USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Municipal history of the town and city of Boston during two centuries : from September 17, 1630, to September 17, 1830 > Part 31
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
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cabinet and in the field, and upon the revolutions of the suc- cessive ages in which they lived. To this propensity may be traced the sublimated feelings of the man, who, familiar with the stories of Sesostris, the Pharaohs, and the Ptolemies, sur- veys the pyramids, not merely as stupendous fabrics of mecha- nical skill, but as monuments of the pride and ambitious folly of kings, and of the debasement and oppression of the wretched myriads, by whose labors they were raised to the skies. 'To this must be referred the awe and contrition which solemnize and melt the heart of the Christian who looks into the Holy Sepulchre, and believes he sees the place where the Lord was laid. From this originate the musings of the scholar, who, amid the ruins of the Parthenon and the Acropolis, transports his imagination to the age of Pericles and Phidias ; - the reflec- tions of all not dead to sentiment, who descend to the subterra- nean habitation of Pompeii, - handle the utensils that once ministered to the wants, and the ornaments subservient to the luxury of a polished city, - behold the rut of wheels upon the pavement hidden for ages from human sight, - and realize the awful hour when the hum of industry and the song of joy, the wailing of the infant and the garrulity of age, were suddenly and forever silenced by the fiery deluge which buried the city, until accident and industry, after the lapse of nearly eighteen centuries, revealed its ruins to the curiosity and cupidity of the passing age.
These remarks, in which you may think there is more of truth than of novelty, have been suggested by the experiment, which, a few days since, I attempted, to condense in the compass of a short address a few ideas appropriate to this occasion. Begin- ning to think upon matters connected with the old Town House, I found my mind confused, and overwhelmed with the multi- tudinous associations of our carly history which it naturally induced. To indulge them to a great extent, would trench upon the province and the hour assigned to another, whose eloquence will furnish the principal gratification of the day. It is, therefore, indispensable, to confine myself to a few observa- tions, and consequently to do but imperfect justice to my feel- ings and the subject.
The history of the Town House, considered merely as a com- pages of brick and wood, is short and simple. It was erected
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between the years 1657 and 1659, and was principally of wood, as far as can be ascertained. The contractor received six hun- dred and eighty pounds, on a final settlement in full of all con- tracts. This was probably the whole amount of the cost, being double that of the estimate - a ratio pretty regularly kept up in our times. The population of the town, sixty years afterwards, was about ten thousand ; and it is allowing an increase beyond the criterion of its actual numbers at subsequent periods, to pre- sume that at the time of the first erection of the Town House, it numbered three thousand souls. In 1711, the building was burnt to the ground, and soon afterwards built with brick. In 1747, the interior was again consumed by fire, and soon repaired in the form which it retained until the present improvement, with the exception of some alterations in the apartments made upon the removal of the Legislature to the new State House. The eastern chamber was originally occupied by the Council, afterwards by the Senate. The Representatives constantly held their sittings in the western chamber. The floor of these was supported by pillars, and terminated at each end by doors, and at one end by a flight of steps leading into State Street. In the day time, the doors were kept open, and the floor served as a walk for the inhabitants, always much frequented, and during the sessions of the courts, thronged. On the north side, were offices for the clerks of the supreme and inferior courts. In these the judges robed themselves, and walked in procession, followed by the bar, at the opening of the courts. Committee- rooms were provided in the upper story. Since the removal of the Legislature, it has been internally divided into apartments and leased for various uses in a mode familiar to you all, and it has now undergone great repairs. This floor being adapted to the accommodation of the city government, and principal officers, while the first floor is allotted to the post-office, newsroom, and private warehouses.
In this brief account of the natural body of the building, which it is believed comprehends whatever is material, there is nothing certainly dazzling or extraordinary. It exhibits no pomp of architectural grandeur or refined taste, and has no pretensions to vie with the magnificent structures of other coun- tries or even of our own. Yet it is a goodly and venerable pile ; and, with its recent improvements, is an ornament of the place,
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of whose liberty it was once the citadel. And it has an interest for Bostonians who enter it this day, like that which is felt by grown children for an ancient matron by whom they were reared, and whom, visiting after years of absence, they find her in her neat, chaste, old-fashioned attire, spruced up to receive them, with her comforts about her, and the same. kind, hospi- table, and excellent creature, whom they left in less flourishing circumstances. But to this edifice there is not only a natural but " a spiritual body," which is the immortal soul of Independ- ence. Nor is there, on the face of the earth, another building, however venerable for its antiquity or stately in its magnifi- cence, however decorated by columns and porticos, and car- toons, and statues, and altars, and outshining " the wealth of . Ormus or of Ind," entitled in history to more honorable men- tion, or whose spires and turrets are surrounded with a more glorious halo, than this unpretending building.
This assertion might be justified by a review of the parts per- formed by those who have made laws for a century after the first settlement of Boston ; of their early contention for their chartered rights ; of their perils and difficulties with the natives ; of their costly and heroic exertions in favor of the mother country in the connnon cause. But I pass over them all, replete as they are with interest, with wonder, and with moral. Events posterior to those growing out of them indeed, and taking from them their complexion, are considered by reflecting men as having pro- duced more radical changes in the character, relations, prospects, and (so far as it becomes us to prophesy) in the destinies of the human family, than all other events and revolutions that have transpired since the Christian era. I do not say that the princi- ples which have led to these events originated here. But I ven- ture to assert that here, within these walls, they were first prac- tically applied to a well-regulated machinery of human passions, conscious rights, and steady movements, which, forcing these United States to the summit of prosperity, has been adopted as a model by which other nations have been, and will yet be pro- pelled on the railroad which leads to universal freedom. The power of these engines is self-moving, and the motion is perpe- tual. Sages and philosophers had discovered that the world was made for the people who inhabit it; and that kings were less entitled in their own right to its goverment than lions, whose
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claims to be lords of the forest are supported by physical prow- ess. But the books and treatises which maintained these doc- trines were read by the admirers of the Lockes and Sidneys and Miltons and. Harringtons, and replaced on their shelves as bril- liant theories. Or, if they impelled to occasional action, it ended in bringing new tyrants to the throne and sincere patriots to the scaffold. But your progenitors who occupied these seats first taught a whole people systematically to combine the united force of their moral and physical energies ; to learn the rights of insurrection, not as written in the language of the passions, but in codes and digests of its justifiable cases; to enforce them under the restraints of discipline; to define and limit its objects ; to be content with success, and to make sure of its advantages. All this they did ; and when the propitious hour had arrived, they called on their countrymen as the angel called upon the apostles, -" Come, rise up quickly, and the chains fell from their hands.". The inspiring voice echoed through the welkin in Europe and America, and awakened nations. He who would learn the effects of it, must read the history of the world for the last half century. Ile who would anticipate the consequences must ponder well the probabilities with which time is pregnant for the next. The memory of these men is entitled to a full share of all the honor arising from the advantage derived to mankind from this change of condition, but yet is not charge- able with the crimes and misfortunes, more than is the memory of Fulton with the occasional bursting of a boiler.
Shall I then glance rapidly at some of the scenes and the actors who figured in them within these walls ? Shall I carry you back to the controversies between Governor Barnard and the House of Representatives, commencing nearly seventy years ago, respecting the claims of the mother country to tax the Colo- nies without their consent ? To the stand made against writs of assistance in the chamber now intended for your Mayor and Aldermen, where and when, according to John Adams, " Inde- pendence was born ?" and whose star was then seen in the East by wise men. To the memorable vindication of the House of Representatives by one of its members ? To the " Rights of the Colonies," adopted by the Legislature as a text book, and transmitted by their order to the British Ministry ? To the series of patriotic resolutions, protests, and State papers, teeming
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with indignant eloquence and irresistible argument in opposi- tion to the stamp and other tax acts? To the landing and quar- tering of troops in the town ? To the rescinding of resolutions in obedience to royal mandates ? To the removal of the seat of government, and the untiring struggle in which the Legisla- ture was engaged for fourteen or fifteen years, supported by the Adamses, the Thachers, the Hawleys, the Hancocks, the Bow- doins, the Quincys, and their illustrious colleagues ? In fact, the most important measures which led to the emancipation of the Colonies, according to Hutchinson, a competent judge, origin- ated in this house, in this apartment, with those men, who, put- ting life and fortune on the issue, adopted for their motto, -
" Let such, such only tread this sacred floor Who dare to love their country and be poor."
Events of a different complexion are also associated with the Boston Town House. At one time it was desecrated by the King's troops, quartered in the Representatives' chamber, and on the lower floor. At another time, cannon were stationed and pointed toward its doors. Below the balcony in King Street, on the doleful night of the fifth of March, the blood of the first vic- tims to the military executioners was shed. On the appearance of the Governor in the street, he was surrounded by an immense throng, who, to prevent mischief to his person, though he had lost their confidence, forced him into this building, with the cry "to the Town House! to the Town House!" He then went forth into the balcony, and promising to use his endeavors to bring the offenders to justice, and advising the people to retire, they dispersed, vociferating " home! home!" The Governor and Council remained all night deliberating in dismal conclave, while the friends of their country bedewed their pillows with tears, -" such tears as patriots shed for dying laws." But I would not wish, under any circumstances, to dwell upon inci- dents like these, thankful as I am that time, which has secured our freedom, has extinguished our resentments. I therefore turn from these painful reminiscences, and refer you to the day when Independence, mature in age and loveliness, advanced with angelic grace from the chamber in which she was born into the same balcony, and holding in her hand the immortal scroll on which her name and character and claims to her inheritance
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were inscribed, received from the street, filled with an impene- trable phalanx, and windows glittering with a blaze of beauty, the heartfelt homage and electrifying peals of the men, women, and children of the whole city. The splendor of that glorious vision of my childhood seems to be now present to my view, and the harmony of that universal concert to vibrate in my ear.
Such, gentlemen, is the cursory and meagre chronicle of the men and the occurrences which have given celebrity to this building. And if it be true, that we are now before the altar, whence the coals were taken which have kindled the flame of liberty in two hemispheres, you will realize with nie the senti- ment already expressed, that the most interesting associations of the eventful history of the age might rise in natural trains, and be indulged and presented on this occasion without violence to propriety.
We, gentlemen, have now become, for a short period, occu- pants of this temple of Liberty. Henceforth, for many years, the city government will probably be here administered. The duties of its members are less arduous; painful, and dignified than those of the eminent persons who once graced these seats, and procured for us the privilege of admission to them. Yet, let not these duties be undervalued. They are of sufficient weight and importance to excite a conscientious desire in good minds, to cultivate a publie spirit, and imitate with reverence great examples. There is ample scope for dispositions to serve our fellow-citizens in the department of the city goverment. It is charged with concerns affecting the daily comfort and prosperity of sixty thousand persons, a number exceeding that of several of these United States at the time of their admission into the Union. The results of their deliberations have an immediate bearing upon the morals, health, education, and purse of this community, and are generally of more interest to their feelings and welfare than the ordinary acts of State legis- lation. It is a community, which any man may regard as a subject of just pride to represent, rivalled by none in orderly and moral habits, general intelligence, commercial and mechanic skill, a spirit of national enterprise, and above all a vigilance for the interest of posterity manifested in the provision made for public education. No state of society can be found more happy and attractive than yours. Many of those who are in its first
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ranks rose from humble beginnings, and hold out encourage- ment to others to follow their steps. There is, so far as I can judge, more real equality, and a more general acquaintance and intercourse among the different vocations, than is elsewhere to be found in a populous city. Those of the middling class as respects wealth, the mechanics and the workingmen; are not only eligible, but constantly elected to all offices in state and city, in such proportion as they (constituting the great majority) see fit to assign. We enjoy the blessings of a healthy climate, delightful position, and ample resources for prosperity in com- merce, manufactures, and the mechanic arts, all of which, I am persuaded, are at this moment gradually reviving, after some vicissitude from time and chance, which happen to all things. May we, and those who will succeed us, appreciate the respon- sibleness attached to our places by the merit of our predeces- sors; and, though we cannot serve our country to the same advantage, may we love it with equal fidelity. And may the Guardian Genius of our beloved city forever delight to dwell in these renovated walls !
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CHAPTER XXII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
HARRISON GRAY OTIS, Mayor.
Address to the Citizens of Boston, on the 17th of September, 1830, the Close of the Second Century from the First Settlement of the City. By Josiah Quincy, President of Harvard University.
Or all the affections of man, those which connect him with ancestry are among the most natural and generous. They enlarge the sphere of his interests; multiply his motives to virtue ; and give intensity to his sense of duty to generations to come, by the perception of obligation to those which are past. In whatever mode of existence man finds himself, be it savage or civilized, he perceives that he is indebted for the far greater part of his possessions and enjoyments, to events over which he had no control; to individuals, whose names, perhaps, never reached his ear; to sacrifices, in which he never shared; and to sufferings, awakening in his bosom few and very transient sympathies.
Cities and empires, not less than individuals, are chiefly indebted for their fortunes to circumstances and influences inde- pendent of the labors and wisdom of the passing generation. Is our lot cast in a happy soil, beneath a favored sky, and under the shelter of free institutions ? How few of all these blessings do we owe to our own power, or our own prudence! How few, on which we cannot discern the impress of long past generations !
It is natural, that reflections of this kind should awaken curi- osity concerning the men of past ages. It is suitable, and characteristic of noble natures, to love to trace in venerated institutions the evidences of ancestral worth and wisdom; and to cherish that mingled sentiment of awe and admiration, which takes possession of the soul, in the presence of ancient, deep- laid, and massy monuments of intellectual and moral power.
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Under impulses thus natural and generous, at the invitation of your municipal authorities, you have assembled, Citizens of Boston, on this day, in commemoration of the era of the found- ation of your city, bearing in fond recollection the virtues of your fathers, to pass in review the circumstances which formed their character, and the institutions which bear its stamp; to take a rapid survey of that broad horizon, which is resplendent with their glories ; to compress, within the narrow circle of an hour, the results of memory, perception, and hope; combining honor to the past, gratitude for the present, and fidelity to the future.
Standing, after the lapse of two centuries, on the very spot selected for us by our fathers, and surrounded by social, moral, and religious blessings greater than paternal love, in its fondest visions, ever dared to fancy, we naturally turn our eyes back- ward, on the descending current of years ; seeking the causes of that prosperity, which has given this city so distinguished a name and rank among similar associations of men.
Happily its foundations were not laid in dark ages, nor is its origin to be sought among loose and obscure traditions. 'The age of our early ancestors was, in many respects, eminent for learning and civilization. Our ancestors themselves were deeply versed in the knowledge and attainments of their period. Not only their motives and acts appear in the general histories of their time, but they are unfolded in their own writings, with a simplicity and boldness, at once commanding admiration and not permitting mistake. If this condition of things restrict the imagination in its natural tendency to exaggerate, it assists the judgment rightly to analyze, and justly to appreciate. If it deny the power, enjoyed by ancient cities and states, to elevate our ancestors above the condition of humanity, it confers a much more precious privilege, that of estimating by unequivocal stand- ards the intellectual and moral greatness of the early, interven- ing, and passing periods ; and thus of judging concerning com- parative attainment and progress in those qualities which con- stitute the dignity of our species. Instead of looking back, as antiquity was accustomed to do, on fabling legends of giants and heroes, -of men exceeding in size, in strength, and in labor, all experience and history, and consequently, being obliged to contemplate the races of men, dwindling with time, and
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growing less amid increasing stimulants and advantages ; we are thus enabled to view things in lights more conformed to the natural suggestions of reason, and the actual results of observa- tion ; - to witness improvement in its slow but sure progress ; in a general advance, constant and unquestionable; - to pay due honors to the greatness and virtues of our early ancestors, and be, at the same time, just to the not inferior greatness and virtues of suceceding generations of men, their descendants and our progenitors. Thus we substantiate the cheering conviction, that the virtues of ancient times have not been lost, or debased, in the course of their descent, but, in many respects, have been refined and elevated; and so, standing faithful to the generations which are past, and fearless in the presence of the generations to come, we accumulate on our own times the responsibility, that an inheritance, which has descended to us enlarged and im- proved, shall not be transmitted by us diminished or deteriorated.
As our thoughts course along the events of past times, from the hour of the first settlement of Boston to that in which we are now assembled, they trace the strong features of its charac- ter, indelibly impressed upon its acts and in its history, - clear conceptions of duty ; bold vindications of right; readiness to incur dangers and meet sacrifices, in the maintenance of liberty, civil and religious. Early selected as the place of the chief settlement of New England, it has, through every subsequent period, maintained its relative ascendency. In the arts of peace and in the energies of war, in the virtues of prosperity and adversity, in wisdom to plan and vigor to execute, in extensive- ness of enterprise, success in accumulating wealth, and liberality in its distribution, its inhabitants, if not unrivalled, have not been surpassed, by any similar society of men. Through good report and evil report, its influence has at all times been so dis- tinetly seen and acknowledged in events, and been so decisive on the destinies of the region of which it was the head, that the inhabitants of the adjoining colonies of a foreign nation early gave the name of this place to the whole country ; and at this day, among their descendants, the people of the whole United States1 are distinguished by the name of " Bostonians."
1 Bostonais. The name is thus applied, at this day, by the Canadian French. During our Revolutionary War, Americans from the United States were thus designated in France. Nor was the custom wholly discontinued even as late as
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Amidst perils and obstructions, on the bleak side of the mountain on which it was first cast, the seedling oak, self- rooted, shot upward with a determined vigor. Now slighted and now assailed; amidst alternating sunshine and storm ; with the axe of a native foe at its root, and the lightning of a foreign power, at times, scathing its top, or withering its branches, it grew, it flourished, it stands- may it forever stand! - the honor of the field. '
On this occasion, it is proper to speak of the founders of our city, and of their glory. Now in its true acceptation, the term glory expresses the splendor, which emanates from virtue in the act of producing general and permanent good. Right concep- tions, then, of the glory of our ancestors, are alone to be attained by analyzing their virtues. These virtues, indeed, are not seen charactered in breathing bronze, or in living marble. Our ances- tors have left no Corinthian temples on our hills, no Gothic cathedrals on our plains, no proud pyramid, no storied obelisk, in our cities. But mind is there. Sagacious enterprise is there. An active, vigorous, intelligent, moral population throng our cities, and predominate in our fields; men, patient of labor, submissive to law, respectful to authority, regardful of right, faithful to liberty. These are the monuments of our ancestors. They stand immutable and immortal, in the social, moral, and intellectual condition of their descendants. They exist in the spirit which their precepts instilled, and their example implanted. Let no man think, that, to analyze and place in a just light the virtues of the first settlers of New England, is a departure from the purpose of this celebration; or deem so meanly of our duties, as to conceive that merely local relations, the circum- stances which have given celebrity and character to this single city, are the only, or the most appropriate topics for the occa- sion. It was to this spot, during twelve successive years, that the great body of those first settlers emigrated. In this place, they either fixed permanently their abode, or took their depart- ure from it for the coast, or the interior. Whatever honor devolves on this metropolis from the events connected with its
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