command of Major Simeon Smith, and every arrangement made for a vigorous and determined defence. The defendants were all animated as one man, and though their means of resistance were meagre, they resolved to make the most of them. Small cannon, the best they had, were planted and manned at the fort; but it was soon discovered that there was an insufficient quantity of ammunition for a protracted contest. They wanted flannel to make the cartridges, and feared that the time would not allow to cross the ferry to New-London in search of it. In this emergency an individual was despatched to obtain all he could, in the neighboring village of Groton. But whatever stores the villagers might have had, there was no flannel. What was to be done? The messenger, almost in despair, called upon Mrs. Bailey for counsel, and made known his wants. He knew, at all events, that she would do everything in her power to assist him. She at once proposed appealing individually to the occupants of each house in the neighborhood, and they found all ready to give up what they had to spare, whether unfashioned or made into garments. Having completed their respective visits, Mrs. Bailey and her co-laborer met in the street, and she delivered to him all that she had collected. But even when added to his it was found inadequate to the occasion. Mrs. Bailey, however, was not to be defeated in her object. She instantly threw off her petticoat from her own person, where she stood in the street, exclaiming, as she gave it to him, "There, put that in the d-d Englishman's g-ts!" and the messenger started off immediately to his comrades. The result is known. The enemy, in this case at least, deemed discretion the better part of valor, and did not land. Such is the prominent incident which has won for Mother Bailey an imperishable fame. The effect through the region was electric, and that petticoat, had it been borne aloft as a banner in the day of fight, would have animated the soldiers of the good cause, had it been necessary, with an ardor as enthusiastic, a courage as undaunted, and an energy as indomitable, as were once inspired in the bosoms of Frenchmen by the presence of Joan d'Arc. What agency the petticoat had in prosecuting the war by way of cartridges we know not; but of this we are assured, that Mother Bailey feels as proud at this moment of the act of its appropriation, as the monarch possibly could of the crown he wears. Mrs. Bailey resides with the husband of her youthful days, who was a participator with her of the scenes of strife and war that darkened her country's early history. He is now the sharer of her patriotic ardor for her country's welfare, and they mutually rejoice in its unparalleled prosperity. She is Post-Master of Groton for life, and the duties of her office will be faithfully discharged. The old lady is visited almost daily by the curious from all quarters of the land, and receives their visits with unreserved cordiality, provided, of course, that they are of the true Democratic stamp, and have an undeviating love of country at heart. But woe to the sympathisers with her country's enemies, and the opponents of Democratic truth, if the volubility of her ready tongue can procure that woe. Talk to her of anything but her country's weal, or utter one sentence of condemnation against any one of those eminent statesmen, Van Buren, Jackson, or President Polk, and you arouse at once a fire, which nothing but penitence on your part can ever extinguish. It may naturally be supposed that Mrs. Bailey has attracted the notice of distinguished travellers, all of whom, when they can, avail themselves of the opportunity of paying their personal respects, and hearing from her own fervid lips, the recital of those deeds which have made so indelible an impression on her soul, and given such peculiar bias to her character. She has been visited and taken by the hand by several Presidents of the United States; but for none does she seem to cherish a more profound respect than for Van Buren and Jackson. The latter, especially, is her beau ideal of the WARRIOR and STATESMAN! and his name finds, in her view, no worthy associate in the annals of the world, save that alone of the Immortal WASHINGTON. She has of course received from visitors various tokens of remembrance, but none of which does she seem to value so highly, as a small box made of the oak of the Frigate Constitution, or "Old Ironsides," as she loves to call that gallant ship, in which box she keeps very safely deposited a lock of hair, from each of the heads of Jackson and Van Buren. These, she says, "money is too poor to buy." The lock from the head of Jackson, we believe, she was privileged to clip with her own hand, at the time when he made his Presidential tour of the Eastern States. That from Van Buren's head was obtained though the agency of a friend, but accompanied by a note from Mr. V. B., which, by the sentiment it conveyed, that "Columbia has no daughter whom he would more cheerfully oblige," has inspired her with the loftiest conceptions of his gallantry, in addition to those which she had before entertained, of his statesmanlike qualities and patriotism. Mrs. Bailey is, in many respects, physically as well as mentally, and patriotically, a remarkable woman. On Sunday, October 11, 1846, she numbered EIGHTY EIGHT years of age, and being yet in the possession of the ordinary faculties of the body, as sight, hearing, memory, utterance, and even agility, she is as the girl of eighteen! Her countenance and voice alone, indicate the ravages of age.Time, as it marks its furrows on the mountain's brow, has inscribed its wrinkles on her's--and in this respect, you feel that she is not exempt from the condition of most earthly things, but is "passing away." All that emanates from her feelings, however, indicates, even now, the vigor and the vivacity of youth!The jest, the song, the repartee, come with a freshness and readiness from her lips, unsurpassed by any; and even if she be called to "trip it on the light fantastic toe," she can show you, Sam-Patch-like—" that some things can be done as well as others"-on the sole condition that the tune be "Yankee-doodle," or "Jefferson and Liberty." Notwithstanding her extreme old age, she has never been subjected to the necessity of wearing glasses, and she can, even now, as in her youthful days, read the finest print. If any one wished to put her hearing to the test, let him but whisper a word in her presence, against the fair fame of her revered JACKSON, or in favor of the British Crown, and he will no longer be inclined to doubt. One incident we must mention, before we close, illustrative of the quickness of her wit, and the keenness of her feelings of satiric bitterness, toward the memory of the Traitor Arnold, whose name even, she holds in utter scorn and detestation. 6. Calling upon her a few days since, we introduced her favorite topic, the prosperity of our country, and the ample means of subsistence for our citizens, while thousands in Europe were starving. This turned her thoughts to the “ potatorot," now so extensively prevalent, when, as if struck by a new and sudden thought, she raised herself to the full originality of her tall and muscular frame, (for she is very tall and erect,) and said, There has been much speculation about the cause of the potato-rot, and people seem to be at a loss to know to what to attribute it; but the cause is plain. Don't you know what it is!" We do not, we replied. "Well," said she, "when that old devil, Arnold died, they buried him in Nova Scotia, and the poison is now spreading through the whole continent!" Such, then, is Mother Bailey. Had she lived in the palmy days of ancient Roman glory, no matron of that mighty empire would have been more highly honored; and the state, arraying her name with its mightiest and most revered, would have exclaimed, with double emphasis, as did the Roman matron, with regard to her children. "These are my Jewels;" and on her passing from the shores of time, her name would have been the fitting subject for Apotheosis. But living remote from the age and the theatre of such doings, and having her still amongst us, we must evince our respect for the devotion she has manifested to her country, however devoid of refinement that devotion may appear, by making use of that simple, emphatic, and eulogistic phrase, prevalent in all Yankeedom-"Hurrah! for Mother Bailey!" And when the sun of her existence is set, should it be ordained us to survive her, we shall waft, warm from the heart, in common with thousands of our countrymen, the last solemn invocation-Peace to her manes. II. MESMER AND SWEDEN BORG.—] III. NAVY REFORM..... IV. POETS AND POETRY OF EUROPE.-Poets and Poetry of Europe. By V. COLLEGE EDUCATION.-Catalogue of Brown University for 1846-7; Page 99 102 108 121 129 VI. CHURCH ARCHITECTURE IN NEW-YORK. 139 144 145 IX. POEMS FOR THE PEOPLE.-No. 2. The Knighting of Robert Burns. 153 X. LETTERS FROM JERUSALEM.. 154 OUR PORTRAIT FOR THE MONTH. We present our readers not with one of our regular series of mezzotint portraits of eminent democrats, but with a line engraving of a most remarkable man, whose name has been identified with the progress of Texas from its first settlement to the achievement of its independence, and finally its instalment as a state of the Union. Through the most singular vicissitudes of public life, Gen. Houston has preserved with a large class of his fellow-citizens a degree of popularity evident in his presence in the United States Senate. |