James Fenimore Cooper's Five Novels

by James Fenimore Cooper

  Lionel Lincoln; or, The Leaguer of Boston was Cooper’s third novel to draw on events of the American Revolution, following The Spy and The Pilot (1823). He began working on it in the autumn of 1823. It was originally announced as the first of a series of Revolutionary War novels to be entitled Legends of the Thirteen Republics, with one novel to be set in each of the thirteen colonies, but Cooper subsequently abandoned the project. He researched the book intensively, traveling to Boston to study the locations where it is set and reading widely among published accounts of the key battles. Lionel Lincoln was copyrighted in 1824 and published, after some delay, in February 1825 by Charles Wiley of New York; it proved notably less successful than its predecessors The Spy, The Pioneers, and The Pilot.

  A British edition, evidently not revised by Cooper, was published by John Miller of London in 1825. A new American edition of Lionel Lincoln, likewise unrevised by Cooper, was published in 1827 by Carey, Lea & Carey of Philadelphia as part of their ten-volume edition of Cooper’s novels. When Colburn and Bentley of London made an agreement with Cooper to publish a new edition of his early novels for inclusion in their Standard Novels Series, he undertook a thorough revision of Lionel Lincoln, making numerous substantive revisions and deletions, and adding explanatory footnotes; this revised edition was published in 1832.

  The text of Lionel Lincoln printed here is that established for The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper under the general editorship of James Franklin Beard and Kay Seymour House, with Donald A. and Lucy B. Ringe as textual editors, and published in 1984 by the State University of New York (SUNY) Press, Albany. Because the manuscript of Lionel Lincoln has not been recovered, the Cooper Edition adopts as copy-text an early state of the first edition published by Charles Wiley. Full details of the editorial principles governing this edition can be found in the SUNY edition of Lionel Lincoln. However, the present edition restores the original text for Cooper’s chapter epigraphs, which in the SUNY edition are altered to provide fuller bibliographical information; such information can be found in the notes to the present edition.

  This volume presents the texts of the original printings chosen for inclusion here, but it does not attempt to reproduce features of their typographic design. The texts are presented without change, except for the correction of typographical errors. Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are often expressive features, and they are not altered, even when inconsistent or irregular. The following is a list of typographical errors corrected, cited by page and line number of the hardcover edition: 172.7, Cottage; 198.40, were; 222.1, no ¶, 342.38, taking; 394.14, corse.; 436.17, the the; 450.19, comparision; 459.18–19, dispositon; 467.12, it’s; 490.7–8, cieling; 501.18, ideot; 513.6, Devenant.; 520.5, ideot; 566.7, of the the; 567.5, trangression—; 626.38, its; 631.15, “Tis; 683.17, her’s; 689.37, dew-drops; 712.15, litle; 726.26, “Its; 733.12, additon; 751.24, exlaimed; 764.27, its; 771.26, afer.

  Notes

  In the notes below, the reference numbers denote page and line of the hardcover edition. No note is made for material in the eleventh edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, except for certain cases where common words and terms have specific historical meanings or inflections. Epigraphs from Shakespeare are identified by the play and are keyed to The Riverside Shakespeare, ed. G. Blakemore Evans (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974). Biblical quotations and allusions are keyed to the King James Version. Footnotes in the text are Cooper’s own. For further textual, historical, and biographical background, see the relevant volumes in the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper series: The Spy: A Tale of The Neutral Ground, edited by James P. Elliott, Lance Schachterle, and Jeffrey Walker (New York: AMS Press, 2000) and Lionel Lincoln; or, The Leaguer of Boston, edited by Donald A. and Lucy B. Ringe (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985). See also Alan Taylor, William Cooper’s Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier in the Early American Republic (New York: Knopf, 1995); Wayne Franklin, James Fenimore Cooper: The Early Years (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007); and Wayne Franklin, James Fenimore Cooper: The Later Years (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017).

  THE SPY: A TALE OF THE NEUTRAL GROUND

  1.3–5 “Breathes there a man . . . land.—”] Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), VI.i.1–3.

  3.7 one pen of celebrity] Charles Brockden Brown (1771–1810), Philadelphia-born writer whose novels include Wieland (1798), Arthur Mervyn (1799), Ormond (1799), and Edgar Huntly (1799).

  10.33 “Precaution”] Cooper’s first novel, published in 1820.

  12.17 Coriolanus] Legendary Roman general said to have defected to the enemy Volscians and led their army against Rome.

  12.24 an illustrious man] John Jay (1745–1829), whose son William was a lifelong friend of Cooper.

  14.20–21 a high and honourable employment] Jay served as minister to Spain, 1780–82.

  15.35–36 Sir Henry Clinton] Clinton (1730–1795) was commander-in-chief of the British army in North America, 1778–82.

  21.11–13 that gallant soldier who . . . was mentioned with honor] U.S. General Winfield Scott (1786–1866) led the successful campaign against Vera Cruz during the Mexican War. His exploits during the War of 1812 are alluded to in the novel’s last chapter.

  23.7 Gertrude of Wyoming.] Poem (1809) bearing the subtitle A Pennsylvania Tale, by English poet Thomas Campbell (1777–1844). Part 8, ll. 5–9.

  29.22–23 arrival of our new allies] Six thousand French troops under the command of Comte de Rochambeau landed at Newport, Rhode Island, on July 11, 1780.

  29.38–39 Gates and Cornwallis . . . bring the war to an issue] English-born American General Horatio Gates (1728–1806) confronted British forces led by General Lord Charles Cornwallis (1738–1805) in a series of engagements in the Carolinas in the summer of 1780, culminating in Gates’s defeat at the battle of Camden on August 16.

  30.11 General Burgoyne] Gates had previously defeated a British army commanded by General John Burgoyne (1722–1792) at the battle of Saratoga, September–October 1777.

  36.6 Gertrude of Wyoming.] Campbell, 10.6–9.

  39.29 Hebe] Goddess of youth in Greek mythology.

  40.12–13 tambouring frame] Wooden device used for embroidery work.

  40.32 General Stark . . . the Germans] John Stark (1728–1822) defeated Hessian troops at the battle of Bennington in August 1777, capturing roughly half of the enemy force.

  41.3–4 Lord Percy of Lexington . . . Chevy Chase] Hugh Percy (1742–1817), Duke of Northumberland, commander of the relief brigade at the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775; the medieval ballad “Chevy Chase” (of which two versions exist) recounts a battle in the Cheviot Hills between the Earl of Northumberland’s hunting party and a force led by the Scottish Earl of Douglas.

  45.8 Wilson.] Alexander Wilson (1766–1813), “First Epistle to Mr. Andrew Clark,” ll. 47–52.

  50.38–39 Tarleton . . . the Tyger river] Colonel Banastre Tarleton (1754–1833) had defeated American militia under General Thomas Sumter (1734–1832) at Fishing Creek in South Carolina on August 18, 1780. Though he would be severely wounded, Sumter evened the score three months later when he routed Tarleton at Blackstock’s Farm on the Tyger River on November 20, 1780.

  51.35 Morrisania] Estate of the Morris family, now Fordham, the Bronx, New York; used as headquarters by Colonel James De Lancey (1747–1804), commander of a Loyalist cavalry corps known as the West Chester Refugees.

  52.28 Major André] John André (1750–1780), an intelligence officer in the British army who conspired with Benedict Arnold in the projected surrender of West Point to the British, was apprehended and hanged as a spy on October 2, 1780.

  57.18 Walter Scott.] Scott, The Lord of the Isles (1815), IV.xxii.5–10, 15–24.

  67.30 Carolus III] Spanish coins featuring the head of King Cha
rles III (1759–1788) circulated widely in America.

  71.12 Walter Scott.] Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), I.xxi.3–12.

  82.7 Moore.] Thomas Moore (1779–1852), Lalla Rookh (1817), “The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan,” ll. 1121–25.

  96.4 Shakspeare.] Henry V, III.i.32–33.

  96.21 Hessian yagers] Jaegers (huntsmen): mercenaries from the German states of Hesse-Kassel and Anspach-Bayreuth.

  111.2–7 “With fire and sword . . . At every famous victory.”] Robert Southey (1774–1843), “After Blenheim” (1796, also known as “The Battle of Blenheim”), stanza 8.

  114.26 Esculapius] Aesculapius, Greco-Roman god of healing.

  125.10 Walter Scott.] Scott, The Lady of the Lake (1810), I.ii.9–16.

  126.16 peperage] Black gum tree, whose fibrous wood makes log-splitting a difficult task.

  126.20 beetle] Heavy mallet.

  129.20 devoted] That is, targeted.

  134.30 Galen] An allusion to the classical Greek physician and philosopher Aelius Galenus.

  136.6 Gray.] Thomas Gray (1716–1771), “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1751), ll. 89–92.

  137.12 The battle of the Plains] On October 28, 1776, Washington, retreating north from Manhattan, fought briefly and inconclusively at White Plains with pursuing forces led by William Howe (1729–1814), British commander-in-chief in North America, 1776–78.

  149.8 Shakspeare.] Romeo and Juliet, IV.v.49–54.

  154.10 petticoat doctor] In the first edition of The Spy, the term is “bitch doctor”; it was revised by Cooper in 1831.

  162.9 Duo.] Believed to be by Cooper.

  172.4 Tempest.] Shakespeare, The Tempest, III.iii.49–50.

  184.8 Crabbe.] George Crabbe (1754–1832), The Parish Register (1807), ll. 493–94 and 499–502.

  185.21 Trinity] Anglican, later Episcopal church, built in 1698 in lower Manhattan at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street.

  195.5 Moor of Venice.] Shakespeare, Othello, III.iii.322–24.

  201.7 Iago.] Shakespeare, Othello, II.iii.69–73.

  213.9 Duo.] Believed to be by Cooper.

  220.4 Merchant of Venice.] Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, IV. i.223–24.

  223.39 Paulding] John Paulding (1758–1818), one of the three men who apprehended John André.

  224.15–16 the discipline prescribed by the Mosaic law] See Deuteronomy 25:3: “Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed.”

  229.6 Lapland Love Song.] From The American Songster: Being a Select Collection of the Most Celebrated American, English, Scotch, and Irish Songs (New York, 1788).

  241.6 Two Gentlemen of Verona.] Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona, III.i.102–5.

  251.6 Hermit of Warkworth.] Thomas Percy (1729–1811), “The Hermit of Warkworth” (1771), Fit the Second, ll. 17–20.

  252.6 Fort Washington] American fort, near present-day Washington Heights in northern Manhattan; it fell to the British in October 1776 and remained in their hands for the duration of the war.

  262.24 Mr. Whitfield] English evangelist George Whitefield (1714–1770). As an itinerant preacher in America, he played a major role in the First Great Awakening. Although he called for the humane treatment of slaves, he also forcefully advocated the legalization of slavery in Georgia, where it had previously been prohibited, citing biblical justifications.

  266.5 Comedy of Errors.] Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, III.ii.10–12.

  281.12 Cynthia’s Grave.] Anonymous, “Female Celibacy; or, The Grave of Cynthia” (1813), ll. 81–90.

  292.6 Gertrude of Wyoming.] Campbell, III.xxxii.1–4.

  300.20–21 flying from Scylla . . . to encounter Charybdis] That is, two equally hazardous alternatives. In Homeric mythology, Scylla and Charybdis were sea monsters (later described as a shoal and a whirlpool) guarding the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the Italian peninsula.

  303.6 Goldsmith.] Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774), “The Traveller; or, A Prospect of Society” (1764), ll. 171–74.

  307.7 the Tappaan] The Tappan Zee, a broad reach of the Hudson River, at Tarrytown.

  310.9 Duo.] Believed to be by Cooper.

  321.14 Hale] Nathan Hale (1755–1776), Connecticut schoolmaster captured on Long Island while gathering information on British troops, and hanged as a spy on September 22, 1776.

  322.4 Measure for Measure.] Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, IV.ii.92–93.

  324.21 General Heath] William Heath (1737–1814), commander of American forces on the lower Hudson, 1779–83.

  330.4 Greene . . . and young Hamilton.] Nathanael Greene (1742–1786), the youngest general officer in the Continental Army, replaced Benedict Arnold as commander in the Hudson Highlands before being dispatched to lead the Southern Army (formerly commanded by Gates) in December 1780. Alexander Hamilton (1757–1804) had been an aide-de-camp to Washington since 1777.

  335.6 Song in Duo.] Believed to be by Cooper.

  339.10 ‘Many are called, but few chosen.’] Matthew 22:14.

  343.39 pinkster] Pentecost festival celebrated by the Dutch in New York and later by the state’s African American population, as described by Cooper in his novel Satanstoe (1845).

  346.28–32 ‘And the king lamented . . . wept again over him.’] Samuel 3:33–34.

  351.6 Cowper.] William Cowper (1731–1800), “The Diverting History of John Gilpin” (1782), ll. 97–100.

  361.6 Goldsmith.] Goldsmith, Edwin and Angelina: A Ballad (1765), ll. 5–8.

  374.5 Tempest.] Shakespeare, The Tempest, III.i.81–83.

  382.4 Rokeby.] Scott, Rokeby (1813), VI.xxiii.23–24.

  388.15 Bunker Hill and Burg’yne] Allusion to the battles of Bunker Hill (1775) and Saratoga (1777), each a source of pride for American militia.

  395.6 Halleck.] Fitz-Greene Halleck (1790–1867), “On the Death of Joseph Rodman Drake, of New-York, September 1820” (1820), ll. 1–4. These lines serve as the epitaph on the American Romantic poet Joseph Rodman Drake’s tombstone. Like his contemporary John Keats, Drake died of consumption (tuberculosis) at age twenty-five.

  398.24 the Lord made the sun to stand still] Cf. Joshua 10:13.

  405.6 Lady of the Lake.] Scott, The Lady of the Lake, VI.xxvi.22–25.

  405.10 Greene and Rawdon] British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Rawdon (1754–1826) won victories over Nathanael Greene in the early part of 1781 but was ultimately forced to fall back to Charleston, abandoning the contest for the Carolina backcountry.

  405.28 intercepted letters from Washington] Washington employed a concerted disinformation campaign to convince Clinton that New York City remained his primary target, even as he removed his forces south to Virginia in the summer of 1781 to confront Cornwallis.

  411.6 Gray.] Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1751), ll. 56–60.

  411.23–24 the 25th of July, of that bloody year.] The date of the battle of Lundy’s Lane, near Niagara Falls. Winfield Scott’s bravery under fire at this costly victory over the British was the basis of his lasting fame as an American military hero.

  412.27–28 among the grass on the Chippewa plains] American forces led by Scott and Jacob Brown defeated the British on July 5, 1814, in an engagement on the Chippewa River, a tributary of the Niagara on the Canadian side of the river.

  LIONEL LINCOLN; OR, THE LEAGUER OF BOSTON

  419.3 “First let me talk with this Philosopher.”] Shakespeare, King Lear, III.iv.154.

  422.2 “Bread-and-Cheese Lunch,”] Lunch club founded by Cooper in 1822; its regulars, who met in Charles Wiley’s bookstore in New York, included writers, artists, scholars, an
d merchants, among them William Cullen Bryant, Fitz-Greene Halleck, James Gates Percival, James Kirke Paulding, Washington Irving, and Giulian Verplanck, as well as Thomas Cole and Samuel F. B. Morse.

  422.23 Joe Miller] Joe Miller’s Jests (1739), a posthumous collection of witticisms attributed to the English actor Joseph Miller (1684–1738), was the model for a long series of similarly titled books.

  422.30 black-letter book] A book in the Gothic type that predominated in Europe until the seventeenth century.

  427.5 Gray.] Thomas Gray, “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College” (1747), ll. 18–20.

  435.7 Lear.] Shakespeare, King Lear, I.iv.183–86.

  436.31–32 tarring and feathering . . . colonel Nesbitt] William Nesbitt was commander of the 47th Regiment of Foot (or Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment), which had been raised to fight Scottish Jacobite rebels in 1741. It subsequently fought against the French in Canada under the command of James Wolfe (“Wolfe’s own”) and was transferred to Boston in October 1774. In an attempt to intimidate the unruly citizens of Boston, Nesbitt had engineered the tarring and feathering of Bostonian William Ditson, who had been entrapped into buying a musket from a British soldier.