Part 20 (2/2)

This was a great honor to the people. But now, Hanc.o.c.k was proclaimed governor by sound of trumpet; and there was again a settled government.”

Grandfather again adverted to the progress of the war. In 1781, General Greene drove the British from the Southern States. In October, of the same year, General Was.h.i.+ngton compelled Lord Cornwallis to surrender his army, at Yorktown, in Virginia. This was the last great event of the revolutionary contest. King George and his ministers perceived, that all the might of England could not compel America to renew her allegiance to the crown. After a great deal of discussion, a treaty of peace was signed, in September, 1783.

”Now, at last,” said Grandfather, ”after weary years of war, the regiments of Ma.s.sachusetts returned in peace to their families. Now, the stately and dignified leaders, such as General Lincoln and General Knox, with their pondered hair and their uniforms of blue and buff, were seen moving about the streets.”

”And little boys ran after them, I suppose,” remarked Charley; ”and the grown people bowed respectfully.”

”They deserved respect, for they were good men, as well as brave,”

answered Grandfather. ”Now, too, the inferior officers and privates came home, to seek some peaceful occupation. Their friends remembered them as slender and smooth-cheeked young men; but they returned with the erect and rigid mien of disciplined soldiers. Some hobbled on crutches and wooden legs; others had received wounds, which were still rankling in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Many, alas! had fallen in battle, and perhaps were left unburied on the b.l.o.o.d.y field.”

”The country must have been sick of war,” observed Laurence.

”One would have thought so,” said Grandfather. ”Yet only two or three years elapsed, before the folly of some misguided men caused another mustering of soldiers. This affair was called Shays' War, because a Captain Shays was the chief leader of the insurgents.”

”O Grandfather, don't let there be another war!” cried little Alice, piteously.

Grandfather comforted his dear little girl, by a.s.suring her that there was no great mischief done. Shays's War happened in the latter part of 1786, and the beginning of the following year. Its princ.i.p.al cause was the badness of the times. The State of Ma.s.sachusetts, in its public capacity, was very much in debt. So, likewise, were many of the people. An insurrection took place, the object of which seems to have been, to interrupt the course of law, and get rid of debts and taxes.

James Bowdoin, a good and able man, was now governor of Ma.s.sachusetts. He sent General Lincoln, at the head of four thousand men, to put down the insurrection. This general, who had fought through several hard campaigns in the Revolution, managed matters like an old soldier, and totally defeated the rebels, at the expense of very little blood.

”There is but one more public event to be recorded in the history of our chair,” proceeded Grandfather. ”In the year 1794, Samuel Adams was elected governor of Ma.s.sachusetts. I have told you what a distinguished patriot he was, and how much he resembled the stern old Puritans. Could the ancient freemen of Ma.s.sachusetts, who lived in the days of the first charter, have arisen from their graves, they would probably have voted for Samuel Adams to be governor.”

”Well, Grandfather, I hope he sat in our chair!” said Clara.

”He did,” replied Grandfather. ”He had long been in the habit of visiting the barber's shop, where our venerable chair, philosophically forgetful of its former dignities, had now spent nearly eighteen not uncomfortable years. Such a remarkable piece of furniture, so evidently a relic of long-departed times, could not escape the notice of Samuel Adams. He made minute researches into its history, and ascertained what a succession of excellent and famous people had occupied it.”

”How did he find it out?” asked Charley. ”For I suppose the chair could not tell its own history.”

”There used to be a vast collection of ancient letters and other doc.u.ments, in the tower of the old South Church,” answered Grandfather.

”Perhaps the history of our chair was contained among these. At all events, Samuel Adams appears to have been well acquainted with it. When he became governor, he felt that he could have no more honorable seat, than that which had been the ancient Chair of State. He therefore purchased it for a trifle, and filled it worthily for three years, as governor of Ma.s.sachusetts.”

”And what next?” asked Charley.

”That is all,” said Grandfather, heaving a sigh; for he could not help being a little sad, at the thought that his stories must close here.

”Samuel Adams died in 1803, at the age of above threescore and ten. He was a great patriot but a poor man. At his death, he left scarcely property enough to pay the expenses of his funeral. This precious chair, among his other effects, was sold at auction; and your Grandfather, who was then in the strength of his years, became the purchaser.”

Laurence, with a mind full of thoughts, that struggled for expression, but could find none, looked steadfastly at the chair.

He had now learned all its history, yet was not satisfied.

”Oh, how I wish that the chair could speak!” cried he. ”After its long intercourse with mankind-after looking upon the world for ages-what lessons of golden wisdom it might utter! It might teach a private person how to lead a good and happy life-or a statesman how to make his country prosperous!”

Chapter XI

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