The Spy: Condensed for use in schools Read online

  Produced by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

  _STANDARD LITERATURE SERIES_

  THE SPY

  BY

  J. FENIMORE COOPER

  CONDENSED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS

  _WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND EXPLANATORY NOTES_

  NEW YORK AND NEW ORLEANS UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING CO. 1898

  COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING CO.

  Press of J. J. Little & Co. Astor Place, New York

  INTRODUCTION.

  James Fenimore Cooper was born in Burlington, N. J., in 1789--the yearin which George Washington was inaugurated first President of theUnited States. His boyhood was passed at Cooperstown, N. Y., a villagefounded by his father. After completing his studies at Yale, youngCooper entered the American navy as midshipman, subsequently obtainingthe rank of lieutenant. He also made some voyages in a merchantvessel, and in this service acquired that knowledge of sea life ofwhich he made good use in many of his novels.

  Cooper has been styled the Walter Scott of America. It is hardly anexaggeration to rank him so high, for he has done for America whatScott did for Scotland: he has illustrated and popularized much of itshistory and many of its olden traditions in stories that will haveappreciative readers so long as the English language is spoken. As arecent writer observes, he "wrote for men and women as well as forboys and girls," and the best of his stories are "purely American,native born, and native bred."

  Another distinction must be assigned to Cooper, and it is a mark ofhigh merit: he was the first American novelist who became widely knownand esteemed in foreign countries. "The Spy" appeared in 1821--a timewhen American literature was in its infancy. Though but the second ofthe author's works, it immediately became popular on both sides of theAtlantic. It was translated into several European languages, and mayeven, we are told, be read in the Persian tongue.

  Other stories quickly followed. "The Pioneer" was published in 1822.This and "The Deerslayer," "The Pathfinder," "The Last of theMohicans," and "The Prairie" belong to the series known as theLeatherstocking Tales, so called from Leatherstocking Natty, the mostcelebrated of the characters introduced. These deal with life andadventure among the Indians, in description of which Cooper surpassedall other writers. The sea tales include "The Pilot," published in1823; "The Red Rover," in 1827; "The Waterwitch," in 1830; "The TwoAdmirals," in 1842, and "The Sea Lions," in 1849. Altogether, Cooperwrote thirty-three novels, many of them universally recognized asentitled to first rank in that field of literature, and all full ofinterest to the lover of romance.

  In 1826 Cooper visited Europe, and remained for several years,continuing his literary work and producing, in addition to novels,some volumes of sketches of European society. He returned to Americain 1833. His last book, "The Ways of the Hour," which deals withabuses of trial by jury, was published in 1850. He died on the 14thof September the following year at Cooperstown.

  HISTORICAL NOTE.

  The events of the patriot Revolution afforded ample and excellentsubject-matter for the genius of Cooper; and in "The Spy" he treatshis material in a manner which has made the work a favorite with alllovers of fiction. The scene of the story is laid chiefly in that partof New York State lying immediately north and northeast of ManhattanIsland. At the period referred to New York was held by the British,under command of Sir Henry Clinton, having been taken after the defeatof the Americans at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. Atthe same time the Americans possessed nearly all the rest of theState. The district lying between the British and the American lines,and extending over the greater part of Westchester County, was knownas the "neutral ground." Here the principal events of the story areplaced.

  This district having then practically no government, the inhabitantssuffered much, not only through the military operations of the hostileforces, but from bands of marauders known as "cowboys" and "skinners."The latter, professing to be supporters of the American cause, roamedover the neutral ground, robbing Tories (friends of the British) andothers who refused to take an oath of fidelity to the new republic,while those consenting to take the oath were attacked and plundered bythe cowboys, who carried on their depredations as British partisans.

  The hero of "The Spy" is not altogether a fictitious character. In theintroduction to one of the editions of the book the author tells usthat he took the idea of Harvey Birch from a real person who wasactually engaged in the secret service of the American Committee ofSafety--a committee appointed by Congress to discover and defeat thevarious schemes projected by the Tories in conjunction with theBritish to aid the latter against the republican government. Spieswere, of course, employed on both sides during the struggle, and itmay readily be believed that among the patriot Americans there weremany who were willing, without desire of earthly reward, not only toencounter hardships and danger to life for their country's cause, butto risk even loss of reputation, as Harvey Birch did.

  THE SPY.