Part 11 (1/2)

He could not sit still a moment. He found no quiet, not even in Grandfather's chair, but hurried to-and-fro, and up and down the staircase of the Province House. Now, he mounted to the cupola, and looked sea-ward, straining his eyes to discover if there were a sail upon the horizon. Now, he hastened down the stairs, and stood beneath the portal, on the red freestone steps, to receive some mud-bespattered courtier, from whom he hoped to hear tidings of the army.

A few weeks after the departure of the troops, Commodore Warren sent a small vessel to Boston, with two French prisoners. One of them was Monsieur Bouladrie, who had been commander of a battery, outside of the walls of Louisbourg. The other was the Marquis de la Maison Forte, captain of a French frigate, which had been taken by Commodore Warren's fleet.

These prisoners a.s.sured Governor s.h.i.+rley, that the fortifications of Louisbourg were far too strong ever to be stormed by the provincial army.

Day after day, and week after week, went on. The people grew almost heart-sick with anxiety; for the flower of the country was at peril in this adventurous expedition. It was now day-break, on the morning of the third of July.

But, hark! what sound is this? The hurried clang of a bell! There is the Old North, pealing suddenly out!-there, the Old South strikes in!-now, the peal comes from the church in Brattle street!-the bells of nine or ten steeples are all flinging their iron voices, at once, upon the morning breeze! Is it joy or alarm? There goes the roar of a cannon, too! A royal salute is thundered forth. And, now, we hear the loud exulting shout of a mult.i.tude, a.s.sembled in the street. Huzza, Huzza! Louisbourg has surrendered! Huzza!

”O Grandfather, how glad I should have been to live in those times!” cried Charley. ”And what reward did the king give to General Pepperell and Governor s.h.i.+rley?”

”He made Pepperell a baronet; so that he was now to be called Sir William Pepperell,” replied Grandfather. ”He likewise appointed both Pepperell and s.h.i.+rley to be colonels in the royal army. These rewards, and higher ones, were well deserved; for this was the greatest triumph that the English met with, in the whole course of that war. General Pepperell became a man of great fame. I have seen a full length portrait of him, representing him in a splendid scarlet uniform, standing before the walls of Louisbourg, while several bombs are falling through the air.”

”But, did the country gain any real good by the conquest of Louisbourg?”

asked Laurence. ”Or was all the benefit reaped by Pepperell and s.h.i.+rley?”

”The English Parliament,” said Grandfather, ”agreed to pay the colonists for all the expenses of the siege. Accordingly, in 1749, two hundred and fifteen chests of Spanish dollars, and one hundred casks of copper coin, were brought from England to Boston. The whole amount was about a million of dollars. Twenty-seven carts and trucks carried this money from the wharf to the provincial treasury. Was not this a pretty liberal reward?”

”The mothers of the young men, who were killed at the siege of Louisbourg, would not have thought it so,” said Laurence.

”No, Laurence,” rejoined Grandfather; ”and every warlike achievement involves an amount of physical and moral evil, for which all the gold in the Spanish mines would not be the slightest recompense. But, we are to consider that this siege was one of the occasions, on which the colonists tested their ability for war, and thus were prepared for the great contest of the Revolution. In that point of view, the valor of our forefathers was its own reward.”

Grandfather went on to say, that the success of the expedition against Louisbourg, induced s.h.i.+rley and Pepperell to form a scheme for conquering Canada. This plan, however, was not carried into execution.

In the year 1746, great terror was excited by the arrival of a formidable French fleet upon the coast. It was commanded by the Duke d'Anville, and consisted of forty s.h.i.+ps of war, besides vessels with soldiers on board.

With this force, the French intended to retake Louisbourg, and afterwards to ravage the whole of New England. Many people were ready to give up the country for lost.

But the hostile fleet met with so many disasters and losses, by storm and s.h.i.+pwreck, that the Duke d'Anville is said to have poisoned himself in despair. The officer next in command threw himself upon his sword and perished. Thus deprived of their commanders, the remainder of the s.h.i.+ps returned to France. This was as great a deliverance for New England, as that which old England had experienced in the days of Queen Elizabeth, when the Spanish Armada was wrecked upon her coast.

”In 1747,” proceeded Grandfather, ”Governor s.h.i.+rley was driven from the Province House, not by a hostile fleet and army, but by a mob of the Boston people. They were so incensed at the conduct of the British Commodore Knowles, who had impressed some of their fellow-citizens, that several thousands of them surrounded the council-chamber, and threw stones and brick-bats into the windows. The governor attempted to pacify them; but, not succeeding, he thought it necessary to leave the town, and take refuge within the walls of Castle William. Quiet was not restored, until Commodore Knowles had sent back the impressed men. This affair was a flash of spirit, that might have warned the English not to venture upon any oppressive measures against their colonial brethren.”

Peace being declared between France and England in 1748, the governor had now an opportunity to sit at his ease in Grandfather's chair. Such repose, however, appears not to have suited his disposition; for, in the following year, he went to England, and thence was dispatched to France, on public business. Meanwhile, as s.h.i.+rley had not resigned his office, Lieutenant-Governor Phips acted as chief magistrate in his stead.

Chapter IX

In the early twilight of Thanksgiving eve, came Laurence, and Clara, and Charley, and little Alice, hand in hand, and stood in a semi-circle round Grandfather's chair. They had been joyous, throughout that day of festivity, mingling together in all kinds of play, so that the house had echoed with their airy mirth.

Grandfather, too, had been happy, though not mirthful. He felt that this was to be set down as one of the good Thanksgivings of his life. In truth, all his former Thanksgivings had borne their part in the present one; for, his years of infancy, and youth, and manhood with their blessings and their griefs, had flitted before him, while he sat silently in the great chair. Vanished scenes had been pictured in the air. The forms of departed friends had visited him. Voices, to be heard no more on earth, had sent an echo from the infinite and the eternal. These shadows, if such they were, seemed almost as real to him, as what was actually present-as the merry shouts and laughter of the children-as their figures, dancing like suns.h.i.+ne before his eyes.

He felt that the past was not taken from him. The happiness of former days was a possession forever. And there was something in the mingled sorrow of his lifetime, that became akin to happiness, after being long treasured in the depths of his heart. There it underwent a change, and grew more precious than pure gold.

And now came the children, somewhat aweary with their wild play, and sought the quiet enjoyment of Grandfather's talk. The good old gentleman rubbed his eyes, and smiled round upon them all. He was glad, as most aged people are, to find that he was yet of consequence, and could give pleasure to the world. After being so merry, all day long, did these children desire to hear his sober talk? Oh, then, old Grandfather had yet a place to fill among living men,-or at least among boys and girls!

”Begin quick, Grandfather,” cried little Alice; ”for p.u.s.s.y wants to hear you.”

And, truly, our yellow friend, the cat, lay upon the hearth rug, basking in the warmth of the fire, p.r.i.c.king up her ears, and turning her head from the children to Grandfather, and from Grandfather to the children, as if she felt herself very sympathetic with them all. A loud purr, like the singing of a tea-kettle, or the hum of a spinning-wheel, testified that she was as comfortable and happy as a cat could be. For Puss had feasted, and therefore, like Grandfather and the children, had kept a good Thanksgiving.

”Does p.u.s.s.y want to hear me?” said Grandfather, smiling. ”Well; we must please p.u.s.s.y, if we can!”