The Chainbearer; Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts Read online

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  THE CHAINBEARER

  OR

  THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS

  BY J. FENIMORE COOPER

  "O bid our vain endeavors cease, Revive the just designs of Greece; Return in all thy simple state, Confirm the tale her sons relate."

  COLLINS

  NEW YORK JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY 150 Worth Street, corner Mission Place

  TROW'S PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY, NEW YORK.

  "She held up the trap, and I descended into the hole thatanswered the purpose of a cellar."]

  PREFACE.

  The plot has thickened in the few short months that have intervenedsince the appearance of the first portion of our Manuscripts, andbloodshed has come to deepen the stain left on the country by thewide-spread and bold assertion of false principles. This must long sincehave been foreseen; and it is perhaps a subject of just felicitation,that the violence which has occurred was limited to the loss of a singlelife, when the chances were, and still are, that it will extend to civilwar. That portions of the community have behaved nobly under this suddenoutbreak of a lawless and unprincipled combination to rob, isundeniable, and ought to be dwelt on with gratitude and an honest pride;that the sense of right of much the larger portion of the country hasbeen deeply wounded, is equally true; that justice has been aroused, andis at this moment speaking in tones of authority to the offenders, isbeyond contradiction; but, while all this is admitted, and admitted notaltogether without hope, yet are there grounds for fear, so reasonableand strong, that no writer who is faithful to the real interests of hiscountry ought, for a single moment, to lose sight of them.

  High authority, in one sense, or that of political power, has pronouncedthe tenure of a durable lease to be opposed to the spirit of theinstitutions! Yet these tenures existed when the institutions wereformed, and one of the provisions of the institutions themselvesguarantees the observance of the covenants under which the tenuresexist. It would have been far wiser, and much nearer to the truth, hadthose who coveted their neighbors' goods been told that, in theirattempts to subvert and destroy the tenures in question, they wereopposing a solemn and fundamental provision of law, and in so muchopposing the institutions. The capital error is becoming prevalent,which holds the pernicious doctrine that this is a government of men,instead of one of principles. Whenever this error shall so far come to ahead as to get to be paramount in action, the well-disposed may sit downand mourn over, not only the liberties of their country, but over itsjustice and its morals, even should men be nominally so free as to dojust what they please.

  As the Littlepage Manuscripts advance, we find them becoming more andmore suited to the times in which we live. There is an omission of onegeneration, however, owing to the early death of Mr. Malbone Littlepage,who left an only son to succeed him. This son has felt it to be a dutyto complete the series by an addition from his own pen. Without thisaddition, we should never obtain views of Satanstoe, Lilacsbush,Ravensnest, and Mooseridge, in their present aspect; while with it wemay possibly obtain glimpses that will prove not only amusing butinstructive.

  There is one point on which, as editor of these Manuscripts, we desireto say a word. It is thought by a portion of our readers, that the firstMr. Littlepage who has written, Cornelius of that name, has manifestedan undue asperity on the subject of the New England character. Our replyto this charge is as follows: In the first place, we do not pretend tobe answerable for all the opinions of those whose writings are submittedto our supervision, any more than we should be answerable for all thecontradictory characters, impulses, and opinions that might be exhibitedin a representation of fictitious characters, purely of our owncreation. That the Littlepages entertained New York notions, and, if thereader will, New York prejudices, may be true enough; but in pictures ofthis sort, even prejudices become facts that ought not to be altogetherkept down. Then, New England has long since anticipated her revenge,glorifying herself and underrating her neighbors in a way that, in ouropinion, fully justifies those who possess a little Dutch blood inexpressing their sentiments on the subject. Those who give so freelyshould know how to take a little in return; and that more especially,when there is nothing very direct or personal in the hits they receive.For ourselves, we have not a drop of Dutch or New England blood in ourveins, and only appear as a bottle-holder to one of the parties in thisset-to. If we have recorded what the Dutchman says of the Yankee, wehave also recorded what the Yankee says, and that with no particularhesitation, of the Dutchman. We know that these feelings are by-gones;but our Manuscripts, thus far, have referred exclusively to the times inwhich they certainly existed, and that, too, in a force quite as greatas they are here represented to be.

  We go a little farther. In our judgment the false principles that are tobe found in a large portion of the educated classes, on the subject ofthe relation between landlord and tenant, are to be traced to theprovincial notions of those who have received their impressions from astate of society in which no such relations exist. The danger from theanti-rent doctrines is most to be apprehended from these falseprinciples; the misguided and impotent beings who have taken the fieldin the literal sense, not being a fourth part as formidable to the rightas those who have taken it in the moral. There is not a particle more ofreason in the argument which says that there should be no farmers, inthe strict meaning of the term, than there would be in that which saidthere should be no journeymen connected with the crafts; though it wouldnot be easy to find a man to assert the latter doctrine. We dare say, ifthere did happen to exist a portion of the country in which themechanics were all "bosses," it would strike those who dwelt in such astate of society, that it would be singularly improper andanti-republican for any man to undertake journeywork.

  On this subject we shall only add one word. The column of society musthave its capital as well as its base. It is only perfect while each partis entire, and discharges its proper duty. In New York the greatlandholders long have, and do still, in a social sense, occupy the placeof the capital. On the supposition that this capital is broken andhurled to the ground, of what material will be the capital that must bepushed into its place! We know of none half so likely to succeed, as thecountry extortioner and the country usurer! We would caution those whonow raise the cry of feudality and aristocracy, to have a care of whatthey are about. In lieu of King Log, they may be devoured by King Stork.

  THE CHAINBEARER.