WITCHCRAFT

1. Make a pen or pencil sketch of the log house Howells describes; of the bedstead. Help the class make a display board of printed pictures that illustrate the objects mentioned.2. What were the hardships of pioneering? The pleasures? Make a list of modern household conveniences the American pioneer did not have.

1. Make a pen or pencil sketch of the log house Howells describes; of the bedstead. Help the class make a display board of printed pictures that illustrate the objects mentioned.

2. What were the hardships of pioneering? The pleasures? Make a list of modern household conveniences the American pioneer did not have.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) is one of the best-known figures in American literature. He was a New Englander, and most of his writings deal with events or situations located in New England. He was especially happy in retelling old stories or in constructing tales from historical events.

Sir William Phips became Governor of Massachusettsin 1692. Almost as soon as he assumed the governmenthe became engaged in a frightful business whichmight have perplexed a wiser and better-cultivated headthan his. This was the witchcraft delusion, which originated5in the wicked arts of a few children. They belongedto the Rev. Mr. Parris, minister of Salem. These childrencomplained of being pinched, and pricked with pins, andotherwise tormented, by the shapes of men and women,who were supposed to have power to haunt them invisiblyboth in darkness and daylight.

Often in the midst of their family and friends the childrenwould pretend to be seized with strange convulsions and5would cry out that the witches were afflicting them. Thesestories spread abroad and caused great tumult and alarm.From the foundation of New England it had been the customof the inhabitants, in matters of doubt and difficulty,to look to their ministers for counsel. So they did now;10but unfortunately the ministers and wise men were moredeluded than the illiterate people. Cotton Mather, avery learned and eminent clergyman, believed that thewhole country was full of witches and wizards who hadgiven up their hopes of heaven and signed a covenant with15the Evil One.

Nobody could be certain that his nearest neighbor ormost intimate friend was not guilty of this imaginary crime.The number of those who pretended to be afflicted bywitchcraft grew daily more numerous; and they bore20testimony against many of the best and worthiest people.A minister named George Burroughs was among theaccused. In the months of August and September, 1692,he and nineteen other innocent men and women were putto death. The place of execution was a high hill on the25outskirts of Salem; so that many of the sufferers, as theystood beneath the gallows, could discern their habitationsin the town.

The killing of these guiltless persons served only toincrease the madness. The afflicted now grew bolder in30their accusations. Many people of rank and wealth wereeither thrown into prison or compelled to flee for theirlives. Among these were two sons of old Simon Bradstreet,the last of the Puritan governors. Mr. Willard, a piousminister of Boston, was cried out upon as a wizard in opencourt. Mrs. Hale, the wife of the minister of Beverly,was likewise accused. Philip English, a rich merchant of5Salem, found it necessary to take flight, leaving his propertyand business in confusion. But a short time afterwardthe Salem people were glad to invite him back.

The boldest thing the accusers did was to cry out againstthe Governor's own beloved wife. Yes, the lady of Sir10William Phips was accused of being a witch and of flyingthrough the air to attend witch meetings. When theGovernor heard this, he probably trembled.

Our forefathers soon became convinced that they hadbeen led into a terrible delusion. All the prisoners on15account of witchcraft were set free. But the innocentdead could not be restored to life, and the hill where theywere executed will always remind people of the saddestand most humiliating passage in our history.

—Grandfather's Chair.

1. Find a biography of Hawthorne and report to the class on one of the following topics: his youth and education; his early manhood; his writings. In place of either of these subjects you may substitute the retelling of another story of Hawthorne's you have read.2. Briefly, what is the history of witchcraft in New England?3. How do you account for people as level-headed as the New England settlers believing in witches?

2. Briefly, what is the history of witchcraft in New England?

3. How do you account for people as level-headed as the New England settlers believing in witches?

This extract portrays social life among the early Dutch settlers on the island of Manhattan. It is written in Irving's deliciously humorous style.

In those happy days, a well-regulated family alwaysrose with the dawn, dined at eleven, and went to bedat sundown. Dinner was invariably a private meal, andthe fat old burghers showed incontestable symptoms ofdisapprobation and uneasiness on being surprised by a5visit from a neighbor on such occasions. But though ourworthy ancestors were thus singularly averse to givingdinners, yet they kept up the social bonds of intimacy byoccasional banquetings, called tea parties.

As this is the first introduction of those delectable orgies10which have since become so fashionable in this city, I amconscious my fair readers will be very curious to receiveinformation on the subject. Sorry am I that there will bebut little in my description calculated to excite their admiration.I can neither delight them with accounts of suffocating15crowds, nor brilliant drawing rooms, nor toweringfeathers, nor sparkling diamonds, nor immeasurable trains.

I can detail no choice anecdotes of scandal, for in thoseprimitive times the simple folk were either too stupid ortoo good-natured to pull each other's characters to pieces;20nor can I furnish any whimsical anecdotes of brag—howone lady cheated or another bounced into a passion; foras yet there was no junto of dulcet old dowagers who metto win each other's money and lose their own tempers ata card table.

These fashionable parties were generally confined to thehigher classes, ornoblesse; that is to say, such as kept theirown cows and drove their own wagons. The company5commonly assembled at three o'clock and went away aboutsix, unless it was winter time, when the fashionable hourswere a little earlier, that the ladies might get home beforedark. I do not find that they ever treated their companyto ice creams, jellies, or sillabubs, or regaled them with10musty almonds, moldy raisins, or sour oranges, as is oftendone in the present age of refinement. Our ancestors werefond of more sturdy, substantial fare. The tea table wascrowned with a huge earthen dish, well stored with slicesof fat pork, fried brown, cut up into morsels, and swimming15in gravy.

The company, being seated around the genial board andeach furnished with a fork, evinced their dexterity inlaunching at the fattest pieces of this mighty dish in muchthe same manner as sailors harpoon porpoises at sea or20our Indians spear salmon in the lakes. Sometimes thetable was graced with immense apple pies or saucers fullof preserved peaches and pears; but it was always sure toboast of an enormous dish of balls of sweetened doughfried in hog's fat and called doughnuts; a delicious kind25of cake, at present scarce known in this city except in genuineDutch families.

The tea was served out of a majestic delft teapot ornamentedwith paintings of fat little Dutch shepherds andshepherdesses tending pigs, with boats sailing in the air30and houses built in the clouds, and sundry other ingeniousDutch fantasies. The beaux distinguished themselves bytheir adroitness in replenishing this pot from a huge copperteakettle which would have made the pigmy macaronisof these degenerate days sweat merely to look at it. Tosweeten the beverage, a lump of sugar was laid beside eachcup, and the company alternately nibbled and sipped with5great decorum; until an improvement was introducedby a shrewd and economic old lady, which was to suspenda large lump directly over the tea table by a string fromthe ceiling, so that it could be swung from mouth to mouth—aningenious expedient, which is still kept up by some10families in Albany, but which prevails without exceptionin Communipaw, Bergen, Flatbush, and all our uncontaminatedDutch villages.

At these primitive tea parties the utmost propriety anddignity of deportment prevailed. No flirting nor coquetting;15no gambling of old ladies nor hoyden chattering andromping of young ones; no self-satisfied struttings ofwealthy gentlemen with their brains in their pockets noramusing conceits and monkey divertisements of smartyoung gentlemen with no brains at all.20

The parties broke up without noise and without confusion.They were carried home by their own carriages; thatis to say, by the vehicles nature had provided them, exceptingsuch of the wealthy as could afford to keep a wagon.

—Knickerbocker's History of New York.

1. Read some passages in which Irving pokes fun at the Dutch customs; at the customs of his own times.2. How was a tea party conducted in New Amsterdam?3. Explain these words: incontestable, disapprobation, averse, delectable, orgies, whimsical, junto, dulcet, dowagers, macaronis, pigmy, hoyden, divertisements. Read your definition into the sentence where the word occurs.

1. Read some passages in which Irving pokes fun at the Dutch customs; at the customs of his own times.

2. How was a tea party conducted in New Amsterdam?

3. Explain these words: incontestable, disapprobation, averse, delectable, orgies, whimsical, junto, dulcet, dowagers, macaronis, pigmy, hoyden, divertisements. Read your definition into the sentence where the word occurs.

The following description of a pioneer school in Pennsylvania affords a fine opportunity to study the methods of teaching then in vogue. Many of them may appeal to us as being ludicrous; but undoubtedly Dock's teaching was in many ways far in advance of the times, when the usual and most-approved method of "imparting knowledge" consisted in beating ideas into pupils' heads with hickory switches.

A hundred and fifty years ago there was a famousteacher among the German settlers in Pennsylvania,who was known as "The Good Schoolmaster." His namewas Christopher Dock, and he had two little country schools.For three days he would teach at a little place called Skippack,5and then for the next three days he would teach atSalford.

People said that the good schoolmaster never lost histemper. There was a man who thought he would try tomake him angry. He said many harsh and abusive words10to the teacher, and even cursed him; but the only replythe teacher made was, "Friend, may the Lord have mercyon you."

Other schoolmasters used to beat their scholars severelywith whips and long switches; but Schoolmaster Dock15had found a better way. When a child came to school forthe first time, the other scholars were made to give thenew scholar a welcome by shaking hands with him oneafter another. Then the new boy or girl was told thatthis was not a harsh school but a place for those who wouldbehave. And if a scholar were lazy, disobedient, or stubborn,the master would in the presence of the whole schoolpronounce him not fit for this school but only for a schoolwhere children were flogged. The new scholar was asked5to promise to obey and to be diligent. When he had madethis promise, he was shown to a seat.

"Now," the good master would say, when this wasdone, "who will take this new scholar and help him tolearn?" When the new boy or girl was clean and bright10looking, many would be willing to take charge of him orher; but there were few ready to teach a dirty, ragged littlechild. Sometimes no one would wish to do it. In such acase the master would offer to the one who would take sucha child a reward of one of the beautiful texts of Scripture15which the schoolmasters of that time used to write anddecorate for the children. Or he would give him one ofthe pictures of birds which he was accustomed to paintwith his own hands.

Whenever one of the younger scholars succeeded in20learning his A, B, C, Christopher Dock would send wordto the father of the child to give him a penny, and he wouldask his mother to cook two eggs for him as a treat. Thesewere fine rewards for poor children in a new country.

There were no clocks or watches in the country. The25children came to school one after another, taking theirplaces near the master, who sat writing. They spenttheir time reading until all were there; but everyone whosucceeded in reading his passage without mistake stoppedreading and came and sat at the writing table to write.30The poor fellow who remained last on the bench was calledthe Lazy Scholar.

Every Lazy Scholar had his name written on the blackboard.If a child at any time failed to read correctly, hewas sent back to study his passage and called again aftera while. If he failed a second or a third time, all the scholarscried out, "Lazy!" Then his name was written on5the blackboard, and all the poor Lazy Scholar's friendswent to work to teach him to read his lesson correctly. Andif his name should not be rubbed off the board before schoolwas dismissed, all the scholars might write it down andtake it home with them. But if he could read well before10school was out, the scholars, at the bidding of the master,called out, "Industrious!" and then his name was erased.

The funniest of Dock's rewards was that which he gaveto those who made no mistake in their lessons. He markeda large O with chalk on the hand of the perfect scholar.15Fancy what a time the boys and girls must have had, tryingto go home without rubbing out this O!

If you had gone into this school some day, you mighthave seen a boy sitting on a punishment bench, all alone.This was a fellow who had told a lie or used bad language.20He was put there as not fit to sit near anybody else. Ifhe committed the offense often, a yoke would be put roundhis neck, as if he were a brute. Sometimes, however, theteacher would give the scholars their choice of a blow onthe hand or a seat on the punishment bench. They usually25preferred the blow.

The old schoolmaster in Skippack wrote one hundredrules of good behavior for his scholars. This is perhaps thefirst book on good manners written in America. But rulesof behavior for people living in houses of one or two rooms,30as they did in that day, were very different from thoseneeded in our time. Here are some of the rules:

"When you comb your hair, do not go out in the middleof the room," says the schoolmaster. This was because familieswere accustomed to eat and sleep in the same room.

"Do not eat your morning bread on the road or in school,"he tells them, "but ask your parents to give it to you at5home." From this we see that the common breakfastwas bread alone, and that the children often ate it as theywalked to school.

"Put your knife upon the right and your bread on theleft side," he says. Forks were little used in those days,10and the people in the country did not have any. He alsotells them not to throw bones under the table. It was acommon practice among some people of that time to throwbones and scraps under the table, where the dogs ate them.

As time passed on, Christopher Dock had many friends,15for all his scholars of former years loved him greatly. Helived to be very old, and taught his schools to the last.One evening he did not come home, and the people wentto look for the beloved old man. They found their dearold master on his knees in the schoolhouse. He had died20while praying alone.

—Stories of American Life and Adventure.

1. How was Christopher Dock's school different from most pioneer schools of that day?2. How did he teach good behavior? What inducements were offered for scholarship? You often hear people say that only the "three R's" were taught when they went to school. What do they mean?3. What information about pioneer home life does this article give you?4. You will be interested to know that the pupils in the early schools studied their reading aloud at the top of their voices. They learned reading by singing "ab," "ba," etc. Later, when geography was taught, the capitals of the states were sung.

1. How was Christopher Dock's school different from most pioneer schools of that day?

2. How did he teach good behavior? What inducements were offered for scholarship? You often hear people say that only the "three R's" were taught when they went to school. What do they mean?

3. What information about pioneer home life does this article give you?

4. You will be interested to know that the pupils in the early schools studied their reading aloud at the top of their voices. They learned reading by singing "ab," "ba," etc. Later, when geography was taught, the capitals of the states were sung.

You will recall that the French explorers Marquette, Joliet, La Salle, and others established missions and trading posts in the Illinois country. It was due to these early explorations that the French got control of a large part of the Northwest Territory.The following narrative tells of the simple life of the French settlers in that territory.

The following narrative tells of the simple life of the French settlers in that territory.

It is interesting to learn how the French people in theIllinois country lived in friendship with the savagetribes around them. The settlements were usually smallvillages on the edge of a prairie or in the heart of the woods.They were always near the bank of a river; for the watercourses5were the only roads and the light canoes of thevoyageurswere the only means of travel. There the Frenchsettlers lived like one great family, having for their rulersthe village priest and the older men of the community.

The houses were built along a single narrow street and so10close together that the villagers could carry on theirneighborly gossip each from his own doorstep. Thesehouses were made of a rude framework of corner posts,studs, and crossties, and were plastered, outside and in,with "cat and clay"—a kind of mortar, made of mud and15mixed with straw and moss. Around each house was apicket fence, and the forms of the dooryards and gardenswere regulated by the village lawgivers.

Adjoining the village was a large inclosure, or "commonfield," for the free use of all the villagers. The size of20this field depended upon the number of families in thesettlement; it sometimes contained several hundred acres.It was divided into plots or allotments, one for each household,and the size of the plot was proportioned accordingto the number of persons in the family. Each household5attended to the cultivation of its own ground and gatheredits own harvest. And if anyone should neglect to care forhis plot and let it become overgrown with weeds and thistles,he forfeited his right to any part of the common field andhis ground was given to another.10

Surrounding the common field was a large tract ofcleared land that was used as a common pasture ground.In some cases there were thousands of acres in this tract,and yet no person was allowed to use any part of it exceptfor the pasturage of his stock. When a new family came15into the settlement or a newly married couple began housekeeping,a small part of the pasture ground was taken intothe common field, in order to give the new household itsproper allotment.

The priest occupied the place of father to all the villagers,20whether white or red. They confided all their troubles tohim. He was their oracle in matters of learning as well asof religion. They obeyed his word as law.

The great business of all was fur trading and the care oftheir little plots of ground. The women kept their homes25in order, tended their gardens, and helped with the plowingand the harvesting. The men were the protectors of thecommunity. Some were soldiers, some were traders, butmost were engaged in hunting and in gathering beaver skinsand buffalo hides to be sold to the traders.30

The traders kept a small stock of French goods—laces,ribbons, and other articles, useful and ornamental—andthese they exchanged for the products of the forest. Theyoung men, as a rule, sought business and pleasure in thegreat woods. Some of them becamevoyageurs, or boatmen,in the service of the traders. In their light canoes theyexplored every rivulet and stream and visited the distant5tribes among the sources of the Mississippi and Missouri.Others took to the forest as woods rangers, orcoureurs debois, and became almost as wild as the Indians themselves.They wandered wherever their fancy led them, huntinggame, trapping beavers, and trading with their dusky10friends. Those who roamed in the Lake regions built hereand there small forts of logs and surrounded them withpalisades. In one of these forts a company of two or threecoureurswould remain for a few weeks and then leave itto be occupied by anyone who might next come that way.15A post of this kind was built at Detroit long before anypermanent settlement was made there; and scattered longdistances apart on the Lake shore and in the heart of thewilderness, were many others.

The northerncoureurs, when returning from the woods,20resorted to Mackinac as their headquarters; or loadedwith beaver skins they made their way to Montreal,where they conducted themselves in a manner that wouldhave shamed a Mohawk or a Sioux. But the rangersof the Illinois country were in the habit of returning once25each year to their village homes. There they were welcomedwith joy, balls and festivals were given in theirhonor, and old and young gathered around them to hearthe story of their adventures.

Thus in the heart of the wilderness, these French settlers30passed their lives in the enjoyment of unbounded freedom.They delighted in amusements and there were almost asmany holidays as working days. Being a thousand milesfrom any center of civilization they knew but little of whatwas taking place in the world. In their hearts they weredevoted to their mother country; they believed that"France ruled the world and therefore all must be right."5Further than this they troubled themselves but little.They were contented and happy and seldom allowedthemselves to be annoyed by the perplexing cares ofbusiness.

They had no wish to subdue the wilderness—to hew10down the forest, and make farms, and build roads, andbring civilization to their doors. To do this would be tochange the modes of living that were so dear to them. Itwould destroy the fur trade, and then what would becomeof the traders, thevoyageurs, and thecoureurs15de bois?These French settlers were not the kind of people tofound colonies and build empires.

We are indebted to Father Marest for a descriptionof the daily routine of life among the converts and Frenchsettlers at Kaskaskia. At early dawn his pupils came to20him in the church, where they had prayers and all joinedin singing hymns. Then the Christians in the village mettogether to hear him say Mass—the women standing onone side of the room, the men on the other.

The French women were dressed in prettily colored25jackets and short gowns of homemade woolen stuffs or ofFrench goods of finer texture. In summer most of themwere barefooted, but in winter and on holidays they woreIndian moccasins gayly decorated with porcupine quills,shells, and colored beads. Instead of hats they wore30bright-colored handkerchiefs, interlaced with gay ribbonsand sometimes wreathed with flowers.

The men wore long vests drawn over their shirts, leggingsof buckskin or of coarse woolen cloth, and wooden clogshoes or moccasins of heavy leather. In winter theywrapped themselves in long overcoats with capes and hoodsthat could be drawn over their heads and thus serve for5hats. In summer their heads were covered with bluehandkerchiefs worn turbanlike as a protection from mosquitoesas well as from the rays of the sun.

After the morning devotions were over, each personbetook himself to whatever business or amusement was10most necessary or congenial; and the priest went out tovisit the sick, giving them medicine and consoling them inwhatever way he could. In the afternoon those who choseto do so came again to the church to be taught the catechism.During the rest of the day the priest walked about15the village, talking with old and young and entering intosympathy with all their hopes and plans. In the eveningthe people would meet together again to chant the hymnsof the church. This daily round of duty and devotionwas often varied by the coming of holidays and festivals20and sometimes by occurrences of a sadder nature—death,or misfortune, or the threatened invasion of savage foes.

—The Discovery of the Old Northwest.

1. Contrast the life of these French communities with the life of the Dutch settlers as described in pages 70-72. How did it differ from pioneer life in Ohio (pages 62-67)?2. Why did the French communities not make progress? Why did the English colonists finally overcome them?3. Longfellow'sEvangelinedescribes French life in Nova Scotia. If you have read it, tell your classmates how Evangeline lived.4. Find from your histories what parts of North America were settled by the French. What parts of it are still peopled largely by French?

1. Contrast the life of these French communities with the life of the Dutch settlers as described in pages 70-72. How did it differ from pioneer life in Ohio (pages 62-67)?

2. Why did the French communities not make progress? Why did the English colonists finally overcome them?

3. Longfellow'sEvangelinedescribes French life in Nova Scotia. If you have read it, tell your classmates how Evangeline lived.

4. Find from your histories what parts of North America were settled by the French. What parts of it are still peopled largely by French?

Not the least of the perils of the pioneers were the wild animals of the forest. Bears, wolves, and panthers were the worst terrors. Mothers were in constant fear of their children straying away from the cabin into the woods where four-footed danger lurked.

A man and his wife with three children—a boy aged nineand two little girls, the elder seven and the youngerfive years old—lived in a comfortable cabin not far fromthe eastern line of Indiana. Their nearest neighbor wassix or seven miles distant, and all around their little clearing5stood a wall of dense forest. The father tended a smallfield of corn and vegetables, but their main dependence forfood was upon the game killed by him, so he was oftenabsent all day in the woods, hunting deer and turkeys.

The children were forbidden to go outside the inclosure10while their father was away, and the mother, at the slightesthint of danger, was instructed to close the door and bar itand shut the portholes. But even in times of such danger,people grew careless and permitted themselves to takerisks in a way quite incredible to our minds. Children15were restless when confined to a cabin or within a smallyard, when the green woods were but a few steps away,with flowers blooming and rich mosses growing all around.They constantly longed to be free, if only for a few moments,to wander at will and make playhouses in the dusky shade,20to climb upon the great logs and watch the gay-wingedbirds flit about in the foliage on high.

One day in early spring the father went to the woods tohunt. Before setting forth with his rifle on his shoulder,he particularly charged his wife not to permit the children,no matter how much they begged and cried for it, to gooutside the yard.5

"At this time of the year," he said, "bears and all otherwild beasts are cross. They wander everywhere and arevery dangerous when met with. Watch the children."

The wife did try faithfully to keep her eyes upon herdarlings; but she had many household duties to perform,10and so at last she forgot.

The spring was very early that year, and although itwas not yet May, the green tassels were on the maples andthe wild flowers made the ground gay in places. All aroundthe clearing ran a ripple of bird song. The sunshine was15dreamy, the wind soft and warm.

The little boy felt the temptation. It was as if a sweetvoice called him to the wood. Nor were the little girlsless attracted than he by the thought of gathering mossesand flowers and running at will under the high old trees.20

Before their mother knew it, they were gone. She hadnot yet discovered their truancy when a cry coming fromsome distance startled her; it was her little boy's voicescreaming lustily, and upon looking out she saw all threeof the children running as fast as they could across the25clearing from the wood toward the house. Behind them,at a slow, peculiar lope, a huge bear followed.

Frightened almost to death, the poor woman scarcelyknew what she was doing; but she had the fighting instinctof all backwoods people, and her first motion was to snatch30off the wall, where it lay in a deer's-horn rest, a large horsepistol. With this in hand she ran to meet her children.Some hunter had broken the bear's fore leg with a bulleta few days before, which accounted for its strange, waddlinggait; but it was almost within reach of the hindmost childwhen the mother arrived. The bear at once turned itsattention to the newcomer, and with a terrific snarl rushed5at her. On sped the children, screaming and crazy withfright. It was a moment of imminent peril to the mother,but she was equal to the occasion. She leveled the pistoland fired. Six leaden slugs struck the bear in the headand neck, knocking it over.10

Not very far away in the woods at the time, the manheard the loud report, and fearing that Indians were murderinghis family, he ran home to find his wife just revivingfrom a swoon. She had fainted immediately after seeingthe effect of her shot.15

The bear was not yet dead, but a ball from the rifle finishedhim. He was a monster in size. Doubtless thewound in his fore leg had made it difficult for him to getfood, and he had attacked the children on account of sheerhunger. But had he not been in that maimed condition,20his attack would have been successful and the hindmostchild would have been torn to pieces and eaten up in theshortest time and with little show of table manners.

—Stories of Indiana.

1. There must be in your community some older person who knows stories of the pioneer days. Ask your teacher to have him tell your class about the life of an earlier day.2. What other bear stories have you read or heard?3. Maurice Thompson (1844-1901) knew life in the Middle West at first hand. His home was in Indiana. He was the author of several stories, his widest-read novel beingAlice of Old Vincennes.

1. There must be in your community some older person who knows stories of the pioneer days. Ask your teacher to have him tell your class about the life of an earlier day.

2. What other bear stories have you read or heard?

3. Maurice Thompson (1844-1901) knew life in the Middle West at first hand. His home was in Indiana. He was the author of several stories, his widest-read novel beingAlice of Old Vincennes.

Many of the most interesting incidents of the Revolutionary War are buried in old state documents, in family records, or in stray personal letters. Others are largely traditional; for our ancestors of pioneer days were doers rather than chroniclers of their doings.The following event is largely legendary, but none the less true. It is dramatically told here by the author of the Uncle Remus stories.

The following event is largely legendary, but none the less true. It is dramatically told here by the author of the Uncle Remus stories.

The Revolutionary War in Georgia developed somevery romantic figures, which are known to us ratherby tradition than by recorded history. First among them,on the side of the patriots, was Robert Sallette. Neitherhistory nor tradition gives us the place of his birth or the5date of his death; yet it is known that he played a moreimportant part in the struggle in the colony than any manwho had no troops at his command. He seems to haveslipped mysteriously on the scene at the beginning of thewar. He fought bravely, even fiercely, to the end; and10then, having nothing else to do, slipped away as mysteriouslyas he came.

Curious as we may be to know something of the personalhistory of Robert Sallette, it is not to be found chronicledin the books. The French twist to his name makes it15probable that he was a descendant of those unfortunateAcadians who, years before, had been stripped of theirlands and possessions in Nova Scotia by the British, theirhouses and barns burned, and they themselves transportedaway from their homes. They were scattered at various20points along the American coast. Some were landed atPhiladelphia, and some were carried to Louisiana. Fourhundred were sent to Georgia. The British had many actsof cruelty to answer for in those days, but none more infamousthan this treatment of the gentle and helpless5Acadians. It stands in history to-day a stain upon theBritish name.

Another fact that leads to the belief that Robert Sallettewas a descendant of the unfortunate Acadians was theferocity with which he pursued the British and the Tories.10The little that is told about him makes it certain that henever gave quarter to the enemies of his country.

His name was a terror to the Tories. One of them, aman of considerable means, offered a reward of one hundredguineas to any person who would bring him the head of15Robert Sallette. The Tory had never seen Sallette, buthis alarm was such that he offered a reward large enoughto tempt some one to assassinate the daring partisan.When Sallette heard of the reward, he disguised himselfas a farmer, and provided himself with a pumpkin, which20he placed in a bag. With the bag swinging across hisshoulder, he made his way to the house of the Tory. Hewas invited in, and deposited the bag on the floor besidehim, the pumpkin striking the boards with a thump.

"I have brought you the head of Robert Sallette," said25he. "I hear that you have offered a reward of one hundredguineas for it."

"Where is it?" asked the Tory.

"I have it with me," replied Sallette, shaking the looseend of the bag. "Count out the money and take the head."30

The Tory, neither doubting nor suspecting, counted outthe money and placed it on the table.

"Now show me the head," said he.

Sallette removed his hat, tapped himself on the forehead,and said, "Here is the head of Robert Sallette!"

The Tory was so frightened that he jumped from theroom, and Sallette pocketed the money and departed.5

1. Who was Sallette? What guess does the author make as to his nationality? Why?2. Relate the incident told.3. Explain the meaning of: Tory, Acadians, chronicled, "never gave quarter," assassinate, partisan.4. Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908) was born, and spent most of his life, in Georgia. For many years he was editor ofThe Atlanta Constitution. You are doubtless acquainted with his charming Uncle Remus stories.

1. Who was Sallette? What guess does the author make as to his nationality? Why?

2. Relate the incident told.

3. Explain the meaning of: Tory, Acadians, chronicled, "never gave quarter," assassinate, partisan.

4. Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908) was born, and spent most of his life, in Georgia. For many years he was editor ofThe Atlanta Constitution. You are doubtless acquainted with his charming Uncle Remus stories.

A song for the early times out West,And our green old forest home,Whose pleasant memories freshly yetAcross the bosom come;A song for the free and gladsome life,5In those early days we led,With a teeming soil beneath our feet,And a smiling heaven o'erhead!Oh, the waves of life danced merrily,And had a joyous flow,10In the days when we were pioneers,Seventy years ago!The hunt, the shot, the glorious chase,The captured elk or deer;The camp, the big, bright fire, and thenThe rich and wholesome cheer:The sweet, sound sleep, at dead of night,5By our camp fire, blazing high,Unbroken by the wolf's long howl,And the panther springing by.Oh, merrily passed the time, despiteOur wily Indian foe,10In the days when we were pioneers,Seventy years ago!Our forest life was rough and rude,And dangers closed us round;But here, amid the green old trees,15Freedom was sought and found.Oft through our dwellings wintry blastsWould rush with shriek and moan;We cared not—though they were but frail,We felt they were our own!20Oh, free and manly lives we led,'Mid verdure or 'mid snow,In the days when we were pioneers,Seventy years ago!

1. In your own community how many years past are the days of pioneering?2. What pleasant things about pioneer life does the author recall?3. Imagine that you are a pioneer man or woman. Tell what one day of your life is like.

1. In your own community how many years past are the days of pioneering?

2. What pleasant things about pioneer life does the author recall?

3. Imagine that you are a pioneer man or woman. Tell what one day of your life is like.

SPECIAL DAYSThere come days in the lives of men, of nations, of races, and in the life of civilization itself which are of such conspicuous importance that they are set apart from the ordinary run of days and the events they stand for are duly remembered each recurring year on the proper date. Birthdays, religious feast days, days of battle—many are the occasions commemorated. The value to us of such special days is in their observance—that we dedicate ourselves to the spirit they perpetuate.

SPECIAL DAYS

There come days in the lives of men, of nations, of races, and in the life of civilization itself which are of such conspicuous importance that they are set apart from the ordinary run of days and the events they stand for are duly remembered each recurring year on the proper date. Birthdays, religious feast days, days of battle—many are the occasions commemorated. The value to us of such special days is in their observance—that we dedicate ourselves to the spirit they perpetuate.

Washington's Greatest BattleWashington's Greatest Battle(Seepage 116)

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