The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-08-07
BEECHER oNTHECANyAss.

drive from the Safe camp along a
broad gravel road which, skirting an
inlet OF the Hudson, passes through
the village nesting at the foot OF the
hills and then winds its way up the
mountain slope, brings the visitor to
Henry Ward Beecher's farm. Thirty
six acres laid out IN grass, vegetable
gardens and an orchard, stretch along
the side of the hill, the summit of
which is crowned by Mr.. Beecher's
house. The capacious wooden struc-
ture has no particular style of archi-
lecture. AS Mr.. Beecher says, it is
Queen Anne'S style crossed with
the Gothic. For all that, it
is substantial in appearance,
roomy, comfortable and pretty,
and when the reporter OF theWorld
visited it this morning the famous
pastor of Plymouth church was slit
ing on the verandah in a 10 y rocking
chair, and allowing the fresh breeZes
which came up from the Hudson,
cradle gray locks.
Mr.. Beecher WAS not in the best hui
NOR. You may say that L am crusJy
this morning." he said, in answer to
| the reporters inquiry as to his general
ACdlGu. u DlOOhltA IOPOiOCl lAOOA
viewed me theS0th = day about my
objections to Mr. Blaine and then
published lot of language did not
utter. He puts me down as coarse
and violent in my expressions. |
know will receive hundreds OF letters
asking me whether l said this or that,
and cannot write an answer to each
one denying it. My objections to Mr..
blaine are well known, L have boon
uttering them for years. The back
files of the Tribune furnish me with
all that l have to say against Mr..
| Blaine. l cannot Veer around IN my
opinion the way that paper has,
"You saw Gov. Cleveland at the
camp yesterday ?"
Eyes, was greatly pleased at meet
ing him. We had an informal con
versation, but said nothing about
politics. Your informant must have
been mistaken when he gave you an
account of our meeting. L fully in
dorse the address recently issued by
the independent republicans, and
while Will not go on the stump l
shall support the aims and objects
which these gentlemen have In view
/ believe there will be four parties in
the field this fall; the two big parties,
the prohibitionistS and Ben Butler.
The prohibition party will draw votes
mainly from those republicans who are
dissatisfied with Blaine; Buffers
strength lies with the workingmen,
of which there are number of
republicans as well as democrats.
What the result will be is
difficult to tell. You cannot always
Judge from the size of toad III what
direction or how far he will jump. 1t
may be that the election will be
thrown into the house of representa-
tives. For my part think the pro-
hibition party is trying to accomplish
an impossible thing. There are some
who believe they see in it the germ
Of a new party, and are willing to
)in it Just as abolitionists focked in
to the republican party when it was
barely founded, and had only a few
advocates. But there is no analogy
between the slavery and the temper
ance questions. The law has the
right to limit the manufacture of in
toXicating fluids, and to determine
the conditions under which they may
be made and sold, but it can go no
further. In some particular localities
there may be total prohibition, but
taking the whole country, you cannot
make people righteous by acts of the
legislature; you cannot prevent a
man from drinking if he wants to, not
unless you change human nature"
Having thus expressed his views on
political questions, Mr.. Beecher init.
mated desire to change the topic of
the conversation.
81 love to pass my summers here,
amid nature in its most beautiful as
pect, and every hill pregnant with his
torical associations. See, right across
the river, there is Haverstraw. There
Major Andre and Benedict Arnold
met to compare their treacherOuS bar
gain. Andre was brought up IN the
Vulture, which lay in midstream. A
boatman brought him to the place of
rendezvous. The Americans, who
did not like the looks of the vessel,
, opened fire on her, and to avoid any
, suspicion, she sailed further down the
river. The boatman refused to take
Andre back to the ship and land him
/ at Verplanck's Point. He went along
, the Compound road, which skirts my
; place. Had he continued on that
road he would have reached the Brit
ish lines.in safety, but he turned off in
the direction of Tarrytown, and was
captured. In this graveyard of the
old Episcopal church in this village
stands a monument erected to the
memory of Pauldlng, one of Major
| Andres captors."
"This very hill, 1 suppose, Mr..
Beecher, was occupied by our troops
during the revolution ?"
cit was Gen. Putnam's headquart-
ers. AS you drive along the road here
and look towards the northwest you
will see hill, crowned by number
of tall trees growing inside ruined
, fertilization. That is called 'Gallows
. Hill There Gen. Putnam hung a
, spy and wrote the following charac-
| teristic letter to Gen Clinton, the
; commander of the British troops at
, New York, who threatened dire ven
geance on Gen. Putnam If he would
treat his prisoner as spy: The
prisoner was caught under circum
, stances which tend TO show that he
J was spy; he will be tried as a spy
and hung as a spy. n. Bile has
been hung"
"What name do you give your
place. Mr.. Beecher? ?"
, "Oh, its got new name every
year. What isaits name this year,
map" he called out to Mrs. Beecher,
who was in the library.
"Beecher's farm" she replied.
81 don't mean that; I mean its Eng
lish name"
"Boscobel."
Eyes, that's it; Boscobel," continued
Mr.. Beecher, addressing the reporter.
81 don't know exactly what it means,
though perhaps it might mean beauti-
fnl bose or woods. But I'll tell you
, how I come to give it this name, You
remember that Charles IL, after being
defeated in battle, concealed himself
from the enemy by hiding in the
trunk of a hollow tree. That tree
stood on an estate belonging to an an
cestor of mine, on my mothers side,
named Foote, who called his place
Boscobel. He assisted Charles II. to
escape, and the latter, on his restora-
ton to the throne, gave my ancestor
the right to wear a coat-of-arms. /
have, as you see, adopted the name of
the ancestral home, and have also
adopted the Foote coat-of-arms.
"Then you have coat-of-arms
"Oh, / have two-the Beecher and
the Foote," replied the eminent di-
vine with smile; zone for winter
and the other for summer wear"
"How long have you occupied