Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 8.djvu/99

 The Dark Day.

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��near the Court House by a friend, shed- ding tears. The friend inquired the cause of his great sorrow. His answer was, " I have 710 longer a case in court.'' The same Corser had been a Revolutionary soldier, and belonged to the army when discharged by Washing- ton at Newburg, at the termination ot the war. He had but little money to bear his expenses home. When he reached Springfield, Massachusetts, his money was exhausted, and he was obliged to resort to his talent at beg- ging. Accordingly he called at a farm house, and requested the good loyal lady of the establishment to give him a pie, adding at the same time, that he wanted another for his Brother Jona- than. The lady well supposing that his Brother Jonathan was then his compan-

��ion in arms, and in the street suffering with hunger, readily granted his request, when in truth and in fact Jonathan was then at home cultivating his farm in Eoscawen.

Brother Jonathan, upon learning the conduct of his brother, rebuked him for useing his name, instead of his o\vn, thereby deceiving the good woman. In justification of his conduct, the brother answered, " My hunger was great. I contrived to satisfy it. The kind woman had my thanks ; you was not injured. At most, by strict morals, I committed oxxiy z. piotis fraud in getting two pies, instead of one." Mr. Webster remarked, that he was once present when this Ciise was stated, and argued by the two broth- ers, and was much interested in the dis- cussion of the celebrated pie case.

��THE DARK DAY. By Elbidge H. Goss.

��The Spragues of Melrose, formerly North Maiden, were one of the old fam- ilies. They descended from Ralph Sprague, who settled in Charlestown in 1629. The first one, who came to Mel- rose about the year 1700, was named Phineas. His grandson, also named Phineas, served during the Revolutionary War, and a number of interesting anec- dotes are told about him. He was a slave- holder, and Artemas Barrett, Esq., a native of Melrose, owns an original bill of sale of "a negro woman named Pidge, with one negro boy;" also other documents, among which is Mr. Sprague's diary, wherein he gives the following account of the wonderfully dark day in 1 780, a good reminder of which we experienced Sep- tember 6, 1 88 1, a century later :

��Fkida May the 19th 1780. This day was the most Remarkable day that ever my eyes beheld the air had bin full of smoak to an uncommon degree so that wee could scairce see a mountain at two miles dis- tance for 3 or 4 days Past till this day after Noon the smoak all went off to the South at sunset a very black bank of a cloud appeared in the south and west the Nex morning cloudey and thundered in the west about ten oclock it began to Rain and grew vere dark and at 12 it was al- most as dark as Nite so that wee was oliliged to lite our candels and Eate our dinner by candel lite at noon day but between i and 2 oclock it grew lite again but in the evening the cloud came, over us again, the moon was about the full it was the darkest Nite that ever was seea. by us in the world. *

��* This was printed in the sketch of Melrose in " Hij- tory of Middlesex County," vol. II.

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