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especially among elderly ladies, the reader will at once perceive that the
deacon was a federalist, which was somewhat of a novelty in Suffolk,
thirty years since. Had he lived down to our own times, the old man would
probably have made all the gyrations in politics that have distinguished
the school to which he would have belonged, and, without his own
knowledge, most probably, would have been as near an example of perpetual
motion as the world will ever see, through his devotion to what are now
called "Whig Principles." We are no great politician, but time has given
us the means of comparing; and we often smile when we hear the disciples
of Hamilton, and of Adams, and of all that high-toned school, declaiming
against the use of the veto, and talking of the "one man power," and of
Congress' leading the government! The deacon was very apt to throw the
opprobrium of even a bad season on the administration, and the reader has
seen what he thought of the subject of running packets between New York
and Cape Horn.
"There ought to be a large navy, Mary, a monstrous navy, so that the
vessels might be kept carrying letters about, and serving the public. But
we shall never have things right, until Rufus King, or some man like him,
gets in. If Gar'ner lets that Daggett get the start of him, he never need
come home again. The islands are as much mine as if I had bought them; and
I'm not sure an action wouldn't lie for seals taken on them without my
consent. Yes, yes; we want a monstrous navy, to convoy sealers, and carry
letters about, and keep some folks at home, while it lets other folks go
about their lawful business."
"Of what islands are you speaking, uncle? Surely the sealing islands,
where Roswell has gone, are public and uninhabited, and no one has a
better right there than another!"
The deacon perceived that he had gone too far, in his tribulation, and
began to have a faint notion that he was making a fool of himself. He
asked his niece, in a very faint voice, therefore, to hand him the letter,
the remainder of which he would endeavour to read himself. Although every
word that Roswell Gardiner wrote was very precious to Mary, the gentle
girl had a still unopened epistle to herself to peruse, and glad enough
was she to make the exchange. Handing the deacon his letter, therefore,
she withdrew at once to her private room, in order to read her own.
"Dearest Mary," said Roswell Gardiner, in this epistle, "your uncle will
tell you what has brought us into this port, and all things connected with
the schooner. I have sent home more than $4000 worth of oil, and I hope my
owner will forgive the accident off Currituck, on account of this run of
good luck. In my opinion, we shall yet make a voyage, and that part of my
fortune will be secure. Would that I could feel as sure of finding you
more disposed to be kind to me, on my return! I read in your Bible every
day, Mary, and I often pray to God to enlighten my mind, if my views have
been wrong. As yet, I cannot flatter myself with any change, for my old
opinions appear rather to be more firmly rooted than they were before I
sailed." Here poor Mary heaved a heavy sigh, and wiped the tears from her
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eyes. She was pained to a degree she could hardly believe possible, though
she did full credit to Roswell's frankness. Like all devout persons, her
faith in the efficacy of sacred writ was strong: and she so much the more
lamented her suitor's continued blindness, because it remained after light
had shone upon it. "Still, Mary," the letter added, "as I have every human
inducement to endeavour to be right, I shall not throw aside the book, by
any means. In that I fully believe; our difference being in what the
volume teaches. Pray for me, sweetest girl--but I know you do, and will
continue to do, as long as I am absent."
"Yes, indeed, Roswell," murmured Mary--"as long as you and I live!"
"Next to this one great concern of my life, comes that which this man
Daggett gives me,"--the letter went on to say. "I hardly know what to do
under all the circumstances. Keep in his company much longer I cannot,
without violating my duty to the deacon. Yet, it is not easy, in any
sense, to get rid of him. He has stood by me so manfully on all occasions,
and seems so much disposed to make good-fellowship of the voyage, that,
did it depend on myself only, I should at once make a bargain with him to
seal in company, and to divide the spoils. But this is now impossible, and
I must quit him in some way or other. He outsails me in most weathers, and
it is a thing easier said than done. What will make it more difficult is
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