ps collected at the corners of the streets and on the
wharves, composed of persons of various characters and all complexions,
and discussed the subject of the prediction with wonderful earnestness
and intensity of feeling. Indeed, the excitement in Newbern and
vicinity, caused by this pamphlet, was hardly exceeded in sober New
England in 1839 and 1840, when the charlatan, Miller, by his ridiculous
predictions, spread a panic through the land; when many persons,
discarding the modicum of brains they were supposed to possess,
abandoned their farms, neglected their families, gave away to wiser
persons the little property they owned, and actually prepared their
"ascension robes," to meet with decency and decorum the day of doom.

On the second day after our arrival at Newbern, when I had finished my
labors for the day and was preparing for rest, Captain Thompson came
hurriedly down the wharf and sprang on board the schooner. "Hawser,"
said he, as soon as he recovered breath, "you must rig yourself up a
little and go with me to Captain Merritt's."

"What is going on there, sir, that requires my presence?"

"The boarders want you to read Cochran's pamphlet, and you MUST come."

"But I have no suitable clothes to rig myself up with, sir."

"Never mind your clothes. Wash your face, comb your hair, straighten up
your collar, look in the glass, and you will do well enough. But bear a
hand. They are waiting for you now."

I arranged my toilet in accordance with the captain's suggestions. When
I gave it the finishing touch, by "looking in the glass," I was not
satisfied, believing my costume could hardly reflect honor on the
company; and my heart throbbed with emotion as I accompanied Captain
Thompson to his boarding house. We entered the dining hall, the centre
of which was occupied by a long table, around which were seated some
fifteen or twenty well-dressed individuals, chiefly masters of vessels,
and very different in their appearance and manner from the Ocracoke
pilots. At the head of the table was an empty chair, towards which I was
led by my conductor, who told me to be seated.

Naturally bashful, and conscious of my inferior position, I hardly knew
whether I was asleep or awake; but was soon restored to my senses
by Captain Thompson, who said, in an off-hand manner, "Hawser, these
gentlemen are anxious to hear you read Cochran's pamphlet, which
tells about the judgment day;" and he pushed towards me a copy of the
pre