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Page 44
Seven times, as the successive monarchs of Britain ascended the throne,
the trumpet-peal of proclamation had been heard by those who sat in our
venerable chair. But, when the next king put on his father's crown, no
trumpet-peal proclaimed it to New England! Long before that day, America
had shaken off the royal government.
CHAPTER XI.
Now that Grandfather had fought through the Old French War, in which our
chair made no very distinguished figure, he thought it high time to tell
the children some of the more private history of that praiseworthy old
piece of furniture.
"In 1757," said Grandfather, "after Shirley had been summoned to
England, Thomas Pownall was appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was
a gay and fashionable English gentleman, who had spent much of his life
in London, but had a considerable acquaintance with America. The new
governor appears to have taken no active part in the war that was going
on; although, at one period, he talked of marching against the enemy, at
the head of his company of cadets. But, on the whole, he probably
concluded that it was more befitting a governor to remain quietly in our
chair, reading the newspapers and official documents."
"Did the people like Pownall?" asked Charley.
"They found no fault with him," replied Grandfather. "It was no time to
quarrel with the governor, when the utmost harmony was required, in
order to defend the country against the French. But Pownall did not
remain long in Massachusetts. In 1759, he was sent to be governor of
South Carolina. In thus exchanging one government for another, I
suppose he felt no regret, except at the necessity of leaving
Grandfather's chair behind him."
"He might have taken it to South Carolina," observed Clara.
"It appears to me," said Laurence, giving the rein to his fancy, "that
the fate of this ancient chair was, somehow or other, mysteriously
connected with the fortunes of old Massachusetts. If Governor Pownall
had put it aboard the vessel in which he sailed for South Carolina, she
would probably have lain wind-bound in Boston harbor. It was ordained
that the chair should not be taken away. Don't you think so,
Grandfather?"
"It was kept here for Grandfather and me to sit in together," said
little Alice, "and for Grandfather to tell stories about."
"And Grandfather is very glad of such a companion, and such a theme,"
said the old gentleman, with a smile. "Well, Laurence, if our oaken
chair, like the wooden Palladium of Troy, was connected with the
country's fate, yet there appears to have been no supernatural obstacle
to its removal from the Province House. In 1760, Sir Francis Bernard,
who had been governor of New Jersey, was appointed to the same office in
Massachusetts. He looked at the old chair, and thought it quite too
shabby to keep company with a new set of mahogany chairs, and an
aristocratic sofa, which had just arrived from London. He therefore
ordered it to be put away in the garret."
The children were loud in their exclamations against this irreverent
conduct of Sir Francis Bernard. But Grandfather defended him, as well as
he could. He observed, that it was then thirty years since the chair had
been beautified by Governor Belcher. Most of the gilding was worn off by
the frequent scourings which it had undergone, beneath the hands of a
black slave. The damask cushion, once so splendid, was now squeezed out
of all shape, and absolutely in tatters, so many were the ponderous
gentlemen who had deposited their weight upon it, during these thirty
years.
Moreover, at a council held by the Earl of Loudon with the governors of
New England, in 1757, his lordship, in a moment of passion, had kicked
over the chair with his military boot. By this unprovoked and
unjustifiable act, our venerable friend had suffered a fracture of one
of its rungs.
"But," said Grandfather, "our chair, after all, was not destined to
spend the remainder of its days in the inglorious obscurity of a garret.
Thomas Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor of the province, was told of Sir
Francis Bernard's design. This gentleman was more familiar with the
history of New England than any other man alive. He knew all the
adventures and vicissitudes through which the old chair had passed, and
could have told, as accurately as your own Grandfather, who were the
personages that had occupied it. Often, while visiting at the Province
House, he had eyed the chair with admiration, and felt a longing desire
to become the possessor of it. He now waited upon Sir Francis Bernard,
and easily obtained leave to carry it home."
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