The finest examples of American eighteenth century architecture are supposed to exist in and about the city of Salem, and they have the advantage, which American architecture lacks so painfully at the present time, of possessing a definite style and character—edifices3 which are not of a single type, like most of the houses in Fifth Avenue, but which, while differing in many respects, have a certain general resemblance, that places them all in the same category. The small old country churches of Essex County are not distinguished4 for fine carving5 or other ornamentation, and still less by the costliness6 of their material, for they are mostly built of white pine, but they have an indefinable air of pleasantness about them, as if they graced the ground they stand on, and their steeples seem to float in the air above us. If we enter them on a Sunday forenoon—for on week-days they are like a sheepfold without its occupants—we meet with much the same kind of pleasantness in the assemblage there. We do not find the deep religious twilight7 of past ages, or the noonday glare of a fashionable synagogue, but a neatly8 attired9 congregation of weather-beaten farmers and mariners10, and their sensible looking wives, with something of the original Puritan hardness in their faces, much ameliorated by the liberalism and free thinking of the past fifty years. Among them too you will see some remarkably pretty young women; and young men like those who dug the trenches12 on Breed’s Hill in the afternoon of June 16, 1775. There may be veterans in the audience who helped Grant to go to Richmond. Withal there is much of the spirit of the early Christians13 among them, and virtue14 enough to save their country in any emergency.
These old churches have mostly disappeared from Salem city and have been replaced by more aristocratic edifices, whose square or octagonal towers are typical of their leading parishioners,—a dignified15 class, if somewhat haughty16 and reserved; but they too will soon belong to the past, drawn17 off to the great social centres in and about Boston. In the midst of Salem there is a triangular18 common, “with its never-failing elms,” where the boys large and small formerly19 played cricket—married men too—as they do still on the village greens of good old England, and around this enclosure the successful merchants and navigators of the city built their mansion20 houses; not half houses like those in the larger cities, but with spacious21 halls and rooms on either side going up three stories. It is in the gracefully22 ornamented23 doorways24 and the delicate interior wood-work, the carving of wainscots, mantels and cornices, the skilful25 adaptations of classic forms to a soft and delicate material that the charm of this architecture chiefly consists,—especially in the staircases, with their carved spiral posts and slender railings, rising upward in the centre of the front hall, and turning right and left on the story above. It is said that after the year eighteen hundred the quality of this decoration sensibly declined; it was soon replaced by more prosaic26 forms, and now the tools no longer exist that can make it. Sir Christopher Wren27 and Inigo Jones would have admired it. America, excepting in New York City, escaped the false rococo29 taste of the eighteenth century.
The Salem sea-captains of old times were among the boldest of our early navigators; sailing among the pirates of the Persian Gulf30 and trading with the cannibals of Polynesia, and the trophies31 which they brought home from those strange regions, savage32 implements33 of war and domestic use, clubs, spears, boomerangs, various cooking utensils34, all carved with infinite pains from stone, ebony and iron-wood, cloth from the bark of the tapa tree, are now deposited in the Peabody Academy, where they form one of the largest collections of the kind extant. Even more interesting is the sword of a sword-fish, pierced through the oak planking of a Salem vessel35 for six inches or more. No human force could do that even with a spear of the sharpest steel. Was the sword-fish roused to anger when the ship came upon him sleeping in the water; or did he mistake it for a strange species of whale?
There is a court-house on Federal Street, built in Webster’s time, of hard cold granite36 in the Grecian fashion of the day, not of the white translucent37 marble with which the Greeks would have built it. Is it the court-house where Webster made his celebrated38 argument in the White murder case, or was that court-house torn down and a plough run through the ground where it stood, as Webster affirmed that it ought to be? Salem people were curiously39 reticent40 in regard to that trial, and fashionable society there did not like Webster the better for having the two Knapps convicted.
Much more valuable than such associations is William Hunt’s full-length portrait of Chief Justice Shaw, which hangs over the judge’s bench in the front court-room. “When I look at your honor I see that you are homely41, but when I think of you I know that you are great.” it is this combination of an unprepossessing physique with rare dignity of character which Hunt has represented in what many consider the best of American portraits. It is perhaps too much in the sketchy42 style of Velasquez, but admirable for all that.
Time has dealt kindly43 with Salem, in effacing44 all memorials of the witchcraft45 persecution46, except a picturesque47 old house at the corner of North and Essex Streets, where there are said to have been preliminary examinations for witchcraft,—a matter which concerns us now but slightly. The youthful associations of a genius are valuable to us on account of the influence which they may be supposed to have had on his early life, but associations which have no determining consequences may as well be neglected. The hill where those poor martyrs48 to superstition50 were executed may be easily seen on the left of the city, as you roll in on the train from Boston. It is part of a ridge51 which rises between the Concord52 and Charles Rivers and extends to Cape28 Ann, where it dives into the ocean, to reappear again like a school of krakens, or other marine11 monsters, in the Isles53 of Shoals.
New England has not the fertile soil of many sections of the United States, and its racking climate is proverbial, but it is blessed with the two decided54 advantages of pure water and fine scenery. There is no more beautiful section of its coast than that between Salem Harbor and Salisbury Beach, long stretches of smooth sand alternating with bold rocky promontories55. A summer drive from Swampscott to Marblehead reminds one even of the Bay of Naples (without Vesuvius), and the wilder coast of Cape Ann, with its dark pines, red-roofed cottages, and sparkling surf, is quite as delightful56. William Hunt went there in the last sad years of his life to paint “sunshine,” as he said; and Whittier has given us poetic57 touches of the inland scenery in elevated verse:
“Fleecy clouds casting their shadows
Over uplands and meadows;
Here to a ferry, there to a mill.”
Poets arise where there is poetic nourishment59, internal and external, for them to feed on; and it is not surprising that a Whittier and a Hawthorne should have been evolved from the environment in which they grew to manhood.
It is a common saying with old Boston families that their ancestors came to America in the “Arbella” with Governor Winthrop, but as a matter of fact there were at least fifteen vessels61 that brought colonists62 to Massachusetts in 1630, and I cannot discover that any lists of their passengers have been preserved. The statement that certain persons came over at the same time with Governor Winthrop might soon become a tradition that they came in the same ship with him; but all that we know certainly is that Governor Winthrop landed about the middle of June, 1630, and that his son arrived two weeks later in the “Talbot,” and was drowned July 2, while attempting to cross one of the tide rivers at Salem. Who arrived in the thirteen other vessels that year we know not. Ten years later Sir Richard Saltonstall emigrated to Boston with the Phillips and Warren families in the “Arbella” (or “Arabella”), and there is no telling how much longer she sailed the ocean.
Hawthorne himself states that his ancestors came from Wig63 Castle in Wigton in Warwickshire, {Footnote: Diary, August 22, 1837.} but no such castle has been discovered, and the only Wigton in England appears to be located in Cumberland. {Footnote: Lathrop’s “Study of Hawthorne,” 46.} He does not tell us where he obtained this information, and it certainly could not have been from authentic64 documents,—more likely from conversation with an English traveller. Hawthorne never troubled himself much concerning his ancestry65, English or American; while he was consul66 at Liverpool, he had exceptional advantages for investigating the subject, but whatever attempt he made there resulted in nothing. It is only recently that Mr. Henry F. Waters, who spent fifteen years in England searching out the records of old New England families, succeeded in discovering the connecting link between the first American Hawthornes and their relatives in the old country. It was a bill of exchange for one hundred pounds drawn by William Hathorne, of Salem, payable67 to Robert Hathorne in London, and dated October 19, 1651, which first gave Mr. Waters the clue to his discovery. Robert not only accepted his brother’s draft, but wrote him this simple and business-like but truly affectionate epistle in return:
“GOOD BROTHER: Remember my love to my sister, my brother John and sister, my brother Davenport and sister and the rest of our friends.
“In haste I rest
“Your loving brother,
“ROBERT HATHORNE.”
From this it appears that Major William Hathorne not only had a brother John, who established himself in Lynn, but a sister Elizabeth, who married Richard Davenport, of Salem. Concerning Robert Hathorne we only know further that he died in 1689; but in the probate records of Berkshire, England, there is a will proved May 2, 1651, of William Hathorne, of Binfield, who left all his lands, buildings and tenements69 in that county to his son Robert, on condition that Robert should pay to his father’s eldest70 son, William, one hundred pounds, and to his son John twenty pounds sterling71. He also left to another son, Edmund, thirty acres of land in Bray, and there are other legacies72; but it cannot be doubted that the hundred pounds mentioned in this will is the same that Major William Hathorne drew for five months later, and that we have identified here the last English ancestor of Nathaniel Hawthorne. His wife’s given name was Sarah, but her maiden73 name still remains74 unknown. The family resided chiefly at Binfield, on the borders of Windsor Park, and evidently were in comfortable circumstances at that time. From William Hathorne, senior, their genealogy75 has been traced back to John Hathorne (spelled at that time Hothorne), who died in 1520, but little is known of their affairs, or how they sustained themselves during the strenuous76 vicissitudes77 of the Reformation. {Footnote: “Hawthorne Centenary at Salem,” 81.}
Emmerton and Waters {Footnote: “English Records about New England Families."} state that William Hathorne came to Massachusetts Bay in 1630, and this is probable enough, though by no means certain, for they give no authority for it. We first hear of him definitely as a freeholder in the settlement of Dorchester in 1634, but his name is not on the list of the first twenty-four Dorchester citizens, dated October 19, 1630. All accounts agree that he moved to Salem in 1636, or the year following, and Nathaniel Hawthorne believed that he came to America at that time. Upham, the historian of Salem witchcraft, who has made the most thorough researches in the archives of old Salem families, says of William Hathorne:
“William Hathorne appears on the church records as early as 1636. He died in June, 1681, seventy-four years of age. No one in our annals fills a larger space. As soldier, commanding important and difficult expeditions, as counsel in cases before the courts, as judge on the bench, and innumerable other positions requiring talent and intelligence, he was constantly called to serve the public. He was distinguished as a public speaker, and is the only person, I believe, of that period, whose reputation as an orator78 has come down to us. He was an Assistant, that is, in the upper branch of the Legislature, seventeen years. He was a deputy twenty years. When the deputies, who before sat with the assistants, were separated into a distinct body, and the House of Representatives thus came into existence, in 1644, Hathorne was their first Speaker. He occupied the chair, with intermediate services on the floor from time to time, until raised to the other House. He was an inhabitant of Salem Village, having his farm there, and a dwelling-house, in which he resided when his legislative79, military, and other official duties permitted. His son John, who succeeded him in all his public honors, also lived on his own farm in the village a great part of the time.” {Footnote: “Salem Witchcraft,” i. 99.}
Evidently he was the most important person in the colony, next to Governor Winthrop, and unequalled by any of his descendants, except Nathaniel Hawthorne, and by him in a wholly different manner; for it is in vain that we seek for traits similar to those of the great romance writer among his ancestors. We can only say that they both possessed80 exceptional mental ability, and there the comparison ends.
The attempt has been made to connect William Hathorne with the persecution of the Quakers, {Footnote: Conway’s “Life of Hawthorne,” 15.} and it is true that he was a member of the Colonial Assembly during the period of the persecution; it is likely that his vote supported the measures in favor of it, but this is not absolutely certain. We do not learn that he acted at any time in the capacity of sheriff; the most diligent81 researches in the archives of the State House at Boston have failed to discover any direct connection on the part of William Hathorne with that movement; and the best authorities in regard to the events of that time make no mention of him. {Footnote: Sewel, Hallowell, Ellis.} It was the clergy82 who aroused public opinion and instigated83 the prosecutions84 against both the Quakers and the supposed witches of Salem, and the civil authorities were little more than passive instruments in their hands. Hathorne’s work was essentially85 a legislative one,—a highly important work in that wild, unsettled country,—to adapt English statutes86 and legal procedures to new and strange conditions. He was twice Speaker of the House between 1660 and 1671, and as presiding officer he could exert less influence on measures of expediency87 than any other person present, as he could not argue either for or against them. And yet, after Charles II. had interfered88 in behalf of the Quakers, William Hathorne wrote an elaborate and rather circuitous89 letter to the British Ministry90, arguing for non-intervention in the affairs of the colony, which might have possessed greater efficacy if he had not signed it with an assumed name. {Footnote: J. Hawthorne’s “Nathaniel Hawthorne,” i. 24.} However strong a Puritan he may have been, William Hathorne evidently had no intention of becoming a martyr49 to the cause of colonial independence. Yet it may be stated in his favor, and in that of the colonists generally, that the fault was not wholly on one side, for the Quakers evidently sought persecution, and would have it, cost what it might. {Footnote: Hallowell’s “Quaker Invasion of New England."} Much the same may be affirmed of his son John, who had the singular misfortune to be judge in Salem at the time of the witchcraft epidemic91. The belief in witchcraft has always had its stronghold among the fogs and gloomy fiords of the North. James I. brought it with him from Scotland to England, and in due course it was transplanted to America. Judge Hathorne appears to have been at the top of affairs at Salem in his time, and it is more than probable that another in his place would have found himself obliged to act as he did. Law is, after all, in exceptional cases little more than a reflex of public opinion. “The common law,” said Webster, “is common-sense,” which simply means the common opinion of the most influential92 people. Much more to blame than John Hathorne were those infatuated persons who deceived themselves into thinking that the pains of rheumatism93, neuralgia, or some similar malady94 were caused by the malevolent95 influence of a neighbor against whom they had perhaps long harbored a grudge96. They were the true witches and goblins of that epoch97, and the only ones, if any, who ought to have been hanged for it.
What never has been reasoned up cannot be reasoned down. It seems incredible in this enlightened era, as the newspapers call it, that any woman should be at once so inhuman98 and so frivolous99 as to swear away the life of a fellow-creature upon an idle fancy; and yet, even in regard to this, there were slightly mitigating100 conditions. Consider only the position of that handful of Europeans in this vast wilderness101, as it then was. The forests came down to the sea-shore, and brought with them all the weird102 fancies, terrors and awful forebodings which the human mind could conjure103 up. They feared the Indians, the wild beasts, and most of all one another, for society was not yet sufficiently104 organized to afford that repose105 and contentment of spirit which they had left behind in the Old World. They had come to America to escape despotism, but they had brought despotism in their own hearts. They could escape from the Stuarts, but there was no escape from human nature.
It is likely that their immediate106 progenitors107 would not have carried the witchcraft craze to such an extreme. The emigrating Puritans were a fairly well-educated class of men and women, but their children did not enjoy equal opportunities. The new continent had to be subdued108 physically109 and reorganized before any mental growth could be raised there. Levelling the forest was a small matter beside clearing the land of stumps110 and stones. All hands were obliged to work hard, and there was little opportunity for intellectual development or social culture. As a logical consequence, an era ensued not unlike the dark ages of Europe. But this was essential to the evolution of a new type of man, and for the foundation of American nationality; and it was thus that the various nationalities of Europe arose out of the ruins of the Roman Empire.
The scenes that took place in Judge Hathorne’s court-room have never been equalled since in American jurisprudence. Powerful forces came into play there, and the reports that have been preserved read like scenes from Shakespeare. In the case of Rebecca Nurse, the Judge said to the defendant111:
“‘You do know whether you are guilty, and have familiarity with the Devil; and now when you are here present to see such a thing as these testify,—and a black man whispering in your ear, and devils about you,—what do you say to it?’”
To which she replied:
“‘It is all false. I am clear.’ Whereupon Mrs. Pope, one of the witnesses, fell into a grievous fit.” {Footnote: Upham’s “Salem Witchcraft,” ii. 64.}
Alas112, poor beleaguered113 soul! And one may well say, “What imaginations those women had!” Tituba, the West Indian Aztec who appears in this social-religious explosion as the chief and original incendiary,—verily the root of all evil,—gave the following testimony114:
“Q. ‘Did you not pinch Elizabeth Hubbard this morning?’
“A. ‘The man brought her to me, and made me pinch her.’
“Q. ‘Why did you go to Thomas Putnam’s last night and hurt his child?’
“A. ‘They pull and haul me, and make me go.’
“Q. ‘And what would they have you do?’
“A. ‘Kill her with a knife.’
“(Lieutenant Fuller and others said at this time, when the child saw these persons, and was tormented115 by them, that she did complain of a knife,—that they would have her cut her head off with a knife.)
“Q. ‘How did you go?’
“A. ‘We ride upon sticks, and are there presently.’
“Q. ‘Do you go through the trees or over them?’
“A. ‘We see nothing, but are there presently.’
“Q. ‘Why did you not tell your master?’
“A. ‘I was afraid. They said they would cut off my head if I told.’
“Q. ‘Would you not have hurt others, if you could?’
“A. ‘They said they would hurt others, but they could not.’
“Q. ‘What attendants hath Sarah Good?’
“A. ‘A yellow-bird, and she would have given me one.’
“Q. ‘What meat did she give it?’
“A. ‘It did suck her between her fingers.’”.
This might serve as an epilogue to “Macbeth,” and the wonder is that an unlettered Indian should have had the wit to make such apt and subtle replies. It is also noteworthy that these strange proceedings116 took place after the expulsion of the royal governor, and previous to the provincial117 government of William III. If Sir Edmund Andros had remained, the tragedy might have been changed into a farce118.
After all, it appears that John Hathorne was not a lawyer, for he describes himself in his last will, dated June 27, 1717, as a merchant, and it is quite possible that his legal education was no better than that of the average English squire119 in Fielding’s time. It is evident, however, from the testimony given above, that he was a strong believer in the supernatural, and here if anywhere we find a relationship between him and his more celebrated descendant. Nathaniel Hawthorne was too clear-sighted to place confidence in the pretended revelations of trance mediums, and he was not in the least superstitious120; but he was remarkably fond of reading ghost stories, and would have liked to believe them, if he could have done so in all sincerity121. He sometimes felt as if he were a ghost himself, gliding122 noiselessly in the walks of men, and wondered that the sun should cast a shadow from him. However, we cannot imagine him as seated in jurisdiction123 at a criminal tribunal. His gentle nature would have recoiled124 from that, as it might from a serpent.
In the Charter Street burial-ground there is a slate125 gravestone, artistically126 carved about its edges, with the name, “Col. John Hathorne Esq.,” upon it. It is somewhat sunken into the earth, and leans forward as if wishing to hide the inscription127 upon it from the gaze of mankind. The grass about it and the moss128 upon the stone assist in doing this, although repeatedly cut and cleaned away. It seems as if Nature wished to draw a kind of veil over the memory of the witch’s judge, himself the sorrowful victim of a theocratic129 oligarchy130. The lesson we learn from his errors is, to trust our own hearts and not to believe too fixedly131 in the doctrines132 of Church and State. It must be a dull sensibility that can look on this old slate-stone without a feeling of pathos133 and a larger charity for the errors of human nature.
It is said that one of the convicted witches cursed Judge Hathorne,—himself and his descendants forever; but it is more than likely that they all cursed him bitterly enough, and this curse took effect in a very natural and direct manner. Every extravagant134 political or social movement is followed by a corresponding reaction, even if the movement be on the whole a salutary one, and retribution is sure to fall in one shape or another on the leaders of it. After this time the Hathornes ceased to be conspicuous135 in Salem affairs. The family was not in favor, and the avenues of prosperity were closed to them, as commonly happens in such cases. Neither does the family appear to have multiplied and extended itself like most of the old New England families, who can now count from a dozen to twenty branches in various places. Of John Hathorne’s three sons only one appears to have left children. The name has wholly disappeared from among Salem families, and thus in a manner has the witch’s curse been fulfilled.
Joseph Hathorne, the son of the Judge, was mostly a farmer, and that is all that we now know of him. His son Daniel, however, showed a more adventurous136 spirit, becoming a shipmaster quite early in life. It has also been intimated that he was something of a smuggler137, which was no great discredit138 to him in a time when the unfair and even prohibitory measures of the British Parliament in regard to American commerce made smuggling139 a practical necessity. Even as the captain of a trading vessel, however, Daniel Hathorne was not likely to advance the social interests of his family. It is significant that he should have left the central portion of Salem, where his ancestors had lived, and have built a house for himself close to the city wharves,—a house well built and commodious140 enough, but not in a fashionable location.
But Daniel Hathorne had the advantage over fashionable society in Salem, in being a thorough patriot141. Boston and Salem were the two strongholds of Toryism during the war for Independence, which was natural enough, as their wealthy citizens were in close mercantile relations with English houses, and sent their children to England to be educated. Daniel Hathorne, however, as soon as hostilities142 had begun, fitted out his bark as a privateer, and spent the following six years in preying143 upon British merchantmen. How successful he was in this line of business we have not been informed, but he certainly did not grow rich by it; although he is credited with one engagement with the enemy, in which his ship came off with honor, though perhaps not with a decisive victory. This exploit was celebrated in a rude ballad144 of the time, which has been preserved in “Griswold’s Curiosities of American Literature,” and has at least the merit of plain unvarnished language. {Footnote: Also in Lathrop’s “Hawthorne."}
There is a miniature portrait of Daniel Hathorne, such as was common in Copley’s time, still in the possession of the Hawthorne family, and it represents him as rather a bullet-headed man, with a bright, open, cheery face, a broad English chin and strongly marked brows,—an excellent physiognomy for a sea-captain. He appears besides to have had light brown or sandy hair, a ruddy complexion145 and bright blue eyes; but we cannot determine how truthful146 the miniature may be in respect to coloring. At all events, he was of a very different appearance from Nathaniel Hawthorne, and if he resembled his grandson in any external respect, it was in his large eyes and their overshadowing brows. He has not the look of a dare-devil. One might suppose that he was a person of rather an obstinate147 disposition148, but it is always difficult to draw the line between obstinacy149 and determination.
A similar miniature of his son Nathaniel, born in 1775, and who died at Surinam in his thirty-fourth year, gives us the impression of a person somewhat like his father, and also somewhat like his son Nathaniel. He has a long face instead of a round one, and his features are more delicate and refined than those of the bold Daniel. The expression is gentle, dreamy and pensive150, and unless the portrait belies151 him, he could not have been the stern, domineering captain that he has been represented. He had rather a slender figure, and was probably much more like his mother, who was a Miss Phelps, than the race of Judge Hathorne. He may have been a reticent man, but never a bold one, and we find in him a new departure. His face is more amiable152 and attractive than his father’s, but not so strong. In 1799 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Clarke Manning, the daughter of Richard Manning, and then only nineteen years of age. She appears to have been an exceptionally sensitive and rather shy young woman—such as would be likely to attract the attention of a chivalrous153 young mariner—but with fine traits of intellect and character.
The maternal154 ancestry of a distinguished man is quite as important as the paternal155, but in the present instance it is much more difficult to obtain information concerning it. The increasing fame of Hawthorne has been like a calcium-light, illuminating156 for the past fifty years everything to which that name attaches, and leaving the Manning family in a shadow so much the deeper. All we can learn of them now is, that they were descended157 from Richard Manning, of Dartmouth in Devonshire, England, whose son Thomas emigrated to Salem with his widowed mother in 1679, but afterwards removed to Ipswich, ten miles to the north, whence the family has since extended itself far and wide,—the Reverend Jacob M. Manning, of the Old South Church, the fearless champion of practical anti-slaveryism, having been among them. It appears that Thomas’s grandson Richard started in life as a blacksmith, which was no strange thing in those primitive158 times; but, being a thrifty159 and enterprising man, he lived to establish a line of stage-coaches between Salem and Boston, and this continued in the possession of his family until it was superseded160 by the Eastern Railway. After this catastrophe161, Robert Manning, the son of Richard and brother of Mrs. Nathaniel Hathorne, became noted162 as a fruit-grower (a business in which Essex County people have always taken an active interest), and was one of the founders163 of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The Mannings were always respected in Salem, although they never came to affluent164 circumstances, nor did they own a house about the city common. Robert Manning, Jr., was Secretary of the Horticultural Society in Boston for a long term of years, a pleasant, kindly man, with an aspect of general culture. Hawthorne’s maternal grandmother was Miriam Lord, of Ipswich, and his paternal grandmother was Rachel Phelps, of Salem. His father was only thirty-three when he died at Surinam.
In regard to the family name, there are at present Hawthornes and Hathornes in England, and although the two names may have been identical originally, they have long since become as distinct as Smith and Smythe. I have discovered only two instances in which the first William Hathorne wrote his own name, and in the various documents at the State House in which it appears written by others, it is variously spelled Hathorn, Hathorne, Hawthorn60, Haythorne, and Harthorne,—from which we can only conclude that the a was pronounced broadly. It was not until the reign165 of Queen Anne, when books first became cheap and popular, that there was any decided spelling of either proper or common names. Then the printers took the matter into their own hands and made witch-work enough of it. The word “sovereign,” for instance, which is derived166 from the old French souvrain, and which Milton spelled “sovran,” they tortured into its present form,—much as the clerks of Massachusetts Colony tortured the name of William Hathorne. This, however, was spelled Hathorne oftener than in other ways, and it was so spelled in the two signatures above referred to, one of which was attached as witness to a deed for the settlement of the boundary between Lynn and Salem, {Footnote: Also in Lathrop’s “Hawthorne."} and the other to a report of the commissioners167 for the investigation168 of the French vessels coming to Salem and Boston in 1651, the two other commissioners being Samuel Bradstreet and David Denison. {Footnote: Massachusetts Archives, x. 171.}The name was undoubtedly169 Hathorne, and so it continued with one or two slight variations during the eighteenth century down to the time of Nathaniel Hathorne, Jr., who entered and graduated at Bowdoin College under that name, but who soon afterward changed it to Hawthorne, for reasons that have never been explained.
All cognomens would seem to have been derived originally from some personal peculiarity170, although it is no longer possible to trace this back to its source, which probably lies far away in the Dark Ages,—the formative period of languages and of families. Sometimes, however, we meet with individuals whose peculiarities171 suggest the origin of their names: a tall, slender, long-necked man named Crane; or a timid, retiring student named Leverett; or an over-confident, supercilious172 person called Godkin In the name of Hawthorne also we may imagine a curious significance: “When the may is on the thorn,” says Tennyson. The English country people call the flowering of the hawthorn “the may.” It is a beautiful tree when in full bloom. How sweet-scented and delicately colored are its blossoms! But it seems to say to us, “Do not come too close to me.”
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remarkably
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edifices
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distinguished
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carving
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costliness
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twilight
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neatly
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attired
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trenches
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13
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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14
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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15
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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16
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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17
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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18
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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19
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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20
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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21
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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22
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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23
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
doorways
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|
| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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25
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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26
prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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27
wren
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| n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员 | |
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28
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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29
rococo
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|
| n.洛可可；adj.过分修饰的 | |
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30
gulf
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|
| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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31
trophies
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|
| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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32
savage
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|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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33
implements
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|
| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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34
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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35
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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36
granite
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|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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37
translucent
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|
| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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38
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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39
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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40
reticent
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|
| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
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41
homely
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|
| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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42
sketchy
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|
| adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的 | |
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43
kindly
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|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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44
effacing
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| 谦逊的 | |
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45
witchcraft
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|
| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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46
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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47
picturesque
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|
| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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48
martyrs
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|
| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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49
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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50
superstition
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|
| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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51
ridge
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|
| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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52
concord
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| n.和谐；协调 | |
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53
isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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54
decided
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|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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55
promontories
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|
| n.岬，隆起，海角( promontory的名词复数 ) | |
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56
delightful
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|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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57
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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58
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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59
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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60
hawthorn
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| 山楂 | |
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61
vessels
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|
| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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62
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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63
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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64
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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65
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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66
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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67
payable
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|
| adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的 | |
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68
bray
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|
| n.驴叫声, 喇叭声；v.驴叫 | |
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69
tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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70
eldest
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|
| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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71
sterling
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|
| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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72
legacies
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| n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症 | |
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73
maiden
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|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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74
remains
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|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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75
genealogy
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|
| n.家系，宗谱 | |
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76
strenuous
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|
| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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77
vicissitudes
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|
| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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78
orator
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|
| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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79
legislative
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|
| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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80
possessed
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|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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81
diligent
|
|
| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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82
clergy
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|
| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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83
instigated
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| v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
prosecutions
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| 起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事 | |
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85
essentially
|
|
| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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86
statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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87
expediency
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|
| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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88
interfered
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|
| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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89
circuitous
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|
| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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90
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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91
epidemic
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|
| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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92
influential
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|
| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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93
rheumatism
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|
| n.风湿病 | |
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94
malady
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|
| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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95
malevolent
|
|
| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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96
grudge
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|
| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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97
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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98
inhuman
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|
| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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99
frivolous
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|
| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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100
mitigating
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的现在分词 ) | |
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101
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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102
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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103
conjure
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|
| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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104
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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105
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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106
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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107
progenitors
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| n.祖先( progenitor的名词复数 )；先驱；前辈；原本 | |
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108
subdued
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|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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109
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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110
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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111
defendant
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|
| n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的 | |
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112
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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113
beleaguered
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|
| adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰 | |
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114
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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115
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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116
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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117
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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118
farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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119
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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120
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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121
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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122
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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123
jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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124
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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125
slate
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|
| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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126
artistically
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| adv.艺术性地 | |
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127
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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128
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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129
theocratic
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| adj.神权的，神权政治的 | |
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130
oligarchy
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| n.寡头政治 | |
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131
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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132
doctrines
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|
| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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133
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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134
extravagant
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|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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135
conspicuous
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|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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136
adventurous
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|
| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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137
smuggler
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| n.走私者 | |
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138
discredit
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|
| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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139
smuggling
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| n.走私 | |
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140
commodious
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|
| adj.宽敞的；使用方便的 | |
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141
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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142
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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143
preying
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|
| v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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144
ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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145
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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148
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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149
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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150
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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151
belies
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| v.掩饰( belie的第三人称单数 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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152
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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153
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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154
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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155
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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156
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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157
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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158
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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159
thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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160
superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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161
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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163
founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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affluent
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| adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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166
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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167
commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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170
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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171
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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172
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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