Modern Chivalry by Hugh Henry Brackenridge
"Modern Chivalry" by Hugh Henry Brackenridge is a satirical novel that explores the complexities of American democracy in the early years of the United States. The story follows Captain John Farrago, a middle-aged man who embarks on a journey accompanied by his simple-minded servant, Teague O'Regan. Through a series of comedic and often absurd adventures, the narrative critiques various aspects of society, politics, and human nature, highlighting the follies and pretensions of both the educated elite and the common folk.
The novel serves as a reflection on Brackenridge's own experiences with political life, particularly during events like the Whiskey Rebellion, and addresses themes such as the challenges of establishing a knowledgeable electorate in a young democracy. O'Regan, embodying the "innocent" common man, often finds himself in outlandish situations where his ignorance and self-deception lead to unintended consequences. The book critiques the volatility of mob mentality and the ambition of individuals who aspire to roles for which they are unqualified.
While "Modern Chivalry" lacks a conventional plot structure, its episodic nature allows for a broad examination of American institutions and customs. Through humor and irony, Brackenridge argues for the necessity of education as a means to improve society and ensure that democracy thrives, ultimately warning against the potential pitfalls if the common man remains uneducated. The work represents a significant contribution to early American literature, blending elements of satire with a profound social commentary.
Modern Chivalry by Hugh Henry Brackenridge
First published: 1792-1797; revised, 1805; final edition, 1815
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Picaresque satire
Time of work: First years of the United States
Locale: Pennsylvania
Principal Characters:
Captain John Farrago , a gentleman of PennsylvaniaTeague O’Regan , the captain’s Irish servant and a rascalDuncan Ferguson , another servant of the captain
The Story
Captain John Farrago, a Pennsylvanian in his fifties, decided to get on his horse and, accompanied by his servant Teague O’Regan, to travel about the country. He wanted to see how things were getting on and to observe human nature.
His first adventure was at a horse race. After the race, the crowd became embroiled in arguments. When the Captain tried to calm them, in the name of reason, he had his head broken for his pains. Starting out again the next morning, Captain Farrago came to a village where the election of a legislator was taking place. The candidate, a weaver, was not, in the Captain’s opinion, worthy of the office, and so he spoke out against the backwoods politician. Much to his dismay, the villagers wanted to send Teague, Captain Farrago’s servant, as their elected representative. The Captain finally convinced his Irish servant, who had far more brawn than brains, that he was better off as a servant of one man than as the servant of many.
A short time later, the Captain found the carcass of a very large owl. Upon taking it to a town, he met a philosopher who offered to have him made a member of the philosophical society on the basis of his discovery. When Captain Farrago refused, the philosopher asked if the servant Teague might be made a member. Once again, the Captain had to convince simple Teague that he was better off as a private servant than he would be chasing over the country after dangerous animals.
That same night, Teague got into a scrape at an inn, where he tried to get into bed with a girl who raised a great hue and cry. Teague, a cunning chap, shifted the blame to a young clergyman by claiming that the clergyman had attempted to molest the girl and that he, Teague, had been her rescuer. The tale got out, and Captain Farrago finally had to bribe Teague with half a crown to tell the truth to the presbytery in order to clear the innocent preacher’s good name. Teague, by means of blarney and flattery, convinced the presbytery that he wished to be a candidate for the ministry; only the Captain’s intercession with an explanation that Teague would have to give up his vices and enter into a war with the devil himself prevented the gullible clergymen from taking Teague, ignorant as he was, into the ministry.
Sometime later, Captain Farrago met a Miss Fog. In his efforts to court the young lady, who had a considerable fortune, Captain Farrago only managed to insult her. Miss Fog’s other suitor, Jacko, then challenged the Captain to a duel. Captain Farrago, after warning the man who delivered the challenge that such conduct was against the law, kicked him out of his quarters. Calling in Teague, the Captain offered to let him fight the duel if he wished; Teague, a coward, refused to do so, whereupon Captain Farrago sent a letter telling Jacko that he would not duel because one of them might be hurt or killed for no reason at all. That was the end of the matter.
Not long afterward, a man approached Captain Farrago and asked to hire Teague from the Captain. The man, a maker of treaties with the Indians, wanted to use Teague as a bogus chief of the Kickapoo tribe. He stated that the government wanted treaties and that he was going to provide them; he received a good salary for his work, in addition to making money from the gifts that were given to his bogus chieftains. Captain Farrago, an honest man, refused to be a party to the scheme. Fearing that Teague might take to the idea of easy money, Captain Farrago told him to stay away from the maker of treaties, lest the latter take Teague’s scalp. Simpleminded Teague, fearful for his life, stayed his distance, and the man gave up his fraudulent plan.
Having kept his servant from becoming everything thus far, the Captain soon faced a new problem. Teague imagined himself in love with a beautiful young woman considerably above his station, and nothing Captain Farrago could say swayed him from his illusion. In a final effort to bring Teague to his senses, Captain Farrago told the girl’s brother what was happening. The brother, by a judicious and heavy application of a horsewhip, cured Teague of his matrimonial aspirations for the time being.
Later in their wanderings, the Captain and Teague stopped overnight at the home of a widow who took a fancy to Teague. Teague, anxious to improve his lot, flattered the woman, and the two quickly decided to get married, much to Captain Farrago’s disgust. Only the Captain’s friendly warning to Teague that the widow might prove to be a witch or sorceress, so quickly had she won his affection, turned the servant away from the probability of marriage. As it was, he was anxious to be gone, lest some spell be cast upon him.
Shortly afterward, Teague disappeared while he and Captain Farrago were in a city. All the Captain’s efforts, including a visit to a house of prostitution, were in vain so far as locating Teague was concerned. At last, the Irishman was discovered by the Captain in a theater, where Teague was being used in place of a comedian who imitated the Irish. Teague was anxious to keep his place, until the theater manager gave him a cudgeling for paying attention to the manager’s mistress.
Captain Farrago determined to make something better of his servant while they were in the city. Dressing him smartly and impressing on him some semblance of manners improved Teague so much that the Irishman was given the post of exciseman in the customs service. Having lost Teague, Captain Farrago found himself a new servant, a Scot named Duncan Ferguson, who had recently arrived in America.
Teague, acting as an excise officer, was badly treated by the populace, who tarred and feathered him when he tried to collect duties in outlying towns. He returned hastily to Captain Farrago. Then the Captain, upon the advice of a French friend, sent Teague to France. Arriving in France, Teague was taken up as a great common citizen, since there was no taint of the nobility about him. Teague soon tired of France, however, and returned to Captain Farrago’s employ in America. Accompanied by his servant, the Captain once again began his travels to observe human nature.
One day, the Captain arrived at a town where there was considerable discussion over the local newspaper. The citizens, dissatisfied with the editor, decided to let Teague write the editorials. When he proved unsatisfactory and was quickly dismissed, the town was glad to have the original editor return. Shortly afterward, with the Captain’s help, Teague wrote his memoirs. So successful was the volume that Teague was suggested for the professorship of rhetoric at the local college. Only the outrage of the faculty kept the plan from going through.
Teague’s adventures finally proved too much for the Pennsylvania village, and so the Captain, accompanied by Teague and a retinue of hangers-on, moved westward. Because of his learning and good sense, Captain Farrago soon became governor of a new territory, which he attempted to set to rights according to Greek and Roman tradition. Thus ended his travels, for he now found himself in such a position of responsibility that he had to cease his aimless wanderings in favor of a settled life.
Critical Evaluation:
The application of the term novel to MODERN CHIVALRY is almost incorrect; it is, rather, a bulky, episodic narrative that is almost completely devoid of plot. The real importance of the novel lies in the fact that it heralded the appearance of something new in American fiction: satire. It is a brilliant and ironic inquiry into the faults and weaknesses of political activities during the first years of the United States, written by a man who had taken part in the incidents of those years, including the Whiskey Rebellion. Like all great satires, it was written, not with the aim of simply finding fault, but with the aim of improving what the author saw as weaknesses in the persons and institutions of mankind. Currish as the satire is, and unkind as it sometimes appears to be to the Irish as they are seen in the person of Teague O’Regan, the book is also humorous in a quizzical and often reflective way. Among other things, MODERN CHIVALRY brought the spirit of Cervantes, Rabelais, and Montaigne to the American frontier.
Hugh Henry Brackenridge was neither a writer who participated in politics nor a politician who wrote as an avocation; his writing and his politics were two sides of the same coin, a passionate involvement in the affairs of his time. Brackenridge sought nothing less than the creation of the new American democracy, and, along with it, the new American literature.
Loosely modeled after DON QUIXOTE, MODERN CHIVALRY provides a satirical record of Brackenridge’s political and social attitudes. The almost haphazard plot sequences and general unevenness in quality reflect the casual, off-and-on method of its composition. The book had first been provoked by a political defeat and became a running commentary on Brackenridge’s experiences in public affairs, as well as an expression of his irritation at the follies he found in American society. Therefore, it appeared irregularly and unevenly over a twenty-three-year period, corresponding to the vicissitudes of Brackenridge’s political fortunes.
This is not to say, however, that the book is arbitrary or ambiguous. The central themes of the novel are perfectly clear, the intellectual viewpoint is constant, and, although the book lacks specific direction, sooner or later Brackenridge turns his attention to most of the important American institutions and customs.
To Brackenridge, the problem of the United States, once it freed itself from British rule, was how to build a democracy based upon a qualified, knowledgeable electorate. Always the moderate, Brackenridge denied the Federalist notion that the common man was incapable of functioning in a democratic society. Yet he was too familiar with frontier excesses and mob emotionalism to believe in the innate wisdom of the ordinary person. Thus he dramatized the problem in MODERN CHIVALRY.
Captain John Farrago’s frustrating attempts to keep track of his servant Teague O’Regan and to keep O’Regan—and those he meets—out of trouble provides the thinnest of plot lines. O’Regan is the ignorant, “innocent,” common man, whose greed and capacity for self-deception are fed by the freedom, fluidity, and crudity of the frontier. Once his ambitions are ignited, he believes himself capable of accomplishing any feat or holding any office. The selfishness, foolishness, and volatility of the crowd reinforce these delusions, and O’Regan’s vigorous identification with the worst attitudes and emotions of the mob wins him instant adulation. Thus he becomes, in short order, a political candidate, a clergyman, a lover, a philosopher, a university professor, a revenue collector, and so on. Few institutions or public types are spared as Brackenridge exposes the pretensions of the rich as well as the poor, the educated as well as the ignorant, the Eastern sophisticate as well as the Western backwoodsman. The author, however, makes it clear, as he does so, that education is the answer to the excesses he pictures. Democracy is workable only if the so-called common man can be educated to understand and carry out his role as a citizen. Failing that, Brackenridge suggests, the future belongs to the O’Regans.