“Here is a young hero,” said Susan, turning to Charles, “who would have joined heart and hand with his countrymen. I wish you had marked how he winced at your unpatriotic question, Elizabeth.”
“Notwithstanding which question,” said Herbert, “I am very sure if our gentle sister had lived in those days she would have assisted energetically in melting the weights of the old clock for bullets, or any other measure deemed necessary by the fair enthusiasts of those trying times.”
“I am very sure, dear brother, however much I might deprecate the war, and its train of evils, the comforts of those dear to me would have been uppermost in my thoughts.” After cheerful conversation, they separated for the night.
Chapter XIV
A charm lingers over the tales of the past,
The grey mist of time o’er their beauty is cast;
Its thin texture heightens the power of the spell,
And the mystic enchantment we would not dispel.
A mild and pleasant morning tempted the young party to a walk, which was rendered more delightful by anecdotes related by Herbert relative to the first settlement of the place, with which he had become familiar from his intercourse with some of the aged people of the town, and which caused many a laugh from their quaint simplicity. He pointed out to them the site of the first building erected for public worship, for the earliest object with our pious ancestors was to provide a suitable place in which to bow together before the God who had guided them over the wide waters to this pleasant home; and the bell, which even at this time summoned the inhabitants to their devotions, was the same which was sent by kind friends from England for the service and ornament of the original sanctuary. It was a spot, retired from the village, upon the seashore, and, though the sacred building had long since been removed, there was a quiet loneliness about it, which seemed suited to the purpose to which it had been dedicated. “When we return home,” said Herbert, “I will read you some lines founded upon an anecdote connected with the old church which formerly occupied this situation; the moss-grown tombstone, covered with so many ancient inscriptions, which you remember, Elizabeth, we have so often endeavored to decipher, covers the remains of the good minister, who figures as one of the characters, but I cannot hope to inspire you with the same interest which I felt, when in my twelfth year, I first listened to the story from the lips of a good old dame, who is no longer among the living.” At the appointed time, after their return home, he read the following lines; which they decided should be called
A Tradition of the Year 1650