master would have the best of the bargain. They offered him a large sum of money if he would but give up that twentieth shilling which he was continually dropping into his own pocket. But Captain Hull declared himself perfectly satisfied with the shilling. And well he might be; for so diligently did he labor that in a few years, his pockets, his moneybags, and his strong box were overflowing with pine-tree shillings. This was probably the case when he came into possession of Grandfather's chair; and, as he had worked so hard at the mint, it was certainly proper that he should have a comfortable chair to rest himself in. When the mintmaster had grown very rich, a young man, Samuel Sewall by name, came a-courting to his only daughter. His daughter whose name I do not know, but we will call her Betsey was a fine, hearty damsel, by no means so slender as some young ladies of our own days. On the contrary, having always fed heartily on pumpkin pies, doughnuts, Indian puddings, and other Puritan dainties, she was as round and plump as a pudding herself. With this round, rosy Miss Betsey did Samuel Sewall fall in love. As he was a young man of good character, industrious in his business, and a member of the church, the mintmaster very readily gave his consent. "Yes you may take her," said he in his rough way, "and you'll find her a heavy burden enough!" On the wedding day, we may suppose that honest John Hull dressed himself in a plum-colored coat, all the buttons of which were made of pine-tree shillings. The buttons of his waistcoat were sixpences; and the knees of his smallclothes were buttoned with silver threepences. Thus attired, he sat with great dignity in Grandfather's chair; and, being a portly old gentleman, he completely filled it from elbow to elbow. On the opposite side of the room, between her bridemaids sat Miss Betsey. She was blushing with all her might, and looked like a full blown peony, or a great red apple. There, too, was the bridegroom, dressed in a fine purple coat and gold lace waistcoat, with as much other finery as the Puritan laws and customs would allow him to put on. His hair was cropped close to his head, because Governor Endicott had forbidden any man to wear it below the ears. But he was a very personable young man; and so thought the bridemaids and Miss Betsey herself. The mintmaster also was pleased with his new son-in-law; especially as he had courted Miss Betsey out of pure love, and had said nothing at all about her portion. So, when the marriage ceremony was over, Captain Hull whispered a word to two of his menservants, who immediately went out, and soon returned, lugging in a large pair of scales. They were such a pair as wholesale merchants use for weighing bulky commodities; and quite a bulky commodity was now to be weighed in them. "Daughter Betsey," said the mintmaster, "get into one side of these scales." Miss Betsey- or Mrs. Sewall, as we must now call her - did as she was bid, like a dutiful child, without any question of the why and wherefore. But what her father could mean, unless to make her husband pay for her by the pound (in which case she would have been a dear bargain), she had not the least idea. "And now," said honest John Hull to the servants, "bring that box hither." The box to which the mintmaster pointed was a huge, square, iron-bound, oaken chest; it was big enough, my children, for all four of you to play at hide and seek in. The servants tugged with might and main, but could not lift this enormous receptacle, and were finally obliged to drag it across the floor. Captain Hull then took a key from his girdle, unlocked the chest, and lifted its ponderous lid. Behold! It was full to the brim of bright pine-tree shillings, fresh from the mint; and Samuel Sewall began to think that his father-in-law had got possession of all the money in the Massachusetts treasury. But it was only the mintmaster's honest share of the coinage. Then the servants, at Captain Hull's command, heaped double handfuls of shillings into one side of the scales, while Betsey remained in the other. Jingle, jingle, went the shillings, as handful after handful was thrown in, till, plump and ponderous as she was, they fairly weighed the young lady from the floor. "There, son Sewall!" cried the honest mintmaster, resuming his seat in Grandfather's chair. "Take these shillings for my daughter's portion. Use her kindly, and thank heaven for her. It is not every wife that's worth her weight in silver!" Why were there so many different kinds of money in our country at first? What served as money among the Indians? Can you explain why our first money was made in the form of shillings, sixpences, and threepences, instead of the present forms? Did Captain John Hull make a good bargain with the magistrates? Why? Was he fond of a joke? Why was money invented? Did Robinson Crusoe value the bag of gold that he found when first shipwrecked? SUGGESTIONS FOR ORAL AND WRITTEN ENGLISH Tell the story of the way in which you made your collection of marbles, or posters, or any other collection popular in your community. Describe some form of bartering you have used. Write an imaginary incident of a community which has been robbed of every cent and cannot procure any money for a month. They must not use the "credit" system. Tell the story of Miles Standish's Courtship as if you were Priscilla's sister, and express your opinion of Miles Standish. SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL READINGS Tanglewood Tales. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Feathertop (from Mosses from an Old Manse). Nathaniel Hawthorne. Drowne's Wooden Image (from Mosses from an Old Manse). Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Gray Champion (from Twice-Told Tales). Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Gentle Boy (from Twice-Told Tales). Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Great Stone Face (from The Snow Image). Nathaniel Hawthorne. Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe (from Twice-Told Tales). Nathaniel Hawthorne. Dr. Heidegger's Experiment (from Twice-Told Tales). Nathaniel Hawthorne. Lady Eleanore's Mantle (from Twice-Told Tales). Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Minister's Black Veil (from Twice-Told Tales). Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Great Carbuncle (from Twice-Told Tales). Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Diary of Anna Green Winslow. A. M. Earle (Ed.). WOUTER VAN TWILLER 1 WASHINGTON IRVING Washington Irving (1783-1859) was born in New York City. He has been rightly called the "Father of American Literature." During his boyhood, the colonies were occupied with establishing a new form of government, and welding themselves into one nation. They had no time for literature. Irving was the first American writer to win recognition in Europe. He spent much of his youth in prying around the quaint Dutch quarters of New York, and he has preserved in his writings much of the early history of New York, gleaned in this way. He was secretary of the legation at London, and later minister to Spain. He, however, gladly returned to spend his remaining years at beautiful Sunnyside, overlooking the Hudson River. His Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle should be familiar to every boy and girl in America. See also: Halleck's History of American Literature, pp. 112-124, 151. Pierre M. Irving's The Life and Letters of Washington Irving. It was in the year of our Lord 1629 that Mynheer Wouter Van Twiller was appointed governor of the province of Nieuw Nederlandts,2 under the commission and control of their High Mightinesses the Lords States General of the United Netherlands, and the privileged West India Company. This renowned old gentleman arrived at New Amsterdam 3 in the merry month of June, the sweetest month in all the year; when dan 4 Apollo 5 seems to dance up the transparent 1 From Knickerbocker's History of New York. 2 That part of the American colonies extending from the Delaware to the Connecticut River. The capital of the Dutch colony, now New York City. 4 A quaint term for "master." H. & B. READINGS-12 177 5 The Greek god of the sun. |