USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Pembroke > Ancient landmarks of Pembroke > Part 11
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In January following, it was voted "to remove the stone wall north and east of the Burving Ground and a wall built of the same on the west, provided the Ladies composing the late Fair shall build a good and sufficient Fence north and east of said Burying Ground with stone posts and iron rails or a stone fence with split stones as shall be agreed by their agents." From the language of these resolutions we may infer that the great improvement of conditions dating from 1852, was due in its first instance to "the Ladies composing the late Fair." Concerning the details of this fair, History is silent, and tells us only that it was a triumphant success. A Fair paper was edited by the able hand of Pembroke's pion- eer journalist, Mrs. Nathaniel Smith; which numbered among its brightest jewels the following verse, composed by her brother, the late Luther Briggs, Junior :-
"Sometimes, when tired of tedious application,
I throw aside my pen for recreation,
And idly join the seeming-busy throng, That course the crowded streets with haste along : See gay-wrought baubles brought from foreign land, The fair production of some skilful hand, In showy postures ranged by salesman's art, Fools and their money speedily to part : See haughty belles with costly trinkets hung; With sparkling rings each lily finger clung ; Bedecked with raiment tinged with every hue From rich vermillion to more modest blue, Arranged with care as striving to outvie
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THE BURYING GROUND
The peacock's pride or gaudy butterfly; With head erect, or more affected gait, While supercilious beaux attendant wait, And soft attentions offer to the fair, And soft remarks proponnd with studied care- Till, tired at last of vanities like these, I turn my thoughts to native Mattakese,
Where 'Schoosett's' height with rugged slope as- cends :
Where lilied 'North' her crooked course extends Through semi-deluged plains, that bear a mass Of beauteous wild flowers and luxurious grass; Which, mowed and dried, some of much value hold, As pabulum for kine in winter's cold : Where 'Sebra's' groves o'erspread a varied field, And purple grapes in bounteous Autumn yield- Their spreading branches form a grateful shade When noontide heats of summer parch the glade : Or when stern Winter blows with rougher gale, Here school boy sportsmen trap the timid quail ; Or, scorning mother's fear, with rusty gun And shaggy dog, for swift-winged partridge run. Where Nature doth these rustic scenes unfold, Rich pleasures centre far more prized than gold : There fires burn brighter; kindlier skies above, And old acquaintance are, and friends I love. Let city sparks more self-conceited grow, And ridiculing shafts upon me throw ; Say 'Pembroke's set far off the kindred world, A parted fragment by some ruption hurled- Approached but by one solitary road, By mortals civilized but seldom trod.' Their haughty pride I always will defy : My pride is set on the Old Colony."
Later, a number of improvements were made by private enterprise, in pursuance of a vote of the Town, bearing date
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ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
1858, "to allow private persons to improve the Cemetery at their expense." In 1860 the Town's agent for the sale of lots was "authorized to expend money realized from that source, under direction of a Committee chosen by the proprietors of said lots." The Town seems to have had undisputed control of the premises since 1833 ; and we can regard only as a strange anomaly the following vote, passed by the First Parish in 1874: "Voted that the Association formed for the purpose of making improvements in the old Burying Ground be allowed to improve said old Burying Ground as they shall think best."
Owing to the exertions of the Reverend William Bicknell, minister of Pembroke from 1857 till 1861, the older portions of the cemetery were in those years given much attention, the slopes about the central glen graded and terraced, and pine trees planted in the arid soil. With the great access of interest dating from the institution of Memorial Day, the grounds have continued to improve in appearance. The graves of Civil War veterans have been marked, and kept fresh with flowers every spring; private enterprise has set in order the several lots; and yearly the yard is mowed and trimmed at public charge. It seems likely that those of the older stones which natural decay and Vandalism have left us, will continue legible and unbroken a long time yet.
It may prove interesting, for one reason or another, to quote a few of the nine hundred and fifty extant inscriptions. That of oldest date is the epitaph of a child of Isaac Thomas, buried beside her mother in a grave marked by a low, splin- tered, crumbling stone :
HERE LYES YE BODY OF MRS ANN THOMAS WIFE TO MR ISAAC THOMAS GENT SHE DYED MARCH YE 1 DAY 1722-3 AETATIS 33 YEARS 3 MONTHS
ANN THOMAS DYED AUGUST YE 28 DAY 1715 AGED 3 MONTHS & 6 DAYS
MARY THOMAS DYED OCTBR YE 13 DAY 1716 AGED 2 MONTHS & DAYS
CHILDREN OF ISAAC AND ANN THOMAS
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The next oldest known grave is marked by a stone-prob- ably the oldest in the yard -- yet more splintered and crumbling; and lies not far from the other, near the Allen inonument. It is that of William Tubbs, a town charge, who died 15 August, 1718, aged sixty-three years.
Near by is the grave of Isaac Thomas himself:
HIC IACET YE INTERRED BODY OF LEFTENAT ISAAC THOMAS GENT WHO DYED MARCH YE 16TH DAY 1731 AGED 49 YEARS AND THREE BABES BY ABIGIL HIS LAST WIFE
MRS. SARAH CUSHING YE UERTUOUS CON- SORT OF CAPTN NEHEMIAH CUSHING DIED JULY YE 6TH 1749 IN HAR 61ST YEAR. YE ME BEHOLD I AM MOLDERJNG JNTO DUST AS I AM NOW SO SERTAINLY YOU MUST WHEN THIS YOU SEE REMEMBER ME FOR I AM IN ETERNYTE
HERE LIES BURIED YE BODY OF YE REVD DANIEL LEWIS ORDIANED PASTER OF YE FIRST CHRUCH IN PEMBROKE DECEM YE 3: 1712 WHO DEPTD THIS LIFE JUNE YE 29: 1753 AETAT 68 YE MEMORY OF THE IUST IS PRECIOUS
IN MEMORY OF ASQUIR DANIEL LEWIS HE DIED JUNE YE 26TH 1759 IN YE 45TH YEAR OF HIS AGE
ERECTED IN MEMORY OF MR AARON SON TO MR AARON SOULE WHO DIED JULY YE 23: 1768 AGED 18 YEARS 7 MONTHS & 13 DAYS BUT E'ER MY RACE IS RUN IN STRENGTH AT GOD'S COMMAND DECAYS
HE HAS WHEN ALL MY WISHES BLOOMD CUT SHORT MY HOPEFULL DAYS
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ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
HERE LYES YE INTERRED BODY OF THE HONOURABLE ISAAC LITTEL ESQIR DYED FEBRUARY YE 2D 1758 JN YE 80TH YEAR OF HIS AGE
ERECTED IN MEMORY OF MISS REBEKAH DAUTR OF MR AARON SOULE WHO DYED MARCH YE 17TH 1783 AGED 48 YEARS TOUCHED WITH A SYMPATHY WITHIN
HE KNOWS OUR FEEBLE FRAME HE KNOWS WHAT SORE CONTENTIONS MEAN FOR HE HAS FELT THE SAME
ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THE REVD THOMAS SMITH PASTOR OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST IN PEMBROKE HE DIED JULY 7: 1788 IN HIS 83RD YEAR
ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THE HON. JOSIAH SMITH ESQ LATE MEMBER OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES WHO DIED APRIL 4: 1803 AGED 66 YEARES
TO THEE EACH SOUL THE WARM OBLATION PAYS WITH TREMBLING ARDOUR OF UNEQUAL PRAISE AS THROUGH THIS THORNY VALE OF LIFE WE RUN
GREAT CAUSE OF ALL EFFECTS THY WILL BE DONE
HERE LYES THE REMAINS OF MRS MARY DUNSTER RELICT OF THE REVD ISAIAH DUNSTER OF HARWICH SHE DIED DECEM- BER 23: 1796 IN HAR 62 YEAR
SHE THRO LIFE WITH EQUAL ARDOUR STROVE TO TASTE THE SWEETS OF FRIENDSHIP AND OF LOVE
WITH MUTUAL WARMTII UNWELCOME CARES BEGUILD
AND WEPT TOGETHER AND TOGETHER SMILD
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THE BURYING GROUND
THE ENTERRD REMAINS OF MR JEREMIAH YE SON OF DOCTR JEREMIAH HALL HE DIED YE 4 OF JANUARY 1776 IN YE 1?THE YEAR OF HIS AGE IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY OP- POSEING THE TYRANNY OF BRITAIN AND BRITAIN'S TYRANT
.
IN MEMORY OF DR. JEREMIAH HALL WHO DIED OCTOBER YE 1ST 1807 AGED 85 YEARS IN THE COLD MANSION OF THE SILENT TOMB HOW STILL THE SOLITUDE HOW DEEP THE GLOOM
HERE SLEEPS THE DUST UNCONSCIOUS CLOSE CONFIND
BUT FAR FAR DISTANT DWELLS THE IMMORTAL MIND
IN MEMORY OF MRS SARAH WHO DIED DECBR 18: 1792 AGED 34 YEARS AND MRS LYDIA WHO DIED JANRY 7: 1824 AGED 62 YEARS WIVES OF DEACN GIDEON T WHITE
THOUGH VALUED FRIENDS IN DEATH REPOSE THE AGED AND THE YOUNG
THE WATCHFUL EYES IN DARKNESS CLOSD AND MUTE TH' INSTRUCTIVE TONGUE YET OUR ALMIGHTY FRIEND SURVIVES NEW COMFORT TO IMPART
HIS PROMISED PRESENCE TOO REVIVES AND ANIMATES THE HEART
IN MEMORY OF MISS RUTH CHAPMAN DAUGH- TER OF MR. JOHN CHAPMAN WHO DIED JULY 12TH 1793 IN HER 27 YEAR BENEATH THIS STONE IN SACRED SLEEP THE REMAINS OF RUTH LIES
WHOSE CHARACTER WILL BEST APPEAR WHEN SHE AGAIN SHALL RISE
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ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
MEMENTO MORI: HERE LYE YE REMAINS OF CAPT THOMAS TURNER WHO DIED JANRY YE 26 DAY 1795 IN THE 83 YEAR OF HIS AGE AN HONEST MAN'S THE NOBLEST WORK OF GOD
IN MEMORY OF MISS ABIGAIL JOSSELYN DAUGHTER OF MR. HENRY JOSSELYN WHO DIED MARCH 5: 1806 AGED 36 YEARS A SOUL PREPARED NEEDS NO DELAYS THE SUMMONS COMES THE SAINT OBEYS SWIFT WAS HER FLIGHT & SHORT THE ROAD SHE CLOSD HER EYES AND SAW HER GOD
ERECTED IN MEMORY OF MR ADAM FOORD WHO WAS BORN IN PEMBROKE NOVR 8THE OLD STILE 1723 AND DIED WORN OUT WITH AGE JUNE 11TH 1802 AGED 78 YEARS
OUR AGE TO SEVENTY YEARS IS SET HOW SHORT THE TERM HOW FRAIL THE STATE! AND IF TO EIGHTY WE ARRIVE
WE RATHER SIGH AND GROAN THAN LIVE
IN MEMORY OF MRS DEBORAH WIFE TO MR ISAAC DRAKE WITH HER INFANT SON ON HER ARM WHO DIED OCTOBER 23: 1800 AGED 21 YEARS
YE MIDDLE AGE COME HEAR MY DOOM
MY MORNING SUN HAS SUNK AT NOON
SURVIVING FRIENDS DONT MOURN FOR ME MY SOUL IS IN ETERNITY
I WAS BROUGHT FORTH INTO A WORLD OF PAIN BUT IN SHORT TIME WAS CALLED BACK AGAIN TO SLEEP WITH HER WHO GAVE ME BIRTH AT FIRST
AND IN MY MOTHER'S ARMS RETURN TO DUST
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THE BURYING GROUND
IN MEMORY OF MISS DEBBY LITTLE WHO DIED IN ROCHESTER NOVR 7: 1819 AGED 20 YEARS
DEATH THE DREAD SOVREIGN OF THE HUMAN RACE
ALLOTS HIS SUBJECTS EACH THEIR DWELLING PLACE
NOR AGE NOR VIRTUE NOR ALL EARTHLY CHARMS
CAN FIND A REFUGE FROM THE TYRANT'S ARMS THO FRIENDS ARE ABSENT YET THEYRE LEFT TO MOURN
THE LOVELY CION FROM THEIR BOSOM TORN BUT STILL THE CHEERING PROMISE THEY RE- TAIN
THAT FRIENDS THO SEVERD ONCE SHALL MEET AGAIN
NATHANIEL SON TO MR CHARLES LITTLE DIED OCTBR 1: 1804 IN HIS 3RD YEAR SO FADES THE LOVELY BLOOMING FLOWR FRAIL SMILING SOLACE OF AN HOUR SO SWIFT OUR TRANSIENT COMFORTS FLY AND PLEASURE ONLY BLOOMS TO DIE
IN MEMORY OF MR WILLIAM CUSHING WHO DIED JANRY 4: 1825 AGED 74 YEARS BE LIKE A CENTINEL KEEP ON YOUR GUARD ALL EYE ALL EAR ALL EXPECTATION OF THE COMING FOE
MRS RUTH WIFE TO HORACE HALL DIED JULY 20: 1838 AETATIS 32 YEARS NO MORE FATIGUE NO MORE DISTRESS NOR SIN NOR DEATH SHALL REACH THE PLACE NOR GROANS SHALL MINGLE WITH THE SONGS THAT WARBLE FROM IMMORTAL TONGUES
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IN MEMORY OF MR SENECA LORING WHO DIED IN PEMBROKE MAY 25TH 1847 AETATIS 61
WHAT THO WE WADE IN WEALTH OR SOAR IN FAME
EARTH'S HIGHEST STATION ENDS IN HERE HE LIES AND DUST TO DUST CONCLUDES HER NOBLEST SONG
EDWARD BATES DIED JULY 10: 1864 AGED 83 YEARS
I WOULD NOT HAVE PROUD MARBLE PILED ABOVE MY GRASSY BED
ONE SIMPLE STONE TO MARK THE SPOT AND ONE TO WEEP ME DEAD
IN MEMORY OF MELICENT DAUGHTER OF MR MATTHEW PARRIS WHO WAS DROWNED FEBRY 5THE 1795 IN THE 12THE YEAR OF HER AGE MANY ARE THE SHAPES OF DEATH MANY THE WAYS THAT LEAD TO HIS GRIM CAVE ALL DREADFUL
IN MEMORY OF MISS SUSANNA JACOB SHE DIED JANRY YE 1ST 1794 IN HER 62D YEAR THO UNESPOUSED IN EARTH WE LY YET IF ESPOUSED TO CHRIST WE DIE NO MORTAL JOYS COULD ORE COMPARE THE FINISHED JOYS THAT CENTERS THERE IN GLORY CHRIST UNITES THE JUST THO DISTANT GRAVE DIVIDE THE DUST
A copy was made, several years ago, of all the then extant inscriptions ; this can be consulted, through the Town Clerk, by persons wishing to discover any particular stone.
There are in the old burying-ground many graves of Rev-
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THE BURYING GROUND
olutionary soldiers, now lying without mark or distinction of any kind. In neighboring towns such graves have received the notice due them, and a bronze marker there shows the resting-place of each veteran of the War for Independence. At small expense, similar markers might be placed in all our cemeteries ; where now only graves of Civil War veterans are so designated. This duty Pembroke has yet to fulfil.
"Go to yonder church-yard," said Doctor Francis Collamore, "and read history there." God's Acre is the last earthly dwelling of all our neighbours and friends. Each season brings it a richer harvest of them from the highways and by-ways of the town. A year is not now past since it took into its bosom the body of him that had been its lifelong caretaker. One saying is often heard from the lips of aged people : "More of my friends are in the Burying Ground than are left outside." Although we may never come to esteem a walk through its winding paths and grass-grown avenues-in the words of Judge Sewall-"an awfull yet pleasing Treat ;" the sight of its memorials to our dear and honoured friends may remind us more of what was gained in their lives than of what was lost in their deaths, and bring us out from the gateway feeling that we have been compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses.
-
"We tread the paths their feet have worn, We sit beneath their orchard trees,
We hear, like them, the hum of bees And rustle of the bladed corn ;
We turn the pages that they read, Their written words we linger o'er,
But in the sun they cast no shade, No voice is heard, no sign is made, No step is on the conscious floor ! Yet Love will dream, and Faith will trust, (Since He who knows our need is just,) That somehow, somewhere, meet we must. Alas for him who never sees
The stars shine through his cypress-trees !
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ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
Who, hopeless, lays his dead away, Nor looks to see the breaking day Across the mournful marbles play ! Who hath not learned, in hours of faith, The truth to flesh and sense unknown, That Life is ever lord of Death,
And Love can never lose its own !"
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5
P
Henry Baker 1827 - 1907
The Town Clock and Its Neighbors.
In the market-place of Bruges stands the belfry old and brown;
Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town.
E VERY year sees the passing of some old and obsolete custom. Time was when the Bell performed a real service for the village by advertising the hour of a public meeting. Clocks and watches are general now, and every man lives thereby a law unto himself: and at the present day, there are not wanting persons to term the Bell and all its works a relic of the Middle Ages; which ought long since to have gone the way of conch and drum, their prede- cessors. Some of us may live to see the sonorous tongue put to silence; and the belfry become a haunt of proverbial bats and owls, and the ghosts of the ancient bell-ringers. Let us hope that the fine old custom will never be done away with; that in Pembroke we may still hear, across the quiet valleys, her sexton
"Ringing the village bell When the evening sun is low."
It was the belfry of the second Meeting House that Isaac Thomas agreed to "Cullor" with Spanish brown and oil. In 1763 that Meeting House boasted a "Spier," on the square part of which a "Walk" existed. This structure was, doubtless, provided with a bell; for in 1793-while it was still standing, although in a ruinous condition-the Parish
ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
voted "to build a porch or tower at one end of the Meeting House sufficient to fix or hang a bell on with a Cupola to the Same." The vote was speedily rescinded. From 1792 on, the Parish seriously considered removing the steeple; it was finally taken down in the spring of 1805. It was not replaced until the building of the present Meeting House; which in its large square belfry-the highest eminence in town-re- ceived the new bell. While ringing for a fire in Marshfield woods, during the summer of 1839, this was badly cracked : and accordingly, made room for another. The old bell, Mr. Baker once told me, rang just on A; its successor falling a little flat.
Early in 1838, the Town-acting on the article "To see if the Town will pay a stipulated sum for having the Bell rung for public meetings and tolled for deaths and at the burial of all persons in town when information shall be given and the service required" -- voted to pay a sum not exceeding $20 in each year for ringing and tolling the bell. Notice of a death was regularly given at sunrise following its occurrence. Every such notice had three divisions : attention was attracted by a succession of slow, measured strokes ; after a long pause, three strokes, twice three, or thrice three sounded, according as the deceased were child, woman, or man; last of all was rung the age. The practice of tolling, once universal, gradually fell out of favour; and has long since been discon- tinued. I do not myself remember ever hearing the bell rung for any occasion other than a fire, or a meeting of citizens. The old way of paying public tribute to friends and neigh- bours lost from the village, was a good one; and ought to be restored.
With the bell came the Town Clock. According to a tradition which has never been contradicted, this was presen- ted to the Town by the Reverend Morrill Allen, on condition that they keep it in repair. It was the work of Aaron Willard of Boston: and though badly shaken up in 1893, still gives its neighbors the standard time; thanks to the skill and devotion of its late caretaker. The stroke of lightning which,
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THE TOWN CLOCK AND ITS NEIGHBORS
on the eighth of April in that year, rent the belfry, scattered the venerable Town Clock to all the winds of heaven. At first repair was thought unadvisable, or even impossible. By the request of Mr. George Allen of Scituate, who wished his grandfather's gift perpetuated, Mr. Baker was induced to attempt a reconstruction -- for his work amounted to that. A large number of pieces taken as souvenirs had to be called in: it is said that some parts of the dial were found in Bridgewater. The expense of this repair was generously borne by Mr. Allen.
The first outlay made by the Town on its Clock was voted in 1852: the report of the "Commissioner to improve the Town Clock," dated 1854, names a bill of $24.51; which was allowed. The charge for running the Clock was, until 1854, paid by the First Parish, in whose Meeting House it stood. In that year the Parish voted "that Nathan Simmons take care of the Meeting House, Clock, Bell &c. for five dollars in addition to twenty that the Town pay." Since then, the Town has regularly borne the expense of running, as well as of repair. Until 1862, the Parish annually chose the care- taker. In 1861 occurs the last record of such choice. But it is probable that the Parish continued to act as the Town's agent in this matter, and that sextonship of the Church was understood to include care of the Clock ; until the long tenure by Mr. Baker of several offices, had quite obscured the dis- tinction between them. From 1878 till 1907, he was annually elected sexton by the Town, and had charge of the Town Clock. He held no other office continuously during that time, and was never expressly elected or appointed to the caretaker- ship. From these facts it is inferred that he ran the Clock as town sexton.
The last chapter of the Clock's history has proved to be of permanent interest, and finds its place here. Mr. Baker's death occurred 7 June, 1907. The Selectmen, on whom devolved the duty of appointing his successor, questioned not only his status as a town officer, but also the Town's owner- ship of the Clock. Towns are not expressly impowered to
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ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
choose a sexton, nor are the duties of such an officer prescribed by law. In the absence of any agreement to the contrary, the attachment of the Clock to the Meeting House had caused it to become a part of the realty, and, therefore, property of the First Parish. Since that society did not press its claim, a waiver was prepared, and by the Parish ordered to be signed by their Committee : together with grants of a right of location and a right of entry to the premises leased. These instruments were. on August tenth, executed and delivered to the Selectmen ; who appointed Mr. Frank G. Crafts to succeed Mr. Baker as caretaker of the Town Clock. The Selectmen incurred much adverse criticism through their delay in getting the Clock started: it is but just that the Town recognize the decisive results obtained by their in- vestigation of its title.
In a paper concerned with time-keepers, a statement of certain differences between the old and the new methods --- or "styles"-of reckoning time, may not be out of order. England, always conservative, was far slower than the Continent in adopting Gregory's calendar ; and her practice was followed throughout her American colonies. Until 1752, their calendar was not only eleven full days behind the solar year, but also preserved the ancient practice of beginning the legal year on 25 March.
Since the year was popularly held to begin on 1 January, there was in use a system of "double-dating:" which affixed to every day from 1 January to 24 March inclusive the signs of both the immediately preceding popular, and the imme- diately succeeding legal years. Old Style was abolished in 1751. The legal year 1752 was the first to begin on 1 January ; and the day immediately following 2 September, 1752, was reckoned as the fourteenth. The incorporation of Pembroke occurred on the twenty-first of March, Old Style ; or on the first of April, New Style: in the year 1711-1712, being the legal year 1711, and the popular year 1712.
A difference in practice equally apt to cause confusion, is that which existed with regard to the currency of Massachu-
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THE TOWN CLOCK AND ITS NEIGHBORS
setts during the eighteenth century. Before 1750 there was no legal tender. The New England Shilling of the seventeenth century had been on a par with the sterling; the celebrated Willow, Oak, and Pine-tree Shillings-coined by Massachusetts in 1652, and for thirty years after-had been set at a value equal to eighteen cents of our money : all these issues were still current as money of commerce, not to speak of miscellaneous bills of credit emitted by the Province. In 1702 the General Court appointed a definite form in which such bills should be issued :
"No .- 20 sh.
This indented bill of twenty shillings, due from the province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, to the possessor thereof, shall be in value equal to money; and shall be accordingly accepted by the treasurer and receivers subordin- ate to him, in all publick payments, and for any stock at any time in the treasury.
By order of the Great and General Court."
The bills were used for payment of Province debts, and afforded a means of anticipating taxes very liable to abuse. Every issue of bills ought to have been supported by a tax of equal amount. From their first emission in 1690-on the occasion of Phips's expedition to Canada-until 1704, the bills were promptly so redeemed. Beginning with that year, the Court often yielded to temptation, and made its issue larger than its tax; with the result that the credit of the Province became impaired. and its bills depreciated in value. Their general form, or "tenour," also -- especially the guaran- tee, which made the bill "in value equal to money"-proved far too indefinite ; and was eventually superseded by another, in pursuance of an act passed 4 February 1736-7:
"Twenty Shillings
Twenty Shillings
This bill of twenty shillings, due from the province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, to the possessor thereof, shall be in value equal to three ounces of coined silver, Troy weight, of sterling alloy, or gold coin at the rate of four pounds eighteen shillings per ounce ; and shall be accordingly
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ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF PEMBROKE
accepted by the treasurer and receivers subordinate to him in all payments. .and for any stock at any time in the treasury.
By order of the Great and General Court."
By this act, all bills of the earlier form became Old Tenour. Of the New 'Tenour, £9000 was issued at once, in notes of denominations ranging from tenpence to forty shillings ; and to float this issue, a tax of equal amount was levied. Some of the quotas follow :
Abington 19: 13: 0
Boston 1620: 0: 0
Bridgewater 101: 6: 6
Duxbury 33 : 2: 3 Halifax 19: 2: 6 Hanover 28: 3: 3
Marshfield 61: 18: 3
Middleboro 69: 14:3 Pembroke 33: 2: 3 Plymouth 87: 9: 0 Plympton 39: 6: 0
The tax was payable: in bills of the new tenour; or of the old tenour, in the proportion of three to one; or in coined silver, at 6 : 8 per ounce; or in gold coin, at £4:18 per ounce; or in hemp, at fourpence the pound ; or in flax, at sixpence. Five years later, the legislature again sought to steady the currency, by establishing still another form of bill; which varied from the last only in the clause "and shall be so accepted in all payments, and in the treasury." This form accordingly became New Tenour : the earlier forms were now Old and Middle Tenours. The value of money, however, continued to fluctuate until, in January of 1748-9, a standard or legal tender was fixed; of which six shillings and eight pence were equal to one ounce of silver. It was ordered that all contracts made after 31 March, 1750, should be understood as if made in lawful money. The Tenours, however, remained current during some years after 1750; for in 1752 there was out, of the Old, Middle, and New Tenours, £4756, £2131, and £49729, respectively.
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