Daughters of the Revolution and Their Times Part 24

"Very gallant on the part of the king; fitting and humble the action of the queen," said the rector.

"I would not have got down on my knees to him," said Ruth.

"May I ask why Miss Newville would not have knelt to her future husband and sovereign, had she been Princess Sophia?" the rector asked.

"Because it was an acknowledgement at the outset that she was not his equal. She abased herself by taking an inferior position. In the days of chivalry, men knelt to women. The princess did not leave her happy home to be a subject of King George; but to be his wife to stand by his side, and not crouch at his feet."

"Hurrah! That's a whole broadside. She's sweeping your quarter-deck,"

shouted the admiral.

The rector grew red in the face.

"It is recorded in the Holy Scriptures, Miss Newville, that wives must be obedient to their husbands," he replied.

"Does the Bible say a wife must kneel at her husband's feet?" she asked.

"Perhaps not in so many words, but she is commanded to obey. Our holy church teaches the doctrine. When the princess knelt at the feet of his majesty, it signified she would obey him. Perhaps it is my duty, Miss Newville, to say that your sentiments would be regarded as heretical by the authorities of the church."

"Hold on, rector," said Mr. Adams. "Don't set the canons of the church to thundering."

"It is the gossip at court," said Mr. Dapper, "that the king wanted to retire soon after sundown, but the queen said she wasn't going to bed with the hens. It is said he told her she must wear a particular dress, but she informed him he could dress as he pleased, and she should do the same."

"You will have to go to court, rector, and lecture the queen on heresy," said Mr. Adams.

The company laughed, and Ruth's eyes sparkled over the rector's discomfiture.

The meats had been removed and Pompey was serving the pastry and comfits.

"What delicious cheese you have. It is as toothsome as the finest Ches.h.i.+re," said Lord Upperton.

"We think it of excellent flavor, and I am sure you will relish it all the more when I inform you, my lord, that it was made by a girl not older than myself," replied Ruth.

"Indeed! is it possible? How very clever she must be."

"She is a New Hamps.h.i.+re lady."

"Are dairymaids ladies?"

"Indeed they are, my lord. The young lady who made the cheese you are eating, I dare say, would adorn the court of our queen," responded Mr.

Adams.

"Bless me! oysters, cranberries, succotash, canvasback ducks, wild turkeys, pumpkin pie, dairymaids ladies, wives the equals of their husbands! Rector, will there be anything beyond these in the New Jerusalem?" exclaimed Lord Upperton.

Dinner over, the ladies pa.s.sed into the parlor while the gentlemen smoked their pipes and finished their wine.

"I suppose, my lord," said Mr. Adams, "you have not been here sufficiently long to form an opinion in regard to the Colonies."

"Everything is so new and strange," Lord Upperton replied, "I hardly know what to make of it. I had an idea that I should find your people quite rude and uncultivated. I understand you haven't any theatre or anything of that sort; but, really, your ladies charm me by their conversation. Mrs. Adams informs me she has studied Latin and Greek."

"I am happy to say my wife can read Cicero and Homer in the originals," Mr. Adams replied.

"You astonish me," his lords.h.i.+p exclaimed.

"We are somewhat primitive, but the Colonies in time will make amends for whatever they maybe lacking now," Mr. Adams responded, sipping his wine. "The people who came to this Western world did so mainly for conscience sake, and the time will come when this country will be the seat of empire. Society here is established on enduring foundations.

One hundred years hence the chances are the people in the Colonies will outnumber those of England. We are loyal to the king, but we are a liberty-loving people and jealous of our rights. In time we shall be so strong that the united force of Europe will not be able to subdue us."[48]

[Footnote 48: The paragraph is in substance the prophecy of John Adams, written to Nathan Webb, a school-teacher in Worcester, in 1755.]

"You have a great extent of country, but as a people you are widely scattered. You have only a little fringe of settlements along the seacoast. It will be an easy matter to divide you. England is rich, and has a great navy; she controls the sea. Her armies have been victors on many fields; she has wrested Canada from France," said his lords.h.i.+p.

"With the aid of the Colonies," interrupted Mr. Adams.

"Perhaps we had better give politics the go-by and join the ladies,"

said his lords.h.i.+p, rising and moving towards the parlor.

Pompey brought in the tea-urn, cups and saucers, sugar and cream.

"Shall I pa.s.s you a cup, Miss Newville?" Lord Upperton asked.

"Thank you, my lord, but I do not drink tea."

"Ha, ha! Miss Newville, so you have joined the other conspirators to outwit Lord North!"

"No, your lords.h.i.+p, I have not joined them, but I must say I admire their resolution in giving up a luxury to maintain a great principle."

"As for myself," said Mr. Dapper, "I rather like the spirit of the Puritan mothers and daughters here in the Colonies; they are worthy descendants of the men who had it out with Charles I. It is all nonsense, this plea of Lord North, that the people in the Colonies ought to pay a portion of the debt incurred by England in the late war with France; it is the extravagance and corruption of Parliament and of those in power that grinds us,--the giving of grants, pensions, and gratuities to favorites, parasites, and hangers-on. During Bute's and Grenville's administrations the public money was sown broadcast. If votes were wanted, they were purchased. It was not unusual for a member of the Commons to find four hundred pounds in his napkin at dinner, or in a billet-doux left by the postman. Of course he understood the meaning of it. The ministers helped themselves to sugar-plums worth five thousand pounds. When the Duke of Grafton was at the head of the ministry, that parasite, Tom Bradshaw, who had done some nasty work for the Premier, received an annuity of fifteen hundred pounds and a suite of thirty rooms in Hampton Palace. He is there now, and has had the suite increased to seventy apartments. Not long ago the ministry put out one hundred thousand pounds to carry a measure through the Commons."

"You astonish me! Do you mean to intimate that our king has corrupt men around him?" Mrs. Newville inquired.

"My dear madam, the king is hardly responsible for this state of things. It is part of the political system. Politics is a game. Men can cheat in government as well as in anything else, and there are quite as many cheats in and around St. James's as at Almack's or any of the other gambling resorts. Other things are done in and around Westminster, by those whom you are accustomed to revere, which would astonish you could I but speak of them," said Mr. Dapper.

The evening being beautiful, the air genial, the company strolled in the garden, and ate the ripening plums and pears. Lord Upperton, finding pleasure in the society of Miss Newville, asked what recreation the young people in the Colonies enjoyed. She told of the launching of the s.h.i.+p Berinthia Brandon, the pung-ride and dance at the Greyhound Tavern, the quiltings, huskings, and tea-parties.

"I hope, Miss Newville, this will not be the last time I shall have the pleasure of seeing you. I shall not soon forget the succotash and cranberries, and shall improve an early opportunity to pay my respects to you," he said, as he bade her good-evening.

"By Jove, Dapper, she's as fine a piece of chintz as can be picked up at St. James's or anywhere else," he said, as they returned to the Admiral Vernon.

XI.

SOCIETY LIFE IN LONDON.

On a pleasant afternoon Lord Upperton was once more ushered into the Newville mansion. Mrs. Newville being absent, he was graciously received by Ruth.

"I had such a delightful time in your hospitable home, Miss Newville, the other evening, that I could no longer refrain from paying my respects."