After this call» sleep was impossible to David. He was too happy. That insight which changes faith into knowledge had comforted him concerning his dead. He lay down on Vala's couch, and he felt sure that Nanna's smile filled the silence like a spell. He was so still that he could hear the beating of his own heart, but clear and vivid as light his duty spread out before him. He had found his vocation, and oh, how rapidly men grow under the rays of that invisible sun!

But it was a vocation that came as the kingdom of God very frequently comeswithout observation. To preach a sermon! That was a thing far outside David's possibilities. The power of the church, and its close and exclusive privileges, were at that day in Shetland papal in prerogative. David never dreamed of encroaching on them, nor, indeed, would public opinion have permitted him.

As it was, there grew gradually a feeling of unrest about David. Though he was humble and devout in all kirk exercises, it was known that the people gathered round him at Barbara Traill's and in his own cottage, and that he spoke to them of the everlasting gospel as never man had spoken before to them. It was known that when the boats lay stilly rocking on the water waiting for the «take,» David, sitting among his mates, reasoned with them on the love of God until every face of clay flushed with a radiance quite different from mere color-a radiance that was a direct spiritual emanation, a shining of the soul through mere matter. And as these men were all in a measure theologians, with their « creed » and «evidences » at their tongue's end, it was a wonderful joy to watch their doubts, like the needle verging to the pole, tremble and tremble into certainty. In about three years such opposition as David roused was strong enough to induce the kirk to consider his behavior. The minister sent for him, and in the privacy of his study David spoke so eloquently and mightily of the mercy of the Infinite One that the minister covered his face; and when the young

man ceased speaking, he looked tenderly at him, and sent him away with his blessing. And afterward he said to the elders, «There is nothing to call a session anent. David Borson has been to the school of Christ, and he is learned in the Scriptures. We will not silence him, lest haply we be found to be fighting against God.»

Thus for many a year David went in and out among his mates and friends, living the gospel in their sight. The memory of Nanna filled his heart; he loved no other woman, but every desolate and sorrowful woman found in him a friend and a helper. And he drew the little children like a magnet. He was the elder brother of every boy and girl who claimed his love; his hands were ever ready to help them, his heart was ever ready to love them, and in such blessed service he grew nobly aged. He had come to Shetland when the islands were afar off, when the Norse element ruled them, and the Christianized men and women of the sagas dwelt alone in the strong, quaint stone houses they had built. He lived to see the influx of the Southern race and influences, the advent of modern travel and civilization; but he never altered his life, for in its simple, pious dignity it befitted any era.

It is noticeable that good men very often have their desire in the manner of their death, and God so favored his servant David Borson. He went out alone one day in his boat, and a sudden storm came from the northeast. He did not return. Some said there had been no time to take in the boat's sail, and that she must have gone down with her canvas blowing. Others thought she had become unmanageable, and drifted into some of the dangerous «races» near the coast.

But, this manner or that manner, David went to heaven, as he desired, by the way of the sea,» and God found his body a resting-place among its cool, clean graves-a sepulcher that no man knoweth of, nor shall know, until the mighty angel sets his right foot upon the sea, and swears that there shall «be time no longer.»>

Amelia E. Barr.

THE leaders of the Free-soil revolt of 1848 were eminently practical and clear-sighted men. Their sole reliance was upon constitutional methods and absolute devotion to the Union. While they wisely disclaimed any right to intermeddle with slavery as the creature of local law, their position was equally impregnable in asserting the right and duty of Congress to forbid its introduction into our national Territories. This principle had been settled by the action of the Government from the beginning, and upon it the whole controversy between the free and the slave States was focalized. When it was finally decided against the slaveholders, they entered upon the work of secession, and upon no other issue could the people of the Northern States have been so effectively rallied in the war for the Union, while the Union itself would in all probability have perished if a more sweeping and aggressive antislavery policy had been demanded in the beginning of the struggle.

Among the statesmen and reformers of his time, history will accord to John P. Hale a high rank. He was graduated with honors at Bowdoin College, and after a course of thorough preparation was admitted to the bar, and entered upon a successful practice. To the present generation, which knows him only as a famous antislavery leader, and as the Free-soil candidate in 1852, it may appear surprising that he began his political career as a Democrat, and that at the age of twentyeight he was appointed district attorney for New Hampshire by President Jackson. Jacksonian Democracy was certainly not a very fructifying soil for the growth of abolitionism, nor was New Hampshire. Of all the States of the North, she was the most crouchingly subservient to the demands of slavery. She had not, however, then reached the bad eminence which she afterward attained, and in 1843 Mr. Hale was chosen as the representative of his district in Congress. He was a real Democrat. In his mind the word stood for a principle, and not for a mere party cog

nomen. He believed religiously in the people, and his devotion to their interests was a passion which never cooled. When he took his seat in the House of Representatives, Adams and Giddings were in the thick of their fight for the right of petition and the freedom of debate, and they had already sounded the cry of danger respecting the annexation of Texas. Charles G. Atherton, a representative from Mr. Hale's own State, had fathered the «gag» resolution, which became known as the twenty-first rule of the House. Mr. Hale, with his fertile brain and clear moral vision, must have taken note of the trend of public affairs, and duly considered the question of duty. He avowed his hostility to the «gag rule, and to the scheme of Texas annexation, and his votes were so recorded. His position on the Texas question gave no offense to his Democratic constituents, for in the beginning New Hampshire, in common with all the Northern States, was opposed to the measure. Accordingly, in anticipation of the expiration of his term, he was renominated for Congress. But in 1844 the Democrats in the Northern States changed front. Van Buren was thrown overboard because of his opposition to annexation. The legislature of New Hampshire having passed resolutions instructing her senators and representatives to vote for it, Mr. Hale addressed a public letter to his constituents opposing it on antislavery grounds. This kindled the wrath of the Democratic leaders of his State, and a convention of the party, called together for the purpose in February, 1845, rescinded his nomination and struck his name from the ticket. He continued in the field as an independent candidate, but was defeated. His friends now rallied around him, and asked him to take the field and canvass the State as their leader. This was asking him to face political death, for to all human appearances Democratic ascendancy in New Hampshire was impregnably established. But he yielded to the importunities of his friends, and became the knighterrant of a holy cause. His whole heart was given to the work, and he addressed the

people in every nook and corner of the State where an audience, large or small, would listen to him. His figure was commanding, and his features were marked by manly beauty. His face beamed with benignity and goodwill. His voice was full, clear, and musical. He had readiness, self-possession, tact, quickness of perception, and a keen sense of the ludicrous. His speeches abounded in wit, humor, and repartee, but he never indulged in personalities. Self-righteousness and malignity were utterly hateful to him, and his utterances were characterized by a simplicity and naturalness which won the hearts of old and young. His sincerity and moral earnestness found expression in impassioned appeals to the hearts and consciences of his hearers, who became the delighted captives of his power. In referring to him, Theodore Parker spoke of the masterly eloquence which broke out from his great human heart, and rolled like the Mississippi in its width, its depth, its beauty, and its continuous and unconquerable strength.» But the grand secret of his power as an orator was singleness of purpose. In this memorable campaign Mr. Hale illustrated the saying, «If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.» He carried the people of New Hampshire triumphantly with him, and his canvass was known then, and has been ever since remembered, as the «Hale storm» of 1845. Its result was the overthrow and humiliation of the pro-slavery Democracy of the State, and the election of Mr. Hale to the United States Senate two years afterward.

When Hale took his seat in the Senate, he was the only member of that body who defied the discipline of both the old parties, and dared assert his absolute political independence. He stood alone until 1849, when he was joined by Chase and Seward, who were reinforced in 1851 by Sumner. There was something dramatic in his solitary appearance in the Senate as an avowed antislavery man. That body then contained more able and eminent men than it had had for more than a generation, and it was completely under the domination of the slave interest. That interest dictated the policy of the Government at home and abroad, as it had done from its beginning, and made and unmade politicians. Hale knew that his single-handed warfare against it would invite ridicule, sneers, insults, and threats. He knew that he must face the scorn and contempt of the South and the chilling neglect of the North. But he bravely stood in the breach. He took no counsel of his fears, and would not be

bullied into silence. When he was denied a place on senatorial committees on the pretext that he «did not belong to a healthy political organization,» he ridiculed the proceeding, and made it tell in his favor. One of the finest exhibitions of his courage was given soon after he took his seat in the Senate, when he cast the only vote against a resolution thanking Generals Scott and Taylor for their victories in Mexico. This vote was sure to be misunderstood and misrepresented, and all parties regarded it as suicidal; but it was sufficient for him to know that no other honest and consistent course was possible for those who had condemned the Mexican war in all its stages. He would not belie his convictions to avoid any personal consequences. of his act; and when he pleaded the high authority of Chatham, Burke, and Fox, who refused to vote thanks to the commanders of the British army for their services in America in our revolutionary struggle,—a strictly analogous case,-no senator successfully answered him.

Mr. Hale's humanity was equal to his cour

age.

While a member of the House, he moved an amendment to the naval appropriation bill, abolishing the spirit ration and prohibiting flogging in the navy. The amendment prevailed, but failed in the Senate. This motion was renewed in the Senate in 1849, and in 1850, after an impassioned appeal by Mr. Hale, flogging was abolished; but the spirit ration continued till 1862. He was justly proud of these achievements, and they are appropriately commemorated on the pedestal of the statue recently erected in the State-house yard at Concord.

As an antislavery leader, Hale followed his own methods of warfare. While Seward, Sumner, and Chase were forging their antislavery thunderbolts, and firing them at the enemy at long range through the press of the Northern States, Mr. Hale was using his lighter artillery on the skirmish-line, and in well-executed flank movements. In 1850 he was prompted by the presence of a pro-slavery mob in Washington to introduce a resolution providing for the reimbursement of persons whose property should be destroyed by riotous assemblages. Foote of Mississippi denounced this resolution as intended to protect «negro-stealing.» Addressing Mr. Hale, he said: "I invite him to visit the good State of Mississippi, in which I have the honor to reside, and will tell him beforehand in all honesty that he could not go ten miles into the interior before he would grace one of the tallest trees of the forest with a rope around

his neck, with the approbation of every virtuous and patriotic citizen; and that, if necessary, I should myself assist in the operation.» Mr. Hale answered: «The senator invites me to visit the State of Mississippi, and kindly informs me that he would be one of those who would act the assassin and put an end to my career. . . . Well, in return for his hospitable invitation, I can only express the desire that he should penetrate into one of the (dark corners of New Hampshire; and if he do, I am much mistaken if he would not find the people in that (benighted region would be very happy to listen to his arguments and engage in an intellectual conflict with him, in which the truth might be elicited.» The popular instinct at once labeled the Mississippi senator as «Hangman Foote,» and the epithet is still instantly recalled by the mention of his

name.

Mr. Hale, however, did not confine himself

to the brief speeches and occasional sharpshooting into which he was drawn by the current debates. In 1850 he made an able and carefully prepared speech, which occupied two days, in reply to Mr. Webster's famous speech of the 7th of March. Among other things, he said: «The senator says he would not reenact the laws of God. Well, sir, I would. When he tells me that the law of God is against slavery, it is a most potent argument for our incorporating it with any Territorial bill.» His most telling speeches, however, were brief, and seemed to be inspired by the immediate occasion which called them forth. In his defense of the rescuers of the slave Shadrach, he said:

«John Debree claims that he owns Shadrach. Owns what? Owns a man! Suppose, gentlemen, John Debree should claim an exclusive right to the sunshine, the moon, or the stars! Would you sanction the claim by