During the period of our Colonial existence, the American
Planters were in the practice, not of importing black slaves
from the coast of Guinea alone, but also white servants from
various parts of Europe. Among the proprietors of the Simsbury
Copper Mines were several Frenchmen, the wealthy,
enterprising, exiled Huguenots. It became an object with
these gentlemen to combine in their establishment those who
could speak their own tongue. About the year 1740, there
arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, a cargo of servants, and of the
number were some from Jersey, an Island belonging to the
English Crown, but inhabited in good part by a French population.
A purchase was made including a portion of this last
description of persons. In the lot, were Jean Waugh, and
Marie his sister. Jean was a young man of some ambition.
He was ready to exchange poverty and oppression in the Old
World, for temporary vassalage in the New, with the prospect
of ultimate enfranchisement and possessions. He threw

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himself, with his sister, into the hands of an American shipmaster,
consented to be advertised with coals and salt in the public
prints, to be knocked off at public vendue, and for the consideration
of twelve pounds paid the importer became the subject
of indentures binding him to the Simsbury Company for six
years, the term affixed by law to those of his age. Jean was
master of the French and English languages; he could read
and write, he was spirited and active. He wheeled ore with
blacks, he labored with the pick-axe, he drilled rocks. By
the regulations of the peculiar institution to which he was subservient,
he could not marry, none could trade or truck with
him, he could not leave the premises, he was ineligible to
office. In the result it appears, he became tired of his condition,
one indeed not congenial with the spirit of the present
age, and the vestiges of which can only be traced in an
obscure antiquity To relieve himself, be ran away, a criminal
offence, for which he was publicly whipped. Returning a
blow upon the executioner he became liable to two years'
additional service. He again contrived to abscond. He connected
himself with a gang of counterfeiters, and the Bills of
Credit issued by the Provinces in periods of alarm became
encumbered and perplexed. He fled the region, and a few
years afterwards reappeared in New York, associated with
brokers, smugglers, and that class of men who contrive to
reap advantage from public distress or private credulity.
Here he took the name of Girardeau, and, as such, has already
been introduced to our readers.

It so happened that a little boy, who dwelt in the neighborhood
of the Mines, and often played about the grounds, was a
witness of Jean's punishment, and from a habit peculiar to
his nature, took sides with the delinquent; and ultimately
gave him essential support in his attempts to escape. This
lad was Didymus Hart, familiarly known in this Memoir as
Pluck. Marie, the sister of Mr. Girardeau, seduced by an
Overseer at the Mines, died in giving birth to twin daughters,
one of whom Didymus subsequently married, and the other
became the Mrs. Wiswall mentioned in the foregoing chapter.
To digress a moment on the history of Pluck—after Mr.
Girardeau was in circumstances to recompense his benefactor,
as well as show his attachment to the child of his sister, he
made liberal grants to Mr. Hart; and even aided him in becoming
established in some mercantile pursuit. But Pluck,
abandoning himself to his cups, dissipated at once his good
name and his estate; and for some misdemeanor losing one of

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his ears, he became still more reckless and thriftless, and
finally succeeded in completely estranging the affection of
Mr. Girardeau, as he had already forfeited the respect of his
fellow citizens. He removed to Livingston, where he supported
his family awhile by tending bar for Mr. Smith at No.
4, and at last took up his residence at the Pond.

Mr. Girardeau married a sister of the grandmother of Rose.
The acquisition of wealth became the engrossing passion
of this man. This object he clutched with a miserly and
inextinguishable activity; and with that singleness of aim and
sagacity of calculation which rendered elusion impossible.
In this pursuit, he sacrificed every generous sentiment of his
nature, inflicted unhappiness on his family, sent his wife to a
premature grave, would have wrecked the virtues as he finally
contributed to the death of his child. When imposts were
high he contrived to smuggle his commodities; when premium
was exorbitant, he had money to lend. If trade was interrupted
in one quarter, he opened channels for it in another.
As fortune is said to aid the bold, when the ports were closed
what should happen but his own well-laden ships were already
in the offing. During the first alarms of the War, when multitudes
deserted the city, he became chapman of their estates;
confiscated property he bid in for a trifle. He trafficked in
public securities, and realized much, where many lost their
all. Mr. Girardeau was master of the German, either by an
original acquisition, or from intercourse with that portion of
our immigrant population; thus supplied with three important
dialects, he held a position superior to most of his contemporaries.
This language he also taught his daughter, who, it will
be recollected, was able to discourse with Brückmann, the
young Waldecker, in his own tongue. During the War, for
purposes humane or military, large quantities of gold and
silver were transported backwards and forwards between the
adjacent country and the city. Much of this passed through
the hands of Mr. Girardeau, who did not fail to take due
brokerage. He was a Patriot and a Tory, as was most convenient;
and if he accommodated his coat to the hue of the
parties with whom he dealt, its facing retained but one color,
that of their common gold. In these negotiations he also
employed the services of his other twin niece, Mrs. Wiswall
and her little boy, called Raxman, whom at the close of the
War, it has been related Nimrod found on the premises of Mr.
Girardeau. The acquaintance of this woman on both sides
of the line, the protection afforded by her sex, the

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harmlessness of the lad, were circumstances of which he did not fail
to avail himself. Introduced to the secrets of the contending
powers, he made adventures with a safe foresight of the issue.
The agent of factions and intrigues, he never violated his
trust except when driven to what is termed the first law of
nature, to which he had timely recourse. The public good he
satisfied himself he carried, where others have borne important
sections of the country, in his breeches pocket. At the close
of the War he purchased city-lands, which in the progress of
time doubled and quadrupled on his hands. In Politics he
became what is known as a trimmer, and his sails were set to
catch the breeze from whatever quarter it blew. In the game
of public life, leaving to others offices and honors, place and
power, he managed to sweep the banks into his own drawers.
When war threatened with France, he obtained foreign exchange
at a discount, and after the disturbance sold it at an
advance. He speculated in continental bills; he profited by
the wars of Europe. Such was Mr. Girardeau. At the expiration
of the century, the Jersey servant had arisen to a
fortune, estimated at the time, as high as two millions of
dollars.

But old age had already overtaken him, and death was not
far off. Palsy, without a figure, loosened his hold of his gains,
and he could not be indifferent to the destination of an estate
amassed with so much painstaking. From the depths of the
ocean come up bubbles that sparkle on its surface. In Mr.
Girardeau appeared some symptoms of an imperishable humanity.
His daughter he had persecuted even unto death.
He began to refreshen his memory with some thoughts of the
grandchild. He discovered the place of her abode, and, in an
assumed costume, appeared at the Pond. He certified himself
of her existence and identity and departed. Why did he not
then make himself known? Nimrod, whose parentage was
disguised, when he first became the servant of Mr. Girardeau,
exceedingly provoked and irritated him. Pluck, having once
pitied, he could never forgive. To Brown Moll, his niece, he
attributed a share of her husband's misfortunes. But we cannot
explain what we do not understand, the labyrinths of the
human mind, nor can we relate all the operations of that of
Mr. Girardeau. It suffices to know that he did relent, at least
so far as his grandchild was concerned, and embraced Margaret
in his munificent intentions. Raxman had continued in
his grand-uncle's employ in the capacity of a clerk, an office he
fulfilled with the fidelity of a child and the industry of a slave.

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But this young gentleman's conduct with Rose, having reached
the ears of Mr. Girardeau, gave him great provocation. At
length, however, the apparent reformation of Raxman induced
him to offer him a liberal endowment if he would marry
Margaret. To effect this object Raxman made a journey to
the Pond, where his success has been related. Here also he
found an unexpected obstacle to his wishes in the presence of
Rose. It needs also to be told that he applied to the Widow
Wright, and sought, by means which he found most acceptable
with that lady, to gain her to his purpose; which had now
become two-fold, that of securing Margaret, and withdrawing
Rose. But the Widow, who had her dreams about Margaret,
when she found she was likely to lose her to herself, immediately
changed her tactics, and endeavored to detain Margaret,
and insisted that he should marry Rose. Raxman left
the Pond, and returned to New York, where he found
Nimrod, to whose assistance, in these embarrassing circumstances,
he appealed. But Nimrod had no friendship for
Raxman, and a very strong one for Margaret. Now at this
time, Mr. Girardeau himself began to exhibit signs of penitence,
he avowed a most benevolent interest in his grandchild;
and assured Nimrod that everything should be done for the
good and felicity of Margaret, if he would render aid to
Raxman. Accordingly he was hired to take her away from
the Pond, a measure which he undertook in the manner described.
He was to meet Raxman at Hartford; great was the
disappointment of the young man to find Rose of the company.
He suggested the continuation of the journey to Boston.
He hastened on before and acquainted his mother with
his designs. He was in Cambridge when the party arrived
there; he had intelligence conveyed to the girls of the imprisonment
of Nimrod and Obed; he hovered on their steps
as they entered the city; he knew of the letter to the sister of
the Deacon; he came up with them as they parted with Frank
Jones; and muffled in a cloak, disguising his voice, he conducted
them to his mother's; who in truth was sometimes
called Wiswall. He remained about the house, but was not
seen in it. The attachment of Margaret and Rose was a difficulty
not easily surmounted; various methods were taken to
detach them, but all failed. At length the accidental withdrawal
occurred as they returned from the Theatre. Raxman
endeavored to improve the occasion; but a new balk to his
projects offered itself in the person of Ben Bolter. The result
is known. Tim, whom the Sailor sported on all

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occasions, dealt the young man a mortal blow. It might appear
that Ben Bolter himself had some secret antipathy to Raxman;
but of this we have no farther knowledge than his own
words imply. Mr. Girardeau, learning what had befallen his
relative, immediately came to Boston.

Such is the narrative to which the preceding chapter has
given rise; and now that whatever relates to these accidental
personages has been told, and the thread of the story is
evolved; let us return to the principal subject of this Tale.

A new sphere of interest was open to Margaret, and one in
which, notwithstanding her need of quiet and repose, she set
herself to making immediate exploration; we refer to the circumstances
of her own birth, and the history of her father and
mother, Gottfried Brückmann and Jane Girardeau. Sedulous
and minute were her inquiries on these points; and she found
her grandfather as well as Nimrod disposed to communicate
whatever they knew. Frank Jones, then in correspondence
with Mr. Evelyn, wrote his friend, who was expecting to visit
Germany, to make inquiries concerning Brückmann and Margaret
Bruneau, in Pyrmont and Rubillaud. Mr. Girardeau
had religiously preserved the relics of his daughter and her
husband, and said he had in his possession the flute, books
and sundry papers, which they left. The bulk of his estate
he made over to Margaret, reserving annuities for his niece,
Mrs. Wiswall and Bertha, in amount sufficient to rescue them
entirely from their present mode of life; Rose also received a
gratuity equal to a moderate fortune. They were summoned
ere long to fulfil the last duties of humanity upon Raxman.
It was decided that Margaret and Rose should spend the
winter in Boston. Deacon Ramsdill, Nimrod and Obed returned
to Livingston; the latter handsomely laden with gifts,
and the profits of his enterprise, Nimrod furnished with the
means of redeeming the estate at the Pond, and also of executing
his proposed marriage. The father of Margaret being
a German, and having left books and manuscripts in that
tongue, in which also her mother was skilled, she must also
attempt its acquisition; an exercise in which she was assisted
by Frank Jones. She devoted some time every day to music,
that of the piano and guitar. There were not wanting benevolent
persons in the city, who, apprised of her good fortune,
endeavored that she should turn it to the best account. New
bonnets, new ribbons, the latest style of dresses, were topics
on which she was duly enlightened. To balls, theatres, routs,
card-parties, her company was incessantly solicited; but this

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proved an attention it was not in her power to answer. A
concession on the part of Rose afforded her unmingled pleasure;
she agreed to go with Margaret to Church; and having
gone half a day they went a whole day; and from going occasionally
they went constantly. Spring came at last; and
Margaret and Rose, with Frank Jones in company, started on
horseback for Livingston. The sadness with which they
approached the town, did not abate when they entered the
still desolate Green. They returned the greetings of their
old friends, and hastened to the Pond. The whole family
came out to welcome them, Bull, Dick and all. Chilion was
not there! Here the compiler takes leave of Margaret, submitting
to such as would pursue the sequel of her life, the
Part which follows.