(97) 8r.: October. ¶ Madam Winthrop's: Katherine Winthrop, twice a widow; she was now fifty-six years old. ¶ my loving wife died so soon: Sewall's second wife had died four months before, on May 26. He was now in his sixtyninth year. ¶ convenient=fitting. Castle: the fort near Boston.

(98) Mr. Belcher's Cake and Ginger-Bread: the thrifty wooer had been given these delicacies on leaving Mr. Belcher's house the day before.

(99) a first and second Vagary: the first "vagary" was the widow Denison, whom he had courted soon after the death of his first wife, in 1717, although Madam Winthrop had already been "commended" to him by her relatives; the second "vagary" was his second wife.

(100) Stone-House: the prison. ¶Hannah 3 oranges with her Duty: i.e., a gift, with respects, from his daughter Hannah.

(102) Jehovah jireh: "The Lord will provide." South: the south end of the town; cf. text, 14 lines below.

(103) Isaac Moses's Writing: Moses was an Indian.

(104) fond foolish.

SARAH K. KNIGHT

(105) THE JOURNAL. The text is from the 1825 edition, printed from the original manuscript. ¶ Billings: an error for "Belcher." ¶ Pieces of eight: Spanish piasters, coins of about the value of the American dollar; so called because worth eight reals.

(106) pss. =piece. ¶ eminent: error for "imminent." Parismus and the Knight of the Oracle: romances by Emanuel Forde, of the Elizabethan Age. ¶ versall: vulgar for "universal," meaning "whole"; cf. the Nurse's "versal world" in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, scene iv, l. 219.

(107) Junk = pipe? ¶ Rung = having a ring through the snout. Lento= lean-to; an addition to the main building, with a single-pitch roof. ¶ Sad-colourd = dark-colored. the Ordnary: the charge for the dinner; the regular, ordinary meal was so called, in distinction from one specially ordered.

(108) nor so much as think on Lott's wife: "But his [Lot's] wife looked back." -Gen. 19:26. ¶ Stage = resting-place.

(109) ye Children in the wood: an allusion to the ballad of the two children who were left to die in the wood. ¶ Left. = lieutenant; the spelling represents the old pronunciation, still used in England. ¶ Insigne = ensign.

(110) Sophister: another allusion to the landlord's name being "Devil," with a reference to the specious reasoning by which the Devil deludes men. (111) shores =props. ¶muscheeto's = mustachios.

WILLIAM BYRD

(113) HISTORY OF THE DIVIDING LINE. The text of this selection and the next follows, by permission, that of the 1901 edition of Byrd's works, edited by J. S. Bassett, which is printed from the original manuscript. Byrd was one of the commissioners appointed to determine the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina. The line ran through the Great Dismal Swamp, which the

surveyors entered on the east, while the commissioners went around the southern end and awaited them on the western edge.

(117) Bantam: a seaport in Java.

(119) Faustina

Farinelli: popular singers of the time.

(119) A PROGRESS TO THE MINES. Byrd, who owned much land, was interested in the development of the colony's natural resources, and visited several iron mines in the year 1732.

(120) Exchange: a reference to the noisy and sometimes rash way of doing business in public exchanges, like the modern Wal Street. ¶ the 16000: the legal salary for a clergyman in Virginia was 16,000 pounds of tobacco, which was much used for currency. Goochland: one of the counties in Virginia.

(121) Smart elegantly dressed.

JONATHAN EDWARDS

(122) THE SWEET GLORY OF GOD. Part of a manuscript found among Edwards' papers. The text is from Samuel Hopkins' Life of Jonathan Edwards (1765), where it is printed from the original.

(124) SINNERS IN THE HANDS Of An Angry God. A part of the last division of the sermon, called "Application" or "Use." The text is from the 1745 edition. (128) ENQUIRY INTO THE FREEDOM OF THE WILL. From Part II, section 6. The text is from the 1754 edition.

JOHN WOOLMAN

(133) THE JOURNAL. From chapters 2, 8, and 12. The text is from the 1774 edition. ¶this journey: a journey through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, in 1746.

J. HECTOR ST. JOHN CRÈVECOEUR

(138) LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN FARMER. The text is from Lewisohn's reprint (1904) of the 1782 edition.

(139) eastern provinces: New England.

(140) other governments: i.e., other American Colonies.

(141) the whole were banished: 3,000 Acadians were deported by the British in 1755, for supposed disloyalty. Ubi panis ibi patria: "Where one's bread is, there is one's fatherland."

(145) track=tract.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

(148) THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY. The text is from the 1817 edition, by W. T. Franklin, Franklin's grandson and literary executor, who says that the work is "printed literally from the original autograph." ¶ dying dyeing. ¶emmets=ants. (151) chapmen's books: books containing songs, ballads, and other popular matter, sold by chapmen, or peddlers.

(155) transformed: error for "transferred." Mr. Whitefield: George Whitefield (1714-70), one of the founders of the Methodist Church and a very eloquent preacher; he visited America in 1738, and several times thereafter.

(156) pistoles: the pistole was worth about $4.00.

(158) THE WAY TO WEALTH. The text is that of Poor Richard's Almanac

for 1758.

(162) felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum: "happy he whom the perils of others make cautious."

(164) Goal gaol, jail.

(165) the Stone that will turn all your lead into Gold: in the Middle Ages many believed in the existence of a "philosopher's stone," which could turn the baser metals into gold.

(166) THE EPHEMERA. The text is from Jared Sparks's edition of Franklin's works, in 1836-40, printed from the original manuscripts and first editions. The essay was written in its present form in 1778, when Franklin was the American ambassador at the court of France; but in a cruder form it had appeared in The Pennsylvania Gazette, December 4, 1735, of which Franklin was then editor and publisher.¶Moulin Joly: a small island in the Seine, part of the country-seat of another of Franklin's friends. ephemera: the word is derived from two Greek words meaning "over" and "day." ¶ disputing warmly on the merit of two foreign musicians: "At the time when the letter was written, all conversations at Paris were filled with disputes about the music of Gluck and Picini, a German and Italian musician."-Franklin, in a letter of June 17, 1780. ¶cousin: "gnat." ¶ moscheto: "mosquito."

(167) a tune: "She [Madame Brillon] has, among other elegant accomplishments, that of an excellent musician; and, with her daughters, who sing prettily, and some friends who play, she kindly entertains me and my grandson with little concerts, a cup of tea, and a game of chess."-Franklin, in a letter of June 17, 1780. ¶ Brillante: a play upon the name of Madame Brillon.

(168) DIALOGUE BETWEEN FRANKLIN AND THE GOUT. The text is from Sparks's edition. Franklin was afflicted with gout at this period of his life.

(169) Passy, Auteuil, Montmartre: communes near Paris, which have since been included in the city.

(170) your fair friend at Auteuil: Madam Helvetius, widow of a philosopher and man of letters, and herself the social center of a brilliant literary circle.

(171) grove of Boulogne: the famous Bois de Boulogne, near Paris; Passy, Franklin's residence, bordered upon it. ¶ the garden de la Muette: just outside the Bois. (173) LETTERS. The text is from Sparks's edition. (174) louis d'ors: a louis was worth about $5.00. (175) your father: Cotton Mather.

JOHN DICKINSON

(176) LETTERS FROM A FARMER IN PENNSYLVANIA. 1768 edition.

The text is from the

(177) "may touch some wheel": Pope's Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1. 59, "Touches some wheel."

(179) Mr. Hampden's ship money cause: when Charles I tried to revive an old ship-tax, without consent of Parliament, John Hampden, a leader in the popular Darty, refused to pay his tax and brought the case into court in 1637-38.

SAMUEL SEABURY

(180) FREE THOUGHTS ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. The text is from the 1774 edition. The Congress referred to was that which met in Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, and consisted of delegates from all the colonies except Georgia. One of its chief measures was the adoption of an agreement, binding upon all the colonists, to stop all trade with Great Britain after a certain date, and it arranged for the appointment of local committees to enforce the agreement. The author of Free Thoughts, who pretends to be a farmer, although in all probability he was Samuel Seabury, an Episcopalian clergyman, addresses himself to the farmers of New York State, showing the loss this agreement will cause them. ¶ your seed: the context shows that the reference is to flax-seed.

(181) the Irish: they imported much flax-seed from America, to grow the flax needed in making the famous Irish linen. ¶ oil-mills: for making linseed oil.

FRANCIS HOPKINSON

(183) A PRETTY STORY. The text is from the 1774 edition. ¶ a certain Nobleman: the king of Great Britain. ¶ economy: management of affairs.

(184) Marriage Articles: agreements at various times between king and Parliament, particularly that taxes should not be imposed without the consent of Parliament. ¶his Wife: Parliament. ¶ at the End of every seven Years: by the Septennial Act of 1716 a new Parliament must be chosen at least as often as every seven years. ¶ until his brethren had first declared him worthy of such Punishment: trial by jury. The Great Paper: Magna Charta, granted by King John in 1215. (185) wild uncultivated Country: British North America. ¶wild Beasts: Indians.

(186) a Bond: the charter of each colony. ¶ send to his Shop only: trade laws early established monopolies for the mother-country in the trade of the colonists. (187) Magnanimity=great-mindedness. ¶ a new Wife, etc.: these wives were the colonial legislatures. ¶ some of their Neighbours: the French in Canada, and the Spanish in Florida. ¶ several of his Servants: British soldiers.

(188) should not be permitted to have amongst them any Shears, etc.: restrictions on colonial industries were imposed by Parliament early in the eighteenth century. ¶ a certain Stipend for every Barrel of Cyder: duties upon imported wine and rum. the most lazy and useless of his Servants: British troops quartered in America. (189) supplied with Bread and Butter: after the French and Indian War, an act of Parliament directed that British troops in the colonies should be supplied with certain provisions; the legislature of New York refused to conform to the law in some particulars, and in 1767 Parliament suspended the legislature. Cf. Dickinson's Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, p. 177. ¶his Steward: the prime minister and other members of the cabinet. ¶marked with a certain Mark: the famous Stamp Act of 1765 required that all legal instruments should bear government stamps, which must be bought of officials appointed by the British

government.

(190) They met together: the so-called Stamp Act Congress, attended by delegates from many of the colonies, met in New York in October, 1765, and sent a petition to the king against the act, which was repealed the next year.

(191) Immortal: it is a maxim of British law that the king, i.e., the kingship, can never die. ¶ incapable of Error: it is another British maxim that the king can to no wrong.

(192) pay a certain Stipend upon particular Goods: in 1767 Parliament laid duties upon tea, glass, and some other articles imported into the colonies. Ta solemn Engagement: the colonists entered into agreements not to import anything from Great Britain until these duties were removed.

(193) Water Gruel: tea. ¶ certain Men on the old Farm: the East India Company.

(194) Jack: Massachusetts. stove to Pieces the Casks of Gruel: at the "Boston Tea Party," in 1773, citizens disguised as Indians threw into the harbor the contents of three hundred and forty-two chests of tea. ¶ Billingsgate: the coarse language of the fishwives at Billingsgate, the center of the fish trade in London, became proverbial.

(195) Padlock . upon Jack's great gate: the Boston Port Bill, passed by Parliament in March, 1774, closed the port of Boston. ¶ dragged to the Gallows at the Mansion House: in April, 1774, Parliament provided that persons in Massachusetts charged with treason should be taken to England for trial. ¶ an Overseer to hector and domineer: General Gage, head of the British army in America, was made governor of Massachusetts.

(196) attended the Overseer in the great Parlour: when Gage arrived in Boston, the magistrates and other dignitaries received him with due honor and gave him a public dinner; but he soon made it clear that he would execute the new laws rigorously. Bounty was handed to Jack over the Garden Wall: food, clothing, and money were sent to Boston, overland, from the other colonies. ¶an Agreement not to deal in their Father's Shop: a non-importation agreement was signed by the members of the Massachusetts legislature.

(197) a thundering Prohibition: Gage issued a proclamation, denouncing the agreement as seditious, ordering magistrates to arrest all signers of it, and forbidding secret or public meetings. ¶ a Pope's Bull: an edict by the Pope is called a "bull," from the Latin "bulla," seal. ¶ Cætera desunt: "The rest is lacking." The story necessarily stopped at this point, for it had been brought down almost to the moment of publication. It will be noticed that the number of stars used to indicate the breaking off is thirteen, one for each colony.

PATRICK HENRY

(197) SPEECH IN THE VIRGINIA CONVENTION OF DELEGATES. The text is from Wirt's life of Henry, the 1818 edition, with change from the third person to the first where necessary. The speech was delivered on March 28, 1775. ¶ listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts: the orator has confused, or combined, the myth of the sirens, who lured men to death, and that of Circe, who by her magic potion changed men into beasts.

(198) having eyes, see not, etc.: cf. Ps. 115:5, 6.

¶betrayed with a kiss: cf. Luke 22:48, "But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss ?"