
 
 " Yes ; but perhaps, Uncle Philip, improve- 
 ments may have been made since ?" 
 
 " That is true ; but still, my own opinion is, 
 that the boat could have moved more rap- 
 idly." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, I should like to know 
 what the name of the first steam-boat was." 
 
 " She was. called the Clermont, after a coun- 
 try seat which Mr. Livingston owned. And 
 now let me tell you something about Mr. Ful- 
 ton's patents. You know what a patent is, 
 and you also know that he deserved something 
 for all his labour and expense." 
 
 " Oh yes, sir, surely he did." 
 
 "In the year 1809, he took out his first 
 patent for his invention of steam-boats, and two 
 years after that he got another patent for some 
 improvements." 
 
 " But where was Mr. Livingston, sir ? Did 
 he not join him in the patent ?" 
 
 " No, my lad. Mr. Livingston knew that 
 Fulton was the inventor of this thing;, and he 
 was not base enough to pretend to any such 
 
NEW-YORK. 69 
 
 right himself. And I wish, my children, that 
 I could say as much for many other people. 
 Many have denied that our countryman, Fulton, 
 was the first man who navigated a boat by 
 steam, and laid claim to the invention for them- 
 selves. Yes, even some countries have claimed 
 it for some one of their own citizens." 
 
 "Yes, sir. And this puts me in mind of 
 what William Brown said when you told 
 us the story about Christopher Columbus. 
 But will you tell us the names of some of these 
 men who claimed Fulton's invention ?" 
 
 " The French claim that a man called the 
 A.bbe Arnal proposed applying steam power to 
 a vessel in the year 1781. And another French- 
 man, commonly called the Marquis of JufTroy, 
 says that he constructed a steam-boat at Lyons, 
 in the year 1782. 
 
 " The English say that two of their country- 
 men, Hunter and Dickinson, took out a patent 
 for the invention in the year 1 800. 
 
 " And the Scotch declare that a successful 
 experiment in moving steam-boats was made in 
 their country in the year 1801. 
 
 " Besides these, my children, there was an 
 American claimant. The friends of a Mr. 
 Fitch say that he caused a boat to be made, 
 
70 HISTORY OF 
 
 which he tried on the Delaware river in the 
 year 1783." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, that first Frenchman 
 that you mentioned was before all the others in 
 point of time. He seems to have been the 
 man." 
 
 " No, no, Uncle Philip, he was not ; for you 
 remember Fulton's letter in 1793 ?" 
 
 " Yes ; but that was only a letter, after all, 
 Uncle Philip, in which Fulton gave some of his 
 ideas on this subject to Lord Stanhope. But 
 the Abbe Arnal really took out a patent first 
 Besides this, Fulton's letter is dated twelve 
 years after Abbe ArnaPs patent." 
 
 " True ; so he did take the patent out first, 
 but that proves nothing; for I say thatnei 
 ther Arnal, the Marquis of Juffroy, Mr. 
 Hunter, nor Mr. Dickinson, nor Mr. Fitch, any 
 one of them, succeeded in their experiments. 
 They all made attempts to move boats by 
 steam, and failed so completely, that no boats 
 made after their plans have been adopted 
 
 " No one pretends to say that Robert Fulton 
 was the first man who thought of navigating 
 boats by steam : but Americans boast, that if 
 he was not the first to think of it, he was thf 
 first to ?xecute it. Indeed, we know that man^ 
 
NEW YORK. 71 
 
 men were cei tain, long before the invention, that 
 steam power might be applied to boats ; but Ful- 
 ton was the man who first discovered how to 
 apply it usefully." 
 
 " Then, sir, he deserves the greater credit, 
 in my opinion." 
 
 'Why, my lad?" 
 
 " Because, when a great number of men 
 were trying very hard to find out a certain 
 thing, he was the only man who was able to 
 discover it." 
 
 " A very good idea, indeed. And I will tell 
 vou what is very certain proof that his dis- 
 covery was a great one. Those nations 
 would not have been so anxious to claim it, if 
 it had not been worth the claiming. And I 
 wifah you to remember one thing, particularly. 
 Mr. Fulton himself used to say that he was not 
 the first man who thought of this thing, but the 
 first man who did it." 
 
 " That is all very plain, sir : and will you tell 
 rae, f now, how Mr. Fulton employed himself 
 after this V 
 
 "Why, my lad, he continued to make im- 
 provements upon his own invention : and he 
 also was serviceable to his countrymen, by giv- 
 ing them some good advice upon the subject of 
 
72 HISTORY OF 
 
 making canals. Do any of you know when the 
 last war between England and this country 
 broke out?" 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 "It was in the year 1812. This war in- 
 duced Mr. Fulton again to turn his attention to 
 those boats which moved under water, and he 
 constructed a plan for shooting guns under the 
 water also. This war lasted more than two 
 years ; and the people in the city of New- 
 York thought that their harbour was very much 
 exposed to the attacks of the English. In the 
 year 1814, therefore, Mr. Fulton commenced 
 building an armed steam-ship for their defence. 
 He also, during this year, began to construct a 
 large plunging-boat, which should carry down 
 in it one hundred men." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, it seems to me, that Fulton's 
 plans became greater and greater every year." 
 
 " True, they did ; and had he lived, we can- 
 not say how far he would have carried his dis- 
 coveries. This steam-ship was launched du- 
 ring his lifetime ; but he died before she made 
 her experiments." 
 
 " When did he die, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " On the 24th day of February, in the year 
 
NEW-YORK. 73 
 
 1815. His steam-ship has been tried since his 
 death, and has succeeded." 
 
 " He died, then, sir, at the very time when 
 he was most useful to his country." 
 
 " Ah, Thomas, he was useful at all times. 
 It is difficult to say when he was most so. 
 There were few things which he attempted in 
 which he did not succeed." 
 
 " And how old was he when he died, sir ?" 
 
 " Fifty years of age. And now, my chil- 
 dren, that I have finished the life of this man, 
 let me say that I would not have talked to you 
 about him, had I not hoped that you would 
 have learned something by listening. By this, 
 I do not mean your finding out who he was — 
 when he lived — and what he has done, though 
 all this will be useful knowledge to you ; but 
 if any one of you shall learn to be as indus- 
 trious as he was, to persevere as he did, and to 
 love his country as ardently as Robert Fulton 
 loved it, then, my children, we have not spent 
 the last two days unprofitably in talking of our 
 distinguished countryman " 
 
74 HISTORY OF 
 
 CONVERSATION XVIT. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children about the plan of the French to* 
 joining their Settlements, and the War which it produced be 
 tween them and the English — Talks to them about Danvero 
 Osborne, who was Governor after Mr. Clinton, and who killed 
 himself— Tells of the Arrival of General Braddock, and th& 
 three English Expeditions against Fort du Quesne, Crown 
 Point, and Fort Frontenac ; all of which failed — Talks of a 
 meeting of the English Governors to determine upon another 
 Attack upon Canada. 
 
 " And now, Uncle Philip, we will, go back 
 to our history." 
 
 " Very good, my young friends. Where did 
 we leave off? Do you remember which Eng- 
 lish governor we talked of last ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, sir. It was Governor Clinton ; 
 and you had just told us about the treaty of 
 peace which was signed in that old town in 
 Germany. I cannot remember the name." 
 
 " You mean the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, in 
 1748. But, notwithstanding this peace, the 
 French Indians continued to make depredations 
 upon the English." 
 
NEW-YORK. 75 
 
 " Just like them, sir." 
 
 "But these occasional attacks from these 
 Indians were not very extensive ; nor do I be- 
 lieve that they did a great deal of harm, for the 
 English trade continued to increase ; and at 
 Oswego (where the fort was, you know), the 
 profits of their trade with some of the savages 
 were very great. This trading-house the 
 French had never liked ; and now that it was 
 successful, they disliked it still more. And I 
 will tell you what caused farther difficulty. 
 The French and the English both began to 
 build trading-houses upon some of the Indian 
 lands ; and the traders of each nation soon 
 commenced quarrelling. Each party said that 
 the other was wrong ; but I think, from all 
 that I have read about this dispute, that the 
 French party should bear the blame. I will 
 tell you why I think so. 
 
 " The French had the command of the three 
 lakes — Champlain, Ontario, and Erie. They 
 also had a chain of military posts from the 
 mouth of the St. Lawrence to Detroit ; and it 
 is my opinion, that they were anxious to con- 
 nect these with the settlements which they had 
 upon the Mississippi river. And this, I think, 
 
76 HISTORY OF 
 
 produced the quarrels. You remember, per- 
 haps, my saying something of this before ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " "V ery good. And now tell me if you can 
 recollect any thing which I said in the Virginia 
 stories, about a grant of land upon the Ohio 
 river, which was made about this time to sev- 
 eral Englishmen and Virginians ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, sir ; you mean to the Ohio com- 
 pany : and I remember this, it produced a diffi- 
 culty." 
 
 " Yes, for those men who received the grant 
 went there, took possession of the land, and 
 erected trading-houses. The governor of Can- 
 ada very soon heard of this, and he wrote to 
 some of the English governors, complaining 
 that they had settled upon the French territory. 
 In fact, he threatened, that if the traders did 
 not move away, they should all be seized. 
 
 " These traders, my children, did not move 
 away ; and they were seized, and sent as pris- 
 oners to a place then called Presque Isle. You 
 will see it on the south side of Lake Erie." 
 
 " I see no such place, sir." 
 
 "No, not on this map. You will find it on 
 the old ones. The place is now called Erie." 
 
NEW- YORK. 77 
 
 " I see that name, sir." 
 
 " Here these men were placed as prisoners , 
 and the French opened an easy communication 
 between this spot and the Ohio, by means of 
 French creek and the Alleghany river. If you 
 will notice these rivers, you will see how easily 
 this might be done. They then placed men all 
 along at different spots upon these rivers, so that 
 this chain was complete. And they had a fort 
 at Erie, and another upon the Ohio. And now, 
 which of you can tell me any thing about Gov- 
 ernor Dinwiddie ?" 
 
 1 1 can, I can, sir. He was governor of Vir- 
 ginia, and the very man who sent Washington 
 with a letter to the French fort : and you know 
 the French commander, after reading the letter, 
 said that he could give no answer until he heard 
 from the governor of Canada. And Washing- 
 ton refused to wait for such an answer, and this 
 produced a war, sir." 
 
 " That is all correct ; and who was General 
 Braddock?" 
 
 "He was the brave English general who 
 came over shortly after this war began, to fight 
 against the French ; and the poor man received 
 a fatal wound at Fort du Quesne." 
 
 "Well, Mary, I am glad to find that your 
 
78 HISTORY OF 
 
 memory is so good, and that you have attended 
 so closely to our former stories."* 
 
 " Now, Uncle Philip, we are coming to this 
 French war, and we shall see what part the 
 people in New- York bore in it." 
 
 " But, before we go on with this, you must 
 bear in mind that Governor Clinton resigned 
 his situation in the year 1 753 ; for many peo- 
 ple were very much dissatisfied with him : and 
 a man called Danvers Osborne, was appointed 
 to take his place. He did not arrive immedi- 
 ately ; and in the meantime Mr. Delancey 
 acted as lieutenant-governor. This only lasted 
 for a short time ; for Mr. Osborne arrived in 
 this country in the month of October, in the 
 same year. He was received kindly by the 
 people ; and they invited him, as well as the 
 old governor, to a public dinner, and seemed 
 disposed to give him no cause to dislike them. 
 But while others were merry at this dinner, 
 Mr. Osborne was sad. No one knew what was 
 the cause of it. On the evening of the third 
 day after his arrival, he sent for a doctor and 
 complained of sickness. He soon went to his 
 chamber, and dismissed his servant (it is said) 
 about midnight. On the next morning the peo- 
 
 * See the Conversations on Virginia. 
 
NEW-YORK. 79 
 
 pie in the house were very quiet, because they 
 did not wish to disturb him in his sleep; but 
 in the midst of this silence some one came 
 running into the house, and said that Mr. Os- 
 borne was hanging dead against the fence in 
 the lower part of the garden." 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Philip! and was it true ?" 
 
 " Yes ; too true, my lad." 
 
 " And what was the matter ? who could have 
 been the murderer, sir V 
 
 " Osborne killed himself. He was crazy, 
 some said, and others declared that he had been 
 murdered : and I have mentioned these circum- 
 stances, because I think that great injustice has 
 been done to some people, by saying that he 
 was murdered." 
 
 "Why, Uncle Philip? Did they ever say 
 that any particular man killed him ?" 
 
 " Yes ; but I will not tell you his name, be- 
 cause I know that it is false ; for I have seen 
 the statement of a man who knew Mr. Osborne 
 in England, who declares that he was crazy in 
 that country. Besides this, my children, papers 
 were found afterward in his handwriting, which 
 prove that he had determined to kill him- 
 self." 
 
 "And, Uncle Philip, did nobody ever hear 
 him making a noise ? I should suppose that he 
 
80 HISTORY OF 
 
 would have struggled hard while hanging, and 
 made a noise of some sort. And then he might 
 have been saved." 
 
 " One man heard him. He was moving in 
 a boat upon the river which passed by the fence, 
 just before daylight, and he heard what he 
 supposed to be something scratching against 
 the fence, but did not know what it was. But 
 this noise was made by the feet of this poor 
 man, who was then struggling." 
 
 " Well, sir, this is a. sad story. I always feel 
 unhappy, Uncle Philip, when I hear of a man's 
 killing himself." 
 
 " I should think that any one would feel sad. 
 God has said, ' Thou shall do no murder ;' and 
 the man who kills himself, I think, commits the 
 worst kind of murder. You know God has 
 placed us all in this world, and we belong to 
 him, and owe him our services. If, then, I 
 shoidd kill myself, or any other man, I deprive 
 God of part of his property and his services. 
 We must all wait our appointed time to die ; 
 and if a man is unhappy, that furnishes no ex- 
 cuse for his wishing to get out of the world." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, that was what our old 
 neighbour Mr. Jenkins, who cut his throat, used 
 to say. He said that he was unhappy, and did 
 
NEW-YORK. 81 
 
 " It is better to be unhappy, my children, in 
 this world, than miserable in another ; for we 
 are in this world but for a short time ; and we 
 shall live in another through all eternity. I 
 sometimes think that to be vexed upon earth is 
 a great blessing ; for you know the Bible says 
 * Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth? In 
 fact, I do not believe that a man can be a good 
 Christian without some trials and sorrows ; for 
 these trials make a man pray to God that he 
 will give him comfort and strength for the sake 
 of his son Jesus Christ ; and praying earnestly 
 makes the man a Christian. But you will re- 
 member that poor Osborne was crazy, and did 
 not know what he was doing. And now, if you 
 will bear in mind, that after the death of Mr. 
 Osborne, Mr. Delancey continued lieutenant- 
 governor, we will talk about the French war. 
 
 " And here I wish to tell you one thing be- 
 fore I begin. This was a very unequal war, 
 for this reason : the French governors were 
 generally very brave men, and they had the 
 control of but one colony." 
 
 " What do you mean, sir ?" 
 
 " I mean that the French colonies in Amer 
 ica had but one governor over them ; whereas, 
 the English colonies had many governors 
 II.— G 
 
82 HISTORY OF 
 
 And this one French governor was able to ob- 
 tain all the aid of all his colonists ; but the 
 English were divided. The different gover- 
 nors had different plans, and different views 
 and feelings, so that they seldom worked to- 
 gether. You see, then, the disadvantage, do 
 you not ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, sir." 
 
 " And to remedy this difficulty, you will re- 
 member that I told you the plan for joining the 
 English colonies together, which Dr. Franklin 
 offered to several of the governors who met at 
 Albany." 
 
 " Oh yes, sir; and they did not adopt his 
 plan." 
 
 " That is true ; and I have often smiled at 
 the reasons why this plan was rejected. You 
 know, in England, it was not agreed to, because 
 the king thought that it gave too much power 
 to the people in America." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and the people in America would 
 not consent to it, because they supposed it 
 gave too much power to the king. That was 
 what you said before." 
 
 "Yes, my lad ; and that was very strange." 
 
 " Very, indeed, sir ; but now, if you please, 
 Uncle Philip, we will go on with the war." 
 
NEW-YORK. 83 
 
 " The English government had before this, 
 ordered their colonies to resist the encroach- 
 ments of the French ; but there had been no 
 open declaration of war. At length, General 
 Braddock arrived with his men ; and, you 
 know, the first thing which he did was to meet 
 some of the English governors, for the purpose 
 of settling the plan of the war. 
 
 "At this meeting, three expeditions were 
 resolved on. The first was to be made against 
 Fort du Quesne, by General Braddock himself, 
 with his British soldiers, and such Virginians 
 as would aid him. This, you know, we talked 
 of in our Virginian stories. So I shall only 
 remind you, now, that this expedition failed ; 
 and poor Braddock, as Mary has just stated, re- 
 ceived a wound which cost him his life. 
 
 " The second attack was to be made against 
 Fort Frontenac (which place, I think I have 
 told you, is now called Kingston) and Niagara. 
 This was to be commanded by Mr. Shirley, 
 the governor of Massachusetts. 
 
 "The third was to be against Crown Point 
 The forces raised in New- York and New-Eng- 
 land were to make this, under the direction of 
 Major-general William Johnson." 
 
 "Well, Uncle Philip, tell us about these 
 other expeditions." 
 
84 HISTORY OF 
 
 " I am about to do so ; and first, let us talk 
 about the one against Crown Point. 
 
 " After assembling his men together at Al- 
 bany, General Johnson started, and got as far 
 as the southern extremity of Lake George 
 On his way there, he passed a place called 
 Fort Edward, and there many of his men were 
 stationed under General Lyman, a very brave 
 man. He determined to remain for a short 
 time at the southern end of Lake George, for 
 he was not quite ready to march on. After- 
 ward, his plan was to move on to Ticonderoga ; 
 and if you will again look up on the map, you 
 will see that this place is directly south of 
 Crown Point. Indeed, I believe it is not more 
 than fifteen miles distant from it. 
 
 " While he was waiting, however, at this spot, 
 some wandering Indians brought him the news 
 that a large party of the French were moving 
 toward Fort Edward. Johnson knew that he 
 had left only about five hundred men there, and 
 he became alarmed for their safety. So he 
 immediately called some of his officers to- 
 gether, to know what was to be done. It was 
 resolved to send out several men to the relief 
 of this place, under the command of a man 
 jailed Colonel Williams. But then they could 
 not determine upon the number of men neces 
 
NEW-YORK. 85 
 
 sary to be sent. There was an old Mohawk 
 sachem, named Hendrick, who was present, 
 and they proposed to him that a certain number 
 should be sent; but he replied, 'If they are to 
 fight, they are too few — and if they are to be 
 killed, they are too many.' " 
 
 " What did he mean, Uncle Philip?" 
 
 u He meant that the number was not large 
 enough. It was determined, then, that the 
 number should be twelve hundred men; and 
 then General Johnson proposed dividing them 
 into three parties. But old Hendrick took 
 three sticks, and, putting them together, said 
 to the general, • Put these together, and you 
 cannot break them ; but take them one by one, 
 and you will break them easily.' " 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Philip, I know what his mean- 
 ing was this time — he meant that those men 
 should be kept together." 
 
 " Yes, and General Johnson took his advice ; 
 and so Colonel Williams started with one thou- 
 sand white men and two hundred Indians to- 
 ward Fort Edward. He had not been gone 
 more than two hours, when Johnson and his 
 men began to hear the firing of guns, which 
 sounded to them not more than three miles 
 distant ; and presently the sound drew nearer 
 
86 HISTORY OF 
 
 and nearer, and Johnson became very much 
 frightened. And he had cause for fright, my 
 children ; for soon after, many of Colonel 
 Williams's men were seen rushing back, and 
 in a little while the French army came in sight, 
 for they were pursuing these men closely. 
 And I think, boys, if these Frenchmen had 
 rushed immediately upon the encampment 
 where Johnson and his men were, that they 
 would have killed them all, or taken them pris- 
 oners. For they were led on by Baron Dies- 
 kau, a very brave soldier; and, besides this, 
 the English were so much taken by surprise, 
 that I hardly think they would have made any 
 resistance." 
 
 " Then Baron Dieskau did not rush upon 
 them, sir ?" 
 
 " No. He stopped with his men about one 
 hundred and fifty yards from the encampment, 
 and they commenced firing. But this firing 
 could not do them much injury at such a dis- 
 tance, and the English had time to prepare 
 their cannons and return the fire. Then the 
 French and the Canadians began to run, and to 
 dodge behind logs, and trees, and bushes. 
 Baron Dieskau, like a brave man, stood with a 
 few of his troops around him, and continued to 
 
NEW-YORK. 87 
 
 fight. He attempted for a long time to force 
 his way, first on the right hand, and then on the 
 left; but it was all to no purpose. The few 
 who had stood around him began to scatter 
 and become confused ; and then the English 
 jumped over their breastwork, killed many, 
 and pursued those who ran. The French, in 
 this battle, out of two thousand men, had be- 
 tween seven and eight hundred killed, and 
 thirty taken prisoners." 
 
 "And what became of their brave com- 
 mander, sir?" 
 
 " He, poor man, received a ball in one of his 
 legs, and was unable to follow his army. He 
 was found by an English soldier, resting upon 
 the stump of a tree, with scarcely a friend near 
 him. The baron thought that he was not safe ; 
 and while he was feeling for his watch, that he 
 might give it to the soldier to prevent his shoot- 
 ing him, he received another wound ; for the 
 soldier thought that he was searching for a pis- 
 tol, and so he shot him." 
 
 " Poor man, Uncle Philip ; and did the shot 
 kill him?" 
 
 " No ; but he was made prisoner, and carried 
 first to Albany, and afterward to New- York. 
 But he was not a prisoner always ; for some 
 
88 HISTORY OF 
 
 time after this he sailed for Europe, returned 
 to France, and died there." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, I should like, also, to 
 know how many men the English lost in this 
 battle." 
 
 "About two hundred, my lad; and among 
 these were some brave men. Colonel Will- 
 iams, and a Colonel Ashley, and Major Nich- 
 ols, all died here. And there was another man, 
 children, who lost his life here. It was the old 
 Mohawk sachem." 
 
 " Poor old Hendrick, sir ? Ah, Uncle Philip, 
 I feel sorry for him." 
 
 " General Johnson himself was also wounded 
 in this battle in the early part of the day ; and 
 then General Lyman took the command ; and I 
 think, my lads, that he deserves more credit for 
 this victory than any other Englishman who 
 was on the field." 
 
 " And now, Uncle Philip, I suppose that the 
 English were ready to march against Crown 
 Point?" 
 
 "No, no. It was thought too late in the 
 season to make the attack, and these men all 
 returned home. And so ended this expedition 
 against Crown Point." 
 
 " Well, sir, I call this a failure." 
 
NEW-YORK. 89 
 
 1 Yes, and you call it by its proper name. 
 The English did not succeed in doing what 
 they wished ; but still they boasted very much 
 of having obtained a victory." 
 
 "But I think a man does well when he 
 succeeds in what he undertakes. That is my 
 notion, sir ; and now will you let us hear about 
 the expedition against Fort Frontenac ?" 
 
 " This was not even so fortunate as the one 
 we have talked of. Governor Shirley went, 
 with his two thousand men, as far as Oswego. 
 Here he determined to leave fourteen hundred of 
 these, and cross the lake with only six hundred." 
 
 " Why, Uncle Philip, that looks like protect- 
 ing Oswego instead of attacking Fort Fronte- 
 nac." 
 
 " So it does : but it did neither of these 
 things. The lake was a little boisterous, for 
 what was called the rainy season was coming 
 on; and his men were badly supplied with 
 provisions, so he returned with most of them 
 to Albany. He left, however, only seven hun- 
 dred men at Oswego when he went back ; and 
 these were under the command of Colonel 
 Mercer. We shall learn hereafter what be- 
 came of them." 
 
 " And so he did nothing, also. Then, 
 II— H 
 
90 HISTORY OF 
 
 Uncle Philip, all three of these expeditions 
 failed r 
 
 " Yes, my lad ; and this war, so far, was of 
 no service to the English that I can see, except 
 in two particular things : one was, the capture 
 of the whole of Nova Scotia, which before this 
 had been taken by the Massachusetts soldiers 
 under Colonel Monckton, another brave officer." 
 
 " And what was the other, sir ?" 
 
 " It was this : these disappointments caused 
 the English colonists to make greater exertions 
 than ever ; and some of them proved that they 
 were very patriotic — that is, that they loved 
 their country. Among these, I am proud to 
 have it in my power to say, that our own state. 
 New- York, was always ready to offer her as- 
 sistance ; and she gave away large sums of 
 money to carry on this war with the French. 
 She also gave money to some of her sister colo- 
 nies, to enable them to keep of! the Indians, 
 who were constantly attacking them. 
 
 " So General Shirley returned to Albany after 
 his disappointment, and there received a com- 
 mission, appointing him the chief commander 
 of all the forces in North America. A meeting 
 was soon called, that all the English governors 
 might hold a council of war." 
 
NEW-YORK. 91 
 
 You mean, 1 suppose, sir, that they might 
 determine what was to be done." 
 
 " Yes. The governors of Connecticut, New- 
 York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland met, and 
 they said that the cause of the failure in their 
 former plans, was the want of a sufficient num- 
 ber of forces. So they still continued to think 
 of conquering Canada ; and talked about making 
 attacks upon the same places. They resolved, 
 however, to have more men this time. They 
 thought that they could raise ten thousand to 
 go against Crown Point ; six thousand against 
 Niagara and Fort Frontenac ; and three thou- 
 sand against Fort du Quesne." 
 
 " That was a large number of soldiers, 
 Uncle Philip ; and I hope that we shall hear 
 better news about them in this second under- 
 taking ; for I think that the French plan for 
 joining their settlements at the expense of the 
 English, was very unjust. And I am anxious 
 to learn that they were defeated. 
 
 " You will hear something more about it 
 in the morning ; and now, children, I bid you 
 good evening." 
 
92 HISTORY OF 
 
 CONVERSATION XVIII. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children more of the War between the 
 French and English — Talks of Lord Loudoun and his 
 Failures — Talks to them about Generals Abercrombie and 
 Amherst, and their Expeditions— Gives an Account of the 
 Battle of Quebec,where General Wolfe and General Montcalm 
 both died. 
 
 " As we wish to keep every thing distinctly 
 in memory, my young companions, the first 
 thing that I have to do now, is to tell you 
 that a new governor of New-York arrived in 
 the year 1755." 
 
 " And who was he, sir ?" 
 
 " Sir Charles Hardy was the man. The 
 legislature met soon after his arrival, and 
 seemed very anxious to assist in these under- 
 takings against the French ; and so we will 
 now look into this second plan of the war." 
 
 "Very good, sir; and we are all ready to 
 hear." 
 
 " The command of the expedition against 
 Crown Point was this time given to Major- 
 general Winslow, as he was called, and he 
 was well known to be a brave man. He as- 
 
NEW-YORK. 93 
 
 sembled his men in the neighbourhood of Lake 
 George, and found that he had only seveo 
 thousand ; and he did not think this number 
 sufficient." 
 
 " No, Uncle Philip ; for ten thousand, you said, 
 was the number to go against Crown Point." 
 
 " But, fortunately, General Abercrombie 
 joined him, with a large body of English 
 troops ; and now his army was large enough, 
 but still he was not ready to go on." 
 
 " Why, what was the matter now, sir ?" 
 
 " Do you remember my telling you, when I 
 talked of Virginia, that Washington at one 
 time resigned his command as an officer ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, sir ; and the cause of his doing 
 this was, that the English officers were placed 
 above the American officers."* 
 
 " You are right ; and this same difficulty oc- 
 curred in New-York. The Earl of Loudoun 
 (of whom we have talked before) had been 
 sent out to this country as commander-in-chief 
 of all the soldiers in North America." 
 
 " I thought Mr. Shirley was commander-in- 
 chief, sir ?" 
 
 " So he was, until Lord Loudoun arrived. 
 
 * See Conversations on Virginia, 
 
94 HISTORY OF 
 
 When he came, this dispute about American 
 and English officers again began ; and while 
 they were settling this, I will tell you what 
 was done. One thing I know ; it would have 
 been much better for them if they had never 
 had such a dispute. And, as I said, I must 
 tell you what happened while this dispute was 
 going on. Did you ever hear of the Marquis 
 de Montcalm?" 
 
 < No, sir. Who was he, Uncle Philip V* 
 " He was the French general who succeeded 
 Baron Dieskau, and commanded the troops of 
 Canada after him. And he was one of the 
 bravest Frenchmen of whom I ever heard. 
 
 "While the English were ignorant as to 
 what they should do, he left Fort Frontenac 
 with an army of five thousand men, to make an 
 attack upon Oswego. He crossed over the 
 lake, I believe. He then placed his large 
 ships before the place, so as to block it up by 
 water, and fixed a very strong body of men 
 between Oswego and Albany, so as to prevent 
 their receiving any assistance from New-York. 
 He then brought up his cannon, and com- 
 menced firing upon the place. In a little time 
 General Mercer, who was stationed there, as 
 you know, received a wound from a cannon-ball 
 
NEW-YORK. 95 
 
 which cost him his life. After this the fort 
 surrendered, but upon certain conditions. The 
 prisoners were to be treated kindly, and carried 
 to Montreal." 
 
 " These terms were very good on the part 
 of the English, were they not, sir.?" 
 
 " Very good, if they had been kept. It is 
 said that the French violated these terms, and 
 many of the British officers and soldiers were 
 insulted and murdered by the Indians. I have 
 read, in one old book, that many who were 
 sick were cruelly scalped in what was called 
 the hospital ; that is, a place where the sick 
 are put to be nursed." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, that was base." 
 
 " The worst part of all this was the story 
 which was told about General Montcalm. 
 Some people say that he really delivered up 
 about twenty of the prisoners to the English, 
 for them to do with as they pleased." 
 
 " And that was worse than murdering, sir ?" 
 
 " If true, it was ; because he must have 
 known that the Indians would not only kill 
 those men, but kill them in their most cruel 
 way. But I hope, children, that this story is 
 not true ; and I must do the French general 
 justice, by telling you that many people deny it 
 
96 HISTORY OF 
 
 altogether. At any rate, after the surrender, 
 he destroyed the forts at Oswego, took all the 
 ammunition there, and captured about fifteen 
 hurdred prisoners. After this, he told the 
 savages that the English had built these forts 
 there only to frighten them, and to keep them in 
 cubnrssion; and then he, with his army, re- 
 turned to Fort Frontenac. And thus ended the 
 trading at Oswego." 
 
 " And what was done by the English when 
 they heard of all this, sir ?" 
 
 " Lord Loudoun became alarmed, and thought 
 that instead of making attacks upon their ene- 
 mies, they had best make ready to protect them- 
 selves at home. So General Winslow was 
 ordered not to go on against Crown Point, but 
 only to make preparations to prevent the French 
 from entering into New- York by the way of 
 Lake Champlain. Many posts in different 
 parts of the state were made strong, particu- 
 larly Fort Edward and Fort William Henry." 
 
 "Where was Fort William Henry, sir?" 
 
 " On the southern shore of Lake George. 
 And this, my children, was all that was done ; 
 and so ended the second attempt made bv the 
 English to subdue Canada." 
 
 " But how about those oilier expeditions ?" 
 
NEW-YORK. 97 
 
 " The one against Fort Frontenac had not 
 been commenced ; and as for that against Fort 
 du Quesne, there was not a single preparation 
 made toward it." 
 
 "Well, Uncle Philip, that was shameful. 
 What could have been the cause of all this ?" 
 
 I think the cause was what I have already- 
 stated. The English colonies were not all 
 joined together, like the French. But Lord 
 Loudoun, boys, had a very different opinion 
 from Uncle Philip. He called, immediately, 
 another council of war, to be held in the city of 
 Boston, and invited the governors of New-Eng- 
 land and Nova Scotia to meet him there. At 
 this meeting he said that these failures were 
 owing altogether to the colonies. He stated 
 that there was not a sufficient number of colo- 
 nial soldiers ; and that such as were in the coun- 
 try were not good soldiers." 
 
 " But how could he say so, sir ? I am sure 
 the soldiers of the colony fought well when 
 Baron Dieskau was taken prisoner." 
 
 " Indeed they did. The fact is, I think, that 
 Lord Loudoun wished to throw the blame of 
 these failures somewhere, and he did not know 
 where he could throw it except upon these sol- 
 diers. I wish that he had been half as brave 
 
98 H1ST0RV OF 
 
 or half as useful as some of these very men 
 whom he abused." 
 
 " I hope, sir, that he did something more than 
 abusing these men. If that was all he did, I see 
 no necessity for the meeting." 
 
 " Oh yes. He recommended that troops 
 should be raised in New-England, New- York, 
 and New-Jersey, for another campaign. This 
 council met in the winter time ; and, notwith- 
 standing all his abuse, when spring opened, a 
 large number of soldiers were collected for him. 
 All of them were anxious also to go on with this 
 war. And now look upon the map, and tell 
 me if you see Halifax ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir, I see it. There it is, in Nova 
 Scotia." 
 
 " Right, Mary ; and you will bear in mind, 
 that at this very time of which we are speak- 
 ing, Admiral Holbourn arrived at this very 
 place with a squadron from England. He had 
 on board five thousand men, under the com- 
 mand of George Viscount Howe, as he was 
 most commonly called." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, the soldiers of the 
 colonies had all these to aid them ?" 
 
 " Yes ; and Lord Loudoun, as soon as he 
 heard of this arrival, sailed from New-York 
 
NEW-YORK. 99 
 
 with six thousand men, to join the troops in 
 Halifax, And now, my young friends, before 
 I go on, I wish to tell you something about a 
 man named Parker." 
 
 " What is it, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " This Colonel Parker was one of the Eng- 
 lishmen were was fighting against the French. 
 So he started, with some of his men, in whale- 
 boats, to attack the French guard at Ticonder- 
 oga. He landed at night on an island near 
 them, and sent, before day, three boats to the 
 mainland. These boats the French took ; and 
 what was still more unfortunate, they learned 
 all the colonel's plans. So they hid three hun- 
 dred men behind the point where the colonel 
 intended to land, and placed their boats where 
 he was to meet them. The colonel mistook 
 these for his own boats, and made a hasty 
 landing, expecting soon to surprise the guard. 
 But he was very much surprised when he 
 soon found himself surrounded by the enemy, 
 ana most of his men cut to pieces ? 
 
 '* This misfortune of Colonel Parker gave 
 General Montcalm very great pleasure ; and he 
 had heard, also, that Lord Loudoun had carried 
 six thousand men from New-York : so he de* 
 
100 HISTORY OF 
 
 termined, in his absence, to make an attack 
 upon Fort William Henry." 
 
 " Ah, Uncle Philip, General Montcalm must 
 have been a great soldier. How he watched 
 his advantages ! Who was at Fort William 
 Henry to protect it, sir ?" 
 
 " Colonel Monroe, a very brave officer, was 
 there, with three thousand men ; and Montcalm 
 came down against them with nine thousand 
 soldiers ; and on the very day that he came 
 before the place, he demanded that they should 
 surrender. But Colonel Monroe refused, and 
 the French then commenced firing upon them, 
 and this firing lasted for six days ; then Monroe 
 surrendered, for his ammunition was exhausted, 
 and he could fight no longer. During the 
 whole of this fighting, General Webb, who was 
 stationed at Fort Edward, not more than fifteen 
 miles distant, sent not even one man to assist 
 poor Monroe." 
 
 "And was he able to send his men, sir? 
 Did nothing prevent him from sending some of 
 them?" 
 
 " Able ! Surely he was." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, was not his conduct 
 base ?" 
 
NEW-YORK. 101 
 
 " Indeed it was ; and what made it worse 
 was this: it was said, that Sir William John- 
 son, who was there with him, begged that he 
 might go with some of the men to Colonel 
 Monroe. After some time, he consented that 
 Johnson should take as many as were willing 
 to go. The drums were then beaten to call the 
 soldiers together, and almost every man was 
 anxious to march to Fort William Henry. 
 After these men had been ready with their 
 arms nearly all day, Johnson came to them, 
 and told them that General Webb had said 
 that they should not march." 
 
 "Why, Uncle Philip, pray what kind of a 
 man was this General Webb ?" 
 
 " I cannot say, my lad ; but one thing I 
 know : these soldiers were some very sad, and 
 others very angry, when they received his or- 
 der; and as for poor Johnson, I have heard 
 that he went to his tent and shed tears ; for 
 Sir William was thinking of the sufferings of 
 Monroe and his poor men." 
 
 " I hope, sir, that the French treated these 
 men kindly after their surrender ?" 
 
 " They promised to do so, but did not ; for 
 as some of the prisoners were marching out of 
 the gate of the fort, the Indians dragged them 
 
102 HISTORY OF 
 
 aside, robbed them of all that they had, and 
 then murdered them. The fact is, children, 
 this was a dreadful slaughter. I have read 
 the account given by a man who was there 
 shortly after the battle, and his story is a hor- 
 rible one. 
 
 " He says that he arrived upon the shores of 
 Lake George just as the French were moving 
 off. He saw that the fort was destroyed, the 
 buildings and houses were all in ruins, the 
 cannons, and boats, and vessels were all car- 
 ried away. The fire was still burning, and the 
 smoke still rising. The ground was covered 
 with fragments of sculls and bones ; and car- 
 casses half burnt were still broiling in the flames. 
 He saw more than one hundred women lying 
 on the ground dead. They had been stabbed, 
 and their bodies cut open, and they were welt- 
 ering in their blood. The throats of some 
 were cut — others had their brains knocked out 
 — and the heads of others were split open. In- 
 deed, this man says that he had never before 
 seen any thing half so awful." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, that account makes my blood 
 run cold. It is dreadful, sir !" 
 
 "And this was the work of the Indians, 
 Uncle Philip." 
 
NEW-YORK. 1 03 
 
 " Yes, this was the end of savage butchery." 
 
 "Well, sir, I think that Montcalm did not 
 behave well." 
 
 " No, indeed. He acted very improperly ; 
 and this is one of the greatest stains upon his 
 character. And this was the end of a third 
 campaign against Canada." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, the English were in- 
 deed unfortunate. It seems to me that they 
 were now worse off than ever." 
 
 " Oh yes ; for by taking Oswego the French 
 had obtained complete possession of Lake Onta- 
 rio ; and by the capture of Fort William Henry 
 they were now masters of Lake George. You 
 know they also had Fort du Quesne ; and that 
 gave them command of the Ohio. And I think 
 that the English would have fared much worse, 
 had it not so happened that a very great man 
 was at this time placed in office in England. 
 This man was Mr. Pitt." 
 
 " Ah, we have heard of him before, sir. He 
 was a great friend to the Americans."* 
 
 " Yes, and he became very popular in the 
 colonies ; for he promised that soldiers should 
 be sent over from England to help them, and 
 
 * Conversations on Virginia. 
 
104 HISTORY OF 
 
 advised that the colonies should raise as many 
 men as they could ; and said that he would 
 supply all these men with arms, ammunition, 
 boats, and any other thing which should be 
 necessary. And this, I assure you, encour 
 aged the colonies very much. They imme 
 diately commenced raising forces. Massachu 
 setts promised to give seven thousand men,, 
 and Connecticut agreed to give five thousand 
 more ; New-Hampshire was to raise three thou- 
 sand, and New-York nearly three thousand. 
 You see, then, how they were getting on." 
 
 " Yes, yes, sir ; and did Mr. Pitt keep his 
 promise ?" 
 
 " Yes, my lad ; for Mr. Pitt was a man who 
 always kept his word. An English fleet soon 
 arrived at Halifax, with twelve thousand men 
 on board, under their commander, General 
 Amherst. And now these men, with the colo- 
 nial troops, made quite a large army. As 
 many, it is said, as fifty thousand men." 
 
 " Lord Loudoun had soldiers enough now, sir." 
 
 "But Lord Loudoun, children, had returned 
 home after his two failures. General Abercrom- 
 bie was now commander-in-chief of the army. 
 Of course, the first thing to be done was to form 
 some regular plan, before these soldiers could 
 
NEW-YORK. 105 
 
 be useful. So he determined upon one some- 
 thing like the others. Three attacks were 
 lo be made. One against Lewisburg, another 
 against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and 
 the third against Fort du Quesne." 
 
 " I hope, at any rate, Uncle Philip, that this 
 plan was not like the others in failing." 
 
 "Wait a moment. General Amherst started 
 at once for Halifax, where some other soldiers 
 joined him, and then sailed for Lewisburg. He 
 immediately commenced his attack, and that 
 place was soon surrendered. 
 
 " General Abercrombie started with an army 
 of seventeen thousand men, and got as far as the 
 shores of Lake George. Here he placed them on 
 board more than nine hundred boats, and they 
 sailed to the upper end of the lake, and appeared 
 before Ticonderoga. He immediately com- 
 menced an attack, but met with great resist- 
 ance ; and in about four hours he was forced 
 to move off. In that short time, boys, he had 
 lost more than two thousand of his men. 
 After this he went back to the head of Lake 
 George. He was determined, however, that 
 he would not be defeated altogether; so he 
 sent a man, named Colonel Bradstreet, with 
 
 three thousand men, to attack Fort Frontenac. 
 II. — I 
 
106 history 
 
 He thought that if this were successful, it 
 would wipe off, in part, the disgrace of his 
 misfortune. And it succeeded well ; for there 
 were only one hundred and ten men at that 
 place, and they surrendered immediately. 
 
 " And now we will talk once more of an attack 
 upon Fort du Quesne. General Forbes started 
 from Philadelphia, and was joined by Colonel 
 George Washington, with some Virginia sol- 
 diers ; and as they marched on toward the 
 fort, the Frenchmen (who had heard that they 
 were coming) dropped down the Ohio river in 
 boats and made their escape. You know they 
 were very few in number, because some of 
 their Indian friends had deserted them ; and 
 they were unwilling to fight." 
 
 " Oh yes, sir, and I remember that George 
 Washington was the first man who jumped into 
 the fort and planted the English colours. And 
 you said, too, that the English then changed the 
 name to Pittsburgh, in honour of Mr. Pitt."* 
 
 " True ; so I'did. You remember well." 
 •" Ah, Uncle Philip, I could never forget that. 
 I shall never hear of Fort du Quesne without 
 thinking of the bones of poor Braddock's sol- 
 
 * Conversations on Virginia. 
 
NEW- YORK. 107 
 
 diers, which were gathered together by Wash- 
 ington's lxien, and buried. And I always feel 
 sad when I think of General Braddock." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, every part of this plan 
 succeeded except the expedition under General 
 Abercrombie." 
 
 " Yes ; and the English were all delighted by 
 this success, and anxious to carry on the war. 
 So General Amherst was now made com- 
 mander-in-chief instead of Abercrombie. In 
 Europe, the British ships prevented any 
 French vessels from coming to America to aid 
 the Canadians, and this gave the colonists still 
 greater advantages. 
 
 " And then, boys, at a place called Easton, in 
 Pennsylvania, some of the colonists met a great 
 number of Indians, and there made a treaty 
 with them. It is said that five hundred Indians 
 were present, and among these many Indian sa- 
 chems. The white men gave them many 
 presents as usual, and obtained from them 
 promises not to aid the French. After this 
 treaty, being still more encouraged, they deter- 
 mined upon another attempt upon Canada." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, the English were very reso- 
 lute and steady in their attacks upon Canada. 
 This was the fifth, was it not ?" 
 
108 HISTORY OF 
 
 " Yes ; and this was to be a spirited attack, 
 I assure you. I know, too, that you will be 
 pleased when you hear all about it ; for the 
 party which was successful was the one which 
 you like, Thomas." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, the English party 
 must have conquered." 
 
 "We will see. General Amherst started 
 immediately for Ticonderoga with an army of 
 twelve thousand men. As soon as he appeared 
 before the place, the French deserted it ; so it 
 fell easily into his possession." 
 
 " That was rapid work, sir." 
 
 " I have better news still. These French- 
 men who deserted, went to Crown Point, and 
 soon after left that place. So he sent some of 
 his men there, and took this place also." 
 
 " It seems to me, sir, that General Amherst 
 always did his part well. He never failed." 
 
 " He was a brave and resolute man, but 
 others sometimes did well also. A man named 
 General Prideaux, marched against Niagara, 
 and the French fort there was also surrendered, 
 although it cost the poor fellow his life. He 
 had Sir William Johnson there to help him ; 
 and Sir William fought bravely here, as you 
 know he always did elsewhere. Indeed, Pri- 
 
NEW-YORK. 109 
 
 aeaux was killed in the early part of the battle ; 
 and then Sir William took the command of his 
 forces, and it was owing to him, I think, that 
 Niagara was surrendered." 
 
 "Ah, Uncle Philip, I am pleased with him. He 
 was the man who wept for Monroe's soldiers." 
 
 " Well, 1 will tell you of another man that 
 you will like quite as well, for he was fully as 
 brave. I mean General Wolfe." 
 
 " O, I have heard of him, sir : he was the 
 brave English officer who died at Quebec." 
 
 " True ; perhaps I have mentioned him be- 
 fore. But now I am about to talk to you of 
 the battle in which he died. He sailed from 
 Lewisburg to Quebec, with an army of eight 
 thousand men, and landed them on Orleans, an 
 island in the St. Lawrence. If you will look 
 on the map, you will see this island just below 
 the city. Quebec was a very strongly fortified 
 place, and there was a numerous army of French 
 soldiers there, commanded by a very bold 
 French general. This was General Montcalm." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, I am glad that these two 
 men met ; for they were both great men." 
 
 " Indeed they were. After remaining at Or- 
 leans for a short time, General Wolfe attempted 
 to land with some of his men in the upper part 
 
110 HISTORY OF 
 
 of the city; but Montcalm watched him so 
 closely that he was unable to do this. He 
 then went back to the island, and there formed 
 another plan. He sent some of his men to a 
 place called Point Levi, on the southern shore 
 of the St. Lawrence, and immediately opposite 
 to Quebec. His men erected a battery at this 
 point, and commenced firing upon the city. 
 But this did very little injury. It only destroyed 
 a few houses, and the English, being disap- 
 pointed, left the spot. And I have heard, boys, 
 that after this, Wolfe was sick ; and that on his 
 sick bed he thought of the very bold plan of 
 which I am now about to speak. 
 
 " Quebec, I said, was strongly guarded. It 
 stands, you will see, upon the north shore of the 
 river, and a high ridge of rocks is just back of it 
 upon the shore. This side of the city, therefore, 
 was supposed to be protected without any sol- 
 diers ; for Montcalm thought that no one could 
 enter the city by climbing up such a rough and 
 steep height. To make himself perfectly se- 
 cure however, he had sent a Frenchman, named 
 Bougainville, with fifteen hundred mem, above 
 the city, to watch the English there, and pre- 
 vent them from landing. Would you not have 
 suppo c sd, now, that every thing was safe ?" 
 
u 
 
NEW- YORK. 113 
 
 " It seems so, sir." 
 
 " Montcalm thought so also, but Wolfe deter- 
 mined to try his plan. So at midnight, he, with 
 his troops, got into boats and silently dropped 
 down the river, expecting to land at a place some 
 distance above Quebec, and then march into 
 the city. But the current of the river was run- 
 ning strong against him, and he reached a spot 
 only a mile above the city. And now he had 
 to move in silence down the rapid stream, in 
 the darkness of midnight, and upon a rough 
 shore ; and yet, children, he was not discour- 
 aged. He moved on as quietly as possible, 
 but still the French sentinels which Bougain- 
 ville had placed along the shore, heard him." 
 
 " And did they speak to him, sir ?" 
 
 " Yes, certainly. They were placed there for 
 the purpose of hailing any person who might 
 pass them. That, you know, is a sentinel's 
 duty. One of these sentinels cried out to him 
 in the French language." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip, but you will tell us the 
 meaning of what he said. Give it to us in 
 English, if you please." 
 
 " He cried out, ' who goes there V There was 
 a man among Wolfe's soldiers who understood 
 the French language ; and he answered, ' the 
 
114 history: of 
 
 French.'' The sentinel then asked, ' to what 
 regiment do you belong?' The Englishman 
 answered, ' the Queen's ;' for he happened to 
 know that one of Bougainville's regiments was 
 called the Queen's regiment. The sentinel then 
 told them ' to pass ;' for he supposed that it 
 was a supply of provisions coming down the 
 river for the French. 
 
 " But one of the Frenchmen, who was a little 
 suspicious, ran down to the shore and cried out, 
 ' why do you not speak louder?' Then the 
 Englishman again replied, ' hush, we shall be 
 overheard and discovered' " 
 
 " How fortunate it was, Uncle Philip, that 
 the Englishman understood French. And was 
 that last Frenchman satisfied, sir ?" 
 
 " Yes, and the boats passed on ; the army- 
 landed, and about one hour before day the men 
 began to climb up the shore. They clambered 
 up these heights, children, until they reached 
 the top, which is said to be near two hundred 
 feet from the water. Just about daylight, 
 Wolfe drew his men up in order upon the top 
 of the heights, which was called the Plains of 
 Abraham, and was then ready for battle." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, that was a great action. 
 How Montcalm must have been surprised !" 
 
NEW-YORK. 115 
 
 " Yes ; for he supposed that no man could 
 climb that shore. That was indeed a steep 
 height ; and it was wonderful, truly, that Wolfe 
 should have attempted to climb it. But per- 
 severance and resolution can do almost any 
 thing. Montcalm, as you say, was much sur 
 prised — and that shows what an undertaking 
 it was ; for Montcalm himself was a great sol- 
 dier, and would have attempted any thing. Ah, 
 boys, Wolfe's name and the Heights of Abra- 
 ham will ever be remembered together. As 
 soon as Montcalm heard that the English had 
 done this, he came forward with his army to 
 meet them. The battle commenced between 
 nine and ten o'clock; the two armies were 
 nearly equal in numbers, and they fought des- 
 perately. General Montcalm was on the left 
 side of the French army, while Wolfe was on 
 the right of the English; and so these two 
 brave men met face to face." 
 
 " How they must have felt when they saw 
 each other, Uncle Philip !" 
 
 "Yes, yes; they felt like soldiers, and also 
 fought like soldiers. Wolfe received a shot in 
 his arm, but he would not leave the field ; he 
 wrapped his handkerchief around it, and con- 
 tinued to urge his men onward. Soon after, 
 
116 HISTORY Of 
 
 he received another ball, and this wound was 
 much more severe than the first. Still he con- 
 cealed it, and was dashing on at the head of 
 his men, when a third bullet struck him in the 
 breast. And now this brave man was at length 
 carried off the field by some of his men ; but he 
 was even unwilling to go then, and begged to 
 remain, that he might do his duty." 
 
 "Why, Uncle Philip, the poor fellow was 
 disabled, and he could never have fought if he 
 had remained there." 
 
 " But, my young friends, you must remem- 
 ber one thing — A brave soldier always thinks 
 he can fight. While life lasts, he thinks that 
 his powers are not gone. I have heard of 
 soldiers who have fallen wounded in battle, 
 and fought as they were prostrate upon the 
 ground." 
 
 " Oh yes, Uncle Philip, and so have I ; for 
 I have heard William Woods say, that his 
 father, who fought in our revolutionary war 
 against the British, was in the battle at German- 
 town ; and he was wounded there and fell to the 
 ground ; and a British soldier, thinking he was 
 dead, came to him to take his gun from him, 
 when old Mr. Woods shot him dead upon the 
 spot." 
 
NEW-YORK. 117 
 
 " Yes, yes, my lad, that is all true ; for I 
 know old Mr. Woods well, and I have heard 
 him tell that story often : and, indeed, I have 
 seen the gun with which he shot the English- 
 man ; for the old man thought a great deal of 
 that gun, and used to show it to every person 
 who visited him. But let us now hurry on 
 with our subject. 
 
 " General Monckton supplied Wolfe's place as 
 commander of the English, and led them on ; 
 but he also was badly wounded almost imme- 
 diately, and his men carried him away. Then 
 General Townshend, another brave Englishman, 
 took the command ; and he, too, rushed on with 
 the men." 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Philip, where was General 
 Montcalm ?" 
 
 " In the midst of the battle, in front of his 
 own soldiers. He, poor fellow, received a 
 wound also, and was moved from the field. 
 Ah, my children, this battle was bloody work. 
 Poor Wolfe, you know, died before the battle 
 \vas finished." 
 
 " Yes, yes, Uncle Philip ; and I remember, 
 when he was dying, he heard some one cry out, 
 ' they run, they run.'' And he opened his eyes 
 and asked, ' who runs ?' And when they told 
 
118 HISTORY OF 
 
 him it was the French army, lie fell back and 
 said that he died contented." 
 
 i£ Yes, poor fellow ; he was at that instant 
 leaning upon the shoulder of one of his lieu- 
 tenants, who was kneeling to support him. He 
 died like a soldier. And Montcalm, also, heard 
 fhat same cry, ' they run? And when they told 
 him that it was the French army running, he 
 rejoiced that he was dying, and cried out, ' It 
 is so much the better ; I shall not then live to 
 see the surrender of Quebec? Ah, my young 
 friends, these were two as brave soldiers, I 
 think, as ever met in battle. And we must not 
 forget that their armies were also brave, and 
 fought furiously, for six hundred Englishmen 
 fell on that day. 
 
 " Uncle Philip, where was that Frenchman, 
 Bougainville, all this time ?" 
 
 "When he heard that the English had 
 climbed up the heights of Abraham, he started 
 at once, with all his men, to aid Montcalm ; 
 but, upon coming near, he retired, and did not 
 join in the battle. And then, my children, 
 Quebec was surrendered by the French to 
 General Townshend." 
 
NEW-YORK. 119 
 
 CONVERSATION XIX. 
 
 I facie Philip talks about the Surrender of Canada to the Eng 
 lish — Speaks of the Disputes between New-York and New - 
 Hampshire, about Boundary Lines — Passage of the Stamp 
 Act in England — The dissatisfaction it produces in America 
 — How it is received in New- York — First Colonial Congress 
 held in New-York city — Talks of the English Governors, 
 Moore, Colden, Dunmore, and Tryon — Congress of 1774 held 
 in Philadelphia— Speaks of the Battle of Lexington. 
 
 " Good morning, Uncle Philip. Will you 
 tell me who was governor of Canada while 
 those battles, which you spoke of yesterday, 
 were going on 1 I was wondering, last night, 
 why I had heard nothing about him, and was 
 thinking that he must have been of very little 
 service to the people in Canada, or I should 
 have heard of him." 
 
 " There you was wrong. The Marquis de 
 Vaudreuil were the governor, and he was not a 
 useless man. During a part of his time, he 
 was very actively employed." 
 
 " And, sir, that reminds me to ask who was 
 the English governor when that battle was 
 
120 HISTORY OF 
 
 fought at Quebec ? In talking about this war, 
 I had forgotten him also." 
 
 " I think I have told you that Mr. Delancey 
 was lieutenant-governor again, after Sir Charles 
 Hardy left the country. And after Mr. De- 
 lancey's death, Mr. Golden ruled the colony : so 
 he was the governor at that time." 
 
 " And did the French governor make no at- 
 tempt to take Quebec back again from the 
 English ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, one of his generals did. M. de 
 Levi made an attempt. Did I say any thing 
 to you, yesterday, about General Murray ?" 
 
 " No, sir. What have you to tell us about 
 him?" 
 
 " Nothing, except that he was the man who 
 was left with five thousand men at Quebec, by 
 General Townshend; and he, of course, had 
 to meet the French. M. de Levi, with a con- 
 siderable army, came toward Quebec to 
 make an attack. And how many men, do you 
 suppose, were there to meet him ?" 
 
 " You said that Murray had five thousand, 
 sir." 
 
 " True ; but sickness and severe weather 
 together had brought this number down to three 
 thousand. So Murray thought that it would 
 
NEW-YORK. 121 
 
 be best not to wait for the French to attack him, 
 but for him to go out and meet them. And he 
 did go out from the city, and met them, and 
 fought bravely ; but was forced to retreat in 
 a short time, for he lost nearly one thousand 
 men. The French general immediately per- 
 ceived his advantage, and followed him on 
 closely to the city, determined to make the 
 most of his victory. He caused his men to 
 dig trenches before the town that same even- 
 ing, that he might fix his cannons, and fire 
 upon the city. But, fortunately for General 
 Murray, the cannons were so heavy, that they 
 did not arrive in twelve days ; so the French- 
 men, although prepared in other particulars to 
 take the city, had no cannons." 
 
 " That was very fortunate, sir." 
 
 " Indeed it was ; for this delay gave General 
 Murray time to open his batteries from the city ; 
 and he commenced a heavy fire upon these 
 Frenchmen, but still they were not to be driven 
 back easily. Fortunately, however, an English 
 fleet arrived just at this time, and the French- 
 men then became frightened, and hurried to 
 Montreal." 
 
 " I wonder, sir, that the English did not 
 think of attacking Montreal." 
 II — K 
 
122 HISTORY OF 
 
 " They did think of it now, for this was al- 
 most the only place left to the French in Can 
 ada. The Marquis de Vaudreuil was there, 
 and he had gathered around him all the strength 
 of the French, by calling in all the soldiers to 
 protect that spot. General Amherst, however, 
 was resolved to take it, if possible ; so he 
 started with ten thousand men against it. Be- 
 sides this, he ordered General Murray to meet 
 him there with his English army ; and a man 
 called Colonel Haviland, to join him with an- 
 other body of soldiers. On the very day when 
 Amherst drew up his men on a plain before Mon- 
 treal, some vessels were seen below the town 
 coming up. These vessels brought Murray 
 with his men. Haviland arrived almost imme- 
 diately after; so Montreal, my lads, was soon 
 surrounded by a large number of English sol- 
 diers. And then the French governor offered 
 to surrender ; for, you know, it was useless for 
 him to endeavour to fight against such a force." 
 " And so Montreal was surrendered, also ?" 
 " Yes ; and this, as well as all the other 
 places in Canada, now became the property of 
 the English. And a treaty of peace between 
 France and England was signed at Paris, in 
 the year 1762. And, my young friends, there 
 
NEW-YORK. 123 
 
 was great joy, I assure you, when this war was 
 ended. The people in England were pleased 
 that it was finished, for war was no pleasant 
 thing to any nation : and, besides this, they felt 
 proud of having gained so many battles over 
 the French. And, perhaps, my lads, they had 
 a right to feel proud of their success, for the 
 English soldiers had fought bravely; as Eng- 
 lish soldiers, indeed, always do. And France, 
 too, had been so very ambitious, and had la- 
 boured so hard to drive the English out of 
 America ; and when that could not be done, an 
 attempt was made, you know, to keep them 
 down upon the coast, and not allow them to 
 extend their possessions ? But, if the people 
 in England rejoiced, I am quite sure that those 
 in America rejoiced more, for this French war 
 had been a bloody war to them ; for old men, 
 women, and young children — indeed, people 
 of all ages, had been murdered in this country 
 by the Indians who aided the French. I wil] 
 talk more fully to you of some of these mur- 
 ders at another time, that you may understand 
 the sufferings of some of the people. It is 
 difficult to read the stories about some little 
 children who suffered in this war without shed- 
 ding tears. 
 
124 HISTORY OF 
 
 " And I should have told you another cause 
 of rejoicing with the English. It was, that 
 this treaty, which they had made with France, 
 was so favourable to their nation ; for, by this 
 treaty, the French gave up to the English all 
 the conquests which they had made upon the 
 continent of North America. The river Mis- 
 sissippi was to be the boundary line between 
 the possessions of France and Great Britain ; 
 and France gave up all the possessions upon 
 the east side of that river, except the island of 
 New-Orleans. Was not that a fine treaty on 
 the part of the English nation ?" 
 
 " I think it was, indeed, sir ; for the English 
 obtained, it seems, the finest part of the coun- 
 try." 
 
 " Yes, that is true." 
 
 " And, I suppose, Uncle Philip, that the peo- 
 ple in New-York were more pleased than any 
 others, because the French in Canada were so 
 near and so dangerous to them." 
 
 " That is true, also. After this peace was 
 made with France, I do not remember that the 
 citizens of New- York had much trouble for 
 some years. No, my lads, I am wrong; for 
 about this time I recollect there was a very 
 warm dispute between the states of New- York 
 
NEW-YORK. 125 
 
 and New-Hampshire about their boundary lines. 
 I must tell you something of this now, though 
 I am afraid it will not interest you much. Still, 
 it is necessary that you should hear something 
 about it ; and, hereafter, when we talk of the 
 history of the state of New-Hampshire, we 
 shall learn all about this business." 
 
 " Go on — go on, Uncle Philip ; let us hear, 
 if you please." 
 
 "This dispute commenced in 1763 ; and the- 
 two states were quarrelling about the land be- 
 tween the Connecticut river and Lake Cham- 
 plain." 
 
 " Why, Uncle Philip, that must have be- 
 longed to neither of them, I think ; for the land 
 is in the state of Vermont." 
 
 "Yes; but Vermont was not then settled. 
 There was at that time no such state as Ver- 
 mont. You will remember, perhaps, that a 
 grant was made by King Charles the Second 
 to his brother, the Duke of York ; and in that 
 grant he gave him ' all the lands from the west 
 side of Connecticut river to the east side of 
 Delaware Bay V " 
 
 " Oh yes, sir ; I remember that well. New- 
 York city was named after that Duke of York." 
 
 "You are correct. Well, the citizens of 
 
126 HISTORY OF 
 
 New-York thought that this grant gave them a 
 title to the land. But the people of New-Hamp- 
 shire supposed that the land belonged to them : 
 and many of the citizens of that state had been 
 allowed to go beyond the Connecticut river, 
 and settle within twenty miles of the Hudson. 
 
 " But Mr. C olden, the lieutenant-governor of 
 New-York, determined to put a stop to this ; so 
 he published his proclamation, in which he laid 
 claim to all the land as far as the Connecticut 
 river, and endeavoured to frighten some of 
 those citizens who had settled near the Hud- 
 son. But the Governor of New-Hampshire 
 was resolved to support his men, also ; for he 
 published another proclamation, claiming the 
 land for the state of New-Hampshire : he told 
 his men, also, to cultivate their lands, and not 
 to be frightened by the threats of Mr. Colden." 
 
 " And what was done now, sir ? for I think, 
 Uncle Philip, that both these governors seem 
 to have taken a bold stand." 
 
 " Why, it was decided in England, that 
 New-Hampshire was wrong ; and the western 
 bank of the Connecticut river was pronounced 
 to be the boundary line : and then Mr. Colden, 
 of course, undertook to govern that part of the 
 country. But he met with very violent oppo- 
 
NEW-YORK. 127 
 
 sition from some of the people ; they joined 
 together in mobs, for the purpose of preventing 
 him from ruling them. And I wish you to re- 
 member that two men, one named Ethan Allen, 
 the other Seth Warner, were the most deter- 
 mined men in their opposition to the New- 
 York claims in this business. Indeed, these 
 were both distinguished men, and we may per- 
 haps often hear of them again. But they were so 
 very violent in this business, that the Governor 
 of New-York at length offered a reward to any 
 man who would take these two men, with six 
 others, whom he thought quite as bad as they 
 were. 
 
 " But now I must tell you of one circum- 
 stance which caused both the parties to be 
 more angry than before. There was a court- 
 house at a place called Westminster, in New- 
 Hampshire. The time had come for the court 
 to meet ; but some of the people who lived in 
 this town went to the courthouse very early, 
 and took possession of it, to prevent the judges 
 and other officers from coming in. 
 
 " So, when the judges came, they found that 
 they could not enter, and went away. But in 
 the night, some of the officers went to the 
 
128 HISTORY OF 
 
 courthouse armed, and demanded that the 
 door should be opened. The men who were 
 inside refused to let them in, and then some 
 of the officers fired upon them. One man was 
 killed, and several were wounded. 
 
 " This murder caused the people to be very- 
 angry ; and, on the next day, large crowds as- 
 sembled. They declared that the man was 
 murdered; some of the officers were seized, 
 and carried to jail. But these officers were 
 allowed by the chief justice of New-York 
 to come out of prison. And this, my lads, as 
 you may suppose, caused the citizens of New- 
 Hampshire to be still more dissatisfied. Many 
 of the people soon after met at Westminster, 
 and passed a very bold resolution there, I 
 assure you, about the government of New- 
 York. Wait one moment, and I will endeavour 
 to find it, and read it for you." 
 
 " Thank you, Uncle Philip." 
 
 " Here it is. — ' It is the duty of the inhab- 
 itants wholly to renounce and resist the ad- 
 ministration of the government of New-York, 
 until such time as their lives and property can 
 be secured by it ; or, until they can have oppor- 
 tunity to lay their grievances before the king 
 
NEW-YORK. 129 
 
 with a petition to be annexed to some other 
 government, or erected into a new one, as may 
 appear best for the inhabitants?" 
 
 " Uncle Philip, that sounds bold ; but I do 
 not exactly understand it. What is the mean- 
 ing of ' annexed to another government? 1 " 
 
 " It means, added or joined to another govern- 
 ment. Do you understand now ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, sir ; and I only wanted to know 
 the meaning of that one word — the rest is ail 
 plain to me." 
 
 " Well, my children, you see here how mat- 
 ters stood; and I believe that the troubles 
 would have been much greater between the 
 people of these states, had not something oc- 
 curred at this time which caused them to for- 
 get for a little time all their unkind feelings : 
 something, my children, which concerned them 
 more than this boundary line. I refer to the 
 battle at Lexington, of which you have heard 
 before. This was the commencement of a long 
 war ; and all Americans, like good citizens, forgot 
 their own troubles, to fight against England for 
 the good of the whole country. But, as I am 
 beginning to talk of the war, I must go back 
 a little, for I am travelling on too rapidly. You 
 
 all remember the Stamp Act which was passed 
 II.— L 
 
130 HISTORY OF 
 
 in England ; that it was the work of a man 
 named Lord Grenville, and that he introduced 
 the bill for this law into the English parliament? 
 And you all know, too, what the stamp act was ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, Uncle Philip ; and I remember it 
 was passed in the year 1765." 
 
 " Yes ; and you remember, perhaps, the dis- 
 satisfaction which it produced in the colonies ; 
 for you know a congress of many of the people 
 met in New-York during that same year, to talk 
 about this stamp act, and to determine upon what 
 was to be done. Men were sent to that congress 
 from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecti- 
 cut, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina; and 
 Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, was made 
 president of the meeting." 
 
 " I know all that, sir ; for this was the first 
 Colonial Congress. And this congress sent a 
 petition to the king and parliament, requesting 
 that the stamp act might be repealed ; and Mr. 
 Pitt made a speech in favour of the Americans, 
 and it was repealed."* 
 
 " Very good — very good, indeed. You have 
 listened to me heretofore, William, to some pur- 
 pose. But let me tell you, my children, how 
 
 * See Conversations on Virginia. 
 
NEW-YORK. 131 
 
 chis act was received in New- York. "When 
 this stamp act reached that place, the people 
 there called it nothing but ' the folly of Eng- 
 land and the ruin of America.'' And when 
 the stamp papers arrived, they were still more 
 angry. A man by the name of M'Euers, 
 was to have distributed the paper; but he 
 became alarmed, and refused to do so. Then 
 the lieutenant-governor, Mr. C olden, took them 
 into his possession to secure them." 
 
 " And this only caused them to hate him, I 
 suppose, sir ?" 
 
 " That was all. For on the first day of No 
 vember, when the stamp act was to begin to 
 zake effect, many of the people being offended 
 with Mr. Golden, met together, and went to the 
 walls of the fort. They then broke open the 
 -ieutenant-governor's stable, and took out his 
 coach ; and after dragging it through most of 
 .he streets of the city, they at length brought it 
 o a public place, where they had erected a 
 gallows. And upon this gallows they hung 
 Mr. C olden in effigy." 
 
 " Stay a moment, if you please, Uncle 
 Philip. What do you mean by hanging him 
 in effigy ?" 
 
 " Making a picture or an image like him, 
 
132 HISTORY OF 
 
 and hanging the picture up. They hung this 
 effigy, too, my lads, with a stamp bill in one 
 hand and a figure of the devil in the other." 
 
 " That meant, I suppose, that the stamp ac*; 
 was as bad as the devil." 
 
 " I suppose so. After this they took the 
 gallows and the image down, and went with 
 these, and the coach, to the gate of the fort. 
 From this spot they went to the Bowling Green ; 
 then made a large fire, and burned all these ar- 
 ticles before a great crowd of people. They 
 then went to the house of a man called Major 
 James, who was known to be friendly to the 
 stamp act ; seized all his furniture, and set fire 
 to the whole of it." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, do you think such conduct 
 was right ?" 
 
 " It was not exactly proper, children ; but I 
 think that the Americans were not so much to 
 be blamed as the English ; for if the stamp act 
 had never passed, I do not think we should have 
 then heard of this strange treatment towards Mr. 
 Colden. This act was unjustifiable ; and the 
 man, or the country, which begins a dispute, is 
 to be blamed for almost all that follows. Do 
 you understand me ?" 
 
 " I think I do, sir." 
 
NEW-YORK. 133 
 
 " I can make it plainer. Suppose that some 
 man was to try to defraud, or cheat you : and when 
 he found that he could not do that, because you 
 discovered his cunning, suppose he should en- 
 deavour to force you to submit to his fraud ; 
 what would you do then ?" 
 
 " Why, Uncle Philip, I should certainly 
 attempt to resist his force; but I would resist 
 him peaceably, if I could." 
 
 "That is all very right; but perhaps you 
 would be compelled to resist him violently : 
 then, if in resisting him he should be injured 
 very much, who should be blamed ?" 
 
 "Why, surely, the man who first gave rise 
 to the quarrel by trying to cheat me." 
 
 " Certainly, Thomas : and no person would 
 ever think of blaming you ; for you would have 
 injured the man only in self-defence ; nothing 
 more. But you will notice, I hope, boys, that I 
 do not mean to encourage fighting among men 
 or children. I think it is an unchristian and un- 
 gentlemanlike practice, except when a man is 
 driven to it from self-defence. Now, my young 
 friends, I think it was much in this way with 
 that stamp act : Americans were forced to resist 
 it, and I cannot say I blame them, although, 
 perhaps, they sometimes acted very violently* 
 
134 HISTORY OF 
 
 In settling what party is right or wrong in. 
 any matter, you must always inquire what party 
 has justice upon its side. That is the first ques- 
 tion to be settled. And this reminds me of a 
 short story which I read when I was quite a 
 boy, as some of you now are. 
 
 " Two men were once driving their wagons 
 upon the same road, though they were both 
 travelling different ways. The road upon 
 which they were moving, was, in some places, 
 quite narrow. Now, it so happened, that as 
 the night was dark, these two men met each 
 other suddenly upon the road, and neither could 
 pass until the other was pleased to make 
 room. One of the men was very strong; and 
 after commanding the other once or twice to 
 give way, he threatened to beat him if he did not 
 move out of the road. The other man answered 
 by telling him that it was necessary one of 
 them should give way, for neither of them could 
 |as« 'uitil something was clone ; but stated that 
 it was impossible for him to turn out without 
 throwing himself and his horses over a precipice 
 by the side of the road. This did not satisfy 
 the other man, so he commenced beating his 
 neighbour ; and at length the fight became very 
 severe, and the strong man came near being 
 
NEW-YORK. 135 
 
 killed. Now, afterward, when this quarrel 
 was brought before the judge, what do you 
 think he said ?" 
 
 " I cannot say, Uncle Philip ; but I suppose 
 he decided against the strong man, who was so 
 ready for fighting. I should like to know, sir, 
 what he did say." 
 
 " You are right ; he decided against the strong 
 man, because, he said, the other had justice on 
 his side ; for it was very unreasonable in one 
 man to ask another to break his neck for his 
 convenience. And, besides this, boys, he made a 
 law to prevent any farther difficulties of this sort ; 
 for you know laws are made for the sake of 
 keeping the peace. He made this law, there- 
 fore ; ' that when two parties meet upon a road, 
 each party should keep to the right, and then 
 both would know their places.' Justice, there- 
 fore, my children, is always the first thing to 
 be looked for in settling a difficulty : and I 
 think, when we look for the justice between 
 our own country and Great Britain in this 
 business, we can readily find out which party 
 was right, for that stamp act was unjust. But 
 now let us hurry on with our history ; for I fear 
 I am becoming tiresome to some of you. 
 
 " On the next morning after these fires, a 
 
136 HISTORY OF 
 
 paper was drawn up by some men who were in 
 favour of the stamp act, and read aloud to the 
 people, persuading them to put down such riots 
 and mobs in future. But great crowds of peo- 
 ple refused to do this, and said, that the work 
 of the day before, was not that of a mob, but of 
 men disposed to resist oppression, There was 
 one very bold man who spoke to the people — 
 his name was Captain Sears. — He said that the 
 paper had been read to prevent them from get- 
 ting possession of the stamped papers. And he 
 declared that those stamped papers should be 
 seized in less than twenty-four hours." 
 
 " Captain Sears is the man for me, Uncle 
 Philip. I like him." 
 
 " And the people who listened to him were 
 pleased with him also. In the evening, some of 
 these men again assembled, and demanded the 
 stamps from the lieutenant-governor. But he 
 said that he had nothing to do with the stamps, 
 but should leave it to Sir Henry Moore to do 
 with them as he pleased when he arrived. Now, 
 Sir Henry Moore was the new governor who 
 was coming over to rule the colony." 
 
 " And did this satisfy them, sir ?" 
 
 " No, no ; they attempted to take them by 
 force, but did not succeed ; for the paper was 
 
NEW-YORK. 137 
 
 carried to the City Hall and placed there. 
 But I will tell you what they did succeed in. 
 Some boxes of stamps which arrived some 
 time after this, were taken by the people and 
 burned. And now I must tell you another 
 fact, which will cause you to like Captain 
 Sears still more. 
 
 " In order that all the colonies might be able 
 to resist this law together, and understand each 
 other perfectly well, it would be necessary, 
 you know, that some plan should be formed to 
 send messages to each other." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip, that is all clear." 
 " Therefore, a number of men were to be 
 chosen in New-York who could be trusted with 
 the important duty of giving information to 
 the other colonies. They were to write letters 
 to different parts of the country, and let the citi- 
 zens throughout America know what the people 
 in New-York were doing about the approach- 
 ing war. Now this was a very dangerous 
 office to the men who should accept it, because, 
 you know, they would immediately be called 
 rebels, and, if taken by the English, punished 
 severely : yes, they would run the risk of losing 
 their lives. There was, therefore, great diffi- 
 
138 HISTORY OF 
 
 culty ill finding men willing to serve in this' 
 business." 
 
 " Why, Uncle Philip, where was all their 
 patriotism ? I should have thought some would 
 have been proud to serve. Where was Cap- 
 tain Sears, sir ? Was he afraid of serving his 
 country, because there was danger in aiding 
 her !» 
 
 " No, no, boys ; he was not alarmed ; and if 
 he had been, I think he would have served ; for 
 I will tell you what he frequently used to say to 
 cowardly men who were unwilling to face dan- 
 ger in the cause of their country. i If your 
 cause be good, be willing to die for it, rather 
 than fight against justice. If there be no dan- 
 ger, no trouble in doing your duty, then I do 
 not think you deserve praise for doing it.' Ah, 
 my young friends, that man, Sears, was a bold 
 man, and he knew the meaning of the word 
 patriotism. He, therefore, was willing to serve 
 as one of these men. So he was chosen with 
 four others, to write letters to the other colonies. 
 And the best part of his courage was this : 
 when all others, as I said, were frightened, 
 these five men offered themselves boldly and 
 willingly for this service ; and they then agreed 
 
NEW-YORK. 139 
 
 among themselves to sign their names to all 
 the letters which should be written. The citi- 
 zens of Philadelphia were requested to send 
 forward any letters which might be sent to 
 them from New-York for the people of the 
 southern- states ; and the good citizens of Bos- 
 ton promised to send to the different parts of 
 New-England all such letters as should be sent 
 from New-York for that part of the country. 
 
 " Not long after this, Sir Henry Moore, the 
 new governor, arrived. He did very little for 
 the relief of the people; but, as one of you 
 stated a little while ago, the stamp act was re- 
 pealed, and it was done shortly after he reached 
 the country." 
 
 " And I know, Uncle Philip, that the news 
 of that repeal caused great joy among Ameri- 
 cans." 
 
 "Yes, but their joy did not last long ; for 
 you will remember, that the law to tax glass, 
 tea, and some other things which should come 
 to America, was passed very soon after the 
 other was repealed. And there was, also, a 
 law passed in England, to force the colonies 
 to support English troops in America. And I 
 will tell you what reception this law about the 
 troops met with in New-York. The citizens 
 
140 HISTORY OF 
 
 there positively refused to submit to it ; and 
 then another law was made in England, taking 
 away the powers of the assembly of the New- 
 York colony until the members should consent 
 to obey the law." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, this was a most cruel 
 law : for it seems to me, that the law about 
 supporting the troops was just asking Ameri- 
 cans to keep British §oldiers in their own coun- 
 try to fight against them." 
 
 " Yes, truly, it does seem so. And, indeed, 
 all the colonists thought so ; for they began at 
 this time to be still more alarmed by these op- 
 pressions of Great Britain, and to think more 
 seriously of protecting themselves." 
 
 " And I have heard, Uncle Philip, that when 
 that law about the tea was made, many Ameri 
 cans determined not to bring any more of these 
 articles from England into America. Is this 
 true, sir?" 
 
 " Yes, yes ; and now tell me, my children, 
 if you remember any thing about the Earl of 
 Dunmore ?" 
 
 " Surety, sir : he was the base Governor of 
 Virginia, who armed the negroes against the 
 Americans."* 
 
 * See Conversations on Virginia, 
 
NEW-YORK. 141 
 
 " Yes, he is the man of whom I speak ; and 
 I mention him here, because he was governor 
 of the colony of New-York about this time 
 (that is, in the year 1770)." 
 
 " I know — I know, sir ; and he went from 
 New-York to be Governor of Virginia." 
 
 " You are right, my lad ; and I wish you to 
 bear in mind that this Lord Dunmore was al- 
 most as bad a governor in this state as he was 
 in Virginia ; only, fortunately for the state, he 
 did not remain in it so long. He was governor 
 here only for one year, for another man, Sir 
 William Tryon, became governor in the year 
 1771." 
 
 " It seems to me that I have heard of him 
 before : have I not, Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " No ; I think you are in error. At any 
 rate, you did not hear of him from me. But I 
 can now tell you something about him. He 
 employed himself very busily in trying to settle 
 the difficulties between New-York and New- 
 Hampshire, but did not succeed; and, after- 
 ward, when the dispute between the American 
 colonies and Great Britain became warmer, this 
 man became very odious to the people in New- 
 York, and was forced to leave the city, and 
 take refuge in a ship in the harbour. And, 
 
142 HISTORY OF 
 
 when the war broke out, he took up arms 
 against the Americans, and injured them as 
 much as lay in his power. He had been gov- 
 ernor, my lads, for several years in North Car- 
 olina before he came to this state, and the peo- 
 ple there, also, disliked him very much. In 
 fact, I never saw either an Englishman or 
 American who thought highly of Governor 
 Tryon, for he was a very base man." 
 
 "Well, Uncle Philip, you remember you 
 told us something about the American Congress 
 which met in Philadelphia, in the year 1774, 
 where there were so many great men. I wish 
 to know if any great men were in that congress 
 from New-York ?" 
 
 " Yes, yes ; there were two very distinguished 
 men there from this state. Mr. Jay and Mr. 
 Livingston were the men. And I will now tell 
 you what I did not say before about this con- 
 gress. The members published what they 
 called their ' declaration of rights? in which 
 they declare that they claim to be free as well 
 as their fellow-subjects of Great Britain. And 
 I can tell you something farther still about this 
 business. Those two citizens of New-York, 
 Mr. Jay and Mr. Livingston, together with a 
 man named Lee, wrote that declaration." 
 
NEW-YORK. 143 
 
 "Ah, Uncle Philip, and that is the reason 
 for your mentioning those facts here." 
 
 " Yes, I mention them because the declara- 
 tion does credit to the congress which supported 
 it, and because citizens of our own state wrote 
 it." 
 
 " What a number of great men were in that 
 congress, sir Uncle Philip, our ancestors 
 were noble men !" 
 
 " True, boys, true ; and remember that, so 
 that you may never disgrace them." 
 
 " Did you ever see that ' declaration of rights? 
 sir ?" 
 
 " Yes ; I have it, and read it often with 
 great pleasure. I will find the book in which 
 it is printed, and read some parts of it to you ; 
 for you cannot now understand the whole of it. 
 But when you are older, I wish you all to read 
 it closely. If that declaration does as much 
 for you as it has done for Uncle Philip, it will 
 cause you to love the land in which you were 
 all born, more and more earnestly, the longer 
 you live. For who, boys, would not be at- 
 tached to his country and the great men of his 
 country 1 When he remembers, too, that his 
 home was bought with the blood of his ances- 
 tors, who fought not rashly and madly, but with 
 
144 HISTORY OF 
 
 firmness and resolution, he may well love it. 
 Read, then, this declaration, and you will see 
 firmness and resolution. Here are some parts 
 of it. Listen. 
 
 " * When a nation, led to greatness by the 
 hand of liberty, and. possessed of all the glory 
 that heroism, munificence, and humanity, can 
 bestow, descends to the ungrateful task of for- 
 ging chains for her friends and children, and, 
 instead of giving support to freedom, turns 
 advocate for slavery and oppression, there is 
 reason to suspect she has either ceased to be 
 virtuous, or been extremely negligent in the 
 appointment of her rulers.'' " 
 
 " Uncle Philip, they are speaking of Great 
 Britain, are they not ?" 
 
 " Yes ; let me read on. ' We claim to be 
 free, as well as our fellow- subjects of Great 
 Britain ; and, are not the proprietors of the 
 soil of Great Britain lords of their own prop 
 erty ? Can it be taken from them without their 
 consent ? Will they yield it to the arbitrary 
 disposal of any man or number of men what- 
 ever ? You know they will not. 
 
 " f Why, then, are the proprietors of the soil 
 of America less lords of their property than 
 you are of % yours ; or why should they submit 
 
NEW-YORK. 145 
 
 to the disposal of your parliament, or any 
 other parliament or council in the ivorld, not 
 of their election ? Can the sea that divides us 
 cause disparity in rights, or can any reason be 
 given why English subjects, ivho live three 
 thousand miles from the royal palace, should 
 enjoy less liberty than those ivho are three hun- 
 dred miles distant from it? 
 
 " ' We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety. 
 We wish not diminution of the prerogative, 
 nor do toe solicit the grant of any new right in 
 our favour. Your royal authority over us, 
 and our connexion ivith Great Britain, we 
 shall always carefully and zealously endeavour 
 to support and maintain? 
 
 " And, indeed, my children, I might go on 
 reading many passages from this declaration ; 
 all breathing the same spirit of firm independ- 
 ence. But, perhaps, in doing so I might tire 
 you, and some of the smallest of you might 
 not know the meaning of it all. I have, there- 
 fore, read what I thought would be plain, and I 
 hope you understand it?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, Uncle Philip ; we understand all 
 that you read, and thank you very much for 
 reading it. And now, will you tell us, sir, 
 what effect this declaration produced ?" 
 ii. M 
 
146 HISTORY OF 
 
 " The people in England thought that it was 
 insolent ; but the people in America were de- 
 lighted. And I will tell you what farther un- 
 kind treatment the Americans received from 
 the English. Early in the year 1775, laws 
 were made in Great Britain for restraining the 
 trade of New-England and the southern col- 
 onies. But all the colonies were not treated 
 alike ; for in this very law the colonies of New- 
 York, North Carolina, and Delaware, were ex- 
 cepted from the restraint." 
 
 " That was strange, Uncle Philip. What 
 was the meaning of these exceptions ?" 
 
 " It is very plain, I think. The people in 
 England were anxious to produce disunion 
 among the colonies ; for they found that they 
 were disposed to join together, and that would 
 have made them more dangerous as enemies." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; I wonder I did not think of that." 
 
 " But, my lads, those colonies which were 
 excepted refused to receive the favour, and 
 agreed that if the other colonies submitted tc 
 the restraints, they would submit also." 
 
 " I like that, sir." 
 
 " Yes ; that was well done on the part of 
 these colonies. But what looked very bad 
 was this : when all were expecting a war with 
 
NEW-YORK. 147 
 
 England, and raising soldiers and money to 
 meet the danger, still New-York and New- 
 Hampshire found time to quarrel about their 
 boundary line, of which dispute I have already 
 spoken. And I have also told you that, while 
 they were disputing, the battle of Lexington 
 was fought in Massachusetts, and all parties 
 forgot their own disputes to guard then the 
 safety of the country. For, my lads, one bat- 
 tle convinced all the citizens of America that 
 they were to fight hard for their liberty." 
 
148 HISTORY OF 
 
 CONVERSATION XX. 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children of the Capture of Ticonderoga 
 by Ethan Allen — Surrender of Crown Point to Seth Warner 
 — Meeting of the second Continental Congress in May, 1775 — 
 Washington appointed Commander-in-chief of the American 
 army — Talks of the Capture of St. Johns and Montreal by 
 Richard Montgomery — Talks of the Siege of Quebec, where 
 Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded — Talks of 
 General Lee, General Thomas, and General Sullivan — The 
 Americans are forced to leave Canada — Tells the names of 
 the Delegates from New-York who signed the Declaration of 
 Independence which was adopted on the 4th of July, 1776. 
 
 " The battle of Lexington was fought in the 
 month of April, in the year 1775 ; and, as I 
 have before stated, the news of this battle 
 caused Americans to be very much provoked. 
 The people in New- York took up arms, but 
 there were some who were unwilling to fight 
 against the English." 
 
 " Is it possible, sir ?" 
 
 " Yes, and I do not wonder at this. Many 
 of them were descendants of Englishmen, and 
 . ooked upon England as the mother country ; 
 
NEW-YORK. 149 
 
 and some supposed that she had a right to tax 
 America. In fact, my young friends, I do not 
 think that our countrymen were anxious to rush 
 into that war ; for we find that they bore a 
 great deal for a long time, and suffered until 
 their suffering any longer would have been 
 disgraceful." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, do you suppose they were 
 afraid of the English ?" 
 
 " No, my lad, I do not ; though they well 
 might have been, for England was an old 
 country, and had soldiers and money, while 
 America had very few soldiers and very little 
 money. Still, I do not think that our country- 
 men were frightened, but I believe that they 
 were attached to Great Britain, because they 
 were accustomed to her laws, and had been 
 protected by her ; and it is my opinion, that 
 they would have rejoiced to have been colonies 
 to England, if they had only possessed equal 
 rights with Englishmen. But when this one 
 battle was fought, there was no time for them 
 to hesitate, for it became necessary for them to 
 protect themselves. 
 
 " After this battle, therefore, most of the 
 citizens of New-York city became very violent ; 
 indeed, they were so very violent, that a com- 
 
150 HISTORY OF 
 
 mittee of one hundred persons was appointed 
 to keep the peace. And this committee sent a 
 very bold address to the people in the city of 
 London, declaring that they would never sub- 
 mit to the oppressive cruelty of the British 
 government. I remember one part of this ad- 
 dress. They say, ' They speak the real senti- 
 ments of the confederated colonies on the con- 
 tinent, from Nova Scotia to Georgia, when 
 they declare that all the horrors of a civil wan 
 will never compel America to submit to taxa- 
 tion by authority of parliament.'' 
 
 " And, on the next day, a paper was signed 
 by more than a thousand citizens, who lived in 
 the city and the neighbouring country, in which 
 paper they declared that they were determined 
 to resist the English tyranny, and to rely upon 
 the conduct of the continental Congress. 
 
 " The people in New-England, also, became 
 very much excited ; and they resolved to make 
 an attack upon Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
 Three men (Deane, Wooster, and Parsons, 
 were their names) determined to take these 
 places by surprise. They started from Con- 
 necticut with forty men, and went to the town 
 of Bennington, which, you know, is in Ver- 
 mont. Here they met Ethan Allen, and pro- 
 
NEW-YORK. 151 
 
 posed f o him to raise mep. for the expedi- 
 tion." 
 
 * And what did he say, sir'-" 
 
 " Oh, he said that he would do it, and agreed 
 to meet them with a sufficient number of men 
 at a place called Castleton, also in Vermont. 
 At this place two hundred and seventy men 
 met, and there Allen was joined, also, by Col- 
 onel Arnold, a very brave man, with some 
 Massachusetts soldiers under his command. 
 He had been ordered from Massachusetts upon 
 this same expedition. So these two men, with 
 their soldiers, went to Lake Champlain, crossed 
 the lake with part of iheir forces without being 
 discovered, entered the foit at Ticonderoga, and 
 it was almost immediately taken." 
 
 " That was by surprise, sir." 
 
 u Yes ; and then Seth Warner was sent to 
 take possession of Crown Point, and this pla/je 
 surrendered. Look on the map. Do you see 
 Whitehall farther down. This place was also 
 taken by a party of men from Connecticut." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, if Allen and Warner 
 did make a disturbance about the New-Hamp- 
 shire boundaries, they seem to have been good 
 soldiers when they came into the field." 
 
 li Indeed they were. Few men were more 
 
152 HISTORY OF 
 
 firm than Ethan Allen when he placed himself 
 at the head of his ' Green Mountain boys? as 
 he used to call his New-Hampshire soldiers. 
 I must tell you what he said when he went to 
 Ticonderoga. When he reached the fort, he 
 demanded the surrender of it. ' By xohat au- 
 thority do you demand it V asked De la Place, 
 who was commanding it. ' I demand it? said 
 Allen, ' in the name of the great Jehovah and 
 the continental Congress? And so this place 
 was also taken, and the Americans lost not one 
 man." 
 
 " But did they gain much by taking these 
 places ?" 
 
 " Yes ; they found large supplies of military 
 stores, which were very valuable to them. 
 And now we will talk of another expedition .' 
 Did I tell you any thing about the second con- 
 tinental Congress V 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " This congress met in Philadelphia, in the 
 month of May, 1775; and was also made up 
 of very great men. Members were sent from 
 New- York to that congress ; and I must tell 
 you a story which I have read about this. 
 
 " The second congress was talked of long 
 before it met, and men were chosen to go to it 
 
NEW-YORK. 153 
 
 from different parts of the country. But the 
 legislature of New- York refused to send any 
 men then." 
 
 " But there were men from this state there, 
 you said, sir." 
 
 " Let me tell you. After the legislature re 
 fused, the people met in a convention in the 
 city of New-York, and there chose iheir own 
 men for this purpose. And these men were 
 authorized to make such plans with the mem- 
 bers from the other colonies as should be for 
 the general good ; and it is the strange way 
 in which these men were chosen that I am 
 now going to speak about. 
 
 " When the citizens all met, some were in 
 favour of sending men to the congress, and 
 some were opposed to it. So there was great 
 confusion, and a loud cry was raised, 'congress, 
 or no congress V Those who were opposed to 
 the congress were not very peaceable, but be- 
 gan to beat the others. But, after a short time, 
 two or three of those who had gone there to 
 choose members, went to a cooper's yard 
 which was near, and got a number of hoop 
 sticks, which they gave to their companions, 
 and soon drove the others from the ground." 
 
154 HISTORY OF 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, I am glad of that, for 
 those fellows had no business at the meeting." 
 
 " We will not talk of that now : but we will 
 bear in mind that the members were chosen, 
 and sent to congress. This congress, too, 
 boys, looked closely to the interests of the col- 
 onies, for the members knew that war had be- 
 gun, and that, in order to defend themselves, 
 they must have a general over their armies; 
 and they therefore appointed one. Do you 
 know who it was ?" 
 
 " To be sure I do, Uncle Philip. Was it 
 not George Washington ?" 
 
 " Yes. Washington was a member of the 
 congress when he received this appointment, 
 and he immediately went to Massachusetts, 
 and was there busy in getting his army together, 
 when an expedition was planned against Can- 
 ada. The command of it was given to General 
 Schuyler and General Montgomery." 
 
 " Not the Schuyler who was such a friend 
 to the Indians ?" 
 
 "No, not the same. You know he could 
 not have been the same individual, he would 
 have been so old. But he was a descendant 
 of that Schuyler who went to Queen Anne 
 
NEW-YORK. 155 
 
 with the savages ; and he was also a friend to 
 the Indians. 
 
 " But Schuyler had not much to do in this 
 campaign. He was taken sick, so that the 
 command fell upon Montgomery ; and it could 
 not have fallen upon a better man, as we shall 
 see. He started with his men from Ticonde- 
 roga up Lake Champlain, soon appeared before 
 St. Johns, and that place surrendered, and he 
 made about seven hundred prisoners of war. 
 General Carlton, who was at that time Gover- 
 nor of Canada, was at Montreal when this at- 
 tack was made, and he tried hard to reach St. 
 Johns, with some of his men; but Colonel 
 Warner, who was watching them closely, at- 
 tacked them as they endeavoured to cross the 
 St. Lawrence, and so Carlton's men retired in 
 confusion. And while Montgomery was at- 
 tacking this place, Major Brown and Major 
 Livingston made an. attack upon Fort Chamblee, 
 and this place surrendered." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, where are these places ? I 
 do not see them on the map." 
 
 " No, they are not on my map, I suppose, 
 for it is too small ; but on larger ones you 
 may see them. But you see the Sorelle river, 
 do you not ? " 
 
156 ju^toiiy or 
 
 " Oh yes, sir , there it is, running into Lake 
 Charaplain." 
 
 " True ; and all these places are upon that 
 river. And now, if you will bear in mind that 
 Governor Carlton, after this, went to Quebec 
 t will go on. 
 
 " Montgomery soon appeared before Mon- 
 treal, and tnis place was taken also. He then 
 determined to march against Quebec." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; and Carlton was there ready to 
 meet him, sir ?'" 
 
 " Yes, he was there with Colonel M'Lean, 
 another brave English officer ; and Montgomery 
 had but three hundred men to march with him, 
 for, you know, it was necessary for him to 
 leave part of his soldiers at the places he had 
 ta&en." 
 
 '' He was not going to march against Quebec 
 with this small number, surely, sir ?" 
 
 "Yes, he was. But, fortunately, General 
 Washington had thought of attacking the same 
 place, and had sent Colonel Arnold with some 
 troops from Massachusetts. 
 
 " And I must tell you, my children, of the 
 sufferings of Arnold and his men on their way 
 to Canada. They chose what they supposed 
 would be the easiest journey. They were to 
 
NEW-YORK. ] 57 
 
 go from Boston to the Kennebeck river, and 
 then up the river to the mountains which they 
 were to cross, and then to advance down the 
 river Chaudiere to the city of Quebec. But, 
 my lads, the difficulties on this journey turned 
 out far worse than they had expected. They 
 however travelled on over this rough country, 
 which had never before been explored ; and I 
 think they would have given up in despair, 
 had it not been for the courage and perseve- 
 rance of Arnold. For when they reached the 
 Kennebeck river, one of the officers (named 
 Colonel Enos) deserted with all his men. 
 This caused still greater dissatisfaction ; but I 
 must tell you, for the credit of Colonel Enos, 
 that he was afterward taken up, tried before a 
 court-martial, and acquitted ; for the court-mar- 
 tial declared that there was not a sufficient 
 quantity of provisions among the soldiers to 
 keep them from starving ; and, therefore, that 
 Enos and his men were not wrong in deserting." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, before you go any farther, 
 pray tell me what you mean by a court-mar- 
 tiair 
 
 " It is a court made up of officers in the 
 army for the purpose of trying officers and 
 soldiers for different offences, of which they 
 
158 HISTORY OF 
 
 may be accused. You know it is but fair that 
 men should be tried by those who are thejr 
 equals, and who can understand their offences. 
 And soldiers think that no men can fairly sit 
 upon their trial except brother soldiers. Is it 
 all plain?" 
 
 " Quite plain, sir." 
 
 " Still, my children, Arnold was not dis- 
 couraged after Enos's desertion. He continued 
 his march ; and it is said that he was more than 
 thirty days employed in crossing this wilder- 
 ness of country ; and in that time he saw not 
 one single house, or one human being. Re- 
 member, too, that this journey was performed 
 in the middle of winter ; that the men were half 
 clothed as well as half starved ; were forced to 
 haul their boats up rapid streams ; then to take 
 them, with their scanty provisions, upon their 
 shoulders, and carry them for a long distance over 
 a rough road ; that they were compelled to travel 
 on with this baggage through deep marshes, 
 through thick woods, and over high mountains; 
 remember all this, boys, and you may then 
 think of what these poor men must have suf- 
 fered in this undertaking. And these difficul- 
 ties were so great, that in spite of all that they 
 could do, they did not reach the Chaudiere 
 
NEW-YORK. 159 
 
 river until eighteen days later than they had 
 expected. But Arnold did not allow his men 
 to tarry longer here than to take a slight rest ; 
 but pushed down the Chaudiere, and in six 
 days more he landed at Point Levi, opposite 
 Quebec ; a place which I have already men- 
 tioned in the course of our conversations. And 
 the people in the city were very much fright- 
 ened when they saw Arnold and his men com- 
 ing out of the woods ; for, although there were 
 English soldiers there, still the city was not very 
 well protected. And I think, boys, that if Colo- 
 nel Arnold had immediately entered Quebec, 
 he would have taken it without any opposition. " 
 " And why did he not enter it, sir ?" 
 " Because the wind was very high, and the 
 river was rough, and that made it difficult to pass ; 
 and besides this, he had no boats in which he 
 could cross. But at length, after much trouble, 
 he collected a large number of canoes from the 
 country people, on the southern shore of the 
 river. But still the wind continued high at 
 night, and he found it impossible to pass ; and, 
 indeed, it was impossible for him to cross at 
 any time except during the night without being 
 discovered ; for a British frigate had anchored 
 opposite the town, and three other vessels were 
 
160 HISTORY OF 
 
 in the river, guarding the passage for some dis 
 tance. 
 
 " At length the wind became milder, and 
 Arnold determined that he would cross. So 
 he left one hundred and fifty men behind him 
 to make ladders, and started. And, my lads, 
 he contrived to escape those armed vessels, 
 crossed over in the night, and landed his army 
 about a mile and a half above the city. But 
 here again he found another difficulty ; for, at 
 the spot where he landed, the shore was so 
 rugged that it was impossible for his men to 
 climb it. So he marched them on to a place 
 on the shore called Wolf's Cove, and there he 
 clambered up the steep with his men, and 
 drew them up on the heights near the plains of 
 Abraham. And now, boys, he sent two of his 
 lieutenants towards the town, that they mighi 
 find out whether the English sentinels were at 
 tneir posts or not ; for he thought of taking the 
 ~>lace by surprise. But the lieutenants re- 
 turned, and told Arnold that the sentinels were 
 .n their places." 
 
 " What a disappointment, Uncle Philip, aftei 
 an his labour !" 
 
 " Yes, yes ; but still he hoped to reduce the 
 city. Yet he was not so great in numbers as 
 
NEW-YORK. 161 
 
 the enemy, and he had not even one piece of can- 
 non with him, so that he could do very little ; 
 but he thought that the English soldiers at 
 Quebec might possibly quarrel among them- 
 selves, and that then the place would fall into 
 his hands. He therefore marched his men 
 about on the heights for two days, and sent two 
 flags to summon the city to surrender. 
 
 " But Colonel M'Lean was an able officer. 
 He persuaded the soldiers not to be frightened, 
 refused to receive the flag, and fired upon the 
 officer who bore it. And then the citizens of 
 Quebec became alarmed, and took up arms ; 
 -and the sailors were landed from the vessels, 
 and armed also. So Arnold's army was greatly 
 outnumbered, even after he had collected 
 those whom he had left on the south side of 
 the river." 
 
 " How many men did Arnold have in all, 
 Uncle Philip ?" 
 
 " Only seven hundred ; and therefore he 
 was not ready to fight. Just at this time, too, 
 he heard that more English soldiers were com- 
 ing on towards Quebec, and that M'Lean was 
 thinking of attacking him. So he very pru- 
 dently, I think, retired to ' Point aux Trembles] 
 a place situated twenty miles above Quebec ; 
 II— N 
 
162 HISTORY OF 
 
 and resolved to wait there for General Mont- 
 gomery. So now we will look for Montgomery. 
 
 " He marched on, as I told you, after taking 
 Montreal, joined Colonel Arnold at Point aux 
 Trembles, and they started immediately for 
 Quebec. And the garrison at Quebec, when 
 they reached it, consisted of fifteen hundred 
 men." 
 
 " And Montgomery and Arnold together had 
 only one thousand men, sir ?" 
 
 " They had not so many. They had only 
 e\ght hundred who were ready for service. But 
 so soon as the Americans came before the city, 
 Montgomery sent a letter to Carlton, demand- 
 ing a surrender. But the English were deter- 
 mined to have nothing to say to the Americans, 
 and the flag was again fired upon." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, was not that provoking ?" 
 
 " Yes ; and Montgomery felt sad, I assure 
 you, for his situation there was very dangerous. 
 Cold weather had set in, and his troops were 
 badly clothed and badly sheltered ; but he was 
 not discouraged. He determined to lay siege 
 to the place. In a few days, he opened his 
 battery within seven hundred yards of the city, 
 but his cannons were too light to do much in- 
 jury. So, finding it impossible to take it by a 
 
NEW-YORK. 163 
 
 siege, he determined to become master of the 
 city at all hazards. He therefore divided his 
 little army into four parts. Three of these 
 parts he placed under the different commands 
 of Major Brown, Major Livingston, and Colonel 
 Arnold. The other part (which consisted of 
 New- York soldiers) he commanded himself. 
 
 " Between four and five o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, on the last day of the year 1775, the sig- 
 nal was given, and these four divisions ad- 
 vanced ; and a very heavy snow was falling at 
 the time. Montgomery, at the head, of the 
 New- York soldiers, marched on boldly ; but he 
 very soon found difficulty in pressing forward. 
 He was forced to pass an English battery. 
 About two hundred yards before the battery was 
 a block house, in which some soldiers were sta- 
 tioned. But these soldiers being easily fright- 
 ened, fired their guns, and fled to the battery. 
 And then, my lads, if Montgomery had rushed 
 on with his men, I think he would have succeed- 
 ed ; but this was impossible, for the shore was 
 rugged, and the edge of the river covered with 
 piles of rough ice, so as to make it almost 
 impassable. Still Montgomery, with most of 
 his men, pushed on as far as the block house. 
 Here he had to halt to collect them, and having 
 
164 HISTORY OF 
 
 gathered around him about two hundred, he 
 hurried on towards the battery. But two or 
 three of the English soldiers had ventured to 
 return to the battery ; and one of them, seizing 
 a match, touched a cannon. The Americans 
 were then within about forty yards of the fortifi- 
 cation. That one gun, boys, killed Montgomery, 
 with two of his officers ; and I think that this 
 gun saved Quebec. When the poor general fell, 
 his body rolled upon the ice, and on the next 
 morning it was taken up by some of his soldiers 
 and buried. A man named Colonel Campbell 
 then took the command of this division, but he 
 very hastily retreated from the city, and left 
 the other divisions to get on as they could." 
 " And where was Arnold, Uncle Philip ?" 
 " He was in his place, bravely leading on his 
 men. But, as he advanced to pass the first barrier 
 which was raised against him, he received a 
 ball in his leg. But Captain Morgan, who was 
 with him, rushed on and entered the town, and 
 was here joined by two hundred men. At the 
 dawn of day, they tried to pass the second bar- 
 rier ; but there was such a fire from the enemy 
 that they were forced to stop. They then en- 
 deavoured to retreat ; but they could not do this, 
 for the company of Americans which had been 
 
NEW-YORK. 165 
 
 stationed at the palace gate, had been taken by 
 the English ; so there was no chance for re- 
 treating, and all these men were forced to sur- 
 render. And the whole of Arnold's division, 
 except the officers who carried him to the hos 
 pital, fell into the hands of the enemy." 
 
 "Well, Uncle Philip, that was a sad, sad 
 ending to an undertaking by such brave men." 
 
 " Yes, my lad ; for the Americans in this 
 siege lost four hundred men, of whom sixty 
 were killed. And it is said that the English 
 lost only eighteen, killed and wounded. Of 
 those Americans who escaped, some were so 
 much frightened that one hundred of them set 
 out for Montreal. Poor Arnold, with great diffi- 
 culty, kept the others together ; but they broke 
 up their camp, and went about three miles 
 from Quebec." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, I feel sad indeed, when I 
 think of poor Montgomery's fate." 
 
 " That is natural, but you should not feel 
 sorry for him. He died, my young friends, as 
 a soldier should die, fighting bravely for the 
 country which had adopted him." 
 
 " Why, Uncle Philip, was he not an Ameri- 
 can '? Was he not born in this country ?" 
 
 "No. Richard Montgomery was born in 
 
166 HISTORY OF 
 
 Ireland, though he became an American ; and 
 this same man was with General Wolfe at the 
 siege of Quebec, when the French surrendered 
 it. But when the struggle for our liberty com- 
 menced, he became an American, and fought 
 for us." 
 
 " Then, Uncle Philip, I like him now, more 
 than I ever did before." 
 
 " Yes ; and all our countrymen should like 
 him ; and, in fact, I never heard one word said 
 against Richard Montgomery. If any one of 
 you should ever go to the city of New-York, 
 you will see a marble monument directly in 
 front of St. Paul's church. The Congress of 
 the United States caused this monument to be 
 erected in memory of this man's services to 
 our country. And I will tell you another fact, 
 which will show you what feelings of love 
 Americans now have towards him. In the year 
 1818, the legislature of New-York caused his 
 bones to be moved and carried to St. Paul's 
 church. But after they had resolved to move 
 him, there was much difficulty in finding his 
 grave ; and an old soldier, who had attended his 
 funeral forty-two years before, remembered the 
 spot, and he pointed out to the people the place 
 where he was buried- And the body was then 
 removed." 
 
NEW-YORK. 167 
 
 " How sad he must have felt when he pointed 
 out that spot, sir !" 
 
 " I suppose he did ; for you, and I, and all 
 Americans feel sad, even now, when we think 
 of Montgomery's fate. Had he lived longer, 
 he might have been more useful ; but, as I said 
 a moment since, ' he died like a soldier.' And, 
 indeed, even in England, his death was very 
 much lamented by some ; for many distin- 
 guished men in the English parliament spoke 
 very highly of him, and said publicly that they 
 were sorry that he had fallen." 
 
 " Indeed, Uncle Philip, this siege of Quebec 
 caused a sad loss to the Americans. So many 
 men were taken, Arnold was wounded, and, 
 worst of all, Montgomery was killed." 
 
 " Yes ; and yet, boys, I would rather have 
 died as Montgomery, than lived as Arnold." 
 
 " Why, Uncle Philip ? Arnold was a brave 
 man." 
 
 " Ob, I know now what you mean, Uncle 
 Philip. I have read, sir, in one of my books 
 at home, that there was an American named 
 Arnold, who was very brave, and fought well 
 in the war against Great Britain ; that all the 
 people thought well of him, and supposed him 
 to be one of the bravest and best men in the 
 
168 HISTORY OF 
 
 American army, and that he was a particular 
 friend to General Washington; but he after- 
 ward turned traitor to his country, and went 
 over to the English side. Is this the man, 
 sir?" 
 
 " This, my lad, is the same man. He basely 
 deserted his country's cause in a time of great 
 trouble ; and he deserted it, also, without any 
 good reason; for the cause was a noble one, 
 as it was the cause of justice. But the love 
 of gold caused Benedict Arnold to forget his 
 duty ; and, indeed, this base love of money 
 causes many men to be wicked. But you will 
 remember that the desertion of this man took 
 place long after the time of which I am now 
 speaking ; it happened after independence had 
 been declared by the colonies in 1776; and, 
 as I shall at some time hereafter tell you of all 
 that occurred in this country from 1776 up to 
 this time, I shall now say nothing more of Ar- 
 nold's treason. We will now therefore go on 
 with something else ; and what seems very 
 strange, boys, is this : some of the citizens of 
 New-York were still friendly to the English 
 government. For the Congress which was then 
 sitting, heard that a large number of people m 
 Try on county, (which was named after Governor 
 
NEW- YORK. 169 
 
 Try on) were opposed to the American cause. 
 It was also said that they were making prepara- 
 tions to resist it under the command of Sir John 
 Johnson, a man who was very much attached to 
 the King of England. So it was resolved in 
 Congress that the men in that county should give 
 up their arms. Seven hundred men, therefore, 
 were called out of Albany county, who com- 
 menced their march towards these dissatisfied 
 men. And I am pleased to be able to tell you, 
 my lads, that, as these men marched on, their 
 numbers continued to increase, until at length 
 there were three thousand ready to put down 
 these men in Tryon county. And what is 
 better still, of those three thousand, nine hun- 
 dred were inhabitants of Tryon county itself/' 
 
 " And I hope they succeeded, sir ?" 
 • " Oh, yes ; when so many soldiers appeared 
 against them, these dissatisfied men were ready 
 to submit on any terms. So it was agreed 
 that Sir John Johnson, having promised not to 
 take up arms against America, should remain 
 in one certain place — that he should give up 
 all th 2 cannons, arms, and military stores which 
 were in the country — and that the inhabitants 
 of Tryon county should give up their arms, and 
 twelve prisonri;-. And there were at least six 
 
170 HISTORY OF 
 
 hundred men prepared to resist, from whom 
 arms were taken : and in this way the matter 
 was ended. 
 
 " But just about the same time a large num- 
 ber of citizens upon Long Island were prepar 
 ing to support the cause of the king. But 
 fortunately, some of the good citizens in New- 
 Jersey heard of it. They therefore went over, 
 and took away their arms, and also caught the 
 leaders in this mischief. And here, again, a' 
 stop was put to such strange conduct. 
 
 " But let us hurry on, and see what the 
 English were doing for themselves. General 
 Lee, with some American soldiers, came to 
 New- York about this time ; for it was said that 
 the city was soon to be attacked by the Eng- 
 lish. When he reached it, he found the people 
 very much frightened ; for General Clinton*, 
 with a large number of English forces, had just 
 appeared in ships below the city. But General 
 Lee said plainly, ' if the men-of-war set one 
 house on fire, I will chain a hundred of their 
 friends together, and make that house their 
 funeral pile.' And I think, boys, that he 
 would have punished them severely if they 
 had burned a house ; for Lee was a bold man, 
 who was afraid of nothing." 
 
NEW-YORK. 171 
 
 " And what did Clinton do, sir ?" 
 
 " He said that he had only come to see his 
 friend Tryon.* So, after tarrying for a little 
 time in the harbour, he sailed away to the 
 south. And it was fortunate for him that he 
 did not land, for General Washington, having 
 driven the British troops from Boston, and 
 expecting this same attack upon New-York, 
 came to that city just at this time, determined 
 to make this place the headquarters of the 
 American army." 
 
 "Will you tell me, sir, if the Americans 
 made any other attack upon Quebec ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes. The siege was regularly kept up 
 during the whole winter. Many soldiers were 
 ordered there, and Arnold's army at length 
 amounted to seventeen hundred men. He 
 caused batteries to be erected (for, in spite of 
 his first defeat, he was still bold), and he was 
 just ready for opening them upon the enemy, 
 when General Wooster came from Montreal, 
 and took the command. The day after Woos- 
 ter's arrival, while Arnold was riding on horse- 
 back, his horse fell, and bruised his leg so badly 
 that he was kept in his room for some time. 
 And after he recovered from his sickness, he 
 thought that he was neglected ; so he begged 
 
172 HISTORY OF 
 
 leave of absence, went to Montreal, and took 
 the command there. Soon after this, General 
 Thomas was appointed to command the Ameri- 
 can forces in Canada. And he had there, my 
 lads, nineteen hundred soldiers ; but, unfor- 
 tunately, the smallpox broke out among his 
 men, so that there were only nine hundred fit 
 for service. And, moreover, he had very little 
 ammunition, and only sufficient provision to 
 last for a week, and Carleton was daily expect- 
 ing fresh forces from England to join him at 
 Quebec. So General Thomas concluded that 
 it was useless for him to remain longer before 
 Quebec, and very wisely began to withdraw 
 his forces. And on the very next day, the 
 British ships which were expected arrived, and 
 General Carleton started out with one thousand 
 men to attack the American forces. General 
 Thomas was determined not to run the risk of 
 a battle, and in a great hurry ordered his men 
 to retreat. But this retreat was made in so 
 much haste, that many of the sick, and all the 
 military stores, were taken by the English. 
 But, for the credit of General Carleton, I must 
 tell you, my lads, that he treated these poor 
 sick prisoners with great kindness. General 
 Thomas continued to retreat as well as lie 
 
NEW-YORK. 173 
 
 could, and got as far as the Sorelle river ; and 
 there he himself was seized with the smallpox 
 and died." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Philip, the Americans suffered 
 misfortune after misfortune." 
 
 " Yes, that is true ; and I must now tell you 
 of one more disaster. You know that Arnold 
 went to Montreal, and ' took the command 
 there ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " And you know, also, that the English were 
 in possession of most of the posts upon the St. 
 Lawrence river. Arnold resolved to station 
 some of his soldiers above Montreal, to prevent 
 the English from coming down upon him. So 
 he chose for this purpose a point of land called 
 ' the Cedars? about forty miles above Montreal. 
 It is a point of land which runs out into the St. 
 Lawrence river, and can only be approached on 
 one side. General Arnold, therefore, sent near 
 four hundred men there, with two cannons, un- 
 der the command of a man named Colonel 
 Bedel. And Bedel was told to fortify the 
 place. But an English captain, named Forster, 
 planned an expedition against this spot. He 
 started, therefore, with some English soldiers, 
 and lie persuaded also many of the * Caugh- 
 
174 HISTORY OF 
 
 newaga Indians' (who lived near) to go with 
 him ; so that he soon appeared before the 
 Americans at that place with four or five 
 hundred men. Two days before he arrived, 
 Colonel Bedel had heard that he was coming ; 
 and, leaving the fort commanded by Major 
 Butterfield, he himself went down the river 
 to Montreal to beg for help. Arnold imme- 
 diately sent Major Sherburne with one hun- 
 dred men up to ' the Cedars? while he com- 
 menced making preparations to go up himself 
 with a much larger force. 
 
 " As soon as Captain Forster arrived before 
 the place, he sent a flag, demanding a surren- 
 der ; and Major Butterfield offered to give up 
 the place, provided he would allow him to 
 withdraAV, with his soldiers and baggage, to 
 Montreal. Forster refused to do this, and 
 his men began their attack. But as they had 
 no cannons, and were forced to fire only with 
 their muskets, they did very little injury ; for, 
 after two days, they had only wounded one 
 man. And yet, boys, Butterfield was fright- 
 ened by threats ; for, when Captain Forster 
 sent him word ' that if any Indians should be 
 killed during that siege, it would be out of his 
 power to restrain them from murdering every 
 
NEW-YORK. 175 
 
 individual in the garrison,' Bntterfield was 
 alarmed, and surrendered the place. 
 
 " And on the next day Sherburne approached 
 without having heard of Butterneld's disgrace- 
 ful surrender ; when he came within four miles 
 of * the Cedars? he was suddenly attacked by 
 a party of Indians ; and, after fighting boldly 
 for an hour, was compelled to surrender. 
 
 " When Arnold heard of this misfortune, he 
 marched from Montreal against the enemy 
 with seven hundred men, hoping to meet them, 
 drive them back, and take away the prisoners. 
 But, when preparing to fight, he received a 
 flag, accompanied by Major Sherburne. The 
 major told Arnold most positively, ' that, if he 
 attacked the enemy, it would be impossible for 
 Captain Forster to prevent his savages from 
 putting every American prisoner to death.' 
 And then, children, Arnold, prevented by these 
 words of Sherburne from making an attack, 
 agreed to an exchange of prisoners." 
 
 "Well, Uncle Philip, I think that Butter- 
 field's conduct was very base, indeed." 
 
 " Yes, my lad, I myself think that he was 
 very easily frightened ; and many of his coun- 
 trymen at the time thought that he showed 
 great cowardice. But we will move on, and 
 
176 HISTORY OF 
 
 we shall find that this was not the only disaster 
 which happened to the Americans in Canada. 
 
 " After the death of General Thomas, the 
 American army at Sorelle was commanded by 
 General Sullivan. And he, with the assistance 
 of several brave officers, succeeded in making 
 a safe retreat before a far superior force, until 
 he brought the remains of the broken army as 
 far as Crown Point ; and here he began to 
 form new plans. He thought that the people 
 in Canada showed great attachment to the 
 American cause, and that many of them would 
 join his army ; and he supposed that he might 
 then be able to drive his enemy from the coun- 
 try. The first place which he thought of attack- 
 ing was called ' Three Rivers' (a place situated 
 midway between Montreal and Quebec). And 
 I will tell you how he was disappointed in his 
 calculations in this matter. 
 
 " When the Americans left Quebec, Carleton 
 was not then able to follow them. He was, 
 soon after this, however, joined by a large 
 number of forces ; so that he had thirteen 
 thousand *men under his command. He then 
 immediately prepared for following them. And 
 he had so made his arrangements that, at this 
 place ' Three Rivers? his forces were all to 
 
NEW-YORK. 177 
 
 meet. Still his army was greatly divided ; for 
 General Frazer, with a part of it, had reached 
 the place ; General Nesbit, with another part, 
 was on board ships, near the spot; while 
 Carleton himself, with most of the army, was 
 on his way from Quebec. 
 
 " Just at this time, General Thompson (one 
 of the American generals) hearing that the 
 party at ' Three Rivers'' consisted only of 
 eight hundred men, who were commanded by 
 Colonel M'Lean, sent Colonel St. Clair with 
 seven hundred men to attack him. St. Clair 
 at once started ; but when he came near the 
 enemy, finding himself not strong enough to 
 make the attack, he halted, waiting for more 
 soldiers to join him. Shortly afterward, Gen- 
 eral Sullivan came on. He htid heard, also, 
 that the enemy was very weak at ' Three 
 Rivers? So he sent General Thompson with 
 fourteen hundred men to join St. Clair ; and 
 they were to make the attack, provided there 
 was a hope of success. Thompson joined 
 St. Clair, and, thinking that together they 
 would be able to make the attack, he went 
 down the St. Lawrence river in boats by night, 
 and landed shortly after daylight, which was 
 later than he had expected. He was therefore 
 
 XT,— 
 
178 HISTORY OF 
 
 discovered while landing, and the alarm was 
 given. The English ships in the river at once 
 commenced firing upon his troops. To get 
 out of the reach of this firing, he tried to lead 
 his men through what seemed to him to be a 
 point of woods ; but it turned out to be a deep 
 marsh, three miles long. This caused great 
 confusion among the American soldiers ; and 
 it also gave General Frazer time to make 
 ready to meet them. Then General Nesbit 
 came up behind them, and cut off their chance 
 of returning to their boats." 
 
 " Why. Uncle Philip, General Thompson was 
 in a sad situation." 
 
 " Indeed he was. He passed the marsh, 
 and attacked General Frazer ; but w r as driven 
 back, and foroed to attempt a retreat. But it 
 was impossible for him to retreat ; so that he, 
 as well as two hundred of his men, became 
 prisoners, and as many as thirty were killed. 
 Colonel St. Clair, with very great difficulty, 
 made his retreat with eighteen hundred men. 
 And thus ended this expedition. 
 
 " The American army in Canada, in the 
 month of June, 1776, amounted to eight thou- 
 sand men, of whom only one half were fit for 
 service. And these troops, too, were discour- 
 
NEW-YORK. 179 
 
 aged by their misfortunes, and they began to 
 complain. So it was thought best that they 
 should leave Canada ; and, after retiring from 
 spot to spot, with the British soldiers following 
 them, and taking possession of every place 
 that they left, they abandoned that country 
 altogether." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, this was discouraging, in- 
 deed !" 
 
 " But, as I have more than once remarked, 
 our countrymen were not easily discouraged. 
 Though they suffered losses, they still perse- 
 vered, for they did not expect to fight without 
 losing men. They had thought of resistance 
 seriously, and had weighed the consequences ; 
 and were willing to suffer for a short time, so 
 that in the end they might be free. And this 
 war, so far, on the part of the Americans, had 
 been carried on for the purpose of defending 
 themselves only. But the Congress, which 
 was then sitting in Philadelphia, thought that 
 it was time for Americans openly to declare 
 their independence of Great Britain. So 
 Richard Henry Lee, you will remember, intro- 
 duced his motion in Congress, and the declara- 
 tion was passed on—" 
 
180 HISTORY OF 
 
 " I know — I know, Uncle Philip, on the 4th 
 of July, 1776." 
 
 " Yes ; and you know the names of the men 
 who wrote it ; and all that I have now to do is 
 to tell you the names of the men from New- 
 York who were members of that Congress, and 
 who signed it in behalf of the citizens of this 
 state." 
 
 " If you please, sir." 
 
 " William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis 
 Lewis, and Lewis Morris, were the men. 
 And when this declaration reached New-York, 
 there was an order with it, that it should be 
 read to all the soldiers of the army. And I 
 have heard that, on the same evening, the statue 
 of King George (which was made of lead) 
 was thrown down, because the soldiers wanted 
 the lead to mould into bullets for the use of the 
 army." 
 
 " Uncle Philip, I like that. Let us hear 
 something more about the soldiers after they 
 made the bullets." 
 
 " No, no, children ; I have nothing more to 
 say about New-York at present. We have 
 come up to the 4th of July, 1776, and I will 
 now stop. And let me say to you, my young 
 
NEW-YORK. I8l 
 
 friends, that I shall be pleased to see you when 
 ever you choose to visit me ; and if, in learning 
 the history of your own country, any one of you 
 shall learn to love that country more ardently, 
 Uncle Philip will be satisfied. Farewell." 
 
 " Good-by, Uncle Philip ; we will come and 
 see you again soon. But, Uncle Philip, before 
 we go, I have one favour to ask. You have 
 told us that you wish us to remember all these 
 different governors, and the different times 
 when they came to the country. I have tried 
 to do this, but there are so many of them that 
 J. cannot keep them all clearly in my memory." 
 
 " And I suppose you wish me to aid your 
 memory ?" 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip, if you please." 
 
 " Very good. Then you will come and see 
 me to-morrow morning, and I will then tell 
 you a story, and give you something which 
 will help* you much in remembering the his- 
 tory of New- York." 
 
182 HISTORY OF 
 
 CONVERSATION XXL 
 
 Uncle Philip tells the Children something more about General 
 Richard Montgomery — Tells them a Story, and gives them a 
 List of the Governors of the New- York Colony — Also, a List 
 of the Sovereigns of England, from the time of Hudson's 
 Voyage in 1609, up to the time of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence in 1776. 
 
 "Well, Uncle Philip, here we are again. 
 We have come once more to see you before 
 we stop talking about the history of New-York, 
 as you told us you had one more story for us 
 before we got through. But, before we go any 
 farther this morning, sir, will you tell me 
 something more about General Richard Mont- 
 gomery ? I should like to hear every thing 
 about this man, for I have seen his monument 
 before St. Paul's church, of which y8u spoke 
 yesterday." 
 
 " Surely, my lad, I will at once tell you all 
 that I know about him ; and I am glad, indeed, 
 that you like him ; for he was, as you already 
 know, a warm friend to America, and I hope 
 that Americans will never be ungrateful. 
 
 " But I have already told you, children, al- 
 
NEW-YORK. 1&3 
 
 most all that I know of this man. Richard 
 Montgomery was born in the north of Ireland, 
 in the year 1737. He was a boy of very fine 
 parts, and his friends took pains to have those 
 parts cultivated ; for young Montgomery was 
 sent to school, and was well educated. And, 
 being an industrious boy, he made use of his 
 advantages and learned well. Afterward, he 
 entered the army of Great Britain ; and one 
 reason for his doing so well in that army, I 
 think, was, that he had courage, and had learned 
 when young to be always industrious, in what- 
 ever he undertook. Indeed, as I have told 
 you more than once before, industry is neces- 
 sary for every man, and every child, who 
 wishes to be useful or respectable. It is not 
 only necessary towards making good soldiers, 
 but it is necessary in fitting a man for any 
 business. I could now point out to you twenty 
 men, at least, who were boys with me (for 
 there are not more now living) ; some of them 
 are sober and honest, and some are worthless, 
 drunken men ; and every one of them who is 
 now a drunkard, was once an idle, lazy boy 
 and therefore I am always afraid that children 
 will not turn out well who are always idle 
 And I could also tell you a sad story about one 
 
184 HISTORY OF 
 
 of my former young companions, who in child- 
 hood was never fond of opening his books; 
 and of course never did open them but when 
 he was forced to do so ; and then never pre- 
 pared his lessons. But I will not do it now, 
 for I have already talked enough about idleness 
 at different times, and I will only beg that you 
 will remember what I have said. 
 
 " Richard Montgomery came to America in 
 the English army, as you know, and was with 
 General Wolfe when that brave man died at 
 the battle of Quebec, in the year 1759; and, 
 sixteen years afterward, the poor man himself 
 died on this very spot, fighting for Americans. 
 
 " After the French had surrendered Canada 
 to the English, Montgomery returned home 
 with the English forces, and conducted himself 
 well. But he had seen America, and he was 
 more pleased with this country than any other ; 
 so he left the English service in the year 1772, 
 I think, and, at the time when he left, he was 
 in a very fair way to preferment." 
 
 " What do you mean by that, Uncle Philip ? " 
 
 " He was in a very fair way to be advanced 
 to a higher rank in the army. Still he left it, 
 and sailed immediately for America. Upon 
 his arrival in the country a second time, he 
 
NEW-YORK. 185 
 
 purchased some land in the state of New-York, 
 about one hundred miles from the city, and 
 soon married an American lady. This caused 
 him, I suppose, to feel more like an American ; 
 for not long afterward, when the struggle with 
 Great Britain commenced in America, he not 
 only seemed to love American liberty, but said 
 that he was willing to draw his sword in de- 
 fence of the colonies. And, as he appeared so 
 ready to aid our cause, the command of some 
 forces in the northern part of the country was 
 given to him and General Schuyler in the year 
 1775. The remainder of his history you know ; 
 that Schuyler died, and that Montgomery then 
 had the sole command ; that he reduced Fort 
 Chamblee, captured St. Johns, and took Mon- 
 treal; and that, afterward, he joined Arnold^ 
 and died at Quebec." 
 
 " And is this all that you can tell me about 
 him, sir ?" 
 
 " That is all, except that I can tell you, my 
 lad, what I think of him. I think that he was 
 a very fine officer ; for those soldiers who were 
 badly trained, and who were very unwilling to 
 serve under him, he taught to fight well, and 
 to love him very much. And I will tell ) r ou 
 how he did this .; he shared in their hardships, 
 
186 HISTORY OF 
 
 and in this way prevented their complaining. 
 And I must tell you another fact, which will 
 show this man's love of liberty. Whenever, in 
 any very great measure which was proposed 
 for the country's good, there was a difference 
 of opinion about that measure (for in all mat- 
 ters people honestly think differently), Mont- 
 gomery would always give his opinion plainly ; 
 but, if the majority of the people disagreed 
 with him, and decided against him, Montgomery 
 would always cheerfully support that majority. 
 For he used to say, ' it was then his duty to 
 give up his own opinion, and support whatever 
 course the country advised.' And I do not 
 think, my young friends, that many men would 
 have done this so cheerfully; particularly if 
 they had been distinguished men like Richard 
 Montgomery — for they would have supposed 
 that they knew more about the matter in ques- 
 tion than any other person in the world ; and 
 that therefore all the rest of the world was 
 wrong, and that they were right. I know 
 many such silly proud people in this world." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Philip ; and I know two boys 
 at our school who act precisely in that same 
 way. They always think that they know more 
 than any other persons, either old or young." 
 
NEW-YORK. 187 
 
 " Well, Thomas, their behavipur is very silly 
 and disagreeable, and will do them much injury 
 unless they correct it. Indeed, when any man 
 has made up his opinion about any thing, and 
 wishes to convince others to think like himself, 
 there is but one way in the world to do it, — he 
 must modestly and mildly try to persuade men 
 that they are wrong ; and not boldly contradict 
 them, and say that he is certain that he cannot 
 be wrong. In fact, I always think that a man 
 has not got the right side of a question when 
 he quarrels with others for not agreeing with 
 him. But as you, my lad, have seen Mont- 
 gomery's monument in New-York, and as all 
 the other children, I suppose, have not seen it, 
 suppose that you tell them something about it." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I will tell them all that I remem- 
 ber about it, for I think that it is very beautiful. 
 And the prettiest part of it all, Uncle Philip, is 
 this : that no person can look upon it without 
 knowing at once that it is the monument of a 
 soldier ; for there are the cap, and the sword, 
 and many other things belonging to a soldier, 
 carved upon it. Indeed, Uncle Philip, I think 
 that it is the prettiest monument that I ever 
 
188 HISTORY OF 
 
 " Well, 1 am glad you like it, my lad ; for 1 
 myself have always been pleased with it ; but 
 still I do not like it better than any other monu- 
 ment that I have seen. The most beautiful 
 monument that I ever saw, I found in an old 
 country churchyard, in the state of Virginia. 
 In one corner of the yard, under a very large wil- 
 low, there was a white marble slab, and upon it 
 was written this epitaph : ' Reader, if you knew 
 the man, remember Jus virtues.'' And I saw, too, 
 boys, that although this stone was in the cor- 
 ner of the yard, there was a path made by the 
 footsteps of the poor people who were con- 
 stantly visiting it. And many of these poor 
 people, as they stood there with their little 
 children, would say, 'there lies the man who 
 fed me when I was hungry.' And then they 
 would weep bitterly, and leave the churchyard. 
 Ah, boys, I did not know the man who was 
 buried in that spot ; but I knew, when I saw 
 all this, that he was a good and benevolent 
 man ; and I have often thought since that time, 
 that I would rather have slept in that corner of 
 the churchyard, than under the heaviest piece 
 of marble that was ever placed over a soldier's 
 bones." 
 
NEW-YORK. 189 
 
 " But, Uncle Philip, what do you mean by 
 * an epitaph V " 
 
 " I mean the words which are written upon 
 any man's tomb. But you will understand, 
 boys, that I do not mean by all this to cause 
 you to think that a soldier may not be a very 
 good man. I know very well that they can be 
 very good men if they will, for Richard Mont- 
 gomery was a good man. But what I mean 
 to show you is this : that he is not always the 
 happiest man who is most distinguished, and 
 most loudly talked of; but he is happiest who 
 performs ' his duty well in that station in life 
 in which it has pleased God to call him ;' and 
 the man who is sometimes known only to the 
 people who live in his immediate neighbour- 
 hood, is often one of the most useful of men. 
 Remember this always, my young friends, and 
 be not top anxious to be distinguished and 
 great in this world ; for you can serve God 
 and be useful in any honest station, however 
 humble. But I must now go on with the 
 story which I promised yesterday that I would 
 tell you." 
 
 "Yes, yes, Uncle Philip; if you please." 
 
 " In some of my many travels in different 
 parts of our country, I have twice been in the 
 
190 HISTORY OF 
 
 state of North Carolina. It so happened, that 
 on my first visit to the city of Raleigh (which 
 is the capital of this state, and is also a beau- 
 tiful little city), the legislature of the state was 
 then sitting. It was in the month of Decem- 
 ber, and the weather at that season is not very 
 cold generally in that place ; but I remember 
 that on this day it was bitterly cold, for snow 
 had been falling on the night before. I went 
 to bed, however, very early in the evening, and 
 slept soundly through the night. On the next 
 morning, the weather still continued very cold, 
 and I therefore determined to wait until I could 
 travel on comfortably. And I have often since 
 felt pleased that I met with this delay, my 
 children ; for Raleigh (as I said) is a pleasant 
 place, and I saw there the handsomest statue 
 which I ever looked upon in America. It was 
 the statue of General Washington, gut out of 
 white marble, which stood in the middle of 
 the state-house in North Carolina. And I 
 looked at it with great interest, not only because 
 it was beautiful, but also because it was the 
 last piece of work of the great man who made it. 
 It was made by a man named Canova (a cele- 
 brated Italian artist, who died soon after finish- 
 ing it). It was a very splendid piece of work, 
 
NEW-YORK. 191 
 
 I assure you, and the people there all seemed 
 very proud of having it in their state-house." 
 " Uncle Philip, I wish I could see it." 
 " But, my lad, you never will see it ; for 
 since that time the state-house has been burned 
 to the ground, and the statue almost completely 
 destroyed. But I did not stop only to look at thts 
 statue, but went into the state-house also, where 
 the members of the legislature were meeting 
 to make laws for the people. And I remember 
 that upon the wall of the room in which they 
 were all sitting, there was also placed a painted 
 likeness of General Washington ; and I could 
 not avoid being pleased with the people of 
 North Carolina, for this great respect which 
 they paid to the ' Father of our country? 
 
 " The members were then busily engaged 
 about some new law which had been proposed. 
 Many of the young men rose and spoke about 
 it, and I thought that some of them made 
 very fine speeches. At length, after much 
 had been said, both for and against the new 
 law, an old grayheaded man rose to speak. 
 He talked for a long time ; said ' that he had 
 been a member of the legislature for many 
 years, and that he remembered many laws 
 (much like the one then proposed) which had 
 
192 HISTORY OF 
 
 been passed.' Just at this moment some mem- 
 ber interrupted him, and asked at what time 
 some of these laws were passed? The old 
 man answered, ' that he could not remember 
 the precise time, but he was certain that 
 some such laws had been made.' At length 
 some of the laws, of which the old man was 
 thinking, were found ; and it was discovered 
 that their meaning was very different from 
 what he had supposed. And, in a short time, 
 that old man took his seat, looking very silly. 
 And I then thought of what my old school- 
 master used to say to me when I was a little 
 boy. ' Never talk about any thing which you 
 do not understand, and be sure that you remem- 
 ber any thing well before you pretend to speak 
 of it? And I know, my young friends, that you 
 will all think this was very good advice." 
 
 " Surely it was, Uncle Philip." 
 
 " Very good ; then bear in mind always that 
 you must not only remember facts, but you 
 must remember them accurately, and that you 
 must always be able to recollect the precise 
 time when any fact occurred. And I think, 
 children, that none of you will have great diffi- 
 culty in doing this, although some of you think 
 now that it is very difficult 
 
NEW-YORK. 193 
 
 " Here is a correct list of the governors and 
 .ieutenant-governors of the colony of New- 
 York; and opposite each name is the year 
 when that person came out to the country, ol 
 began to govern. I made this list for you last 
 night, after you all had left me. 
 
 DUTCH GOVERNORS. 
 
 Peter Minuit, in the year 1625 
 
 Wouter Van Twiller, 1633 
 
 William Kieft, 1638 
 
 Peter Stuyvesant, 1647 
 
 ENGLISH GOVERNORS. 
 
 
 Richard Nicolls, 
 
 1664 
 
 Francis Lovelace, 
 
 1667 
 
 Anthony Colve, Governor while 
 
 
 he Dutch had possession for 
 
 
 a little time, 
 
 1673 
 
 Edward Andros, 
 
 1674 
 
 Thomas Dongan, 
 
 1682 
 
 Francis Nicholson, 
 
 1688 
 
 Jacob Leisler, 1689 
 
 Henry Sloughter, 1691 
 
 Richard Ingolsby, President, 1692 
 
 Benjamin Fletcher, 1692 
 
 Richard Earl of Bellemont, 1698 
 
194 HISTORY OF 
 
 John Nanfan, Lieutenant, 1701 
 
 Lord Cornbury, 1702 
 
 Lord Lovelace, 1708 
 
 Richard Ingolsby, Lieutenant, 1709 
 Gerardus Beekman, President, 1710 
 Robert Hunter, 1710 
 
 Peter Schuyler, President, 1719 
 
 William Burnet, 1720 
 
 James Montgomery, 1728 
 
 Rip Van Dam, President, 1731 
 
 William Crosby, 1732 
 
 George Clarke, President, 1736 
 
 Mr. Clarke soon after appointed 
 
 Lieutenant-governor, 1736 
 
 George Clinton, 1743 
 
 Danvers Osborn, 1753 
 
 James De Lancey, Lieutenant- 
 governor, 1753 
 Sir Charles Hardy, 1755 
 James De Lancey, Lieutenant- 
 governor, 1 757 
 Cadwallader C olden, President, 1760 
 Mr. C olden appointed Lieuten- 
 ant-governor, 1761 
 Robert Monckton, 1762 
 Mr. Colden Lieut.-govemor, 1763 
 Henry Moore, 1765 
 
NEW-YORK. 195 
 
 Mr. Colden,Lieut.-governor, 1769 
 
 Earl of Dunmore, 1770 
 
 William Tryon, 1771 
 
 Mr. Colden Lieut. -governor, 1771 
 
 William Tryon, 1775 
 
 " And here, children, is a list of the sove- 
 reigns of England, from the time when Hudson 
 made his voyage in 1609, up to the declaration 
 of independence in 1776. By looking at this, 
 you can see at once who was reigning in Eng- 
 land when any particular thing occurred in 
 New- York. 
 
 James I. began to reign in 1603, reigned 22 yrs, 
 
 Charles I., 
 
 
 1625, 
 
 ' 24 
 
 Oliver Cromwell, 
 
 1653, 
 
 5 
 
 Charles II., 
 
 
 1660, 
 
 ' 25 
 
 James II., 
 
 
 1685, 
 
 4 
 
 William III. 
 
 and Mary, 
 
 1689, 
 
 ' 13 
 
 Anne, 
 
 
 1702, 
 
 ' 12 
 
 George I., 
 
 
 1714, 
 
 ' 13 
 
 George II., 
 
 
 1727, 
 
 ' 33 
 
 George III., 
 
 
 1760, 
 
 ' 60 
 
 " This, I hope, is all plain ; and with these 
 two lists by you, my young friends, I think you 
 
196 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 will readily call to mind any precise date which 
 you may wish. Farewell." 
 
 " Thank you, Uncle Philip, this is exactly 
 what we wanted." 
 
 FINIf. 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
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