age of

be put, as they never wore them; and had not at the sixteen ever seen a lady, excepting each other and their governess; they then read, as long as they chose, the voluminous romances of the last century, of which their friend had an ample collection, or Rollin's Ancient History, the only books they had ever seen; after dinner, they regularly in summer took a long walk; or an excursion in the sleigh, in winter, with their friend, and then returned and resumed their wonted occupations, with the sole variation of a stroll in the garden in summer, and a game at chess or shuttle-cock in winter. Their dress was full as simple and uniform as every thing else; they wore wrappers of the finest chintz, and green silk petticoats— and this the whole year round without variation. Their hair, which was long and beautiful, was tied behind with a simple ribbon; a large calash shaded each from the sun, and in winter they had long scarlet mantles that covered them from head to foot. Their father did not live with them, but visited them every day in their apartment. This innocent and uniform life they led, till the death of their monitress, which happened when the eldest was not quite seventeen. On some future occasion I shall satisfy the curiosity which this short but faithful account of these amiable recluses has possibly excited.*

* These ladies married officers, who, in succession, lived as aid-decamps with their father. Their manners soon grew easy; they readily acquired the habits of society, and made excellent wives.

18*

CHAP. XL.

General Abercrombie-Lord Howe.

I MUST now return to Albany, and to the projected expedition.

General Abercrombie, who commanded on the northern lakes, was a brave and able man, though rather too much attached to the military schools of those days. To accommodate himself to the desultory and uncertain warfare of the woods, where sagacity, ready presence of mind, joined with the utmost caution, and a condescension of opinion to our Indian allies, was of infinitely more consequence than rules and tactics, which were mere shackles and incumbrances in this contention, with difficulties and perplexities more harassing than mere danger. Indeed, when an ambuscade or sudden onset was followed by defeat here, (as in Braddock's case,) the result reminded one of the route of Absalom's army; where, we are told, the wood devoured more than the sword. The general was a frequent guest with madame, when the nature of his command would permit him to relax from the duties that occupied him. He had his men encamped below Albany, in that great field which I have formerly described, as the common pasture for the town. Many of the officers were quartered in the fort and town; but Lord Howe always lay in his tent, with the regiment which he commanded; and which he modelled in such a manner, that they were ever after considered as an example to the whole American army, who gloried in adopting all those rigid, yet salutary regulations, to which this young hero readily submitted, to enforce his commands by example.

Above the pedantry of holding up standards of military rules, where it was impossible to practise them, and the narrow spirit

of preferring the modes of his own country, to those proved by experience, to suit that in which he was to act, Lord Howe laid aside all pride and prejudice, and gratefully accepted counsel from those whom he knew to be best qualified to direct him. Madame was delighted with the calm steadiness with which he carried through the austere rules which he found

it necessary to lay down. In the first place, he forbade all displays of gold and scarlet, in the rugged march they were about to undertake, and set the example by wearing himself an ammunition coat, that is to say, one of the surplus soldier's coats cut short. This was a necessary precaution, because in the woods, the hostile Indians, who started from behind the trees, usually caught at the long and heavy skirts then worn by the soldiers; and for the same reason he ordered the muskets to be shortened, that they might not, as on former occasions, be snatched from behind by these agile foes. To prevent the march of his regiment from being descried at a distance by the glittering of their arms, the barrels of their guns were all blackened; and to save them from the tearing of bushes, the stings of insects, &c. he set them the example of wearing leggins, a kind of buskin, made of strong woollen cloth, formerly described as a part of the Indian dress. The greatest privation to the young and vain yet remained. Hair well dressed, and in great quantity, was then considered as the greatest possible ornament, which those who had it took the utmost care to display to advantage, and to wear in a bag or queue, which ever they fancied. Lord Howe's was fine and very abundant; he, however, cropped it, and ordered every one else to do the same. Every morning he rose very early, and, after giving his orders, rode out to the Flats, breakfasted, and spent some time in conversation with his friends there; and when in Albany, received all manner of useful information from the worthy magistrate, Cornelius Cuyler. Another point which this young Lycurgus of the camp wished to esta

blish, was that of not carrying any thing that was not absolutely necessary. An apparatus of tables, chairs and such other luggage, he thought highly absurd, where people had to force their way with unspeakable difficulty, to encounter an enemy free from all such encumbrances. The French had long learnt how little convenience could be studied on such occasions as the present.

When his lordship got matters arranged to his satisfaction, he invited his officers to dine with him in his tent. They gladly assembled at the hour appointed, but were surprised to see no chairs or tables; there were, however, bear-skins spread like a carpet. His lordship welcomed them, and sat down on a small log of wood; they followed his example, and presently the servants set down a large dish of pork and pease. His lordship, taking a sheath from his pocket, out of which he produced a knife and fork, began to cut and divide the meat. They sat in a kind of awkward suspense, which he interrupted, by asking if it were possible that soldiers like them, who had been so long destined for such a service, should not be provided with portable implements of this kind? and finally relieved them from their embarrassment, by distributing to each a case the same as his own, which he had provided for the purpose. The austere regulations, and constant self-denial which he imposed upon the troops he commanded, were patiently borne, because he was not only gentle in his manners, but generous and humane in a very high degree, and exceedingly attentive to the health and real necessities of the soldiery. Among many instances of this, a quantity of powdered ginger was given to every man; and the sergeants were ordered to see, that when, in the course of marching, the soldiers arrived hot and tired at the banks of any stream, they should not be permitted to stoop to drink, as they generally inclined to do, but obliged to lift water in their canteens, and mix ginger with it. This became afterwards a general practice;

and in those aguish swamps, through which the troops were forced to march, was the means of saving many lives. Aunt Schuyler, as this amiable young officer familiarly styled his maternal friend, had the utmost esteem for him; and the greatest hope that he would, at some future period, redress all those evils that had formerly impeded the service, and, perhaps, plant the British standard on the walls of Quebec. But this honour another young hero was destined to achieve; whose virtues were to be illustrated by the splendour of victory, the only light by which the multitude can see the merits of a soldier.

The Schuylers regarded this expedition with a mixture of doubt and dismay, knowing too well, from the sad retrospect of former failures, how little valour and discipline availed where regular troops had to encounter unseen foes, and with difficulties arising from the nature of the ground, for which military sience afforded no remedy. Of General Abercrombie's worth and valour they had the highest opinion; but they had no opinion of attacking an enemy so subtle and experienced on their own ground, in entrenchments, and this they feared he would have the temerity to attempt. In the meantime preparations were making for the attempt. The troops were marched in detachments past the Flats, and each detachment quartered for a night on the common, or in the offices. One of the first of these was commanded by Lee, of frantic celebrity, who afterwards, in the American war, joined the opponents of government, and was then a captain in the British service. Captain Lee had neglected to bring the customary warrants for impressing horses and oxen, and procuring a supply of various necessaries, to be paid for by the agents of government on showing the usual documents; he, however, seized every thing he wanted where he could most readily find it, as if he were in a conquered country; and not content with this violence, poured forth a volley of execrations on