Home as Found by James Fenimore Cooper (diy ebook reader txt) 📕

other."

"The public's is an awful power, Mr. Effingham!"

"Indeed it is, sir, but fortunately, that of the republic is still

more awful, and I shall look to the latter for support, in this

'crisis'--that is the word, too, is it not, Mr. John Effingham?"

"If you mean a change of administration, the upsetting of a stage, or

the death of a cart-horse; they are all equally crisises, in the

American vocabulary."

"Well, Mr. Bragg, having resolved that it knew my late father's

intentions better than he knew them himself, as is apparent from the

mistake he made in his will, what next did the public dispose of, in

the plenitude of its power?"

"It resolved, sir, that it was your duty to carry out the intentions

of your father."

"In that, then, we are perfectly of a mind; as the public will most

probably discover, before we get through with this matter. This is

one of the most pious resolutions I ever knew the public to pass. Did

it proceed any farther?"

Mr. Bragg, notwithstanding the long-encouraged truckling to the sets

of men, whom he was accustomed to dignify with the name of the

public, had a profound deference or the principles, character, and

station of Mr. Effingham, that no sophistry, or self-encouragement in

the practices of social confusion, could overcome; and he paused

before he communicated the next resolution to his employers. But

perceiving that both the latter and his cousin were quietly waiting

to hear it, he was fain to overcome his scruples.

"They have openly libelled you, by passing resolutions declaring you

to be odious."

"That, indeed, is a strong measure, and, in the interest of good

manners and of good morals, it may call for a rebuke. No one can care

less than myself, Mr. Bragg, for the opinions of those who have

sufficiently demonstrated that their opinions are of no value, by the

heedless manner in which they have permitted themselves to fall into

this error; but it is proceeding too far, when a few members of the

community presume to take these liberties with a private individual,

and that, moreover, in a case affecting a pretended claim of their

own; and I desire you to tell those concerned, that if they dare to

publish their resolution declaring me to be odious, I will teach them

what they now do not appear to know, that we live in a country of

laws. I shall not prosecute them, but I shall indict them for the

offence, and I hope this is plainly expressed."

Aristabulus stood aghast! To indict the public was a step he had

never heard of before, and he began to perceive that the question

actually had two sides. Still, his awe of public meetings, and his

habitual regard for popularity, induced him not to give up the

matter, without another struggle.

"They have already ordered their proceedings to be published, Mr.

Effingham!" he said, as if such an order were not to be

countermanded.

"I fancy, sir, that when it comes to the issue, and the penalties of

a prosecution present themselves, their readers will begin to

recollect their individuality, and to think less of their public

character. They who hunt in droves, like wolves, are seldom very

valiant when singled out from their pack. The end will show."

"I heartily wish this unpleasant affair might be amicably settled,"

added Aristabulus.

"One might, indeed, fancy so," observed John Effingham, "since no one

likes to be persecuted."

"But, Mr. John, the public thinks _itself_ persecuted, in this

affair."

"The term, as applied to a body that not only makes, but which

executes, the law, is so palpably absurd, that I am surprised any man

can presume to use it. But, Mr. Bragg, you have seen documents that

cannot err, and know that the public has not the smallest right to

this bit of land."

"All very true, sir; but you will please to remember, that the people

do not know what I now know."

"And you will please to remember, sir, that when people choose to act

affirmatively, in so high-handed a manner as this, they are _bound_

to know what they are about. Ignorance in such a matter, is like the

drunkard's plea of intoxication; it merely makes the offence worse."

"Do you not think, Mr. John, that Mr. Effingham might have acquainted

these citizens with the real state of the case? Are the people so

very wrong that they have fallen into a mistake?"

"Since you ask this question plainly, Mr. Bragg, it shall be answered

with equal sincerity. Mr. Effingham is a man of mature years; the

known child, executor, and heir of one who, it is admitted all round,

was the master of the controverted property. Knowing his own

business, this Mr. Effingham, in sight of the grave of his fathers,

beneath the paternal roof, has the intolerable impudence--"

"Arrogance is the word, Jack," said Mr. Effingham, smiling.

"Aye, the intolerable arrogance to suppose that his own is his own;

and this he dares to affirm, without having had the politeness to

send his title-deeds, and private papers, round to those who have

been so short a time in the place, that they might well know every

thing that has occurred in it for the last half century. Oh thou

naughty, arrogant fellow, Ned!"

"Mr. John, you appear to forget that the public has more claims to be

treated with attention, than a single individual. If it has fallen

into error, it ought to be undeceived."

"No doubt, sir; and I advise Mr. Effingham to send you, his agent, to

every man, woman and child in the county, with the Patent of the

King, all the mesne conveyances and wills, in your pocket, in order

that you may read them at length to each individual, with a view that

every man, woman and child, may be satisfied that he or she is not

the owner of Edward Effingham's lands!"

"Nay, sir, a shorter process might be adopted."

"It might, indeed, sir, and such a process has been adopted by my

cousin, in giving the usual notice, in the newspaper, against

trespassing. But, Mr. Bragg, you must know that I took great pains,

three years since, when repairing this house, to correct the mistake

on this very point, into which I found that your immaculate public

had fallen, through its disposition to know more of other people's

affairs, than those concerned knew of themselves."

Aristabulus said no more, but gave the matter up in despair. On

quitting the house, he proceeded forthwith, to inform those most

interested of the determination of Mr. Effingham, not to be trampled

on by any pretended meeting of the public. Common sense, not to say

common honesty, began to resume its sway, and prudence put in its

plea, by way of applying the corrective. Both he and Mr. Dodge,

however, agreed that there was an unheard-of temerity in thus

resisting the people, and this too without a commensurate object, as

the pecuniary value of the disputed point was of no material

consequence to either party.

The reader is not, by any means, to suppose that Aristabulus Bragg

and Steadfast Dodge belonged to the same variety of the human

species, in consequence of their unity of sentiment in this affair,

and certain other general points of resemblance in their manner and

modes of thinking. As a matter of necessity each partook of those

features of caste, condition, origin, and association that

characterize their particular set; but when it came to the nicer

distinctions that mark true individuality, it would not have been

easy to find two men more essentially different in character. The

first was bold, morally and physically, aspiring, self-possessed,

shrewd, singularly adapted to succeed in his schemes where he knew

the parties, intelligent, after his tastes, and apt. Had it been his

fortune to be thrown earlier into a better sphere, the same natural

qualities that rendered him so expert in his present situation, would

have conduced to his improvement, and most probably would have formed

a gentleman, a scholar, and one who could have contributed largely to

the welfare and tastes of his fellow-creatures. That such was not his

fate, was more his misfortune than his fault, for his plastic

character had readily taken the impression of those things that from

propinquity alone, pressed hardest on it. On the other hand Steadfast

was a hypocrite by nature, cowardly, envious, and malignant; and

circumstances had only lent their aid to the natural tendencies of

his disposition. That two men so differently constituted at their

births, should meet, as it might be in a common centre, in so many of

their habits and opinions, was merely the result of accident and

education.

Among the other points of resemblance between these two persons, was

that fault of confounding the cause with the effects of the peculiar

institutions under which they had been educated and lived. Because

the law gave to the public, that authority which, under other

systems, is entrusted either to one, or to the few they believed the

public was invested with far more power than a right understanding of

their own principles would have shown. In a word, both these persons

made a mistake which is getting to be too common in America, that of

supposing the institutions of the country were all means and no end.

Under this erroneous impression they saw only the machinery of the

government, becoming entirely forgetful that the power which was

given to the people collectively, was only so given to secure to them

as perfect a liberty as possible, in their characters of individuals.

Neither had risen sufficiently above vulgar notions, to understand

that public opinion, in order to be omnipotent, or even formidable

beyond the inflictions of the moment, must be right; and that, if a

solitary man renders himself contemptible by taking up false notions

inconsiderately and unjustly, bodies of men, falling into the same

error, incur the same penalties, with the additional stigma of having

acted as cowards.

There was also another common mistake into which Messrs. Bragg and

Dodge had permitted themselves to fall, through the want of a proper

distinction between principles. Resisting the popular will, on the

part of an individual, they considered arrogance and aristocracy,

_per se_, without at all entering into the question of the right, or

the wrong. The people, rightly enough in the general signification of

the term, they deemed to be sovereign; and they belonged to a

numerous class, who view disobedience to the sovereign in a

democracy, although it be in his illegal caprices, very much as the

subject of a despot views disobedience to his prince.

It is scarcely necessary to say, that Mr. Effingham and his cousin

viewed these matters differently. Clear headed, just-minded, and

liberal in all his practices, the former, in particular, was greatly

pained by the recent occurrence; and he paced his library in silence,

for several minutes after Mr. Bragg and his companion had withdrawn,

really too much grieved to speak.

"This is, altogether, a most extraordinary procedure, John," he at

length observed, "and, it strikes me, that it is but an indifferent

reward for the liberality with which I have permitted others to use

my property, these thirty years; often, very often, as you well know,

to my own discomfort, and to that of my friends."

"I have told you, Ned, that you were not to expect the America on

your return, that you left behind you on your departure for Europe. I

insist that no country has so much altered for the worse, in so short

a time."

"That unequalled pecuniary prosperity should sensibly impair the

manners of what is termed the world, By introducing suddenly lame

bodies of uninstructed and untrained men and women into society, is a

natural consequence of obvious causes; that it should corrupt morals,

even, we have a right to expect, for we are taught to believe it the

most corrupting influence under which men can live; but, I confess, I

did not expect to see the day, when a body of strangers, birds of

passage, creatures of an hour, should assume a right to call on the

old and long-established inhabitants of a country, to prove their

claims to their possessions, and this, too, in an unusual and

unheard-of manner, under the penalty of being violently deprived of

them!"

"Long established!" repeated John Effingham, laughing; "what do you

term long established? Have you not been absent a dozen years, and do

not these people reduce everything to the level of their own habits.

I suppose, now, you fancy you can go to Rome or Jerusalem, or

Constantinople, and remain four or five lustres, and then come coolly

back to Templeton. and, on taking possession of this house again,

call yourself an old resident."

"I certainly do suppose I have that right. How many English,

Russians, and Germans, did we meet in Italy, the residents of years,

who still retained all their natural and local right and feelings!"

"Ay, that is in countries where society is permanent, and men get

accustomed to look on