The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-05-31
MIS- GEL L A N EO US
A Page from "A Sad Book.

delphia, at that time my place of
residence in the United States, to
make short stay in Boston. My
acquaintance with Boston is but
slight; for I visited it during Pc
riod of cheerless cold, heightened by
the constant prevalence of east
winds; and my own wnengagcments pre-
vented many wanderings. One cx.
cursion, however, which I took in
its vicinity, put me in possession Of
a document which / think may
prove not uninteresting to the read.
ers of "IIousehold Words"
About fifteen miles from Bos.
ton stands Salem, which will now be
known to many through Nathaniel
Hawthorne's introduction to the
"Scarlet Letter. In this story, al.
lusion is made to the belief in witch
craft, which, nearly two centuries
ago, spread like an epidemic not on
iy over portions of England and
The European continent, but also in
these far off colonies; aud, most
yirulently Of all, in the now unimpor-
tant little town of Salem. Hearing
that in the courthouse of Salem
few records Of the examination of
some oftthe victims Of wild and
destructive superstition were per.
mitted to be seon, I was glad to have
She OPPORTUNITY Of accompanying a
friend on a short visit to the town.
Our first visit was to the Gus
tom House. We found it exactly as
described by Eawthorne-a dreary-
docking brick building, very much
out Of repair; the paint.work worn
and dingy, and the grass growing in
the chinks Of the stones around it,
rather conveying the idea of q de-
serted mansion offaded gentility, than
an Office in which sene little segment
of national business was 1aily being
transacted. We first entered \
room on the ground.foor, in whic.
a number of official.looking person
ages were assembled, at that time ap.
parently not very actively employ
cd; and, in one or two of whom l
fancied I recognised some rcsem-
biance to those very respectable fix.
turcs of Government service Haw.
thorne unceremoniously introduced
to the public. AS in his days of
surveyorship, tho aoor was thick.
ay strewn with grey sand; but,
in place of o stove, an immense pile of
wood logs was blazing and cracking
on the hearth; casting around the
most cheerful and inspiring glow. Af.
ter warming ourselves for a few
moments, we ascendcd to the Sec
ond story.
The room we entered was a
large, unfnishmcnt, covered with
the dust ofyears, and serving no 9TH
er purpose than that Of a lumber.
room. It was strange, suggestive
place; chamber for ghost revels, in
which you could not long remain
without raising mental ghosts for
yourself. In one corner several bar
rels were piled, in which had
been slowed papers filled with curl.
Gus records of the judicial and
business doings Of past generations.
Scattered over the floor, with a
heterogeneous collection of odds
5aSnd ends from all parts of the world;
boxes, the mystery of whose dust hid
den contents l vainly endeayourcd
to penetrate; veritable Turkish
pipes; canes from the wide cane
brakes of the Southern States; a
bag of dates and some bottles of
sweet Eastern wine (to the good
quality Of both which 1 can testi.
fy); several beautiful sca.shclls; a
aarge square of tapestry; one of
Raphael's cartoons, which had been
brought over from Palermo. Last
ly q strange.looking musical instru.
ment, now, for the first time for
O long pcrlod, opened tor US to In
spect. 1t was broken into one or
two pieces, was otherwise woefully
damaged, and was covered with
dust. It had been the property of
a poor Frenchman, who had spent ma
ny years in conceiving and work.
ing out what was now n melan-
choly wreck; but which, in its per-
feet state, had been an ingenious
piece Of mechanism, in which nun.
Der of little automaton figures ap.
peared to be the active agents in
producing the music. The French
man accomplished his labour, had
just begun to exhibit it to the world
and to reap the harvest of his
patience and skill, when he died; and
by some chance, it had been sent to
fall to pieces in the obscure lumber.