USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Old landmarks and historic personages of Boston.. > Part 20
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During the absence of the committee Josiah Quincy, Jr., made an eloquent speech. When the deputation returned with their unfavorable report, about sunset, the Indian yell was heard at the church door, and the band of disguised Mohawks since so famous in history, filled the street. The meeting broke up in confusion, notwithstanding the efforts of Sam- uel Adams to detain the people, who rushed forth into the street. The Indians, after their momentary pause, took their way through Milk Street directly to Griffin's, now Liverpool Wharf.
The number of the simulated Indians has been variously estimated at from sixteen to eighty. Their disguise was effected in a carpenter's shop, where Joseph Lovering, a boy of twelve, held the candle for the masqueraders. They wore paint and carried hatchets. Under their blankets were concealed many a laced and ruffled coat. "Depend upon it," says John Adams, "they were no ordinary Mohawks."
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The women of Boston were not behind the men in their op- position to the tea-duty ; many, doubtless, keenly felt the loss of their favorite beverage. The ladies had their meetings, at which they resolved not to use the obnoxious herb. Here is the lament of one matron over her empty urn : -
" Farewell the tea-board, with its gaudy equipage Of cups and saucers, cream-bucket, sugar-tongs, The pretty tea-chest, also, lately stored With Hyson, Congou, and best double fine. Full many a joyous moment have I sat by ye, Hearing the girls tattle, the old maids talk scandal, And the spruce coxcomb laugh at - maybe - not !. ing. Though now detestable, Because I am taught (and I believe it true) Its use will fasten slavish chains upon my country, To reign Triumphant in America."
The occupation of the Old South by troops was at the in- stance of General John Burgoyne. It was his regiment, the Queen's Light Dragoons, that set up the riding-school in the House of God, overthrowing its sacred memorials, and transform- ing it into a circus. These brave troopers never showed their colors outside the fortifications. The pulpit and pews were all removed and burnt, and many hundred loads of gravel carted in and spread upon the floor. The east gallery was reserved for spectators of the feats of horsemanship, while a bar fitted up in the first gallery offered means of refreshment. "The beautiful carved pew of Deacon Hubbard, with the silken hang- ings, was taken down and carried to -'s house by an officer and made a hog stye." * The south door was closed, and a leap- ing-bar placed for the horses. It has been stated that some of the valuable books and manuscripts of Rev. Thomas Prince went for fuel during the winter, as did also the adjoining par- sonage house, and the noble sycamore-trees that skirted the grass-plot in front.
After the surrender of Burgoyne his army marched to Cam- bridge. General Heath, then commanding in Boston, invited Sir John to dine with him, and he appeared in response to the invitation, bringing with him Phillips and Riedesel. After dinner
* Newell's Diary. Thacher's Military Journal.
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· Burgoyne desired to go out of town by way of Charlestown, and General Heath accompanied him to the ferry. The curiosity to see the prisoners was very great, and the inhabitants crowded the streets, windows, and even the house-tops, to gratify it. As the procession was passing the Province House, General Bur- goyne observed to the other generals, "There is the former residence of the governor." Some one in the crowd who heard the remark said, in an audible voice, " And on the other side is the riding-school."
A good anecdote is told of the hero of Portugal and Flanders while the prisoner of Gates. "In the height of jocular con- versation Burgoyne told the victor of Saratoga that he was more fit for a midwife than a general. 'Acknowledged,' said Gates, 'for I have delivered you of seven thousand men.'"
While the regulars held possession of the church, an incident occurred which frightened the more superstitious among them, so that it was difficult to maintain a guard, as was the custom, at the church door. Among the troops were a good many Scotch Presbyterians, who were not a little fearful of retribu- tive justice for their abuse of the place. Some one, knowing the Scotch belief in apparitions, appeared to the sentinel as the ghost of Dr. Sewall. The Scot yelled with affright to the guard stationed at the Province House, and was with difficulty pacified.
When D'Estaing's fleet lay in Boston harbor, in September, 1778, the British fleet, of twenty sail, hove in sight. It was discovered and the alarm given by Mr. John Cutler from the steeple of the Old South. Admiral D'Estaing, who was on shore, immediately put off for the squadron, and the militia were ordered to the Castle and the works on Noddle's and George's Island, Dorchester Heights, etc., but the enemy made no attempt. The same fleet afterwards made the descent on New Bedford and Martha's Vineyard.
The old church has been considerably changed in its interior. It was one of the last to retain the square pews, elevated pulpit, and sounding-board. The upper gallery was altered, a new organ obtained, and the brush of modern art applied to the
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ceilings ; otherwise the house remains much the same as when erected. It had a narrow escape from destruction by fire many years ago, but was saved by superhuman efforts on the part of Isaac Harris, the mast-maker, who ascended to the roof while it was on fire, and succeeded in extinguishing the flames. For this brave act he received a silver pitcher.
One of Dr. Sewall's flock was Phillis Wheatley, a woman of color and a slave. She was a pure African, brought to America in 1761, and yet she possessed genius of a high order. She was, in a great measure, self-taught, never having received any school education, yet wrote admirable verses. Her poems were collected in a thin volume and published in London, and have also been reprinted in this country. One of her effusions, ad- dressed to Washington, may be found in Sparks's " Life of Washington " ; it brought an acknowledgment from the general, then at Cambridge, also printed therein. She accompanied the son of her master to London in 1773, where she received great notice from the nobility, but soon returned to Boston, where she contracted an unhappy marriage, and died not long after in utter destitution at her house in Court Street. The genuine- ness of her poems was attested by Governors Hutchinson, Han- cock, Bowdoin, her master Wheatley, and almost every clergy- man in Boston. The following extract is from her Hymn to the Evening : -
" Filled with the praise of Him who gives the light, And draws the sable curtains of the night, Let placid slumbers soothe each weary mind, At morn to wake, more heavenly, more refined ; So shall the labors of the day begin More pure, more guarded from the snares of sin. Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes ; Then cease my song, till fair Aurora rise."
We have spoken of the trees that of yore graced the green before the governor's house and church. A single horse-chestnut waves its scanty foliage behind the church on the Milk Street side.
If you look closely at the masonry of the Old South you will notice that each course is laid with the side and end of the
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brick alternating ; this is known as the Flemish Bond. The West Church, Old Brattle Street, Park Street, and some others, have walls built in the same manner. Gawen Brown, of Bos- ton, made the first clock, esteemed the finest in America. The Prince library was deposited in the tower.
Spring Lane recalls the ancient Spring-gate, the natural foun- tain at which Winthrop and Johnson stooped to quench their thirst, and from which, no doubt, Madam Winthrop and Anne Hutchinson filled their flagons for domestic use. The gentle- women may have paused here for friendly chat, if the rigor of the governor's opposition to the schismatic Anne did not forbid. The handmaid of Elder Thomas Oliver, Winthrop's next neigh- bor on the opposite corner of the Spring-gate, fetched her pitcher, like another Rebecca, from this well ; and grim Richard Brack- ett, the jailer, may have laid down his halberd to quaff a morn- ing draught.
Water Street is also self-explanatory ; it descended the incline to the water at Oliver's Dock. We have described elsewhere the primitive aspect of the region from Congress Street to the harbor. A British barrack was in Water Street at the time of the Massacre.
At the north corner of Washington and Water Streets was the sign of the " Heart and Crown." It was the printing-office of Thomas Fleet in 1731. After his death, crowns being un- popular, the sign was changed to the " Bible and Heart." Fleet sold books, household goods, etc. In 1735 he began the publi- cation of the Boston Evening Post, a successor of the Weekly Rehearsal, begun in 1731. Here is one of the Post's advertise- ments ; it would look somewhat strangely in the columns of its modern namesake :-
" To be sold by the printer of this paper, the very best Negro Woman in this Town, who has had the Small-Pox and the measles ; is as hearty as a Horse, as brisk as a Bird, and will work like a Beaver. Aug. 23d. 1742."
Having taken in the surroundings of the church to the north, we may now set our faces southward and visit in fancy the official residence of the royal deputies.
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The Province House was one of the last relics of the col- ony to disappear. It has formed the theme of some pleasant fictions by Hawthorne in "Twice-Told Tales," as well as a brief sketch of the edifice not founded in fancy. The liquid which mine host mixed for the novelist before he set about his re- searches has a smack of reality about it, and may have enlivened his picturesque description.
This ancient abode of the royal governors was situated nearly opposite the head of Milk Street. The place is now shut out.
PROVINCE HOUSE.
from the vision of the passer-by by a row of brick structures standing on Washington Street. Before the erection of any buildings to screen it from view, the Province House stood twenty or thirty paces back from old Marlborough Street, with a handsome grass lawn in front, ornamented by two stately oak-
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trees, which reared their verdant tops on either side the gate separating the grounds from the highway, and cast a grateful shade over the approach to the mansion. At either end of the fence were porters' lodges, and. the visitor passed over a paved walk to the building. Ample stables stood in the rear.
The building itself was a three-story brick structure, sur- mounted by an octagonal cupola. Over all stood the bronze effigy of an Indian, - the chosen emblem of the colony. This figure, which served the purpose of a vane, was of hammered cop- per ; it had glass eyes, and appeared in the act of fitting an arrow to its bow. It was the handiwork of Deacon Shem Drowne. A flight of near twenty massive red freestone steps conducted to the spacious entrance-hall, worthy the vice-regal dwellers within. A portico supported by wooden pillars was surmounted by a curiously wrought iron balustrade, into which was woven the date of erection and initials of the proprietor, Peter Sar- geant : -
16. P. S. 79.
From this balcony the viceroys of the province were accus- tomed to harangue the people or read proclamations. The royal arms, richly carved and gilt, decorated the front ; the bricks were of Holland make. The interior was on a scale of princely magnificence, little corresponding to the general belief in the simplicity of the mode of living of the times. The homes of Faneuil, of Hutchinson, and of Frankland have shown that luxury had effected an entrance into the habitations of the rich. The house of Peter Sargeant was a fit companion to the others cited. On the first floor an ample reception-room, panelled with rich wood and hung with tapestry, opened from the hall. This was the hall of audience of Shute, Burnet, Shirley, Pownall, Bernard, Gage, and, last of all, Sir William Howe.
It is probable that the first of the governors who occupied the Province House was Samuel Shute, an old soldier of Marl- borough, who had won distinction from his king on the bloody fields of Flanders. His administration of the affairs of the colony, which he governed from 1716 to 1723, was unfortunate. He came into conflict with the Legislature on questions of pre-
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rogative. The governor, almost stripped of his authority, was obliged to seek a remedy at court, and though his powers were confirmed, he did not enjoy the fruits of the decision.
It is perhaps not generally known that a paper currency of small denominations was issued in the colony as early as 1722. Specimens are here reproduced. They were printed on parch- ment, of the size given in the engravings. No other instance is remembered of the emission of such small sums in paper until we come down to the period of the Revolution. The whole amount authorized was only £ 500, and speci- LE- 1 d. Dne penny. mens are very rare. The cuts given here are exact fac-similes of the originals now in the Haftachufett g. possession of the Antiquarian Society. A very full account Thine . 1722 of early Massachusetts cur- rency may be found in the Proceedings of that society for 1866, from the pen of Nathaniel Paine, Esq. In the first years of the settlement wampum, brass farthings, and even musket- bullets, supplied a circulating medium.
William Burnet was born in 1688, at the Hague. The Prince of Orange, afterwards King William of England, stood godfather for him at the baptismal font. His father was the celebrated Bishop Burnet, author of the "History of the Reformation in England."
2 d. Trao Pence.
Province of the Daffachu fetts. June 1722.
The elder Burnet, falling under the displeasure of King James, re- tired to the Continent, entered the service of the Prince of Orange, and accompanied him to England when William ob- tained the throne of his father- in-law, the flying James. He was rewarded with the bishop- ric of Salisbury, while the son
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received subsequently from the House of Hanover the gov- ernment of New York, and afterwards that of Massachusetts Colony.
The new governor was received with enthusiasm on his arrival. He was met at the George Tavern, on the Neck, by the lieutenant-governor, members of the Council, and Colonel Dudley's regiment. Under this escort, and followed by a vast concourse of gentlemen on horseback, in coaches and chaises, he proceeded to the Court House, where his commission was read. Shouts of joy and salvos of artillery from the forts and Castle welcomed him to Boston. Mather Byles was ready with a laudatory composition : -
" While rising Shouts a general Joy proclaim, And ev'ry Tongue, O Burnet ! lisps thy name ; To view thy face while crowding Armies run, Whose waving Banners blaze against the Sun, And deep-mouth'd Cannon, with a thund'ring roar, Sound thy commission stretch'd from Shore to Shore."
Burnet lived but a short time to stem the tide of opposition to kingly authority, and died September 7, 1729. While he lived he maintained in proper state the dignity of his office. His negro 3 THREE valet, Andrew the Trum- peter, stood at the portal of the Province House, or drove his Excellency Province of the Dallachufetts Bap. R. C. JUNE, 1722. abroad in his coach. His ménage was under the care of a competent house- keeper. Betty, the black laundress, had the care of twenty pair and one of Holland sheets, with damask napkins, and store of linen to match. A goodly array of plate garnished the sideboard, and ancient weapons graced the walls. Hobby, the
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cook, presided over the cuisine; and coach, chariot, and chaises stood in the stables. He had a steward and a French tutor.
Notwithstanding the governor directed his funeral to take place in the most private manner, after the form of any Prot- estant church that might be nearest, the authorities would not have it so, and expended nearly £ 1,100 upon a showy pageant. The governor was a churchman and attended King's Chapel, but showed he had no religious bias in his instructions for his burial. Burnet was probably the first and last governor who died in the Province House.
William Shirley was the admitted chief of the long roll of provincial governors. He lived at one time in King Street, but, after he became governor, built an elegant mansion in Roxbury, afterwards occupied by Govern- or Eustis, and now, we believe, standing on Eustis Street, metamorphosed by mod- ern improvements. Shirley, no doubt, came to the Province House to transact official business, and at the sitting of the General Court. In the reception-room was, perhaps, matured that celebrated expe- dition, which resulted in the capture of Louisburg. All the measures relating to the enterprise were conducted with great ability. Profound secrecy was maintained as to its object while under discussion by the General Court ; the Governor carried the measure by only a single vote. Volunteers flocked in from all quarters, and the town became a camp. Over two thousand men were raised. Sir William Pepperell, whom an English historian has contemptuously called a " Piscataquay trader," was given the command, and on the 16th of June, 1745, the bulwark of French power in America was in the hands of the provincial forces.
Another measure of Governor Shirley deserves mention. Ten years before the passage of the Stamp Act by the English Par- liament, the Legislature of the colony had passed a similar act of their own, laying a tax on vellum, parchment, and public papers for two years ; newspapers were included at first, but
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soon exempted. This shows that it was not the stamp tax to which our ancestors objected, but to its levy without their con- sent. Specimens are here given from documents of the time to which the stamps were affixed. One of the cuts (the three penny stamp) is engraved from the original die used in the stamp-office. It is a short steel bar attached to the circular part, the impres- sion being made by a blow from a hammer. This interesting souvenir of the times of Shirley is in the possession of Jeremiah Colburn, Esq., of Boston, a well-known antiquarian.
The expatriation of the unfortunate N LIPENCE French from Acadia took place while Shirley was governor, and Massachusetts received about two hundred families. The terrific earthquake of 1755 shook the town to its foundations, and filled the streets with the débris of ruined houses, about fifteen hundred sustaining injury. Shirley was a man of letters, and wrote a tragedy, be- sides the history of the Louisburg expe- dition. He also held a government in the Bahamas, and was made lieutenant- general. His son, William, was killed at the defeat of Braddock. ENCE
Thomas Pownall superseded Governor Shirley, in 1757-58, as governor. He occupied the chair only three years. He made a popular and enlightened chief magistrate, contrasting favorably with the dark, intriguing Lieutenant-Governor E A Hutchinson. The great and disastrous fire of March 20, 1760, occurred before the departure of the governor to assume IV.PENCE the government of South Carolina ; also the organization and refitting of the land E A and naval forces, under General Amherst, for the reduction of Quebec and Montreal. Governor Pownall was a stanch friend of the Colonies, even after hostilities commenced with the mother country. No in-
SSA
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mate of the Province House was more respected or more regretted. The governor made an excellent plan or picture of Boston from the Castle in 1757.
Pownall, it is said, was a great ladies' man. He was rather short in stature, and inclined to be corpulent. It was the fashion of that day for a gentleman to salute a lady when introduced to her. The governor was presented to a tall dame whom he requested to stoop to meet the offered courtesy. " No !" says the lady, "I will never stoop to any man, - not even to your Excellency." Pownall sprang upon a chair, ex- claiming, "Then I will stoop to you, madam !" and imprinted a loud smack upon the cheek of the haughty one. This, like many good old customs of our forefathers, has fallen into neg- lect. It was Pownall who induced the Legislature to erect a monument in Westminster Abbey to Lord Howe, who fell at Ticonderoga, and was much esteemed in Boston. Another was ordered to be erected to General Wolfe at the east end of the Town House, but Hutchinson prevented its being carried out.
His successor, Francis Bernard, was received on his arrival from New Jersey with the usual pomp and ceremony, and escorted through the town to his residence at the Province House. During the period of Bernard's administration, from 1760 to 1769, the stormy events which caused the Colonies to throw off the yoke of Great Britain occurred. The Writs of Assistance, the Stamp Act, the introduction of troops, and the removal of the General Court to Cambridge, heaped odium upon his conduct of affairs. Volumes have been written upon the history of those nine years. So Bernard passed out from the shelter of the Province House with none to do him rev. erence. The king recalled him, and the province spurned him. The last crowned head in this colony was proclaimed by Ber- nard. He gave a valuable portion of his library to Harvard.
It has been said of Bernard that he was only a facile instru- ment in the hands of Hutchinson. He was even called Hutch- inson's wheelbarrow, carrying the burdens imposed by his wily lieutenant. Bernard's character has been described as arbitrary ; he was, however, upright, with correct principles and courteous 11
P
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address. He built him a fine summer residence at Jamaica Plain, afterwards occupied by Martin Brimmer.
After the governor's departure for England, watch and ward was but ill kept at the Province House, or else his Ancient Hutchinson, now his successor, troubled himself but little about the goods and chattels of the baronet. The mansion was broken open, and among other articles stolen were three feather-beds, four pair of blankets, ditto of sheets, all marked with his Excellency's ini- tials. The thief, besides this more ER ANDHELP bulky booty, stole a crown-piece of James II. and two German rix dol- lars.
B:ET: SOCIE
The next inmate of the Province House was Thomas Gage, who was expected to support the kingly pre- SETS! rogative by force of arms. We first AC THE COLONY SEAL. found the general in quarters in Brattle Street, and gave there an outline of his career while military governor. He occupied the Province House when appointed to the government in 1774, and the tread and challenge of a British grenadier resounded for the first time in the ancient halls.
Here was held the council between Earl Percy and the gov- ernor relative to the expedition to Lexington, so mysteriously noised abroad, and which Gage declared he had imparted the knowledge of to only one other ; even Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, who was intrusted with the command, did not know his destination. As Percy was going to his quarters from this interview, he met a number of townspeople conversing near the Common. As he went towards them, one of them remarked, " The British troops have marched, but will miss their aim." " What aim ?" asked the Earl. "The cannon at Concord," was the answer. Percy retraced his steps to the Province House, where his chief heard with surprise and mortification the news that the movement was no longer a secret. He declared he had been betrayed.
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The following explanation has been given of the manner in which Gage's plans were thwarted. A groom at the Province House dropped into the stables, then opposite the Old South on Milk Street, for a social chat with a stable-boy employed there. The news was asked of the British jockey, who, misconceiving the sentiments of his friend, replied, that he had overheard a conversation between Gage and other officers, and observed, " There will be hell to pay to-morrow." This was immediately carried to Paul Revere, who enjoined silence on his informant, and added, "You are the third person who has brought me the same information."
It was here, too, that the perfidy of Benjamin Church was discovered by Deacon Davis, a visitor to the general. Before this time he had been esteemed an ardent friend of the cause of liberty. His residence was at the south corner of Washing- ton and Avon Streets.
On the morning of the 17th of June, 1775, Gage called his officers together to attend a coun- cil of war. Howe, Clinton, Bur- Sho Gays goyne, and Grant were present. It was an anxious consultation. Clinton and Grant proposed to land the troops at Charlestown Neck under protection of the ships, and take the American works in reverse. This plan, which would have probably resulted in the capture of the whole provincial force, was disapproved by Gage, who feared to place his men, in case of disaster, between the intrenched Americans and reinforcements from Cambridge. General Gage returned to England in October, 1775. He married an American lady, and a niece of the general by this marriage was the wife of the late General William H. Sumner, of Jamaica Plain. Gage had served at Fontenoy and Culloden, and in Braddock's campaign. He is said to have borne an extraordinary personal resemblance to Samuel Adams, the chief conspirator against his sway, but few can fail to mark in the portrait of the general the absence of that firmness and decision which is so conspicuous in that of the patriot.
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