Preface

Columbian Magazine was one of the most successful early American magazines. Mathew Carey, Charles Cist, Thomas Seddon, William Spotswood, and John Trenchard founded it. The first issue of the magazine was published in September of 1786 and the magazine ran until 1792. The editors included the initial founders as well as, at various times, Francis Hopkinson, James Dallas, and an anonymous “society of gentlemen.” It had the largest circulation of eighteenth-century American magazines, with 1,500 subscribers.

It notably included fiction, as this was unusual at that time. Most issues had two or three stories, all of which were written and published anonymously. As Frank Luther Mott explains, these fictional stories ranged widely, including “oriental tales, allegories, characters, moral ‘novels,’ or ‘fragments” (96). The magazine also contained travel writing, such as descriptions of less commonly known American regions, as well as the types of essay series common to many magazines. According to Gardner, the magazine “sought to create not an ephemeral periodical production but a lasting monument upon which a national literary culture might be built” (82). This fiction was often, as with both The Foresters and a “fragment” piece entitled Shipwreck, written as a transparent allegory for the new nation.

The magazine often focused on agriculture and mechanics, for instance an illustrated description of John Fitch’s steamboat. It later began to focus more on biography and history. For instance, Jeremy Belknap wrote biographical sketches that were later collected into a single volume. The magazine’s contributors also discussed educational methods.

The Columbian notably published historical articles, including a history of the Revolution. In its later guise of the Universal Asylum and Columbian Magazine, begun in January 1790, it focused on presenting narratives and documents about the history of the Revolutionary War. Once renamed to the Universal Asylum and Columbian Magazine, an anonymous “Society of Gentlemen” published it. It had fewer illustrations at this point, although it was still engraved by Thackara and Vallance.

In this version, it continued to be printed for almost three years, and sometimes these issues proved popular enough to warrant a printing of a second edition. The magazine was discontinued in 1792. According to A History of American Magazines, this was due to “the difficulties afforded by the new postoffice law of that year” rather than a lack of public interest or subscribers.

According to Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, Belknap initially published The Foresters anonymously. Although it sold well and circulated widely, and William Cullent Bryant praised it in a review, its initial public did not know The Foresters’ authorship. They did likely recognize its debt to John Arbuthnot’s History of John Bull, which was published in 1712.

The Foresters was partially serialized in the magazine from its June 1787 issue to its April 1788 issue. The novel’s publication frequency was monthly for most of its serialization, although the final few installments were instead spaced two months apart. The novel subsequently was published as a self-contained book.

The Foresters was initially written in a non-epistolary manner, later converted to an epistolary format when published in book versions. The run of installments breaks off without editorial comment or explanation. It ran: June 1787, pp. 453-56; July 1787, pp. 514-17; August 1787, pp. 565-69; September 1787, pp. 618-22; October 1787, pp. 706-10; November 1787, pp. 737-41; December 1787, pp. 790-93; February 1788, pp. 58-60; and April 1788, pp. 183-86.

The novel was completed in the 1792 book edition, with sixteen letters to a friend. The full title then became The Foresters, an American Tale; Being a Sequel to the History of John Bull the Clothier. In a Series of Letters to a Friend. The 1796 edition contains further revisions and expansions, according to Eitner, such as a new total of eighteen letters. In each, names are altered. Much later, it was printed in a facsimile edition in 1969, reproducing the 1792 version with an introduction by Lewis A. Turlish.

The Foresters presents an atypical and satirical allegory for the founding of such a recently independent nation, created through revolution. Gardner asserts that The Foresters “uses allegory and satire to argue for natural hierarchy and the need for a strong federal government” (p. 83). While this is true, it is worth emphasizing that each colony is characterized differently. All are given male personas, and the collection bursts with diverse economic, religious, and temperamental dispositions. Some have better relationships with John Bull than others. Native Americans are only somewhat depicted as varied amongst themselves. All the indigenous cultures and nations lumped together and depicted as “wild beasts,” with some individual beasts lured into civilization through their desire for molasses.

Rather than manufacturing a simple unity through similarity or nationalist fellow-feeling, the installments in Columbia magazine conclude with an emergent recognition of shared mistreatment rather than innate affinity. These foresters recognize themselves as an emergent unit in relation to John Bull rather than recognizing an overriding similarity among themselves. By presenting less a foundational mythology of noble aspirations than a satirical, at times even coarsely comedic tale focusing on material and cultural concerns, Belknap’s novel emphasizes the many aspects of difference, discord, and disagreement among its characters as much as it does shared situation and fellow-feeling. The foresters’ turn toward unification seems very reluctant and a direct effect of their collective mistreatment by John Bull. Belknap depicts the emergent country arising from a situational adherence rather than an innate national coherence.

The Foresters Critical Bibliography

“Belknap, Jeremy (1744-1798), An Introduction to.” Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 115, Gale, 2005. Literature Criticism 1400-1800 Online.

Clark, Jennifer. “John Bull’s American Connection: The Allegorical Interpretation of England and the Anglo-American Relationship.” Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 1, 1990, pp. 15-39.

Cole, Charles William. “Jeremy Belknap: Pioneer Nationalist.” The New England Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 4, 1937, pp. 743-751.

Eitner, Walter H. “Jeremy Belknap’s The Foresters: A Thrice-Told Tale.” Early American Literature, vol. 14, no. 2, 1979, pp. 156–62.

Emerson, Amanda. “From Equivalence to Equity: The Management of an American Myth.” differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, 2003, pp. 78-105.

Free, William J. Columbian Magazine and American Literary Nationalism. Mouton, 1968.

—. The Rise and Fall of Early American Magazine Culture: The History of Communication.

Hastings, George E. “John Bull and His American Descendants.” American Literature, vol. 1, no. 1, 1929, pp. 40-68.

Kaplan, Sidney. “The History of New-Hampshire: Jeremy Belknap as Literary Craftsman.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 1, 1964, pp. 18-39.

—. “Jeremy Belknap: Man of Letters in the Young Republic.” The New England Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 1, 1981, pp. 33-53.

Lawrimore, David. “Conflict Management: Jeremy Belknap’s Committed Literature.” Early American Literature, vol. 50, no. 2, 2015, pp. 359-384.

Leary, Lewis. “Poetry as Payment: Jeremy Belknap.” Early American Literature, vol. 17, no. 2, 1982, pp. 161-164.

Martin, Terence. “Social Institutions in the Early American Novel.” American Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 1, 1957, pp. 72-84.

Mayo, Lawrence Shaw. “Jeremy Belknap and Ebenezer Hazard, 1782-84.” The New England Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 2, 1929, pp. 183-198.

McCarter, Pete Kyle. “Mother Carey’s Jacobin Chickens.” Early American Literature, vol. 14, no. 2, 1979, pp. 163-173.

Mott, Frank Luther. A History of American Magazines 1741-1850. Harvard UP, 1939.

Okker, Patricia. Social Stories: The Magazine Novel in Nineteenth-Century America. U of Virginia P, 2003.

Shelley, Fred. “Ebenezer Hazard: America’s First Historical Editor.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 12, no. 1, 1955, pp. 44-73.

Wright, Lyle H. “A Statistical Survey of American Fiction, 1774-1850.” Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 3, 1939, pp. 309-318.

Text

THE FORESTERS,\ An AMERICAN TALE, being a Sequel to the History of JOHN BULL, the Clothier.

EVERY one who has read the
history of John Bull, the
clothier, must have observed, that
though “he was in the main an ho-
nest, plain dealing fellow, yet he
was choleric and inconstant, and ve-
ry apt to quarrel with his best
friends.” This observation we shall
find fully verified in the course of
the following narrative; and as the
opinions and manners of superiors
have a very great influence in form-
ing the character of inferiors, we
need not be surprized if we find a
family likeness prevailing among the
persons whose history we are about
to recite, most, of whom were form-
erly residents in Mr. Bull’s house,
or apprentices in his shop.

There was among the appen-
dages to John’s estate, a pretty large
tract of land, which had been ne-
glected by his ancestors, and which
he never cared much about, except-
ing that now and then some of his
family went thither a-hunting, and
brought home venison and furs. In-
deed this was as far as I can find the
best pretence that John had to call
the land his; for he had no legal
title to it. It was then a very woody
country, in some parts rocky and
hilly, in other parts level; well wa-
tered with brooks and ponds, and
the whole of it bordered on a large
lake, in which were plenty of fish,
some of which were often served up
at John’s table, on fast-days.
The stories told by one and an-
other of these adventurers, had made
a deep impression on the mind of
Walter Pipe-Weed (¹ ) one of John’s
domestics, a fellow of a roving and
projecting disposition, and who had
learned the art of surveying. Walter
having frequently listened to their
chat, began to think within him-
self, “If these fellows make so ma-
ny pence by their excursions to this
wild spot, what might not I gain
by sitting down upon it ? There is
plenty of game and fish at hand, for
a present supply; plenty of nuts
and acorns to fatten pigs, and with
some small labour I may be able
to raise corn and feed poultry, which
will fetch me a good price at mar-
ket.–I can carry bisket enough in
my pockets, to keep me alive till my
first crop comes in, and my dog can
live upon the offals of the game that
I shall kill.–Besides, who knows
what treasures the land itself may
contain–perhaps some rich mines !
–od zounds!–then I am made for
this world.”

Full of this dream, Walter ap-
plied to his master one day for a
lease of part of the forest, as it was
called. Bull at first laughed at the
proposal, and put him off; but Wal-
ter followed it up so close, and told
what advantages might be gained
by settling there, and promised, if
he should succeed, to turn all his
trade into his master’s hand, and
give him the refusal of whatever he
might bring to market, and withal
shewed him some draughts, which
he had made with chalk, from the
reports of the huntsmen, that Bull
began to think of the matter in good
earnest, and consulted his lawyer
upon the subject, who, after due
consideration of the premises, and
stroking his band, advised him as
follows. “Why yes, Mr. Bull, I
don’t see why you ought not to
look about you as well as your neigh-
bours. There is Lord Street–he
has a large manor adjoining to your
forest, which, they say, yields him a
fine rent, and, who knows, but this
may bring you in as much, or more?
–Then there is old Lewis, the cud-
gel-player, and Nic Frog, the dra-
per, who have, perhaps, (I say per- *
*haps, Mr. Bull, because it may be
a little doubtful on both sides, and
in that case, you know, sir, it would
not become gentlemen of our cloth,
to speak positively) as good a claim
as your honor to this land; but then
it is a maxim, you know, that pos-
session is eleven points of the law,
and if you once get your foot upon
it–they can not out you without a
process, and your honor knows that
your purse is as long as theirs, and
you are as able to stand a suit with
them as they are with you. I there-
fore advise you to humour your man
Walter, and give him a lease, and a
pretty large one–you may find
more advantages in it than you are
aware of–but lease it, lease it at any
rate.” Upon this he was ordered
to make out a lease; and Walter be-
ing thus invested with as good au-
thority as could be obtained, filled
his pockets with bread and cheese,
took his gun, powder-flask, and shot
of various kinds, with a parcel of
fishing-lines and hooks, his survey-
ing instruments, and a bag of corn
on his shoulders, and off he trotted
to his new paradise.

It was some time before he could
fix upon a spot to his liking, and he
at first met with some opposition
from the bears and wolves, and was
greatly exposed to the weather,
before he could build him a hut;
once or twice the savage animals had
almost devoured him, but being
made of good stuff, he stood his
ground, cleared a little spot, put his
seed into the earth, and lived as well
as such adventurers can expect, poor-
ly enough at first, but supported by
the hope of better times. After a
while he began to thrive, and his
master Bull recommended a wife (²)
to whom he married, and by whom
he had a number of children. Hav-
ing found a new sort of grain in the
forest, and a certain plant of a nar-
cotic quality, he cultivated both,
and having procured a number of
(³) black-cattle, he went on pretty
gaily in the planting way, and
brought his narcotic weed into great
repute, by sending a present of a
quantity of it to his old master, who
grew excessively fond of it, and kept
calling for more, till he got the
whole trade of it into his own hands,
and sold it out of his own ware-house
to old Lewis, Nic Frog, and all the
other tradesmen around him. In
return he supplied Walter with
cloths and stuffs for his family, and
utensils for his husbandry; and as
a reward for being the first, who had
courage to make a settlement in his
forest, and in token of his high es-
teem of him as a customer, as well as
for certain other reasons, he made
it a practice every year, to present
him with a waggon-load of ordure,
(⁴) the sweepings of his back-yard,
the scrapings of his dog-kennel, and
contents of his own water closet.
This was a mark of politeness which
John valued himself much upon. “It
may seem odd (said he one day to a
friend) that I make such a kind of
compliment as this to my good cus-
tomer; but if you consider it a-
right you will find it a piece of re-
fined policy–for by this means I
get rid of a deal of trash and rub-
bish that is necessarily made in such
a family as mine; I get a cursed
stink removed from under my nose,
and my good friend has the advan-
tage of it upon his farm, to manure
his grounds, and make them produce
more plentifully that precious weed
in which we all so much delight.”
Walter was often seen, on the arri-
val of Bull’s waggon, to clap his
handkerchief to his nose; but as he
knew his old master was an odd sort
of a fellow, and it was his interest
to keep in with him, he generally
turned off the compliment with a
laugh, saying, good naturedly e-
nough, “Let him laugh that wins,”
without explaining his meaning, tho’
it might admit of a double entendre,
–and calling some of his servants,
he ordered them to shovel out the
dung, and make his black cattle mix
theirs with it–and when spread over
the land, the air took out most of
the scent, and the salts were of some
advantage to the soil.

After Walter Pipe-weed had got
his affairs into tolerable order, he
was visited in his retirement by
Frederick Peterson (⁵), another of
Bull’s apprentices, who had taken
a fancy to the same kind of life,
from a disgust to some things that
had happened in the family. He
had not been long with Walter be-
fore he found it would not do for
him to remain there. Frederick
was supposed to be a natural son of
old Lord Peter, after whom he was
nick-named. He had the same af-
fected airs, and a tincture of the
high flying notions of his reputed fa-
ther. These made him rather dis-
gustful to Walter, who had learned
his manners of Mr. Bull’s mother,
when she was in her sober senses,
and between her and Lord Peter
there had been a long variance.
When Frederick perceived that his
company was not desired, he had so
much good sense as to leave Walter’s
plantation, and paddling across a
creek, seated himself on a point of
land that ran out into the lake. Of
this he obtained a lease of his old
master, and went to work in the
same manner as Walter had done,
who, liking his company best at a
distance, was willing to supply him
with bread and meat till he could
scramble for himself. Here he took
to husbandry, raising corn and the
narcotic weed, and buying up black *
*cattle, and after a while turned his
produce into his old master’s ware-
house, and received from him the
annual compliment of a waggon-
load of dung, excepting that when
there had not been so much as usual
made, he and Walter were to share
a load between them.

To ingratiate himself still farther
with his old master, he accepted of
a girl out of his family for a wife,
(for John was always fond of his
tenants marrying for fear of their
doing worse) he took as little notice
as possible of his reputed father, and
dropping, or disowning his nick-
name of Peterson, he assumed that of
Marygold, which old Madam Bull
understood as a compliment to one
of her daughters.–He also made
his court to the old lady by kneel-
ing down and kissing the fringe of
her embroidered petticoat, as was
the fashion of that day. This cere-
mony, tho’ a trifle in itself, helped
much to recommend him to Mr.
Bull, who was a very dutiful son,
and took his mother’s advice in most
parts of his business. In short, Fre-
derick was too much of a politician
to suppose that filial affection ought
to stand in the way of a man’s inte-
rest, and in this he judged as most
other men would have done in the
same circumstances.

The FORESTERS, An AMERICAN TALE, being a Sequel to the History of JOHN BULL, the Clothier.

ABOUT the time in which
these first attempts were mak-
ing, and the fame of them had
raised much jealousy among some,
and much expectation among others,
there happened a sad quarrel in John
Bull’s family. His mother, (⁶) poor
Woman, had been seized with hyste-
ric fits, which caused her at times
to be delirious and full of all sorts
of whims. She had taken it into
her head that every one of the fa-
mily must hold knife and fork and
spoon exactly alike; that they must
all wash their hands and face pre-
cisely in the same manner; that
they must sit, stand, walk, kneel,
bow, spit, blow their noses, and
perform every other animal function
by the exact rule of uniformity,
which she had drawn up with her
own hand, and from which they
were not allowed to vary one hair’s
breadth. If any one of the family
complained of a lame ancle or stiff
knee, or had the crick in his neck,
or happened to cut his finger, or
was any other way so disabled as not
to perform his duty to a tittle, she
was so far from making the least al-
lowance, that she would frown and
scold and rave like a bedlamite; and
John was such an obedient son to his
mother, that he would lend her his
hand to cut their ears, or his foot
to kick their backsides, for not com-
plying with her humours. This
way of proceeding raised an uproar
in the family; for though most of
them complied, either through af-
fection for the old lady, or through
fear, or some other motive, yet
others looked sour, and grumbled;
some would openly find fault and
attempt to remonstrate, but they
were answered with a kick or a
thump, or a cat-o’nine tails, or shut
up in a dark garret ‘till they pro-
mised a compliance. Such was the
logic of the family in those days!
Among the number of the disaf-
fected, was PEREGRINE PICKLE, (⁷)
a pretty honest, clever sort of a fel-
low about his business, but a great
lover of sour crout, and of an hu-
mour that would not bear con-
tradiction. However, as he knew
it would be fruitless to enter into
a downright quarrel, and yet he
could not live there in peace; he
had so much prudence as to quit the
house, which he did by getting out
of the window in the night. Not
liking to be out of employ, he went
to the house of NIC. FROG, (⁸)
his master’s old friend and rival, told
him the story of his sufferings, and
got leave to employ himself in one
of his garrets ‘till the storm should
be over. After he had been here
a while, he thought Nick’s family
were as much too loose in their man-
ners as Bull’s were too strict; and
having heard a rumour of the Forest,
to which Nick had some kind of
claim, he packed up his little all,
and hired one of Nick’s servants
who had been there a hunting, to
pilot him to that part of the Forest
to which Nick laid claim. But
Frog had laid an anchor to wind-
ward of him; for as Pickle had
said nothing to him about a lease,
he supposed that when Peregrine
had got into the Forest he would
take a lease of his old master, Bull,
which would strengthen his title,
and weaken his own; he therefore
bribed the pilot to shew Peregrine
to a barren part of the Forest instead
of that fertile place (⁹) to which he
had already sent his surveyors, and
of which he was contriving to get
possession. Accordingly the pilot
having conducted Pickle to a sandy
point which runs into the lake, (¹⁰)
it being the dusk of the evening, (¹¹)
bade him good night, and walked
off. Peregrine, who was fatigued
with his march, laid down and went
to sleep, but waking in the morning,
saw himself alone in a very dreary
situation, where he could get no-
thing to live upon but clams, and a
few acorns which the squirrels had
left. In this piteous plight the poor
fellow folded his arms, and walking
along the sandy beach, fell into such
a soliloquy as this. “So much for
travelling! Abused by Bull, cheat-
ed by Frog, what am I at last come
to? Here I am alone, no creatures
but bears, and wolves, and such
vermin around me! Nothing in the
shape of an human being that I
know of, nearer than Pipeweed’s
plantation, and with him I cannot
agree, he is so devoted to old Dame
Bull that he and I cannot live toge-
ther any more than I could with the
old woman. But, why should I
despair? That is unmanly; there
is at least a possibility of my living
here, and if I am disappointed in
my worldly prospects, it is but
right, for I professed not to have
any. My wish was to have my
own way without disturbance or
contradiction, and surely I can here
enjoy my liberty. I have nobody
here to curse me, or kick me, or
cheat me. If I have only clams to
eat, I can cook them my own way,
and say as long a grace over them as
I please. I can sit or stand, or kneel,
or use any other posture at my de-
votions, without any cross old wo-
man to growl at me, or any hector-
ing bully to cuff me for it. So that
if I have lost in one way I have
gained in another. I had better
therefore reconcile myself to my si-
tuation and make the best of a bad
market. But company is good!
Apropos! I will write to some of
my fellow-prentices; I know they
were as discontented as myself in
old Bull’s family, though they did
not care to speak their minds as
plainly as I did. I’ll tell them how
much happiness I enjoy here in my
solitude. I’ll point out to them the
charms of liberty, and coax them
to follow me into the wilderness;
and by and by, when we get all to-
gether, we shall make a brave hand
of it.” Full of this resolution, he
sat down on a windfallen tree, and
pulling out his inkhorn and paper,
wrote a letter to JOHN CODLINE,
HUMPHRY PLOUGHSHARE, and
ROGER CARRIER, three of his fel-
low-apprentices, informing them of
the extreme happiness he enjoyed in
having liberty to eat his scanty meals
in his own way, and to lay his swell-
ed ancles and stiff knee in whatever
posture was most easy to him, con-
juring them by their former friend-
ship, to come to join them in car-
rying on the good work so happily
begun, &c. &c. As soon as he had
finished the letter, (which had deep-
ly engaged his attention) a hunts-
man happened to come along in
quest of game. This was a lucky
circumstance indeed, for Peregrine
had not once thought of a convey-
ance for his letter; it proved also
favourable to him in another view,
for the huntsman taking pity on his
forlorn situation, spared him some
powder and shot and a few biscuit
which he happened to have in his
pocket; so taking charge of the
letter, he delivered it as it was
directed.

This letter arrived in good sea-
son, for Old Madam had grown
much worse since Pickle had left
the family : her vapours had in-
creased, and her longings and aver-
sions were much stronger. She had
a strange lurch for embroidered pet-
ticoats and high waving plumes;
her Christmas pies must have double
the quantity of spice that was us-
ual; the servants must make three
bows where they formerly made but
one, and they must never come into
her presence without having curled
and powdered their hair in the pink
of the mode, for she had an aversion
to every thing plain, and an high
relish for every thing gaudy. Be-
sides, she had retained an high met-
tled chaplain (¹²) who was constant-
ly at her elbow, and said prayers
night and morning in a brocaded
vest with a gilded mitre on his
head; and he exacted so many bows
and scrapes of every one in the fa-
mily, that it would have puzzled a
French dancing master to have kept
pace with him. Nor would he per-
form the service at all unless a ver-
ger stood by him all the while with
a yard-wand in his hand; and if
any servant or apprentice missed one
bow or scrape, or made it at the
wrong time, or dared to look off
his book, or said Amen in the wrong
place, rap went the stick over his
head and ears or nuckles. It was in
vain to appeal from the chaplain or
the old Dame to their master, for
he was so obedient a son that he
suffered them to govern him as they
pleased; nay, though broad hints
were given that the chaplain was an
emissary of lord Peter (¹³) and was
taking advantage of the old lady’s
hysterics to bring the whole family
into his interest, John gave no heed
to any of these insinuations.
As soon as the letter of Pere-
grine Pickle arrived, the apprenti-
ces, to whom it was directed, held a
consultation what they should do.
They were heartily tired of the con-
duct of the chaplain; they lament-
ed the old lady’s ill health, and
wished for a cure; but there was at
present no hope of it, and there-
fore concluded that it was best to
follow Pickle’s advice, and retire
with him into the Forest. Though
they were infected with the spirit of
adventure, yet they were a set of
wary fellows, and knew they could
not with safety venture thither un-
less they had a lease of the land.
Happily, however, for them, Bull
had a little while before that put the
affairs of the Forest into the hands
of a gentleman of the law, (¹⁴) with
orders to see that the matter was
properly managed so as to yield him
some certain profit. To this sage
they applied, and for the proper
fees, which they clubbed for be-
tween them, they obtained a lease,
under hand and seal; wherein, for
“sundry causes him thereunto mov-
ing, the said Bull did grant and
convey unto John Codline and his
associates, so many acres of his Fo-
rest, bounded so and so, and which
they were to have, hold, and enjoy
for ever and ever and the day after,
yielding and paying so and so, and
so forth.” When this grand point
was gained by the assistance of the
lawyer and his clerks, who knew
how to manage business: they sold
all their superfluities to the pawn-
brokers, and got together what
things they supposed they should
want, and leaving behind them a
note on the compter, (¹⁵) to tell their
master where they were bound and
what were their designs : they set
off all together and got safe into a
part of the Forest adjoining to
Pickle, who hearing of their arrival,
took his oaken staff in his hand and
hobbled along as fast as his lame
legs could carry him to see them, and
a joyful meeting indeed they had.
Having laid their heads together, it
was agreed that Codline should send
for a girl whom he had courted, (¹⁶)
and marry her, and that he should
be considered as the lord of the
manor, that Pickle should have a
lease of that part which he had
pitched upon, and that Plough-
share and Carrier should for the pre-
sent be considered as members of
Codline’s family. John had taken
a great fancy to fishing, and thought
he could wholly or chiefly subsist by
it; but Humphry had a mind for a
farm; so after a while they parted
in friendship. Humphry, with a
pack on his back and a spade in his
hand, travelled across the Forest ‘till
he found a wide meadow with a
large brook (¹⁷) running through it,
which he supposed to be within
John’s grant, and intended still to
consider himself as a distant member
of the family. But as it fell out
otherwise, he was obliged to get a
new lease, to which Mr. Frog made
some objections, but they were over-
ruled; and soon after another old
fellow-servant, TOBIAS WHEATER,
(¹⁸) came and sat down by him.
They being so much alike in their
views and dispositions, agreed to
live together as intimates, though
in two families, which they did ‘till
Wheater’s death, when Plough-
share became his sole heir, and the
estate has ever since been his. This
Humphry was always a very indus-
trious, frugal, saving husband; and
his wife, though a formal strait-
laced sort of a body, yet always
minded her spinning and knitting,
and took excellent care of her
dairy. She always clothed her
children in homespun garments,
and scarcely ever spent a farthing
for outlandish trinkets. The fa-
mily and all its concerns were
under very exact regulations: not
one of them was suffered to peep out
of doors after the sun was set. It
was never allowed to brew on Sa-
turday, lest the beer should break
the Fourth Commandment by work-
ing on Sunday: and once it is said
the stallion was impounded a
whole week for having held crim. *
*con. with the mare while the Old
Gentleman was at his devotions.
Bating these peculiarities, (and eve-
ry body has some) Humphry was a
very good sort of man, a kind neigh-
bor, very thriving, and made a
respectable figure, though he lived
a retired life and did not much fol-
low the fashions, yet he raised a
good estate, and brought up a large
family, who knew how to get their
living wherever they could find land.

AFTER Ploughshare’s depar-
ture, John Codline with his
family kept on their fishing and
planting, and sometimes went a
hunting, so that they made out to
get a tolerable subsistence. John’s
family grew, and he settled his sons
as fast as they became of age, to live
by themselves; and when any of
his old acquaintance came to see
him, he bade them welcome, and
was their very good friend, as long *
*as they continued to be of his mind
and no longer; for he was a very
pragmatical sort of a fellow, and
loved to have his own way in every
thing. This was the cause of a
quarrel between him and Roger *
*Carrier (¹⁹), for it happened that
Roger had taken a fancy to dip his
head into (²⁰) water, as the most
effectual way of washing his face,
and thought it could not be made so
clean in any other way. John, who
used the common way of taking
water in his hand, to wash his face,
was displeased with Roger’s innova-
tion, and remonstrated against it.
The remonstrance had no other ef-
fect, than to fix Roger’s opinion
more firmly, and as a farther im-
provement on his new plan, he pre-
tended that no person ought to have
his face washed till he was capable
of doing it himself, without any as-
sistance from his parents. John was
out of patience with this addition,
and plumply told him, that if he
did not reform his principles and
practice, he would fine him, or flog
him, or kick him out of doors. These
threats put Roger on inventing
other odd and whimsical opinions.
He took offence at the letter X, and
would have had it expunged from
the alphabet. (²¹) He would not
do his duty at a military muster,
because there was an X in the co-
lours. After a while he began to
scruple the lawfulness of bearing
arms, and killing wild beasts. But,
poor fellow! the worst of all was,
that being seized with a shaking
palsy (²²), which affected every limb
and joint of him; his speech was so
altered that he was unable to pro-
nounce certain letters and syllables
as he had been used to do. These
oddities and defects rendered him
more and more disagreeable to his
old friend, who, however, kept his
temper as well as he could, till one
day, as John was saying a long grace
over his meat, Roger kept his hat
on the whole time. As soon as the
ceremony was over, John took up a
case knife from the table, and gave
Roger a blow on the ear with the
broad side of it, then with a rising
stroke turned off his hat. Roger said
nothing, but taking up his hat put
it on again; at which John broke
out into such a passionate speech as
this “You impudent scoundrel! is
it come to this! Have I not borne
with your whims and fidgets these
many years, and yet they grow up-
on you? Have I not talked with
you time after time, and proved to
you as plain as the nose in your face
that your notions are wrong? Have
I not ordered you to leave them off,
and warned you of the consequence,
and yet you have gone on from bad
to worse. You began with dipping
your head into water, and would
have all the family do the same, pre-
tending there was no other way of
washing the face. You would have
had the children go dirty all their
days, under pretence that they were
not able to wash their own faces, and
so they must have looked like the pigs
till they were grown up. Then you
would talk your own balderdash
linguo, [sic] thee and thou, and nan–
forsooth–and now you must keep
your hat on when I am at my devo-
tions, and I suppose would be glad
to have the whole family do the
same! There is no bearing with
you any longer–so now–hear me,
I give you fair warning, if you don’t
mend your manners, and retract your
errors, and promise reformation, I’ll
kick you out of the house. I’d
have no such refractory fellows here,
I came into this forest for reforma- *
*tion, and reformation I will have.”
“Friend John (said Roger) dost
not thou remember when thou and
I lived together in friend Bull’s fa-
mily, how hard thou didst think it
to be compelled to look on thy book
all the time that the hooded chap-
lain was reading the prayers, and
how many knocks and thumps thou
and I had for offering to use our li-
berty, which we thought we had a
right to? Didst thou not come hi-
therunto for the sake of enjoying
thy liberty, and did not I come to
enjoy mine? Wherefore then dost
thou assume to deprive me of the
right which thou claimest for thy-
self?”

“Don’t tell me (answered John)
of right and of liberty–you have
as much liberty as any man ought
to have. You have liberty to do
right, and no man ought to have
liberty to do wrong.”

“Who is to be judge (replied
Roger) what is right or what is
wrong? Ought not I to judge for
myself? or thinkest thou it is thy
place to judge for me?”

“Who is to be judge (said John)
why the book is to be judge–and I
have proved by the book over and
over again that you are wrong, and
therefore you are wrong, and you
have no liberty to do any thing but
what is right.”

“But friend John (said Roger)
who is to judge whether thou hast
proved my opinions or conduct to
be wrong–thou or I? [sic]
“Come, come, (said John) not so
close neither–none of your idle dis-
tinctions, I say you are in the wrong,
I have proved it, and you know it,
you have sinned against your own *
*conscience, and therefore you deserve
to be cut off as an incorrigible he-
retic.”

“How dost thou know (said
Roger) that I have sinned against
my own conscience? Canst thou
search the heart?”

At this John was so enraged that
he gave him a smart kick on the
posteriors, and bade him be gone out
of his house, and off his lands, and
called after him to tell him, that if
ever he should catch him there again
he would knock his brains out. Ro-
ger having experienced that the lo-
gic of the foot, applied to the breech
is the most powerful of arguments,
walked off; but had so much of hu-
man nature left in him, as to turn up
the folds of his coat, and expose the
insulted part to view, which action,
however expressive, has always been
deemed no swearing, nor breach of
the peace.–Thus they parted, and
Roger having travelled as far as he
supposed to be out of the limits of
John’s lease, laid himself down by
the side of a clear rivulet, which
flowed down a hill; here he com-
posed himself to sleep, and on his
awaking found several bears about
him, but none offered him any in-
sult. Upon which he said, and mi-
nuted it down in his pocket book,
“Surely the beasts of the wilder-
ness are in friendship with me, and
this is designed by Providence (²³) as
my resting place; here, therefore,
will I pitch my tabernacle, and here
shall I dwell more in peace, though
surrounded by bears and wolves, than
when in the midst of those whom I
counted my brethren.”

On this spot he built an hut, and
having taken possession, made a visit
to his old master Bull, who gave
him a lease of the place, with an
island or two in an adjoining cove of
the great lake, and recommended
to him a wife, by whom he had a
few children; but his plantation was
chiefly increased by the flocking of
strangers to him; for he was a ve-
ry hospitable man, and made it a
rule in his family not to refuse any
who should come, whether lame or
blind, short or tall, whether they
had two eyes or one, whether they s
quinted or stammered, or limped, or
had any other natural defect or im-
pediment; it was another rule that
every one should bear with the in-
firmities of his neighbours, and help
one another as they were able. I
remember once as I was passing
through Roger’s plantation I saw
one man carrying another on his
shoulders, which, at first, I thought
a very odd sight; upon coming up
to them, I perceived that the lower
one was blind, and the upper one
was lame, so as they had but one
pair of eyes, and one pair of legs
between them; the lame man avail-
ed himself of the blind man’s legs,
and he of the other’s eyes, and both
went along very well together. I
remember also, that as I passed along,
the fences were in some places made
of very crooked, knotty rails; but
the crooks and knots were made to
say [sic] into each other so cleverly, that
the fences were as tight as if they
had been made of stuff sawed ever so
even; a circumstance which con-
vinced me that very crooked things
might be put together, to advan-
tage, if proper pains were taken
about it. This, however, was some
time ago.–i have sine heard that
the old crooks and knots and got
out of order, and that they have not
the art of making new ones say into
one another so well as formerly.
Whenever this happens it affords a
kind of burlesque on the art of fence-
making, but alas! how can it be
otherwise when not but the lame
and the blind are employed in the work?
When John Codline had settled
the controversy with Roger by kick-
ing him out of doors, he began to
look about him to see what his neigh-
bours were doing. Having found a
young fellow on his north-eastern
limits, who had come thither with-
out his knowledge or permission;
he took it into his head to survey
the extent of his grounds. The
words of his lease were rather am-
biguous, and by virtue thereof he
thought it convenient to extend his
claims over the lands on which Ro- *
*bert Lumber (for that was the name
of the young fellow) had settled.
([^24]) It seems that Bob had been sent
by some of John Bull’s family to
erect a fishing stage on the borders
of the Lake, and the lawyer who
had the care of the forest not being
acquainted so much as he ought to
have been with the situation of the
lands, or having no knowledge of the
art of surveying, had made out a
lease which lapped over Codline’s; so
that each of them had a claim upon
it. In some circumstances this might
have been deemed unfortunate, but
as it happened it proved lucky for
poor Bob–his employers had left
him in the lurch, and he would have
starved to death if John had not
taken him under his wing and sent
him provisions to keep him alive.
He also lent him a hand to clear up
the bushes, and furnished him with
materials to build a saw-mill. This
set Bob on his own legs, and he
proved a sturdy faithful fellow. He
was of great service to John in kill-
ing bears and wolves that infested
his plantation; and when he himself
was in danger, John lent him pow-
der, shot, and flints, and sent hands
to help him, and in so doing he serv-
ed himself as well as his neighbour,
which was no breach of morality.
Thus they lived pretty peaceably to-
gether, till after a while Bob’s old
owners found the land was grown
good for something, and then (with-
out paying John for his assistance
in making it so) appealed to Mr.
Bull, and got it away, and took a
large slice of John’s land into the
bargain. ([^25]) This was a matter
which stuck in John’s throat a great
while, and if I am rightly informed
he has hardly swallowed it yet.
He did not think himself fairly dealt
by though he had all Peregrine
Pickle’s land put into a new lease
which Bull gave him. To be short,
John Codline and John Bull never
heartily loved one another; they
were in their temper and disposition
too much alike; each was eternally
jealous of the other: Business was,
indeed, carried on pretty well be-
tween them for many years, and had
Mr Bull hearkened to the advice of
his best friends, I suppose there
would never have been any open
quarrel between them.

The FORESTERS,\ An AMERICAN TALE, being a Sequel to the History of JOHN BULL, the Clothier.

BETWEEN the lands occupied
by Frederick Marygold, and
those on which Humpry Plough-
share had made his settlement, was
a large tract of waste, where none
of Mr. Bull’s family had ever been;
but the report of the plantations
which one and another of them had
made, drew the attention of Bull’s
neighbours. Among these, Nicolas *
*Frog ([^26]) was not an idle spectator.
He was as sly a fellow as you will
meet with in a summer’s day, always
attentive to his interest, and never
let slip an opportunity to promote
it. Observing that Mr. Bull was
rather careless of the Forest, and trust-
ed his lawyers and servants with the
management of it, and knowing
there was a large slice of it unoccu-
pied, he clandestinely sent out some
surveyors in the disguise of hunters,
to make a description of the coun-
try, and report to him at their re-
turn. Another good neighbor
GUSTAVUS, the ironmonger ([^27])
was gaping after it, and gave out word
among his journeymen, that if any
of them would adventure thither
and set up their trade, he would up-
hold them in their pretensions, and
lend them any assistance in his pow-
er. Accordingly one of them, by the
name of Casimir, ventured to make
a beginning on the shore of a navi-
gable creek; ([^28]) but did not care
to penetrate far into the country,
on account of the wolves and bears,
which were very numerous thereabouts.
As soon as Frog heard of this he
picked a quarrel with Gustavus, and
insisted that the land was his by
possession, because he had already
sent surveyors thither. It happened
however, that the place which Frog’s
people had pitched upon was at the
mouth of another creek, ([^29]) at a
considerable distance; where they
had built a hut, on a point of land,
and farther up the creek they had
erected a kind of lodge or hunting-
house, ([^30]) for the convenience of
collecting game. On this planta-
tion Frog had placed PETER STI-
VER, a one-legged fellow, as his
overseer. As soon as Peter heard
of the quarrel between his master
and Gustavus, he thought the quick-
est way of ending it was the best;
and therefore, without waiting for
orders or ceremony, he went and
commanded Casimir off the ground;
and with one of his crutches beat
his house to pieces about his ears.
The poor fellow stared at this rough
treatment; but was glad to escape
with whole bones, and humbly re-
quested leave to remain there with
his tools, promising to follow his
business quietly, and become an ob-
edient servant to Mr. Frog; upon
these conditions he was permitted
to remain, and the whole tract was
reputed Frog’s property.

While these things were doing
John Bull was confined to his house
with a violent fever and delirium ([^31]),
under which he laboured for a long
time, and his imagination was the
seat of every wild freak and strange
vagary. One while he fancied
himself an absolute monarch, then,
a presbyterian clergyman, then a
general of horse, then a lord-pro-
tector; his noddle was filled with a
jumble of polemic divinity, political
disputes, and military arrangements,
and it was not till after much blood-
letting, blistering, vomiting and
purging, that he began to mend.
Under this severe, but wholesome
regimen, he at length grew cool and
came to himself, but found on his
recovery that his affairs had gone
behind-hand during his sickness.
Beside the loss of business, he had
physicians and apothecaries bills to
pay, and those who had attended
upon him as nurses, watchers, por-
ters, &c. all expected wages or dou-
ceurs, and were continually haunt-
ing him with, How does your honour
do? I am glad to see your honour so
well as to be abroad. Some one or
more were continually putting
themselves in his way, and if they
did not directly dun him for pay-
ment, their looks were so signify-
cant that a man of less penetration
could easily have guessed what was
their meaning.

Bull was somewhat perplexed
how to answer all their demands
and expectations. He was too far
behind-hand to be able to satisfy
them, and withal too generous to
let them remain unpaid. At length
he hit on this expedient: “These
fellows (said he to himself) have
served me well, and may be of use
to me again. There is yet a con-
siderable part of my forest unoccu-
pied. I’ll offer to lease them tracts
of land which cost me nothing, and
if they will accept them at a low
rent, they may prove useful ser-
vants, and I shall be a gainer as well
as they.” Having come to this
resolution, he began to enquire
into the affairs of his forest, and found
that his neighbours had intruded
upon his claim. LEWIS had taken
possession at one end ([^32]); Lord
STRUT at the ([^33]) other; and NIC
FROG in the middle ([^34]), and his
own tenants had been quarrelling
with their new neighbours, as well
as among themselves. “Hey day,
(says John) this will never do; I
must keep a good look out upon
these dogs, or they will get the ad-
vantage of me.” Away he goes to
Frog, and begun to complain of the
ill treatment which he had received.
Frog who had no mind either to
quarrel, or to cry peccavi, like a
sly, evasive whore-son as he was,
shrugged up his shoulders, disowned
what his servants had done, and said,
he supposed they only meant to kill
game, and did not intend to hold
possession. Bull was not to be put
off so; his blood was up and he de-
termined to treat Frog’s servants
as they had treated Casimir. So, cal-
ling a trusty old stud out of his
compting house, “Here Bob ([^35])
(said he) take one of my servants
with a couple of blood hounds, and
go to that part of the forest where
Peter Stiver has encroached, give
him fair warning; tell him the land
is mine, and I will have it; if he
gives up at once, treat him well and
tell him I’ll give him leave to re-
main there; but if he offers to make
any resistance, or hesitates about an
answer, set your dogs at him and
drive him off; kill his cattle and set
his house on fire; never fear, I’ll
bear you out in it.” Away goes
Bob and delivered his message; Pe-
ter at first thought it a matter of
amusement, and begun to divert
himself with it; but as soon as the
dogs opened upon him he found his
mistake, and rather than run the
risk of being driven off, he quietly
submitted to the conditions proposed.
“Hang it (said he to himself)
what care I who is my landlord?
Gain is my object, I have already
been at great expense, and have a
prospect of getting an estate, to re-
move will ruin me, I’ll therefore
stay here, and make money under
Bull, or Frog, or any other master
that will let me stay.”

In a subsequent quarrel which
happened between Bull and Frog–
the latter seized upon this planta-
tion again, and Peter recognized
his old master; but upon a com-
promise it was given up to Bull in
exchange for a tract of swamp ([^36])
which lay far to the southward.
Peter continued on the ground
through all these changes, and follow-
ed his business with great diligence,
collecting game and pelts, and ven-
ding them sometimes to Mr. Bull,
and sometimes to Mr. Frog. How-
ever, Bull thought it best that, in
token of subjection, Stiver should
change his name; to which he con-
sented, and partly to please his new
master, and partly to retain the re-
membrance of his old one, he assum-
ed the name of BULL FROG.

The whole tract which was thus
gotten from Frog, was thought too
large for one plantation, and there-
fore Mr. Bull, in pursuance of the
plan which he had formed appro-
priated the rents of the plantation,
on which Bull Frog was seated to
his brother, and the other part
which had been taken from Casimir
was leafed to two of his servants,
CART-RUT and BARE-CLAY, and
sometime after another tract was
set off to WILLIAM BROADBRIM,
whose father had been an assiduous
rat-catcher in Mr. Bull’s family;
but more of this hereafter.

Cart-rut and Bare-clay agreed
to divide their land into two farms,
which they called the east and west
farms; ([^37]) but when they came to
run the division line, their compasses
differed so much that they could
not fix the boundary. This was
one cause of dissention. Another
was the different humors and dispo-
sitions of their families. Those on
the East farm were brought up un-
der Mr. Bull’s sister PEG ([^38]); and
as it is well known that she and her
brother had long been at variance,
so their domestics had got tinctured
with the notions and prejudices of
their respective families. The fa-
mily on the West farm was made up
of persons who were subject to the
epidemic ague or shaking palsy ([^39]);
with some stragglers from Bull-
frog’s and Casimir’s families. From
this diversity of constitutions and
humours arose bickerings and quar-
rels, a disinclination to work
and submit to family government.
These disorders continued a long
while, and business went on very
slowly, till at length the heads of
both families agreed to give up their
separate leases, and take a new one
of the whole, and let Mr. Bull appoint
an overseer. By these means peace
was restored, and the new overseer,
who was supposed to be a descen-
dant of JULIUS CæSAR, gave the
name of his ancestor to the farm,
which has ever since been called Cæ-
SAREA.

There was another large portion
of the forest, which lay southward
of Walter Pipe-weed’s plantation,
and which no person had yet taken
up, though some had made attempts
and had been driven off by the num-
berless musquitoes and sand-flies,
which abounded in those places.
Mr. Bull was still desirous to re-
ward his friends in the cheapest man- *
*ner, and at the same time to keep
his neighbors from encroaching
upon him, and secure the possession
of the forest to himself. In pursu-
ance of his plan, and to make short
work of it at once, he leased the
whole of this southern extremity to
CHARLES INDIGO, ([^40]) who was
expressly ordered to take under his
care and into his family all persons
who had attended Mr. Bull, in his
late sickness, in quality of nurses,
druggists, apothecaries, laundresses,
upholsters, porters, watchers, &c.
&c. By this order Charles found
himself at once surrounded by a large
body of retainers of various ranks
and qualities, and being a speculator
himself, he employed a speculative
man, Mr. Padlock (who had written
a large treatise upon Ideas) to draw
up some rules, for the management
of such a family, intending when he
should build an house, to paste it up
in the parlour, as a directory to his
wife. Accordingly Mr. Padlock
went to work, and with an exquisite
mixture of political and metaphysical
knowledge, distinguished between
the hall, the parlour, the dressing
room, the gallery, the music-room,
the bed-chambers, the chapel, the
kitchen, the water-closet, &c. shew-
ing what was to be done in each,
and the proper subordination of one
to the other, all which would have
been of excellent service in a palace,
and among people who had got to a
high degree of refinement, but was
ill suited to the circumstances of new
adventurers in a forest. They rather
needed to be instructed in the me-
thod of felling trees, draining
swamps, digging clams, guarding
against musquitoes, killing wolves
and bears, and erecting huts to keep
off the weather. To these neces-
sary affairs they were obliged to at-
tend, and Mr. Padlock’s fine-spun
rules were laid by and little thought of.
Charles had pitched upon a sandy
point, between two brooks for his
mansion-house, and had made a small
beginning when his repose was dis-
turbed by one AUGUSTINE, ([^41]) a
lubberly fellow, who had taken a
lease of Lord STRUT, and lived
farther southward. This Strut was
the largest landholder in the coun-
try, and was never satisfied with ad-
ding field to field. He had already
got much more than he could ma-
nage, and had greatly impoverished
his home-stead by attending to his
extra-territories. His tenants were
infected with the same land-fever,
and wished to have no neighbors
within sight or call. From this en-
vious disposition Augustine collect-
ed a rabble of lousy fellows, and
was coming to dispossess Charles,
thinking him too weak to make a
defence; but Charles was a lad of
too much spunk to be brow-beaten
by such fellows. He armed all his
people with some weapon or other,
and advanced till he came within
sight of the place where Augustine
was, who on seeing him, took wit
in his anger and went back, without
attempting any mischief.

Another difficulty which Charles
expected to encounter was from the
wild beasts; but luckily for him,
these creatures got into a quarrel
among themselves, and fought with
each other till they had thinned
their numbers considerably, so that
Charles and his companions could
venture into the woods, where they
caught some few and tamed them,
as was the usual practice among all
Mr. Bull’s tenants at that day. Of this
practice a more particular account
shall be given, by way of digression.

It must have been remarked by
every person who has read the
life and character of Mr. John Bull,
that he was very whimsical, and as
positive as he was whimsical. Among
other advantages which he expect-
ed from the settlement of his Forest,
one was, that the wild animals
whom nature had made ferocious and
untractable in the highest degree,
would be rendered tame and ser-
viceable, by receiving instruction and
education from the nurturing hand
of humanity. He had conceived
a notion that every creature has certain la-
tent principles and qualities which
form a foundation for improve-
ment; and he thought it a great piece
of injustice that these qualities should
be suffered to remain uncultivated; he
had a mind that experiments should be
attempted to discover how far this
kind of cultivation was practicable,
and what use could be made of the
animal powers under the direction
and control of rational government.
Full of this idea, he came to a reso-
lation [sic], that it should be the duty of
every one of his tenants to catch
wild beasts of various sorts, and dis-
cipline them so as to find out their
several properties and capacities, and
use them accordingly; and this kind
of service was mentioned in their re-
spective leases as one condition of
the grants.

Some of the tenants, particularly
Peregrine Pickle, John Codline, and
Humphry Ploughshare, entered zea-
lously into the measure from princi-
ple. They had, during Mr. Bull’s
sickness and delirium, (before spoken
of) formed an association for their
mutual safety. ([^42]) The object of
their union was two fold: first,
to endeavour by all fair means to
tame and discipline the wild beasts;
and secondly, in case of their prov-
ing refractory, to defend them-
selves against their attacks. The
other tenants did something in the
same way; some from one principle,
and some from another. Peter Bull-
frog, who was as cunning as any of
them, made use of those which he
had tamed as his caterers, to pro-
vide game for his table, of which
the feathers and furs served him as
articles of traffic, and brought him
in a profitable return.

The principal consideration (set-
ting aside interest) which induced
the more zealous of the Foresters
to enter into this business, was an
idea, that these animals were a de-
generated part of the human spe-
cies, and might be restored to their
proper rank and order if due pains
were taken. The grounds of this
opinion were these: Among the tra-
ditions of the ancient Druids there
was a story, that out of twelve fa-
milies which inhabited a certain dis-
trict by themselves, ten had been
lost, and no account could be given
of them; and, where, said they, is it
more likely to find them than in
this forest, in the shape of some
other creatures? especially, if the
doctrine of transmigration, which
the Druids held be true. Ano-
ther tradition was, that one of Mr.
Bull’s great great uncles, by the
name of Madok, had many years
ago disappeared, and the last ac-
counts which had been received of
him was, that he had been seen go-
ing towards this forest; hence it
was concluded that his descendants
must be found there. In confirma-
tion of this argument, it was al-
leged, that the sounds which some
of these creatures made in their
howlings, resembled the language
spoken in that day: nay, some were
positive that they had heard them pro-
nounce the word ([^43]) Madokawando;
and one hunter roundly swore that
he had seen in the den of a bear, an
old book which he supposed to be a
Bible written in the Celtic language,
and this book they concluded must
have been left there by Madok,
who could read and speak no other
language. Another very material
circumstance was the discovery of a
rock by the side of a brook, ([^44])
inscribed with some characters which
bore no resemblance to any kind of
writing, ancient or modern; the
conclusion from hence was, that it
must be of the remotest antiquity:
this rock was deemed an unaccount-
able curiosity, till a certain virtuoso
took into his noddle, first to ima-
gine, and then to become extremely
positive that the characters were Pu- *
*nic; and finally this inscription was
translated, and affirmed to be no-
thing less than a treaty of alliance
between the Phenicians and the first
inhabitants of this forest. From
all these premises it was inferred,
with some plausibility, and more
positiveness that one species at least
of the savage animals was descended
from Madok, and that the others
were the posterity of the long lost
ten families, who were well known
to have had a commercial connec-
tion with the Phenicians, and that
these probably found out their haunt,
and followed them for the sake of
their former friendship. What hap-
py light do modern discoveries and
conjectures thrown on the dark pages
of antiquity!

From these principles, as well as from
motives of humanity and of interest,
some of the Foresters entered with
zeal on the consideration and pract-
ice of the best methods to fulfil this
condition of their grants, the disci-
plining the savage animals, and they
certainly deserve praise for their ho-
nest endeavours; but, others who
pretended to the same zeal, it is to
be lamented, made use of this pre-
tence to cover their vanity or their
avarice. Had none but gentle
means been used, it is probable
more good might, on the whole,
have been produced; but as it often
happens that many a good project
has been ruined for want of pru-
dence in the execution, so it fared
with this; for while the new comers
were busy in putting up their huts,
and preparing the land for cultiva-
tion, (both which were necessary
before they could attend to any
other business) some of the savage
tribe would be a little impertinent,
either by peeping into the huts, or
breaking up a nest where the poul-
try were hatching, or carrying off a
chick or a gosling. These imperti-
nencies bred frequent quarrels, and
the poor creatures were sometimes
driven off with bloody noses, or
obliged to hop on three legs, or
even laid sprawling and slyly cover-
ed with earth, no service or ceremo-
ny being said over the carcase, and
no other epitaph than “Poh, they
are nothing but brutes, and where’s
the harm of killing them!” or in
rhyme thus:\

“Tit for tat, tit for tat,\ “He stole my chick and I broke his back.”
Whatever plausible excuses might
have been made for these proceed-
ings, they served to render the
other creatures jealous of their new
neighbors; but instead of abating
their appetite for mischief, it sharp-
ened their invention to take more
sly methods of accomplishing it.
The more wary of them kept aloof
in the day time, and would not be
enticed by the arts which were used
to draw them in; however, they
were sometimes pinched for food,
and the new inhabitants used to
throw crusts of bread, handfuls of corn,
and other eatables, in
their way, which allured them by
degrees to familiarity. After a
while it was found that nothing suc-
ceeded so well as melasses: it was
therefore thought a capital manoeu-
vre to drop a train of it on the
ground, which the creatures would
follow, licking it, till they had in-
sensibly got up to the doors of the
houses, where, if any body held a
bowl or a plate besmeared with the
liquor, they would come and put
their noses into it, and then you
might pat them on the back
and sides, or stroke them, say-
ing, “poor Bruin, poor Isgrim,
poor Reynard, poor Puss,” and the
like, and they should suffer them-
selves to be handled and fondled till
they dropped asleep. When they
awaked they would make a moan
and wag their tails as if they were
asking for more, and if it was de-
nied them, they would retire to the
woods in disgust, till the scent of
the melasses operating on their de-
praved appetites, invited them to
return where it was to be had. This
was upon repeated trial found to be
the most effectual way of taming
them, as they might be taught to
imitate any kind of tricks and ges-
tures if a dish of melasses was held
out as a reward.

The Foresters knew that they
could not ingratiate themselves bet-
ter with their old master Bull, than
by humouring his itch for pro-
jects. They therefore took care to
raise reports and write letters from
time to time concerning the won-
derful success which they had met
with in civilizing the savage animals.
Bull was greatly pleased with these
reports, and made a practice of send-
ing presents of trinkets to be dis-
tributed among them; such as col-
lars, ear-rings, and nose-jewels. Se-
veral times some of the most stately
and best instructed of them were car-
ried to his house for a show, where
he had them dressed up in scarlet
and gold trappings, and led through
all his apartments for the entertain-
ment of his family, and feasted with
every nick-nack which his cook
and confectioner could procure.
He was so fond of being thought
their patron and protector, that he
usually spoke of them as his red *
*children, from the colour of their
hides. It is not many years since
one of them, after being led through
several families and plantations of
the tenants, was carried home to
Mr. Bull’s own house, dressed in
the habit of a clergyman, having
been previously taught to lift his
paw and roll his eyes as if in the act
of devotion. This trick was so well
carried on that the managers of it
picked up a large pocket full of
pence, by exhibiting him for a raree-
show, and the money was applied
toward building a menagerie, where
beasts of all kinds might be brought
and tamed. This project, like ma-
ny such whims, has proved of more
profit to the projectors, than bene-
fit to the public; for most of those
who were supposed to be tamed and
domesticated, after they had been
sent back to their native woods
with a view to their being instru-
mental in taming their fellow-sa-
vages, have returned to their former
ferocious habits, and some of them
have proved greater rogues than
ever, and have done more mischief
than they could otherwise have been
capable of.

Mr. Bull himself was once so full
of the project, that he got his chap-
lain and some others to form them-
selves into a club ([^45]), the professed
object of which was to propagate
knowledge among these savage crea-
tures. After some trials which did
not answer expectation, old madam
Bull conceived that the money which
was collected might as well be ex-
pended in teaching Mr. Bull’s own
tenants themselves a little better
manners; for some of them were ra-
ther awkward and slovenly in their
deportment, while others were de-
cent and devout in their own way.
Madam, as we have before obser-
ved, was a great zealot in the cause
of uniformity, and had a vast influ-
ence over her son, by virtue of which
the attention of the club was prin-
cipally directed to the promoting
this grand object. Accordingly,
every one of the tenants was fur-
nished with a bible and a prayer-
book, a clean napkin, bason, platter
and chalice, with a few devotional
tracts, and some young adventurers
who had been educated in the fami-
ly, were recommended as chaplains;
who had also by-orders to keep a
look out toward the savage animals,
when they should fall in their way.
The chaplains were tolerably well
received in most of the families;
but some, particularly Codline and
Ploughshare, who gloried in being
able to say without book, always
looked sour upon them, and would
frequently say to them, “Go, take
care of the savage objects of your
mission, and don’t come here to
teach us, ‘till you have learned bet-
ter yourselves.” The chaplains in
disgust, and perhaps in revenge (for
they were but men of like passions)
would pout and swell and call schis- *
*matic and other canonical nick-
names, of which there is extant a
large vocabulary, and would fre-
quently write letters, much to the
disadvantage of their opponents. It
is not many years since they, with
the club which sent them, were pret-
ty severely handled by one of Cod-
line’s own Chaplains, and it is sup-
posed that they have ever since been
abating their arrogance; certain it
is that they are on better terms now
with their neighbors than ever;
this may, in part, be owing to some
other circumstances, but be the cause
what it may, it is looked upon by
the judicious, as one of the most
hopeful among the signs of the times.

It has been observed, that the
lease which Mr. Bull gave to
Charles Indigo, obliged him to re-
ceive into his family all such persons
as had been attendants on Mr. Bull
during his sickness, and for whom
he had no other means of provid-
ing. This general indulgence pro-
cured to Charles the reputation of
a very friendly, hospitable person,
and induced great numbers of other
people of various characters, views,
and interests, to seek an assylum
within his limits. About this time
old Lewis had grown sick and pee-
vish, and had severely cudgelled
some of his apprentices, because they
did not make their P’s and Q’s ex-
actly to his mind ([^46]). The poor
fellows, to prevent worse treatment,
fled from his house, and took refuge
with Mr. Bull, who treated them
civilly, and recommended them
to the Forest, where they dispersed
in the several families of his tenants,
and a large party of them took up
their abode with Charles, to whose
family they proved an industrious,
profitable acquisition, though some
of the family looked a little sourly upon them.
This facility of admitting strangers
produced an effect which had almost
proved fatal to the reputation of the
family; for a number of highway-
men ([^47]) also sought shelter there,
and by means of their gold and sil-
ver, which they had in plenty, made
friends in the house, and were ad-
mitted by night at a back door.
After a while they grew more bold
and came in the day time, under
the disguise of pedlars, with packs
on their shoulders. One of them
actually took his stand behind a cor-
ner of one of the fences, from
whence he sallied out on travellers;
this corner obtained, from that cir-
cumstance, the name of Point-Fear,
and as the first names of places are
not easily got rid of, it retains the
name to this day, and perhaps will
ever retain it. Here the rascal in-
tended to have built himself a lodge,
and taken up his quarters for life;
but the matter was now grown so
public, that Charles, for the honour
of his family, ordered all stragglers
to be seized, and this fellow in par-
ticular, after a severe struggle, was
apprehended and brought to justice.
The same spot was afterward tak-
en possession of by Peter Pitch, ([^48])
a poor fellow who got his living as
he did his name, from collecting the
resinous juice of the numerous pines
which grew thereabouts. He had
to work hard and fare hard, and go
a great way for his victuals and
clothes; but after he had lived alone
for some time, he picked up one
or two acquaintances of his own stamp,
and they formed a family which was
at first rather disorderly. Farther
discovery of the lands, and the ad-
vantage of the water-carriage, in-
duced some other people to sit down
by him, and in process of time he
became so respectable as to be no-
ticed by Mr. Bull, who, though he
never gave him a lease in form, yet
let him have cloth and haberdashery
upon credit, and took his pitch in
payment as fast as he could collect
it. This kept him in a dependent
state, and subjected him to impo-
sitions from Bull’s clerks and jour-
neymen. It is not many years since
Bull sent him a taylor to try-on a
new coat, ([^49]) which was so strait
that it split in several places, and
never could be altered so as to fit
him, but he was obliged to wear it
rather than quarrel with his patron.
This same taylor was remarkable for
cabbaging, as Peter Bull-Frog and
Humphry Ploughshare have since had
large experience.

To finish what relates to Charles
Indigo, we shall observe, that the
land on which he began his planta-
tion, was in general so wet and miry,
that it was unfavourable to the pro-
duction of wheat, and it was for
some time doubtful whether he
would be able to raise his own bread.
Chance at length effected what la-
bour and ingenuity could not: a
bird of passage having dropped some
kernels of rice in his dung it was
found to thrive exceedingly well;
from whence the hint was taken,
and rice became the standard grain
of the plantation. By the cultiva-
tion of this, and of a weed which
was useful to the dyers; he grew
rich, and made a sightly figure
among his neighbours in point of
dress and equipage, though his
countenance is rather sallow, and
he is subject to frequent returns of
the intermittent fever.

By the extensive lease given to In-
digo and his associates, most of Mr.
Bull’s dependants and attendants
were provided for, and their services
recompensed with a shew of gene-
rosity on his part, and of satisfac-
tion on theirs. We have before just
hinted at a grant made to William *
*Broad Brim ([^50]), of which we shall
give a more particular account.
His father had been an old ser-
vant of Mr. Bull, and had been em-
ployed in the very laborious and ne-
cessary business of catching and
killing rats. In this employment
he was so very dexterous and suc-
cessful that he recommended him-
self highly to his master, who not
only allowed him large wages
but promised him farther recompense.
During Mr. Bull’s sickness, the
care and diligence of this faithful
servant had been unremitted and his
merits were thereby increased, so
that Mr. Bull on his recovery found
himself deeply indebted to him, and
he still continued his services; till,
worn out with age and infirmity,
he died and had an honorable fu-
neral.

His son William then became his
heir, and solicited for payment of
the arrears due to his father, which
Mr. Bull, according to the maxim
he had laid down for himself, and
urged by the necessity of the occa-
sion, proposed to discharge by a
lease of part of the Forest. This
happened to fall in, exactly, with
William’s views, which were of a
singular nature.

About this time a nervous dis-
order appeared in Bull’s family
which went by the name of the
([^51]) shaking palsy. We shall not
pretend to trace the causes of it,
as the origin of such things is often
obscure and impenetrable; but the
effects were, a trembling of the
nerves, a stiffness in the neck and
shoulders, and a hesitancy in the
speech, so that it was impossible
for the patients to pronounce cer-
tain words and syllables, such as
Sir, Madam, your honor, my lord,
&c. nor could one of them raise his
hand to take off his hat, or hold it
up when an oath was to be admi-
nistered.

Mr. Bull’s choleric temper misin-
terpreted this natural infirmity into
a sullen disrespect. When he found
a change in the behaviour of these
domestics; that instead of bowing to
him they stood upright as a May-
pole, and instead of sir, and your ho-
nor, they could utter nothing but
Friend, he grew angry, and made a
pretty free use of his fist, and when
he found that they could not be
cured by such means, he thrust some
of them into a dark closet, and shut
them up till they should (as he
termed it) “learn better manners;”
and it is supposed he would have car-
ried his resentment much further,
but for this circumstance; William
Broadbrim, who had himself strong
symptoms of the disorder, whispered
to Mr. Bull, that if he would give
him time to ripen a project, which
he had conceived, he would rid him
of all trouble with these people.
William had a plodding genius, and
the scheme with which his head was
pregnant at this time, was nothing
more or less than to make a settle-
ment in the forest, and take all these
people with him. Bull, who was
glad to get rid of them, and of the
debt which he owed to William,
readily fell in with the project; and
a grant was made out under hand
and seal, wherein William Broad-
brim, and his heirs, were invested
with the right of soil, and all other
privileges of proprietorship, in a cer-
tain part of the forest, between the
plantation of Frederic Marygold,
and that of Cart-rut and Bare-clay,
being in the neighborhood of the
spot where Casimir had rebuilt his
hut, and lived in an ambiguous situ-
ation, not knowing who was his
landlord. With him William made
a peaceable compromise, saying,
“Friend, I will do thee no violence,
there is room enough for us both.”
Casimir was glad of so good a neigh-
bor, and he had reason to be, for
he throve more rapidly after this
than before.

William pitched upon a level
piece of ground, where two large
brooks met, for the situation of his
mansion-house, and went to work to
draw up rules for the government
of his family. One of which was,
that no person should be refused
admittance into it, or disturbed
in it, or cast out of it, on ac-
count of any natural infirmity.
Another was, that no arms, nor
ammunition, should ever be made
use of on any pretence whatever.
The first of these rules gained Wil-
liam great reputation among all sen-
sible men; the latter was a notion
which candor would lead us to sup-
pose proceeded partly from the dis-
order of his nerves, and partly from
a love of peace, and the exercise of
good will toward his fellow crea-
tures.

When any of William’s neigh-
bors, who were of a different way
of thinking, spake to him of the im-
policy of this rule, and asked him how
he expected to defend himself and his
family against the wild beasts, if
they should attack him; William,
(who was fond of harangue) would
answer thus–“There is in all crea-
tures a certain instinct, which dis-
poseth them to peace. This instinct
is so strong and fixed, that upon it,
as upon a foundation, may be erect-
ed a complete system of love and
concord, which all the powers of
anarchy shall not be able to over-
throw. To cultivate and improve
this instinct is the business of every
wise man, and he may reasonably
expect that an example of this kind,
if steadily and regularly adhered to,
will have a very extensive and bene-
ficial influence, on all sorts of crea-
tures; even the wild beasts of the fo-
rest will become tame as the lambs,
and birds of prey as harmless as
doves. Dost thou not see, friend,
what influence my example has al-
ready had on those creatures which
are deemed savage? I go into their
dens with safety, and they enter my
habitation without fear. When
they are hungry I feed them, when
they are thirsty I give them drink,
and they in return bear my burdens,
and do such other kind offices
as they are capable of, and I require of
them. I have even tamed some of
them so far, that they have sold me
the land on which they live, and
have acknowledged the bargain by
a mark made with their toe-nails on
parchment. They are certainly
some of the best natured creatures
in the world; their native instinct
leads them to love and peace, and
sociability, and as long as I set
them a good example I have no
doubt they will follow it. When
such is my opinion and expectation,
why should I be anxious about what
may, and I trust never will happen?
Why should I put myself in a pos-
ture of defence against those who
will never attack me? or, why
should I by the appearance of jea-
lousy and distrust on my part, of-
fend those who now put confidence
in me? No, No, I will not suppose
that they will ever hurt me. I will
not suffer the carnal weapon to be
seen in my house, nor shall one of
my family ever learn the detestable
practice of pulling the trigger. I
leave the instruments of destruction
to the offspring of Cain and the seed
of the serpent; while I meekly imi-
tate the gentleness of the lamb, and
the innocence of the dove.”

With such harangues William
would frequently entertain himself
and his friends, and he was so san-
guine in his benevolent project, that
instead of having his own name (as was
usual) written over his door, he had
the words BROTHERLY LOVE, trans-
lated into a foreign language, and
inscribed in golden characters, as
a standing invitation to persons
of all nations and characters to
come and take shelter under his
roof.

The general invitation which
William Broadbrim had gi-
ven to all persons who were desti-
tute of a home, to come and take
shelter under his roof, and the gen-
tle humane treatment which those
who accepted the invitation met
with, spread his fame abroad,
and brought him much company. His
family was sometimes compared to
the Ark of Noah, because there
was scarcely any kind of human
being, of whatever shape, size, com-
plexion, disposition, language or
religion, but what might be found
there. He had also the art to keep
them pretty well employed. Indu-
stry, frugality, and œconomy, were
the leading principles of his family,
and their thriving was in a ratio
compounded of these three forces.
Nothing was wanting to make them
as happy a family as any in the
world, but a disposition among
themselves, to live in peace. Un-
luckily, however, this desirable
blessing, on account of the variety
of their humours and interests, was
seldom found among them. Am-
bition, jealousy, avarice, and party
spirit, had frequent out-breakings,
and were with difficulty quelled. It
is needless to enter into a very par-
ticular discussion of the grounds or
effects of these dissentions: family-
quarrels are not very entertaining
either at home or abroad, unless to
such as delight in scandal, and it is
presumed the readers of this narra-
tive are not of that number. But
there was one cause of dissention
which it would be improper not to
notice, because we have already
hinted at the principle from which
it proceeded. William’s aversion
to fire arms was so strong, that he
would not suffer any of his family
to molest the wild inhabitants of
the forest, though they were ever
so mischievous. While the family
was small, the savage animals who
lived in the neighborhood being
well fed, were tolerably tame and
civil, but when the encreased num-
ber of the family had penetrated
farther into the forest, the haunts of
the natives were disturbed and the
straggling labourers were sometimes
surprised, and having nothing to
defend themselves with, fell a sa-
crifice to savage resentment. Re-
monstrances were presented to Mr.
Broadbrim one after another, but
he always insisted on it that the suf-
ferer must have been the aggressor,
and that “they who take the
sword must expect to perish by the
sword.” At length the dead corpse
of one of the labourers, mangled
and torn in a dreadful manner, was
brought and laid at the door of
William’s parlour ([^52]) with a label
affixed to the breast, on which were
written these words, “Thou thy-
self must be accounted my murder-
er, because thou didst deny me the
means of defence.” At sight of
this horrid spectacle, Broadbrim
turned pale! The eye of his mind
looked inward! Nature began to
plead her own cause within him!
he gave way in some degree to her
operations, though contrary to his
pre-conceived opinion, and with a
trembling hand signed a permission
for those to use the ([^53]) carnal wea- *
*pon, who could do it without scru-
ple; and when they asked him for
money to buy guns, powder and
ball, he gave them a certain sum to
provide the necessaries of life, leav-
ing them to put their own construc-
tion on the words. By degrees
his squeamishness grew less public,
and though it is imagined he has
still some remainder of it, yet ne-
cessity has so often overcome it
that there is not much said on the
subject, unless it be very privately
and among friends.

During the time of which we
have been speaking Mr. John Bull
had undergone another sickness ([^54]),
not so long nor so violent as the
former but much more beneficial in
its effects. His new physicians had
administered medicines which com-
posed his nerves, he eat, drank
and slept more regularly, and conversed
more frequently with his wife ([^55])
than heretofore. By these means
his vigour was renewed, but still
his whimsical disposition remained,
and broke out on several occasions.
When he viewed his extensive for-
est, now planted and thriving, un-
der the honest hand of industry, he
thought within himself that still
greater advantages might be derived
from that territory. There was
yet a part of it unsettled between
the plantation of Charles Indigo,
and the dominions of Lord Strut;
and Bull thought it a pity to let so
much remain a wilderness. The
other plantations had been made by
discontented servants and needy ad-
venturers who struggling with hard-
ships, by a steady perseverance had
surmounted many difficulties, and
obtained a comfortable living.
“Now (said Bull) if these fellows
have done so well, and got so far
aforehand, without having any ca-
pital of their own to begin with,
what cannot be done by the force
of my great capital? If they have
performed such wonders, what great-
er wonders may be brought into
view by my own exertions, with all
the advantages which it is in my
power to command? To it, boys,
I vow I’ll have a farm of my own
that shall beat you all!”–Having
conceived this project, his brains
immediately became pregnant with
ideas; but according to the rule
which he had lately prescribed to
himself he communicated the matter
to his wife. This good lady, though
prudent, was not free from a ro-
mantic turn of mind. She was ex-
tremely fond of having it thought
that she had great influence over her
husband, and would sometimes gra-
tify his humour at the expense of her
own judgment, rather than not
keep up this idea. His expectations
from his new project were very san-
guine. The land on which he had
cast his eye was enough for a large
farm; it had a southern exposure,
it was warm, rich and fertile in some
parts, and in others boggy or sandy.
He had conversed with some fo-
reigners, who told him that it was
proper for the cultivation of wine
and silk, and he imagined that if
he could but add these articles to
the list of his own productions, there
would be a great saving in the fa-
mily. Mrs. Bull too was pleased
with the idea of having her silk
gowns and ribbands of her own
growth, and with the expectation of
having the vaults filled with wine,
made on her own plantation; for
these and other good reasons, her
thereunto moving, madam gave her
consent to the project. The person
appointed to carry it into execution
was George Trusty, ([^56]) a sensible
well-bred merchant, but one who
had only speculated in the science
of agriculture, and knew nothing
of it by experience. Having col-
lected a number of poor people who
were out of employment, he sent
them to the spot, with strict orders
to work fix days in seven, to keep
their tools free from rust, and their
fire-arms in readiness for their de-
fence; whatever they should earn
was to be their own as long as they
lived, and after their death their
possessions were to descend to their
sons, and in default of male issue
to revert to the original grantor.
They were not allowed to use black
cattle in the labour of the field;
and were expressly forbidden to
drink grog. Their business
was to cultivate vines and mulberry
trees, and to manufacture wine and
silk. Upon this project another
was grafted by the very sagacious
Doctor Squintum, who chose this
new plantation as the most conve-
nient spot in the world for a charity
school, where Orphans might re-
ceive the best education and be fit-
ted to be the pillars of church and
state.

But notwithstanding the sums
which Bull so freely lavished out
of his bags for the support of the vine
and mulberry plantations; and not-
withstanding the collections which
Squintum made among his nume-
rous devotees, these projects were
either so impracticable in them-
selves, or so ill conducted in the ex-
ecution, that neither of them answer-
ed the expectations of the project-
ors. For want of black cattle the
soil could not be properly tilled,
and for want of grog the labourers
fainted at their work; the right of
inheritance being limited to the
male line, women and girls were
not fond of living there, and the
men could not well live without
them; land, cattle, women and
grog, were to be had elsewhere,
and who would be confined to such
a place? The land too, was claimed
by Lord Strut, who sent them
writs of ejectment. The Charity-
School dwindled to nothing and
was consumed by fire. Poor George
Trusty was discouraged and begged
Mr. Bull to take the plantation in-
to his own hands, however Bull
kept supplying him with cash and
he kept making attempts. Altera-
tions were made in the terms of
settlement, the restrictions were re-
moved, cattle and grog were al-
lowed, Lord Strut was ousted
and possession held; the swamps
were drained; rice and indigo were
cultivated instead of silk and wine,
and upon the whole, considerable im-
provements were made, though at
such a vast expense that Mr. Bull
never saw any adequate returns.
The ill-success of this adventure,
did not deter him from another pro-
ject. He was extremely fond of
Trout ([^57]) and thought if he could
have them regularly catched and
brought to his table, he should ex-
ceed all his neighbours in delicate
living, and now and then be able to
send a mess to his particular friends.
Lord Peter’s family too, he thought
would be glad to buy them as they
were very useful in the long lents,
and frequent meagre days observed by
them. There was a part of the
forest on the north-east quarter,
which was very conveniently situa-
ted for this employment. ([^58]) It
had been occupied by Alexander *
*Scotus, a purblind fellow, who had
straggled thither no one could
tell how, and it was matter of
doubt whether he derived his right
from Bull or Lewis, for both of
them laid claim to the land, and
their claims had not been fairly
decided in law. To make sure of
the matter, Mr. Bull, by advice of
his wife, sent thither ([^59]) a parcel of
naked half starved people, who could
live no where else, and supported
them for several years with provisi-
ons, furnished them with skiffs,
lines, hooks and other implements
to carry on the fishery; but every
trout which they catched, cost him
ten times as much as if he had
bought it in the common market;
nor could he after all get half of
what he wanted for his own con-
sumption. His trout-fishery, and
his mulberry plantation, rendered
him the laughing-stock of his neigh-
bours, nor could he ever gain even
the interest of the money he had
laid out upon them; while the fo-
resters who had settled at their own
expense grew rich and became res-
pectable. He had indeed, the be-
nefit of their trade, which kept his
journeymen at work, and obliged
him to enlarge their number; for
the foresters had a respect for their
old master and landlord, and when
they had any thing to sell they al-
ways let him have the refusal of it,
and bought all their goods of him.
But though he called himself their
father, and his wife their mother,
yet it is thought he never entertain-
ed a proper parental affection for
them; but rather looked on them
with a jealous eye, as if they were
aiming to deprive him of his claim
and set up for independence. Had
he been contented with the profits
of their trade, as was certainly his
interest, they might have remained
his tenants to this day; but ambi-
tion, avarice, jealousy and choler,
inflamed by bad counsellors, have
wrought such a separation, that it
is thought Mr. Bull will go mourning
all the remainder of his days, and
his grey hairs will be brought down
with sorrow to the grave.

In the preceding part of this his-
tory we have endeavoured, to trace
the several steps by which the forest be-
came cultivated and peopled. Mr.
Bull had no less than fourteen tenants
who held under him, and were settled
on lands which he claimed as his own,
and which he had granted to them in
separate parcels. Their names were as
follows, beginning at the north-east, and
proceeding to the south-west:

Alexander Scotus, N. S.\
Robert Lumber, N. H.\
John Codline, M.\
Roger Carrier, R. I.\
Humphrey Plough-share, C.\
Peter Bull-Frog, N. Y.\
Julius Caesar, N. J.\
—- Casimir, D.\
William Broad-brim, P.\
Frederick Mary-gold, M.\
Walter Pipe-weed, V.\
Peter Pitch, N. C.\
Charles Indigo, S. C.\
George Trusty, G.

It was observed, that of all the ad-
venturers, those generally were the
least thriving, who received most assist- *
*ance from their old master. Whether
it was owing to their being employed
in business to which they had not serv-
ed a regular apprentice-ship, or to a
natural indolence, and a disposition to
continue hangers-on where they had
got a good hold; for it must be noted,
that Mr. Bull was very generous to
some persons, and on some occasions
where it suited his fancy, and this dis-
position in him was so prevalent, that
they who kenned him, and would hu-
mor his whims, could work him out
of any thing which they had a mind
to [sic]

On the other hand, those adventu-
rers who came into the forest on their
own hook, and had no assistance at all
from their old master, nor any thing to
help themselves with, but their own
heads and hands, proved to be the most
industrious and thriving, and after a
while told up a good estate. They all
seemed to have an affection for Mr.
Bull, and it was generally believed
to be sincere. His house was usually
spoken of by them as their home.
His ware-house was the center of their
traffic; and he had the address to en-
gross the profits of their labour and
draw their earnings into his own fob.
To some of them he would now and
then make a present, to others he would
lend a ([^60]) pack of his hounds when he
was out of the humor of hunting;
but they were generally useless to
them for the purpose of scouring the
woods, those who could afford it kept
dogs of their own, who were better
trained to the game, and could better
scent the forest, being native curs, and
not so spruce and delicate a breed as
Bull’s grey-hounds.

It has been before observed, that
each end of the forest was occupied
by Bull’s rivals. His old neighbour
Lewis had got the north end, and
Lord Strut the south. Bull’s tenants had
seated themselves chiefly on or near
the shore of the lake, and had not ex-
tended very far back, because of the
beasts of prey; but Lewis, like a cun-
ning old fox, had formed a scheme to get
footing in the interior parts of the
country, and prevent these planters
from penetrating beyond the limits
which he intended to assign them. His
emissaries had been sent slyly into the
distant parts of the forest, under pre-
tence of taming these beasts of prey;
but in fact they had halved the matter
with them, and had themselves become
as savage as the beasts had become
tame. They would run, leap and
climb with them and crawl into their
dens, imparting to them a lick of me- *
*lasses out of their calabash, and teaching
them to scratch with their paws the
sign of a cross. They had built several
hunting lodges on the most convenient
passes of the brooks and ponds,
and though thus scattered in the wood,
were all united under one overseer,
called ([^61]) Onontio, who lived in the
mansion-house of St. Lewis’s Hall.
It was matter of wonder among
Bull’s tenants, for some time, what
could be the reason that the wild beasts
had grown more surly and snappish
of late than formerly; but after a
while, some hunters made a discovery
of the new lodges, which the emissa-
ries of Onontio had erected, and the
design of them being apparent, a gene-
ral alarm was raised in the plantations.
On the first news, Walter Pipe-weed
sent his grandson ([^62]) George, a smart,
active, lively youth, across the hills,
with his compliments to the intruders,
desiring them to move off, and threat-
ening them with a writ in case of non-
compliance. This modest warning be-
ing ineffectual, it was thought that if
an Union could be formed among the
tenants, they might make a stand a-
gainst these encroachments. A meet-
ing was held at ([^63]) Orange-Hall, but
no efficient plan could be hit on, with-
out a previous application to their land-
lord, who hearing of this meeting,
conceived a jealousy with regard to this
union which seemed to be their object,
and thought it was better to retain the
management of the matter in his own
hands, and keep them divided among
themselves, but united in their depend-
ence on him. He therefore sent them
word that “he had a very great affect-
“ tion for them, and would take care
“ of their interest, which was also his *
“ *own; that he would not suffer old
“ Lewis to set his half-tamed wild
“ beasts upon them, nor eject them
“ from their possessions, but that he
“ would immediately take advice of
“ his council, learned in the law, con-
“ juring them by the affection which
“ they professed to bear towards him,
“ to be aiding and assisting in all ways,
“ in their power towards bringing the
“ controversy to an issue.”

At this time, the Steward, to whom
Mr. Bull entrusted the care of his bus-
iness, was not a person of that discern-
ment and expedition which the exigen-
cy of affairs required. He had com-
mitted divers blunders in his accounts,
and it was suspected that he was a de-
faulter in more respects than one. It
cannot, therefore, be expected, that in
conducting a controversy of this mag-
nitude, he should exactly hit on the
right methods, nor employ the best
council which could be had. The
first step which was taken was to send
([^64]) Broad-oak the bailiff, with a writ
of intrusion which he was ordered to
serve volens nolens upon one of the
messuages or hunting-seats of Lewis.
This bailiff proceeding rashly and a-
gainst the best advice into the forest,
not a step of which he was acquainted
with, found his progress impeded in a
way wholly unexpected. For Onontio
had taken care to place a number of
his half tamed wild cats and wolverenes
on the boughs of trees, which hung
over the path, and as soon as the bailiff
came within reach, having first wetted
their tails with their own urine, they
whisked it into his eyes till they blind-
ed him. This manoeuvre put a stop to
the process for that time.

Several other attempts of the like
kind were made without success, and
Lewis at one time had almost got pos-
session of ([^65]) Orange-Hall. Not only
the foresters themselves, but even
Bull’s own domestics, complained bitter-
ly of these ineffectual measures, and
their clamors at last prevailed to
make him discharge his old steward,
and put another into his place. The
new ([^66]) officer soon changed the face
of affairs; he employed no attorneys,
nor bailiffs, but those of tried and ap-
proved abilities, men of enterprize and
resolution, by whom the suit was pro-
secuted in good earnest. In every ac-
tion Bull recovered judgment, and got
possession. When Lord Strut came in
to the aid of Lewis, Bull cast him also,
and took away his manor of Augustine,
which with the whole tract of land,
where Onontio presided, was annexed
to his estate. The agents who had
been employed in this arduous service,
were not only well paid for doing their
duty, but, with the steward, who em-
ployed them, were honored according
to the ancient, but whimsical custom of
Bull’s family, by having their effigies
portrayed on sign-boards, pocket-
handkerchiefs, snuff-boxes, and punch-
bowls; so that while the fit lasted, you
could not walk the streets, nor blow
your nose, nor take a pinch of snuff,
nor a draught of punch, but you were
obliged to salute them.

Whenever Bull’s steward called up-
on the foresters for their quotas of aid,
towards carrying on this heavy law-
suit, they always readily afforded it;
and some of them were really almost
exhausted by the efforts which they
made, to do more than their share. The
steward was so sensible of their merit,
that on due consultation with Mr.
Bull’s wife, and her taking him in the
right mood, he was prevailed upon to
reimburse the extra expense to them,
and mutual complacency reigned be-
tween the landlord and tenants all the
time this steward remained in office.
But these times were too good to last
long; there were some who envied
him his reputation, and raised stories
to his disadvantage, which highly af-
fronted him. At this time Mr.
Bull was so much off his guard, as to give
heed to these reports, and take a rash
step in a hurry, which he had occasion
to repent of at his leisure. He accept-
ed the resignation of this trusty ser-
vant, and put one of his ([^67]) sister
Peg’s cast-off footmen into his place;
whereby he laid a foundation for his
own disgrace, and the dismemberment
of his estate, as the reader will see
in the following pages of this history.

TO trace with precision all the
causes, great and small, which
operated to the dismemberment of
John Bull’s estate, would be no
easy task; some of them perhaps,
were secret, but of such, as were open
to observation, we shall endeavour
to sketch out the principal.
It is well known, that he was of a
choleric habit, and that those who
were acquainted with his humour and
passions, could manage and impose
upon him at their pleasure. Had
he been let alone to pursue his own
business himself, his plain, natural
good sense, and generosity of mind,
would have kept him clear of many
difficulties; but he had his advisers,
his hangers-on, his levee-hunters,
his toad-eaters, and sycophants, for-
ever about him, who, like a parcel
of blood-suckers, could never have
enough to glut their voracity.
When the forest was first occupied
by the tenants, Bull had a ([^68]) wife
who minded her own domestic busi-
ness, and did not concern herself
with his landed interest. The
leases and grants were made out in
his name, and he was supposed to
be the owner or proprietor; but
the lady whom he now had, was very
assuming, and insisted on having
her hand in the management of all
his affairs. She visited the compt-
ing-house, and made the clerks
shew her their books; she over-
haled the steward’s accounts,
and inspected his correspondence;
she not only looked after the rents
and incomes of the forest, but even
intruded into the household concerns
of the tenants, and affected to call
herself their mother, because she had
taken some care of one or two of
them in their first setting out, al-
though most of them scarcely ever
had seen her face, or had any ac-
quaintance with her, but by hearsay.
It must be observed, also, that
this woman had engaged Mr. Bull
in some expensive lawsuits, and
speculations, which had got him
deeply into debt, and he was obliged
to hire money of usurers to carry
her schemes into execution. Had
she, at the same time, introduced that
frugality and economy into the fa-
mily, which her duty ought to have
prompted her to, this debt might
have been kept down, and the in-
terest regularly paid; but the swarm
of harpies which were continually
about her, and the course of gamb-
ling which was carried on under her
connivance and direction, swallowed
up all the profits of the trade, and
incomes of the land, while the lux-
ury and dissipation of the family in-
creased in proportion, as the means
of discharging the debt decreased.
In short, Mr. Bull was reduced to
that humiliating condition, which,
by whatever fashionable name it may
now go, was formerly called petti-
coat-government.

During the law-suit with Lewis
and Lord Strut ([^69]) concerning the
forest, there had been a great inter-
course with the tenants. Many of
Bull’s servants and retainers, who
were employed as bailiffs and attor-
nies, and their deputies, had been
very conversant with them, and
were entertained at their houses,
where they always found whol-
esome victuals, jolly fire sides, and
warm beds. They took much no-
tice of every thing that passed, ask-
ed many questions, and made many
remarks on the goodness of the
land, the pleasant situation of the
houses, the clean and thriving con-
dition of the children, who were al-
ways ready to wait them, to
clean their boots, hold their stir-
rups, open and shut the gates for
them, and the like little necessary
services, as well bred children in the
country are wont. The remarks
which these persons made, when
they got home, favored rather of
envy, than of gratitude or affection.
Some of them would say “Those
fellows live too well in the forest;
they thrive too fast; the place is
too good for them; they ought to
know who is their master; they
can afford to pay more rent;
they ought to pay for the help they
have had; if it had not been for
Master Bull, and the assistance which
he has lent them, they would have
been turned out of doors; and now
they are to reap the benefit of his
exertions, while he (poor man) is
to pay the cost.”

There were not wanting some, in
the families of the Foresters them-
selves, who had the meanness to
crouch to these fellows, and suppli-
cate their favour and interest with
Mr. Bull, to recommend them to
some posts of profit, as under-stew-
ards, collectors of rent, clerks of
receipts, and the like pretty offices.
These beggarly curs would repeat
the same language, and hold corres-
pondence with the bailiffs, attornies,
&c. after they had got home.
Whenever any trifling quarrel hap-
pened in the families of the tenants,
they would magnify it and fill their
letters with complaints of the licen-
tiousness of the people, and plead
for a tighter hand to be held over
them.

Such speeches as those were fre-
quently made, and such letters read,
in the hearing of Mr. Bull’s wife
and steward. This grew by degrees
to be the current language of the
family, and Bull himself listened to
it. His choler rose upon the occa-
sion, and when his hangers-on ob-
served it, they plied him with strong-
er doses, till his jealousy and hatred
were excited, and a complete revo-
lution in his temper, with regard
to his tenants, took place, agreea-
bly to the most sanguine and male-
volent wishes of his and their ene-
mies.

The first effect of this change
was, that his clerks were ordered
to charge not only the prices of the
goods, which the tenants should
purchase, but to make them pay
for the paper ([^70]) on which their
bills of parcels and notes of hand
were written, and that at a very
exorbitant rate. This was so into-
lerable an abuse, and withal so mean,
pitiful, and beggarly an expedient
to pick their pockets, that they
held a meeting among themselves,
and resolved not to buy any more
of his goods, as long as this impo-
sition lasted; and by way of con-
tempt, they hanged and burned the
effigies of the steward, and other
persons who were suspected of hav-
ing advised to these new measures.
The resentment shewn by the te-
nants on this occasion was quite un-
expected. The secret favourers, and
real authors of the mischief, began
to be afraid that they had gone too
far for the first attempt. Bull’s
journeymen were in an uproar about
it, left by the failure of his trade
they should be out of bread; and
to shorten the story, he was obliged
to give up the point of making
them pay for the paper, though
Madam had the singular modesty to
make a declaration, that it was a
mere matter of expediency, and that
SHE had the sole power and right
of dominion over them, notwith-
standing Mr. Bull’s most gracious
concession at that time. ([^71])
This was considered by the te-
nants as a most impudent and bare-
faced assumption; for whatever
rights Mr. Bull might pretend to
have, as their old master and land-
lord, yet they never had any idea
of a mistress over them; and though
they very complaisantly returned
him their thanks for his present
goodness, yet as they suspected
that there was more mischief hatch-
ing, they began to enquire more
narrowly than ever into his right
and title to the land, on which they
lived. They looked over old parch-
ments and memorandums, consulted
council learned in the law, and after
due deliberation, they were fully
convinced, that their own title was,
at least, as good as his, and that
they had a right to refuse him any
rent or acknowledgment, if it were
prudent for them to exercise it.
Mr . Bull’s jealousy was now en-
creased with regard to their intenti-
ons, and his scribbling retainers
frequently accused them of ingrate-
tude and disobedience, and a long pre-
meditated design to set up for inde-
pendence; a thing which they had
not yet thought of, and probably
never would, if this abusive treat-
ment had not put it into their heads.
But though by those means they
were led into an enquiry, and a train
of thinking, which were quite new
to them; yet as old habits are not
easily broken, and their affection for
their master was very strong, they
endeavoured, with a candor which
did them honor, to transfer the
blame from him to his wife and
steward, to whose machinations they
knew he was a dupe. These bad
counsellors soon renewed their at-
tempts in another shape, by raising
the rent, and putting an advanced
price upon the goods, and by means
of additional clerks, packers, por-
ters, watchmen, draymen, &c. who
were continually in waiting, and
to all of whom fees were to be paid,
the trade laboured under great em-
barrassments, and some of the Fo-
resters were quite discouraged, others
were vexed and impatient, while
some of the better tempered of them,
endeavoured to persuade the rest to
keep up the communication as long
as they could. They were loth to
quarrel with their old master, and
yet could not pocket the affronts
and abuses to which they were daily
exposed.

During this sullen interval, many
letters passed, many books and pre-
cedents were examined, and much
ink was shed, in a controversy,
which, however incapable of a deci- *
*sion in this way, might have been
compromised, if Mr. Bull’s first
thoughts had been as good as his
second; but he was so completely
under management, as not to see
his true interest. It was a common
saying among his neighbors, “John
Bull’s wit comes afterward;” and
in fact it did not come in this case,
till too late, for, when a cause once
gets into the law, there are so many
quirks, evasions, demurs, and procras-
tinations, that it is impossible to
make a retreat, till one or both of
the parties have severely smarted
for their temerity.

() Sir Walter Raleigh was the first adventurer to make a settlement in America, which he named Virginia. ↩
() The charter of Virginia. ↩
() Negroes. ↩
() Convicts. ↩
() Frederick Calvert, Lord Baltimore, who first settled Maryland, was a Papist, his successors abjured Popery, and conformed to the Church of England. ↩
() The church of England. ↩
() The Plymouth Adventurers. ↩
() The States of Holland. ↩
() Hudson’s River. ↩
() Cape-Code. ↩
() The month of December. ↩
() Archbishop Laud. ↩
() The pope. ↩
() The council of Plymouth. ↩
() Letter written on board the Arabella, after the embarkation of the Massachusetts settlers. ↩
() The Massachusetts charter. ↩
() Connecticut river. ↩
() Colony of New-Haven. ↩
() Rhode-Island. ↩
() Anabaptists. ↩
() Roger William’s zeal against the sign of the cross. ↩
() Quakers. ↩
() The town of Providence was built by emigrants from Massachusetts, of whom Roger Williams was head.
[^24]: () New-Hampshire was granted to John Mason, and the claim descended to Robert Mason.
[^25]: () The settling the line between Massachusetts and New-Hampshire.
[^26]: () The Dutch.
[^27]: () The king of Sweden.
[^28]: () The Delaware.
[^29]: () Hudson’s River.
[^30]: () Albany.
[^31]: () The civil wars in England.
[^32]: () Canada possessed by the French.
[^33]: () Florida possessed by the Spaniards.
[^34]: () New Amsterdam and the New Netherlands by the Dutch.
[^35]: () Sir Robert Carr’s expedition against New Amsterdam, now New York.
[^36]: () Surinam.
[^37]: () East and West Jersey.
[^38]: () The church of Scotland.
[^39]: () The Quakers.
[^40]: () The Carolina Company.
[^41]: ()
[^42]: () The united colonies of New-England, 1643.
[^43]: () The name of the Sachem at Penobscot.
[^44]: () The celebrated Rock, at Dighton, in Massachusetts.
[^45]: () The Society for propagating the Gospel in foreign parts: [sic]
[^46]: () Revocation of the edict of Nantz, by Lewis XIV, 1685.
[^47]: () Pirates.
[^48]: () North-Carolina.
[^49]: () Insurrections in North-Carolina, 1771.
[^50]: () Pennsylvania.
[^51]: () Quakerism.
[^52]: () 1755.
[^53]: () Militia-act.
[^54]: () The revolution 1688.
[^55]: () The Parliament.
[^56]: () The trustees of Georgia, 1732.
[^57]: () Codfishery.
[^58]: () Nva-Scotia.
[^59]: () 1749.
[^60]: () Station-ships and regiments.
[^61]: () The governor of Canada.
[^62]: () 1753.
[^63]: () Albany 1754.
[^64]: () 1755.
[^65]: () 1757.
[^66]: () Pitt’s administration.
[^67]: () [footnote content not visible in scan]
[^68]: () Parliament.
[^69]: () War of 1756.
[^70]: () Stamp-act, 1765.
[^71]: () Repeal of the Stamp-act, and Declaratory act, 1766. ↩

Preface

The Foresters Critical Bibliography

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