The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-08-30
LITER AT q R E.
CRITICISMS OF NEW BOOKS

| NEW ENGLAND LEGENDS. BY Harriet Prescott
sponord: With Illustrations. Boston: James X.
| Osgood Co.
| dozen years ago Miss Harriet Prescott sprung
into sudden fame the author ofTne Amber Gods''
| in the Atlantic Monthly Young people, and, indeed,
elderly people, too for that matter, were not quite
| sure what the story all about; but there were
In It such richness ana beauty Of language, and such
wealth of imagination that It could fail to cGpti-
all readers into whose hands IL CHANGED to fall.
It's author evidently word painter OF the great
| est power one whose thoughts were living
! nrel and whose studies acquired glow
| from the brisncy OF her delneations. The
promise which the young glrl gave Of her talents
has been in no way disappointed. We could not
| find better evidence OF this anywhere than IN her
| "New England Legends" The stories which she
! rectes are in the main far from being new. The
towns OF which she discOurses-C harlestown, Salem.
| NewburypOrt, Dover and Portsmoutn-are not in
| themselves very remarkable The legends which
| can be told OF New York, Pennsylvania and Mary.
| land are in many respects even more striking.
But those have never been told these are recied
! by Mrs. SpoYord. We recognize the hand OF the
artist In every line We see the colorings of genius
| In every shade OF her pictures They are alive with
an interest which few pens can mpart to these
twcetold tales OF New England history.
As an example OF all this we nave only to pOint
to her ''True Account OF Captain Kidd" The story
Is not long, but the narrative s as sparkling the
| pebby bottom Of mountain stream, Much OF the
old romance about the man and his treasure Is
| swept away Captain Kidd never landed north OF
Block Island, and oil Of his gains were known and
| accounted for; but to the man Il given new char
acter. "Prevous the two last years OF his life he
was esteemed o good citizen, and as honest sea
captain as ever sailed out OF New York, and in the
Surrogate's ONCE is still preserved his marriage
| tificate that CLASHES him as gentleman" The
account OF his trial Is graphic in the extreme and
the story the adventures which led to exceed
ingly interesting. The King had determined to
rid the American Of prates and to
that end appointed the Earl OF Belamont
Governor OF New York and New England.
Robert Livingston being then in London.
introduced to him william Kidd "as a person who
had gained some fame in engagements with the
| French, a man of honor and intrepdity and one
| VINO, knowing the haunts OF the pirates, very
| fit TO command the expedition against them, which
Bellamont ana others was forming" The 'others''
| were the Earl OF Romney, the Lord Chancellor
Somers, the Lord High Admiral, the Duke of Shrews-
bury and Sir Edward Harrison. Even the King
entered into the scheme very heartily and was to
have One-tenth OF the profits There can be no
doubt that the whole design was only piratlcal
adventure undertaken by these noble lords and
gentlemen, and that Kidd mere tool in their
hands. And Kidd was even averse to the plan, but
forced into 1t by the threats OF these royal and
half royal fellows that his ship should be taken
away from him unless he acceded to their wishes.
Believing he hal the support OF the gov
eminent in whatever he might undertake,
| he construed his instructions literally and
| was brought TO trial at the Old Bailey in l1Ol.
| OH a charge Of piracy and murder He had counted
| on the protection or Beamont and his friends but,
compromising them too far, they hanged him to
| save themselves. The trial Itself was only
| mockery--t was an outrage. When Kidd desired to
have counsel assigned him Sir Salahel Lowell won
| deringly asked him, "What would you have counsel
for 2'' and, though the right was finally accorded
| him, ne received defender who dumb In the
presence OF his judges But Mrs. Spo6ord says, at
being determined to hang him at all odds, the law
| yers were given hints, the witnesses were brow
beaten and the jury were instructed, after tedious
iteration. TO bring him In guilty." And It may be OF
interest to the seekers alter Kdds to know
that all his gains III. gotten at the best have gone to
swell the revenues of the English kingdom. As an
example of Mrs, sponords style and Captain Kidd's
''goodness' print the following exhibit-(A,
page 9:-
king he Earl
put increasing prstica tendencies
had % him s most ,a6 ns to be
The Earl At e bout devsng the eadlest for
n ns q be S 20 % na Oa WITH
his VIE ane children in New York was SO then in Ionon
person who had secured fame in engagement:
Who knowing hanats pirates very to com
sss n nso k ana
Kindness that the latter 5 as he
demniy Livingston out Of the procceash Bcomon did not
!. was ar, proposed tina. id should have British
being borne the Earls of Beomont and Roney the
Sir EDWARD @ HIa
p H sog a ka 0 ssSIy s
plan, and seriously dsmured, \ g believed. 6u. was
Sesnsa tre R be and se s
separate parchmenis one to cruise against the frencn
and the h sg issued S The
the lea. sea-. aud really given for the OF
tre He render accounts to the Earl Of
ssy s1S sne@ . sw na s a
eighty brought the buoy IN the More The latte
her ssa.as SsT S q sus
York he invited to enter his service BY notice.
forty himself the ship should be deducted
be
% @ssas the sss he
where he lay in wait for the Mocha fleet zen pIepsrnr c
,acions ey thus LEAVING the american for the Asa:
o sn peGGpa Be- % oewn Sun
ship had not perhaps sucieu, rcdnemen. Of dscrmi
nation to think different matter of robbng another
Moreover, having and captured
leaving New York he NIGH naturally have felt that his
were expecting OF him, and thus resolved or
something desperate. he did consider him
s to be going outside Of his duty TO be appearing IN
lsht when his out, he met the ship
carving Ambassador to the Great Mogu and exchanged
couresies tberewitn
Another fearful picture which Mrs. Spoford paints
are the trials OF the Salem witches. That history is
dark and bloody tale, the jud ciai murders, ac-
cordng the narrative before us, being the results
, OF the ambition artfulness OF reckless Salem
parson. The testimony Of few hafcrazed girls led
many innocent people to the scanod. and when one
OF these who had been accused by these infat uated
children acqultt ed by the Jury "they were rep
rimanded by the CHER Justice and remanded "a
confinement tin they brought In verdict OF guilty.
But the bubble burst at last. Old Giles Corey, a