--which feed there. His mind sometimes wanders, and he hardly knows
where he is; will not be convinced that he is anywhere but at Salem,
until they drag his chair to a window from which he can see a great
elm-tree of which he is very fond, standing in front of the house. Then
he acknowledges that he must be at the farm, because, he says, they
never could have transplanted that tree. He is pleased with flowers,
which they bring him,--a kind-hearted old man. The other day a live
partridge was sent him, and he ordered it to be let go, because he would
not suffer a life to be taken to supply him with a single meal. This
tenderness has always been characteristic of the old soldier. His
birthplace was within a few miles of this spot,--the son and descendant
of husbandmen,--and character and fortune together have made him a man
of history.
This is a most hospitable family, and they live in a style of plain
abundance, rural, but with traits of more refined modes. Many domestics,
both for farm and household work. Two unmarried daughters; an old maiden
aunt; an elderly lady, Mrs. C. of Newburyport, visiting; a young girl of
fifteen, a connection of the family, also visiting, and now confined to
her chamber by illness. Ney, a spaniel of easy and affable address, is a
prominent personage, and generally lies in the parlor or sits beside the
General's chair; always ready, too, to walk out with anybody so
inclined.
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