saints. And what speak ye of James? There is no longer a tyrant on the throne of England, and by to-morrow noon his name shall be a byword in this very street, where ye would make it a word of terror. Back, thou that wast a 5 Governor, back! With this night thy power is ended, to-morrow, the prison! - back, lest I foretell the scaffold!"

The people had been drawing nearer and nearer, and drinking in the words of their champion, who spoke in accents long disused, like one unaccustomed to converse, 10 except with the dead of many years ago. But his voice stirred their souls. They confronted the soldiers, not wholly without arms, and ready to convert the very stones of the street into deadly weapons. Sir Edmund Andros looked at the old man; then he cast his hard and cruel eye 15 over the multitude, and beheld them burning with that lurid wrath, so difficult to kindle or to quench; and again he fixed his gaze on the aged form, which stood obscurely in an open space, where neither friend nor foe had thrust himself. What were his thoughts, he uttered no word which might 20 discover. But whether the oppressor were overawed by the Gray Champion's look, or perceived his peril in the threatening attitude of the people, it is certain that he gave back, and ordered his soldiers to commence a slow and guarded retreat. Before another sunset, the Governor, and all that 25 rode so proudly with him, were prisoners, and long ere it was known that James had abdicated, King William was proclaimed throughout New England.

But where was the Gray Champion? Some reported, that when the troops had gone from King Street, and

the people were thronging tumultuously in their rear, Bradstreet, the aged Governor, was seen to embrace a form more aged than his own. Others soberly affirmed, that while they marveled at the venerable grandeur of his aspect, the old man had faded from their eyes, melting 5 slowly into the hues of twilight, till, where he stood, there was an empty space. But all agreed that the hoary shape was gone. The men of that generation watched for his reappearance, in sunshine and in twilight, but never saw him more, nor knew when his funeral passed, nor where his 10 gravestone was.

And who was the Gray Champion? Perhaps his name might be found in the records of that stern Court of Justice, which passed a sentence, too mighty for the age, but glorious in all after times, for its humbling lesson to 15 the monarch and its high example to the subject. I have heard, that whenever the descendants of the Puritans are to show the spirit of their sires, the old man appears again. When eighty years had passed, he walked once more in King Street. Five years later, in the twilight of an April 20 morning, he stood on the green, beside the meeting-house, at Lexington, where now the obelisk of granite, with a slab of slate inlaid, commemorates the first fallen of the Revolution. And when our fathers were toiling at the breastwork on Bunker's Hill, all through that night the old warrior 25 walked his rounds. Long, long may it be, ere he comes again! His hour is one of darkness, and adversity, and peril. But should domestic tyranny oppress us, or the invader's step pollute our soil, still may the Gray Champion

come, for he is the type of New England's hereditary spirit, and his shadowy march, on the eve of danger, must ever be the pledge that New England's sons will vindicate their ancestry.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

HELPS TO STUDY

"The Gray Champion" is the first story in Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales, a collection of short stories and sketches, many of which treat of life in New England in the early days. The scene of this story is King Street, Boston, in 1689, at the end of the reign of James II of England. In his short reign of three years this king had shown himself narrowminded, treacherous, and an enemy to liberty both in England and the colonies. Sir Edmund Andros, whom James had appointed as Governor of the New England colonies and New York, was bitterly hated because of his tyranny and his overbearing manner. The colonists had come to America to escape that kind of rulers. At the time the story opens, April, 1689, James had already abdicated, that is, had been forced to give up his power, and had fled to France. This was in December, 1688, but the news of it had not as yet reached Boston; they had heard only that William of Orange was heading a revolution against King James in England, which gave them courage to defy his governor and the soldiers. 1. What grievances had the colonists against Sir Edmund Andros? 2. Why had they not openly rebelled? 3. When Hawthorne speaks of the freedom in Great Britain itself, remember that this was written about 1831, and does not refer to things as they are to-day. 4. Why did the Governor make this parade of his troops and his staff? 5. How did the people of Boston regard it? 6. What are we told of the appearance and behavior of the people? 7. The " encounter,' nearly a century afterwards," in the same place, refers to the Boston massacre. What do you know about that event? 8. "Old soldiers of the Parliament" means the soldiers who fought in the revolution in England in

The

house of Stuart "

9. Tell what you know

1642, against Charles I, father of James II. was the family to which these kings belonged. of King Philip's War. 10. In the old New England Primer there was

66

· a picture of John Rogers being burned at the stake for his religious faith. 11. The reference to the old charter" is to the guarantee of rights in governing themselves which the colonists originally had, and which had been taken away from them. 12. Governor Bradstreet had come over with the first settlers of Boston, fifty years before, and had been elected by the people many times as their governor. How did the

people regard him? How did he advise them? 13. Note the scene given here: the crowd, the soldiers advancing in the dusk, the fires ready to discharge their guns, and the gaily dressed, scornful Governor and his staff of officials. 14. Look up "matchlock" in the dictionary, and find how these guns were fired. 15. Which person in the procession did the people hate most? Why? 16. At what moment does the Gray Champion enter? What is his appearance? 17. What does Upon the

he do and say? What is the effect upon the British? colonists? 18. Who was the Gray Champion? It is known that some of the Englishmen who pronounced sentence of death upon King Charles I, in 1646, fled to New England when his son, Charles II, became king in 1660. Could the Gray Champion have been one of these men? 19. Where is it hinted that he was an apparition, a spirit? 20. When did he appear again among the New Englanders? 21. What does Hawthorne say he represents?

Phrases: Restrictions on the press, regulation of the freedom to print news; mercenary troops, hired soldiers; apostolic dignity, the dignity of one who bears a message from God.

For Study with the Glossary. Bigoted, concurrence, disaffection, allegiance, extinct, sanctity, martyrdom, prelacy, abominations, ejaculation, benediction, vestments, decrepitude, truncheon, dotard, lurid.

Proper Names. Charles the Voluptuous (Charles II), Old Noll (Oliver Cromwell), Stern Court of Justice (the men who executed Charles I).

SPEECH BEFORE THE VIRGINIA CONVENTION

It was this speech made at Richmond, 1775, that led to the passing of Patrick Henry's resolution to put Virginia into a state of defense.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, 5 engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole 10 truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the 15 British Ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir, it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to 20 be betrayed with a kiss.

Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our