Daily American telegraph., 1852-02-27

BY MARTHA RUSSELL.
"There was little man, and he had little gun,
And the bullets were made of lead;
He went down to the brook, and shot lttlo duck,
And shot it right through the head.
He carried it home to his wife Jane,
And bade her fire to make
While he went back to the brook side,
And shot the little black drake
"But what for, Aunt Martha? What he
shoot 'em for?" shouts a little three-years-old
shaver, every time the above distich from
Mother Goose is repeated to him; and as nei-
ther grandmother nor myself have been suf
iciently familiar with the domestic history OF
that same little man Il to give very satisfac-
tory answer, the little fellow has set him down
as very cruel parsonage; and even Lucy, who
has between two and three years more wisdom
Nesting among her curls, looks quite grave,
and thinks one duck might have suficed to sat
isfy the hunger of the little man and his dame.
Feeling some compunctions of conscience for
setting before them the example of such a
go,rmand, thought would look into his his
tory, to find if possible, whether the inference
as to his cruelty and gluttony was correct and
am happy to state that find there has been a
very great misconception as to the motives of
those two famous shots
"Mother Goose" like a great many other
historians, has only given us the bare statement
of the fact-the shell, as it were-while she
has left the kernel, the real motive that led the
old man Ito do the deed, !" hidden in the rubbish
of the past. | consider myself peculiarly for
tunate in being able to clear up the character
of this much-calumniated "little man :" and |
think, my young friends that when you hear
his story, you will find that two shots for more
excellent or praiseworthy purpose have not been
fred since Nimrod introduced the custom of
hunting, or old Tubal- Cain fashioned arms
Somewhere about the year 1900, John or
Jack Hazeldean was born in Somersetshire
England, not far from the town of Taunton
He was the son of poor wood-cuttcr, whose
hut stood in the midst of one Of those noble
forests which were the pride of the country.
Though hidden in this green nook, his parents
had not failed to hear OF the doctrines of the
Reformation and to embrace them, and little
Jack was carefully trained in the way he should
90, according to the best of their knowledge.
He was always called little Jack partly be-
cause he was rather undersized, but more be-
cause the height and breadth Of his brawny-
armed brothers made him appear smaller than
he really was. But this was in one respect
blessing to him, for while his brothers as soon
wars of the king under their feudal lord, he
was left at home to assist his old parents, and
in due season to find dear wife in little Joan
Underwood, the foroster's daughter.
And now, my young friends, ] wish you to
turn to the history OF England in the year
1855. You will find that, during the early part
of that year, those southern counties had been
the scene of war between King James ii and
the Duke of Monmouth, his nephew The
beauty, grace, and winning manners Of this un-
fortunate son of Charles III made him the idol
of the common people throughout the country,
but especially in those districts where the peo-
pie were chiefly Presbytcrians, and opposed to
King James because he was Catholic, and the
Dppressor of their faith. Monmouth professed
to be Protestant, and they hocked to his stand
ard by thousands, only to be defeated at the
terrible battle of Sedgemoor.
The young Duke Of Monmouth perished on
the scaffold by the axe of the executioner, and
those southern counties became the scene OF
some of the most atrocious deeds that have ever
found a place in the history of nations. The
prisons were crowded with the unfortunate fol-
lowers of the Duke and in the autumn of that
year commenced a series of courts, holden in
each county, and known to this day as the
Bloody Assizes.'
The presiding judge was being I'VE do
not like to think Of him as mani who had
nothing human about him bat his form, and
that is said to have been so hideous as to fill
the beholder with terrorism George Jeflres,
Chief Justice Of the Court Of Kings Bench and
afterwards Lord Chancellor of England.
The unhappy prisoners, whose virtues and
endurance excited the pity and admiration
even of the party opposed to them, and whose