PREFACE.
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One of the fir&longs;t observations,
the author of the following
&longs;heets made, upon his return to his
native country, after an ab&longs;ence of
&longs;even years, was the extreme avidity,
with which books of mere amusement
were purcha&longs;ed and peru&longs;ed by
all ranks of his countrymen. When
he left New England, books of Biography,
Travels, Novels, and
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modern Romances, were confined to our
&longs;ea ports; or, if known in the country,
were read only in the families
of Clergymen, Phy&longs;icians, and Lawyers:
while certain funeral discourses,
the la&longs;t words and dying &longs;peeches
of Bryan Shaheen, and Levi
Ames, and &longs;ome dreary somebody's
Day of Doom, formed the mo&longs;t
diverting part of the farmer's library.
On his return from captivity, he
found a &longs;urpri&longs;ing alteration in the
public ta&longs;te. In our inland towns
of con&longs;equence, &longs;ocial libraries had
been in&longs;tituted, compo&longs;ed of books,
de&longs;igned to amu&longs;e rather than to
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instruct; and country book&longs;ellers, foltering
the new born ta&longs;te of the people,
had filled the whole land with
modern Travels, and Novels almo&longs;t
as incredible. The diffu&longs;ion of a
ta&longs;te, for any &longs;pecies of writing,
through all ranks, in &longs;o &longs;hort a
time, would appear impracticable
to a European. The pea&longs;ant of
Europe mu&longs;t fir&longs;t be taught to
read, before he can acquire a ta&longs;te in
letters. In New England, the work
is half completed. In no other
country are there &longs;o many people,
in proportion to its numbers, who
can read and write; and therefore,
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no &longs;ooner was a ta&longs;te for amu&longs;ing
literature diffu&longs;ed than all orders of
country life, with one accord, sorsook
the &longs;ober &longs;ermons and Practical
Pieties of their fathers, for the
gay &longs;tories and &longs;plendid impieties of
the Traveller and the Noveli&longs;t. The
worthy farmer no longer &longs;atigued
him&longs;elf with Bunyan's Pilgrim up
the “hill of difficulty” or through
the “&longs;lough of de&longs;pond;” but quaffed
wine with Brydone in the hermitage
of Ve&longs;uvius, or &longs;ported with
Bruce on the fairy land of Abysinia:
while Dolly, the diary maid, and
Jonathan, the hired man, threw
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aside the ballad of the cruel stepmother,
over which they had &longs;o often
wept in concert, and now amused
them&longs;elves into &longs;o agreeable a
terrour, with the haunted hou&longs;es and
hobgobblins of Mrs. Ratcliffe, that
they were both afraid to &longs;leep alone.
While this love of literature,
however frivolous, is plea&longs;ing to the
man of letters, there are two things
to be deplored. The fir&longs;t is that,
while &longs;o many books are vended,
they are not of our own manufacture.
If our wives and daughters
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will wear gauze and ribbands, it is
a pity, they are not wrought in
our own looms. The &longs;econd misfortune
is that Novels, being the
picture of the times, the New England
reader is in&longs;en&longs;ibly taught to
admire the levity, and often the vices
of the parent country. While the
fancy is enchanted, the heart is corrupted.
The farmer's daughter,
while &longs;he pities the misfortune of
&longs;ome modern heroine, is expo&longs;ed to
the attacks of vice, from which her
ignorance would have formed her
fare&longs;t &longs;hield. If the Engli&longs;h Novel
does not inculcate vice, it at
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lea&longs;t impre&longs;&longs;es on the young mind
an erroneous idea of the world, in
which &longs;he is to live. It paints the
manners, cu&longs;toms, and habits of a
&longs;trange country; excites a fondne&longs;s
for fal&longs;e &longs;plendour; and renders the
home&longs;pun habits of her own country
di&longs;gu&longs;ting.
There are two things wanted,
&longs;aid a friend to the author: that we
write our own books of amu&longs;ement,
and that they exhibit our own manners.
Why then do you not write
the hi&longs;tory of your own life? The
fir&longs;t part of it, if not highly
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interesting, would at lea&longs;t di&longs;play a portrait
of New England manners, hitherto
unattempted. Your captivity among
the Algerines, with &longs;ome notices
of the manners of that ferocious
race, &longs;o dreaded by commercial
powers, and &longs;o little known in our
country, would be intere&longs;ting; and
I &longs;ee no advantage the Novel writer
can have over you, unle&longs;s your readers
&longs;hould be of the &longs;entiment of the
young lady, mentioned by Addi&longs;on
in his &longs;pectator, who, he informs us,
borrowed Plutarch's lives; and, after
reading the fir&longs;t volume, with
infinite delight, &longs;uppo&longs;ing it to be a
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Novel, threw a&longs;ide the others with
di&longs;gu&longs;t, becau&longs;e a man of letters
had inadvertently told her, the
work was founded on FACT.
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CONTENTS.
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Page
CHAP. I.
The Author giveth an Account of his
gallant Ance&longs;tor, Captain John Underhill
his Arrival in Massacbusetts,
and Per&longs;ecution by the fir&longs;t Settlers.
25
CHAP. II.
The Author re&longs;cueth from Oblivion a
valuable Manu&longs;cript Epi&longs;tle, reflecting
great Light on the Judicial
Proceedings, in the fir&longs;t Settlement
of Ma&longs;&longs;acbu&longs;etts: Apologizeth for
the Per&longs;ecutors of his Ance&longs;tor. 37
CHAP. III.
Captain Underhill &longs;eeks Shelter in Dover
in New Hamp&longs;hire: Is cho&longs;en
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Governour by the Settlers: Driven
by the pious Zeal of his Per&longs;ecutors
to &longs;eek Shelter in Albany: Reception
among the Dutch: Exploits in
the Indian Wars: Grant of a valuable
Tract of Land: The Author
anticipates his encountering certain
Land Speculators in Hartford: A
Ta&longs;te of the Sentiments of tho&longs;e Gentlemen:
Farther account of his Ancestors
.
45
CHAP. IV.
The Author's Birth, and a remarkable
Dream of his Mother: Ob&longs;ervations
on foreboding Dreams: The Author
reciteth a Dream of Sir William
Phipps, Governour of Ma&longs;&longs;achu&longs;etts,
and refereth &longs;mall Infidels to Mather's
Magnalia. 49
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CHAP. V.
The Author is placed at a private
School: Parental Motives to a Coliege
Education: Their de&longs;ign frustrated
by family Misfortune.
CHAP. VI.
This Chapter containeth an Eulogy on
the Greek Tongue.
CHAP. VII.
The Author keepeth a country School:
The Anticipations, Plea&longs;ures and
Profits of a Pedagogue.
CHAP. VIII.
A &longs;ure Mode of di&longs;covering the Bent of
a young Man's Genius.
CHAP. IX.
The Author commences the Study of
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Phy&longs;ic, with a celebrated Phy&longs;ician
and Occuli&longs;t: A Philo&longs;ophical Detail
of the Operation of Couching for
the Gutta Serena, by his Preceptor,
upon a young Man, born Blind
. 81
CHAP. X.
Anecdotes of the celebrated Doctor
Moyes. 94
CHAP. XI.
The Author &longs;pouteth Greek, in a Sea
Port: Its Reception among the Polite:
He attempteth an Ode, in the
Stile of the Antients. 97
CHAP. XII.
The Author in imminent Danger of his
Life in a Duel. 101
CHAP. XIII.
The Author is happy, in the Acquaintance
of a Learned Lady. 112
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CHAP. XIV.
The Author quitteth the &longs;tudy of Gallantry,
for that of Phy&longs;ic: He eulogiseth
the Greek Tongue, and complimenteth
the Profe&longs;&longs;ors of Cambridge,
Yale, and Dartmouth; and
giveth a gentle Hint to carele&longs;s
Readers. 117
CHAP. XV.
The Author panegyrizes his Preceptor. 121
CHAP. XVI.
Doctor Underhill vi&longs;iteth Bo&longs;ton, and
maketh no Remarks. 124
CHAP. XVII.
The Author in&longs;pects the Mu&longs;eum at
Harvard College: Account of the
Wonderful Curio&longs;ities, Natural and
Artificial, he &longs;aw there. 126
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CHAP. XVIII.
The Author mounteth his Nag, and
&longs;etteth out, full Speed, to &longs;eek Practice,
Fame, and Fortune, as a Country
Practitioner. 128
CHAP. XIX.
The Author encountereth Folly, Ignorance,
Impudence, Imbecility, and
Quacks: The Characters of a
Learned, a Cheap, a Safe, and a
Mu&longs;ical Doctor. 132
CHAP. XX.
Sketch of an Hereditary Doctor, and a
Literary Quack: Critical Operation
in Surgery. 137
CHAP. XXI.
A Medical Con&longs;ultation. 146
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CHAP. XXII.
Di&longs;appointed in the North, the Author
&longs;eeketh Trea&longs;ure in the South. 151
CHAP. XXIII.
Anecdotes of Doctor Benjamin Franklin,
whom the Author vi&longs;its in Philadelphia.
153
CHAP. XXIV.
Religious Exerci&longs;es in a Southern State. 159
CHAP. XXV.
Succe&longs;s of the Doctor's &longs;outhern Expedition:
He is in Di&longs;tre&longs;s: Contemplates
a School: Prefers a Surgeon's
Birth, on board a Ship, bound
to Africa, Via London. 165
CHAP. XXVI.
London. 171
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CHAP. XXVII.
The Author pa&longs;&longs;eth by the Lions in the
Tower, and the other In&longs;ignia of
Briti&longs;h Royalty, and &longs;eeth a greater
Curio&longs;ity, called Thomas Paine, Author
of the Rights of Man: Description
of his Per&longs;on, Habit, and
Manners: In this Chapter due meed
is rendered to a great American Historical
Painter, and a pro&longs;e Palinode
over our lack of the Fine Arts. 174
CHAP. XXVIII.
Curious Argument, between Thomas
Paine and the noted Peter Pindar:
Peter &longs;etteth a Wit Noo&longs;e, and
catcheth Thomas, in one of his own
Logic Traps. 178
CHAP. XXIX.
Rea&longs;onable Conjectures upon the Motives,
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which induced Thomas Paine
to write that little book, called the
Age of Rea&longs;on
. 182
CHAP. XXX.
The Author &longs;ails for the Coa&longs;t of Africa:
Manner of purcha&longs;ing Negro
Slaves. 186
CHAP. XXXI.
Treatment of the Slaves, on board the
Ship. 195
CHAP. XXXII.
The Author taken Captive by the Algerines.
205
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Tyler, Royall, 1757-1826 [1797], The Algerine captive, or, The life and adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill, six years a prisoner among the Algerines, volume 1 (, Walpole, NH) [word count] [eaf407v1].