USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The Boston news-letter, and city record > Part 49
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286
THE BOSTON NEWS-LETTER,
New York, Charlestown, and Ports- mouth, they will visit the navy estab- lishment at Sacket's Harbour .== There are 34 Steam Boats regularly employ- ed at the wharves in New York, chief- ly for the conveyance of passengers. The annual consumption of wood for their use is estimated at about 80,000 cords, which, at 5 dollars per cord, amounts to $400,000 .== It is stated that 22 steam boats are employed on the North River the present season. == Commodore Perry .- A resolution has passed the House of Representa- tives for the removal of the remains of this gallant officer, from the place of their repose in the West Indies, to his late residence in Newport .== The R. I. American says the report men- tioned in a late N. Y. Commercial Ad- vertiser, and in the Phoenix Gazette of the 19th ult. and in other papers, that Mr Lloyd had challenged Mr Ran- dolph for the rudeness and indecorous language he used in the Senate on the subject of Mr Holmes's resolution, is incorrect.
Copy of a Letter of Gen. Lafayette, under date of 29th March, 1826, at Paris, to a gentleman of Wash- ington City.
"We are anxiously waiting for the arrival of two New York packets : I hope they will bring me something from you. At all events, I will know what is going on at Washington, and other parts of the United States : it is a food to my mind, a consolation of my heart, which has become more than ever necessary to me. I am hap- py to think the Panama Mission is now on its way. I believe it of high moment for the welfare of South America and Mexico, for the prospects of mankind, and for the dignity of the people of the United States, that they may preserve and exert the moral iu- fluence to which they are so justly en- titled."
CITY RECORD.
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN. Monday, May 29th .- Present, the whole Board.
A communication was received foom the trustees of the Boston Thea- tre, stating their intentions of making additions to their building in Federal street.
A petition was received from the Trustees of the Mass. Gen. Hospital, praying that when North Allen street shall be paved, that the part running by the Hospital, may be McAdamized.
Ordered, that Nathaniel Bradlee, Romanus Emerson, Rolun Hartshorn, Abel Hewins and John Howe, be fence viewers. That James Brown, Benjamin Clark, and Charles Pook, be cullers of hoops and staves. That Michael Homer, Francis James, and Samuel Sprague, be inspectors of lime. That John Wells and Lewis A. Lauri- at be assay masters. That Samuel Emmons and Benjamin Rich be sur- veyors of hemp. That Bement Ford and Noah James be hogreeves, hay- wards, and field drivers. Benjamin Pollard, esq. was nominated and ap- pointed City Marshal for the year en- suing.
Ordered, that the City Marshal be supplied with a horse, for the next four months, at the expense of the city.
Ordered, that Monday, the 19th of June, be assigned for the choice of surveyors of boards and other lumber, and also of cullers of dry fish.
The Committee charged to consider what preparations were expedient for celebrating the approaching anniversa- ry of the Independence of the United States, made the following report which was accepted in Board of Al- dermen and concurred in by the Com- mon Council :
That in their opinion the day should be commenced with salutes of cannon at various points in the city, and with the ringing of all the bells, which should be repeated at noon and at sun- set, and the brilliancy of the scene will be much increased if the Military Companies of Light Infantry belong- iug to this Brigade should think fit to appear in full uniform during the day.
Your Committee are also of opin- ion that it would contribute to the so-
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AND CITY RECORD, JUNE 3, 1826.
temnity of the occasion, to engage the Musical Societies of the city, to fur- nish a large choir of singers, and an extensive band of musicians, to assist at the ceremonies in the Old South Church ; and that an exhibition of good fireworks on the Common, (if such can be procured) accompanied with instrumental music, would be gratifying to the citizens generally.
In conclusion your Committee can- not forbear to congratulate the City Council and their constituents on the selection of a gentleman to deliver the Oration, alike distinguished for his piety and literary accomplishments.
With these views, your Committee recommend the adoption of the sub- joined orders :
Ordered, that a committee be ap- pointed to make arrangements in con- currence with the State Authorities, for procuring salutes to be fired at sun- rise, at noon, and at sunset of the 4th day of July next, upon the Common, and on Copps' and Fort Hills.
Ordered, that the bells of the sever- al churches be rung for one hour, com- mencing at sunrise, and one hour be- fore sunset of the said day.
Ordered, that the said Committee make arrangements for procuring a choir of singers and a band of musi- cians, to assist at the ceremonies in the Old South Church, and that the organist of the said Church, be re- quested to perform on that instrument.
Ordered, that the Committee en- gage a large band of Musicians to per- form on the Common during the even- ing of the 4th of July, and that a stag ing be erected for them in a suitable place.
Ordered, that the said Committee be authorized, if they see fit, to engage some suitable person to exhibit Fire- works on the Common in the evening of the said day.
Ordered, that the expenses incurred for Music, Gunpowder, and other things necessary for the occasion, be charged to the appropriation for inci- dental expenses. Per order of the Committee. J. BELLOWS, Chairman.
IN COMMON COUNCIL.
Monday, May 29th .- Present, the President and forty-one members. Absent, Messrs. Sprague, Dyer, Bald- win and Barnard.
The report of the surveyors of high- ways on the subject of widening Mer- chants' Row, was taken up. An amendment was adopted, 32 to 7, au- thorising the surveyors of highways to make that street from 45 to 50 feet wide, provided it can be done for a sum not exceeding $25,000, or when the sum of $10,000 shall be obtained by subscription of individuals, in addi- tion to the land already offered.
The committee on Neck lands, rela- tive to widening the southerly part of Washington street, reported an order authorizing the Mayor to sell 2000 square feet of land for 20 cents per foot, in the rear of the Bull pasture, provided he can obtain lands adjoining for 10 cents per square foot. The re- port was accepted.
The report of the Committee on the Marginal-street was read once, and Tuesday next, 4 o'clock, assigned for a second reading.
Tuesday next was assigned for a convention to choose a City Treasurer.
The City Clerk was ordered to give notice that application will be receiv- ed until the 12th of June for the offices of Resident Physician and Island keeper, at Hospital Island.
The petitions of J. Woodward, rel- ative to the going at large of cows at South Boston, and of Woodbridge Strong, relative to official misconduct of Win. Brooks, a constable, in serving a writ of attachment, were read and committees joined to those appointed in the other board.
The annual report of the Directors of the House of Industry was read and referred to a joint committee. The report stated, among other particulars, that there were in the House on the 1st of June, 1825, 280 inmates, since which time there have been admitted 660, discharged 223, deserted 211, died 77, bound out 22 ; leaving now in the House 407. The want of a
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288
THE BOSTON NEWS-LETTER,
fence had been the cause of so many desertions, but a good and sufficient fence was now in a state of great for- wardness.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN,
That in conformity to the resolve of the City Council, the Surveyors of Highways will exercise the powers vested in them by law, in widening Merchants' Row, by taking a piece of land on the westerly side of said Merchants' Row, so as to make the same from 45 to 50 feet wide, as near as practi- cable, according to a plan drawn by S. P. Fuller, Surveyor, dated the 24th of Septem- ber, 1825, when the sum of ten thousand dollars shall be obtained by subscription of individuals, in addition to the land already offered.
By order of the Mayor and Aldermen, May 31. S.F. McCLEARY, City Clerk.
LAW.
Some time since a person calling himself George Washington Smith, was arrested in one of the public hous- es in Albany, upon a charge of having robbed the mail, suspicion having fal- len upon him from the fact of his hav- ing left certain post notes in the Branch Bank of the United States, without re- quiring a receipt therefor, and without returning to claim the money ; it was, however, proved that this deposite was made three days before the robbery of the mail was committed. He was, nevertheless, detained upon suspicion of having robbed Mr J. D. P. Ogden, of Tennessee. Smith was, on the 17th inst. by a habeas corpus, brought be- fore Judge Duer, holding a court of equity in Albany. The object of the habeas corpus was to have the prison- er released from confinement, for two reasons ; first, because the offence for which he was imprisoned had been committed in another State ; and sec- ondly, that notwithstanding proper no- tice had been given to the governor of Tennessee, no demand had been made for the prisoner. The deputy Attorney General contended that as the money had been brought into the city of New York, the prisoner might be tried there. A decision of Judge Parker of Massachusetts was quoted, in support of the argument, which it was decided that stealing goods in an- other State, and bringing them into
that State subjected the offender to a trial and punishment in Massachusetts. This decision was not considered bind- ing, as the Attorney for the plaintiff quoted a decision by the Supreme Court of New York, directly opposed to its bearings. The provision of the constitution of the United States, for demanding fugitives from justice, was a proof of the propriety of referring the trial of all offences to the State in which they were committed.
Judge Duer therefore decided that ' the prisoner could only be tried for the offence in question, in the State of Tennessee, and not in New York; and that as no demand had been made of the prisoner by the Executive of Ten- nessee, and as sufficient time had elap- sed for making that demand, he was of opinion that he was entitled to his discharge from prison, and he was ac- cordingly discharged .- U. S. Gaz.
Horrors of the Slave Trade .- A ship master, who lately arrived at New York, from Trinity, Martinique, in- forms that, while he was at that port, a French slave ship arrived there in a long passage from Africa. The whole number of slaves, when taken on board consisted of 300, but owing to shortness of provisions, and other cir- cunistances incidental to the traffic, 100 had died before the vessel arrived. The remainder were purchased by the commandant of the port, and sent to his plantation. The informant saw these poor wretches on their march, they were entirely naked, and so mis- erably weak and poor that it was with difficulty they could walk ; some of them were placed on mules ; all their ribs and other bones could be counted. On asking a Frenchman the cause of their frightful appearance, he received for answer with a significant gesture, 'Want, for de stomach?' In the even- ing of the day of their arrival a gentle- man visited the plantation, and saw a few of them seated eating sugar cane ; the rest were housed, with the excep- tion of some who were burying one of their number, and though at some distance, he heard the groans of the dying slave, partly covered with earth.
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289
AND CITY RECORD, JUNE 10, 1826.
HISTORICAL.
LEXINGTON,
AND THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL, "75.
(Continued from p. 281.)
It has been generally supposed that our yeomanry of 1775 were extremely ignorant in military affairs ; they were certainly, however, excellent marks- men, and could bear fatigue and pri- vation ; the British grenadiers and light infantry, on duty this day (19 April, )the flower of the army, were known for weeks afterwards to the inhabitants of Boston, by marks of exhaustion and fatigue, whilst our hardy Middlesex farmers were ready for fresh service in a single day. Several of our men, from almostevery town, had been in the old French war, from 1758 to 1763 ; in Lexington, particularly, we believe, a number had been recruited by Capt. Edmund Munroe, brother to Col. Wm. Munroe, an officer in the British regular service. These old vet- erans had instilled a part of their spirit into the minutemen ; and they thom- selves had merely to fight the same soldiers with whom they had marched to victory against the French and In- dians. One man, in the battle of Lex- ington (Jonas Parker,) placed his hat on the ground, emptied his bullets into it, and solemnly declared he would never retreat an inch before the Brit- ish, and after being shot down in the ranks, was reloading his piece whilst lying on the ground, when the British rushed forward, shot him through the head, and bayonetted him. Another, (Jedidiah Manroe) wounded in the morning, was killed in the afternoon, fighting manfully, encumbered, besides bis trusty fusee, with a tremendous long sword, brought over, probably, by his ancestors, from the highlands, in the time of the long parliament.
Gen. Gage declared ' that the troops were fired upon by the rebels, out of the meetinghouse, and the neighbour- ing houses, as well as those that were in the field ; and that the (king's) 25%
troops only returned the fire, and pas- sed on their way to Concord.'. But the real fact was, that S or 4 men were stationed in the meetinghouse to guard or deliver out the ammunition, which was deposited in the gallery. All but one of these men, we believe, ran out of doors, (one of whom was killed) during the second or third fire of the British. Possibly one of the men may have fired from the meetinghouse, and there is little doubt that there were one or two shots from the neighbouring houses or sheds. One man, however, remained in the meetinghouse till after the British had retired, seated on a full cask of powder, whilst he supplied am- munition, or filled the old powderhorns of the men from an open cask. He declared, like Parker, that he would not quit his station ; his musket stood by him cocked and primed, which, if the British had entered the meetinghouse, he said he would have discharged into the open cask of powder, and died, like Samson, in the midst of the British Philistines.
The royal troops not only rushed up the Concord road, but the Bedford road,forming nearly a half circle round their intended victims, who, when their captain gave the word to take care of themselves, had to run the gauntlet through the cross fire of the British. A road on the north side connects the two great roads, and insulates the com- mon, across which some of the militia escaped, and some to the W. and S.
The British, after much exultation, huzzaing, and some little delay, passed on to Concord, where they ar- rived about 9 o'clock, without further interruption. The people of Concord, however, had notice of their approach and designs, having been alarmed about break of day ; and collecting in considerable numbers, improved the time in concealing aud securing as many of the public stores as was possi- ble and preparing for defence The delay of the British troops at Lexing- ton saved therefore many thousands of dollars to the colony, and frustrated in a great measure their whole design. The articles of first importance, such
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290
THE BOSTON NEWS-LETTER,
as powder, &c. were removed or con- cealed ; and the British proceeded to destroy or disable the remainder, via. two 24 pounders, a quantity of car- riages, limbers, wheels, &c. ; they threw 500 weight of balls into the riv- er, and stove 60 barrels of flour, half of which was afterwards saved
The provincials of Concord and some neighbouring towns,about 150 or 200 in number, occupied a hill a little distance N. of the road and meeting- house : but retreated to another hill 100 rods further, and finally before the regulars to the North bridge, about a mile from the town. A party of the British about 200 in number were or- dered to take possession of the bridge and dislodge the 'rebels' on the other side of Concord river; after taking possession of the bridge, one half of this detachment under Capt. Lawrie were left to guard it, and the other sent in search of stores. Capt Lawrie then proceeded to take up the planks of the bridge. The road leading to it on the N. W. side was a long narrow cause- way enveloped with bushes. The provincials, ignorant of the tragedy at Lexington, marched to the bridge to prevent its destruction, and were fired on by the British, by which Capt. Davis of Acton and a private were killed, and several wounded. Our sharp shooters now met the enemy upon a footing of equality, and, rushing on, returned the fire, killed 2, wounded several, drove them from the bridge and pursued them towards the town till the enemy were reinforced. The black account of debtor and credit in the number of killed and wounded had now began to be reversed. At every success at Lexington and Concord a loud huzza and feu-de-joy had echoed from the British ranks : these ' signs of the times' now grew weaker and weaker ; and by the time they had joined the main body about noon, the whole armament thought it prudent to commence a retreat. Their retreat was soon converted into a flight ; and no sooner were they out of Concord, than they began to feel the effects of the resentment of an injured people.
' On either side of the way, along the skirts of every wood or orchard, in the open fields, and from every house or barn, or cover in sight, the flash of fire-arms was to be seen.'
' On right, on left, above, below,
Sprung up at once the lurking foe ;
From shingles grey their muskets start,
The brarken-bush sends forth the dart, And every tuft of broom gives life,
To belted warrior, armed for strife.'
This scene continued with little in- termission, till they arrived about half a mile below Lexington meeting house. It had become evident, from their loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, their fatigue, and disheartened looks, that they would soon have surrendered at discretion, but Lord Percy's arrival with another brigade of 1000 or 1500 men, and two field pieces, gave them a seasonable respite. Lord Percy, with his brigade, had marched over Boston neck through Roxbury, &c. the music playing in derision the tune of Yankee Doodle; they were afterwards told that they had been made to dance to it. The jaded regulars were now al- lowed to refresh themselves, and the militia were kept at a respectable dis- tance by the cannon, which were point- ed up the road. Rev. MrCushing,in his sermon on the 19th of April, 1778,says ' From the best accounts it appears that not more than 300 of the militia were, at any time, properly engaged with the two British brigades, (in their whole flight from Concord to Charles- town) near 2000 strong.' It is prob- able, however, that the number of the militia was much greater than be sup- poses. The minutemen of Concord and Acton, and individuals from Sud- bury, Lincoln, &c. must have amount- ed, before the British left Concord, to 200 or 250. All may not have follow- ed the British to Charlestown ; but the snow-ball increased by the addition of the exasperated Lexington people, who waylaid their late exulting conquerors through their town, which is five miles in length ; and many inhabitants from Woburn, Bedford, Cambridge, Minoti- mi, Waltham, Watertown, and other neighbouring towns, travelled over to the great road to sulute them as
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AND CITY RECORD, JUNE 10, 1826.
they passed, or joined in the pursuit. The British flanking parties suffered severely .*
The names of the killed on the morning of the 19th April, 1775, have been engraved on a neat monument, erected by the citizens of Lexington,
* Concord, or rather some writers among its in- habitants, in order to place the laurel on their own beads, have lately endeavoured to 'filch from Lexington her good name,' -- to deprive her of all the glory of appearing first in arms against the British. Their plea, however, were it true, amounts to little or nothing. Unless they can prove that none of the inhabitants of Lexington were killed with arms in their hands, any attempt to establish other points is of no consequence, or merely collateral to the main point in question. It is well known that it was the policy of the British, at that time, to assert that the firing be- gau with the Americans, whilst it was that of the Americans to maintain the adverse of this posi- tion. The times were so precarious that it was not politic in America to tell every thing to the English people; we bad even to go a little farther, and endeavour to keep our own bostility entirely out of view in every public document. The truth was told with regard to the first firing of the British ; but cur witnesses and statesmen did not, at that time, give public evidence in their affidavits and letters against themselves, although they never denied the truth among their friends. But that any person should at this late period take for granted, that the Lexington folks stood shivering on the parade, with guns in their hands, balfor the whole of the night of the 18th of April, 1775, with no hostile intention or to wish the British God-speed, on their way to destroy the pub- lic stores, is ridiculous, to put the best construc- tion upon the insinuation. Hancock, Adams, and. Warren were too good politicians to send the whole truth, in 1775, across the Atlantic, although they might send nothing but the truth; they had to deal with politicians both here and in the mother country, and their wisdom had to influence the patriot presses and pulpits, till the good cause was paramount throughout America ; but that the Concord writers should, in 1826, pretend to make this an argument in trying to turn the tables against their sister town, and insinuate that there was no merit in the Lexington patriots dying on this occasion, because, forsooth, their asso- ciates in the ranks did not happen to draw an equal quantity of blood from the enemy, is truly surprising. The British themselves had no better success in their first fire, except in wounding a single individual. One year afterward, when in- dependence was declared, there was no longer necessity for concealment ; America had then felt her strength and disdained prevarication.
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