USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. III > Part 25
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most obedient and h Servanti Dauzun
Le comte de Gruyfs
wes obeinaur serviteur burras
votre tou humble ot toris obéissant Serviteur le chevalier Daterray le cta Do Mchambeauo
AUTOGRAPHS OF FRENCH OFFICERS.
How much were my good townsmen astonished when they beheld plump, portly offi- cers and strong, vigorous sailors ! They could scarcely credit the thing, apparent as it was. Did these hearty-looking people belong to the lantern-jawed, spindle-shank race of mounseers ? In a little while they became convinced that they had been de- ceived as to their personal appearance ; but they knew, notwithstanding their good looks, that they were no better than frog-eaters, because they had been discovered hunt- ing theni in the noted Frog-pond at the bottom of the Common. With this notion in his head, Mr. Nathaniel Tracy, who lived in a beautiful villa at Cambridge,1 made a great feast for the admiral, Count D'Estaing, and his officers. Everything was fur- nished that could be had in the country to ornament and give variety to the entertain- ment. My father was one of the guests, and told me often after that two large tureens of soup were placed at the ends of the table. 'The admiral sat on the right of Tracy, and Monsieur de l'Etombe on the left. L'Etombe was consul of France, resident at Boston. Tracy filled a plate with soup which went to the admiral, and the next was handed to the consul. As soon as L'Etombe put his spoon into his plate he fished up a large frog, just as green and perfect as if he had hopped from the pond into
1 [The Craigie or Longfellow house. - ED.]
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LIFE IN BOSTON IN THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
the tureen. Not knowing at first what it was, he seized it by one of its hind legs, and, holding it up in view of the whole company, discovered that it was a full-grown frog. As soon as he had thoroughly inspected it, and made himself sure of the mat- ter, he exclaimed : 'Ah ! mon Dieu ! une grenouille !' then, turning to the gentleman next to him, gave him the frog. He received it and passed it round the table. Thus the poor crapaud made the tour from hand to hand until it reached the admiral. The company, convulsed with laughter, examined the soup plates as the servants brought them, and in each was to be found a frog. The uproar was universal. Meantime 'Tracy kept his ladle going, wondering what his outlandish guests meant by such extravagant merriment. 'What's the matter?' asked he, and, raising his head, surveyed the frogs dangling by a leg in all directions. 'Why don't they eat them ? ' he exclaimed. 'If they knew the confounded trouble I had to catch them, in order to treat them to a dish of their own country, they would find that, with me at least, it was no joking matter.' Thus was poor Tracy deceived by vulgar prejudice and common report. He meant to regale his distinguished guests with refined hospitality, and had caused all the swamps of Cambridge to be searched, in order to furnish them with a generous supply of what he believed to be, in France, a standing national dish." 1
Mr. Breck's father was agent for the French, and is the " Mr. Brick" whose name occurs so often in that part of the Marquis de Chastellux's Travels in North America which relates to Boston. This traveller, who was an officer in the French army, reached Boston during the stay there of Baron de Vioménil; and his record, while it gives little description of the town, in- timates that the hospitality extended to the French was unremitting. He had scarcely arrived in town before he was hurried off to the Association ball, where he took notice of the general awkwardness of the Boston dan- cers. The ladies he thought well dressed, but with less elegance and refine- ment than those whom he had met at Philadelphia. His visit was filled with a series of calls and entertainments; and among them he notes a club : --
" This assembly is held every Tuesday, in rotation, at the houses of the different members who compose it ; this was the day for Mr. Russell, an honest merchant, who gave us an excellent reception. The laws of the club are not straitening, the number of dishes for supper alone are limited, and there must be only two of meat, -for sup- per is not the American repast. Vegetables, pies, and especially good wine, are not spared. The hour of assembling is after tea, when the company play at cards, con- verse, and read the public papers ; and sit down to table between nine and ten. The supper was as free as if there had been no strangers. Songs were given at table, and a Mr. Stewart sung some which were very gay, with a tolerable good voice."
A little further on he says : -
" They made me play at whist, for the first time since my arrival in America. The cards were English, that is, much handsomer and dearer than ours ; and we marked our points with louis-d'ors, or six-and-thirties. When the party was finished, the loss
1 Recollections of Samuel Breck, with passages from his note-book, pp. 24-27.
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
was not difficult to settle; for the company was still faithful to that voluntary law established in society from the commencement of the troubles, which prohibited play- ing for money during the war. The inhabitants of Boston are fond of high play, and it is fortunate perhaps that the war happened when it did, to moderate this passion, which began to be attended with dangerous consequences."
Political clubs had long been active in Boston, and social clubs were now springing up. From 1777 dates the Wednesday Evening Club, which has maintained ever since an unbroken succession.1
Another French traveller, the Abbé Robin, who preceded Chastellux, has left an account of Boston in 1781, which deals more with the external features of the town : -
" The inside of the town does not at all lessen the idea that is formed by an exterior prospect. A superb wharf has been carried out above two thousand feet into the sea, and is broad enough for stores and workshops through the whole of its extent ; it communicates at right angles with the principal street of the town, which is both large and spacious, and bends in a curve parallel to the harbor. This street is ornamented with elegant buildings, for the most part two or three stories high, and many other streets terminate in this, communicating with it on each side. The form and construc- tion of the houses would surprise an European eye ; they are built of brick and wood, not in the clumsy and melancholy taste of our ancient European towns, but regularly, and well provided with windows and doors. The wooden work, or frame, is light, covered on the outside with thin boards, well planed, and lapped over each other as we do tiles on our roofs in France. These buildings are generally painted with a pale white color, which renders the prospect much more pleasing than it would otherwise be ; the roofs are set off with balconies, doubtless for the more ready extinguishing of fire ; the whole is supported by a wall of about a foot high ; it is easy to see how great an ad- vantage these houses have over ours in point of neatness and salubrity. All the parts of these buildings are so well joined, and their weight is so equally divided and pro- portionate to their bulk, that they may be removed from place to place with little difficulty. I have seen one of two stories high removed above a quarter of a mile, if not more, from its original situation ; and the whole French army have seen the same thing done at Newport. What they tell us of the travelling habitations of the Scyth- ians is far less wonderful. Their household furniture is simple, but made of choice wood, after the English fashion, which renders its appearance less gay ; their floors are covered with handsome carpets, or printed cloths, but others sprinkle them with fine sand.
" This city is supposed to contain about six thousand houses, and thirty thousand inhabitants ;2 there are nineteen churches for the several sects here, all of them con- venient, and several finished with taste and elegance, especially those of the Presby- terians and the Church of England ; their form is generally a long square, ornamented with a pulpit, and furnished with pews of a similar fabrication throughout. The poor
1 [The Centennial Celebration of the Wednes- day Evening Club, Instituted June 21, 1777, Boston, 1878, gives the story of its career. - ED.]
2 The Abbé's arithmetic is as wild as some of his generalizing. In 1789 there were, by actual count, two thousand six hundred and thirty-nine
dwelling-houses, stores, and public buildings, exclusive of distilleries, sugar-houses, rope-walks, mechanics' shops, and stables. (See 2 Mass. Hist. Coll., ix. 204-222.) The population in 1783 did not exceed eighteen thousand, and remained stationary for several years.
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LIFE IN BOSTON IN THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
as well as the rich hear the word of God in these places, in a convenient and decent posture of body. Sunday is observed with the utmost strictness; all business, how important soever, is then totally at a stand, and the most innocent recreations and pleasures prohibited.1 Boston, that populous town, where at other times there is such a hurry of business, is on this day a mere desert ; you may walk the streets without meeting a single person, or if by chance you meet one, you scarcely dare to stop and talk with him. A Frenchman that lodged with me took it into his head to play on the flute on Sundays for his amusement ; the people upon hearing it were greatly enraged, collected in crowds round the house, and would have carried matters to extremity in a short time with the musician, had not the landlord given him warning of his danger, and forced him to desist.2 Upon this day of melancholy you cannot go into a house but you find the whole family employed in reading the Bible ; and indeed it is an affecting sight to see the father of a family surrounded by his household, hearing him explain the sublime truths of this sacred volume. Nobody fails here of going to the place of worship appropriated to his sect. In these places there reigns a profound silence ; an order and respect is also observable which has not been seen for a long time in our Catholic churches. Their psalmody is grave and majestic; and the har- mony of the poetry, in their national tongue, adds a grace to the music, and contributes greatly toward keeping up the attention of the worshippers. .
" Piety is not the only motive that brings the American ladies in crowds to the various places of worship. Deprived of all shows and public diversions whatever, the church is the grand theatre where they attend to display their extravagance and finery. There they come dressed off in the finest silks, and overshadowed with a pro- fusion of the most superb plumes. The hair of the head is raised and supported upon cushions to an extravagant height, somewhat resembling the manner in which the French ladies wore their hair some years ago. Instead of powdering, they often wash the head, which answers the purpose well enough, as their hair is commonly of an agreeable light color ; but the more fashionable among them begin now to adopt the present European method of setting off the head to the best advantage. They are of a large size, well proportioned, their features generally regular, and their complexion fair, without ruddiness. They have less cheerfulness and ease of behavior than the ladies of France, but more of greatness and dignity. I have even imagined that I have seen something in them that answers to the idea of beauty we gain from those master-pieces of the artists of antiquity, which are yet extant in our days.
1 [Mr. Charles Deane points out to the Editor some satirical lines on the " Boston Sab- bath," printed in the Newport News-Letter, May 19, 176t, of which a few are : -
"Six days, said Ile (and loud the same expressed), Shall men still labour ; on the seventh rest : But here, alas! in this great pious Town, They annul his law, and thus prefer their own.
Five days and half shall men, and women 100, Attend their business and their mirth pursue. One day and half 'tis requisite to rest From toilsome labour and a luscious feast."
The beginning of Sunday observance on Sat- urday at sunset has obtained in New England country towns down to a recent day, if indeed this custom is yet wholly disused -- ED.]
VOL. III. - 22.
2 [ It is pertinent to consider that perhaps no small part of this aversion arose from the com- mingling, in the common mind, of Papist and Frenchman. The time had not far gone by when, under the stress of the French and In- dian wars, no foreigner could sojourn in Boston without being a suspected French spy; and if a Frenchman, a Papist. There were those still living who could remember when Governor Belcher issued the warrant, Maren 17, 1731, now preserved in the Charity Building, directing the sheriff of Suffolk to search for Papists who joined with their priest speedily designed to celebrate mass ; and, if need be, to break open any dwell- ing-house, etc. Accompanying this warrant is a list of such l'apists in Boston, largely men-ser- vants, etc. - En.]
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
The stature of the men is tall, and their carriage erect, but their make is rather slim, and their color inclining to pale ; they are not so curious in their dress as the women, but everything upon them is neat and proper. At twenty-five years of age the women begin to lose the bloom and freshness of youth ; and at thirty-five or forty, their beauty is gone. The decay of the men is equally premature ; and I am inclined to think that life itself is here proportionably short. I visited all the burying-grounds in Boston, where it is usual to inscribe upon the stone over each grave the name and age of the deceased, and found that few who had arrived to a state of manhood ever advanced beyond their fiftieth year ; fewer still to seventy ; and beyond that scarcely any."
The picture of Boston given by the French travellers of this time, as indeed most of the representations of America then from the same sources, have an air of insincerity about them, as if written by men preoccupied with notions as to the virginal character of American nature and society. The people of Boston themselves were, during the progress of the war and im- mediately afterward, in a restless, semi-violent condition, demoralized by the sudden changes of fortune which befell merchants, and by the inequalities of life resultant upon war and disturbed relations. Sam Adams, always a democrat in principle and a doctrinaire in poverty, was indignant at the display of wealth made by Hancock and others. He frowned upon the in- creasing extravagance and levity of the town; 1 and he resorted to his favorite method of holding public meetings in rebuke of the temper, but with little avail. Minot the historian gives, in a few words, the general character of the change at work in society : -
" The usual consequences of war were conspicuous upon the habits of the people of Massachusetts. Those of the maritime towns relapsed into the voluptuousness which arises from the precarious wealth of naval adventurers. An emulation prevailed among men of fortune to exceed each other in the full display of their riches. This was imitated among the less opulent classes of citizens, and drew them off from those principles of diligence and economy which constitute the best support of all govern- ments, and particularly of the republican. Besides which, what was most to be la- mented, the discipline and manners of the army had vitiated the taste and relaxed the industry of the yeomen. In this disposition of the people to indulge the use of luxuries, and in the exhausted state of the country, the merchants saw a market for foreign manufactures. The political character of America, standing in a respectable view abroad, gave a confidence and credit to individuals heretofore unknown. This credit was improved, and goods were imported to a much greater amount than could be consumed and paid for." 2
The most conspicuous person in this display of wealth and state was un- doubtedly John Hancock, - a good-natured, vain man, with excellent quali- ties which his contemporaries perceived, but which have been obscured by his inordinate conceit and love of extreme distinction. John Adams ob- served with satisfaction Hancock's chagrin at finding himself subordinated to the Virginian, Washington, at the beginning of the contest, when Han-
1 See Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, iii. 1 57-1 59.
2 Insurrections in Massachusetts, p. 12.
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LIFE IN BOSTON IN THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
cock's reputation was quite as general as Washington's; but he lets us also see the sincere good-nature and fundamental humility with which he bore his lesser rank. Among his own townsmen the rich Bostonian dearly loved to make himself of importance. "King Hancock " was the sobriquet which he earned, and he was a constant butt for Tory wits.1 In the Pennsylvania Ledger for March .11, 1778, " a gentleman from the eastward " says : -
"John Hancock of Boston appears in public with all the pageantry and state of an Oriental prince ; he rides in an elegant chariot, which was taken in a prize to the ' Civil Usage' pirate vessel, and by the owners presented to him. He is attended by four servants dressed in superb livery, mounted on fine horses richly caparisoned ; and escorted by fifty horsemen with drawn sabres, the one-half of whom precede and the other follow his carriage." 2
A good observer writes in 1780: -
" Boston affords nothing new but complaints upon complaints. I have been credibly informed that a person who used to live well has been obliged to take the feathers out of his bed and sell them to an upholsterer to get money to buy bread. Many doubtless are exceedingly distressed ; and yet, such is the infatuation of the day, that the rich, regardless of the necessities of the poor, are more luxurious and extrava- gant than formerly.8 Boston exceeds even Tyre ; for not only are her merchants princes, but even her tavern-keepers are gentlemen. May it not be more tolerable for Tyre than for her ! There can be no surer sign of a decay of morals than the tavern- keepers growing rich fast." 4
We have but scanty personal recollections preserved of this period re- lating to the common life within the town, and must have recourse again to the good-natured Mr. Breck, who piques us by forgetting more important things than he remembered. His childhood was spent in Boston; and he remembered well the old beacon which stood on the hill, and was blown down in 1789: -
" Spokes were fixed in a large mast, on the top of which was placed a barrel of pitch or tar, always ready to be fired on the approach of the enemy. Around this pole I have fought many battles, as a South End boy,3 against the boys of the North End of the town ; and bloody ones, too, with slings and stones very skilfully and earnestly used. In what a state of semi-barbarism lid the rising generations of those days exist ! From time immemorial these hostilities were carried on by the juvenile part of the community. The school-masters whipt, parents scolded, - nothing could check it. Was it a rem- nant of the pugilistic propensities of our British ancestors ; or was it an untamed feeling arising from our sequestered and colonial situation ? Whatever was the cause, every-
1 [See further on Ilancock in Mr. Porter's and Mr. Lodge's chapters. - En.]
2 Moore's Diary of the American Revolution, ii. 11, 12. The "gentleman from the eastward " appcars lo have been the ancestor of the similar character who, during the late war, was always coming away from the front.
3 [It is said that Hancock issued his invita-
tions to a ball given by him at Concert Hall, in November, 1780, printed on the back of playing- cards,-showing scarcity in other things than the necessaries of life. - ED.1
4 lfazard to Belknap, 5 Mass. Hist. Coll., ii. 47.
5 Mr. Breck's house was on Tremont Street, at the corner of Winter Street ; and this shows how local appellations have changed.
I72
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
thing of the kind ceased with the termination of our Revolutionary War. . .. I forget on what holiday it was that the Anticks, another exploded remnant of colonial man- ners, used to perambulate the town. They have ceased to do it now ; but I remem- ber them as late as 1782. They were a set of the lowest blackguards, who, disguised in filthy clothes and ofttimes with masked faces, went from house to house in large companies ; and, bon gré, mal gré, obtruding themselves everywhere, particularly into the rooms that were occupied by parties of ladies and gentlemen, would demean themselves with great insolence. I have seen them at my father's, when his assembled friends were at cards, take possession of a table, seat themselves on rich furniture, and proceed to handle the cards, to the great annoyance of the company. The only way to get rid of them was to give them money, and listen patiently to a foolish dialogue between two or more of them. One of them would cry out : -
" ' Ladies and gentlemen sitting by the fire, Put your hands in your pockets and give us our desire.'
When this was done, and they had received some money, a kind of acting took place. One fellow was knocked down and lay sprawling on the carpet, while another bellowed out : -
"' See, there he lies ! But ere he dies, A doctor must be had.'
He calls for a doctor, who soon appears, and enacts the part so well that the wounded man revives. In this way they would continue for half an hour ; and it happened not unfrequently that the house would be filled by another gang when these had departed. There was no refusing admittance. Custom had licensed these vagabonds to enter even by force any place they chose. What should we say to such intruders now ? Our manners would not brook such usage a moment. Undoubtedly these plays were a remnant of the old mysteries of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.1
" Connected with this subject and period may be mentioned the inhuman and re- volting custom of punishing criminals in the open street. . The large whipping-post, painted red, stood conspicuously and permanently in the most public street in town. It was placed in State Street,2 directly under the windows of a great writing-school which I frequented, and from them the scholars were indulged in the spectacle of all kinds of punishment, suited to harden their hearts and brutalize their feelings. Here
1 Since the publication of Breck's Recollec- tions a correspondent has called the Editor's at- tention to the probable origin of this horse-play. In Hervey's Book of Christmas, a Cornwall mys- tery is given by Mr. Sandys as " still performed in Cornwall;" at the date, that is, of 1786. In this Mystery several characters, as the Turk- ish Knight, the King of Egypt, St. George, the Dragon, Father Christmas, and others, enter by turn. When Father Christmas enters, he says :
" Here come I, old Father Christmas! Welcome, or welcome not ; I hope old Father Christmas Will never be forgot. I come not here to laugh or jeer, But for a pocketful of money and a skinful of beer."
St. George and the Dragon fight, and the latter is killed. Father Christmas calls out :
" Is there a doctor to be found, All ready near at hand, To cure a deep and deadly wound, And make the champion stand?"
The doctor appears, performs his cure, the fight is renewed, and the dragon again killed.
The scraps of this performance, as given by Mr. Breck, do seem to be a reminiscence of this West-of-England Mystery; and it appears as if some of the townspeople from that section had brought with them a rude sport which died out in the more active, stirring life of the town.
1 [The whipping-post was later removed to Tremont Street, near the West Street gate .- En.]
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LIFE IN BOSTON IN THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
women were taken from a huge cage in which they were dragged on wheels from prison, and tied to the post, with bare backs, on which thirty or forty lashes were be- stowed, amid the screams of the culprits and the uproar of the mob. A little farther in the street was to be seen the pillory, with three or four fellows fastened by the head and hands, and standing for an hour in that helpless posture, exposed to gross and cruel insult from the multitude, who pelted them incessantly with rotten eggs and every repulsive kind of garbage that could be collected. These things I have often witnessed ; but they have given way to better systems, better manners, and better feelings." 1
We have had occasion more than once to speak of the town-meeting as an exponent of Boston ideas. A single passage from Breck's Recollec- tions will suffice as an illustration of the same institution when taken as an exponent of the manners of the town. When Lafayette was in Boston in 1784,2 he received a good many attentions from the Breck family.
" Anxious to show him all that related to our institutions and manners, my father invited him one day to go to Faneuil Hall to hear the discussion of some municipal law then in agitation. 'You will see,' said he, 'the quiet proceedings of our towns- men, and learn by a personal examination how erroneous is the general opinion abroad that a large community cannot be governed by a pure democracy. Here we have in Boston,' continued he, ' about eighteen thousand inhabitants, and all our town business
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