Charles Carroll of Carrollton

“ But all the old folk in my boyhood could tell tales of the Revolution, which was indeed not very much older then than the Rebellion is to us now.
I can also recollect seeing Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, though my memory of the man is now confused with that of a very perfect portrait which belonged to his granddaughter, Mrs. Jackson, who was a next-door but one neighbour in after years in Walnut Street, Philadelphia. He was a very venerable-looking man. ”

“ THE CATON SISTERS Among the belles of the early century loom the forms of those gracious women whose names are interwoven with those of the most historic figures of their age, the Caton sisters of Baltimore. Granddaughters of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the most illustrious Americans of the period, they became through marriage identified with the most distinguished families in England. ”

“ This good man, accomplished gentleman, finished scholar, and bold patriot, was born at Annapolis, on the 20th of September, 1737. He was the grandson of Charles Carroll, son of Daniel Carroll, of King’s county, Ireland, the former of whom immigrated to Maryland about 1686, and located at Carrollton. The elder Carrolls were always found in the foremost rank of those who espoused the cause of liberal principles, and taught their sons to go and do likewise. ”

“ Honored by his countrymen, blessed with the wealth giving him every material comfort and luxury, owning his town house, his estate of Doughoregan, and his plantation the famous Carrollton, sought out by the most distinguished men and women at home and from abroad, to say nothing of the myriad resources which such a man as Carroll possessed within himself, he already saw his family—the third generation born in America—well established, with the roof-trees of his son and daughters close by his own. ”

“ Charles Carroll was neither blinded nor hoodwinked by this sporadic token of motherly justice. Those years of residence in England were not lost to him. He well knew the temper of the British lion, his arrogance and his treachery. Sooner or later another paroxysm of exigencies [Pg 544] would come over him; they must be met, cost what it may.
“Wicked is the only word which I can apply to the government of your colonies. You seem to regard them as mere material mines from whence the mother country is to extract the precious ore for her own luxury and splendor.” ”

“ Armorial. Early English. The very full mantling nearly surrounds the shield. Motto, Toujours prest. Diplomatist. Born in Maryland. Delegate to Congress, 1778-1780. Foreign minister. Illustrated in “Curio,” page 16.{182}
136. Carroll. Charles Carroll.
Armorial. Chippendale. No motto. The last surviving signer of the Declaration. Died, 1832. This was the Charles Carroll who added “of Carrollton” after his signature to the Declaration, that no mistake might ever be made in recognizing him. Illustrated in “Book Lovers’ Almanac,” 1894. Duprat and Co., New York. ”

“ We have followed our hero only to the performance of his first acts in the great drama in which the Ruler of nations had appointed him to bear such important parts. Charles Carroll, in his adjuncts and circumstances, as regards both his cast of religion and politics, stood alone among his peers. Much he had to destroy ere he could build. But he addressed himself to his work with well-appointed tools, a clear mind, a steady hand, a glowing heart, and an immovable reliance in Him who hath said that “unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it ”

“ The elder Carrolls were highly charged with liberal principles and planted them deeply in the minds of their sons. Nor did the precious seed fall on barren ground. Obeying the precepts and imitating the examples of his patriotic sire, young Charles Carroll proved worthy of the high source from which he sprang. He was emphatically one of the same stamp.
At the early age of eight years his embryo talents shone so brightly that his father determined on giving them an opportunity to bud, blossom and expand amidst the literary bowers of Europe. He was first sent to a seminary in France. ”

“ Though of somewhat sober nature, in moments of recreation he could throw off his cares like a boy, delighting his friends by his wit and humor, and the rare gift of telling anecdotes, a gift his son inherited in full measure, long before he took the name of “Lewis Carroll,” some twenty years after he was received into the fold of the parish church at Daresbury.
Little Charles headed the list of eleven young [Pg 4] Dodgsons, and the mother of this infant brigade was a woman in a thousand. We all know what mothers are ”

“ A very old member of the Company of Jesus, a professor and superior of the Georgetown University, has more than once related, within hearing of the writer, that the appearance of Charles Carroll riding into the college enclosure, on a docile and yet lively pony, when the great patriot had already overstepped the fourscore years of life, conveyed the impression of a youthful and innocent old age, so full of charm and gravity, pensiveness and gayety, authority and condescension, that it was felt indeed, but could not be described. ”

“ Charles Lutwidge Dodgson retired to his rooms at Christ Church College, where he prepared his lectures on mathematics and wrote the most learned text-books for the University; but Lewis Carroll peeped out into the world, which he found full of light and laughter and happy childhood, and as Lewis Carroll he was known to that world henceforth. ”

“ The Lion beat the Unicorn all round the town. Some gave them white bread, some gave them brown; Some gave them plum-cake and drummed them out of town.’
‘Does—the one—that wins—get the crown?’ she asked, as well as she could, for the run was putting her quite out of breath.
‘Dear me, no!’ said the King. ‘What an idea!’
‘Would you—be good enough,’ Alice panted out, after running a little further, ‘to stop a minute—just to get—one’s breath again?’
‘I’m good enough,’ the King said, ‘only I’m not strong enough. You see, a minute goes by so fearfully quick. ”

“ He was indirectly descended, as were all of the Carrolls of Maryland, from Daniel Carroll of Ely, who presented twenty sons all equipped and armed to the Earl of Ormond for service under Charles I. Mount Clare, his home, was a favorite resort of General Washington before and during the Revolution, and there is a copy of a picture extant, showing the illustrious patriot and Mr. Carroll going on a fishing excursion, from the latter’s mansion, their objective point being the waters of the Chesapeake, which were easily accessible from Mount Clare. ”

“ For he is still in the prime of life, the very prime." (Major Carroll was sixty-nine; but as the junior warden was eighty-five, he naturally considered his colleague still quite a boy.) "Until lately, however, he has been undeniably, I will not say one of nature's princes, because I do not believe in them, but one of the princes of the Carrolls, which is saying a vast deal more. His little girl has always adored him. He has been, in fact, a man to inspire admiration. ”

“ He was a most able man, well known as scholar, writer, and thinker, but he died, much lamented, in 1855, just as the young student was thinking seriously of a life devoted to his college. George Henry Liddell came into residence as dean of Christ Church, an office which he held for nearly forty years, and as Dean Liddell stood for a great deal in the life of Charles Dodgson, we shall hear much of him from time to time, dating more especially from the comradeship of his three little daughters, who were the first “really truly” friends of Lewis Carroll. ”

“ CHAPTER VIII. THE QUEEN'S CRO-QUET GROUND.
A large rose tree stood near the gar-den gate. The blooms on it were white, but three men who seemed to be in great haste were paint-ing them red. Al-ice thought this a strange thing to do, so she went near-er to watch them. Just as she came up to them, she heard one of them say, "Look out now, Five! Don't splash paint on me like that!"
"I couldn't help it," said Five, "Six knocked my arm."
On which Six looked up and said, "That's right, Five! Don't fail to lay the blame on some one else." ”

“ My homily was cut short by a groan so fearful, so unlike anything I had ever heard or imagined, that I was dumb with horror.
‘Ah-h-h!—there it is again!’ whispered Carroll, dropping on his knees and crossing himself; while vehemently thumping his breast, he, as a good Catholic, began to mumble with white lips the prayers for the dead. Up the stairs through the open door the sounds had come ”

“ The Rab-bit started as if shot, dropped the white kid gloves and the fan and ran off in-to the dark as fast as his two hind feet could take him.
Al-ice took up the fan and gloves and as the hall was quite hot, she fanned her-self all the time she went on talk-ing. "Dear, dear! How queer all things are to-day! Could I have been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up to-day? Seems to me I didn't feel quite the same. But if I'm not the same, then who in the world am I?" ”

“ The two brothers were descendants of a splendid old family, the Carrolls, of Virginia. But every few generations there appears in that family a red Carroll. The family are all of dark complexion, and whenever a red-haired Carroll appears among them there is sure to follow trouble and disaster. Before he was twenty years old Bernard Carroll had broken his mother's heart and caused her death. When he was twenty-three he fell wildly, madly, passionately in love with my sister Marion."
"Marion—my mother! That was why he stared at me so! That was why he called me 'Marion'!" panted Nina. ”

“ There he won great distinction as a scholar of mathematics, and wrote many abstruse and learned books, very different from “Alice in Wonderland.” There is a tale that when the Queen had read “Alice in Wonderland” she was so pleased that she asked for more books by the same author. Lewis Carroll was written to, and back, with the name of Charles Dodgson on the title-page, came a number of the very dryest books about Algebra and Euclid that you can imagine. ”

“ There had been exciting scenes, for the young people had sworn to be true to each other in spite of obstacles. Carroll was a gentleman by birth, but somewhat harum-scarum and reckless in character. He had already contracted debts to a considerable amount, and was, in the eyes of her family, no suitable match for Lady Pamela. ”

“ KNOT V. OUGHTS AND CROSSES. "Look here, upon this picture, and on this."
"And what made you choose the first train, Goosey?" said Mad Mathesis, as they got into the cab. "Couldn't you count better than that?"
"I took an extreme case," was the tearful reply. "Our excellent preceptress always says 'When in doubt, my dears, take an extreme case.' And I was in doubt."
"Does it always succeed?" her aunt enquired.
Clara sighed. "Not always," she reluctantly admitted. "And I can't make out why. ”

“ Ellen Terry, a beautiful tiny creature, who played the child’s part of Mamillius in the most charming way. This was the first of many meetings with the famous actress, who became one of his child-friends in later years. But that was when he was Lewis Carroll. As yet he was only Charles Dodgson, a struggling young Student, anxious for independence, interested in his work, simple, sincere, devout, a dreamer of dreams which had not yet taken shape, and above all, a true lover of little girls, no matter how plain, or fretful, or rumpled, or even dirty. ”

“ Carroll stroked his beardless chin. There was a hard, calculating light in his eyes—eyes which alternated between a soft, friendly blue and a steely gray. Finally he looked up at Leverage.
"What's your idea, Eric?"
"About him sendin' word he was out when we know he ain't?"
"Exactly."
"It looks darn funny to me, Carroll! 'Pears like he didn't want to discuss the affair with us."
"He don't know who we are."
"He can guess pretty well. Any guy with a head on his shoulders knows the valet of a murdered man is going to be quizzed by the police." ”

“ Then she turned to the rose tree and asked, "What have you been do-ing here?"
"May it please your ma-jes-ty," said Two, and went down on one knee as he spoke, "we were try-ing—"
"I see!" said the Queen, who in the mean time had seen that some of the ros-es were paint-ed red and some were still white. "Off with their heads!" and the crowd moved on, while three of the sol-diers stayed to cut off the heads of the poor men, who ran to Al-ice for help.
"They shan't hurt you," she said, as she hid them in a large flow-er pot that stood near. ”

“ The Queen smiled and passed on.
"Who are you talk-ing to?" said the King, as he came up to Al-ice and stared at the Cat's head as if it were a strange sight.
"It's a friend of mine—a Che-shire Cat," said Al-ice.
"I don't like the look of it at all," said the King; "it may kiss my hand if it likes."
"I don't want to," said the Cat.
"Don't be rude; and don't look at me like that," said the King.
"A cat may look at a king," said Al-ice. "I've read that in some book, but I can't tell where." ”

“ And many a youth as he bounded gaily forward to the arena of trial, cast a glance of anticipated victory back upon the lovely object of village chivalry. The maidens left their looms and quilting frames, the children their noisy sports, the slaves their labors, and the old men their arm-chairs and long pipes, to witness and triumph in the success of the victor. All prophesied and many wished that it would be young Carroll. He was the handsomest and best-humored youth in the county, and all knew that a strong and mutual attachment existed between him and the fair Annette. ”