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 (The following was written by William Everett in 1876, when it was planned 
 to sell the Old South Meeting-house, and the land under it separately, with a 
 provision that the Meeting-house must be torn down. The movement, in 
 which what is written below was of great assistance, was successful, and the 
 Old South Meeting-house was saved for us all.) 
 
 H ERE was the garden originally granted to John Winthrop, 
 the great governor; and here he died, 26th March, 1649. 
 Here, after Winthrop’s death, lived Rev. John Norton, chosen by 
 John Cotton on his death-bed, as his successor, and called by Cotton 
 Mather “ the chief of our burning and shining lights.” Here he died 
 6th April, 1663. 
 
 Here, in John Norton’s household, was bred Increase Mather, to 
 whom New England and Harvard College owe so much. 
 
 Here was built, in 1669, the first house of worship of the Third 
 or Old South Church, which withdrew from the First Church, to pro¬ 
 vide a more liberal entrance into the Church, and consequently a 
 wider civil franchise. This ground was given them by Madam Mary 
 Norton. 
 
 Here Sir Edmund Andros forcibly caused the Episcopal form of 
 worship to be celebrated. 
 
 Here, in the Old House, in 1696, Judge Sewall stood up in his pew, 
 while his confession of contrition was read for his share in the witch¬ 
 craft delusion of 1692. 
 
 In 1691, Josiah Franklin was allowed to build in the neighbor¬ 
 hood, and on Jan. 17, 1706, here, in the old meeting-house, Benjamin 
 Franklin was baptized. 
 
 Here, [perhaps] in the same year, a town-meeting was held to con¬ 
 sult on fortifying the harbor against an expected French invasion. 
 
 In March, 1729, the old cedar meeting-house, which had stood for 
 two generations, was pulled down; a new one of brick was begun 
 forthwith, and here, on the 26th April, 1730, was dedicated this 
 meeting-house, the existing Old South. It was built according to 
 the best taste of the time, and forcibly recalls Sir Christopher Wren’s 
 churches. The inside has undergone repairs and renovations, as 
 have the contemporary College Halls at Cambridge and any build¬ 
 ings of that age that have received equally rough usage. These 
 repairs have always strictly preserved its character. 
 
In this building, in October, 1746, at the rumor of the coming of 
 D’Anville’s fleet. Rev. Thomas Prince, the pastor, and a historical 
 scholar of the first eminence, prayed the Almighty’s help— 
 
 “ And even as I prayed 
 The answering tempest came; 
 
 It came with a mighty power, 
 
 Shaking the windows and walls. 
 
 And tolling the bell in the tower 
 As it tolls at funerals. 
 
 The fleet it overtook, 
 
 And the broad-sails in the van 
 Like the tents of Cushan shook. 
 
 Or the curtains of Midian. 
 
 Down on the reeling decks. 
 
 Crashed the o’erwhelming seas,— 
 
 O never were there wrecks 
 So terrible as these.”— Longfellow. 
 
 When the colonies came into collision with Great Britain, and 
 Faneuil Hall proved repeatedly too small for the town-meetings of 
 the patriots, they were adjourned here, and an “Old South meeting” 
 became famous to Chatham and Burke. 
 
 In this House, on June 14, 1768, James Otis being moderator, a 
 meeting was held to compel Governor Bernard to remove from the 
 harbor a war vessel, stationed to enforce the odious impressment 
 and customs laws. 
 
 In this House, in March, 1770, after the Boston massacre, an 
 overflowing town-meeting waited till night, while Samuel Adams 
 went back and forward to the State House till Hutchinson yielded 
 and withdrew the regiments. 
 
 In this House, on Nov. 29, 1773, a meeting of five thousand citi¬ 
 zens resolved that the tea should not be landed, and in this House, 
 on Dec. 16,1773, a meeting of several thousand citizens sat till after 
 candlelight listening to Josiah Quincy, Jr., and Samuel Adams, 
 while messenger after messenger went to get redress of Hutchinson, 
 at Milton. He refused, and at the doors of this House the war-whoop 
 was raised, the citizens disguised as savages led the way to the tea- 
 ships, and the tea was destroyed. 
 
 Here, June 27, 1774, the tories attempted to capture a town¬ 
 meeting in the interests of Gage and the Boston Port-bill, censure 
 the Committee of Correspondence, and nip the Continental Congress 
 in the bud, and it sat for two days, ending in the triumph of the 
 patriots and the sustaining of the Committee. 
 
 Here were delivered the series of orations from 1771 to 1775, com¬ 
 memorative of the Boston Massacre, by Lovell, Warren, Church, 
 Hancock, and for the second time by Joseph Warren, three months 
 before he was killed at Bunker Hill. He was introduced through a 
 window in the rear of the pulpit, the aisles and steps of the pulpit 
 being filled with British soldiers and officers. 
 
Here, in 1775, by order of General Burgoyne, a riding school for 
 British troops was established, pews and pulpits being torn away 
 and broken up; and when Washington made his triumphal entry 
 into Boston, in March, 1776, he paused, and entering this building, 
 looked down from the eastern gallery on the scene of desolation. 
 
 Here, finally, for a long number of years, had been preached the 
 annual election sermon before the governor and legislature of Massa¬ 
 chusetts. 
 
 The ground where the Old South stands,—the old meeting-house, 
 first built there, and the 'present meeting-house —have been the scene 
 of some of the greatest crises, guided by some of the greatest men 
 in our history. We want to keep on this ground, where such things 
 happened, this building, in which such men worked. 
 
 WILLIAM EVERETT. 
 
 The interior was restored in 1783, and the South Church congre¬ 
 gation continued to worship here until the great fire of 1872. 
 
 In 1874 the South Church congregation removed to and occupied 
 the church in Copley Square. Thereafter, in 1876, the Meeting¬ 
 house was sold at auction for $1,350, with a provision that it should 
 be torn down and removed within sixty days. It was intended to 
 sell the land separately for $400,000. On the Centennial of the 
 Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1876, a “Town Meeting” was 
 called in the Meeting-house to protest. Speeches were made by 
 Wendell Phillips and others. A Preservation Committee was formed, 
 headed by the Governor. 
 
 The building and land were bought by the women of the State, 
 and the Old South was saved and since 1877 has been held as a 
 historical monument and a place for patriotic inspiration and in¬ 
 struction. It is owned by the Old South Association in Boston, a 
 corporation specially chartered to preserve it. 
 
 Among the many objects of interest in the Old South loan collec¬ 
 tion are: 
 
 Joseph Warren’s christening cap 
 Warren’s day-book 
 “Tea Party” tea 
 
 The Prophet’s Bowl from Tippecanoe 
 Musket from Battle of Lexington 
 Model of “Old Ironsides” 
 
 (Made by one of her crew) 
 
 Bone’s miniature of Washington 
 Washington letters 
 
 Quilt from Martha Washington’s dresses 
 Model of Boston in 1775 
 Old-time household furnishings 
 Manuscripts, broadsides and portraits 
 
 5-20-20,000-RWn