USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Sketches of Boston, past and present, and of some places in its vicinity > Part 6
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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
He soon showed himself a worthy instrument of his master, and, in 1689, on hearing of the accession of William and Mary, the people of Boston seized his Excellency and Council, and put them in confinement. The old magistrates were reinstated, and, in 1690, by an order from the king approving the course adopted, Sir Edmund was sent to England. This was another instance of the habitual intolerance of wrong, and re- sistance to oppression, always displayed by the Bostonians, and was also another act of preparation for the Revolution.
In 1638-9, the first Episcopal church was built; it was a wooden building with a steeple, and stood on the ground occupied by the present stone chapel.
In 1694, the Quakers were relieved from persecution so far as to venture upon the construction, in Brattle Street, of a place of worship. About the same time the French Protestant church was embodied. These events are mentioned as illustrations of the increase of population, and of the gradual introduction of new people, and consequent growth in liberality and religious toleration. .
The Eighteenth Century.
From the arrival of Sir William Phips, in 1632, as the first Governor under the new charter, to the period of the conquest of Canada, the colony, and with it the capital, seems to have enjoyed during the greater part of the time, a respite from the vexatious troubles that had hitherto marked the intercourse with the home government. One or two events happened, to show that the spirit and love of independence of the Bos- tonians had not altered. But the most interesting incidents during this in- terval of sixty five or seventy years, are those of peaceful progress, only interrupted by those devastating fires which were the peculiar evil of the
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town. One of these great misfortunes, the sixth in number, occurred on the 30th of June, 1601 ; and the seventh in March, 1702. Another great fire, more fatal than the preceding, in 1711, laid in ruins all the houses on both sides of Cornhill, from School Street to Dock Square.
In 1704, the first newspaper, published in the English colonies in North Ainerica, appeared in Boston. It was printed on half a sheet of pot paper, with small pica type, folio, and was entitled, -
N. E. Numb. 1.
The Boston News-Letter.
Published by Authority.
From Monday, April 17, to futonday, April 24, 1704.
The year 1706 is rendered for ever memorable in the annals of Boston, as the date of the birth of Benjamin Franklin.
, In 1710, a post office was established, and a mail ran to Plymouth and Maine once a week, and to New York once a fortnight.
An evidence of the great increase of commerce is afforded by the law passed in 1715, directing the erection of a lighthouse on the southern- most part of the Great Brewster Island. For the evidence of the rapid augmentation of the number of inhabitants, we shall resort again to the multiplication of the churches.
The society of the new North Church was formed in 1712, and the meeting house dedicated in 1714. The formation of the new South Church and society originated in the year following.
In 1721, the new brick church, as it was called, was dedicated. After these, followed the second Episcopal Christ Church, in 1723; the Federal Street Church in 1729; the Hollis Street Church in 1732, the year of its completion and dedication; the Trinity Church in 1734; and between this period aud 1743, were gathered the ninth, tenth, and eleventh Con- gregational churches. For all historical details of interest concerning the different churches, the reader is referred to a subsequent portion of the work. The dates of their foundation are inserted in this place, as one of the most accurate and accessible means of arriving at an estimate of the population of the town in its steady advancement.
Ou December 21, 1719, the second newspaper published in Boston made its appearance, under the title of the Boston Gazette; and the third newspaper, called the New England Courant, came out on August 17, 1721 ; both of them were printed, and the latter published, also, by James Franklin. In the Courant appeared the early anonymous pieces of Ben- jamin Franklin, which were the first public displays of an intellect that
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was destined to confer immortal benefits upon the native land of its pos- sessor, and to gratify and enlighten the world.
We have omitted to mention in chronological order the construction of Long Wharf in 1209 - 10, an interesting event in the commercial history of the town. On the 21th of February, a great tide occurred, which is described, as follows, by Cotton Mather : -
" It rose two feet higher than ever had been known unto the country, and the city of Boston particularly suffered from it incredible mischiefs and losses. It rose two or three feet above the famous Long Wharf, and flowed over the other wharves and streets, to so surprising an height, that we could sail in boats from the Southern battery to. the rise of ground in King Street, and from thence to the rise of ground ascending toward the North meeting-house. It filled all the cellars, and filled the floors of the lower rooms in the houses and warehouses in town."
The fourth newspaper, styled the New England Weekly Journal, ap- peared in March, 1727 ; this also was printed on a half sheet of foolscap size, folio.
In the year 1740, the arrival of the celebrated George Whitefield dis- turbed the state of general quiet, which the religious community of Bos- ton had enjoyed for fifty years. His powerful preaching revived that strictness of principle and zeal in practice for which the first comers were so prominently distinguished. It is said that more than twenty-three thousand persons listened to his farewell sermon on the Common. Vari- ous opinions were expressed as to the good accomplished by his visit, though there is no doubt of the strength and permanency of the impres- sion. In the same year, Peter Faneuil proposed to present the town with a structure, to be undertaken and completed at his own expense, for a market .. The proposal being accepted, it was finished in 1742, and pre- sented to the selectment. At a town meeting in July, a committee was appointed " to wait upon Peter Faneuil, and in the name of the town to render him their most hearty thanks for so bountiful a gift, with their prayers, that this and other expressions of his bounty and charity may be abundantly recompensed with the divine blessing." It was also voted to call the hall over the market, " Faneuil Hall," in honor of the donor, who has thus acquired a world wide celebrity. Faneuil's death took place in 1743, and a funeral oration, the first oration ever heard within those walls, destined to echo to the soul-stirring eloquence of so many future heroes, statesmen, and orators, was delivered on this occasion.
In 1747, the old hall was burned, and in the year following repaired and rebuilt, somewhat on its present much enlarged and improved plan. A serious tumult was occasioned the same year, by the impressment of some searnen and mechanics by an English squadron lying in the harbor. The house of Governor Shirly was attacked, and the mob determined to seize and detain the naval officers who were in it. Captain Erskine, of
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the Canterbury, and several inferior officers, were secured. The squadron was commanded by Commodore Knowles, who afterwards forsook the service of his country, and entered into that of the Empress of Russia. Notwithstanding the Governor's remonstrances, and representations of the confusion and indignation caused by this outrage, the Commodore refused all terms of accommodation, and even threatened to bombard the town if the officer's were not set at liberty. His discretion, or his instinct, per- haps, seems to have persuaded him to better counsels. The military were called out, and serious consequences were apprehended, when, upon the interference of the General Court, which was in session at the time, and the condemnation in town meeting of the riot, as well as of the act of impressment that had given rise to it, the difficulty was reconciled, and most, if not all, of the persons impressed were dismissed.
A most calamitous fire occurred on the 20th of March, 1759, the loss in which was estimated at £ 71,000 ; and another in the month of January, 1761, causing great damage. The weather was so intensely cold that the harbor was frozen over for several days. The interior of Faneuil Hall Market was again consumed, but the walls were left standing. It was immediately repaired, the General Court granting a lottery for that pur- pose.
We have now arrived at that period of our history, not only the most eventful for the city of Boston, but also for the nation and for mankind. Between the years 1760 and 1776, were enacted those important scenes, which preceded and attended the first steps of the Revolution.
Boston was the principal theatre of these scenes. Immediately after the conquest of Canada in 1759, the home government seemed to be in- spired with a blind and headlong spirit of hostility towards the English colonies in North America. It is easy to conceive that this spirit had its immediate exciting cause in the difference between the political condi- tion of the Canadas themselves, and that of the ancient colonies. The former were subject provinces, the conquests of war; the latter were in- dependent States, accustomed to recognize no other government than their own. The humiliation of the former must have exhibited the pride of freedom in the latter in a striking contrast; but, at the saine time that we look to this as an immediate provocation, we must not forget that a party had always existed from the year 1692, which opposed submission to the present charter, and encouraged, by word and deed, a resolute op. position to every seeming act of encroachinent upon the privileges con- ferred by the first patent. Indeed, as far back as the year 1676, one hun- dred years before the Declaration of Independence, the Court of the colony had distinctly announced the fundamental principle of the Revo. lution ; that taxation without representation was an invasion of the rights, liberties, and property of the subjects of his Majesty. When, therefore, at the later period in question, the government of Great Britain
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renewed its attacks, it encountered the resistance, not prompted by sud- den excitement, but proceeding from a sedate conviction of duty and honor, matured through several generations of men. Ignorant or regard- less of this, it formed plans for changing their forms of government, crippling their trade, and raising revenue by means of taxes laid by Par- liament without the consent of the people. Without attempting any connected history of the measures by which these objects were to be accomplished, it is necessary to refer to them occasionally, in order to explain the events we are about to record.
The order from the Board of Trade, for application for Writs of Assist- ance, was, as is well known, the first of these measures. Between that time and the passage of the Stamp Act, in 1765, ample time was afforded to prepare the minds of the people for coming events; and that time was well improved. Brave and eloquent leaders were not wanting to direct, nor willing and fearless followers to pursue, the course to which freedom pointed.
The appointment of Andrew Oliver, as distributor of stamps for Mass- achusetts, occasioned the first popular outbreak of passion proceeding from the love of liberty. An efligy of Mr. Oliver and a boot (the emblem of Lord Bute) with the devil peeping out of it, having the Stamp Act in his hand, besides various other satirical emblems, were found, at break of day, hanging on a large elm tree, at the head of Essex Street, opposite Boylston Market. The Lieutenant-Governor directed the Sheriff to have the effigy removed ; but his officers reported that it could not be done, without peril of their lives. The excitement continued all day. A build- ing, intended, as was supposed, for a stamp office, was entirely demol- ished. At eleven o'clock at night, the Lieutenant-Governor and Sheriff ventured to approach the people, to persuade them to disperse, and were received with a volley of stones. The next day the violence was re- newed; the houses of Mr. Storey, Register Deputy of the Admiralty, and of Mr. Hallowell, Controller of the Customs, were attacked and in- jured. This is the origin of the " Liberty Tree," so dear to every true Bostonian.
The house of the Lieutenant Governor was also attacked. Every thing movable was destroyed in a most minute manner, except such things of value as were worth carrying off; among which were £ 1,000 sterling in specie, besides a great quantity of family plate, &c. An attempt was made to destroy the house. The next day the streets were found scat- tered with money, plate, gold rings, &c. The respectable part of the community, however, were as far from justifying these outrages as they Were strenuous to oppose the imposition of internal taxes by the authori- ty of Parliament. A town-meeting was held the next day, at which the citizens expressed their detestation of the violent proceedings of the past night, and unanimously voted, that the Selectmen and Magistrates be
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desired to use their utmost endeavors to suppress such disorders for the future. Another demonstration of the public feeling followed upon the arrival of a quantity of the stamps in the month of September. This occurred on the day on which the Stamp Act was to take effect.
An account of the proceedings of the Ist and 5th of November is to be found in the Massachusetts Gazette, from which it appears that several obnoxious persons were burnt in etligy in company with figures of the pope, the devil, and other effigies of tyranny, oppression, and slavery. The whole affair was conducted with great spirit, but without violence.
In the early part of December, Mr. Oliver was compelled by the Sons of Liberty, as they styled themselves, to appear under the Liberty Tree, and, in the presence of the Selectmen, merchants, and principal inhabi- tants of the town, to make a public resignation, unreserved and un- qualified, of his office of Distributor of Stamps. The Liberty Tree be- came a sort of idol with the people. On the 14th of February, 1766, it was pruned after the best manner, agreeably to a vote, - passed by the true born Sons of Liberty, - so that the tree became a great ornament to the street. This tree stood at the corner of Essex Street, opposite the Boylston Market, and was cut down by the British soldiers while they had possession of the city, in the winter of 1775- 76, and converted into fuel.
The 20th of February, being the day fixed for burning one of the Stamp Papers in the principal towns in every colony, this ceremony was con- ducted in Boston with great decency and good order, and the effigies of Bute and Grenville, in full court dress, were added to the bonfire. On the 24th, a vessel arrived from Jamaica with stamp clearances. The Sons of Liberty directed one of their number 'to go and demand in their name those marks of creole slavery.' Upon being received they were exposed at the stocks upon a pole, and finally burnt in the centre of King (now State) Street. While the smoke was ascending, the execu- tioner said in a loud voice, 'Behold the smoke ascends to heaven, to wit- ness between the isle of Britain and an injured people!' Three cheers were given, and the street was cleared in a few minutes without disorder. We find in the Boston Gazette of March 17th, the determination ex- pressed to spill the last drop of blood, if necessity should require, rather than live to see the Stamp Act in operation in America. This is the first intimation of the possibility of an appeal to arms. When information of the repeal of the Stamp Act reached Boston, on the 16th of May, the inhabitants were as loud and active in the demonstrations of their joy as they had been before of their resentment. The bells were rung, and the cannon was fired under the Liberty Tree, and in other parts of the town. The 19th was appointed for a day of general rejoicing. Such was the ardor of the people that the bell of Dr. Byles's church, the nearest to the Liberty Tree, was rung at one o'clock in the morning, and soon answered by the other bells of the city. The drums beat and guns were fired ; the
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Liberty Tree was decorated with flags, and colors were displayed from the houses. In the evening the town was illuminated, and fireworks were let off in every direction, especially on the Common. Appropriate serinons were preached from several pulpits on succeeding days.
The accidental arrival of a detachment of Royal Artillery, served, in addition to the angry and offensive language of the British government and its officers here, to keep up the public excitement in Boston, until the passage of the bill imposing duties on tea, &c., and the act changing the administration of the customs in America. Consequent upon these, a town-meeting was held on the 28th of October, at which the illustrious Otis was chosen Moderator. At this meeting an address was read re- commending economy and manufactures; and the town took into con- sideration the petition of a number of the inhabitants, 'that some effec- tual measures might be agreed upon to promote industry, economy, and manufactures,' thereby to prevent the unnecessary importation of Euro- pean commodities which threatened the country with poverty and ruin.
" Messrs. John Rowe, Wm. Greenleaf, Melatiah Bourne, Sam'l Aus- tin, Edw. Payne, Edm. Quincy, tertius, John Ruddock, Jona. Wil- liums, Jush. Henshaw, Hend. Inches, Solo. Davis, Joshua Winslow, and T'hos. Cushing, were appointed a committee to prepare a subscrip- tion paper, for the above object. Accordingly, they brought forward a forin, in which the signers agree 'to encourage the use and consumption of all articles manufactured in any of the British Amer. colonies and more especially in this province, and not to purchase, after the 31st of Dec. next, any of certain enumerated articles, imported from abroad; and also strictly to adhiere to the late regulation respecting funerals, and not to use any gloves, but what are manufactured here, nor procure any new garments upon such an occasion, but what shall be absolutely neces- sary.' Copies of these articles were directed to every town in this prov- ince, and to all the other principal towns in America, where they were generally approved and adopted."
Difficulties which occurred between the crew of his Majesty's ship Romney, and several town-meetings, from which emanated renionstrances to the Governor, and resolutions to avoid, as far as possible, importations from Great Britain, supplied General Gage with the desired pretext for sending regular troops to Boston. When this intention was known, another town-meeting was held, which was opened with prayer by the Rev. Samuel Cooper. A committee was appointed to wait upon his Ex- cellency, and request him to communicate the reasons for the troops being ordered here, and also to ask him to issue precepts for the General As. sembly. The refusal of the Governor to comply with the latter request, led to the first State Convention ; the idea of which originated in Boston.
On Friday, September 30th, 1768, the British troops landed at Long Wharf. The Town House and Faneuil Hall were converted into tempo-
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rary barracks, and Boston become a garrisoned place. About this time, two hundred families in town had agreed to abstain entirely from the use of tea. Other towns, and the students of Harvard College, followed the example. All amusements were given up, the British officers attempted to get up assemblies, but were unable to secure the presence of any ladies out of their own families. The women of Boston refused to join in fashionable gayeties while their country was in mourning.
On the night of the 30th of January, 1769, a fire broke out in the jail, from which the prisoners were rescued with difficulty. In the morning, the walls alone were standing. At this fire, the city and soldiers were seen acting in harmony for the last time. At the time of the annual election for Representatives, the Selectmen requested General Mackay, the commander of the troops, to remove them from the town, which being refused, the town met, and entered upon their records a declaration of their right, and a protest against being compelled to proceed to election under such circumstances. Disputes between the people and the servants of the crown now became frequent, but nothing produced greater excite- ment than an attack upon Mr. Otis by a number of army, navy, and revenue officers at the British Coffee House. In October the town pub- lished an appeal to the world, or vindication of Boston, from the asper- sions of Bernard and others. In January, 1770, the merchants renewed their agreement not to import British goods. At one of the several meet- ings held in Faneuil Hall, in connection with this subject, Lieutenant- Governor Hutchinson sent a message directing the meeting to disperse After a calm consideration of the message, it was unanimously voted to proceed.
Hitherto the altercations between the people and those' in authority, had been limited to angry words and language of defiance; but now the union for liberty was to be cemented by blood. The first victim was a boy of eleven years of age, named Christopher Snyder. He was killed by one Ebenezer Richardson, known as the informer, who had created a riot by attempting to pull down a pole on the top of which the faces of several importers were carved. He was killed on the 23d of February, and buried on the 26th. All the friends of liberty were invited to attend the funeral of this little hero and first martyr to the noble cause! The corpse was set down under the Tree of Liberty. The coffin bore several inscriptions. On the foot, " Latat anguis in herba "; on each side, " Hæret lateri lethalis arundo"; and on the head, " Innocentia nusquam tuta." Four or five hundred school boys preceded the body; six of the child's playfellows bore the pall. After the relatives, followed a train of thirteen hundred inhabitants on foot, and the procession was closed by thirty chariots and chaises. A week after this event, the Boston mas- sacre occurred. It originated in an attempt of three or four young men to force a passage by a sentinel, in which one of thein received a slight
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wound. This encounter soon attracted a crowd, a part of which threat- eued an attack upon the sentinel at the Custom-House. On the aların being given, a sergeant and six men were sent to his support; and the commander of the guard, Captain Thomas Preston, upon being informed of this, followed to prevent mischief. By this time the bells were rung, and people collected from all quarters. The soldiers were soon surrounded by men armed with clubs, and pressing close upon them, while those at a distance threw sticks of wood, snowballs, and pieces of ice at them. The crowd defied them to fire. Finally, thinking the order was given. they fired in succession from right to left. Three citizens were killed instantly, two received mortal wounds, and several were more or less in- jured. Upon this, the mob increased to the number of four or five thou- sand, and most of the troops were called out, or got under arms. Several officers were knocked down by the mob, and one very much injured. It was with difficulty that the Lieutenant Governor, at the head of the 29th Regimeut, persuaded the people to retire. A body of a hundred men, composed of some of the most distinguished inhabitants, remained and organized themselves into a Citizen's Guard. Captain Prestan surren- dered himself, and was committed to prison that night. The eight soldiers were committed the next day. At eleven o'clock in the morning of tlie next day, a town-meeting was held, and a committee was appointed to wait on the Lieutenant-Governor and Colonel Dalrymple, to express to them the opinion of the town, that it was impossible for the soldiers and inhabitants to live in safety together, and to urge the immediate removal of the former. The answer to this application not being satisfactory, the cominittee were sent back to the Lieutenant-Governor, armed with a more urgent remonstrance. After some cavils, the Lieutenant Governor offered to remove one of the regiments, when Samuel Adams promptly replied, " If the LieutenantGovernor, or Colonel Dalrymple, or both to- gethier, have authority to remove one regiment, they have authority to remove two; and nothing short of a total evacuation of the town by all the regular troops, will satisfy the public inind and preserve the peace of the province." Hutchinson, by the advice of the Council, complied with this demand, and both reginients were removed to the Castle in less than fourteen days. The funeral solemnities which followed the massacre brought together a great concourse of people. The four bodies were de- posited in one grave. Wilmot, charged with the murder of Snyder, was acquitted ; Richardson was brought in guilty, but was ultimately par- doned by the king. About this time an attempt was inade to smuggle in some tea, in a cargo from London, but the owners were forced to send it back, the traders and people adhering in good faith to their agreement, not to import or use imported goods. The trial of Captain Preston com- menced in October. He was defended with masterly ability by Juhn Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., Esq., who, to use the words of Tudor, " in
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