USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the commonwealth period. 1775-1820 v. III > Part 19
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183
THE DARK DAY.
The " dark day," which occurred on Friday, the nineteenth CHAP. of May, was the occasion of much alarm, and was the cause V. of much speculation among the common people and the 1780. May 19. learned. The morning was cloudy, and, in some places, a little rain fell. By ten o'clock the whole heavens were over- cast ; and by noon, artificial lights became necessary in the dwellings, and birds and beasts repaired to their places of nightly repose. Before night, however, it gradually grew lighter. The darkness, it is said, did not extend beyond Con- necticut, nor far at sea. It was generally attributed to a thick smoke, which had been accumulating for several days, occasioned by the burning of large tracts of wood land in the northern part of New Hampshire, where the people were making new settlements ; and, joined to the situation of na- tional affairs, which was peculiarly discouraging, an unusual gloom settled upon the community.1
struction of youth in the higher branches of literature. This was known as the Phillips Academy, and afterwards as the Theological Semi- nary. Abbott's Andover, 114-123 ; Bradford, ii. 191.
1 Boston Gazette for May 22 and 29, 1780; Mems. Am. Acad. i .; 1 M. H. Coll. i. 95-98; Bradford, ii. 192; Lewis's Lynn, 217; Coffin's Newbury, 257, from Bp. Edward Bass's MSS. ; Abbott's Andover, 189, 190, from MS. of Rev. J. French. Some of the ac- counts say that the darkness extended all over New England, and westward 1 to Albany, and was observed south- ward all along the sea coast; but oth- ers say that it did not extend to North River. Dr. Tenney attributes the darkness to an uncommonly thick sec- ond stratum of clouds, probably occa- sioned by two strong currents of wind, from the southward and westward, condensing the vapors, and drawing them in a north-easterly direction. The darkness, he says, was most gross in the county of Essex, the lower part of the State of New Hampshire, and
the old Province of Maine. In Rhode Island and Connecticut, it was not so great, and still less in New York. In New Jersey, the second stratum was observed, but not of any great thick- ness, nor was the darkness very un- common. In the lower parts of Penn- sylvania, no extraordinary appearance was noticed. Throughout this whole extent, the lower stratum had an un- common brassy hue, while the earth and trees were adorned with so en- chanting a verdure as could not escape notice, even amidst the unusual gloom that surrounded the spectator. " To these two strata of clouds," he adds, " we may, without hesitation, impute the extraordinary darkness of the day." "The darkness of the follow- ing evening," he further remarks, " was probably as gross as ever has been observed since the almighty fiat first gave birth to light. It wanted only palpability to render it as ex- traordinary as that which overspread the land of Egypt in the days of Mo- ses. I could not help con- ceiving, at the time, that if every lu-
184
REVISION OF THE LAWS.
1780. Oct. 25.
CHAP. V. The sessions of the General Court, commenced in October, were continued until December, when an adjournment was made until the following January, after the appointment of a Dec. special committee "to revise the laws in use in the common- wealth, and to select, abridge, alter, and digest them, so as they should be accommodated to the present government." The members of this committee consisted of the judges of the Superior Court, the attorney general, and James Bowdoin and James Pickering, gentlemen distinguished for their legal at- tainments ; and, in addition to the duty of revising the laws, they were requested to prepare bills for the due observance of the Sabbath, and for the prevention of the vices of drunk- enness and profanity.1 By the terms of the constitution, the Supreme Judicial Court was to be the highest tribunal in the 1782. July. state ; and, as early as was practicable, a court with this title was established by law. The judges of the Superior Court of Judicature had previously exercised the functions assigned to this court; and that had for some time been the highest judicial court in the state.2
The establishment of a national bank, known as the " Bank of North America," - a project in which Hamilton was deeply 1781.
May 26.
interested,3 - was authorized by the General Congress about
this time, agreeably to a plan proposed by Robert Morris, the
minous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper, held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally in- visible with the blackest velvet."
1 Bradford, ii. 202, and note ; Win- throp's Life and Services of James Bowdoin, in Addresses and Speeches, 111. " I have seen in his private pa- pers [those of Mr. Bowdoin] ample evidence of the labor which he be- stowed on the duties of this distin- guished and most responsible posi- tion."
2 Bradford, ii. 217. The judges of this court were William Cushing, Nathaniel P. Sargeant, James Sulli- van, and David Sewall. Robert Treat Paine was attorney general. In 1790, William Cushing was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, and was succeeded by Judge Sargeant, at whose death, in 1792, Francis Dana was appointed chief justice. The other justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, at that date, were R. T. Paine, Increase Sum- ner, Nathan Cushing, and Thomas Dawes.
3 Hamilton's Works, i. 236-253.
185
MASSACHUSETTS BANK INCORPORATED.
superintendent of finance; and this bank went into opera- CHAP. tion in Philadelphia, when the legislature of Massachusetts V. passed a law giving currency to its bills within the state, 1782. instructing the treasurer and other officers to receive them for Jan. 7. payment of the public debts, and subjecting to severe punish- ment those who should counterfeit them. This bank, however, continued in operation but four years, when its charter was 1785. repealed ; but, two years after, it was reincorporated for four- 1787. teen years ; and, by successive legislative acts of the State of Pennsylvania, it has been continued until the present time. The old United States Bank, incorporated in 1791,1 continued 1791. Feb. 25 in existence until 1811, when its charter expired ; but, five years after, a new bank was incorporated, which wound up its 1816. affairs in 1836, under the presidency of General Jackson .? The first bank in Massachusetts, under the state constitution, was established in 1784, and was known as the "Massachu- setts Bank," with a capital not exceeding five hundred thou- sand pounds. Its charter had no limitations as to its contin- uance ; and for several years it was the only incorporated banking company in the state, yielding to its stockholders very great profits. Since then more than two hundred banks have been incorporated in Massachusetts ; but the first char- tered bank still survives.3 The " Massachusetts Mint " was
1784. Feb. 7.
1
1 The delegates from Massachusetts voted against the incorporation of this bank. Jour. of Cong. ; Felt on the Currency, 193.
2 Pelatiah Webster's Essays on Banking, Philad. 1790 ; Carey's De- bates, &c., of the Assembly of Penn- sylvania, 1786 ; Gouge's Hist. of Banking, 12-14, ed. 1835; Felt on the Currency, 193, 197 ; Pitkin's Sta- tistics of the U. S. 415, 416, et seq., and Hist. U. S. ii. 348, 349 ; Bradford, ii. 216, and Hist. Fed. Gov. 36, 37. It should be observed that the Bank of North America, on receiving its second charter, became a state insti- tution, on the retirement of Morris,
and its connection with the national treasury ceased. It was located in Pennsylvania, and had obtained a charter from that state. Pitkin's Sta- tistics of the U. S. 416; Hildreth's U. S. 2d series, i. 260 et seq.
3 The Path to Riches, &c., by a Cit- izen of Massachusetts, Boston, 1792, 47 et seq .; Gouge's Hist. of Bank- ing; Felt on the Currency, 199; Bradford, ii. 216. The General Court, in their session of the winter of 1792, became alarmed at the operation of this bank, and sent a committee, who inquired, but never explicitly report- ed upon its debts and credits. "It seemed to be understood in the House
1
186
MASSACHUSETTS MINT.
CHAP. established in 1786 ; but only seventy thousand dollars, in V. cent and half cent pieces, were coined ; and, after the adop- 1786. Oct. 17. 1788. Nov.17. tion of the federal constitution, the mint was discontinued. It had been proposed by the legislature to have gold and silver coined ; but Congress advised against the measure, on the ground that coining money was properly the prerogative of the national government, and that a uniform currency was neces- sary for the convenience of the people in all parts of the country.1
The election of Mr. Hancock as governor of the state was carried for several years without much opposition ; and he filled the office to which he was chosen to the acceptance of the public. The character of this gentleman has been vari- ously estimated, and differently by the same persons at differ- ent times. That he was a man of wealth, fond of display, and withal somewhat vain, as well as ambitious, are facts which few will dispute. But when it is insinuated that his patri- otism was selfish, and that his devotion to the interests of his country was insincere, it is only necessary to point to his correspondence, both public and private, and to his conduct in
of Representatives that it was a mat- ter which ought not to be spoken up- on ; and a bill was passed limiting the issues of their credits to double their capital." Path to Riches, 50.
1 Bradford, ii. 328; Felt on the Currency, 205-207. Joshua Witherel was empowered by the General Court to have the needed buildings erected for the mint in Massachusetts, and suitable machinery provided ; and from the works erected on the Neck and at Dedham cents were issued, in 1787, which bore on one face a rep- resentation of an eagle grasping in the right talon a bundle of seven arrows and in the left an olive branch - the emblems respectively of defence and peace. On the breast of the eagle was a shield, in the centre of which the word "cent " was inscribed ; the outer edge of the piece was encircled
with the word " Massachusetts ; " and at the bottom were the figures " 1787," the date of emission. On the obverse side was an Indian, grasping with his right hand a bow, one end of which rested on the ground, and with his left an arrow, with the barb pointing to the earth. Near his forehead is a single star, and on the edge is circum- scribed the word " Commonwealth." A few of these coins are still in exist- ence, but they are not very common. For a description of the early United States coins, sce Felt on the Curren- cy, 205, 206, note. An "act for in- troducing the dollar and its parts as the money of account in this com- monwealth " was passed February 25, 1795 ; and the United States, about the same time, adopted a similar law. Mass. Laws for 1794-5, chap. xli. ; Hildreth's U. S.
187
CHARACTER OF GOVERNOR HANCOCK.
every emergency to disprove the charge ; and when the arts CHAP. of the demagogue and of the adventurer are ascribed to him, V. it is only necessary to say that, judged by the same rule, a 1780 like charge may with equal, if not greater, force be brought
to 1784. against his accusers. Whoever, indeed, expects to find in political life an entire exemption from the frailties of human- ity, may with perfect propriety engage in the search for the philosopher's stone, and with a like prospect of success. All have their failings ; and faultless characters are exceedingly rare. A man must be judged by his aims and his deeds, rather than by his failures or his idiosyncrasies. On this ground, few, it is believed, will hesitate to concede to Gov- ernor Hancock the praise of meaning and doing well, of amply atoning for his errors when known, and of meriting richly the approval of posterity by his manifold sacrifices and his gener- ous devotion to the interests of his country.1
. 1 Comp. Quincy's Hist. H. Coll .; jured or justly offended him, and Bradford, ii. 234, 331; iii. 27; Allen's though I spent much of my time and suffered unknown anxiety in defend- ing his property, reputation, and lib- erty from persecution, I cannot but reflect upon myself for not paying him more respect than I did in his lifetime. His life will, however, not ever be written. But if statues, obe- lisks, pyramids, or divine honors were ever merited, by men, of cities or na- tions, James Otis, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock deserved these from the town of Boston and the United States. Mr. Han- cock had a delicate constitution. He was very infirm ; a great part of his life was passed in acute pain. Biog. Dict. art. Hancock; Loring's Hundred Orators. Mr. Hancock was governor of Massachusetts, in all, eleven years, viz., from October, 1780, to February, 1785, and from 1787 to 1793. He died October 8, 1793, aged 56 years. John Adams, whose char- acter has also been the subject of much illiberal comment, bears noble testimony to the worth of Governor Hancock. " You never profoundly admired Mr. Hancock," he wrote to William Tudor. " He had vanity and caprice. I can say with truth that I profoundly admired him, and more profoundly loved him. If he had vanity and caprice, so had I. And if Yet it was astonishing with what pa- tience, perseverance, and punctuality he attended to business to the last. Nor were his talents or attainments inconsiderable. They were far supe- rior to many who have been much more celebrated. He had a great deal of political sagacity and penetra- tion into men. He was by no means a contemptible scholar or orator." Adams's Cor. in Works, x. 259-261. his vanity and caprice made me some- times sputter, as you know they often did, mine, I well know, had often a similar effect upon him. But these little flickerings of little passions de- termine nothing concerning essential characters. I knew Mr. Hancock from his cradle to his grave. He was radically generous and benevo- lent. Though I never in-
188
THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY DISCUSSED.
Nov. 4.
CHAP. V. The question of slavery had for many years attracted the attention of patriots and philanthropists, and pamphlets and 1780 to essays had been published to discourage the holding the black 1784. race in bondage. The odious traffic in human beings, indeed, was never sanctioned in Massachusetts ; and, under the colo- nial and the provincial charters, the slave trade was deprecated 1645. Oct. 2. as a disgrace to humanity.1 Hence, when, in 1645, two Afri- cans, supposed to have been kidnapped, were brought into the colony by " Captain Smith," to be sold as slaves, they were 1646. ordered to be liberated ; and a law was passed prohibiting the buying and selling of slaves, "except those taken in law- ful war, or reduced to servitude for their crimes." 2 Yet slaves were owned by the wealthier class until the opening of the revolution ; 3 but the General Court continued to express their abhorrence of the slave trade, and endeavored to dis- countenance the practice of holding slaves. In conventions, also, the subject was agitated ; and the convention at Worces- ter resolved " that we abhor the enslaving of any of the hu- man race, and particularly of the negroes in this country ; and that, whenever there shall be a door opened, or opportu- nity presented, for any thing to be done towards the emanci- pation of the negroes, we will use our influence and endeavor that such a thing may be brought about."4 At the opening of the revolution, likewise, the people of Massachusetts de- clared their intention to " take into consideration the state and circumstances of the negro slaves in this province ; " 5
1775. Jun. 14.
1774. Oct. 17.
1 Belknap, in 1 M. H. Coll. iv. 196, 201.
% Mass. Rec's, ii. 168; iii. 46; Sav- age's Winthrop, ii. 298-300, 462; 1 M. H. Coll. iv. 195.
3 In the wills of the wealthy, slaves are frequently named, and they were bequeathed as legacies to children or friends. For the statistics of slavery in Massachusetts before and after the revolution, see 1 M. H. Coll. iv. 198, 199; Annals Am. Statist. Association.
4 Lincoln's Hist. Worcester, 110.
5 See vol. ii. 496, and comp. Jour. Prov. Cong. 29. In many of the towns, votes were passed against sla- very ; and a number of blacks enlist- ed in the army, and did good service during the war. 1 M. H. Coll. iv. 203; Lincoln's Hist. Worcester, 110. An able " Address to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements in Ameri- ca upon Slave Keeping" was printed at Philadelphia, and reprinted at Bos-
189
ABOLIITION OF SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS.
and, in the fall of 1776, when several blacks were brought CHAP. into Salem, who were found on board a British prize ship V. from Jamaica, and were advertised to be sold, the legislature 1776. interfered, and ordered them to be liberated.1 And the new Sep. 13. constitution, in the first article of the declaration of rights, 1780. based upon the noted axiom of the Declaration of Independ- ence, declared that " all men are born free and equal " - a clause which was inserted by Judge Lowell, with special refer- ence to the subject of slavery.
Under these circumstances, a public expression of opinion could not be long delayed ; and, in 1783, a judgment of the 1783. Supreme Judicial Court given in the county of Worcester was a final decision unfavorable to the existence of slavery in Massachusetts. The case then decided originated some time before, and was occasioned by a citizen's beating and imprison- 1781. ing his negro servant, whom he claimed as his slave. This offence the public would not overlook ; and the defendant was adjudged guilty of an assault, and was sentenced to pay a fine of forty shillings.2 The abolition of slavery was thus virtually effected. The slave trade was prohibited in 1788 ;. and, though many who had been held in bondage continued. as servants in the families of their masters during their lives, at the opening of the nineteenth century there were few such left, and the institution died a natural death.3
ton in 1773 ; and a second edition was printed at Philadelphia in the same year. Author, Dr. Benjamin Rush. " A Forensic Dispute on the Legali- ty of enslaving the Africans, held at the public Commencement in Cam- bridge, N. E., July 21, 1773, by two Candidates for the Bachelor's De- gree,"-Theophilus Parsons and Eliph- alet Pearson, - was printed at Bos- ton in 1773. The argument in the case of James Somersett, a negro, before the Court of King's Bench, was reprinted in Boston in 1774. For John Adams's opinion on slavery, see Works, ix. 92. For a condensed his- tory of slavery in the United States,
and of the progress of emancipation, see Kent's Commentaries, ii. 347, and compare Bancroft's U. S. i. chap. 5, and Walsh's Appeal, 306-424.
1 Jour. H. of R. for Sept. 13, 1776 ; Felt's Salem, ii. 417; Bradford, ii. 124. On the 9th of June, 1777, a bill was reported in the House of Representatives "for preventing the practice of holding persons in slave- ry." Jour. H. of R. for June 9, 1777. 1 M. H. Coll. v. 203; Bradford, ii. 226. For an account of a suit in 1770, which also terminated in favor of the slave, see 1 M. H. Coll. iv. 202, and Coffin's Newbury.
3 Bradford, ii. 329; Belknap, in
1788. Mar. 26
190
CENSUS OF THE STATE.
CHAP. V. The census of the state, taken in the spring of 1784, showed an aggregate population of three hundred and fifty-eight thou- 1784. sand souls, of whom four thousand three hundred and seventy- 1776. seven were blacks. The census of 1776 gave three hundred and forty-nine thousand inhabitants ; and this small increase in the period of eight years is doubtless to be attributed partly to the removal of many families to Vermont and New York, but principally to the losses sustained in the war, during which thousands of the citizens of Massachusetts perished.1
The health of Mr. Hancock, which was never firm, had been failing for some time, in consequence of his cares and his 1785. Jan. manner of living. Hence, in the winter of 1784-5, he de- clined a reelection to the chair of the chief magistracy ; and, in the following spring, James Bowdoin, though failing to May. receive a majority vote, was chosen by the legislature to fill his place. Mr. Bowdoin belonged to one of the first families
1 M. H. Coll. iv. 197, 205. For an account of the attempt to discourage the slave trade, see ibid. 201 et seq. ; and for an elaborate note on slavery in Essex county, see Coffin's New- bury, 334-350. See also Jackson's Newton, 87-98. An action was tried in 1791, in the county of Bristol, which manifested the feelings of the people relative to the slave trade. See Bradford, iii. 31. A valuable essay " On the Slavery and Com- merce of the Human Species," &c., was read before the University of Cambridge, England, printed in Lon- don, and reprinted in Philadelphia, in 1786. Clarkson's Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade, and Brissot de Warville's Oration on the Abolition of the African Slave Trade, were also reprinted at Phil- adelphia in 1788. The Pennsyl- vania Abolition Society, begun in 1774, and enlarged in 1787, printed their Constitution, with the Acts of the Pennsylvania Assembly, in the same year. St. George Tucker's Dis- sertation on Slavery, and Proposals
for its Abolition in Virginia, was pub- lished at Philadelphia in 1796. The memorials of several of the states for the abolition of slavery were sent to Congress, and printed in 1792. The Proceedings of the Convention at Philadelphia were published in 1795. Noah Webster, Jun., Esq., of the Con- necticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom, published a pamphlet on the Effects of Slavery on Morals and Industry, at Hartford, in 1792. The discussions upon slavery in the Con- gress of the United States from 1790 to 1792 were quite exciting. Comp. Hildreth's U. S. 2d series, vols. i. and ii. Numerous pamphlets on slavery were published in England from 1784 to 1796.
1 Pitkin's Statistics of the U. S. 583 ; Bradford, ii. 228. The popu- lation in 1790 gave for Massachusetts 478,000 souls, of whom 100,000 were in the District of Maine, and 378,000 in Massachusetts proper. Not a sin- gle slave was then returned from Mas- sachusetts. Bradford, iii. 30.
191
CHARACTER OF GOVERNOR BOWDOIN.
in the state, and was eminent for his dignity, his integrity, CHAP. and the amiableness of his character.1 His political oppo- V. nents, of course, were numerous ; nor did they fail to intimate 1785. doubts of his loyalty to the principles of freedom. But his whole life had been a continuous proof of his sympathy for liberty ; and, if he was "less ardent in his disposition, and less desirous of conforming to merely popular sentiments, than many others, who became therefor the greater favorites of the com- mon people," there are not a few, probably, who will esteem this a venial offence, more than counterbalanced by that cor- rectness of judgment and prudence of conduct which seldom fail to command respect, and which are, indeed, among the best and noblest qualifications for the serious duties of public life. He who seeks the permanent welfare of the people by "reminding them of their obligations, and by giving them in his own person an example of all the social virtues," it should seem, is quite as worthy of confidence and support as he who builds upon more showy qualities.2
During the administration of Governor Bowdoin, a con-
1 Mr. Bowdoin, who was born in Boston, August 7, 1726, and graduat- ed at Harvard College in 1745, was a descendant of Pierre Baudouin, the Huguenot exile, who settled on the high road from Portland to Vaughan's Bridge in 1687, and who in 1690 re- moved to Boston. "He was of that same noble stock," observes Mr. Winthrop, Addresses and Speeches, 92, " which gave three presidents out of nine to the old Congress of the Confederation ; which gave her Lau- renses and Marions, her Hugers and Manigaults, her Prioleaus and Gail- lards, and Legarés to South Carolina ; which gave her Jays to New York, her Boudinots to New Jersey, her Brimmers, her Dexters, and her Pe- ter Faneuil, with the Cradle of Lib- erty, to Massachusetts." The public life of Governor Bowdoin extended over a period of more than thirty years, during which time he was al-
ways active in the service of his na- tive land, and devoted himself, heart and soul, to the promotion of its in- terests. For sixteen years previous to the opening of the revolution, he was a member of the Council of Mas- sachusetts.
2 Bradford, ii. 236, 237. "The best security of a governor," says the author of Cato's Letters, "is the af- fections of the people, which he may always gain by making their interests his own. They will then, as they love themselves, love him, and defend him who defends them. This is the nat- ural basis of superiority and distinc- tion." Such were the views of Gov- ernor Bowdoin. For a valuable sketch of the life and services of this distin- guished patriot, see the able address of Hon. R. C. Winthrop before the Me. Hist. Soc. Sept. 5, 1849, in Win- throp's Addresses and Speeches, 90- 137.
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