USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, from its origin to the present period; with some account of the environs > Part 25
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Another vote unanimously obtained, That in testimony of the town's gratitude to Peter Faneuil, Esq. and to perpetuate his memory, that the Hall over the Market place, be named Faneuil Hall, and at all times hereafter, be called and known by that name. And as a further testimony of respect, it was voted, that Mr. Faneuil's picture be drawn at full length, at the expense of the town, and placed in the Hall; and the Selectmen were charged with the commission, which was ac- cordingly executed.
The building was of brick, two stories in height, and meas- ured 100 ft. by 40. It was esteemed one of the best pieces of workmanship and an ornament to the town. The hall would contain 1000 persons, there were convenient apartments
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. HISTORY OF BOSTON.
for the offices of the town, besides a room for a naval office, and a notary publick.
Mr. Faneuil did not long survive to enjoy these honours or the gratitude of his townsmen. 'The town lost its friend by a sudden and premature death, March 3, 1743 ; and at the next meeting of the inhabitants in the hall, March 14th, a funeral oration was delivered by Mr. John Lovell, master of the South grammar school. As the first specimen of eloquence uttered in the future Cradle of Liberty, this oration is a prec- ious relick : to preserve it is, moreover, a tribute due to the memory of Faneuil, and we therefore subjoin it to this account .*
FUNERAL ORATION ON PETER FANEUIL, ESQ.
' I stand in this place, my fellow townsmen, and my worthy patrons, at the call of those to whom you have committed the direction of your publick affairs, to condole with you for the loss of your late generous benefactor, the Founder of this house. Certain I am, there are numbers in this great assem- bly, who should upon this occasion have done more justice to his memory, and have better discharg'd the office that is en- joined me. But the commands of those (for such I must al- ways esteem their desires) who have devolved this charge upon me, and the veneration I have for the virtues of the de- ceas'd, oblige me to bear what little part I can, in a grateful acknowledgment of the just reward due to the memory of a man, whose name, I am sure, will never be forgotten among us.
' How soon, alas ! is our joy for having found such a bene- factor, chang'd into mourning for the loss of him ! But a few months are pass'd, since we were framing votes, and consult- ing the best measures to express our gratitude for his unexam- pled favours ; and the first annual meeting within these walls that were rais'd by his bounty, finds us assembled in the deepest sorrow for his decease.
' Instances of mortality are never more affecting than in those whose lives have been publick blessings. Surely then, every breast must feel a more than common distress, for' the loss of one, whose largeness of heart equalled, great as it was, his power to do good. Honest industry must mourn, for which the exercise of his bounty found an almost constant employment : And they that know how to pity the calami- ties of human nature themselves, will mourn for him that al- ways reliev'd them.
. * March 14, 1744, the town voted to purchase the Faneuil arms, elegantly carved and gilt, by Moses Deslion, to be fixed in the hall. The family of Faneuil was among the French Huguenots that fled from France in 1685. The house occupied by Lieut. Gov. Phillips was built by Andrew F. and the summer-house attached to it bears a grasshopper vane, similar to that on Faneuil Hall. After A's death Peter lived and died there.
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' So soon as he arriv'd to the possession of his large and plentiful estate, instead of fruitlessly hoarding up his treas- ures, though no man manag'd his affairs with greater prudence and industry ; instead of wasting them in luxury, though plenty always crown'd his board ; instead of neglecting the wants of his fellow creatures, an unhappy circumstance too often attending the possession of riches, he made it manifest that he understood the true improvement of wealth, and was determin'd to pursue it. It was to him the highest enjoyment of riches, to relieve the wants of the needy, from which he was himself exempted, to see mankind rejoicing in the fruits of his bounty, and to feel that divine satisfaction, which re- sults from communicating happiness to others. His acts of charity were so secret and unbounded, that none but they who were the objects of it, can compute the sums which he annually distributed among them. His alms flow'd like a fruitful river, that diffuses its streams through a whole country. He fed the hungry, and he cloth'd the naked, he comforted the fatherless, and the widows in their affliction, and his bounties visited the prisoner. So that Almighty God in giving riches to this man, seems to have scattered blessings all abroad among the people.
' But these private charities were not the only effects of his publick spirit, which, not contented with distributing his bene- factions to private families, extended them to the whole com- munity. Let this stately edifice which bears his name wit- ness for him, what sums he expended in publick munificence. This building, erected by him at an immense charge, for the convenience and ornament of the town, is incomparably the greatest benefaction ever yet known to our western shore. Yet this effect of his bounty, however great, is but the first fruits of his generosity, a pledge of what his heart, always devising liberal things, would have done for us, had his life been spar'd. It is an unspeakable loss to the town, that he was taken away in the midst of his days, and in so sudden a man- ner, as to prevent his making provision for what his generous heart might design. For I am well assur'd, from those who were acquainted with his purposes, that he had many more blessings in store for us, had heaven prolong'd his days.
' But he is gone ! The town's benefactor, the comforter of the distress'd, and the poor man's friend.
' He is gone ! And all his plans of future bounties with him, they are buried in the grave together. He shall be rai- sed to life again : And his intended charities, though they are lost to us, will not be lost to him. Designs of goodness and mercy, prevented as these were, will meet with the reward of actions.
' He is gone !- And must such men die ! Must the protect- ors and fathers of the distress'd be taken away, while their
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oppressors' are continued, and increase in power !- Great God ! How unsearchable are thy ways !- We confess our sins, but just and righteous art thou !
' To express your gratitude to your generous benefactor, you have passed the most honourable resolves, and to pre- serve his memory, you have call'd this house by his name. But in vain, alas ! would you perpetuate his memory by such frail materials. These walls, the present monuments of his fame, shall moulder into dust : These foundations, however deeply laid, shall be forgotten. But his deeds, his charities, shall survive the ruin of Nature. And to have reliev'd the miseries of the distress'd, to have still'd the cries of orphans, and to have dry'd the widow's tears, are acts that shall em- balm his memory for many generations on earth, and shall follow him beyond the limits of mortality, into those blissful regions where endless charity dwells.
' What now remains, but my ardent wishes (in which I know you will all concur with me) that this Hall may be ev- er sacred to the interests of Truth, of Justice, of Loyalty, of Honour, of Liberty. May no private views nor party broils ever enter within these walls ; but may the same publick spir- it that glow'd in the breast of the generous Founder, influence all your debates, that society may reap the benefit of them.
'May Liberty always spread its joyful wings over this place : Liberty that opens men's hearts to beneficence, and gives the relish to those who enjoy the effects of it. And may Loyalty to a king, under whom we enjoy this liberty, ever remain our character. A character always justly due to this land, and of which our enemies have in vain attempt- ed to rob us.
'May those who are the inheritors of the large estate of our deceased benefactor, inherit likewise the largeness of his soul. May the widow, the orphan, and the helpless, find in them a protector, a father and a support. In a word, to sum up all, may Faneuil live in them.
'May charity, that most excellent of graces, that beam from the breast of the Father of Mercies, which so soon as ever it enters our bosoms it begins our happiness ; charity, the joy of men, of angels, of Almighty God ; which com- pletes the felicity of earth and heaven; may it warm the hearts of those who are like to our departed friend in their fortunes, to resemble him too in his bounties : May there be rais'd up some new benefactors in the room of him we have lost, who shall, if possible, rival Faneuil's spirit. And may there always remain in this town, the same grateful sen- timents, the same virtuous dispositions, to remember their ben- efactors with honour.'
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HISTORY OF BOSTON,
CHAPTER XLII.
" He rights such wrong where it is given, If it were in the court of heaven."
IN the year 1747 there happened a serious tumult in Bos- ton. A fleet of men of war were lying in the harbour of Nantasket, under the command of Commodore Knowles. Some of the sailors having deserted, the commodore thought it reasonable that Boston should supply him with as many men as he had lost, and sent his boats up to town early in the morning of Nov. 17th, 'and surprised not only as many seamen as could be found on board any of the ships, outward bound as well as others, but swept the wharves also, taking some ship-carpenters' apprentices and labouring land-men. However tolerable such a surprise might have been in Lon- don, it could not be borne here. The people had not been used to it, and men of all orders resented it ; but the lower class were beyond measure enraged, and soon assembled · with sticks, clubs, pitchmops, &c. They first seized an inno- cent lieutenant, who happened to be ashore upon other busi- ness. They had then formed no scheme, and the speaker of the House [afterwards Gov. Hutchinson] passing by, and assuring them that he knew that the lieutenant had no hand in the press, they suffered him to be led off to a place of safety. The mob increasing, and having received intelligence that several of the commanders were at the Gov. [Shirley's] house, it was agreed to go and demand satisfaction. The house was soon surrounded, and the court or yard before the house, fil- led ; but many persons of discretion inserted themselves, and prevailed so far as to prevent the mob from entering. Sever- al of the officers had planted themselves at the head of the stair-way with loaded carbines, and seemed determined to preserve their liberty or lose their lives. A deputy sheriff attempting to exercise his authority, was seized by the mob and carried away in triumph and set in the stocks, which af- forded them diversion, and tended to abate their rage, and disposed them to separate and go to dinner.'
'.As soon as it was dusk, several thousand people assem- bled in King-street, below the town-house, where the gener- al court was sitting. Stones and brickbats were thrown through the glass into the council chamber. The governour, however, with several gentlemen of the council and house, ventured into the balcony, and after silence was obtained.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
the governour in a well-judged speech expressed his great dis- approbation of the impress, and promised his utmost endea- vours to obtain the discharge of every one of the inhabitants, and at the same time gently reproved the irregular proceed- ings both of the forenoon and evening. Other gentlemen also attempted to persuade the people to disperse, and wait to see what steps the general court would take. All was to no pur- pose. The seizure and restraint of the commanders and oth- er officers who were in town, was insisted upon as the only effectual method to procure the release of the inhabitants aboard the ships.
' It was thought advisable for the governour to withdraw to his house, many of the officers of the militia and other gentle- men attended him. A report was raised, that a barge from one of the ships was come to a wharf in the town. The mob flew to seize it, but by mistake took a boat belonging to a Scotch ship, and dragged it, with as much seeming ease through the streets as if it had been in the water, to the gov- ernour's house, and prepared to burn it before the house ; but from a consideration of the danger of setting the town on fire, were diverted, and the boat was burned in a place of less hazard. The next day the governour ordered that the milita- ry officers of Boston should cause their companies to be mus- tered, and to appear in arms, and that a military watch should be kept the succeeding night ; but the drummers were interrupt- ed, and the militia refused to appear. The governour did not think it for his honour to remain in town another night, and privately withdrew to the castle. A number of gentlemen who had some intimation of his design, sent a message to him by Colonel Hutchinson, assuring him they would stand by him in maintaining the authority of government and restor- ing peace and order, but he did not think this sufficient.
' The governour wrote to Mr. Knowles, representing the confusions occasioned by this extravagant act of his officers ; but he refused all terms of accommodation until the command- ers and other officers on shore were suffered to go on board their ships, and he threatened to bring up his ships and bombard the town, and some of them coming to sail, caused different conjectures of his real intention. Captain Erskine, of the Canterbury, had been seized at the house of Colonel Brinley in Roxbury, and given his parole not to go abroad, and divers inferior officers had been secured.
The 17th, 18th, and part of the 19th, the council and house of representatives, sitting in the town, went on with their ordi- nary business, not willing to interpose lest they should encourage other commanders of the navy to future acts of the like nature ; but towards noon of the 19th, some of the principal members of the house began to think more seriously of the dangerous
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consequences of leaving the governour without support, when there was not the least ground of exception to his conduct. Some high spirits in the town began to question whether his retiring should be deemed a desertion or abdication. It was moved to appoint a committee of the two houses to consider what was proper to be done. This would take time, and was excepted to, and the speaker was desired to draw up such resolves as it was thought necessary the house should imme- diately agree to, and they were passed by a considerable majority, and made publick.
' In the house of representatives, Nov. 19th, 1747.
' Resolved-that there has been and still continues, a tumul- tuous, riotous assembling of armed seamen, servants, negroes, and others in the town of Boston, tending to the destruction of all government and order.
' Resolved-that it is incumbent on the civil and military officers in the Province to exert themselves to the utmost, to discourage and suppress all such tumultuous, riotous proceed- ings, whensoever they may happen.
' Resolved-that this house will stand by and support with their lives and estates His Ex. the governour and the execu- tive part of the government in all endeavours for this purpose.
' Resolved-that this house will exert themselves by all ways and means possible in redressing such grievances as his majes- ty's subjects are and have been under, which may have been the cause of the aforesaid tumultuous, disorderly assembling together. T. Hutchinson, Speaker.'
' The council passed a vote, ordering that Capt. Erskine, and all other officers belonging to his majesty's ships, should be forthwith set at liberty and protected by the government, which was concurred by the house. As soon as these votes were known, the tumultuous spirit began to subside. The in- habitants of the town of Boston assembled in town meeting in the afternoon, having been notified, to consider, in general, what was proper for them to do upon this occasion, and not- withstanding it was urged by many that all measures to sup- press the present spirit in the people would tend to encourage the like oppressive acts for the future, yet the contrary party prevailed, and the town, although they expressed their sense of the great insult and injury by the impress, condemned the tumultuous, riotous acts of such as had insulted the governour and the other branches of the legislature, and committed many other heinous offences.
' The governour, not expecting so favourable a turn, had written to the secretary to prepare orders for the colonels of the regiments of Cambridge, Roxbury, and Milton, and the regiment of horse, to have their officers and men ready to march at an hour's warning, to such place of rendezvous as
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KISTORY OF BOSTON-
he should direct ; but the next day there was an uncommon appearance of the militia of the town of Boston, many persons taking their muskets who never carried one upon any other occasion, and the governour was conducted to his house with as great parade as when he first assumed the government. The commodore* dismissed most, if not all, of the inhabitants who had been impressed, and the squadron sailed, to the joy of the rest of the town.'
On the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 9, of the same year, the Town house was discovered to be on fire, and the whole interior of it was consumed. The legislature was in session, and made particular inquiry into the occasion of the disaster : they ascertained to the satisfaction of the House, that the fire proceeded from the wood-work under the hearth. The se- lectmen immediately offered the use of Faneuil-Hall, but the court preferred to occupy a room in a publick house ' of the late Luke Vardy." The court adjourned on the 12th, and met again in February. When the subject of a new court- house was introduced, a motion prevailed in the House that the same should be built in Cambridge : this vote was re- considered, and another obtained, which proposed to locate it in Roxbury. This was non-concurred, as the former vote had been, by the Council. At length a resolve passed, that the old building should be repaired, and one half the charge be borne by the province, one quarter by the county of Suf- folk, and the other quarter by the town of Boston.
' It was repaired in the year following in its present form, and is in length one hundred and twelve feet, in breadth thirty- six feet, and three stories high. On the centre of the roof is a tower, consisting of three stories, finished according to the Tuscan, Dorick, and Ionick orders. From the upper story is an extensive prospect of the harbour, into the bay, and of the country adjacent .- The lower floor of the building served for a covered walk for any of the inhabitants. On this floor were kept the offices of the clerks of the supreme judicial court and court of common pleas. The chambers over it were occupied by the general court, the senate in one, and the representative body in the opposite chamber. The third story was appropriated for the use of the committees of the general court. On the lower floor were ten pillars of the Dorick order, which supported the chambers occupied by the legislature.'
* Mr. Knowles was afterwards an admiral in the British navy, and in 1770,. being invited by the empress of Russia, went into her service.
t The Royal Exchange tavern.
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HISTORY OF BOSTON.
CHAPTER XLIII.
" In red and wreathing columns flashed The flame, as loud the ruin crashed, And here and there the crackling dome Was fired before the exploding bomb."
WE pass by the events of a long and anxious war with the French and Indian natives, which, though materially affect- ing the trade and prosperity of Boston, in common with other parts of the American provinces, were of less immediate in- terest than the events which we proceed to detail from the registers of the times.
On Wednesday, the 14th of Nov. 1759, a fire happened in some wooden buildings, a little to the southward of Oliver's bridge, and extended to the lower end of Water-street and Milk-st. to Mr. Hallowell's ship-yard. It raged with great violence for two hours. Ten or twelve dwelling-houses, most of them large, besides a number of shops and other buildings, were destroyed, and between 20 and 30 families burnt out. H. Ex. the governour [Pownall] was present during the whole fire, whose direction and influence was very serviceable, and whose paternal care and tenderness for the distressed was quite apparent.
' Between XI. and XII. o'clock at noon on Monday the 17th of March, 1760, a fire broke out at the West part of the town, New Boston so called, by some accident, whereby a joiner's shop was consumed and a large dwelling-house ad- joining thereto was a great part of it destroyed and many things therein burnt, and several other houses much damaged in the neighbourhood. The wind blowing very high at N.E. it was a considerable time before it was extinguished. The roof of the West meeting-house caught fire in several places, but by the dexterity of the people and a constant supply of water a stop was at length put to it.' And
On the day following, in the forenoon, ' a store at the upper end of Griffin's [Liverpool] whf. caught fire. The chamber was used as a laboratory by a detachment of the British artillery then here. The circumstance of artillery stores being in the building, gave general alarm, and for a time the citizens were afraid to approach near it. The fire communicated to some powder, and the building blew up. In the explosion some men were hurt : two grenadoes" and some small arms went
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off' but did no damage. The extreme parts of the town were affected by the shock of the explosion. A carpenter's shop was also burnt. It stood between the laboratory and some warehouses on the end of the wharf, where the principal ar- tillery stores were deposited ; but the wind being moderate, and a full tide, the flames were prevented from spreading farther.'
The day following, different parts of the town, at different times, were alarmed with the cry of fire : it did not, however, then get to a considerable head any where, so as to become dangerous. By these fires was ushered in, that far greater and more fatal one, which happened on the 20th of March. ' It began about two o'clock yesterday morning,' says a paper of Friday, ' and broke out in the dwelling-house of Mrs.Mary Jackson and Son, at the Brazen Head in Cornhill. At its first appearance there was little wind ; but this calm was soon followed by a smart gale from the N. W. Then was beheld a perfect torrent of blaze, bearing down all before it : in a seeming instant all was flame. Three or four large buildings* in the front of the street were burnt, and a stop was put to it there, at the house improved by Mrs. West on the South, and Mr. Peter Cotta on the North. But the fire raged most vio- lently towards the East, the wind being strong, and carried all before it from the back sides of those houses. All the stores fronting Pudding-lane, together with every dwelling- house, from thence, (excepting those which front the S. side of King-st. and a store of Mr. Spooner'st on Water-st.) to Quaker-lane, and from thence, only leaving a large old wood- en house belonging to the late Cornelius Waldo, Esq. it burnt every house, shop, store, out-house, and shed, to Oliver's Dock. And an eddy of wind carrying the fire contrary to its course, it took the buildings fronting the lower part of King-st. and destroyed the houses from the corner opposite the Bunch of Grapes tavern, to the warehouse of Box & Aus- tin, leaving only the warehouse of the Hon. John Erving, and the dwelling-house of Mr. Hastings standing. The other brick warehouses towards the Long-whf. were considerably damaged.
On the S. E. part, the fire extended from Mr. Torrey's, the baker, in Water-st. and damaging some of Mr. Dalton's new shops, proceeded to Mr. Hall's working-house, and from
* Mrs. Jackson & Son, Widow McNeal, Jona. Mason, Mrs. Quick [now the sign of the Good Samaritan, formerly Three Kings] northernmost burnt.
t The remains of this old house stood until the summer of 1824, when a new brick build- ing was erected on the spot.
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thence to Milk-st. and consumed every house, from the next to Mr. Calfe's dwelling-house [Julien's Restorator], to the bottom of the street.
MR. CALEF'S DWELLING-HOUSE, IN 1760.
JULIEN
B
JULIEN'S RESTORATOR,
AT THE CORNER OF MILK AND CONGRESS-STREETS, DEMOLISHED IN JULY 1824.
And in the opposite direction from Mr. Dowse's, included, it carried all before it, every house, to Fort-hill, except the Hon. Sec. Oliver's and two or three tenements opposite ; as also every house, warehouse, shop, and store, from Oliver's Dock along Mr. Hallowell's ship-yard, Mr. H.'s dwelling- house, the Sconce of the S. Battery, all the buildings, shops, and stores, on Col. Wendell's whf. to the house of Mr. Hunt, ship-builder. So that, from Pudding-lane to the water's edge, there is not a building to be seen, excepting those on the side of King-st. and the others mentioned above. Besides which, one large ship and 8 or 9 vessels were burnt. The fire did not extend to any part of the North side of King-st. There was a quantity of powder in the Sconce, which blew up, throwing the stones and timber to a great distance, and caused a very great explosion. The rage of the fire was not over till near noon ; but notwithstanding its long continuance, the explosion, and the falling of walls and chimnies, Divine Providence ap- peared merciful, in that not one person's life was lost, and only a few wounded.'
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