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introductory-第8部分

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proportion of those qualities) may; at any time; be a man of

affairs; if he will only choose to give himself the trouble。 My

fellow…officers; and the merchants and sea…captains with whom my

official duties brought me into any manner of connection; viewed me in

no other light; and probably knew me in no other character。 None of

them; I presume; had ever read a page of my inditing; or would have

cared a fig the more for me; if they had read them all; nor would it

have mended the matter; in the least; had those same unprofitable

pages been written with a pen like that of Burns or of Chaucer; each

of whom was a Custom…House officer in his day; as well as I。 It is a

good lesson… though it may often be a hard one… for a man who has

dreamed of literary fame; and of making for himself a rank among the

world's dignitaries by such means; to step aside out of the narrow

circle in which his claims are recognised; and to find how utterly

devoid of significance; beyond that circle; is all that he achieves;

and all he aims at。 I know not that I especially needed the lesson;

either in the way of warning or rebuke; but; at any rate; I learned it

thoroughly: nor; it gives me pleasure to reflect; did the truth; as it

came home to my perception; ever cost me a pang; or require to be

thrown off in a sigh。 In the way of literary talk; it is true; the

Naval Officer… an excellent fellow; who came into office with me and

went out only a little later… would often engage me in a discussion

about one or the other of his favourite topics; Napoleon or

Shakespeare。 The Collector's junior clerk; too… a young gentleman who;

it was whispered; occasionally covered a sheet of Uncle Sam's

letter…paper with what (at the distance of a few yards) looked very

much like poetry… used now and then to speak to me of books; as

matters with which I might possibly be conversant。 This was my all

of lettered intercourse; and it was quite sufficient for my

necessities。

  No longer seeking nor caring that my name should be blazoned

abroad on title…pages; I smiled to think that it had now another

kind of vogue。 The Custom…House marker imprinted it; with a stencil

and black paint; on pepper…bags; and baskets of anatto; and

cigar…boxes; and bales of all kinds of dutiable merchandise; in

testimony that these commodities had paid the impost; and gone

regularly through the office。 Borne on such queer vehicle of fame; a

knowledge of my existence; so far as a name conveys it; was carried

where it had never been before; and; I hope; will never go again。

  But the past was not dead。 Once in a great while; the thoughts; that

had seemed so vital and so active; yet had been put to rest so

quietly; revived again。 One of the most remarkable occasions; when the

habit of bygone days awoke in me; was that which brings it within

the law of literary propriety to offer the public the sketch which I

am now writing。

  In the second story of the Custom…House; there is a large room; in

which the brick…work and naked rafters have never been covered with

panelling and plaster。 The edifice… originally projected on a scale

adapted to the old commercial enterprise of the port; and with an idea

of subsequent prosperity destined never to be realised… contains far

more space than its occupants know what to do with。 This airy hall;

therefore; over the Collector's apartments; remains unfinished to this

day; and; in spite of the aged cobwebs that festoon its dusky beams;

appears still to await the labour of the carpenter and mason。 At one

end of the room; in a recess; were a number of barrels; piled one upon

another; containing bundles of official documents。 Large quantities of

similar rubbish lay lumbering the floor。 It was sorrowful to think how

many days; and weeks; and months; and years of toil; had been wasted

on these musty papers; which were now only an encumbrance on earth;

and were hidden away in this forgotten corner; never more to be

glanced at by human eyes。 But; then; what reams of other

manuscripts… filled not with the dulness of official formalities;

but with the thought of inventive brains and the rich effusion of deep

hearts… had gone equally to oblivion; and that; moreover; without

serving a purpose in their day; as these heaped…up papers had; and…

saddest of all… without purchasing for their writers the comfortable

livelihood which the clerks of the Custom…House had gained by these

worthless scratchings of the pen! Yet not altogether worthless;

perhaps; as materials of local history。 Here; no doubt; statistics

of the former commerce of Salem might be discovered; and memorials

of her princely merchants… old King Derby; old Billy Gray; old Simon

Forrester; and many another magnate in his day… whose powdered head;

however; was scarcely in the tomb; before his mountain…pile of

wealth began to dwindle。 The founders of the greater part of the

families which now compose the aristocracy of Salem might here be

traced; from the petty and obscure beginnings of their traffic; at

periods generally much posterior to the Revolution; upward to what

their children look upon as long…established rank。

  Prior to the Revolution; there is a dearth of records; the earlier

documents and archives of the Custom…House having; probably; been

carried off to Halifax; when all the King's officials accompanied

the British army in its flight from Boston。 It has often been a matter

of regret with me; for; going back; perhaps; to the days of the

Protectorate; those papers must have contained many references to

forgotten or remembered men; and to antique customs; which would

have affected me with the same pleasure as when I used to pick up

Indian arrow…heads in the field near the Old Manse。

  But; one idle and rainy day; it was my fortune to make a discovery

of some little interest。 Poking and burrowing into the heaped…up

rubbish in the corner; unfolding one and another document; and reading

the names of vessels that had long ago foundered at sea or rotted at

the wharves; and those of merchants; never heard of now on 'Change;

nor very readily decipherable on their mossy tombstones; glancing at

such matters with the saddened; weary; half…reluctant interest which

we bestow on the corpse of dead activity… and exerting my fancy;

sluggish with little use; to raise up from these dry bones an image of

the old town's brighter aspect; when India was a new region; and

only Salem knew the way thither… I chanced to lay my hand on a small

package; carefully done up in a piece of ancient yellow parchment。

This envelope had the air of an official record of some period long

past; when clerks engrossed their stiff and formal chirography on more

substantial materials than at present。 There was something about it

that quickened an instinctive curiosity; and made me undo the faded

red tape; that tied up the package; with the sense that a treasure

would here be brought to light。 Unbending the rigid folds of the

parchment cover; I found it to 
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