Curiosities of History: Boston, September Seventeenth, 1630-1880

FAST DAY

This threatening proclamation was followed by another, on the 18th February, for a general fast, as at this time the expedition to Louisbourg, which soon followed, was in preparation:—

“Whereas it has pleased Almighty God, in his holy and sovereign Providence, to involve His Majesty’s Dominions in War, which, notwithstanding the many instances of success, which, through Divine favor, have attended the arms of His Majesty and his allies, ought to be regarded as an effect of the anger of God against us; and, whereas, this government have, upon mature consideration, determined by the Divine permission, to prosecute an expedition against His Majesty’s enemies, upon the success of which, the prosperity of His Majesty’s subjects in North America, and more especially in this Province, does under God, much depend,” &c., &c., therefore the 28th day of February instant, is appointed for a general fast, to be observed with fervent prayers and supplications, and all labor and recreation are strictly forbidden. “Given at the Province House, in Boston, the 18th day of February, 1744.”

[The expedition sailed soon after, and arrived at Canso, under Col. Pepperell, on the 4th of April, having 3,250 Massachusetts troops. The fort and city of Louisbourg were surrendered and given up on the 17th of June; and two East India ships and one South Sea ship, worth £600,000, were captured at the mouth of the harbor.]

ANOTHER FAST

On the 25th of March, 1745, Gov. Shirley issues another proclamation for a general fast, on Thursday, 4th day of April. The expedition for Cape Breton had just embarked and “taken their departure from this place,” and this was deemed, in addition to the usual custom, occasion for a fast. The favor of Divine Providence was implored for the success of the expedition which the government had, at “great expense and labor, raised and fitted out with a large body of troops and a considerable naval force, for an expedition against the French at Cape Breton,” &c.

THANKSGIVING REJOICING

News of the success of the expedition was received in Boston, on the 2d of July, 1745, and there were great rejoicings and illuminations in the town in consequence; and on the 8th, Gov. Shirley issued his proclamation for a general thanksgiving, it having pleased God, as he elaborately expressed it, “by a wonderful series of successes to bring this great affair to a happy issue in the reduction of the city and fortress of Louisbourg.” There was added, “All servile labor is forbidden on said day,” and the bar against recreations is omitted; but all persons are called upon to preserve order.

GOV. PHIPS’S PROCLAMATIONS

In September, 1745, while Gov. Shirley and his lady were absent on a visit to Louisbourg, the scene of the late success of his expedition, Spencer Phips, acting governor, issued three proclamations in the following three months: on the 6th of September, for a public fast, partly on account of the war with the Indians, and among other things “that His Excellency the Governor may be directed and succeeded in the important affairs he is transacting at Louisbourg and returned in safety.” Signed S. Phips. By order of the honorable the Lieut.-Governor, with the advice of the Council. J. Willard, Secretary.

The second was issued on the twenty-second day of November, 1745, on account of some disorders in Boston, committed by divers officers and seamen, belonging to His Majesty’s ship “Wager,” and other seamen belonging to the sloop “Resolution,” late in His Majesty’s service, by which two persons lost their lives. The constables and authorities of Boston and Charlestown are called upon to search for them in any justly suspected houses, &c. By order of the Honorable the Lieut.-Governor, with the advice of the Council.

The third proclamation of acting Governor Phips was issued on the 25th of November, 1745, for a general thanksgiving, in “consideration of the manifold and remarkable instances of the Divine favor towards our nation and land in the course of the past year, which (though mixed with various rebukes of Providence manifesting the righteous discipline of God toward us for our sins) demand our publick and thankful acknowledgments.” Signed, S. Phips. By His Honor’s command, with the advice of the Council.

Besides the above there were two or three other proclamations, calling for troops and other objects. The first Fast Day held in the Plymouth Colony, so far as we know, was in the month of July, 1623, and the first in the Massachusetts Colony, July 30, 1630, soon after Winthrop’s arrival.

XI.

POPULAR PURITAN LITERATURE

AN EARTHQUAKE IN BOSTON

On the Lord’s day, June 3, 1744, between ten and eleven o’clock, there was experienced at Boston, a violent earthquake, “which was felt for above an hundred of miles.” The matter, naturally somewhat startling and impressive, called forth from some unknown author, an elaborate poem, the purpose and spirit of which will be readily understood by a few extracts. It is printed on a sheet, about 12 by 20 inches, in three columns, and was “sold by Benjamin Gray, in Milk Street, 1744.” The first portion and some other parts of the poem are missing from the copy we have. Somewhere near the middle of the first column our quotations commence:—

“Again the Lord did shake the Earth,While Christ was in the Tomb,When from the glorious Heavenly WorldA glorious Angel came.Behold there was at that same TimeAn Earthquake strong and great,Which made the Watchmen at the TombTo tremble, shake and quake.Again when Paul and Silas wasOnce into Prison cast,And cruelly the Keeper hadIn stocks made their feet fast,Like the dear Children of the Lord,They to their Father sing,They praises sing unto the LordTill all the Prison did ring.When lo! immediately there wasA terrible Earthquake,Which made the whole foundation ofThe Prison-House to shake.The Doors fly open by its PowerAnd now wide open stand,’Till these dear Prisoners of the LordAre loosed from their Bands.And thus we see in very Truth,This wondrous Work is done,By none but the eternal God,And Israel’s holy One.And that they’re tokens of his Wrath,O, let not one gain-say,For sure the Lord is much provok’d,When he speaks in this way.Be then excited, O, dear FriendsWith vigorous accord,And all the might and strength you have,To turn unto the Lord.For lo! on the last Sabbath day,The Lord did plainly shew,What in a single moment’s timeHe might have done with you.A solemn warning let it be,To all with one accordFor their Souls precious Life to hasteTheir turning unto God.······“Perhaps you’ll think the Danger’s pastThat all is safe and sureBecause the mighty God hath saidHe’ll drown the world no more.But, oh! consider dearest Friends,How vast his judgments are,And if you are resolv’d to SinTo meet your God prepare.Who hath his Magazines of Fire,In Heaven and Earth and Seas,Which always wait on his Command,And run where’er he please.If God the awful word but speak,And bid the Fire run,The Magazines together meet,And like a furnace burn.Above our Head, below our Feet,God Treasures hath in Store;And when he gives out his Command,The Volcano’s will roar.Amazingly the Earth will quake,The World a flaming beWhen God, the great, the mighty GodGives forth his just Decree.······“That man can’t be prevail’d uponTho’ with our strong desire,To get prepar’d against the DayWhen all the World on FireShall burn and blaze about their Heads,And they no Shelter have;No Rock to hide their guilty Heads,No, nor no watery Grave.For Rocks will melt like Wax awayBefore the dreadful Heat,And Earth and Sea and all will flameIn one consuming Heap.The Earth beneath abounds with StoresOf Oils and Sulphurs too,And Turfs and Coals, which all will Flame,When God commands the blow.The flaming Lightning which we seeAround the Heavens run,Do livelily now representThe Conflagration.Those flaming magazines of GodHave fire enough in store,And only wait their Lord’s commandsTo let us feel their power.When once receiv’d they then will run,They’ll run from Pole to Pole,And all the strength of Earth and HellCannot their power controle.Justly may we now stand amaz’d,At God’s abundant Grace,To think so base and vile a WorldIs not all in a Blaze;When far the greatest part thereofAre poor vile Infidels,Among the Christian part thereofAre sins as black as Hell.”

In conclusion, these “precious souls” are entreated to join with one accord

“In praising of the Holy Name,Of the Eternal God.”

Earthquakes were at one time rather common in New England, but nothing to be compared to their frequency in England. It is said that in what is called the “mobile district,” of Comrie, in Perthshire, during the winter of 1839 and 1840, they had one hundred and forty earthquakes, being at the rate of about one shock a day on an average; and it is added, “They seldom do much harm.”

The following is a memorandum, probably nearly correct and complete, of earthquakes experienced in Boston, between the years 1636 and 1817; and it may be considered fortunate that they were not all commemorated by Puritan poets.

1638. June 1. Great earthquake in Boston.

1639. Jan. 16. Another earthquake.

1643. March 5. Sunday morning another earthquake.

1658. A great earthquake.

1663. Jan. 26. Very great earthquake.

1669. April 3. An earthquake.

1727. Oct. 29. An earthquake.

1730. April 12. An earthquake.

1732. Sept. 5. An earthquake.

1737. Feb. 6. An earthquake.

1744. June 3. The earthquake commemorated.

1755. Nov. 18. A very great earthquake. About one hundred chimneys thrown down, and other damage.

1757. July 8. An earthquake.

1761. March 12. An earthquake.

1761. Nov. 1. An earthquake.

1782. Nov. 29. An earthquake.

1783. Nov. 29. An earthquake.

1800. March 11. An earthquake.

1810. Nov. 9. An earthquake.

1817. Sept. 7. An earthquake.

DEBORAH: A BEE

Another broadside sheet, some seven by twelve, is entitled as above, and divided into paragraphs, numbered from one to twenty, in prose. It is a sort of sermon in which the Christian is compared to the Bee, or perhaps placed in competition with the industrious and self-supporting insect. Its positions, omitting most of the applications, are these: The bee is a laborious, diligent creature; so is the Christian. The bee is a provident creature; so is the Christian. The bee feeds on the sweetest and choicest foods; so does the Christian. The bee puts all into the common stock; so is the Christian of a generous, communicative temper. The bee is always armed; so is the Christian with respect to his spiritual armor. Bees are a sort of commonwealth; so Christians are likened to a city that is compacted together. The bee, as it always has a bag of honey, has also a bag of rank poison; so has the Christian, with the grace of God, a body of sin and corruption, &c. Lastly, the bee lies dormant all winter; so the Christian sometimes slumbers, &c. “Yet the hour is coming when all that are in the graves shall awake and come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; but alas, they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation!” Sold by Kneeland & Green, in Queen Street. Illustrated with a small fanciful engraving of a bee-hive, surrounded with horns of plenty and decorative carving.

PROPOSED POPISH INVASION

Every thing which occurred in England, or elsewhere, in fact, having any reference to Popery, however remote, was sure to interest the Puritans, and demand their attention; and, it would seem, was sometimes provocative of poetry. So when the “happy discovery of a cursed plot against the church of God, Great Britain and her King,” was announced by the King, on the 15th of February, 1743 (i.e., 1744), a large hand-bill was issued from the Boston press, to which the printer did not put his name, headed, “Good news from London, to the rejoicing of every christian heart.” This was the discovery of the plot “for bringing in a young Popish pretender.” The news was received by an arrival at Portsmouth, N.H., in twenty-six days from England, and included the message of the King to Parliament. The hand-bill contained the message in which the King declares that “having received undoubted intelligence that the eldest son of the pretender to his crown is arrived in France, and that preparations are making there to invade this kingdom, in concert with disaffected persons here,” &c., his Majesty acquaints the House of the matter in order that measures may be taken, &c.

This is followed by a long anonymous poem, beginning,—

“Behold the French and Spaniards rage,And people with accordCombine, to take away the lifeOf George, our sovereign lord.······“When George the first came to the throne,Their rage began to burn,And now they fain would executeThe same upon his son.“Their hellish breast being set on fire,Even with the fire of Hell,Nor Love, nor charms, nor clemency,Can their base malice quell.”······

And so on through three columns, and then comes the

CONCLUSION“Let all that openly profess,The ways of Christ our Lord,Not spare to tell how much such thingsAre by their souls abhor’d.“Let every child of God now cry,To the eternal one,That George our sovereign lord and kingMay ne’er be overcome.“That all his Foes may lick the Dust,And melt like Wax away,That joy and peace and righteousnessMay flourish in his day.”

The proposed expedition, it is well known, never landed in England. The combined fleet escaped an engagement, and the transports were wrecked and scattered by a storm in the English Channel.

THE SCOTTISH REBELLION

“A short history of the Grand Rebellion in Scotland, or a brief account of the rise and progress of Charles Stuart, the young pretender, and his associates; and his seasonable defeat by His Majesty’s Forces under the command of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland.”

This remarkable production is printed on one side of a single sheet of paper, seven by twelve, in verse, three columns. It begins,—

“From Rome the proud Pretender’s comeFlush’d with conceits of Britain’s Crown,Imagining, poor silly Lad,Those glorious Kingdoms to have had,And all the churches of the Lord,They’ve roll’d in seas of Purple Blood;His grand commission from the PopeWas Fire, Faggot, Sword, and Rope,Or Boots, or Scourges, Cord and Whips,For all poor vile Hereticks.”

The poet proceeds with the landing in Scotland, where the Popish priest demised to him the land; the joining of the disaffected, the robbing of the people:—

“They range about and seek for preyNor spare aught comes in their way;They murder, steal, rob and destroy,And many a goodly Town annoy.”

Flushed with victory, they move toward England, “and now to London drive along.”

“Which brave Prince William quickly hearsAnd without any Dread or Fears,Pursues the Rebels in full chase,And lo, they fly before his Grace,Who still pursues and overtakes,And many a Highland captive makes.······The rest now fly, won’t stand to Fight,But back to Scotland make their flight.And there like Beasts who’ve furious grownThey range about from Town to Town.······But Heaven beheld these bloody men,No longer now would bear with them,Inspires the Duke of CumberlandTo take the work into his hand,To scourge this cursed barbarous BroodFor all their Rapine, Stealth, and Blood.Away he goes, post haste he flies,To face the raging Enemies,To Scotland, where the wretches fled,When chas’d from Carlisle, full of dread,Where being come, his troops combine,And all in lovely Consort join,And strong Desires do now express,To slay these Sons of Wickedness.Great Joy and Gladness now was shown,When to the Folk it was made knownThat Cumberland, the brave, was comeTo save them from expected Ruin.”

The people joining the Duke, the enemy was pursued, when—

“A church in which their stores did lay,They blow’d up ere they ran away,”

after they had bid the people enter in, and many “precious souls at one sad Blast, into eternity are cast.”

“But hard beset by British forceThey dare not stay, or they’d do worse;Some fly to mountains, some to dales,When all their hellish Courage fails.······Flying I leave them, ’till we hearThe end of this most bloody war.······For which the thankful folk proclaimThanksgivings to the Almighty name,And may we all now join with them,And to their Thanks join our Amen.”

Sold by B. Gray, near the market. Without date; printed in 1744.

XII.

REVOLUTIONARY PROCLAMATIONS

Gen. Gage’s administration of less than a year and a half in the “Province of Massachusetts Bay,” for he never had any government over the province other than military, was prolific in proclamations, some of which are rather curious. On the 1st of June, 1774, by order of Parliament and the King, Boston Harbor was closed and possessed by ships of the British navy. Nothing could enter or leave the port: wood as fuel could not be brought from the islands, or merchandise or lumber removed from wharf to wharf by water; nothing whatever could be water borne within a circle of sixty miles, either to arrive or depart. At the same time British troops held the town; and the government, such as it was, was removed to Salem, where the General Court reassembled on the 7th of June. At this session, on the 17th, as the result of arrangements made by Samuel Adams and his fellow-patriots, five delegates were chosen to represent the colony in the proposed Continental Congress, at Philadelphia. As soon as these proceedings, while yet in progress, reached Gen. Gage’s ears by a tricky tory, who got out of the hall by feigning a call of nature, he issued his first proclamation, which Mr. Secretary Flucker, as he found the door locked and could not get into the chamber, had to read on the stairs, as follows:—

“Province of Massachusetts-Bay.

By the GOVERNOR“a proclamation for dissolving the General-Court

“WHEREAS the Proceedings of the House of Representatives, in the present Session of the General Court, make it necessary, for his Majesty’s Service, that the said General Court should be dissolved:—

“I have therefore thought fit to dissolve the said General Court, and the same is hereby dissolved accordingly, and the Members thereof are discharged from any further Attendance.

“GIVEN under my Hand at Salem, the 17th Day of June, 1774, in the Fourteenth Year of his Majesty’s Reign.

“GOD save the KING.”

Gen. Gage’s next proclamation was against the existence of the famous “Committee of Correspondence,” which Samuel Adams had originated, and the “solemn league and covenant” “to suspend all commercial intercourse with the island of Great Britain,” &c. And “in tenderness to the inhabitants of this province,” he issued this proclamation of warning.

Then, as if to cap the climax of pretension and folly, not to say hypocrisy, on the 25th of July, while he relied upon the counsels and efforts of the tory party, issued what may be called a very curious proclamation, such as possibly, under some circumstances, might have been issued by Gov. Endicott, in the early days of New England Puritanism; but the Puritans had long before this time passed out of power. The following is the proclamation:—

MASSACHUSETTS BAYBy the GOVERNOR. A PROCLAMATIONFor the Encouragement of Piety, and Virtue, and for preventing and punishing of vice, profanity and immorality

IN humble imitation of the laudable example of our most gracious sovereign George the third, who in the first year of his reign was pleased to issue his Royal proclamation for the encouragement of piety and virtue, and for preventing of vice and immorality, in which he declares his royal purpose to punish all persons guilty thereof; and upon all occasions to bestow marks of his royal favor on persons distinguished for their piety and virtue:

“I therefore, by and with the advice of his Majesty’s Council, publish this proclamation, exhorting all his Majesty’s subjects to avoid all hypocrisy, sedition, licentiousness, and all other immoralities, and to have a grateful sense of all God’s mercies, making the divine laws the rule of their conduct.

“I therefore command all Judges, Justices, Sheriffs, and other Officers, to use their utmost endeavors to enforce the laws for promoting religion and virtue, and restraining all vice and sedition; and I earnestly recommend to all ministers of the gospel that they be vigilant and active in inculcating a due submission to the laws of God and man; and I exhort all the people of this province, by every means in their power, to contribute what they can towards a general reformation of manners, restitution of peace and good order, and a proper subjection to the laws, as they expect the blessing of Heaven.

“And I do further declare, that in the disposal of the offices of honor and trust, within this province, the supporters of true religion and good government shall be considered as the fittest objects of such appointments.

“And I hereby require the Justices of assize, and Justices of the peace in this province, to give strict charge to the grand Jurors for the prosecution of offenders against the laws: and that, in their several courts they cause this proclamation to be publickly read immediately before the charge is given.

“GIVEN at the Council Chamber in Salem, the 21st day of July, 1774, in the fourteenth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord GEORGE the Third by the Grace of GOD of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.

“Thomas Gage.

“By his Excellency’s Command,

Thos. Flucker, Secry.

“GOD save the KING.”

The gist of the proclamation, which was specially intended for the people of Boston, for whose benefit the words “sedition and hypocrisy” were used, was in the phrase, “submission to the laws of God and man.” This proclamation was not like the previous one, directed to the sheriffs; nor was it ordered to be posted in the several towns of the province; nor was it ordered to be read from the pulpits of the churches; but the justices of the courts and grand juries were to see to its observance. It was, in fact, a mere piece of gasconade on the part of the governor, in imitation of his Majesty very likely; but, like the others, nobody either observed it or troubled themselves about it; and it has very rarely been spoken of since, if at all, by any historian. However it may be characterized, it simply had the effect to exasperate the minds of the people, owing to the insertion of hypocrisy among the immoralities.10 The proclamation itself, as they thought, was the boldest piece of political hypocrisy the government had yet perpetrated. It was much like every thing else which the king, ministry, or governor had done from the time of the stamp-act, and had a tendency to make matters worse instead of better.

Gen. Gage’s proclamation of the 12th of June, 1775, offering pardon to all who shall lay down their arms, &c., is well known. It begins,—

“Whereas the infatuated multitude who have suffered themselves to be conducted by certain well-known incendiaries and traitors in a fatal progression of crimes against the constitutional authority of the state, have at length proceeded to avowed rebellion,” &c. … “A number of armed persons to the amount of many thousands assembled on the 19th of April,” &c. “In this exigency I avail myself of the last effort,” and thereupon offers “a full pardon to all who shall lay down their arms, excepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock, whose offences are of too flagitious a nature to admit of any other consideration than that of condign punishment,” &c.

The proclamation was probably written by Gen. Burgoyne, and so little attention was paid to it that the army continued intact at Cambridge, and in exactly one week from its date occurred the battle of Bunker Hill, which proved so “fatal” to more than a thousand British soldiers. In less than four months after this time Gen. Gage “laid down his arms” and returned to England; and a few months later, in March, 1776, the army and the navy followed his example and left the country, taking the “Port Act” with them, but leaving for the use of the colony, arms, ammunition, provisions, and even medical stores.

XIII.

CURIOSITIES OF THE MARKET

“The turnpike road to people’s hearts, I findLies through their mouths, or I mistake mankind.”[Peter Pindar.

After arriving at Mishawam, and voting the church and that the minister should be supported at the common charge, it became necessary to think of providing in some way for the sustenance of the party. Although Gov. Winthrop, when he arrived off the harbor, went up to Salem in a boat, and was handsomely entertained by Gov. Endicott, whom he came to displace, with a rich venison paté, such fare was not afterwards found to be very plenty; and the strawberries, which those he left on board the ships found on Cape Ann, were not always to be had, nor a very substantial food for the settlers. Of course, the party had a supply of provisions,—a market of their own which they brought with them; and, as nobody could become a freeman or have a vote in public affairs unless he was a member of the church, it is to be inferred that nobody would be allowed any thing to eat only on the same condition; and this, if Peter Pindar was right, was a facile method of conversion and making disciples of the most obdurate. Hunting and fishing were no doubt readily resorted to as rather promising pursuits, and possibly some thought may have been given to cornfields, though there was no great anxiety for work. At all events, however successful the hunting parties were, so much of their supply of provisions was bartered with the Indians for furs that a scarcity of food was soon experienced, and then they had to buy corn of them. Matters soon became serious: for whatever might have been the primary object of the Puritans in coming to this country, eating was not beyond a secondary consideration, to say the least of it; and a market of supplies for the material man became an important consideration then, and has been so ever since. Dr. Johnson, who loved a good dinner and rarely found it at home, thought “a tavern was the throne of human felicity;” but, of course, such a notion as that never entered the minds of the Puritans.