"In 1757," said Grandfather, "after Shirley had been summoned to England, Thomas Pownall was appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was a gay and fashionable English gentleman, who had spent much of his life in London, but had a considerable acquaintance with America. The new governor appears to have taken no active part in the war that was going on; although, at one period, he talked of marching against the enemy, at the head of his company of cadets. But, on the whole, he probably concluded that it was more befitting a governor to remain quietly in our chair, reading the newspapers and official documents."
"Did the people like Pownall?" asked Charley.
"They found no fault with him," replied Grandfather. "It was no time to quarrel with the governor, when the utmost harmony was required, in order to defend the country against the French. But Pownall did not remain long in Massachusetts. In 1759, he was sent to be governor of South Carolina. In thus exchanging one government for another, I suppose he felt no regret, except at the necessity of leaving Grandfather's chair behind him."
"He might have taken it to South Carolina," observed Clara.
"It appears to me," said Laurence, giving the rein2 to his fancy, "that the fate of this ancient chair was, somehow or other, mysteriously connected with the fortunes of old Massachusetts. If Governor Pownall had put it aboard the vessel3 in which he sailed for South Carolina, she would probably have lain wind-bound in Boston harbor. It was ordained4 that the chair should not be taken away. Don't you think so, Grandfather?"
"It was kept here for Grandfather and me to sit in together," said little Alice, "and for Grandfather to tell stories about."
"And Grandfather is very glad of such a companion, and such a theme," said the old gentleman, with a smile. "Well, Laurence, if our oaken chair, like the wooden Palladium of Troy, was connected with the country's fate, yet there appears to have been no supernatural obstacle to its removal from the Province House. In 1760, Sir Francis Bernard, who had been governor of New Jersey5, was appointed to the same office in Massachusetts. He looked at the old chair, and thought it quite too shabby to keep company with a new set of mahogany chairs, and an aristocratic sofa, which had just arrived from London. He therefore ordered it to be put away in the garret."
The children were loud in their exclamations6 against this irreverent conduct of Sir Francis Bernard. But Grandfather defended him, as well as he could. He observed, that it was then thirty years since the chair had been beautified by Governor Belcher. Most of the gilding7 was worn off by the frequent scourings which it had undergone, beneath the hands of a black slave. The damask cushion, once so splendid, was now squeezed out of all shape, and absolutely in tatters, so many were the ponderous8 gentlemen who had deposited their weight upon it, during these thirty years.
Moreover, at a council held by the Earl of Loudon with the governors of New England, in 1757, his lordship, in a moment of passion, had kicked over the chair with his military boot. By this unprovoked and unjustifiable act, our venerable friend had suffered a fracture of one of its rungs.
"But," said Grandfather, "our chair, after all, was not destined9 to spend the remainder of its days in the inglorious obscurity of a garret. Thomas Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor of the province, was told of Sir Francis Bernard's design. This gentleman was more familiar with the history of New England than any other man alive. He knew all the adventures and vicissitudes10 through which the old chair had passed, and could have told, as accurately11 as your own Grandfather, who were the personages that had occupied it. Often, while visiting at the Province House, he had eyed the chair with admiration12, and felt a longing13 desire to become the possessor of it. He now waited upon Sir Francis Bernard, and easily obtained leave to carry it home."
"No," answered Grandfather. "What Mr. Hutchinson desired was to restore the chair, as much as possible, to its original aspect, such as it had appeared, when it was first made out of the Earl of Lincoln's oak-tree. For this purpose he ordered it to be well scoured16 with soap and sand and polished with wax, and then provided it with a substantial leather cushion. When all was completed to his mind, he sat down in the old chair, and began to write his History of Massachusetts."
"Oh, that was a bright thought in Mr. Hutchinson!" exclaimed Laurence. "And, no doubt, the dim figures of the former possessors of the chair flitted around him, as he wrote, and inspired him with a knowledge of all that they had done and suffered while on earth."
"Why, my dear Laurence," replied Grandfather, smiling, "if Mr. Hutchinson was favored with any such extraordinary inspiration, he made but a poor use of it in his History; for a duller piece of composition never came from any man's pen. However, he was accurate, at least, though far from possessing the brilliancy or philosophy of Mr. Bancroft."
"But, if Hutchinson knew the history of the chair," rejoined Laurence, "his heart must have been stirred by it."
"It must, indeed," said Grandfather. "It would be entertaining and instructive, at the present day, to imagine what were Mr. Hutchinson's thoughts, as he looked back upon the long vista17 of events with which this chair was so remarkably18 connected."
And Grandfather allowed his fancy to shape out an image of Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, sitting in an evening reverie by his fireside, and meditating19 on the changes that had slowly passed around the chair.
A devoted20 monarchist, Hutchinson would heave no sigh for the subversion21 of the original republican government, the purest that the world had seen, with which the colony began its existence. While reverencing22 the grim and stern old Puritans as the founders23 of his native land, he would not wish to recall them from their graves, nor to awaken24 again that king-resisting spirit, which he imagined to be laid asleep with them forever. Winthrop, Dudley, Bellingham, Endicott, Leverett, and Bradstreet! All these had had their day. Ages might come and go, but never again would the people's suffrages25 place a republican governor in their ancient Chair of State!
Coming down to the epoch26 of the second charter, Hutchinson thought of the ship-carpenter Phips, springing from the lowest of the people, and attaining27 to the loftiest station in the land. But, he smiled to perceive that this governor's example would awaken no turbulent ambition in the lower orders, for it was a king's gracious boon28 alone that made the ship-carpenter a ruler. Hutchinson rejoiced to mark the gradual growth of an aristocratic class, to whom the common people, as in duty bound, were learning humbly29 to resign the honors, emoluments30, and authority of state. He saw,—or else deceived himself—that, throughout this epoch, the people's disposition31 to self-government had been growing weaker, through long disuse, and now existed only as a faint traditionary feeling.
The Lieutenant-Governor's reverie had now come down to the period at which he himself was sitting in the historic chair. He endeavored to throw his glance forward, over the coming years. There, probably, he saw visions of hereditary32 rank, for himself and other aristocratic colonists33. He saw the fertile fields of New England, portioned out among a few great landholders, and descending34 by entail35 from generation to generation. He saw the people a race of tenantry, dependent on their lords. He saw stars, garters, coronets, and castles.
"But," added Grandfather, turning to Laurence, "the Lieutenant-Governor's castles were built nowhere but among the red embers of the fire, before which he was sitting. And, just as he had constructed a baronial residence for himself and his posterity36, the fire rolled down upon the hearth37, and crumbled38 it to ashes!"
Grandfather now looked at his watch, which hung within a beautiful little ebony Temple, supported by four Ionic columns. He then laid his hand on the golden locks of little Alice, whose head had sunk down upon the arm of our illustrious chair.
"To bed, to bed, dear child!" said he. "Grandfather has put you to sleep, already, by his stories about these Famous Old People!"
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1
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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3
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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4
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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5
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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6
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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7
gilding
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| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
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8
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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9
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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10
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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11
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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12
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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13
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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14
varnished
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| 浸渍过的，涂漆的 | |
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15
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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16
scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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17
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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18
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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19
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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20
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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21
subversion
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| n.颠覆，破坏 | |
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22
reverencing
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的现在分词 )；敬礼 | |
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founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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24
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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25
suffrages
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| （政治性选举的）选举权，投票权( suffrage的名词复数 ) | |
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26
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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27
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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29
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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30
emoluments
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| n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 ) | |
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31
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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32
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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33
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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34
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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35
entail
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| vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要 | |
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36
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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37
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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38
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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