The Twit-Twats, a Christmass allegorical story of birds, THEBAUD 1881

The countryvillages, also, andthe farms ofplenteous England are often too prim and wellkeptforthe ratherloose habits ofthe sparrows, and rusticboys are too fondofcatcl^ngsmall birds to a

he Twit-Twats.

CONNECTED WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF SPARROWS INTO THE

A J. XBC&BAm), S J.

H J HEWITT, PRINTER,

27 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.

HE details of natural history contained in tliese pages can be

tho-roughly relied upon, for they have all been witnessed and carefully

observed by the writer. Some of these details are generaUy known,

othershave escaped theattention of naturalists It isto behopedthatnone of them wiU be disdainfully set aside as, far-fetched or impro-

bable They are all the resultof strict and conscientious observation

The inferencethey point out with regard to a numerous class of

human beings is also—the writer hopes—perfectly natural, nay, ing It is not given, however, as absolute truth StiU, the coincidences on both

strik-sides are so remarkable and somany that it is difficult not to admit a close

connec-tion between both But, particularly as the book is intended for "the amusement

of young and grownchildren," there isno great fear that criticism will be too harsh

good-nature, and with a desire to please Besides, thisisnot a philosophical disquisition,

requiringthegreatest attention to principles and conclusions, authorities and calsources, dates, texts, learned languages, critical discussionof doubtful points, etc etc. Consequently there will be no foot-notes, orvery few Finally, the intention is

histori-notto imjiosethewriter's ipse dixit onthe reader, who will suithis own taste onthe

subject andadmit the resemblance or reject it as he likes, provided he does not

im-pugn the writer' smotives noraccusehimof deliberate untruth

Wehave seenwith our own eyes the sparrows establish theirquartersin spite of

numerous obstacles, fight withthe elements, endure thehardships of winterand enjoythe sweetnessof summer, visiblyenter into friendship andalliance with some of their

congeners, and engage in bitter strifewithothers of the samefamily We have

wit-nessedtheir fights, their conquests, their triumphs ; their domestic felicityorthe

re-verse ; the subordination in their families or theircontentionsand feuds ; the use they

make of the cottagesgiven them, orthe buUdingof their awkward nests. All thesehave attracted our notice, as well as their "rustication" atthe endof summer and

theirchoiceof residences forour longwinters Thesefacts and many others mustbe

nowadmittedas acquired to "science," according to the usual languageof theday

and theman would be asevere critic indeed who shouldrefuse to admit that human

beings very often ofEerto an attentive observer the same material, social, moral nomena Thisis all we contend for; and this once admitted, the close weaving ofourstory mustbe concededby all critics, severe or not.

phe-The series of observations here detailed at length comprise a whole year, fromChristmas, 187-, tothesame epoch in 187- Thefirstwasahard day onthepoorspar-

rows ; the second, on the contrary, happened to be a glorious one, endingin triumph

anddelirious joy Ifsome few ofour youngreaders, on Christmas dayof this present

year, are sad and dejected on account of some mishaj), their courage may be

willbe aseasonof unalloyed contentment; and bythese the whole book wiU be readwith relish, particularly the last pages, which close onagrand tableau of friskygam-

bols and true merry-making Besides, for the Christian, sadnessitself becomes sweet

at thesight ofa new-born Saviour, for, asthe French carolsays

"Si sesdoux yeux versent des pleurs, C'est bien pour uos peches et iion pas ses douleurs." *

Still, onHis face inthe cribwe oftener see smiles than tears. On His Mother'knees, andwith angels around, thereis inHis eyes such a glimpseof heaven thattheheaviestmisfortunes are lightened and the raging stormsof humanpassion are calmed

He broughtgentlepeace to earth Thus,foreverybody the comingof Christis the

hai?-piestaswell as the holiest season of the year; and even creatures deprivedof reason

seemto feel itand to receive theirshare ofsimple joy and hearty pleasureatthat

sea-son No wonderthat among birds particularly this shouldtake place They are half

angels by their wings, and they fill the air with their songs, the sameas cherubs and

seraphs, raising their voice around the throne of God, em-apture heavenby an

everlast-ing harmony.

*FromHis soft eyes, alas ! salt tears do flow.

But ourownsin, not pain of His, 'tis givesHimsorrow.

The Twit-Twats.

CHAPTEE I.

PRELIMINAKY

story-begins; for the Twit-Twat family could notbe sufficiently known unless

we went back toits progenitors They are not natives of North America

they are adopted citizens, and their place of origin and the various

cir-cumstances of their immigration must be narrated indetail, if we wish

to understand their history The portentous Christmas day which

de-cided their destiny on their first introduction into the city of Troy on

the Hudson was not—far from it—the beginning of their existence as

a race. They could claim a long line of ancestors ; and to knowwelltheir aptitudes, their characteristics, what they like or dislike, their phy-

sical and moral leanings—everything, in fact, which ethnographers are very exactin

giving in full when they sjieak of any family, tribe, or nation—something, at least,

of their former life in the Old World must be hastily sketched and faithfully scribed, inorder to rendermore intelligiblethe rather queerantics they began to j)lay

de-as soonas they landed onthe broad expanse of the New World. In particular, why

they came must be laid down first, or their subsequent history could not be at all

understood

An immense calandty threatening the splendid city"of New York was the cause

of their introduction into NorthAmerica People atthis moment mayhave forgotten

it It is propertorefresh the memoryof the thoughtless, for whom the greatest facts

of historypass on unperceivedandareburied the dayafter in the tomb of the Capulets

New Yorkisindeed a vast city, with avenues ten miles long from south to north,

with cross-streets running from the East River to the broad Hudson, with stately

public buildings and palatial houses rising to heaven and defying the skies. From

all parts of the continent people come toliveinit. At the time our story opens therewere none of the elevated railroads which now transport youin a moment from the

New up Worms—Sparrows Introduced.

Batteryto the Harlem River; but the streets were already crowded withhorse-cars

runninginall directions—along the avenues, through a great number of cross-streets,

following the curving line of the wharves and piers, or, in belt fashion, through theheart of themonster As to the numberof carts, wagons, carriages, vehicles of every

description, who could count them? Hear the noise, listen to thepublicvenders, to

the hoarse newsboys, to the laughing urchins, to the shrill-voiced little girls, and tell

me how you arepleased with such a concert! See the hurrying pedestrians on thesidewalks, cross-streets, in everypossibleand impossible direction. Do you find any-thingof thekind in Paris, in Naples, in Constantinople, in Pekin? Consider, in fine,

the whole surface of Manhattan Island— whichthe Dutch, it is said, bought from theIndians for the mighty sum of sixteen dollars anda quarter—and inform me, if you

can, of the actual value of its real estate now, if your purse were large enough to

purchase the whole ! But, in spite of an apparent confusion, you must admirethis

broad metropolis, sitting like a queen in front of an incomparable bay, andskirted

right andleft by two mighty streams coveredwith vessels from all the seaports of theworld

Nor was there, at the time our story begins, any question yet of bridging the

Harlem River, or of grading the rocky surface of Westchester Countyfor extendingout there the boulevards and avenues of thecity Still, the city was already so vast

that the miniature parks formerly planted to afford recreation and fresh air to theoverworked citizenswere now become fartoo small for any useful purpose, and could

not, except withan evident abuse of language, be called the "lungs" of so huge abody CentralPark, therefore, hadbeen planned, andtrees and shrubs planted, ready

to grow, and shoot out their leaves, and open their sweet blossoms Eight hundred

acres of ground ! There surely would be shade and coolness, especially on Sunday

afternoons in summer.

But the hopefulcitizens sawwith terror the frailty of their hopes when immense

ai-mies of ugly, slimy, ferociously active caterpillars began to swarm onall the trees

planted inthe streets, onall the green shrubs andherbs of the small pleasure-grounds

crowdedwith children everyafternoon Before the endof summerall thesepretendedparks were generally deserted as worse for shade and coolness than the streetsand

dusty avenues even Thetrees in Union Squarehadbeen devoured; the sycamores in

Washington Square were become merely huge stumps deprived of all beauty ; the

young plantationsinMadison Square, scarcelygi-een the year before, seemed ready todie before autumn; and, worse than all, black battalions of the devouring hordesappearedtobe already trending theirway up north towards the last hope of the be-

wildered citizens. CentralParkitselfseemed tobedoomed !

Thenacryof anguishissued forthfrom alllungsand all throats; men were ready

to give up everything in despair, when certainbenevolent andintelligent individualssuddenly broke outin aloud exclamation : "We must have sparrows !

"

10 THE TWIT-TWATS.

Europe, sothat we liavenot closely to investigate the origin of these first immigrants

We doubt the truth, however, of what was generally said at the time, that they were

in the bulk English, or perhaps Scotch, birds, and we may confidently declare some

of ourreasons, which, it ishoped, willnot proveuninterestingto the reader It is not,certainly,about therich mansions ofthe West End of Londonthat sparrows willnatu-

rally be prolific ; they could scarcely find there the homely quarters where theylike

tonestle,andthe burly Londonservants wouldnever be good-naturedenoughto spread

crumbs andseeds forthem intime of scarcity. As to insects and worms insummer,

the sparrow might as well look for them in the sea or on the bare rocks The

countryvillages, also, andthe farms ofplenteous England are often too prim and wellkeptforthe ratherloose habits ofthe sparrows, and rusticboys are too fondofcatcl^ngsmall birds to allow them an indefinite increase Consequently, thoughoiir eyeshaveneverbeenblessedwith a sight of Great Britain, it can be said with assurance thatsparrows are not very common in England, at least comparatively The same may be

said toa great degree of thenorthernkingdom, except,perhaps,of the Highlands,which

were, however, too farout of the wayfor the purpose in question A large number ofbirdswererequired; Ireland, therefore, was the only placewhere theycouldbefoundin

any quantity, chiefiy the counties of Wexford and Waterford, the neai-est to Great

Britain, whence they could be carried by stealth to Liverpool, and there musterfor

English or Scotchbirds, as youprefer

few immense parks and richmansions of absentee landlordsthey can afl'ordto passby

butthere arenumberless villages, hamlets, farm-houses justmade forthem; ruins withholesand cavities; trees and shrubs growing vdld around the hutof the cottier, and

chiefly the eaves of the thatched cottages; churches on the roofs of which they canchirp to their hearts'content; plenty ofworms and insects,which,everybody knows,aretheir dainty tidbits and the principal foodof theiryoung As tothe peoj)le, they arejust madetopleasethe sparrows, as the sparrows aremade toplease them Both peo-ple and sparrows are noisy, lively, sociable, humble in their garb, easily satisfied, en-

during hardships Avithout murmur, prolific beyond calculation, always jolly, structible as arace, spreading out over large continents, but unable to cross the seas

inde-unless they are carried across Who shall say that they cannot agree together? So

that you may go whereveryou like in Ireland, and you will find sparrows in dance

abun-When they first arrived in New York the birds were petted as they had neverbeen before, as they neverexpected to be. Brightly painted little houses had been

builtforthem, with numerousrows of nice littleholes, and capacious chambers inside.

These houses were placed on the tops of long poleswhich were set up in the variousparks of the city, orthey werenailed to the branches of far-spreading trees. Manya

citizen hung up at least one small sparrow-cottage in the tree which tried togrowinfront of As crumbs and was recklessness think

THE TWIT-TWATS 11

of pound-cake and sponge-cake, broken macaroons and marchpane ! Had ever such

a table been spread anywhere else before any family of the passer kind? Hence thesparrows began soon to thrive, and there was a comparative decreasein theugly army

of caterpillars.

It was among thearistocratic classes especially of the New World that these kind

feelings Ijadbeen manifested infavorof the little Irish strangers ; and although some

men wouldnot haveobjected to receiving them from the neighborhood of Waterford

as well as from that of Birmingham, still there is no doxibt in our mind that there

would nothave been so recklessan expenditure of cake andkindness generallyhad the

real origin ofthe birdsbeen known They profited, therefore, by the obscuritythrownpurposelyaround the placethey camefrom ; and some richfamilies having fine stone-fronthouses on Fifth Avenue andaround Stuyvesant Square, with largeand handsome

creepers running tothe verytop of the buildings and about the doors and windows,

had no hesitation in placing the newly-arrived birds among the rich foliage and theentangledvegetation, there to build their nests andchirp all day long in the very iron

frames ofthe balconies Do yousuppose, gentle reader, that manyladies would haveallowed them to peep through the grating of the windowsinto theirveryrooms and

boudoirs, had they known that these inquisitive little fellows were fresh from Irishcottages, andperhaps from the moors of Tipperary? Yet so it was ; but at the time

no one suspected it, and it was only muchlater on that the native country of the birds

finallybecame known,to the disgust ofmanyhighly aristocratic families of theoriginal

Dutch or English stock, who in some instances—aswe shall soon mentionin detail

had to cut to the veryroots of the creepers in which the most favored sparrowshad

nestledand nuiltij)lied.

These preliminary remarks were necessary to introduce theinteresting family of

which it is nowproper to givea detailedaccount

CHAPTER II.

ORIGIN OF THE TWIT-TWATS

upon the scene and were taken directly veryfar up theHudson totheveryhead of navigation—as school geograj)hies tell us—to the thrivingcity ofTroy We have taken great pains to ascertain everything con-

cerning them, for we must not be satisfied here with generalities, but

must state positively every particular with all the proofs thereofotherwisethis wouldnot bea historybut a chronicle

During a residence of many years in Troy we became acquaintedwith anIrishman called 0'Murphy — Murrogh O'Murphy : he had not dropjaed the O,

as most of the tribe have done, we must say, reluctantly, to their disgrace It was

sufficient tolook athim andtalk afew moments withhim to be persuaded that he

be-longed to the great clan of the O'Murphys, a branch of the Hy-Felimy, the nearestneighbors, in the south of Ireland, to the celebrated tribe of the Hy-Kinsellas Mur-

rogh O'Murphy was fromthe county of Wexford, of course, and had spent allhis life

in the suburbs of NewRoss, at the confluence of the Nore and theBarrow, as his cestors had done for many ages before him It was'he, or rather his boy William,

an-who broughtthe Twit-Twatsto Troy

Atthe timewe became acquainted Avith this family the birds lived in aLombardy

poplar under our windows, and we had vritnessed many queer facts concerning them,

which the reader will soon hear with great interest. We were, therefore, naturallyvery curious to know something of their previous history; and this, in substance, is

what Murrogh O'Murphyrelated, with more details than would, perhaps, be pleasant

to some of our readers, so thatwe shall abridge his narrative, though the main facts

must begiven

Prom the door of the humble cottage occupied by the O'Murphys in New Ross

you can yet see the high steeple of thenew churcherected not longago bythegood

Augustinian friars, on thevery site of the old conventchapel confiscated atthe mation and turned into a Protestant parish church The Church-of-Ireland men in

more than fifty years ago to the original ovniers at a nominalrent of tenshillings,

becausetheyintended to transfertlieirparochial centre to a more fashionable part of

el'ected anedificefamousto this day, whose spire canbe seen toa great distance The

foundation stone waslaidin 1830 bytheVeryRev Daniel O'Connor,O.S.A., afterwardsBishop of Saldes ; and the Very Rev James Crane, O.S.A., then jDrior, labored hard

to make theholy work a complete success in every respect Near that new church

stood, andstandsj)robably yet, thegray ruins of an old Gothic structure surmounted

byacrosswhich somesaid had belonged to the confiscated Augustinian convent, and some others— we are positively of this last opinion—thought were the remains of

anold priory of the Canons Regularof St. Augustine, which, accordingto Allemande,

wasfoundedat Ross ata very early period, and long before the order of Augustinianfriars was established in1320 under Edward III Itwas,therefore, anaffairofancient

Ii-eland, and nothing else

This is all perfectly historical— mind it well— and the reader sees that we are

profuse and precise in oiirstatements Should he wish to ascertain their accuracy he

may look into the History of the Augustinians, by Father Herrera, a learnedSpaniard ; into the Antiquities of Ware on the reign of Edward III ; andinto thedetailsgiven byallaccurate historians of the spoliations of Henry VIII., particularly

of his dealings withthe abbeys of Dunbrody, Tintfern, Ferns, and the convent of Ross

atthe time of theirsuppression

The only reason we canassign for these learnedreferences is the necessity of cision with respecttothe ancestors of the Twit-Twats They had livedfrom time im-memorial inthe ruins of the old priory, more than a thousand years old, and young William O'Murphy, atthat time aboy of ten, had frequently seen themin the moul-deringwalls ; andhe wasgreatly surprised— we have this from himself—when, as soon

pre-as the newchurch wasbuilt, aswarm of themalighted on the steeple on acertain day

that he was on the lookout, and began to nestle in some holes which the masons had left, perhaps purposelyforthem, around the spire. There they twittered undis-turbed for a good manyyears, and many of them, or their descendants, weare sure,

twitter there at present

The ancestors of the Twit-Twats, therefore, had inhabited the County Wexford

from thevery origin of sparrawdom They were twitteringalong the Barrow when

Lama-tlie-mariner— wesj)are youthe Gaelic name —the sonof OlioU-Aine, came back

from Gaul, and, going up theriverwith his curraglis, attacked Coffagh, the usurper ofLeinster, and burned himin his palaceof Dinn-Righ, a short distance from what isnow Leighlinbridge

It is of Danish origin, and one of theveryfew words which alone still attest in ourdays thatthe ferocious Scandinavians everlandedin Ireland Theancient Twit-Twats,from theirelevated positionunder the stone cross of the oldAiigustinian priorj% wit-

THE TWIT-TWATS.

them, perhaps, were smokedoutof theiriisualhaunts alongtheBarrow andthe Nore l^y

the incendiary pirates Still, theirprogeny again covered thewhole laudwhen

Strong-bow came over with hisAnglo-Normans The Twit-Twats, frightened at first by the

new invaders, were atlastreconciled—the unpatrioticrogues !—to the sway of the dal barons by the refuge afforded them in the innumerable castles built onthe wholesurface of the island from sea to sea. Who has not seen in Europe the swarms of

feu-sparrows around those huge and frowning battlements, theonly standingrelics of now

extinct feudalism« Yet it must be said to the honor of these birds that they in

general prefer the churches to the castles; and as the Fitzgeralds, Fitzharrises,

Fitz-lienrys, and Talbots, their nearest neighbors at the coniluence of the Barrow and the

Suir, built churches aswell as castles, tliis may explain the real attacliment that hasalways subsisted between the Twit-Twats andthe descendants of Strongbow's follow-

ers, without anyperil to theirorthodoxy

It would be too long togo through the subsequent events of this interesting

his-tory, and relate the frequent changes and sad fortunes which Protestantism brought

to the birds as well as tomen ; but this brings us down to the api^arently forgottenthread ofourhistory

Murrogh O'Murphy had seen many of his personal friends depart forAmerica,

when he himself thought of emigrating to the New World. All his preparations weresoon made, and he intended to go down the Barrow to Waterford, in order to takeship forLiverpool, and thence to crossthe sea ina steamship forNew York

ButhissonWilliam lookedwith regret at his friendsthe Twit-Twats, whomhe was

going to leave behind Scarcely a day of his life had passed without thinking of

them, lookingat them, and speaking of them ; and it was a painful sacrifice to be

re-duced to a bare remembrancefor the remainder of his days He thought, indeed, of

catching some few of the brood and carrying them with him; but how was he to tainpermissionfromhis father, whoverylikelywouldlaugh at his nonsense?—when, lo

ob-and behold! just a week before their departure a letter froma friend inNew York

was received, relating atlength the introduction of the sparrows in the New World,

notforgetting to dwell on the extravagance of some American citizens in favor of the

homelybirds, and hinting that a few dozens imported in a good-sized cage might go

far to paythe whole exjjense of the voyage William had thus a fine opportunity

which hedid not neglect; and he saw with pleasure that, instead of catchingtwo or

three and concealing themas best he might in a small, darkcage, he could now openly

set his traps fora whole week, make prisoners of as many dozens ashe had thought ofindividuals, and be at once the owner and custodian of a whole colony, which would

certainlygive himagreatimportancein theeyes offellow-passengers across the ocean

He set his traps wherever there was hope of catching sparrows ; but he chiefly

kept his eyes open for two splendid birds which hehad followed in all their ings forthe twoor three years before, and which formany months had been the occu-

enoughtosay thathe succeeded ; gave them aplace apartin the large cageby making

a small compartment forthem to dwell in; and when the boat finally dropped down

theriverwith Murrogh O'Murphy and his son, these tworemarkable birds shared the

captivity of many othersof far inferior note This desolate couple are the original

Twit-Twats ofwhom we are writing themomentoushistory

New York harbor was reached without any loss of life ; and as the O'Murphys

were at once going up the Hudson to Troy, the precious cage was transferred to

the lower deck of the-steamer Vanderbilt, and arrived the next morning at its final

destination

A SORROWFUL CHRISTMAS DAY.

HE citizens of Troy were then in the first flush of the sparrow-fever

Many had already obtained these highly-prized birdsfrom New York,Albany, or Lansingbnrg ; but such was the number casing for them

that ourfriend William O'Murphy found no trouble indisposing ofthewhole brood ata price whichastonishedeven hisfather. The two pets,

however, were the last tobe sold, and William would not consent topartwith them except on the certainty of theirbeing well treated Of this

he felt no doubt when a great familyliving on Washington Park, in

Troy, paidroyally forthe handsomecouple

At first everythingwent on admirably The Irish boy, whowith his father soon

found workina foundry not farfrom thearistocratic square, often wenttohave a look

at his pets, and he was highly pleased to remark that not only had they the liberty

of the adjoining i^ark, but they had been encouraged by the family to nestle in the

intricate folds of an immense creeper covering the whole front of their house at the

side of the square

Howcould it be supposed that under such circumstances therace would become

extinct? In fact, they multiplied prodigiously in a veryshortspace of time, and the

twogenuine, original birds brought over by the O'Murphys became the patriarchs of

as lively and numerous a tribe as ever were the celebrated Dal-Cassians of ancientMunster, so renownedin story and song Two summers hadsufliced forit.

Unfortunately, as the Dal-Cassians long agomettheir doom, the Twit-Twats, too,

inthevery flushof theirprosperity seemed destined to alike sad fate.

Already, a few months before, the lively interest long feltin New York forall

sparrowshad begununaccountably to wane Various reasons were assigned forit : the

birds were very noisy, and Uppertendomcould not jjeaceably slumber until eight ornine o'clock, whilst the fussy and numerous swaiTnswere awake about the windows at

four insummer. Besides, thenice little houses built forthem, so bright and neat at

first, wei'e nowgrowdng dingy, and the birds not only did not keep them clean, but

some of them had evenbeenseen positively defiling them Moreover, they were often

horses and mules, darting down from theupperstories of

18 THE TWIT-TWATS."

a splendidhouse andalighting in the middle of thestreet. Who could bearsuch

vul-garity? Woi'st ofall,aftersuch unaccountable expeditionsthey often flewback to thebalconies of the house, and, ifawindow happened to be open and thelady was at her

toilette, theycarried bad manners so far as to twitterand chatter as if their voyage to

thestreetand itsobject could be thus publicly avowedwith suchan air of triumph!

Evidentlythe birds werevulgar Hence people began to speak mysteriously of their

origin, andthe secret finally cameout—theywere Irish !

The terrible news, originating inNew York, did notfail to reach Troy intime, and

theverdict of fashionin themetropolis was acquiesced inwherever it became known.

War, therefore, was declared against sparrows in all aristocratic quarters, and if the

wholebrood could have been sent back to Europe, never tovisit again the shores of

fairAmerica, the world offashion would have rejoiced exceedingly; but the racehad

taken possession of thelandand was henceforth indestnictible

The Twit-Twats, meanwhile, had to suffer. The splendid creeper-vine which had

Saturday afternoon, when William O'Murphy took his accustomed walk toward

WashingtonPark, hewas struck tothe heart to see the former greenbowerof his dearsparrows nowwithered and lying about on the ground where it had bloomed a fewdays before What had become ofthebirds? Nonecould be seenin the trees evenof

the adjacentpark; he had therefore to enquire As he knewseveral female servants of

the neighborhood, he soonfound out allthe particulars Two or three dayspreviouslythe vine had been rooted out by order of the lady of the house, and the servants

had been employed the whole afternoon scaring away the birds not only from theblockof buildings towhich themansionbelonged, but even fromthe large trees ofthe

square All thatcould be said was that the birdshad taken their flight down Second

Streetand across the Poestenkill Creek: they mustbe in South Troy !

South Troy is dividedfrom the city proper by the Poestenkill Creek, a raging

tor-rentfull of foam and shapeless debris in the early spring, but requiringdams andlocks

insummer and autumn to showits title to the name ofareal river or creek

Fonner-ly there was between thecity and the stream alargewaste and marshy ground; butin

course oftime improvements have been decreed by the Common Council of Troy, and

thestreets of the formervillage, called SouthTroy, are nowpart andparcel of the city

itself. But no aristocratic family would consent to livein the district ; the houses

and cottages arehomely and almost withoutexception occupied by people of thestructible Milesianrace. The sparrows this time, leftto theirinstinct, hadwell chosen

inde-their quarters, and would no doubt experience better treatment than from theirfonner

refined patrons Only the question was rather puzzlingto William O'Murphy: What

had become of the original Twit-Twats? They were only two among a number, and

the whole flock had gone God knewwhere He made up his mind to employ the

whole Sunday following—afterhaving heardMass, of course—insolving theproblem

50 The twit-twats.

acrosstlie creek, thewhole broodhadturned to theeast and had found themselvesin avery grove, so thicklyhad the trees been planted along Third and Fourth Streets.

These trees luxuriate especially around a large churchin the neighborhood called St.

Joseph's, and the sparrows might, perhaps, have recognized v/ith delight

something-liketheirformer haunts inNew Ross Finally, not to weary the reader with useless

details, William O'Murphyfound, to his intense j)leasure, that the whole colony had

alreadysettled not only around the church, but chiefly in a convent of good sisters

separated from thechurch by astreet.

The cornices under the roof, and a multitude of nice little nooks surrounding a

beaiitiful statue of St. Joseph, offered them a sure asylum from which they might

expect never to be expelled again And, to render William's joy more complete, he

sawthevery patriarchalTwit-Twatshewas lookingfor; they had takenthefinest hole

of the whole front of the house! There they were, to be sure He couldhave

recog-nizedthem amonga thousand; the hen, as well as the cock, inthe midst ofanumerous

Lombardypoplarimderour windows, they often, it is true, cometoit, being separated

from it by the distance only between two streets, and being attracted by the lofty

branches of the trees whichtowerover both chiirch and rectory

In their pleasant little holethey were shaded from the western sun byatalland handsome statue of St. Joseph holding in his arms the divine Child ; andthe neigh-bors remarked, with grateful surprise, that they were never seen to rest familiarly

onthe holy image, which they appeared to treatwith instinctive reverence, as though

theyhad known the sacredreality ofwhich itwas the emblem They had acted quite

differently in the iron balcony of the fine house where they had spent the first two

years of their residence in Troy, as every one could perceive when the destruction of

the large creeper revealed thereal state ofthingshidden atfirst undergi-een leavesand

brightflowers

Thus the old feathered couple spent theend ofthe summer andthe greater part of

the autumn inJoy. But the fierce blasts of November taught them the insecurity oftheir position Torrents of rain poured down at times and were soon frozen by thenorthwest wind Therain dashed against the west front of the house, and at everystorm filledthe humblenest of thepoor sparrows with ice. What would it be by the

endofDecember? Moreover, occupying that side of thehouse towards thestreet, for

whichsparrows have always a greatliking, thefoolishbirds nevergave a thought to the

interior of the convent, the well-kept garden behind, with its alleys and nooks where

the nuns usedtowalk orsit, precisely on the side oppositeto the public thoroughfare.Inside the conventgrounds only could they receive the kindly help of the sisters in

timesof scarcityand starvation The nuns knew nothing ofAvhat passed onthe street,

and consequentlyknewnot the distress ofthe sparrows Truly the birds' position was

lamentable, though they were not yet fully aware of it ; when the hard winter would come onthey would find out to their cost

Thecliurch, looming uponthe western sideofthe public highway, attractedthem

often, and thus removed them still farther from the interior of the fiiendly convent

They often flew overand beyond the churchand chirrupedinarow of Lombardy

pop-larsplanted along the western front of the rectory adjoining and to the north ofit.

This position wouldhave suited themadmirably ; but itwas already occupiedby

seve-ral other families of sparrows, chiefly by a single pair dwelling in one of the cells

of a double hoiTse nailed by my pi'edecessor on the tree planted just in front of

my windows None of the Twit-Twats—male or female—dared to push their tensions so far as to take possession of the spare room left empty in the little

pre-woodenhouse; for of the two cells one only was occupied They were no doubt

afraid of meeting with a fierce opposition from the previous occupants, who infact did not appear to be of an obliging disposition Their reserved manners,

staid habits, cautious if not dark demeanor, and thrifty situation indicated theirorigin with certainty From the first I perceived that theywere somewhat different

birds.

Meanwhile the Twit-Twats paid me occasional visits, and after every storm thatraged duringthe lastof November and thebeginning ofthe following month I iisually

remarked two poorforlorn sparrows squatting onthe sill ofone of my windows,

press-ing their tails and backs against the glass, and looking wistfully at the little

bird-housenailed toa branchofthe tree ata fewfeet distance Sofar they daredno more ;

as soonas the storm would befully abated theywould disappear andflyback over thehouse and the church, no doubt returning to their desolate quarters in front of St.

Joseph's Convent

en-tertaiii feelings not only of distrust but apparently of dread? It is an interestingquestion, because of theimportant part they are tobearin this eventful history

I have here onlyconjectures to guideme ; yet they are strong conjectures, as thereadercan judge During the year I spent in Jersey City I hadheard of a tradition

State ofNew Jersey previous to their arrival in New York — how long previously no

one could say I haveno doubt that by enquiring carefully into the traditions ofNew

Englandreliable reports of the same nature would be obtained The factis that ever

sincethe firstplantingof the English colonies in the Eastern States many men must

have thought of introducing sparrows Perhapsmore than thirty years ago.Imyself

tried toobtain ahundred pairs of French birds, in order to naturalize them at

Ford-ham ; andI failedthrough the carelessness only of a steward employed on one of theFrench steamers, who made me fine promises which he never fiilfilled. How long,therefore, this species of birds has existed in America cannot now be known What

is certain is that there are varieties among them, and consequentlytheymust have

come from differentparts of the old continent The same, therefore, istrue ofthem

human inhabiting the Atlantic seaboard, though not the same

22 THE TWIT-TWATS.

tent: they were allstrangers when they came; thosewho had arrivedfirstmay have

grown to think themselves the real aborigines, and so to regard the later arrivals

as intruders The same, we know, has happenedwith men; among a certainnumber

of the first colonistsin the old thirteen States, for instance They now very proudly

callthemselves natives

However thismaybe, it issure that thebrood ofsparrows whichthrived under my

Avindows before the arrival of the Twit-Twatspresented the differenceswhich I havementioned; and it was clear thata conflict mustensue

The pair residing in the little house must first have oiir attention They had come just a year before the Twit-Twats appeared ; and although they were evi-

dently oldbirds—at leasteight years old—still in the few summer months that

elaps-ed before the Irish swarm's arrival they had, to the knowledge of my j)redecessor,

hatched successfully and brought up at least three broods All that young progeny

was, atthe time of my coming, living aliout the roof of our house or in the numerous

treeswhich shedagrateful shade around, the old couple living all alone inone of the

cellsof the bird-cottage they hadfirst occupied

Impossible tosay if itbe the effect of prejudice, but I have always imagined thatthere was agreat difference between them and all the Irish sparrows I have since be-

come acquainted with The venerable pair residing near my windows were certainly

more sedatethan anybirds I have ever known from the Green Isle; and if their

nu-merous offspring established around wei-eas noisy andpetulant asanyIrish creatures,

they seemed, tomeat least, of soferociousand overbearinga character as I have never

found in their Irish congeners At least I fancied so, and the reader will perhapsagree that the sequelof the storymournfully confirmed myJudgment

The month of December was already halfgone when the weather, which had sofarbeenattimes squally, yetin general not over-harsh, suddenlybecame morethreat-ening, and gave signs that we should have one of those extensive northwest storms

which appear occasionally tocome inadirect line from the verymouthofthe

Macken-zie River, or rather from Behriug Strait.

It was a succession of fierce tempests rather which began toward the middle of

December, and were to culminate with the eventful Christmas festival of 187- The

ground, already covered with snow, received anew supply almost every day Fancy

how harditmust soon have becomefor thepoor Twit-Twats to keej) alive in the cold

and to find enough to eat. Meanwhile tlieir enemies, the natives, did not fare much

better; and this was not calculated to soften their obstreperous temj)er I must say,

however, that the two patriarchs, both hen and cock, continuedto showtheirqiiietand demure waysinthe midst ofthe turbulent worldaround Theyoften came outof their

cell and flew about in quest of food, and I confess I never did understandhow theycould succeed in findingenough to live. Nonaturalisthas yetfully explainedhowso

many sparrows can escape starvation during our long winters Thehelpthey receive

not clear up the problem, for this very uncertain help cannot reach one-tenth of the

birds. We prefer to think it is Providence And here weare altogether serious, and must beso, since it is our divine Lord Himself who says that our Father in heaven

feeds eventhebirds of the air. "Are not youofmuch more valuethan they?"

For my part I was delightednot only with the solution of such a mystery in the

actual circumstances, but alsowith the peacefulbehaviorofthe venerable native birds,

to whom we willgive thatnameforwantofabetter one Itmayhave been the result

of age—eight yeai's is a long period for sparrows—but it was also, very likely at

least, the effect of an excellent natural disposition They neverengaged infight, and showed the greatest good-nature not only for theii' rude offspring but even for thenewly-arrived strangers, ifthey metany

But this did notmuch assist the Twit-Twats, who, besides suffering from hunger,

had no otlier place of refuge than the dismal hole exposedevery day tothe buffetings

of the storm Howthey escaped j)erishinghasalways beento mea matter of wonder.Birds thatare so diminutive, whose organs must be so delicate and are almost micro-

scopic, onewouldsuj)pose wouldbeincapable of resistinga single blast ofwinter; still,

weekafterweek theywere nightand day inthemidst ofperilswithout number

Imagine the disconsolate pair fluttering from the top of the convent to the roof

of the church, and finally trying to rest their wearied limbs on some window-sill of

thej)arsonage, already coveredwith severalinchesofhard-pressed snow Howfiercely

thestorm usedtorage onthose roofs! With what madness it beat against chimneys and flues ! Bricks even and slates wereloosenedand driventhroughthe air, the fury

of the wind appearing to be tenfold greater on the tops of buildings than in the

desolate streets below I remember on one occasion seeing a j)aii"offeeble sparrowstakenviolently in their miserableflightby asuddengust of the fiercewind, andflung,

half-dead, againstthe walls of aneighboring edifice. The stranger-birds were all this

timeto theeastof ourhouse, andit mustbe certain that their position on the roof of

the conventwas indeed dei^lorable, though I couldnot see their liole from my window

Meanwhile Christmas day was near, and preparations were everywhere going on

among menforitsworthy celebration It is, no doubt, owingto abenevolent designof

Providencethat for Christians of the northern hemisphere—the immense majority of

the Church's cliildren—it falls in the midst of winter That rude season is to some

surround the Saviour's cradle. Thethought that the Infant laid in a manger is theEternalWord, who "in the beginning was with God and was God" ; that, owing to

His infinitelove and compassion forman, "He was made flesh and dweltamongus," is

enoiigh to soften our heart and fill it with the sweetest emotions Are not oureyes

inclined to moisten when we behold Him, in the arms of His Mother, "weeping for

oursins, not forHis own sorrows" ? His power created theuniverse, and He could in

a moment annihilate His enemies ; but He has deliberately deprived Himself of His

sinnerneed not Him, canapproach Him with and lay down

24 THE TWIT-TWATS.

Hisfeet theheavy burden of Ms iniquity Althougli His tongue cannotyet speak, He

seemsalreadyto utterthe divine words which later came fromHis lips : "Cometo me,

all yethat laborand areheavyladen, andI willrefreshyou."

While thewind howls outside that grottoin Bethlehem,and the winter coldfreezes

thosewho prefer toremain withoutand rejectthe boon ofa safe asylum, inside, around

l^fary and her Babe, theblast cannot befelt ; forthe Prince of Peace is there, and theatmosphereistranquilwhereverhe condescends tolie. Hasten, therefore, ye poor and

lowly shepherds To you first the message has been brought by angels, and kings,

too, will come, but only after you

It is thus to the heart of the sinner and of the suffering poor that the Christmas

festival speaks most eloquently There is joy in the lowliest house, because it is

preciselythemostfit reproduction of the first dwelling of Christ on earth Those of

you, humble Christians, who are deprived, even on that day, of the commonest

bless-ings of life, consider that your Masterand Lord, whenHis Mother wasrefused tanceinto acommon inn andobliged to take refuge in an abandoned stable, was not

admit-better off than youare If you sufferfrom cold, himger, poverty, remember that thisalso was the grievous lot preordained by Almighty God forHis Son Rejoice, there-

fore, because youresemble Him most YouareHis dear friends, since He treats you

like Himself Sharing now in His privations, you may share one day inHis endlesshappiness in glory

These high considerations, brought on by the narrative of a pair of disconsolate

sparrows, may appear far-fetched to the critics. But the reader is reminded of theultimate purpose of this littlebook, whichis tolookat humanbeings underthe veil of

amyth confined in appearanceto diminutive birds Our Lord Himself, in developingHis heavenly doctrine before men, has placed under theireyes the consideration of the

"birds of the air," adding only at the end, "Are not you of much more value than

they?" We shall not pretend to say that the Twit-Twats had any knowledge of

Christmas, or could profit in their sufferings, during that fearful winter, by the sideration of divinemysteries intended for the^salvation ofmanonly Butfor all that

con-there are harmonies between theanimal creation andthe far higher sphere of man, aswillsoon appear with thehelp ofauthorities not lower than the words of the SaviourHimself and of St. Paul Hereit must suffice to say that the culmination of all theTwit-Twats' troubles, and also their happy termination, happened Just on Christmas

day of 187-, andto this wereturn

The tempest on that morning was more dreadfulthanithad been at any time ing the fortnight Iwas toobusyin the churchto pay any attention to the sparrows,

dur-and cannot say anything of their vicissitudes from "early morn" till after dinner

Thefirst moment I could gotomy room was attwoo'clock p.m., and I hadjust half an

hour to rest. The bestrest forme was directly to look oiit for my little friends ; and

for a few minutes I was disapi^ointed Soon, however, I heard somethinglike their

evidently nearly exhausted by their long struggle against the elements Their poorwings could scarcely support them in the air, exactlylike those of young birdswho

venture forthefirst time out of their nest. Theyarrived, panting and breathless, and

alighted in the mostforlorn condition at the window ofmy room nearest to the

much-covetedcottage ofthe old nativepair. As it was nowa question of life and death for

them, they were evidently determined to occupy the empty room which theyhad

al-ready so often examined, and their mind was made up not to return to their former

quarters

Theirlittlefeetwereresting on the snow which covered the siU. Their tails werepressedagainst theveryglass, which enabled me to see them through the snow that

formed afilmonthe panes ; theirheads were turned upwards, and they looked

intent-lyon the cottage in the poplar-tree, which certainly was theirlast resourceinthis theirfatal day Of thetwo rooms ofthe cottage, one, as was said before, was occupied by a

pair of old bkds; the other remained empty The progeny of the ancient couple piedallthe holes and corners underthe roof of the house; but none of them had, it

occu-seems, thoughtof settling in the apartment next to the patriarchs of the tribe. The

position of the unfortunate strangers has been more than sufficiently described ; we

must seehow stood the antagonistic element

The Twit-Twats certainlyregarded all the birds around as their enemies They

hadbeen sooften chasedaway by the colonysettled at the top of the house that,

al-though the birds in the cottage never flew at them, they could not but imagine theywere of onemind withtheir turbulentoffspring At this precise moment of our storytheold native cock, in spite of the tempest, was more than half-way out of his hole

anger But from my room I could hear,although very indistinctly, the ffutterings of

many birds on the roof above, excited evidently by the presenceof theirhatedvisitors.

A short moment was to decide the fate of the Twit-Twats, and this moment came

sooner than I expected While I was still looking at them on the window-sill theyboth rose suddenly and swiftly through the tempestuous air, and rested at once near

the coveted entrance to the onlyrefuge left them The old native patriarch did not

move; but the stirringof several pairs of wings was heard by me, and two birds fromabove were instantly seen coming down, intent evidently on fight. The Twit-Twatswerecertainly preparing to receive them, fully determined to stand their ground and

struggle for lifeeven at the risk ofdeath I thus expected an encounter, when, to my

great and pleasant surprise, the patriarch of the hostile tribe came quite out of his

recess, nottoattack the strangers, but to bid his own progeny stand off. Sti-ange to

relate, by asinglelook at them he drovethem away; they evidentlyfelthis power and withdrew to their Own uncontested places of refuge The Twit-Twats, immediately

awarethat theyhad found afriend, entered the empty part of the cottage with a look

of perfect security They weresaved,and hadgained possession, in amanner mostexpected, ofcomfortable quarters forthewinter, wherewe must leave them a

un-CHAPTEE lY.

A BEIEF GLANCE AT THE HAEMONIES OF CKEATIOW

HO has not, occasionally in his life, reflected on the intimate relations

which anAll-wise andAll-powerful Creator has establishedbetween thevarious parts of His immense work? These relations can very apjaro-priately be called harmonies, as if a grand hymn to the Almighty Author of all things resulted from the universal combination of all

things Unity and varietyform the twokeys on which alone the great

and noble compositionrests—unityeverywherefelt, variety everywhere

seen But the immensity of this subject cannot be embraced in the

humblescope naturallyintendedin these pages It is far preferable to consider onepointonly, andleave allothers aside. This pointis theclose analogyexistingbetween

humanbeings and theinferior creatures comprisedin the animalkingdom A most

re-markable correlation is directly apparent in theii' physical organization, and becomes

the foundation on which all the systems of natural history are laid. But we discard

thisbranch even of the subject, and confine ourselves towhat we thiak is a superiorpoint ofview—namely, towhatlooks very much like a social, moral, and jDedagogicalrelationbetween both This forms, indeed, a harmony of its own kind, sui generis,

which the history ofthe Twit-Twats directlypresents to themind of thereader To be

sure, themoral pointof view is deficient, sincemanis the only beingon earth ble ofit ; and bythis characteristic,alone he constitutes an orderofhis own in nature

suscepti-Theinferioranimals areexcluded from themoral order This being well understood, it

cannot be denied thatanimals invariablygoso far as to present us the spectacle of a

strict obsei-vance of law; and the observance oflawis a great part of true morality

Hence Holy Scripture refers us often to the remarkable conductofmanyinferiorbeings

as aninducementforus tokeepGod's commandments: "Go totheant, Osluggard,and

consider her ways, and learnwisdom" (Prov vi 6) ; "Thebee is small among flyingthings, biit her fruit hath the chiefest sweetness" (Ecclus xi 3) If the ant is the

pattern ofindustry, and the bee of lavish generosity, isnot the horse the type of

cour-age (Job xxxix 25)'i is not the behemoth that of strength, and the leviathan that ofintrepidity%

It would be easy to find in the OldTestament passages where allthehuman

vir-tues are inculcatedbytlieexample ofmere animals Butin theNewourblessed Lord

hasgone stillfurther, andhas sometimes found in birds and plants inducements for

us to practisethe highest Christian virtues '

Behold the birds of theair, for they

neither sow, nordothey reap, nor gatherinto barns: and your heavenly Fatherfeedeththem . Consider the lilies of the fieldhow they grow: theylabornot, neither do

they spin. Benot solicitous, therefore . Afterall these things do theheathenseek; but your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things" (Matt vi.

passim)

Iffrom moralitywe pass on tosociability, the harmonyestablished by Grod

Him-self between hximan beings and inferior creatures will appear still much closer and more perfect ; for if animals are altogether deprived of true morality, many of them

enjoy sociability to a great extent Thereisno need hereofquoting examples—thesimplest books of natural history are full of them; andit is jjarticularly in this line

that we shallfindin ourway instances ofa remarkable harmonybetween sparrows and

men

The same may be said of the pedagogical characteristics which Holy Scrij)ture

hasparticularly in view wheneverit touches on the subject The matter, however,considered in its universality, and as embracing allthe branches of the subject, eventhose which we discard, has been admirably condensed by St. Paul in his Epistle to

the B,omans, wherehe says(i 20) : "Theinvisible things of God, fromthe creation of

the world, are clearly seen, being understood bythe things that He made." If eventhe divine attributes are manifested in visible creation, much more the moral and

socialpeculiarities ofman mustbe typified in inferior beings Man embodies them inhimself, because he is the centre of the material universe, or rather itsabridgment,

andthus truly deserves the name ofmicrocosm, or epitome of creation

In this little book the intention cannot be togo deeply into this subject, and thereader must expect a gleaning only here and there of some correspondences or con-gruities existingbetween aclass ofbirds perfectly familiar tous—the sisarrows— and a

class ofmen numeroiasin this country, and to whom it is good occasionally to draw

public attention—namely, European immigrants of all nationalities, but by religionCatholics The Twit-Twats become thus the shadowof a reality, andall there is to

do at the endof this chapteris toprepare the way for their actionbybriefly showing

how human immigrationinNorth America wasexactlytypified by the various fortunes

ofthe sparrowfamUy

The "armies of caterpillars," the original occasion of the coming of the birds,may be said to have been, with respect to men, of two distinct and remarkable kinds

First, inthe designs of divine Providence, as far as they can be read, the swarms of

Catholics arriving fi'om Europe were kindly intended for the gi-adual reduction and

final extinction of the "armies of sects" which, under the pretence of religion, were

in fact destroying the moral and eternal happiness of the people No surer way

found on North American continent than

98 THE TWIT-TWATS.

bybringingto it "armies" of sturdy immigrants with the cross in their hands and

the true religion of Christ in their hearts

But as many people outside of the Church would not readily accept the truth ofthisbright harmony, the ugly "caterpillars" were evidently types of asecondthough

inferiorkind, with which harmony no one, even if nota Catholic, canin the least find

fault.

The Americanpeople, when colonizingthis continent, found themselves face to face

with two immense obstacles which theyalone, with all their astounding energy, could

scarcely have surmounted: first, an immense territory as wildas when created, and

requiring millions of men to subdue and beautify; and, secondly, an adverse

liberated from the direct control ofEngland they were still left atits mercy by themanufactured goods of everykind they were forcedto receive fromit. What '

army-worm" (suchis thename, we think, given inthe West tothe destructive battalions of

caterpillars which often devastate the richest fields) could ever be moreterrific and

appallingthanthose two barriers tothe progress of agreat nation—the uncouth form

of thewilderness, the wildvegetation ofunprofitable forests and woods eating up the

fertility of the soil for no use whatever to mankind ; andthe voracious rapacity of

foreign capitalists and manufacturers, coming with their high-priced products and

sayingwith a sneer:

'

Take or die'

? Where couldaremedy be found? The grants became for the salvation of a great people whata number of imported little

immi-birds turned outtobeforthe gratification of annoyed and vexed citizens.

Theimmigrants were first to subdue natiire and to render comfortable the

dwell-ing-place of future millions ; to connect cities with cities by roads and canals ; to

render easythe navigation of large rivers hitherto obstructedby sand-bars or snags ;

to levelalmost inaccessiblemountains, and drain swampy and boggy valleys; to turn

into smilingfields gloomy and interminableforests ; toraise, all over the surface of an immenseterritory, private and public structures, atfirst of an hiimble but comfortable

character, later on of asplendid and varied type, reproducing in theNew World the

styles of architecture of all times and all -countries; to change, in fact, for ever theaspect ofagreatcontinent, and replace the few rude traces ofroaming and barbarous

tribes by thelastingmonuments of European civilisation.

The secondobject of that great material mission was notinferior tothefirst Itwas

to render the new people settled in this country independent of the monopolizingmanufacturers of Europe, chiefiy of England, by the erection of factories of everykind, from thoseof chemical matches to thoseof mammoth boilers and ironclad moni-

tors. To the inventive genius of the Yankee was to be left the direction ofthesecountless establishments ; to the newly-arrivedEuropeanswasentrusted the execution

ofthe planand the material part of thebusiness What could the few colonistshavedone, scattered as they were far and wide over such an immense territory, forthe

realization of so manyvastschemes, had it notbeen for the armies of starving people

coun-tries ? Let any candid inquirer travel over thisnew continent andinquirewhat hasbeen the part everywhere taken by the so-called foreigners in those gigantic enter-

prises, and he will tind that without them the progress to be expected would havebeen futUe andinijjracticable.

No one, therefore, need be surprised that at first and for a longtime these

for-eigners were as welcome inNorth America as were subsequently the sparrows whenfirst introducedinto the various Atlantic cities. America saw the importance of themuscular helpcoming to herassistance, and willingly offered tothat multitude ofnew-comers conditions whichit would have been perfectly useless' for them to expect intheirown country Hence theyflocked hither inimmense numbers

What rendered this mutual goodfeelingmore naturalwas thefact thatthe

popu-lation of the United States was composed, from the first, of men of allcountries and

races. They could not think, therefore, of excluding any nationality whatever,

espe-cially when therewere so manyweighty reasons foradmitting all with open arms

Itwas only lateron that an opposition at first beganto manifest itself, silently, it

is true, butwhich gradually swelled toproportions of unexpected magnitude, first in

the Native-American party of 1843, and afterward in the Know-nothing organization of

1856 And, strange to say, themotives of that opposition partook a gTeatdeal of thenature ofthe wardeclared against the inoffensive birds sowarmly admitted at first to

the privacy ofAmericanfamilies. Thebirdswere noisy, so were the immigrants; the

birds werevulgar, so thenew-comers undoubtedly were ; thebirds multiplied toofast,

so the foreigners threatened to do ; the birds showed themselves toomuch at home,

andinterfered too much with the staid, quiet habits of Yankeedom, so the foreigners

were accused of doing; the birds, thoiigh strangers to the coimtry, were ah-eady

diiv-ing away the native robins and chippies, wlio could not buildtheir nests in the borhoodofthe sparrows All such annoyances and irritating grievances were likewise

neigh-attributed to the presence of tlie so-called foreigners—namely, the immigrants fromEurojje—so that no one can refuse to admit that the Twit-Twats were a type and the

foreigners a sad reality.

But the chiefcause of theviolenthatred of Nativistsand Know-nothingsfor

every-body notborn on these shores was their religion, for a great part of these foreigners

were Catholics What aterrible verdictagainst the mother Church was then rendered

by many^:)«^rio^/cAmericans! Ignorance, desiDotism, hatred of civilization, etc., werereproachedto theBrideof Christ, andin the eyes of those who thus spoke and wrote

itamounted toaperfect demonstration So likewise it has been seen that the main

reason which turned the tide of popular feeling against the poor span-ows was theunexpecteddiscovery that most of them came from the ruins ofCatholic monasteries

The Twit-Twatsin particularhadbeen broughtfrom the steeple ofa Catholic churcli inIreland, andnot, as jDeople atfirst fondly imagined, from the factories of Birmingham

or Manchester, orfrom theprim rectories ofEssex and Sussex, inProtestantEngland.This general statement of well-knownfacts was necessary forthe thorough under-

what

A DESCEIPTION OF SOME STRANGE NATURAL HABITS OF THE TWIT-TWATS CONSIDERED

AS TYPES OF HUMAN BEINGS

M O W that the old nativepair, together withthe ancient Twit-Twat couple,are lodged in the little wooden house in one of the Lombardypoplarsnearmywindows, each of thena occupyingits cell in close contiguity, I

canstudytheir habits to thebest advantage It is easy for me to see

them going in or coming out, hoj)pingon thelittle platformin front oftheir cottage, interchanging courtesies or the reverse, flying about on

the treesaround, or down on the ground and in the street, anding their feelings—shall I say their thoughts ?— by what they do oravoid doing The numerous progeny of the native patriarchs isstrongly established

show-on the top of the rectory or in other poplar-trees which I myself had long beforeplanted in front of the house The Twit-Twats' numerous offspring live still in the

faqade of St. Joseph's Convent, and theirusual haunts cannot be seen from my dows, as they are situated precisely east of Fourth Street, back of the rectory; buttheyoften come to visitme, and, as was previouslyseen, theirdemeanor is quite diffe-

win-rentfrom thatof the nativebirds. Thislittlepicture miist remain in the mind of thereaderforthe understandingofwhatis immediately to follow

Fromthe elevatedposition I occupied in this small world I could observe thingto perfection, and had noneed of consultingotherpeople, readingbooksof natu-

every-ral history, or having recourse to dusty and ancient tomes describing sparrows and

robins

I had, however, one excessto avoid—I mean being carried away by my

imagina-tion so far as to make ofmy littlefriends so manyreal men and women. This is what

Lafontaine has done in his Fables Read even thefirst, "La Cigaleet laFourmi" ;

how theytalk! howthey address and answer each other! You at once imagine two

human inhabitants of this mundane sphere, one of them an improvident spendthrift,theothera prudent husbandman attentive to his larder and j)rovisions Still, every-

bodyreads Lafontaineandfindshim charming Icertainly can never hope to have as

many readers ; though if I were fond enough of vainglory I might try my best toimitate him in every respect But I have a conscience and cannot condescend tolie

32 THE TWIT-TWATS.

too outrageously Imust even say franklyto those who willdo me the favor of

read-ingthislittlebookthat, if whateverI describe as having been seen by meis true tothe

letter, if the strange doings of either the strangers or the natives have happened

exactlyas I describe them, the same cannot be said altogether of the inner motives

which I sometimes assign tothose exterior actions I mayhave been mistakenin this,

for it is difficultto read the thoughts of sparrows, even supposing sparrows to have

ourstory

The oldTwit-Twats-wevQprobably somuchfatigued when they took possession oftheirnewquarters that duringthewholeafternoon andevening of that Christmas day

they did not come out of their cell ; they spent the time inside on a wretched straw

bed, certainly, since theyhad nothad time to bring on new hay, and the ceU had notbeen occupied for severalyears before But at leastthey remained quiet, though with

an empty craw andstomach The obstreperous nativeprogeny did not dare to attack

them so soon, andthe venerable native patriarchs did not thinkit was becoming to

dis-turb theminthe sadinterior of their dwelling

Thus thisfirstChristmas holidaywas cheerless enoagh forthepoorbirds, andthey

had noideawhatever of the happy, nay, brilliant, one which Providence had in storeforthematwelvemonthhence

When, afteran early breakfast on the morning of St. Stephen's day, Ilookedout

ofmy window, oldMr Twit-Twat was Just coming out of his hole for the first time,

and he was alone ! Mrs Twit-Twat, to my great regret, did not appear Was she

dead% It isagreat pity that man has not yet found a means of entering into munication withanimals, notby articulatespeech, since they areincapable ofit, but atleast by sure signs on which people couldrely. The pretended interchange of compli-

com-ments between the master and hisdog, the riderandhishorse, etc., isonly a sham, as

many grave philosophers have proved, though Lafontaine is emphatically of another

Soon Mr Twit-Twatbecamevery active. As he musthave been reallyhungry, his

first concernwas to fillhis stomach ; and, in spite ofthe snow on theground, he did it

without difficulty, forI hadalready the evening before charitably spreadagreat

quan-tity of crumbs at the foot of his tree. Butafterhe had fully attendedto himself Iwas

greatly surprised tosee himgobackto his cell, remain a fewmoments inside, comeout

again, andrepeat the same operation again and again during a part of the forenoon

Iwas, therefore, sure of one thing—thatMrs Twit-Twat was notdead ; for, onthe

THE TWIT-TWATS.

a holein awalloccupied by the dead body of a birdwill never be visited by another

Do birds respect the sacredness ofthe tomb? Wecannot judge of their feelings, but it

ishard to explain it otherwise, unless it comes from their cowardice at the image of

grim death

In histrips up and down he acted exactlyas birds do in summer when the female

ishatchiug Washebringing her food? I could not exactlyanswerthisquestion, for I

am somewhat near-sightedand was unableto see whetlier he brought anything or not.And duringthat forenoonwhat were the native colony doing all around? Several

of the birds settled on the top of the church attempted again to pounce tipon our

friend; but he showed fight, and, being now well fed, proved himself a stillvigorousfellow in spite of his previous privations The feeling of animosity on the part of thenative party was not extinct—far from it. But old Mr Twit-Twat had a beak and

claws, andcould defend himself Besides this, the old patriarch near him continued

friendly; andalthough he did notso actively protect him as he had done the dayfore—knowing, I suppose, that our friend was plucky enough to take care of himself

be-—still itwas a check to his numerous progeny to show, as hedid, that hewillingly

al-lowed free quarters to his neighbor These were the various circumstances which I

muchinterested in that study As ifthe tones of a sweet harmony had delighted my

ears, Iwas almost riveted to the place, and would, perhaps, have forgotten my dinner

had not the voice of duty calledme away

In the afternoon, as soon as free, I was again at myj)ost ; a'nd, indeed, the tacle that offered itself to me, more puzzling still than that of the forenoon, became moreattractive also—infact, almost fascinating Itwas furnished this timehj the oldfemale native bird, who had taken no part in the Twit-Twats' defence the day before

spec-She was always sedate and gentle, but on that afternoon of St. Stephen's daypeared more so than usual, and I remarkedwith a great deal of astonishment that,

ap-after fluttering around a little, she finally entered the room ofour friends, and went,

no doubt, tovisitthe poor female stranger Old Twit-Twatwas near at the time, and

appeared at first unwilling to aUowher sxich a liberty, which everybody knows is not

at all in theirusual manners He was onthe pointof drivingheroflfeven, when he saw

her venerable mate perched on the top of the cottage, evidently surprised that his

former services to the Twit-Twats should be repaid by ingratitude, and ready to caU

back ourfriend to his sensesby, I suppose, agood knock-down On reflection,

there-fi )re, old Twit-Twat became wiserand more sociable, and allowed Mrs Native to haveherfree entrees to his sanctum Sheusedthe permission, to myknowledge, quite fre-

quently What she did within cannot be said, nor even imagined ; but, afterall I haveseen of the doings of animals, I shouldnot be intheleast surprised if shewas actuallycomforting and feeding the sick bird. Long ago Ihave imagined that the well-kno^vn

lines of Shakspere could be very wellapplied tomany strange antics ofbirds, and evensnakes

THE TWIT-TWATS 35

"•"There are more tilings in lieuven and eartli, Horatio,

Thauare dreamt of in your philosophy."

Instinct in animals is essentially different from moral feeling in man; and I begthe reader to believe that I donot share in the infatuation of the modernevolutionists,

who confound one with the other But it can be said without fear of heterodoxy

that instinct in animalsoften supplies the place ofwhatis moral feeling in man Who

has everlooked at two doves petting one another, and has not immediately conceivedthat theirattachment, producedbynothing higher than instinct, is the exacti-eproduc-tionofthe far holier feeling of love in man1 Who has seen a mother-bird feeding her

young without imagining that lie has under his eyes an example offered by God

Him-self to the mother of ahuman family who owes herself entirely to her children? Nay,

more, in the words of Moses (Deut xxxii 11), the Almighty compares His love for

Israel to that of "the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them,

si:iread-ingher wings, taking themup, and carrying them onher shoulders."

Andit is not family instinctonly whichis remarkableinanimals We haveoften

readof the deep attachmentof a dogfor his master-, ofan elephant for his keeper, of

alioness for her saviour, etc.— anattachment carried occasionally as far asdeath itself.

Can we notsuppose that a sparrow mayfeel deeply the misfortunesof a fellow-bird?

Whatmotivecould have ledMrs Native toenter into the room ofMrs Twit-Twat,

ex-cept it were to afford consolation? This set me thinking the whole afternoon and a

goodpart of the followingnight

Meanwhile, although saved from destruction, the Twit-Twats were far from

com-fortable in their new quarters, and this time they shared their troubles with other

about the roof ofthechurch andthe front of the convent andthe rectory The sisters

saw very few ofthem in theirgarden, and these occasionally received some crumbs enoughforthem But the others had mainly to depend upon whatremained of thescreenings—the word may not be correct, butit is so expressive here—thrown twice a

day to fifteen or twenty fowls belonging tothe parsonage Everything else which

could fiU the stomachof sparrows wasburied under afoot and a half of snow; and I

have never observed them to feed on the budsof trees, as other birds are said to do

Hence I am sure that they had often to go to sleep at night with amore than half

empty stomach They say that fasting is not very painful in warm countries; butwherever the coldis intenseall acknowledgethat starving is a very unpleasant sensa-

tion. Atthis time the sensationmusthave been familiar to the birds.

There was, moreover, a great hardship to which I have often seen the poor Twats exposed The morning after theirfirstnight inthe cottage the old bird foundthe wayofegress somewhatbarredby snow ; but asitwas very soft, he passed throuo-h

Twit-it as "through a mist." The same was repeated on several occasions. But much

oftenerthe furious wind hadso compressedand hardenedthe snowthatthe birdhad

36 THE TWIT-TWATS.

useliisbeak and claws forhours together to opena hole large enough to get through

into his cottage Iwasfrequentlya witness to this when astorm duringthe day had

blocked up the entrance PoorTwit-Twat, coming backlate inthe afternoon to retire

forthe night, hadtoknock and knock with his little beak, and scratch and scratchwith his little claws, to open a passage He never failed to ai:)ply his mechanicalpowersin theright place, and when hehad dug through thehard snow fortwo or threeinches he was sure atlast tofind the blessedpassage open He was more cunning in

that respect than manyblundering carpenters, who, after spending agooddeal of timecutting a holeinthe outside of aframebuilding, find at lastthat theiroperation hasbeen

carried onafoot orso to the right or left of the required place,and haveto beginagain

TheTwit-Twats never had such a disheartening mishap ; their previous calculations

were always right, and the little passage they dug in the snow, although never larger

than the hole in the cottage, always corresponded exactlywith it, asif they had used

rule, and compass, and allthat sort of thing.* But in spite of this inerrancy of

calcu-lation, whatan amount of trouble itgave the poor birds to be there, half fed, exposed

to the cold wind after a day offrequent disappointments, hammering and hammering

for at leastan hour andahalf—I have measured the time, watch in hand, on two sions at least— andafterall thislabor to find inside a half-handful of straw, and even

occa-this powderedwith the snow thathad been blown through the too visible chinks inthecottage!

Days went on, however, and finally on a beautiful January morning two birds

came out together, and at lastthe long-lostfemaleTwit-Twat appeared, as active and

frisky as ever. The labor wouldhenceforth be done doubly as quick, and happiness

would in due time come backagain tothe desolate couple

Before this chapter is closedaword of explanation isrequired to meet aprobable

objection The reader might say, "Your analogy, Mr Author, is already wrong

You Avishto provethe opposition of the Native party to Catholic immigrants, and some

of yournativebirds are, at the very start, the best friends of the strangers Why is

this thus? as Artemus Ward used to say."

My answer will prove, I hope, satisfactory It has been said that all Americanswere atfirst strangers from Europe None of them are really natives of the soil byrace. Those, however, whose ancestors have foralong time resided in this country

—

it goes sometimes to a couple of centuries— mayvery wellbe called natives, as is done

in this story Everybody knows that there are two kinds of such citizens. Some

—

many,inmy opinion—werenot opposed to the arrival ofnewimmigrants ; nay, I havepersonally known anumber ofthem whowereconstantly theirbest friends andhelpers

But there were others who werenot soliberal-minded They were known in this

coun-* The reader will please believe thiit all the details I fcivo of the doings of the birds anj-where in these pages have actually

In-tryas the Native party, orratlier faction. The two sorts cannot be put in the same

category Our story, therefore, is perfectly consistent

Ithasbeen evenremarked thatmany members of the Native American or

Know-nothing party were themselves only lately arrived on this continent; andthese,

pre-tending to benatives, showedthemselves the mostfanatical opponents of more honest

strangers andaliens.

the morning —an anomaly in nature The old Twit-Twat couple, since

first coming out together, werefastrecovering from their previous

weak-ness, and appearedto enjoy the goodfare dailyofl'ered them inthe yard Thenativepatriarchs, itmust be said, showed little change, and

barn-their sedateness was, if anything, suddenly increased by the surprisingabsence of mostof theirprogeny There werenow few, indeed, of theseturbulent birds toannoythe oldj)air, or to oblige theirpatriarch to prove

from therow ofLombardy poj)lars, which now loomed upin their solitary grandeur

What couldbethe cause of it ? This questionwas puzzlingto myreasoning

facul-ties, and I did not know howto find theanswer toit. Were we to be deprived of oiir

agreeable company forany lengthof time, and perhaps for ever? Theanswer came to

me the next time I went to the convent Itwasapart of my (tffice tovisitthenuns

once a week, and thefirst dayI entered I could notaccount for the number of birds I

sawin theirgarden andall aroundaboiit. Thereader remembers,perhaps, thatfewhad

venturedthitherpreviously Manyof theturbulent natives,it is true,hadsettledsince

Christmasday in thefront of the convent, afterdrivingaway some Twit-Twats who had

previously lived there—a circumstance I had forgotten to mention This new move

was probably in retaliation for the admittance of the Twit-Twat patriarchs into themidst of their former colony—nay, into the very cottage of their chief. But iftheywere thusnumerous in the front of the house, itwas onlyrecently thatithad become

so. Hitherto a fewnatives used to fly over the convent building and alight in the terior of thegarden, so that the good sisters could easily feed the forlorn birdswhen-

in-ever they ventured into their grounds But now they were coming in great troops,

andvery noisy they were Whent I asked the reverendmother the cause, she did not

know. Quitelately, she said, swarmsof them had come from the otherside of Fourth

THE TWIT-TWATS 39

Street, and by their screams they disturbed the whole community The nuns had welcomed the few stragglers thatfirst arrived Now they took good care not to feed

this multitude All they wished was that the troublesome visitors should go away

and leave them in peaceand quiet, as theyhad been before That was the substance

of the reverend mother's ex])lanation

Itwaspuzzling indeed, andin order to study the problem, which interested me a

great deal, I made up my mind to remain in the convent after finishing my businesswith thenuns The Sisters of St. Josejah arenot cloistered, and there was no rule to

prevent me from entering theirhouse, theirgarden and rJl its nooks and corners, and

the most hiddenrecesses ofashanty or two which had remained there ever since theypurchasedthe property

I was notlongin findingout the cause ofthe difiicultybetweenthe birds It came

bloody feud which might havethe most serious consequences for the miserable birds

orratherit was the first strategicmovement ofa camj)aignwhich might last the whole

winter I had heard and read of pitched battles among the sparrows, andwas,

per-haps, to witness somethingof the kind on the largest scale.

The readeris aware that from the first, had it not been forthe noble exception of

the patriarchs, natives and Twit-Twats would have been declared by any ethnologist

to be two irreconcilable races, and every one knows what this means Butforwhat

particularreasonhadtheyoung Twit-Twats latelyattacked the nativebirds and driven

them from the conventfacade into the garden, as theyhaddone only a few days fore? Wasit because the natives frequently came to feed from the screeningsscatter-

be-ed inthe barnyardof therectory,which, beingeast of the church, the Twit-Twatsmight

haveconsideredas belonging to their territory; or wasit the effect ofalong-nourished

spirit of retaliation for theinexcusable conduct of the whole native brood toward theold Twit-Twat couple which had nearly ended in their death on Christmas day? I

could not saywhat was the cause of the war, but that there was nowa state of war

there could not be the least doubt

If the reader wishes to investigate the subject scientifically he will find that,

according to the best naturalists of the day whohave studiedtheir habits, there areoccasionally fearful battles among sparrows He will meetin thosebooks the formalstatement thatthe birds assemble,often to the numberofmanyliundreds, on the roofof

somelarge edifice and then engage infurious combat The two i^arties, theysay, areeasily distinguishedfrom each other Thebirds appear to adhere tothe one side from

the first ; they never desert theirfiag, nor do they change sideseven atthe end of the

struggle There must evidentlybe agreat cause of conflict, common to many

indivi-duals, which all have espoused with ardor, and which they piirsue tothe endeither ofvictory or defeat What naturalists say of this resembles so much what takes place

among menthat, in my oi^inion, if the sparrows had, in their process of evolution,