Chapter II

by James Fenimore Cooper

　　All places that the eye of heaven visitsAre to a wise man ports and happy havens:Think not the king did banish thee:But thou the king.--Richard II

　　An ancestor of Marmaduke Temple had, about one hundred and twentyyears before the commencement of our tale, come to the colony ofPennsylvania, a friend and co-religionist of its great patron. OldMarmaduke, for this formidable prenomen was a kind of appellative tothe race, brought with him, to that asylum of the persecuted anabundance of the good things of this life. He became the master ofmany thousands of acres of uninhabited territory, and the supporter ofmany a score of dependents. He lived greatly respected for his piety,and not a little distinguished as a sectary; was intrusted by hisassociates with many important political stations; and died just intime to escape the knowledge of his own poverty. It was his lot toshare the fortune of most of those who brought wealth with them intothe new settlements of the middle colonies.

　　The consequence of an emigrant into these provinces was generally tobe ascertained by the number of his white servants or dependents, andthe nature of the public situations that he held. Taking this rule asa guide, the ancestor of our Judge must have been a man of no littlenote.

　　It is, however, a subject of curious inquiry at the present day, tolook into the brief records of that early period, and observe howregular, and with few exceptions how inevitable, were the gradations,on the one hand, of the masters to poverty, and on the other, of theirservants to wealth. Accustomed to ease, and unequal to the strugglesincident to an infant society, the affluent emigrant was barelyenabled to maintain his own rank by the weight of his personalsuperiority and acquirements; but, the moment that his head was laidin the grave, his indolent and comparatively uneducated offspring werecompelled to yield precedency to the more active energies of a classwhose exertions had been stimulated by necessity. This is a verycommon course of things, even in the present state of the Union; butit was peculiarly the fortunes of the two extremes of society, in thepeaceful and unenterprising colonies of Pennsylvania and New Jersey,

　　The posterity of Marmaduke did not escape the common lot of those whodepend rather on their hereditary possessions than on their ownpowers; and in the third generation they had descended to a pointbelow which, in this happy country, it is barely possible for honesty,intellect and sobriety to fall. The same pride of family that had, byits self-satisfied indolence, conduced to aid their fail, now became aprinciple to stimulate them to endeavor to rise again. The feeling,from being morbid, was changed to a healthful and active desire toemulate the character, the condition, and, peradventure, the wealth oftheir ancestors also. It was the father of our new acquaintance, theJudge, who first began to reascend in the scale of society; and inthis undertaking he was not a little assisted by a marriage, whichaided in furnishing the means of educating his only son in a ratherbetter manner than the low state of the common schools of Pennsylvaniacould promise; or than had been the practice in the family for the twoor three preceding generations.

　　At the school where the reviving prosperity of his father was enabledto maintain him, young Marmaduke formed an intimacy with a youth whoseyears were about equal to his own. This was a fortunate connectionfor our Judge, and paved the way to most of his future elevation inlife.

　　There was not only great wealth but high court interest among theconnections of Edward Effingham. They were one of the few familiesthen resident in the colonies who thought it a degradation to itsmembers to descend to the pursuits of commerce; and who never emergedfrom the privacy of domestic life unless to preside in the councils ofthe colony or to bear arms in her defense. The latter had from youthbeen the only employment of Edwards father. Military rank under thecrown of Great Britain was attained with much longer probation, and bymuch more toilsome services, sixty years ago than at the present time.Years were passed without murmuring, in the sub ordinate grades of theservice; and those soldiers who were stationed in the colonies felt,when they obtained the command of a company, that they were entitledto receive the greatest deference from the peaceful occupants of thesoil. Any one of our readers who has occasion to cross the Niagaramay easily observe not only the self importance, but the realestimation enjoyed by the hum blest representative of the crown, evenin that polar region of royal sunshine. Such, and at no very distantperiod, was the respect paid to the military in these States, wherenow, happily, no symbol of war is ever seen, unless at the free andtearless voice of their people. When, therefore, the father ofMarmadukes friend, after forty years service, retired with the rankof major, maintaining in his domestic establishment a comparativesplendor, he be came a man of the first consideration in his nativecolony which was that of New York. He had served with fidelity andcourage, and having been, according to the custom of the provinces,intrusted with commands much superior to those to which he wasentitled by rank, with reputation also. When Major Effingham yieldedto the claims of age, he retired with dignity, refusing his half-payor any other compensation for services that he felt he could no longerperform.

　　The ministry proffered various civil offices which yielded not onlyhonor but profit; but he declined them all, with the chivalrousindependence and loyalty that had marked his character through life.The veteran soon caused this set of patriotic disinterestedness to befollowed by another of private munificence, that, however little itaccorded with prudence, was in perfect conformity with the simpleintegrity of his own views.

　　The friend of Marmaduke was his only child; and to this son, on hismarriage with a lady to whom the father was particularly partial, theMajor gave a complete conveyance of his whole estate, consisting ofmoney in the funds, a town and country residence, sundry valuablefarms in the old parts of the colony, and large tracts of wild land inthe new--in this manner throwing himself upon the filial piety of hischild for his own future maintenance. Major Effingham, in decliningthe liberal offers of the British ministry, had subjected himself tothe suspicion of having attained his dotage, by all those who throngthe avenues to court patronage, even in the remotest corners of thatvast empire; but, when he thus voluntarily stripped himself of hisgreat personal wealth, the remainder of the community seemedinstinctively to adopt the conclusion also that he had reached asecond childhood. This may explain the fact of his importance rapidlydeclining; and, if privacy was his object, the veteran had soon a freeindulgence of his wishes. Whatever views the world might entertain ofthis act of the Major, to himself and to his child it seemed no morethan a natural gift by a father of those immunities which he could nolonger enjoy or improve, to a son, who was formed, both by nature andeducation, to do both. The younger Effingham did not object to theamount of the donation; for he felt that while his parent reserved amoral control over his actions, he was relieving himself of afatiguing burden: such, indeed, was the confidence existing betweenthem, that to neither did it seem anything more than removing moneyfrom one pocket to another.

　　One of the first acts of the young man, on corning into possession ofhis wealth, was to seek his early friend, with a view to offer anyassistance that it was now in his power to bestow.

　　The death of Marmadukes father, and the consequent division of hissmall estate, rendered such an offer extremely acceptable to the youngPennsylvanian; he felt his own powers, and saw, not only theexcellences, but the foibles in the character of his friend.Effingham was by nature indolent, confiding, and at times impetuousand indiscreet; but Marmaduke was uniformly equable, penetrating, andfull of activity and enterprise. To the latter therefore, theassistance, or rather connection that was proffered to him, seemed toproduce a mutual advantage. It was cheerfully accepted, and thearrangement of its conditions was easily completed. A mercantilehouse was established in the metropolis of Pennsylvania, with theavails of Mr. Effingham's personal property; all, or nearly all, ofwhich was put into the possession of Temple, who was the onlyostensible proprietor in the concern, while, in secret, the other wasentitled to an equal participation in the profits. This connectionwas thus kept private for two reasons, one of which, in the freedom oftheir inter course, was frankly avowed to Marmaduke, while the othercontinued profoundly hid in the bosom of his friend, The last wasnothing more than pride. To the descend ant of a line of soldiers,commerce, even in that indirect manner, seemed a degrading pursuit;but an insuperable obstacle to the disclosure existed in theprejudices of his father

　　We have already said that Major Effingham had served as a soldier withreputation. On one occasion, while in command on the western frontierof Pennsylvania against a league of the French and Indians, not onlyhis glory, but the safety of himself and his troops were jeoparded bythe peaceful policy of that colony. To the soldier, this was anunpardonable offence. He was fighting in their defense--he knew thatthe mild principles of this little nation of practical Christianswould be disregarded by their subtle and malignant enemies; and hefelt the in jury the more deeply because he saw that the avowed objectof the colonists, in withholding their succors, would only have atendency to expose his command, without preserving the peace. Thesoldier succeeded, after a desperate conflict, in extricating himself,with a handful of his men, from their murderous enemy; but he neverfor gave the people who had exposed him to a danger which they lefthim to combat alone. It was in vain to tell him that they had noagency in his being placed on their frontier at all; it was evidentlyfor their benefit that he had been so placed, and it was their"religious duty," so the Major always expressed it, "it was theirreligions duty to have supported him."

　　At no time was the old soldier an admirer of the peaceful disciples ofFox. Their disciplined habits, both of mind and body, had endowedthem with great physical perfection; and the eye of the veteran wasapt to scan the fair proportions and athletic frames of the colonistswith a look that seemed to utter volumes of contempt for their moralimbecility, He was also a little addicted to the expression of abelief that, where there was so great an observance of the externalsof religion, there could not be much of the substance. It is not ourtask to explain what is or what ought to be the substance ofChristianity, but merely to record in this place the opinions of MajorEffingham.

　　Knowing the sentiments of the father in relation to this people, itwas no wonder that the son hesitated to avow his connection with, nay,even his dependence on the integrity of, a Quaker.

　　It has been said that Marmaduke deduced his origin from thecontemporaries and friends of Penn. His father had married withoutthe pale of the church to which he belonged, and had, in this manner,forfeited some of the privileges of his offspring. Still, as youngMarmaduke was educated in a colony and society where even the ordinaryintercourse between friends was tinctured with the aspect of this mildreligion, his habits and language were some what marked by itspeculiarities. His own marriage at a future day with a lady withoutnot only the pale, but the influence, of this sect of religionists,had a tendency, it is true, to weaken his early impressions; still heretained them in some degree to the hour of his death, and wasobserved uniformly, when much interested or agitated, to speak in thelanguage of his youth. But this is anticipating our tale.

　　When Marmaduke first became the partner of young Effingham, he wasquite the Quaker in externals; and it was too dangerous an experimentfor the son to think of encountering the prejudices of the father onthis subject. The connection, therefore, remained a profound secretto all but those who were interested in it,

　　For a few years Marmaduke directed the commercial operations of hishouse with a prudence and sagacity that afforded rich returns. Hemarried the lady we have mentioned, who was the mother of Elizabeth,and the visits of his friend were becoming more frequent. There was aspeedy prospect of removing the veil from their intercourse, as itsadvantages became each hour more apparent to Mr. Effingham, when thetroubles that preceded the war of the Revolution extended themselvesto an alarming degree.

　　Educated in the most dependent loyalty, Mr. Effingham had, from thecommencement of the disputes between the colonists and the crown,warmly maintained what he believed to be the just prerogatives of hisprince; while, on the other hand, the clear head and independent mindof Temple had induced him to espouse the cause of the people. Bothmight have been influenced by early impressions; for, if the son ofthe loyal and gallant soldier bowed in implicit obedience to the willof his sovereign, the descendant of the persecuted followers of Pennlooked back with a little bitterness to the unmerited wrongs that hadbeen heaped upon his ancestors.

　　This difference in opinion had long been a subject of amicable disputebetween them: but, Latterly, the contest was getting to be tooimportant to admit of trivial discussions on the part of Marmaduke,whose acute discernment was already catching faint glimmerings of theimportant events that were in embryo. The sparks of dissension soonkindled into a blaze; and the colonies, or rather, as they quicklydeclared themselves, THE STATES, became a scene of strife andbloodshed for years.

　　A short time before the battle of Lexington, Mr. Effingham, already awidower, transmitted to Marmaduke, for safe-keeping, all his valuableeffects and papers; and left the colony without his father. The warhad, however, scarcely commenced in earnest, when he reappeared in NewYork, wearing the Livery of his king; and, in a short time, he tookthe field at the head of a provincial corps. In the mean timeMarmaduke had completely committed himself in the cause, as it wasthen called, of the rebel lion. Of course, all intercourse betweenthe friends ceased--on the part of Colonel Effingham it was unsought,and on that of Marmaduke there was a cautious reserve. It soon becamenecessary for the latter to abandon the capital of Philadelphia; buthe had taken the precaution to remove the whole of his effects beyondthe reach of the royal forces, including the papers of his friendalso. There he continued serving his country during the struggle, invarious civil capacities, and always with dignity and usefulness.While, however, he discharged his functions with credit and fidelity,Marmaduke never seemed to lose sight of his own interests; for, whenthe estates of the adherents of the crown fell under the hammer, bythe acts of confiscation, he appeared in New York, and became thepurchaser of extensive possessions at comparatively low prices.

　　It is true that Marmaduke, by thus purchasing estates that had beenwrested by violence from others, rendered himself obnoxious to thecensures of that Sect which, at the same time that it discards itschildren from a full participation in the family union, seems everunwilling to abandon them entirely to the world. But either hissuccess, or the frequency of the transgression in others, soon wipedoff this slight stain from his character; and, although there were afew who, dissatisfied with their own fortunes, or conscious of theirown demerits, would make dark hints concerning the sudden prosperityof the unportioned Quaker, yet his services, and possibly his wealth,soon drove the recollection of these vague conjectures from mensminds. When the war ended, and the independence of the States wasacknowledged, Mr. Temple turned his attention from the pursuit ofcommerce, which was then fluctuating and uncertain, to the settlementof those tracts of land which he had purchased. Aided by a good dealof money, and directed by the suggestions of a strong and practicalreason, his enterprise throve to a degree that the climate and ruggedface of the country which he selected would seem to forbid. Hisproperty increased in a tenfold ratio, and he was already ranked amongthe most wealthy and important of his countrymen. To inherit thiswealth he had but one child--the daughter whom we have introduced tothe reader, and whom he was now conveying from school to preside overa household that had too long wanted a mistress.

　　When the district in which his estates lay had become sufficientlypopulous to be set off as a county, Mr. Temple had, according to thecustom of the new settlements, been selected to fill its highestjudicial station. This might make a Templar smile; but in addition tothe apology of necessity, there is ever a dignity in talents andexperience that is commonly sufficient, in any station, for theprotection of its possessor; and Marmaduke, more fortunate in hisnative clearness of mind than the judge of King Charles, not onlydecided right, but was generally able to give a very good reason forit. At all events, such was the universal practice of the country andthe times; and Judge Temple, so far from ranking among the lowest ofhis judicial contemporaries in the courts of the new counties, felthimself, and was unanimously acknowledged to be, among the first.

　　We shall here close this brief explanation of the history andcharacter of some of our personages leaving them in future to speakand act for themselves.