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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 8528
Gic 974.402 B65SA
2315428
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NOTICES 'S
OF THE
462
HISTORIES OF BOSTON.
BY SIGMA.
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BOSTON: A. WILLIAMS & CO. 100 WASHINGTON STREET. 1857.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION PUBLIC LIBRARY FORT WAYNE & ALLEN CO., IND.
هذاثمتد .-
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Alten County Public Library Ft. Wayne, Indiana
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GENEALOGY SECTION INDIANA STATE LICRABY
16.974-402
no.1 2315428
NOTICES
OF THE
HISTORIES OF BOSTON.
SOME NOTICE OF THE HISTORIES OF BOSTON. No. I. It is not unpleasant, occasionally, to re- verse the engine, and go back upon time's rail way to the days of small things. There are worthy men of wealth among us, who are not tinetured with a false and foolish pride, and who would give sixpence, for a sight of the old wheel- barrow they have trundled, or the roadster they have curried, at eight dollars a month, and a sprinkling of old clothes, some fifty years ago!
It is no less pleasant, now that we have grown up to be a "smart place," and find ourselves complimented, as the Athens of America, to look over our shoulder, at the past. How completely our whole history could once have beeu thrust into a filbert shell!
It is a curious fact, that, many years before our town received its present name, after the former residence of Parson Cotton, the name of Boston was bestowed, by a sort of royal authority, upon a spot, some sixty miles north, in the neighbor- hood of Agamenticus, in Maine; as the reader will perceive, by looking at John Smith's map of 1614, prefixed to M. H. C., vol. 23. Smith says
"At my humble sute our most gracious King Charles, then Prince of Wales, was pleased to confirme it (New England) by that title, and did change the barbarous names of their prinei- pall harbours and habitations, for such English, that posterity may say King Charles was their Godfather; and in my opinion it should seeme an unmannerly presumption in any that doth alter them, without his leave."
Poor Charles! they had the "unmannerly pre- sumption," not only to change his names, but to take his majesty's head off. The river Charles still retains its name of baptism. The Chevyot, of his naming, are our Blue Hills; and Agamen- ticus has triumphed over the "Snadown."
The earlier account of this metropolis, then Shawmut, is very brief, and without preface or appendix-Indian corn does well; the muslceetoes are very troublesome; and, being a peninsula, but little fencing is required, to keep out the wolves. Wood commenced the publication of his New Englaud's Prospect, in Loudon, in 1634. It is to be regretted, that he did not go more extensively into the zoologieal history of the country. Writ- ing of lions, he says :
"I will not say, that I ever saw any myself, but some atfirin, that they have seen a lion at Cape Anne, which is not above ten Icagues from Bos- ton. Some likewise, being lost in the woods, have heard such terrible roarings, as have made them much aghast; which must have been either devils or lions, there being no other creatures, which use to roar, saving bears, which have not such a terrible kind of roaring.
After this evidence of his relish for natural his- tory, one regrets, that good old William Wood cannot be with us, at the present day, and seo the elephant.
Thomas Lechford published his Plaine Dealing, in London, in 1612. He says :
"They are indifferently well able to subsist for victual. * * * * There are Beares, Wolves, and Foxes, and many other wild beasts, as the Moose, a kind of Deare, as big as some Oxen, and Lyons as I have heard."
Evidences of progress are scattered over the pages of many of the earlier writers. Edward Johnson published his Wonder Working Provi- denco in 1651. Captain Johnson's style is some- what ambitious, while describing the metropolis :
"Invironed it is with brinish flood, saving one small Isthmos, which gives free access to the neighboring towns by land, on the south side, on the northeast, and northwest, Two constant fairs are kept, for daily trafique thereunto. Tho form of this town is like a heart, naturally situ-
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ated for fortifications, having two hills on the frontier part thereof next the sea, the one well fortified on the superfices thereof, with store of great artillery, weil mounted; the other hath a very strong battery, built of whoie timber, and filled with earth. At the descent of the hill, in the extreme poynt thercof, betwixt these two strong arms, lies a cove or bay, on which the chief part of this town is built, overtopped with a third hill; all these, like overtopping towers, keep a constant watch, to see the approach of foreign dangers, being furnished with a beacon and loud babbling guns, to give notice, by their redoubled echo, to the neighboring towns. The chief edifice of this city-like town is crowded on the sea-banks, and wharfed out with great labor and cost; the build- ings beautiful and large, some fairly set forth with brick tile, stone, and slate, and orderly placed with semely streets, whose continual en- largement presageth some sumptuous city. But now behold the admirable acts of Christ, at this his people's landing; the hideous thickets in this place were such, that wolves and beares nurst up their young from the eyes of all beholders, in those very places where the streets are full of girls and boys, sporting up and down with per- petual concourses of people. Good store of ship- ping is here yearly built, and some very fair ones. This town is the very mart of the land; Dutch, French and Portugalls come here to trafique."
Sixty-three years after, we had made great progress. In 1717, Herman Moll published his Atlas Geographus, in London. He says :
"Boston is reckoned the biggest in America, except some, whichi belong to the Spaniards. There are abundance of fine buildings, both pub- lic and private, as the Court house, the Market place, Sir Wm. Phipps's house, &e. They have four companies of militia, and three parish churches, besides a French church and two incet- ing houses, one for Church of England men, and another for Anabaptists. The inhabitants are reckoned at about 12,000. There's a market ev: ery Tuesday; and two fairs in May and October, which last three days each."
In 1794, Thomas Pemberton prepared what he called a Topographical and Historical Description of Boston. This description, or history, occupies sixty-four pages of the third volume of the Mas- sachusetts Historical Society's collections. Mr. Pemberton was a Bostonian, by birth; a mer- chant, by profession; and a student, and a bach-
elor, by choice; and, therefore, being free from domestie care, more able, according to Lord Bacon, to serve the public. He was an honored member of the society, and contributed largely to its collections. He was very industrious, and his days were many. He bequeathed to the so- cicty some fifteen volumes of historical and bio- graphical manuscripts, and died July 5, 1807, at the age of 79.
This little compendium is just what it pretends to be, a description, topographical and historical, of Boston, and of nothing else. It comes, at ouec, to the matter in hand; and, in a remarka- bly close and simple style, conveys a considera- ble amount of nseful information, for the small space, which it occupies. The reader, all the while, realizes, that he is in Boston, or among the neighboring islands or suburbs; for the writer rigidly confines himself to the subject be- fore him. In their order-consiscly-and with- out stopping by the way, to pick up tales or tradi- tions, he sets forthi the latitude and longitude -- the settlement -- the extent and boundaries-the fortification-the common, mall, and hills -- the bridge, mill pond, causeway, mills, streets, wharves, public buildings, &c .- the churches and their pastors, schools, wards, civil and mili- tary, fires, public societies, banks, manufactures, trade and navigation, Franklin's donation, climate, prevailing distempers, police, islands, and various other matters, no one of which could be justifiably omitted fron a description of the town. I am not aware, that the correctness of this account has ever been challenged, in any very important particular. So far as it extends, it is a very valuable record, unquestionably; and, with a few trifling exceptions, reliable authority, as a work of reference. It has not the slightest pretensions to awaken any very lively interest, in the reader's mind; and, as a work of enter- tainment, it has a very much fainter resemblance to the Arabian Nights, than to the earliest Bos- ton Dircetory of 1759, and which contained some fourteen hundred names. Let us stop here, for the present. SIGMA.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORIES OF BOS- TON. No. II. In 1817, Mr. Charles Shaw pub- lished a duodecimo volume of 311 pages, under the same title, adopted by Pemberton-"A To- pographieal and Historical Description of Bos- ton"-with some account of its environs. Mr. Shaw was a scholar, and a member of the Amer- ean Antiquarian Society. He sets forth his ob-
jeet in an unpretending preface, commencing as follows :
"The reader is here presented with a collection of facts, relating to the history of Boston. Most of them are familiar to those, who have had en- riosity to peruse our carly writers, and patience to look over the musty records of the town. To such this book will be useful merely as an Index. It was compiled chiefly for that class of readers,
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whose active duties give them little time for re- searches of this kind, and who yet feel a lively interest in everything eonneeted with the charac- ters of their ancestors, and the history of their birth plaec."
Just forty years ago, this volume was offered to the public, and accounted an interesting and useful work. In several instances, as in his ac- counts of the islands, the churches, &c., Mr. Shaw, avowedly, and almost literally, adopts the words of Pemberton. But his little volume is altogether more readable and interesting. There is a pleasure, not easily definable, and whose standard of value is not dollars and cents, arising from a knowledge of old localities, and who were the loca tenentes of those particular square feet, over which our modern edifices stand.
"A Mr. Marshall," says Shaw, "remembers when smelts were caught, at the head of the creek, near the meeting-house in Federal street.'
This is the very spot, where Moorhead, and Annan, Belknap, and Popkin, Channing, and Gannett, have since been fishers of men, with something better, than ordinary fishermen's luck.
"Another aged inhabitant," says Shaw, "states, that he has seen a canoe sail, at different times, over the spot, which uow forms the corner of Congress and Water street; and thinks he has seen the water three feet deep, in Federal street. He remembers having heard Dr. Chauncey say, that he had taken smelts in the place, now im- proved, as a garden, belonging to the estate of Judge Paine, in Milk street.'
Judge Robert Treat Paine's estate was at the upper corner of Milk and Federal strects. The house fronted on Milk street, with a large gar- den, on front and flank.
Mr. Shaw's volume is well stored, for its size, with such interesting and amusing remi- niscenees. It was printed and published by Oliver Spear, with a fair type, but on wretched paper. It contains a few engravlugs, which are sufficiently authentic-the triangular warehouse, near the town dock, with its three towers, erected about 157 years ago, which has given rise to al- most as much speculation, as the old mill at Newport ;- Faneuil Hall ;- the old State House- how few people are aware, that the present is the third, ereeted on the same spot : the first hav- ing been burnt in 1711, and the second erected in 1712, and burnt Dec. 9, 1747 ;- Christ Church, in Salem street ;- and, though last, not without in- teresting associations, for some of us old fellows, the Julien House, with its antique gables, at the northwest corner of Milk and Congress streets, which was the dwelling-house of Mr. Caleť in 1760. Often have I dined, during my bachelor days, more than five and forty years ago, in that little room, under the portico gable. There is a resurrection of Maurice Brunswick and old Sal-
ly, before mc, as I write! Maurice, with his bald head and extraordinary forchead, bore no slight resemblance to John Quincy Adams. He was the engineer, the factotum of the establishment What stewed cels and ragouts! But the myste- ry "that hung over Willemburg's walls" was not more perplexing, than that, which enveloped some portion of the cuisinerie, as practised at this celebrated restaurant.
It was thought very strange, that, however out of season, yet, as a particular favor, rabbits and squirrels were to be had, at this establishment, all the year round. Maurice was occasionally teazed a little, for a solution of this mystery On common occasions, his gravity was proof, against the efforts of those, who put any such questions, for conscience sake, or otherwise. But there was a species of fun, which lay deeply bedded, in the subsoil of the fellow's heart, and which required nothing but heat and moisture, to bring it forth. When a little cozy, and in the presence of those, who he knew would work him no injury, Maurice, like some men of heavier metal, was liable to an épanchement de cœur ; and one day, when pressed, rather importunately, upon this vexed question, about rabbits and squirrels, he exclaimed, between irritation and merriment-"Vat for you care-plenty of clove, sage, peppaire, salt, all dat, plenty of de rich mush- room sauce-sarve him up vary hot-dem, if you know vat ish de cat, vat ish de rabbitt-vat ish de rut, rat ish de squirl !"
This is a digression, certainly-and the reader is at liberty to reject it, as surplussage.
Mr. Shaw's book never, I believe, proceeded to a second edition; and few copies of it arc to be found. Five years after the appearance of this work, Dr. Caleb II. Snow published his His- tory of Boston, with some account of its envi- rons, in one volume, a small octavo of some 400 pages. A second edition, but without any in- portant additions, appeared in 1828; and, not long before his deccase, he contemplated a third, with additions and corrections. The plan, which Dr. Snow proposes for the composition of this history of Boston, is set forth, in the preface. After stating that "the reader may expect to find in it some notice of the persecutions, which drove the first settlers of New England from their native conntry," &c., he says :
"In my own mind, our history divides itself into six principal epochs; the first terminating with the deaths of Winthrop and Cotton: the second with the loss of the old charter, and the reception of the new, in 1602: the third at the arrival of Gov. Bernard, in 1760: the fourth with the war of the Revolution, in 1753; the fifth with the adoption of the city charter; and the events that have occurred since that period, constituting the sixth, and last."
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It must be apparent, that, according to a writ- er's propensity and powers, for dilatation or com- pression, these materials may be condensed or expanded indefinitely. No ordinary skill and painstaking were required, to treat satisfactorily of these six epocha, in the compass of a small octavo volume, of some 400 pages, according a fair relative proportion of the whole to each par- ticular epoch. It is, therefore, in no way sur- prising, that some portions of the task are slight- ed, while others, trifling in their character, are treated with a disproportionate minuteness and prolixity. The second edition of this work con- tains sixty-six chapters, to every one of which the author has prefixed a few lines of poetry, or some selected passage, whose applicability is not always readily apprehended, by the reader. To the body of the work are subjoined an appendix and addenda. A work of this kind, comprehendl- ing a great number and variety of facts and inci- dents, is, as a work of reference, necessarily de- pendent, for its value, upon the fulness and pre- cision of its index. If deficient, in this impor- tant particular, it may be compared to a com- plicated lock, which the proprietor must con- sume his time, in the laborious process of pick- ing, for the want of a well adapted key. The in- dex, extending over two pages and a half only, is quite insufficient for a work of this nature.
Dr. Snow brought down his labors well nigh to the period of their publication, embracing what he is pleased to call his sixth epoch; and his work is the only existing history of Boston, from the earliest period, to the year 1848. It is embellisli- ed with a small map of Boston and its environs -a plan of Boston, in 1722, imperfectly copied, and with variations, from Jolin Bonners; and another, of Boston, in 1821-a very interesting South East view of Boston, by Kidder-a view of Johnson Hall, Court Square-Nahant Hotel, as it was-the Leverett street Almshouse-a South view of the several halls of Harvard Col- lege-the triangular warehouse-the old Franklin house, in Milk street-the Julien House-the N. E. view of Faneuil Hall-Liberty Tree and the house in rear-the old State House and State street-a view of Charlestown-the new State House-the Exchange Coffee House, built in 1SOS, and burnt in 1818-the Boston Theatre, in Federal street-the Insane Ilospital-the Mass General Hospital-the U. S. Branch Bank-the houses of Industry and Correction-the Last view of Faneuil Hall Market. These engravings are well executed, and add much to the inter- est of this volume, which claims to prolong the history of Boston, for eight and fifty years, after that period, at which the labors of Mr. Samuel G. Drake were suspended, that is from 1770 to 1828. SIGMA.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORIES OF BOS- TON. No. III. Next, in the order of time, are the labors of Mr. Samuel G. Drake, which, though not more than half completed, have al- ready assumed the form of a royal octavo voluine of 810 pages. The scope and design of Mr. Drake may, in some measure, be gathered, from the title of his work-"The History and Antiqui- ties of Boston, the Capital of Massachusetts, and · Metropolis of New England, from its settlement in 1630 to the year 1770. Also an Introductory His- tory of the discovery and settlement of New Eng- land, with notes critical and illustrative." The ag- gregate work bears the date of 1856; thoughi ap- pearing originally in numbers, the first of which was published in September, 1852. Mr. Drake, having been requested, by the proprietor of that work, to prepare a new edition of the History of Boston, by Dr. Snow, decided, after reflection, upon the present work, instead.
Most of the numbers, eighteen in all, we re- ceived, and read. as they appeared; and, within the last two months, we bave tauch the entire
volume in hand, more deliberately. To the original numbers the author has added an ap- pendix of thirty-four pages, and an index, alto- gether the most perfect thing of the kind we have ever met with, for a work of similar extent, covering sixty columns on twenty royal octavo pages. The value of an index in a work of this nature, in which the facts and incidents, and the names of inen, things, and places cannot more easily be numbered, than the hairs of the head, is incalculable. Whoever, with a jaded horse, upon a tiresome journey, has felt the want of a guide board, to indicate the path he should tale of several, that lie before him, may form some idea of the trials and vexations of a weary, liter- ary traveller, for the want of an ample and accu- rate index. Until the recent publication of an index to the first tifty volumes of Blackwood's Magazine, the recovery of some vaguely recol- lected article there has made it often necessary. to examine the particular indexes of many sep- arate volumes. Let us here thank the Lord, for pour into the book of our valued friend, Mr.
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William Frederick Poole, to prepare his valuable "Index to Periodieal Literature."
It is very natural for one, reading merely for amusement, to skim the pages of this account of the history and antiquities of Boston, without even a suspicion of the time and toil devoted to its preparation. But no individual, who has had any experience, however limited, in the matter of antiquarian research, can give to these labors of Mr. Drake a eandid examination, without promptly according to the author ample praise, for his untiring and successful industry. He has gathered together, and embodied in this volume, a prodigious amount of curious and interesting matter, bearing, more or less directly, upon the history and antiquities of Boston, and upon the discovery and settlement of New England.
Objections have been made to the size of this book. Certainly, it is not a pocket volume; and, to complete the work, another royal octavo, of some 800 pages, will probably be considered in- dispensable. Mr. Drake says, in his preface :
"The author has been earnestly urged, by nu- merous friends, to continue his work to the present time, and his inclination is to do so; but, as yet, no definite arrangement has been made, for that purpose. It may be said to be in the hands of the public. An immense outlay has been inade to produce the present volume, for which no adequate return has yet been real- ized. To bring the history down to near the present time, another voltune, of the same size as the present, would be required, the materials for which are abundant."
Assuming the price of the sceond volume to be the same as the price of the first, in numbers, the cost of the whole work would be some nine or ten dollars : and it remains to be seen, if there be enough of local pride, or interest in whatever re- lates to the place of our birth, or the home of our adoption, or of the genial spirit of patronage, or of a relish for historic and antiquarian treasures, to encourage the author of this work to pursue these meritorious, and eminently interesting, la- bors, to the end. Of one thing we are sufficiently assured, that, under existing circumstances, no man is better qualified for the completion of the task ;- his hand is in; and the facilities and ap- pliances are all around him, not only, in his own extensive library, particularly adapted to the work, but in a familiar acquaintance, the result of long, practical experience, with the avenues and sourees of information. We are not less as- sured of one other thing-that, having officially resolved to present a copy of the history of our eis-atlantie Boston, to the eity of Boston, beyond the sea, we can searccly he always satisfied, in our eonseienees, by sending our friends one half of it-nor unless, within a reasonable period, we forward the remainder.
The objections to the size of til work enporn to us unreasonable. We should be happy to travel some distance, in bad weather, to get a glimpse of so great a curiosity, as a book, that satisfied everybody, even in the length of it. It will certainly be found too long or too short, for_ somebody. The perusal of compendiums, abridg ments, abstracts, and epitomes, has ever appeared to us to resenible the process of travelling in tight boots. The work before us is emphatically a treasure-house of facts and incidents, and any one of those facts and incidents-any event, or circumstance, connected with the history of Bos- ton, or the early settlement of New England, may be found in this receptacle -- not by the laborious process of rumaging, among the countless ma- terials there; but by the aid of the admirable in- dex, to which we have referred. And, as the foot notes are very numerous, and the writer has cited his authorities, abundantly and carefully, the reader, who is desirous of making a more partienlar inquiry, can do so, readily.
A work of smaller compass, however it might satisfy some persons, would prove extremely unsatisfactory to others. It is a conceivable thing, that a pleasant writer-Daniel De Foe could have done it delightfully-might embody all the funny incidents, that have occurred, on this peninsula, and its environs, not forgetting Noddle's Island and Winesem t, since 1 0), and, with a judicious sprinkling of dates, knitting the whole together, by a suitable amount of -age observations, carefully distributed, and phdfish the aggregate, as a History of Beton in Ne England, at very small cost; and that per-o:s might readily be found, who would greatly pre- fer such a work to these labors of Mr. Drake. Nothing follows from this assumption, however, but that, in every community, there are peori. whose taste is frivolous and depraved; and whose intellectual stomachs have become dyspeptical, by surfeiting upon trash, until they can no longer tolerate a more substantial aliment.
It has been suggested, that, if Mr. Drake ha i commenced his work with the arrival of Iseir Johnson, on the penin ula, Sept. 7, O. S., 150; his work would have been shorter, by some one hundred pages. This is certainly true; but, though brevity is the soul of writ, it is neither the soul, nor the body, of history. We are not aware, that any historian has ever doubted the proprie- ty of dealing, to some extent, in such prelimin- ary matter, as seemed to constitute legitimer> inducement to the main subject of the history. Whether or not, while writing of original sin. it be necessary to commence with the fall of Adam, a knowledge of these cans s, which led our ancestors to leave the home of their father-,
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and cross the ocean, in search of a strange land, that knew not Joseph nor his kindred, cannot fail to be as interesting to their descendants, as any of those incidents, which befell them there, at any subsequent period of their pilgrimnage. When the work was in course of publication, and we could form no accurate idea of its entire scope, we had some misgivings, as to the pro- priety of all this precursive matter, about Cabot, and Cortereal, and Aubert, and Verazzain, and
Cartier, and Frobisher, and Drake, and Raleigh, and Gilbert, and Hakluyt, and Gosnold, and Pring, and Weymouth, and Smith : and, even now, that we see far less disproportion, between this preliminary matter and the entire mass, we doubt not, that this preparatory part might have been considerably abbreviated, without any ill effect upon the main body. We have more to say, in relation to these historical labors of Mr. Drake. SIGMA.
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORIES OF BOS- TON. No. IV. It is said, that there are errors in Mr. Drake's History of Boston. It would cer- tainly be very wonderful, if the first edition of such a work as this, comprising 810 pages, should be free from errors. It is the work of man-not of inspiration. No person, probably, is more sensible of the fact, that there are errors in the work, than the author himself. There is a pas- sage in the preface, admirably calculated to dis- arm all hostile criticism :
"As it respects the commission of errors, the anthor would expressly state, that he is well aware, that many exist in his work; and, that, however inany others may detect, he feels quite sure, that none can discover as many as himself. But at the same time, he believes his work to be quite as free from them, as any other historical work, of the same magnitude."
In this opinion, we believe he will be found to be correct; and that his work is quite as free from mistakes, as the average of historical works of equal extent. We even think it will be diffi- cult to find a first edition of any volume of 810 pages, abounding, like the present, in names and dates, so free from inaccuracies. We differ from Mr. Drake, in some particulars; but are quite ready to say, with Horace --
-ubi plura nitent -- non ego paucis Offendar maculis.
We all have an interest in rendering the histo- ry of Boston as accurate as possible. We can- not do a more gracious act, in this connection, than by noting any supposed inaccuracies, as we read, and placing our memoranda in the au- thor's hands. We feel confident, that he will be grateful for such attentions; and that, whenever he becomes satisfied that an error exists, lie will correct it, in a second edition, or by a table of corrigenda, appended to the second volume, of which, we trust, crelong, to witness the com- mencement.
The mass of curious and interesting matter, contained in the present volume, is very great, as
may be readily perceived, by any one, who will turn over its pages, even without a deliber- ate perusal : and, if there is any portion of the whole, which is not directly, or remotely, rele- vant to the subject matter, that portion is incon- siderable, and, in no case, devoid of interest.
The style of this work is easy, and unaffected. It is written, chiefly, after the diarial model, and with the year at the top of every page. For a work of this description, this method has ever seemed to us preferable to all others. The as- pect of the voluine is very acceptable; the paper is very good; and the type beautifully clear, and refreshing, to an old man's eyes. There are in this volume 30 engraved portraits of distinguisli- ed men and women-Samuel Adams, Belcher, Bradstreet, Burnett, Colman, Cooper, Cotton, Dudley, Gage, Hancock, Hutchinson, Mather, Mayhew, James Otis, King Philip, Prince, Shir- ley, Vane, Jolin Winthrop, and others. There are also 134 autographis of eminent persons; and 125 engravings, large and small. Prefixed to the volume, are two folding maps of Boston and its environs, engraved expressly for the work. Against page 655 is an interesting view of Bos- ton, from the sketch taken by Gov. Pownall from Castle William. The practice, adopted by the writer, of frequently employing the very words of his anthorities, is greatly to be commended. and enables the reader to go along with him, confidingly.
The history of a town may be supposed to be well and sufficiently written, when the writer has faithfully exhibited its origin and progress- its situation and boundaries-the number and names of its streets and public buildings-its population, trade, and manufactures-its muni cipal rule, and the more important events, which have occurred within its borders-some account of its religious sects and the principal inhabi- tants. Whoever supposes, that Mr. Drake Lis confined himself within these limits, will in l himself, if tinctured with the spirit of and long
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syne, agreeably surprised, by the store of mate- rials, which have been gathered together, relat- ing to the bygone days of our metropolis. This is not only a work, to be marked, learned, and inwardly digested, by adults; but, abounding, as it does, in interesting narratives, it is not easy to imagine a more suitable new year's gift, for a Boston boy, who has fairly passed the era of tops and marbles.
In his prefaec, Mr. Drake refers, with a slight tincture of bitterness, to the opposition he has encountered. Wholly unacquainted with the provocation, we cannot decide upon the justice of his remarks. He says :
"As unthankful and unprofitable, as the task of a local historian is, he cannot always escape the envy of sordid and narrow minds. Even John Stow, the famous chronicler of England, had his envious traducers; but it is pleasant to refleet, that, while their names are quite forgot- ten, that of Stow is becoming more and more re- nowned, and resplendent. Those, who monopo- lize all knowledge, seldom excel in any of its departments, though they may shine for a time with the borrowed lustre of others. ** ** * * The author of the History and Antiquities of Boston hopes to fare no worse than did his an- cient brother, the Chronicler of London, who had the privilege of dying in poverty, notwith- standing 'James by the grace of God' gave him high sounding 'Letters patent,' allowing hini, 'then on the verge of his 80th year,' to sell as many of his book's as he could!"
On the whole, we should not have been dis- pleased, had this passage been omitted. There are some things, which it does the flesh good to utter, but of which it cannot be said-hoc olim meminisse jurabit. Wc, probably, understand Mr. Drake, but some others may not; and this claim of fraternity with Jolin Stow may be thought to savor of vanity. In his peculiar prov- inee, Stow was a very great man. It is remarkable, withal, that Stow and Speed, who occupied thie first rank, as antiquaries, were both, originally, working tailors. Strype says, that Stow was 47 years collecting materials for the English Ilistory of which, at the time of his death, in 1605, being 80 years old, he meditated the publication. His first great work was the Summary of the Chron- ieles of England, which was re-printed, in black letter, in 1573. In 1600, he published his Annals,
from the time of the ancient Britons. Ilis Survey of London had already appeared, in quarto, in 1598. A second edition, considerably enlarged, appeared in 1603. After his death, a third edition appeared, in 1618, published by Anthony Mun- day, who professed to have spent twelve years, in its revision and enlargement. A fourth edi- tion appeared, in folio, in 1633. A fifth was pub- lished, under the supervision of Jolin Strype, in 1720, and a sixth, with continuations, in 1754. This last edition was in two volumes, folio, each containing about 800 pages.
John Stow was reduced, in his old age, to beg- gary. Contributions were made for his relief; and Chalmers says: "We may judge of the sum total collected, by what was gathered from the parishioners of St. Mary Wolnoth, which amounted to no more than seven shillings and six pence."
If such is the standard of value, for an anti- quary's services, well may Mr. Drake proclaim the task of a local historian to be "unthankful and unprofitable." Seven shillings and six- pence! May the magnificence of the parishion- ers of St. Mary Wolnoth go down to posterity, with the name of this poor old man, the time honored chronicler of London !
Ilow many of us squander daily, upon sense- less, and even vicious, indulgences, far more than the cost of "The History and Antiquities of Boston." Without encouragement, it is certain this valuable work must forever remain, as it is, a half completed history. And, when those, whose municipal name we bear, and to whom we have officially presented this moiety, interest- ed as we know they will be, by its perusal- when they expect the remainder, as they reason- ably may; we can only confess-there is not enough of interest among us, in the history and antiquities of our city, to encourage the author to finish the work-though God knows few peo- ple lavish more money, for the shortlived grati- fieation of their eyes and ears -- or in adorning their dwellings-or in exhibiting their wives and daughters, in monstrous envelopments of silks and satins, till they become, in homely, but sig- nifieant, phraseology-"sights to be scen."
SIGMIA.
COPY MIDT INDIA
HECKMAN BINDERY INC.
JUL 85
N. MANCHESTER,
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