I i i ufl* » i /$ ^J*******, s^ i&3 V- \J l-'i-Jm u tt_ Lathrop. 8 Bowen. 9 Moorhead. 10 Troutbec. THE MASSACRE. 11 setts there are many jealousies. The staunch republicans have placed John Hancock and Tommy Cushing at the head of their state, — the first as governor, the second as lieutenant-governor, — chosen since the rebellion commenced. Bowdoin, who had been at the head of their affairs for these last five years, as president of the Council, was a candi date for the governorship in opposition to Hancock, but lost it by a great majority ; he was then offered the place of lieutenant-governor, but refused it on a pretence of ill health ; that place was then offered to Warren, of Plymouth, who also declined it : at length, that the place might not go a-begging any longer, they offered it to Cusb ing, who they were sure would not refuse it." We have praise enough for Thomas Cushing, to say of him, in the language of John Adams in 1765, that he was "steady and constant, busy in the inter est of liberty and the opposition, famed for secrecy and his talent in procuring intelligence ; " indeed, he was the chief operator in the under current of liberty. We gather from Tudor' s Life of James Otis this graphic statement of the meeting of the Council: — "The lieutenant-governor Hutchin son convened the Council : a town-meeting was held March 6, and adjourned to the Old South Church, because Faneuil Hall could con tain only a part of the multitude that assembled. The British soldiers were all kept in readiness at their quarters, and all the militia of the town were called out. Every brow was anxious, every heart resolute. A vote of the town was passed that ' it should be evac uated by the soldiers, at all hazards.' A committee was appointed to wait on the lieutenant-governor, to make this demand. Samuel Adams was the chairman of this committee, and discharged its duties with an ability commensurate to the occasion. Colonel Dalrymple was by the side of Hutchinson, who, at the head of the Council, received the delegation. He at first denied that he had the power to grant the request. Adams plainly, in few words, proved to him that he had the power by the charter. Hutchinson then consulted with Dalrymple in a whisper, the result of which was an offer to remove one of the regiments. At this critical moment, Adams showed the most noble presence of mind. The military and civil officers were in reality abashed before this plain committee of a democratic assembly. They knew the imminent danger that impended ; the very air was filled with the breathings of compressed indignation. They shrunk, fortunately shrunk, from all the arrogance which they had hitherto maintained. 12 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Their reliance on a standing army faltered before the undaunted, irre sistible resolution of free unarmed citizens; and when the orator, seeming not to represent, but to personify, the universal feeling and opinion, with unhesitating promptness and dignified firmness replied, ' If the lieutenant-governor or Colonel Dalrymple, or both together, have authority to remove one regiment, they have authority to remove two ; and nothing short of the total evacuation of the town by all the regular troops will satisfy the public mind, or preserve the peace of this province,' the desired effect was produced. The commanding offi cer pledged his honor that the troops should leave the town, and it was immediately evacuated." It is related that when Lord North was informed of this remarkable instance of the dignified energy of the town's chairman, he called the regulars Samuel Adams' two regi ments, in a tone of contempt. Hutchinson, who was of a cowardly spirit of ambition, had declared publicly that he had no authority over the king's troops ; that the military force had no separate command, and he could do nothing without Dalrymple; moreover. Brigadier Ruggles, the commander-in-chief of the Massachusetts troops, was under the command of a British ensign for an entire campaign. Samuel Adams was one of the most remarkable men of the Revolu tion, and we cannot resist the pleasure of citing the opinion of his character from the hand of Thomas Jefferson, the clearest and best compressed conception of this dauntless patriot ever written: "I can say that he was truly a great man, — wise in council, fer tile in resources, immovable in his purposes, — and had, I think a greater share than any other member in advising and directinc our measures in the northern war. As a speaker, he could not be com pared with his firing colleague and namesake, whose deep conceptions, nervous style, and undaunted firmness, made him truly our bulwark in debate. But Mr. Samuel Adams, although not of fluent elocution was'so rigorously logical, so clear in his views, abundant in good sense and master always of his subject, that he commanded the most pro found attention whenever he rose in an assembly by which the froth of declamation was heard with sovereign contempt." Samuel Adams was emphatically the man of the people ¦ and the editor, who has had conversation with his namesake, the ancient town- crier, now ninety-two years of age and with clear memory, was informed that Adams once remarked to him, — "We, the people are like hens laying eggs ; when they hatch, you must take care of the THE MASSACRE. 13 chickens. You are a young man, Samuel, and as you grow old, you must abide by our proceedings." At another time, our political patri arch observed to him, — "It is often stated that I am at the head of the Revolution, whereas a few of us merely lead the way as the people follow, and we can go no further than we are backed up by them ; for, if we attempt to advance any further, we make no progress, and may lose our labor in defeat." Samuel Adams was ever at the head of Boston deputations before the Revolution, and conducted the corre spondence with patriots in remote places ; or, to adopt the language of the venerable town-crier, " Samuel Adams did the writing, and John Hancock paid the postage." In order to effect a more clear apprehension of the indignation of the Bostonians at this appalling crisis, and in justice to Lieutenant-gov ernor Hutchinson, who descends to a relation of full particulars of the immediate occurrences succeeding the massacre, in his History of Mas sachusetts Bay, we glean at large his statements ; and the reader, in observing discrepancies between his relation and that of the revolu tionists, will bear in mind that Hutchinson was a minion of the throne, desirous to assert British control. He writes in the third person, stating that two or three of the men who had seen the action ran to the lieutenant-governor's house, which was about half a mile distant in Garden-court, near North-square, and begged for God's sake he would go to King-street, where, they feared, a general action would come on between the troops and the inhabitants. "He went immediately, and, to satisfy the people, called for Capt. Preston, and inquired why he fired upon the inhabitants without the direction of a civil magistrate. The noise was so great that his answer could not be understood, and some, who were apprehensive of the lieutenant- governor's danger, from the general confusion, called out, ' The town- house ! the town-house ! ' and, with irresistible violence, he was forced up by the crowd into the council-chamber. There, demand was imme diately made of him to order the troops to withdraw from the town- house to their barracks. He refused to comply ; and, calling from the balcony to the great body of the people which remained in the street, he expressed his great concern at the unhappy event, assured them he would do everything in his power in order to a full and impar tial inquiry, that the law might have its course, and advised them to go peaceably to their several homes. Upon this, there was a cry, ' Home ! home ! ' and a great part separated and went home. He then 2 14 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. signified his opinion to Lieut. Col. Carr, that if the companies in arms were ordered to their barracks, the streets would be cleared and the town in quiet for that night. Upon their retiring, the rest of the inhabitants, except those of the council-chamber, retired also." The elegant mansion of Gov. Hutchinson stood on Garden-court, adjoining that of Sir Henry Franklyn, in the rear of which wa3 a beautiful garden extending to Hanover and on Fleet street. It was erected of brick, painted in stone color. The capital of a Corinthian pilaster, of which there were six worked into the wall of this edifice, is deposited in the Historical Library. The crown of Britain sur mounted each window. The hall of entrance displayed a spacious arch, from the roof of which a dimly-lighted lamp gave a rich twilight view. The finely carved and gilded arch, in massy magnificence, was most tastefully ornamented with busts and statues, says Mrs. Child, in the Rebels, who visited the structure when it was occupied by William Little, Esq. The fight streamed full on the soul-beaming countenance of Cicero, and playfully flickered on the brow of Tulliola, the tenderness of whose diminutive appellation delightfully associates the father with the orator, and blends intellectual vigor with the best affections of the heart. The panelling of the parlor was of the dark richly-shaded mahogany of St. Domingo, and elaborately ornamented. The busts of George HI. and his queen were in front of a splendid mirror, with bronze lamps on each side, covered with transparencies of the destruction of the Spanish Armada and the other battle-ships before the rock of Gibraltar. Around the room were arches surmounted with the arms of England. The library was hung with canvas tapestry, emblazoning the coronation of George H., interspersed with the royal arms. The portraits of Anne and the Georges hung in massive frames of antique splendor, and the crowded shelves of books were sur mounted with busts of the house of Stuart. In the centre of the apartment stood a table of polished oak. In the year 1832 this building was demolished for modern changes. Lieut. Col. Dalrymple, at the desire of the lieutenant-governor came to the council-chamber, while several justices were examining persons who were present at the transactions of the evening.. From the evidence of several, it was apparent that the justices would commit Capt. Preston, if taken. Several hours passed before he could be found, and the people suspected that he would not run the hazard of a trial ; bu% at length, he surrendered himself to a warrant for appre- THE MASSACRE. 15 hending him, and having been examined, was committed to prison. The next morning, the soldiers who were upon guard surrendered also, and were committed. This was not sufficient to satisfy the people, and early in the forenoon they were in motion again. The lieutenant- governor caused his Council to be summoned, and desired the two lieutenant-colonels of the regiments to be present. The selectmen of Boston were waiting the lieutenant-governor's coming to Council, and being admitted, made their representation that, from the contentions arising from the troops quartered in Boston, and, above all, from the tragedy of the last night, the minds of the inhabitants were exceedingly disturbed ; that they would presently be assembled in a town-meeting ; and that, unless the troops should be removed, the most terrible con sequences were to be expected. The justices, also, of Boston and several of the neighboring towns, had assembled, and desired to signify their opinion that it would not be possible to keep the people under restraint, if the troops remained in town. The lieutenant-governor acquainted both the selectmen and the justices that he had no author ity to alter the place of destination of the king's troops ; that he expected the commanding officers of the two regiments, and would let them know the applications which had been made. Presently after their coming, a large committee from the town-meeting presented an address or message to the lieutenant-governor, declaring it to be the unanimous opinion of the meeting that nothing can rationally be expected to restore the peace of the town, " and prevent blood and carnage," but the withdrawal of the troops. The committee withdrew into another room, to wait for an answer. Some of the Council urged the necessity of complying with the people's demand. The lieutenant-governor thereupon declared that he would upon no consideration whatever give orders for their removal. Lieut. Col. Dalrymple then signified that, as the 29th regiment had originally been designed to be placed at the Castle, and was now peculiarly obnoxious to the town, he was content that it should be removed to the Castle until the general's pleasure should be known. Gen. Gage was commander-in-chief of the British forces in America. The committee was informed of this offer, and the lieutenant-governor rose from the Council, intending to receive no further application upon the subject ; but the Council prayed that he would meet them again in the afternoon, and Col. Dalrymple desiring it also, he complied. Before the Council met again, it had been inti mated to them that the "desire" of the governor and Council to the 16 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. commanding officer (Maj. Gen. Wm. Keppel was colonel of the British regiments at Boston and at the Castle) to remove the troops, would cause him to do it, though he should receive no authoritative " order." As soon as they met, a committee from the town-meeting attended, with a second message, to acquaint the lieutenant-governor that it was the unanimous voice of the people assembled, consisting, as they said, of near three thousand persons, that nothing less than a total and immediate removal of the troops would satisfy them. Here Hutchin son adds, in a note, at the end of this page, as follows : — "The chair man of the committee, in conversation with Lieut. Col. Dalrymple, said to him, that if he could remove the 29th regiment, he could remove the 14th also, and it was at his peril to refuse it. This was a strong expression of that determined spirit which animated all future measures." The Council, - continues Hutchinson, who were divided in the forenoon, were now unanimous ; and each of them, separately, declared his opinion, and gave his reason for it ; and one or more of them observed to the lieutenant-governor that he would not be able to justify a refusal to comply with the unanimous advice of the Council, and that all the consequences would be chargeable upon him alone. The secretary of the province, Andrew Oliver, Esq., who thought differ ently in the morning, the two lieutenant-eolonels, and the commander of one of his majesty's ships then upon the station, who were all present in Council, concurred in the necessity of his complying. He had signified his own opinion that, at all events, the governor and Council should avoid interfering in the destination of the troops, and leave it to' the commanding officer ; but when he considered that, by the charter, the Council was constituted for advice and assistance to him, — that he had called them together for that purpose, — that his standing out alone would probably bring on a general convulsion, which the unanimity of the king's servants might have prevented, — he consented to signify his desire, founded upon the unanimous opinion and advice of the Council, that the troops might be removed to the barracks in the Castle ; at the same time disclaiming all authority to order their removal. Some of the officers of the regiments appeared, the next day, to be greatly dissatisfied with being compelled by the people to leave the town so disgracefully. Expresses were sent away immediately to the gen eral. The jealousy that the general would forbid the removal' caused THE MASSACRE. 17 further measures to force the troops from the town before there could be sufficient time for his answer. Roxbury, the next town to Boston, assembled, and sent a committee of their principal inhabitants with an address to the lieutenant-governor, praying him to interpose, and to order the immediate removal of the troops ; but he refused to concern himself any further in the affair. As the time approached when a return might be expected from New York, it was thought fit to have another meeting of the town of Boston, and a committee was appointed further to apply to the lieutenant-governor to order the troops out of town ; Mr. Adams, their prolocutor, pressing the matter with great vehe mence, and intimating that, in case of refusal, the rage of the people would vent itself against the lieutenant-governor in particular. He gave a peremptory refusal, and expressed his resentment at the men ace. The committee then applied to the commanding officer, and the same day, March 10, the 29th regiment, and the next morning the 14th, were removed to the Castle. This success, concludes Hutchin son, gave greater assurances than ever that, by firmness, the great object, exemption from all exterior power, civil or military, would finally be obtained. Checks and temporary interruptions might hap pen, but they would be surmounted, and the progress of liberty would recommence. The time for holding the Superior Court for Suffolk was the next week after the tragical action in King-street. Although bills were found by the grand jury, yet the court, says Hutchinson, considering the disordered state of the town, had thought fit to continue the trials to the next term, when the minds of people would be more free from prejudice, and a dispassionate, impartial jury might be expected, after there had been sufficient time for the people to cool. A considerable number of the most active persons in all public measures of the town having dined together, relates Hutchinson, went in a body from table to the Superior Court, then sitting, with Samuel Adams at their head, and, in behalf of the town, pressed the bringing on the trial at the same term with so much spirit, that the judges did not think it advisable to abide by their own order, but appointed a day for the trials, and adjourned the court for that pur pose. But even this irregularity the lieutenant-governor thought it best not to notice in a public message ; and for the grand point, the rela tion between the Parliament and the colonies, he had determined to avoid any dispute with the assembly, unless he should be forced into 2* 18 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. it. Therefore, after acquainting them that he should transmit the remonstrance to be laid before the king, and attempting a vindication of his own character from their charges against it, he dissolved the assembly, — the time, by charter, for a new assembly approaching. The trials of the soldiers implicated in the massacre occurred on the October term of that year. The evidence against the four persons tried for firing from the custom-house being only that of a French boy, the jury acquitted them without leaving the bar. It was proved that the boy was at a remote part of the town the whole time that he swore he was at the custom-house and in King-street. The court ordered that he should be committed and prosecuted for wilful per jury; and, by his own confession, he was convicted. Captain Preston had been well advised to retain two gentlemen of the law, says Hutchinson, — Josiah Quincy and John Adams, — who were strongly attached to the cause of liberty, and to stick at no reasonable fees for that purpose ; and this measure proved of great service to him. He was also well informed of the characters of the jury, and challenged such as were most likely to be under bias. Three or four witnesses swore that he ordered his men to fire ; but their evidence was encountered by that of several other witnesses, who stood next to him, and were conversing with him at a different place from that which the witnesses for the crown swore he was in ; and the judges, in summing up the evidence to the jury, were unanimous in their opinion that he did not order his men to fire ; but if he did, they were of opinion that, from the evidence of many other witnesses, the assault both upon the officer and men, while upon duty, was so violent, that the homicide could not amount even to manslaughter, but must be con sidered as excusable homicide. The jury soon agreed upon a verdict of not guilty, and the prisoner, being discharged, retired to the Castle, and remained there until he sailed for England, where he was pen sioned. A few days after the trials, while the court continued to sit an incendiary paper was posted in the night upon the door of the town-house, complaining of the court for cheating the people with a show of justice, and calling upon them to rise and free the world from such domestic tyrants. We refer to the printed trials for the results in the other cases. In order to repel the insinuation of Hutchinson regarding abundant fees, we will give the relation of John Adams on this point. After stating that he accepted a single guinea as a retaining fee, Mr. Adama THE MASSACRE. 19 states : — "IVom first to last, I never said a word about fees, in any of those cases ; and I should have said nothing about them here, if calum nies and insinuations had not been propagated, that I was tempted by great fees and enormous sums of money. Before or after the trial, Preston sent me ten guineas, and at the trial of the soldiers after wards, eight guineas more, which were all the fees I ever received, or were offered to me ; and I should not have said anything on the sub ject to my clients, if they had never offered me anything. This was all the pecuniary reward I ever had for fourteen or fifteen days' labor in the most exhausting and fatiguing causes I ever tried, for hazard ing a popularity very general and very hardly earned, and for incur ring a clamor of popular suspicions and prejudices, which are not yet worn out, and never will be forgotten as long as the history of this period is read." And, on another occasion, Mr. Adams further remarked : — "I have reason to remember that fatal night. The part I took in defence of Capt. Preston and the soldiers procured me anxi ety and obloquy enough. It was, however, one of the most gallant, generous, manly and disinterested actions of my whole life, and one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country. Judgment of death against those soldiers would have been as foul a stain upon this country as the executions of the Quakers or witches anciently. As the evidence was, tho verdict of the jury was exactly right. This, however, is no reason why the town should not call the action of that night a massacre ; nor is it any argument in favor of the governor or minister who caused them to be sent here. But it is the strongest of proofs of the danger of standing armies." The Boston Athenreum overlooks the cemetery where were deposited the remains of our fellow-citizens martyred in the cause of liberty, March 5, 1770. Here repose the ashes of Hancock and Cushing, the latter of whom was lieutenant-governor during the administration of the former. Though Sumner speaks of "Hancock's broken column." the idea is merely poetical, for no monument has ever been erected over his remains. It is stated in the Boston News Letter that four of the victims were conveyed on hearses, and buried on the eighth of March, in one vault, in the Middle Burying Ground. The funeral consisted of an immense number of persons in ranks of six. followed by a long train of carriages belonging to the principal gentry of the town, at which time the bells of Boston and adjoining towns were tolled. It is supposed that a greater number of people of Boston and 20 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. vicinity attended this funeral than were ever congregated on this con tinent on any occasion. In this procession emblematical banners were displayed. The following effusion appeared in Fleet's Post, March 12, 1770: " With fire enwrapt, surcharged with sudden death, Lo, the poised tube convolves its fatal breath ! The flying ball, with heaven-directed force, Rids the free spirit of its fallen corse. Well-fated shades ! let no unmanly tear From pity's eye distain your honored bier. Lost to their view, surviving friends may mourn, Yet o'er thy pile celestial flames shall burn. Long as in Freedom's cause the wise contend, Dear to your country, shall your fame extend ; While to the world the lettered stone shall tell How Caldwell, Attacks, Gray and Maverick fell." On the fourteenth of March, Patrick Carr, who died of the wound received in the massacre, was buried from Faneuil Hall, in the same grave in which the other victims were deposited. The poet who wrote the effusion above quoted predicts that the let tered stone shall tell the tale of the martyred sons of liberty ; but no stone appears on the spot where they were buried. Indeed, if any stone were ever erected over their remains, it may have been destroyed by the British regulars, or removed in making repairs on the ground. Let the prediction be realized by the erection of a beautiful marble monument on the site to the memory of this event, which, with the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, insured our independence. Our venerable native citizen of Boston, the Hon. Thomas Handy- side Perkins, probably the only survivor who has any remembrance of the Boston massacre, stated to the editor of this work at an inter view with him on Jan. 3, 1851, that at that period he was five years of age, and asleep at home on the evening of its occurrence. His father, James Perkins, a wine-merchant, resided in King-street on the present location of Tappan' s stone building, opposite Mackerel- lane, now Kilby-street. On the next day, his father's man-servant being desirous that he should witness the effects of this occurrence imprudently, as Mr. Perkins remarked, went with him to the Royal Exchange Tavern, located on the opposite side of the custom-house now the site of the Messrs. Gilberts, brokers, kept by Mr. Stone. Alexander Cruikshank testified that when he was at the head of THE MASSACRE. 21 Royal Exchange-lane, he stopped at Stone's tavern, and the people were abusing the sentinel, and showed him the dead body of Crispus Attucks, one of the victims. He then pointed to him the frozen blood in the gutter, opposite the Exchange Tavern, and proceeded with him to the residence of Tuthill Hubbard, on Cornhill, a short distance from the north side of Queen-street, where lay the dead body of another of the victims : and this is the whole of his recollection of the tragical event, which has never been effaced from his mind. Colonel Perkins is unable to state which of the victims he saw at Mr. Hubbard's resi dence ; but, as Joseph Hinckley testified, according to the trial, that, after the regulars had fired, he assisted in the removal of Samuel Gray, who had fallen, to the apothecary's shop of Dr. John Loring, which was adjoining or very near Mr. Hubbard's dwelling, and could not find admittance, as it was closed, — doubtless, that was the name of the other victim whose remains were exhibited to his youthful eye. In order to a further elucidation of this matter, we have recurred to the papers of the day, by which it appears that Gray was killed on the spot, as the ball entered his head and broke the skull. He was a ropemaker, and, on the day of interment, his body was conveyed from the residence of Benjamin Gray, his brother, on the south side of the Exchange Tavern. Now, Col. Perkins is either mistaken regard ing the house where he saw the pale corpse, or else it was removed from Mi-. Hubbard's dwelling on the next day. James Caldwell, also killed on the spot by two balls entering his breast, was mate of Captain Morton's vessel, and his body was removed from the captain's resi dence in Cole-lane on the day of interment. Crispus Attucks being a stranger, his remains were conveyed from Faneuil Hall. He was killed by two balls entering his breast, and was a native of Framing- ham ; and Samuel, a son of widow Mary Maverick, a promising youth of seventeen years, an apprentice to Mr. Greenwood, a joiner, was wounded by a ball that entered his abdomen and escaped through his back, which caused his death, and his remains were removed from his mother's house on the day of interment. Patrick Carr, who died a few days after, of a ball that entered near his hip and went out at his side, was in the employ of one Mr. Field, leather-breeches maker in Queen-street, and aged about thirty years. Among other matters in the warrant for the annual town-meeting of Boston, March 12, 1770, is the following clause: — " Whether the town will take any 22 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. measures that a public monument may be erected on the spot where the late tragical scene was acted, as a memento to posterity of that horrid massacre, and the destructive consequences of military troops being quartered in a well-regulated city." We notice, on turning to the records, that no action was taken on this point ; but the town voted their thanks to the towns of Roxbury, Cambridge, Charlestown and Watertown, for their kind concern in this deplorable event. As the precise location of this scene will ever be a point of great interest to Bostonians, we gather, from the deposition of Samuel Drowne, that it occurred between Crooked, now Wilson's lane, and Royal Exchange- lane. He states that he was standing on the steps of the Exchange Tavern, being the next house to the custom-house ; and soon after saw Captain Preston, whom he well knew, with a number of soldiers drawn near the west corner of the custom-house, and heard Preston say, " Damn your bloods ! why don't you fire 1 " after which they fired. At a town-meeting, Boston, March 19, 1771, Hon. Thomas Cush ing moderator, the committee appointed to consider of some suitable method to perpetuate the memory of the horrid massacre perpetrated on the evening of the fifth of March, 1770, by a party of soldiers of the 29th regiment, reported as their opinion that, for the present, the town make choice of a proper person to deliver an oration at such time as may be judged most convenient, to commemorate the barbarous murder of five of our fellow-citizens on that fatal day, and to impress upon our minds the ruinous tendency of standing armies in free cities, and the necessity of such noble exertions, in all future times, as the inhabitants of the town then made, whereby the designs of the con spirators against the public liberty may be still frustrated ; and the committee, in order to complete the plan of some standing monument of military tyranny, begged leave to be indulged with further time. Their report being accepted, it was voted unanimously that the town will now come to the choice of an orator. A committee was then appointed ; Samuel Hunt and James Lovell were nominated as candi dates to deliver the oration. The inhabitants then voted, and the latter was elected. A committee was appointed to wait on James Lovell, and invite his acceptance. In regard to the location of the site where the victims of the Boston massacre were deposited, the editor has the evidence of the venerable Col. Joseph May, a warden of King's Chapel, possessing great integ rity and a tenacious memory, stated previous to his decease in 1841 THE MASSACRE. 23 and who witnessed their interment, being then ten years of age, and a scholar hi the public Latin school. Pointing to the spot which is the she of a tomb once owned by the city, in the rear of the tomb of Deacon Richard Checkley. an apothecary. Col. May stated that was the place where he saw them interred. A beautiful larch-tree flour ishes at the side of the city tomb, which is opposite Montgomery-place. When, during the mayoralty of Jonathan Chapman, an iron fence was erected on the Granary cemetery, in the month of June. 1S40. an excavation was made over this spot, for the erection of this city tomb, human bones, and a skull with a bullet-hole perforated through it, were discovered, which probably were remains of these victims: and we have the evidence of the late Martin Smith, sexton of King's Chapel church, that he assisted in throwing the skull and other bones into the earth near the larch-tree. When General Warren gave an oration on the massacre, March 5th, 1772, James Allen, one of the Boston poets, commemorated the event in verse, at his request ; and John Adams states in his diary, probably in allusion to this poem, that James Oris reads to large circles of the common people Allen's oration on the beauties of liberty, and recom mends it as an excellent production Allen thus apostrophised King George, in these prophetic terms : " In 'rain shall Britain lift her suppliant eye, An alienated offspring reels no filial tie. Her tears in vain shall bathe the soldiers' feet, — Remember, ingrate, Boston"? crimsoned street : Whole hecatombs of lives the deed shall pay, And purge the murders of thai guilty day . ' ' May the sons of Boston be sure that a centennial oration, commem orative of the Boston massacre, be pronounced by the most eminent and eloquent orator of the day ! One of the most popular celebrations in Boston, previous to the massacre, was that of the Gunpowder Plot, which, according to Dr. Charles Chauncy, in a letter to Dr. Stiles, dated May 23d. 176S. was to that day commemorated ; and was in especial memorable to him, as his ancestor was at Westminster school, adjoining the parliament house, pursuing his studies, when the plot was discovered. The latest date of its celebration in Boston, of which we find the most particular account, was on Monday, Nov. 6th, 1769. when the guns at the Castle 24 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. and at the batteries in town were fired, and a pageantry exhibited, elevated on a stage, carried in derision through the streets, and fol lowed by crowds of people, with ludicrous effigies of the Pope and others, which, when they reached Copp's Hill, were committed to the flames. One of the regulars was flogged by one of the party, for attempting to detain the procession, as it passed the main guard sta tioned at the door of the state-house. On a lantern was a descrip tion of the Pope in 1769; on another was inscribed "Love and Unity. The American whig. Confusion to the tories ; and a total banishment to bribery and corruption." And on the right side was this profane acrostic, below a caricature of John Mein, the royalist editor of the Chronicle, and warm opponent of the people : "Insulting wretch ! we '11 him expose, — O'er the whole world his deeds disclose. Hell now gapes wide to take him in ; Now he is ripe ; 0, lump of sin ! Mean is the man, — M**n is his name ; Enough he 's spread his hellish fame. Infernal furies hurl his soul Nine million times from pole to pole." "Wilkes and Liberty" was inscribed on another lantern, over highly inflammatory verses. We find no allusion to this celebration after 1774. When the evening of the first anniversary of the massacre arrived, an address was delivered at the Manufactory House, by Dr. Thomas Young. This building was selected for the occasion, because the first opposition to the British regulars, October, 1768, was made there, when one Elisha Brown, having possession of the building, which was located at the corner of Hamilton-place, as a tenant under the province, refused admission to the military. The high sheriff was sent by Gov. Bernard, for admission; and, on a third attempt, he found an open window, and entered that ; upon which the people gathered about him, and made him prisoner. This outrage occurred just after the arrival of the regulars. We transcribe the particulars of this public demon stration, from the Boston News Letter of March 7th and 14th : The bells of the churches were tolled from twelve o'clock at noon until one. An oration was delivered in the evening, by Dr. Young, at the hall of the Manufactory, a building originally designed for encouraging manufactories, and employing the poor. The oration, it is said, con- THE MASSACRE. 25 tained a brief account of the massacre ; of the imputations of treason and rebellion, with which the tools of power endeavored to brand the inhabitants; and a descant upon the nature of treasons, with some threats of the British ministry to take away the Massachusetts charter. In the evening there was a very striking exhibition at the house of Mr. Paul Revere, fronting the old North-square, so called. At one of the chamber windows was the appearance of the ghost of Christopher Snider, with one of his fingers in the wound, endeavoring to stop the blood issuing therefrom; near him his friends weeping; at a small distance, a monumental pyramid, with his name on the top, and the names of those killed on the fifth of March round the base ; under neath, the following lines : " Snider's pale ghost fresh bleeding stands, And vengeance for his death demands." In the next window were represented the soldiers drawn up, firing at the people assembled before them, — the dead on the ground, and the wounded falling, with the blood running in streams from their wounds, — over which was written, " Foul Plat." In the third window, was the figure of a woman, representing America, sitting on the stump of a tree, with a staff in her hand, and the cap of liberty on the top thereof; one foot on the head of a grenadier, lying prostrate, grasping a serpent ; her finger pointing to the tragedy. Another authority states that the bells of Boston tolled from nine to ten o'clock in the evening, and they were muffled. The allusion, in Dr. Younp-'s oration, to the threats of Great Britain, and the imputations of treason, forcibly remind one of the firmness with which the Massachusetts colonists resisted every device to decoy and divert, most artfully attempted by the minions of the throne. The eloquence of bribery fell powerless. Lord Paramount urged, in the Revolutionary play, written by the author of the American Chron icles of the Times, published in 1776, — "Don't you know there 's such sweet music in the shaking of the treasury keys, that they will instantly lock the most babbling patriot's tongue? transform a tory into a whig, and a whig into a tory ? make a superannuated old miser dance, and an old cynic philosopher smile? How many thousand times has your tongue danced at Westminster Hall to the sound of such music ! " 3 26 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. The bold daring of the times was thus forcibly expressed, in an old almanac, printed during the contest : " Let tyrants rage, and sycophants exclaim ; Let tories grumble, parasites defame, And all the herd of trembling despots roar, And plot revenge ; dependence is no more. 'T is independence that we will maintain, And Britain's tyrant shall no longer reign. Britain, adieu ! we seek your aid no more ; Nor call you Mother, as we did before." We know little of Dr. Thomas Young. He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence in 1772. He was a talented writer in papers of the day, and in the Royal American Magazine, on medical, political, and religious subjects. He was one of the tea-party in 1773 ; but a groundless tradition exists, that he was the person who filled his pockets with the detestable herb, which being discovered when he was on the way home from the ships, some one cut off the skirts of his coat, and threw away the tea. The old crier witnessed this scene, but cannot state who committed the act. John Adams writes of him as his physician. He was an army surgeon in 1776. In the Life and Times of General Thomas Lamb, of Revolutionary fame, are highly spirited letters from Dr. Young, in one of which he says, that " Lord North endeavors to still the rising rage of his coun trymen, by assuring them that no other province will, in the least, countenance the rebellious Bostonians." And, in allusion to a town- meeting at Faneuil Hall, Dr. Young says, it "was conducted with a freedom and energy becoming the orators of ancient Rome." We descendants of the patriot fathers have no conception of their perils and are prompted by emotions of veneration, at their decided tone, amid the glare of royal bayonets. In Edes and Gill's North American Almanac, printed in 1770, we find what is termed " A New Song now much in vogue in North America," which entwines this rebel passage : " All ages shall speak with amaze and applause Of the courage we '11 show in support of our laws. To die we don't fear, but to serve we disdain ; We had better not be, than not freemen remain. In freedom we 're born, and in freedom we '11 live • Our purses are ready, — Steady, friends, steady ; Not as slaves, but as freemen, our money we '11 give." THE MASSACRE. 27 The earliest orations were delivered in the Old Brick Church, on the site of Cornhill-square, or at the Old South Church, and attended by immense crowds of people. Originally, a small stage was erected in the northern section of the church, on which were exhibited the sur vivors wounded at the massacre, and a contribution was taken for their benefit. These patriotic orations are a protective shield to our consti tution, as they illustrate the principles of civil liberty. The honored successor of Washington to the presidency of this glo rious Union, when writing to Dr. Morse in allusion to the memorable orations on the massacre, and those succeeding on the national inde pendence, from the peace of 1783 down to the year 1816, thus emphasizes : — " These orations were read, I had almost said, by every body that could read, and scarcely ever with dry eyes. They have now been continued for forty-five years. Will you read them all ? They were not long continued in their original design ; but other gen tlemen, with other views, had influence enough to obtain a change from 'standing armies' to 'feelings which produced the Revolution.' Of these forty-five orations, I have read as many as I have seen. They have varied with all the changes of our politics. They have been made the engine of bringing forward to public notice young gentlemen of promising genius, whose connections and sentiments were tolerable to the prevailing opinions of the moment. There is juvenile ingenuity in all that I have read. There are few men of consequence among us who did not commence their career by an ora tion on the fifth of March. I have read these orations with a mixture of pleasure and pity. Young gentlemen of genius describing scenes they never saw, and descanting on feelings they never felt, — and which great pains had been taken they never should feel. When will these orations end ? And when will they cease to be monuments of the fluctuations of public opinion, and general feeling, in Boston, Mas sachusetts, and the United States ? They are infinitely more indica tive of the feelings of the moment than of the feelings that produced the Revolution." And, in the conclusion of this letter, he remarks, " If I could be fifty years younger, and had nothing better to do, I would have these orations collected and printed in volumes, and then write the history of the last forty-five years in commentaries upon them." The conception of this work was matured, and the materials mostly gathered, in relation to every one of the orators introduced, before the editor ever read or was aware of the paragraph last quoted 28 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. from the venerable Adams the elder. An entire collection of the orations noticed in this book, and published in a connected form, would prove a valuable acquisition to the history and literature of our country. Our plan differs materially from that suggested by the great Nestor of this republic. We exhibit striking specimens from some of the best of those performances, with opinions respecting their character, and present a statement of the lives of their authors, inter spersed with political, historical, and literary reminiscences, unfolding a period of eighty years. Our plan extends, moreover, to the orators of the Massachusetts Cincinnati, the Washington Benevolent, and the Democratic Washing ton Societies ; the eulogists on the deceased presidents, on Warren, on Lafayette and Marshall, and almost every other political occasion in the great head-quarters of the Revolution, ¦ — our own noble Boston ! — tending to establish the permanence of republican institutions. While we mainly concur with President Adams in opinion regarding the merits of those which he had examined, we venture to assert that a large portion of these productions indicate an ability and patriotic spirit that would honor the heads and the hearts of the most eminent politicians of any age or nation ; and we should view the period when such orations would cease as a strong indication of the decline of this great exemplar of all nations. . A large portion of the materials for this production were gathered from the libraries of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of the Gore Library at Cambridge, of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, of the State Library, of the Boston Library, and of the Boston Athenseum ; to the librarians of which institutions the editor renders his grateful acknowledgments for the ready facility extended during the research for information. The editor is more especially indebted to the Massachusetts Historical Society for the o-enerous per mission of access to valuable unpublished manuscripts in their posses- ' sion, from which passages are embodied in this work, greatly enhanc ing its value. Moreover, the editor renders his grateful thanks to Rev. Joseph Barlow Felt, the courteous librarian of this institution, and author of an Ecclesiastical History of New England, and to Lucius Manlius Sargent, Esq., whose experience in historical research ranks them with the most profound antiquarians in our country • to Sam uel G. Drake, Esq., the chronicler of Indian History; and to Dr. John C. Warren, for the free use of the Revolutionary manuscript JAMES LOVELL. 29 journal of Dr. John Warren, his patriotic father. The editor will never forget the courtesy of gentlemen of the leading professions, in rendering information essential to the accuracy of this work, the cata logue of whose names would fill a chapter ; and to recount the mass of facts furnished would embrace a large appendix. JAMES LOVELL. APRIL 2, 1771. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. As the father and son were remarkable men, and effected much in moulding the intellects of the principal actors of the Revolution, we will exhibit first the scanty materials regarding the father. Master John Lovell was the eldest son of John Lovell, who married Priscilla Gardiner, June 16th, 1709; and was born at Boston, June 16th, 1710. He entered the public Latin school in 1717 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1728 ; became usher of the Latin school in 1729, until he was appointed principal in 1734; which station he occupied until April 19th, 1775, when the school was dispersed by the siege of the town, and consequent occupation of the royalists. Mr. Lovell married Abigail Green, Sept., 1734. He was an excellent critic, and one of the best classical scholars of his day. Though' a severe teacher, yet he was remarkably humorous, and an agreeable companion. It is worthy of record, that he delivered the first published address in Faneuil Hall, March 14th, 1742, at the annual meeting of the town, occasioned by the death of Peter Faneuil, Esq., the noble donor of the hall to the town of Boston. In the peroration of Mr. Lovell' s funeral oration, he said: "May this hall be ever sacred to the interests of truth, of justice, of loyalty, of honor, of liberty. May no private views, nor party broils, ever enter these walls." Heaven, in mercy, however, otherwise decreed, and to the permanence of republican insti tutions. When the royal troops evacuated Boston, there was left unremoved, at the residence of Master Lovell, adjoining the public 3* 30 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Latin school in School-street, the coach of General Gage, whose head quarters were at the Province House, together with a phaeton and harness entire. Moreover, a chariot of the governor was taken out of the dock on Long Wharf, greatly defaced. He was a warm advo cate for the crown, and embarked with the British troops for Halifax, when they evacuated the town, March 14th, 1776. We find no particulars of his history at Halifax, where he died in 1778. In the gallery of paintings at Harvard College is his portrait, taken by Nathaniel, son of John Smybert, who came to this country in 1728, in company with Bishop Berkeley. Judge Cranch once remarked, " I remember that one of his first portraits was the picture of his old master Lovell, drawn while the terrific impressions of the pedagogue were yet vibrating upon his nerves. I found it so perfect a likeness of my old neighbor, that I did not wonder when my young friend told me that a sudden, undesigned glance at it, had often made him shudder." Master Lovell was a contributor to the Pietas et Gratulatio Colleaii Cantabrigiensis, etc., published in 1761. The numbers 2, 25, 26, and 27, are ascribed to his hand. The following is the twenty-seventh article in the Pietas : " While Hailey views the heavens with curious eyes, And notes the changes in the stormy skies, What constellations 'bode descending rains, Swell the proud streams, and fertilize the plains, What call the zephyrs forth, with favoring breeze To waft Britannia's fleets o'er subject seas ; In different orbits how the planets run, Reflecting rays they borrow from the sun ; Sudden, a distant prospect charms his sight, Venus encircled in the source of light ! Wonders to come his ravished thought unfold And thus the Heaven-instructed bard foretold What glorious scenes, to ages past unknown, Shall in one summer's rolling months be shown. Auspicious omens yon bright regions wear • Events responsive in the earth appear. A golden Phoebus decks the rising morn, Such, glorious George ! thy youthful brows adorn ; Nor sparkles Venus on the ethereal plain, Brighter than Charlotte, midst the virgin train. The illustrious pair conjoined in nuptial ties, Britannia shines a rival to the skies ! " JAMES LOVELL. 31 Master Lovell was author, also, of " The Seasons, an Interlocutory Exercise at the South Latin School," spoken at the annual visitation, June 26, 1765, by Daniel Jones and Jonathan Williams Austin, in which the latter exclaims : " Happy the man, when age has spread Its hoary honors on his head, Whose mind, on looking back, surveys A fruitful life and well-spent days. As on the verge of both he stands, Both worlds, at once, his view commands : Sees earth unwished for, wished for skies, — Contented lives, and joyful dies." The British troops ascribed their repulse at the battle of Bunker TTill to the following circumstance : Directly after they had landed, it was discovered that most of the cannon-balls which had been brought over were too large for the pieces, and that it was necessary to send them back, and obtain a fresh supply. "This wretched blunder of over-sized balls," says Gen. Howe, " arose from the dotage of an officer of rank in the ordnance department, who spends all his time with the schoolmaster's daughter." It seems that Col. Cleveland. who, "though no Samson, must have his Delilah," was enamored of the beautiful daughter of old Master Lovell, and in order to win favor with the damsel, had given her younger brother an appointment in the ordnance, for which he was not qualified ; and Dr. Jeffries confirmed this relation. This error, to whatever cause it might have been owing, created delay, and somewhat diminished the effect of the British fire during the first two attacks. A tradition exists that during the battle suddenly the fire of the British artillery ceases. Gen. Howe, in con sternation, demands the reason. "The balls are too large." "Fatal error!" says Howe; "what delusion drives Col. Cleveland to pass all his time with the schoolmaster's daughter, instead of minding his business ? Pour in grape ! " The forthcoming allusion to this affair appears in a song ascribed to a British soldier, written after the battle : " Our conductor, he got broke For his misconduct, sure, sir ; The shot he sent for twelve-pound guns, Were made for twenty-four, sir. There 's some in Boston pleased to say, As we the field were taking, 32 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. We went to kill their countrymen While they their hay were making. For such stout whigs I never saw, — To hang them all, I 'd rather, For making hay with muskeMballs And buck-shot mixed together." We will now exhibit the outline of the history of Master James Lovell, who was born at Boston, Oct. 31, 1737 ; entered the public Latin school in 1744, and graduated at Harvard College in 1756. He became the usher of this school in 1757, which station he filled until April 19, 1775, when the school was suspended by the war. He was also master of the North Grammar, now the Eliot school. The Latin school was revived, Nov. 8, 1776. He married, at Trinity Church, Mary, daughter of Alexander Middleton, a native of Scotland, Nov. 24, 1760. On the morning before the town committee had reached his resi dence, to invite him to deliver an oration on the massacre, his father took occasion, at the breakfast-table, according to the tradition, to advise him not to accept the appointment, as his inexperience in public matters was not equal to the effort ; nor could he expect, if he were, that the undertaking would result in any public benefit, or personal advantage to himself. "Besides, my son," said the old gentleman, " there is a consideration in this matter, above all others : there is danger in the attempt, — your life will be in jeopardy." " Is that the case, father ? " said Lovell; "then my mind is decided; my resolu tion is fixed, that I will attempt it at every hazard ! " Whether or not this relation be fact, it was perfectly characteristic of the man. The people assembled at Faneuil Hall to listen to the young orator, when the throng being too great, the audience forthwith adjourned to the Old South Church, and after a fervent prayer by the Rev. Dr. Chauncy, an oration was pronounced by James Lovell, that received "the universal acceptance of the audience;" after which, the thanks of the town were voted him, and a committee appointed to request a copy for the press. He remarked, in this performance, that "the design of this ceremony was decent, wise, and honorable. Make the bloody fifth of March the era of the resurrection of your birthrights, which have been murdered by the very strength that nursed them in their infancy." And towards the close of the oration, he remarks : " Having declared myself an American son of liberty, of true JAMES LOVELL. 33 charter principles, — having shown the critical and dangerous situation of our birthrights, and the true course for speedy redress, — I shall take the freedom to recommend with boldness one previous step. Let us show we understand the true value of what we are claiming.'' Mr. Lovell was an excellent scholar, and of famous reputation : but detraction, ever seeking to wound those most esteemed, frowned its odious visage upon him. John Adams says, in his diary, under date of January 7, 1766 : •¦ Samuel Waterhouse, of the customs, the most notorious scribbler, satirist, and libeller, in the service of the conspira tors against the liberties of America, made a most malicious, ungen erous attack upon James Lovell, Jr.. the usher of the grammar school, as others had attacked him about idleness, and familiar spirits, and zanyship, and expectancy of a deputation." The residence of James Lovell, during the Revolution, was on the estate where Chapman Hall is now located, and his family witnessed on the house-top the burning of Charlestown during the battle of Bunker Hill. While Mr. Lovell was imprisoned in the Boston jail, in Queen-street, in consequence of General Howe having discovered a prohibited correspondence, proving his adherence to the Revolutionary cause, his devoted -wife vras daily accustomed to convey his food to the prison door. They had eight sons, and one daughter. Mary, who was married to Mark Pickard, a merchant of Boston, whose daughter was the wife of Rev. Henry Ware, of Harvard College. After the Revo lution. Mr. Lovell resided in Hutchinson-street. located on Sturgis- place. After the battle of Bunker Hill, thirty-one captives were imprisoned in Boston jail, among whom was Mr. Lovell, who wrote a pathetic letter to Washington, dated Provost's Prison. Boston. Nov. 19. 1775, in which he said: "Your excellency is already informed that the powers of the military government established in this town have been wantonly and cruelly exercised against me, from the 29th of June last. I have in vain repeatedly solicited to be brought to some kind of trial for my pretended crimes. In answer to a petition of that sort, pre sented on the 16th of October, I am directed, by Col. Balfour, aid-de camp to Gen. Howe, to seek the release of Col. Skene and his son-, as the sole means of my enlargement. " This proposition appears to me extremely disgraceful to the party from which it comes ; and a compliance with it pregnant with danger ous consequences to my fellow-citizens. But, while my own spirit 34 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. prompts me to reject it directly with the keenest disdain, the impor tunity of my distressed wife, and the advice of some whom I esteem, have checked me down to a consent to give your excellency this inform ation. I have the fullest confidence in your wisdom, and I shall be perfectly resigned to your determination, whatever it may be. I must not, however, omit to say, that should you condescend to stigmatize the proceeding of my enemies by letter, the correction might work some change in favor of myself, or at least of my family; which must, I think, perish through want of fuel and provisions, in the approach ing winter, if they continue to be deprived of my assistance." Master Lovell addressed another letter, Dec. 6, 1775, to General Washington, in which he remarked: " Charged with being a spy, and giving intelligence to the rebels, I have been suffering the pains and indignities of imprisonment from the 29th of June last, without any sort of trial. Capt. Balfour, aid-de-camp to Gen. Howe, some time ago directed Mrs. Lovell to tell me, from the commander-in-chief, that I must obtain the exchange of Col. Skene and his son, as the only condition of my enlargement ; and I have waited weeks in a vain hope of being enabled to write with more precision to your excellency. I have no argument but of a private nature to make use of, upon this occasion ; and it is addressed to your excellency's humanity, which I am well satisfied will attend the decision of your wisdom. I myself am reduced to such a risk of life, and my family to such miseries, by my imprisonment, as to make both objects of compassion to all who are not learnedly barbarous and cruel." Washington wrote to Hancock, in a letter dated Jan. 30, 1776 : " I shall, in obedience to the order of Congress, though interdicted by Gen. Howe, propose an exchange of Col. Skene for Mr. Lovell and his family ; and shall be happy to have an opportunity of putting this deserving man, who has shown his fidelity and regard to his country to be too great for persecution and cruelty to overcome, in any post agreeable to his wishes and inclinations." Here is a tribute to Lovell from the immortal Washington, of greater value than the most renowned heraldry. Mr. Lovell was detained in prison, regardless of the intercession of Washington, until the British army evacuated the town, when he was conveyed to Halifax, where he was kept in close confinement. Thus while the father was at Halifax an honored follower of the crown the son was degraded for an adherence to the eagle. His family were pro- JAMES LOVELL. 35 tected by the respected Dr. Joseph Gardner, in whose dwelling they resided, — located on Marlboro' -street, — until his return from cap tivity. Mr. Lovell happened to be doomed to the same prison in which the famous Col. Ethan Allen was confined, with several other Americans. Allen had been a wanderer during his captivity, having been first sent from Montreal to England in irons, and then trans ported back to Halifax, by way of Ireland and North Carolina. Mr. Lovell was finally exchanged for Gov. Skene, of Ticonderoga, on Nov. 1776, and arrived in Boston on the 30th day, by way of New York. The hardships of imprisonment rather impaired his intellect, though its power was never dethroned. There was a deep rancor against Mr. Lovell, when in Boston jail, for having publicly repeated, in his oration on the massacre, what the royalists had taught him by experi ence, "that slaves envy the freedom of others, and take malicious pleasure in contributing to destroy it;" — being a citation from Black- stone. And another matter that excited prejudice was the getting possession of a note written to one going to Point Shirley, which Gen. Howe had intercepted. Consequently he was closely locked up, and debarred the use of pen, ink, and paper, though he declared his inno cence of any forbidden correspondence. In Dec. 1776, James Lovell was elected to the Continental Con gress, for his native state. On the third of May, 1778, Mr. Lovell wrote to' Arthur Lee as follows: "In the month of October, 1775, I used the freedom of writing to you from Boston prison, by a Mr. William Powell, who had also in charge some papers to enable you to stigmatize the mean cruelties of Gage, who was then exulting in his command ; but the papers which I afterwards sent you from Halifax jail,, by an amiable lady, afforded proofs of scientific barbarity in Howe, which tended to obliterate the memory of what I had endured under his predecessor. I had the imagination, at that time, of pur suing those men personally to Europe ; but when I heard my country men had wisely declared independence, I felt myself instantly repaid for all my losses and bodily injuries. I will not endeavor to constrain you to believe that I am governed, at this day, by feelings and motives of the most laudable patriotism. I am not anxious to disavow a degree of the spirit of retaliation, which our enemies seem to have been industrious to excite in us. It would be false affectation of universal benevolence to say I lament the present disgrace of Britain. 36 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Whether she mends upon it or not, I must rejoice at it, though upon different principles." It is a singular coincidence to this remark, that the editor, while writing in the book-store of Drake the antiquarian, had his attention directed to a passage in Boswell' s Johnson, which Mr. Drake held in his hand at the moment, where Johnson, in conversing with Miss Seward, says, April 15th, 1778, " I am willing to love all mankind, except an American." Miss Seward, looking at him with mild and steady astonishment, said, " Sir, this is an instance that we are always most violent against those we have injured." We find in the London Political Register for 1780 the following severe remarks on the character of Mr. Lovell, because of his repub lican course : "In the pockets of Warren, the rebel commander, killed at Bunker Hill, were found letters from James Lovell, a rebel spy, stating the number and disposition of the troops in Boston, with a variety of other information. The spy, instead of being sentenced to the gallows and executed, was only taken up and detained in custody ; and when our army was at New York, he was discharged, at the request of some of the rebel chiefs. The deputy commissary of prisoners saw him safely on board the cartel ship, and laid in for him the best provisions the place could supply. Lovell, instead of being grateful for this, the instant he landed in the rebel territory, wrote the commissary a most abusive letter ; and, by this infamous behavior having arrived at the summit of villany, was, in the opinion of the rebels of Massachusetts, deemed a fit person to represent them in Con gress ; accordingly, as soon as he set his foot in Boston, he was chosen one of their delegates to Congress. The rebel spies and prisoners taken by our troops have been always treated with a lenity nearly akin to folly ; the rebels never imputed it to our humanity, but to our timidity and dread of them." The Political Register quotes a passage from an intercepted letter of Mr. Lovell, dated Philadelphia, Nov. 20, 1780, addressed to Mr. Gerry, in which he said : " Is it not time to pay a visit to Massachu setts ? Does my wife look as if she wanted a toothless, grayheaded sciatic husband near her ? I am more benefit to her at a distance than in conjunction, as the almanac has it." In 1784 Mr. Lovell was appointed receiver of Continental taxes and during the confederacy of 1788 and '89 he was the collector for DR. BENJAMIN CHURCH. 37 the port of Boston. He was the naval officer of Boston from 1790 until his decease, at Windham, Maine, July 14, 1814. Mr. Lovell 'published several tracts. In 1760 he delivered an oration in Latin, to the memory of the venerable Henry Flint, who was fifty-five years a tutor of Harvard College. In 1808, Propaga tion of Truth, or Tyranny Anatomized ; Sketches of Man as He is, connected with the Past and Present Mode of Education ; A Letter to the President of the United States, supposed by the writer to be fitted specially for the Age and Courage of the Young Federal Repub licans of Boston, and also to be calculated generally to promote the comfort of all gray-headed as well as green-headed free citizens every where : dated, July 4, 1805. DE. BENJAMIN CHURCH. MARCH 5, 1773. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. Dr. Benjamin Church was a son of Deacon Benjamin Church, of Mather Byles' church, in Boston; and was born at Newport, R. I., Aug. 24, 1734. He entered the Latin school in 1745, and graduated at Harvard College in 1754. He was a student in the London Med ical College,, and walked the hospitals, daily visiting all the wards. He married Miss Hannah Hill, of Ross, in Herefordshire, a sister of his early friend, a young student in London. He returned to Boston, and had Benjamin, who married a lady of London, and became a surgeon in the British army ; James Miller, born 1759 ; Sarah, born 1761, who married Benjamin Weld, a tory refugee ; Hannah, born 1764, who married William Kirkby, a merchant of London, and had sixteen children. It is to a descendant of this branch that the editor is indebted for information. Dr. Church was the surgeon who examined the body of Crispus Attucks, killed by the British soldiers in the massacre of 1770 ; and his deposition is printed in the narrative of the town. He was the 4 38 the hundred boston orators. first Grand Master of the Rising Sun Lodge, instituted in 1772. Dr. Church pronounced the oration on the massacre, at the Old South; and so vast was the throng of people to hear it, that the orator, and John Hancock, the moderator of this adjourned town-meeting, were obliged to be taken in at a window. It was received " with universal applause," and directly after its delivery the people unanimously requested a copy for the press. Dr. Eliot says of it, that "it is certainly one of the very best of the Boston orations." He had genius and taste, and was an excellent writer in poetry and prose, consisting mostly of essays of a witty and philological nature, which are scattered in newspapers and publications almost obsolete. On the evening after the delivery of this oration, the lantern exhibition appeared from Mrs. Clapham's balcony, in King-street; and in one of the chamber windows was inscribed the following impas sioned effusion : " Canst thou, spectator, view this crimsoned scene, And not reflect what these sad portraits mean ? Or can thy slaughtered brethren's guiltless gore Revenge, in vain, from year to year implore ? Ask not( where Preston or his butchers are ! But ask, who brought those bloody villains here ? Never for instruments forsake the cause, Nor spare the wretch who would subvert the laws ! That ruthless fiend, who, for a trifling hire, Would murder scores, or set a town on fire, Compared with him who would a land enslave, Appears an inconsiderable knave. And shall the first adorn the fatal tree, While, pampered and caressed, the last goes free ? Forbid it, thou whose eye no bribe can blind, Nor fear can influence, nor favor bind ! Thy justice drove one murderer to despair ; And shall a number live in riot here ? Live and appear to glory in the crimes Which hand destruction down to future times ? Tes, ye shall live ! but live like branded Cain, In daily dread of being nightly slain • And when the anxious scene on earth is o'er Your names shall stink till time'shall be no more ! " We cannot restrain the desire to present the peroration of the oration so much applauded : "By Heaven, they die ! Thus nature spoke, and the swollen heart leaped to execute the dreadful purpose Dire was the interval of rage, — fierce was the conflict of the soul In DR. BENJAMIN CHURCH. 39 that important hour, did not the stalking ghosts of our stern fore fathers point us to bloody deeds of vengeance? Did not the con sideration of our expiring liberties impel us to remorseless havoc? But, hark ! the guardian God of New England issues his awful man date, — Peace, be still ! Hushed was the bursting war ; the lowering tempest frowned its rage away. Confidence in that God, beneath whose wing we shelter all our cares, — that blessed confidence released the dastard, the cowering prey; with haughty scorn we refused to become their executioners, and nobly gave them to the wrath of Heaven. But words can poorly paint the horrid scene. Defenceless, prostrate, bleeding countrymen, • — the piercing, agonizing groans, — the mingled moan of weeping relatives and friends, — these best can speak, to rouse the hike- warm into noble zeal, —to fire the zealous into manly rage against the foul oppression of quartering troops in pop ulous cities in times of peace." There is but one sentence in this admired production that could be construed in the least degree to indicate the fear that this vigorous mind would ever forsake the cause of injured humanity, wherein he says, " The constitution of England I revere to a degree of idolatry." This, however, is directly qualified, for he continues, " but my attach ment is to the common weal. The magistrate will ever command my respect by the integrity and wisdom of his administrations." Dr. Church was a Boston representative, a member of the Provin cial Congress in 1774, and physician-general to the patriot army in that year. About the year 1768, Dr. Church erected an elegant mansion at Raynham, on the side of Nippahonsit pond, " allured, perhaps," says Dr. Allen, " by the pleasures of fishing." Probably it was thus that he created a pecuniary embarrassment, which led to his defection from the cause of his country. A letter written in cipher, to his brother in Boston, was intrusted by him to a young woman, with whom he was said to be living in crime. The mysterious letter was found upon her ; but, the doctor having opportunity to speak to her, it was only by the force of threats that the name of the writer was extorted from her. It was for some time difficult to find any person capable of decipher ing Dr. Church's letter, but at length it was effected by Rev. Dr. Samuel West, of New Bedford. When Washington charged him with his baseness, he never attempted to vindicate himself. Washington stated, in a letter to Hancock, dated Cambridge, Oct. 5, 40 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. 1775: "I have now a painful, though a necessary duty to perform, respecting Dr. Church, director-general of the hospital. About a week ago, Mr. Secretary Ward, of Providence, sent up to me one Wainwood, an inhabitant of Newport, with a letter directed to Major Cane, in Boston, in characters ; which, he said, had been left with Wainwood some time ago, by a woman who was kept by Dr. Church. She had before pressed Wainwood to take her to Capt. Wallace, at Newport, Mr. Dudley the collector, or George Rowe, which he declined. She then gave him a letter, with a strict charge to deliver it to either of those gentlemen. He, suspecting some improper cor respondence, kept the letter, and after some time opened it ; but, not being able to read it, laid it up, where it remained until he received an obscure letter from the woman, expressing an anxiety after the original letter. He then communicated the whole matter to Mr. Ward, who sent him up with the papers to me. I immediately secured the woman ; but for a long time she was proof against every threat and persuasion to discover the author. However, at length she was brought to a confession, and named Dr. Church. I then immediately secured him, and all his papers. Upon his first examination, he readily acknowledged the letter ; said it was designed for his brother Fleming, and when deciphered would be found to contain nothing criminal. He acknowledged his never having communicated the correspondence to any person here, but the girl, and made many protestations of the purity of his intentions. Having found a person capable of decipher ing the letter, I, in the mean time, had all his papers searched, but found nothing criminal among them. But it appeared, on inquiry, that a confidant had been among the papers before my messenger arrived." We select this passage from Dr. Church's intercepted letter : " For the sake of the miserable convulsed empire, repeal the acts, or Britain is undone. This advice is the result of warm affection to my king and the realm. Remember, I never deceived you." He was convicted by court-martial, Oct. 3, 1775, of which Wash ington was president, "of holding a criminal correspondence with the enemy." He was imprisoned at Cambridge. On Oct. 27, he was called to the bar of the House of Representatives, and examined. His defence before the house, printed in the Historical Collections was a specimen of brilliant talents and great ingenuity. That the letter was designed for his brother, but, not being sent, he had communicated no DR. BENJAMIN CHURCH. 41 intelligence : that there was nothing in the letter but notorious facts : that his exaggerations of the American force could only be designed to favor the cause of liberty : and that the object was purely patriotic. "Confirmed," said he, "in assured innocence, I stand prepared for your keenest searchings. The warmest bosom here does not flame with a brighter zeal for the security, happiness, and liberties, of America." He was expelled from the house ; and the Continental Congress after wards resolved that he should be confined in jail in Connecticut, and "debarred the use of pen, ink, and paper." He was afterwards allowed to occasionally ride out, under a trusty guard. Madam Adams, in alluding to the treachery of Dr. Church, remarked at that time : " You may as well hope to bind up a hungry tiger with a cobweb, as to hold such debauched patriots in the visionary chains of decency, or to charm them with the intellectual beauty of truth and reason." His residence, in Boston, was at the south corner of Avon-place. Dr. Thatcher says, " There were not a few among the most respectable and intelligent in the community who expressed strong doubts of a criminal design in his conduct." Our readers, however, need only to examine the statement of Paul Revere, in the succeeding paragraphs, to have their minds satisfied of his treacherous conduct. It appears in a letter to Rev. Dr. John Eliot, corresponding secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society, dated Boston, Jan. 1, 1798 : "In the fall of 1774, and winter of 1775, I was one of upwards of thirty, chiefly mechanics, who formed ourselves into a committee, for the purpose of watching the movements of the British soldiers, and gaining every intelligence of the movements of the tories. We held our meetings at the Green Dragon Tavern. We were so care ful that our meetings should be kept secret, that every time we met, every person swore upon the Bible that they would not discover any of our transactions, but to Hancock, Adams, Drs. Warren, Church, and one or two more. About November, when things began to grow serious, a gentleman who had connections with the tory party, but was a whig at heart, acquainted me that our meetings were discovered, and mentioned the identical words that were spoken among us the night before. We did not then distrust Dr. Church, but supposed it must be some one among us. We removed to another place, which we thought was more secure ; but here we found that all our transac tions were communicated to Gov. Gage. This came to me through the then secretary, Flucker. He told it to the gentleman mentioned 4* 42 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. above. It was then a common opinion that there was a traitor in the Provincial Congress, and that Gage was possessed of all their secrets. Dr. Church appeared" to be a high son of liberty. He frequented all the places where they met ; was encouraged by all the leaders of the sons of liberty ; and it appeared he was respected by them, though I knew that Dr. Warren had not the greatest respect for him. Though it was known that some of the liberty songs which he composed were parodized by him in favor of the British, yet none dare charge him with it. I was a constant and critical observer of him, and I must say that I never thought him a man of principle, and I doubted much, in my own mind, whether he was a real whig. I knew that he kept company with a Capt. Price, a half-pay British officer ; and that he frequently dined with him and Robinson, one of the commissioners. I know that one of his intimate acquaintance asked him why he was so often with Robinson and Price. His answer was, that he kept company with them on purpose to find out their plans. The day after the battle of Lexington, I met him in Cambridge, when he shew me some blood on his stocking, which, he said, spirted on him from a man who was killed near him, as he was urging the militia on. I well remember that I argued with myself, if a man will risk his life in a cause, he must be a friend to that cause ; and I never suspected him after, till he was charged with being a traitor. "The same day, I met Dr. Warren. He was president of the Committee of Safety. He engaged me as a messenger to do the out- of-doors business for the committee, which gave me an opportunity of being frequently with them. The Friday evening after, about sunset, I was sitting with some or near all that committee, in their room which was at Mr. Hastings' house, in Cambridge. Dr. Church all at once, started up. 'Dr. Warren,' said he, 'I am determined to go into Boston to-morrow.' It set them all a staring. Dr. Warren replied, ' Are you serious, Dr. Church? They will hang you, if they Catch you in Boston.' He replied, 'I am serious, and am determined to go, at all adventures.' After a considerable conversation, Dr. War ren said, 'If you are determined, let us make some business for you.' They agreed that he should go to get medicine for their and our wounded officers. He went the next morning, and I think he came back on Sunday evening. After he had told the committee how things were, I took him aside, and inquired particularly how they treated him. He said, that ' as soon as he got to their fines on DR. BENJAMIN CHURCH. 43 Boston Neck, they made him a prisoner, and carried him to Gen. Gage, where he was examined ; and then he was sent to Gould's bar racks, and was not suffered to go home but once. After he was taken up for holding a correspondence with the British, I came across Dea. Caleb Davis. We entered into conversation about him. He told me that the morning Church went into Boston, he (Davis) received a billet for Gen. Gage ; — (he then did not know that Church was in town.) When he got to the general's house, he was told the general could not be spoke with, — that he was in private with a gentleman ; that he waited near half an hour, when Gen. Gage and Dr. Church came out of a room, discoursing together like persons who had been long acquainted. He appeared to be quite surprised at seeing Dea. Davis there ; that he (Church) went where he pleased, while in Boston, only a Major Caine, one of Gage's tools, went with him. I was told by another person, whom I could depend upon, that he saw Church go into Gen. Gage's house at the above time ; that he got out of the chaise and went up the steps more like a man that was acquainted than a prisoner. " Some time after, — perhaps a year or two, — I fell in company with a gentleman who studied with Church. In discoursing about him, I related- what I have mentioned above. He said he did not doubt that he was in the interest of the British, and that it was he who informed Gen. Gage ; that he knew for certain that, a short time before the Battle of Lexington, — for he then lived with him, and took care of his business and books, — he had no money by him, and was much drove for money; that, all at once, he had several hundred new British guineas ; and that he thought at the time where they came from." When released from his imprisonment in Norwich jail, Conn., May, 1776, he set sail from Boston for London, — some say for the West Indies ; and, according to a family tradition, the vessel was wrecked near the Boston Light-house, and all on board perished. Our prin cipal authorities state, however, that after he left Boston he was never heard from. His family was pensioned by the crown. We cannot conclude this article before introducing an incident. Col. Revere was the first President of the Massachusetts Mechanics' Charitable Association, and a copper-plate engraver. In the year 1768, the Legislature of Massachusetts voted to send a circular letter to the several Provinces, on the alarming state of this country, and inviting a convention to oppose a taxation without the consent of the 44 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. representatives of the people. The king directed Governor Bernard to demand that the said vote be rescinded and obliterated. A vote was passed, June 30, 1768, not to conform to it, seventeen members only voting in favor of it, and ninety-two in the negative. The seventeen members were stigmatized with the name of Rescinders, and treated with contempt. Paul Revere engraved a caricature, entitled "A Warm Place — Hell." The delineation was a pair of monstrous open jaws, resembling those of a shark, with flames issuing ; and Satan, with a large pitchfork, driving the seventeen Rescinders into the flames, exclaiming, "Now I've got you! A fine haul, by Jove!" As a reluctance is shown by the foremost man at entering, who is supposed to represent the Hon. Timothy Ruggles, afterward a brigadier-general of Worcester county, another devil is drawn, with a fork, flying towards him, and crying out, "Push on, Tim!" Over the upper jaw is seen, in the back-ground, the cupola of the Province-house, with the Indian and bow and arrow, the arms of the Province, where was the residence of the governor. When Revere was engaged in executing this caricature, Dr. Benj. Church came into his office, and seeing what he was about, took a pen and wrote the following lines as an accompaniment : " On, brave Rescinders ! to yon yawning cell, — Seventeen such miscreants sure will startle hell. There puny villains, damned for petty sin, On such distinguished scoundrels gaze and grin ; The outdone Devil will resign his sway, — He never curst his millions in a day." " Instead of subject colonies," remarks Daniel Webster, " England now beholds on these shores a mighty rival, rich, powerful, intelligent, like herself. And may these countries be forever friendly rivals. May their power and greatness, sustaining themselves, be always directed to the promotion of the peace, the prosperity, the enlightenment, and the liberty of mankind; and, if it be their united destiny, in the course of human events, that they be called upon, in the cause of humanity and in the cause of freedom, to stand against a world in arms thev are of a race and of a blood to meet that crisis, without shrinking from danger, and without quailing in the presence of earthly power." JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 45 JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. MARCH 5, 1772. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. The name of Warren appears on the Roll of Battle Abbey, as being of those engaged in the Battle of Hastings, under William the Conqueror, Oct. 14, 1066. It appears also in Doomsday Book, pub- fished in 1081. William de Warrene, the first of the name according to Duncan's Dukes of Normandy, related to Duke William on the side of his mother, who was niece to the Duchess Gouner, took his name from the fief of Yarenhe, or Warrene, in the district of St. Aub-in-le- Cauf. Warrene received from the Conqueror two hundred and ninety- eight manors, and in 1073 he was adjoined to Richard de Bienfaite as Grand Justiciary of England. He was created Earl of Surrey, by William Rufus, in 1089, and died shortly afterwards. He was buried in the Abbey of Lewes, in Sussex, which he had founded. The ancestry of General Joseph Warren has long been a subject of doubtful speculation, as it could not be traced to the ancient families either of Plymouth or Watertown. After careful research, we believe it traceable to the public records of Boston. Doubtless the ancestor of this family was Peter Warren, a mariner, who, according to Suffolk Deeds, purchased an estate of Theodore Atkinson, of Boston, March 8, 1659, " situated on the south side of Boston, next the water-side, opposite and against Dorchester Neck." This was a part of ancient Mattapan, now South Boston. On his decease, he gave his dwelling- house and land to his widow Esther, for and during her natural life, in case she continue a widow, and not otherwise. In case she happen to marry again, the estate should revert to his son Joseph ; or, at her decease, if a widow, he bequeathed the same to him. He married three times, and died at Boston, Nov. 15, 1704, aged 76 years. His will is in Suffolk Probate. His son Joseph, according to Suffolk Deeds, conveyed, April 15, 1714, this estate to Henry Hill, distiller, for eighty pounds, with the reserve, that his widowed mother Esther should have a fife occupancy, and profits and benefits of the same. It was located in Boston, at the south part of the town, and bounded southerly at the front by Essex-street, fifty-seven feet ; westerly by the land of 46. THE hundred BOSTON orators. Isaac Goose, eighty-one feet ; northerly by the land of Henry Cole, thirty-one feet ; easterly by the land of Whitman, eighty-four feet ; — with the buildings, wells, water-courses, &c. A distillery has long been located on this estate, bounded by South-street, and is improved by William E. French. This was doubtless the ancestral residence. We find no conveyance of real estate to Peter Warren at any other period. Sarah, the first wife of Peter Warren, was admitted to the Old South Church, by dismission, May 22, 1670. His second wife, Han nah, was received in the same church, by dismission also, April 30, 1675 ; and his third wife, Esther, was admitted to that church, also by dismission, Oct. 11, 1687. The baptisms of the children are on the records of the Old South Church, and correspond with the births on the ' records of Boston, as follows : Peter Warren married Sarah, a daughter of Robert Tucker, of Dorchester, Aug. 1, 1660, by whom he had John, born Sept. 8, 1661 ; Joseph, born Feb. 19, 1662 ; Benjamin, born July 25, 1665 ; Elizabeth, born Jan. 4, 1667; Robert, born Dec. 14, 1670 ; Ebenezer, born Feb. 11, 1672 ; Peter, born April 20, 1676 ; Hannah, by his wife Hannah, born May 19, 1680 ; Mary, born Nov. 24, 1683 ; Robert, born Dec. 24, 1684. Joseph, the second son of Peter, who, according to Suffolk Deeds, was a housewright, married Deborah, a daughter of Samuel Williams, of Roxbury, where he settled, and had eight children ; among whom was Joseph, born Feb. 2, 1696. He died at Roxbury, July 13, 1729, aged 66 ; and this corresponds with the Boston record of his birth. His will was proved August 1st of that date. Joseph, Jr., son of Joseph of Roxbury, married Mary, daughter of Dr. Samuel Stevens, of that town, May 29, 1740. He is named, on Suffolk Probate, as " gentleman." He was a respectable farmer, and was the first person who cultivated an apple, with a fine blush on one side, famous as the Warren Russet. The Boston News-Letter thus relates the tale of his decease, in a note dated Roxbury, Oct. 25 1755: " On Wednesday last a sorrowful accident happened here. As Mr. Joseph Warren, of this town,was gathering apples from a tree, standing upon a ladder at a considerable distance from the ground, he fell from thence, broke his neck, and expired in a few moments. He was esteemed a man of -good understanding, industrious, upright, honest and faithful, — a serious, exemplary Christian, a useful member of JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 47 society. He was generally respected amongst us, and his death is universally lamented." Joseph, 3d, a son of Joseph, Jr., was born at Roxbury, June 11, 1741. He graduated at Harvard College, 1759, and was a public- school teacher at Roxbury, in 1760. The old mansion in which he was born has been demolished, and an exact model of it, made partly ¦of the original materials, is retained in the family of Dr. Brown, who married a daughter of Dr. John Warren. A painting of the estate is in the family of Dr. John C. Warren. An elegant stone building has been erected on the location. The inscriptions herewith are chis eled on the front side of the second story of the edifice ; that on the right hand is as follows : " On this spot stood the house erected in 1720 by Joseph Warren, of Boston, remarkable for being the birthplace of General Joseph War ren, his grandson, who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775." The inscription on the left hand is as follows : " John Warren, a distinguished physician and anatomist, was also born here. The original mansion being in ruins, this house was built by John C. Warren, M. D., in 1846, son of the last named, as a permanent memorial of the spot." The estate is in Warren-street, on Warren- place, opposite St. James' -street. Warren was ever remarkable for fearless intrepidity. When at college, some of his classmates were engaged in a merriment which they knew Warren would not approve, and adopted a plan to prevent his attendance. They fastened the door of the apartment, which was in the upper story of a college building. Warren, finding that he could not get in at the door, and perceiving that there was an open window, determined to effect his entrance by that way, from the roof. He accordingly ascended the stairs to the top of the building, and, getting out upon the roof, let himself down to the eaves, and thence, by the aid of a spout, to a level with the open window, through which he leaped into the midst of the conspirators. The spout, which was of wood, was so much decayed by time, that it fell to the ground as Warren relaxed his hold upon it. His classmates, hearing the crash, rushed to the window, and when they perceived the cause, loudly con gratulated him upon the escape. He coolly remarked that the spout had retained its position just long enough to serve .his purpose ; and, without further notice of the accident, proceeded to remonstrate with 48 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. them on the mischief they intended to perpetrate, which had the desired effect. In the period of the Revolution a gallows was erected on the Neck, near Roxbury, for the public execution of criminals. One day, when he was passing the spot, he met three British officers, one of whom called to him, saying, "Go on, Warren ; you will soon come to the gallows ! " It was very evident they meant to insult him, as they burst into a loud laugh as soon as it was uttered. Warren was not a man to submit to an insult from any one, least of all from them. He immediately turned back, walked up to them, and calmly requested to know which of them had thus addressed him. Not one of them had the courage to avow his insolence. Finding he could obtain no answer, he at last left them, ashamed of themselves and each other, but pleased to escape so easily. This is related on the authority of Dr. John C. Warren. Gen. Warren resided several years in Boston, on the location of the present American House, nearly opposite Elm-street. Wired skulls, from his anatomical room, were discovered, in excavating the earth, about the year 1835. He was a member of Rev. Dr. Cooper's church, in Brattle-street, and his pew was located opposite the old southern door, in the body of the house, which he selected for the pre vention of disturbance, when abruptly called on for medical aid. The late Governor Eustis, who was, in 1774, a student of medicine under Warren, relates that, in returning to his dwelling, he passed several British officers in Queen-street, among whom was Col. Wol- cott, who subsequently became notorious for a paltry insult, in address ing General Washington as "Mr. Washington," in a letter on the subject of prisoners ; and, as the friends of Warren were then con stantly expecting that some attempt would be made to seize him by the regulars, Eustis stated the circumstance, and advised him not to leave the house. Warren replied, " I have a visit to make to a lady in Cornhill, this evening, and I will go at once; come with me." He then put his pistols in his pocket, and they went out. They passed several British officers, without molestation from them. It was ascer tained, the next day, that they were watching for two pieces of cannon which had been removed by some Bostonians. of which a relation is given in the outline of John Hancock. Warren, having his spirit fretted, one day, by some of the taunts frequently uttered by British officers, exclaimed, " These fellows say we won't fight. By heavens ' JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 49 I hope I shall die up to my knees in blood ! " Thi3 was spoken but a few weeks before the Battle of Bunker Hill. Gen. Warren married Elizabeth, a daughter of the late Dr. Richard Hooton, of Boston, Sept. 6, 1764. Their children were Joseph, who graduated at Harvard College, in 1786, — died single in 1790 ; Richard, who died at twenty-one years of age ; Elizabeth, who was the wife of Gen. Arnold Welles; and Mary, wife of Judge Newcomb, of Greenfield, who died Feb. 7, 1826. Their son Joseph Warren Newcomb, coun sellor at Springfield, has two children, the last living descendants. The three younger children of Gen. Warren were for a period under the care of Miss Mercy Scollay, of Boston, a lady to whom he was betrothed for a second wife. His wife died April 29, 1773, aged twenty-six years. This impressive tribute to the virtues of his lamented partner appeared in the Boston Gazette of that year : "If fading lilies, when they droop and die, Robbed of each charm that pleased the gazing eye, With sad regret the grieving mind inspire, What, then, when virtue's brightest lamps expire ? Ethereal spirits see the systems right, But mortal minds demand a clearer sight. In spite of reason's philosophic art, A tear must fall to indicate the heart. Could reason's force disarm the tyrant foe, Or calm the mind that feels the fatal blow, No clouded thought had discomposed the mind Of him whom Heaven ordained her dearest friend. Good sense and modesty with virtue crowned A sober mind, when fortune smiled or frowned ; So keen a feeling for a friend distressed, She could not bear to see a worm oppressed. These virtues fallen enhance the scene of woe, Swell the big drops that scarce confinement know, And force them down in copious showers to flow. But know, thou tyrant Death, thy force is spent, — Thine arm is weakened, and thy bow unbent Secured from insults of your guilty train Of marshalled slaves, inflict disease and pain, She rides triumphant on the aerial course, To land at pleasure's inexhausted source ; Celestial Genii line the heavenly way, And guard her passage to the realms of day. " Gen. Warren, in the year 1766, addressed the following letter to the Rev. Edmund Dana, a graduate of Harvard College in 1759, who 5 50 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. became the Rector of Wroxeter, Salop, in England, where he died in 1823, and was a brother of Judge Francis Dana. This letter passed into the care of his grandson, Thomas Oatley, Esq., of Bishton Hall, Salop, and has recently been brought to this country by Edmund Trowbridge Hastings, Esq., a relative of the Dana family. It is a precious relic, as presenting a view of the state of feeling in New England in relation to the odious Stamp Act. "Boston, New England, March 19, 1766. " Dear Sir : — I have not had the pleasure of a line from you since you left this country. I wrote to you soon after I knew of your arrival in England", and I have not at any time been negligent in inquiring concerning you, whenever an opportunity presented. I have, with great satisfaction, heard of that agreeable life which you lead amidst all the gayeties and diversions of that jovial city, London; but I received a peculiar pleasure from the intelligence which I have lately had of your happy marriage with a lady of noble birth, and every accomplishment, both natural and acquired. Accept the sincerest wishes of your long absent (but I hope not forgotten) friend, that you may long enjoy, with your charming consort, that unequalled happi ness which must arise from an union of persons so amiable. " Perhaps it may not be disagreeable at this time to hear something of the present state of your native country. Never has there been a time, since the first settlement of America, in which the people had so much reason to be alarmed, as the present. The whole continent is inflamed to the highest degree. I believe this country may be esteemed as truly loyal in their principles as any in the universe ; but the strange project of levying a stamp duty, and of depriving the peo ple of the privilege of trials by juries, has roused their jealousy and resentment. They can conceive of no liberty where they have lost the power of taxing themselves, and where all controversies between the crown and the people are to be determined by the opinion of one dependent ; and they think that slavery is not only the greatest mis fortune, but that it is also the greatest crime (if there is a possibility of escaping it). You are sensible that the inhabitants of this country have ever been zealous lovers of then- civil and religious liberties. For the enjoyment of these, they fought battles, left a pleasant and pop ulous country, and exposed themselves to all the dangers and hardships in this new world; and their laudable attachment to freedom has hith- JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 51 erto been transmitted to their posterity. Moreover, in all new coun tries (and especially in this, which was settled by private adventurers), there is a more equal division of property amongst the people ; in con sequence of which, their influence and authority must be nearly equal, and every man will think himself deeply interested in the support of public liberty. Freedom and equality is the state of nature ; but slavery is the most unnatural and violent state that can be conceived of, and its approach must be gradual and imperceptible. In many old countries, where, in a long course of years, some particular families have been able to acquire a very large share of property, from which must arise a kind of aristocracy,- — that. is, the power and authority of some persons or families is exercised in proportion to the decrease of the independence and property of the people in general ; — had America been prepared in this manner for the Stamp Act, it might perhaps have met with a more favorable reception ; but it is absurd to attempt to impose so cruel a yoke on a people who are so near to the state of original equality, and who look upon their liberties not merely as arbitrary grants, but as their unalienable, eternal rights, purchased by the blood and treasure of their ancestors, — which liberties, though granted and received as acts of favor, could not, without manifest injustice, have been refused, and cannot now, or at any time hereafter, be revoked. Certainly, if the connection was rightly understood, Great Britain would be convinced that, without laying arbitrary taxes upon her colonies, she may and does reap such advantages as ought to satisfy her. Indeed, it amazes the more judicious people on this side the water, that the late minister was so unacquainted with the state of America, and the manners and circumstances of the people ; or, if he was acquainted, it still surprises them to find a man, in his high station, so ignorant of nature, and of the operations of the human mind, as madly to provoke the resentment of millions of men who would esteem death, with all its tortures, preferable to slavery. Most certainly, in whatever light the Stamp Act is viewed, an uncommon want of policy is discoverable. If the real and only motive of the minister was to raise money from the colonies, that method should undoubtedly have been adopted which was least grievous to the people. Instead of this, the most unpopular that could be imagined is chosen. If there was any jealousy of the colonies, and the minister designed by this act more effect ually to secure their dependence on Great Britain, the jealousy was first groundless. But if it had been founded on good reasons, could any thing have been worse calculated to answer this purpose ? Could not 52 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. the minister have found out, either from history or from his own observation, that the strength of any country depended on its being united within itself? Has he not, by this act, brought about what the most zealous colonist never could have expected ? The colonies, until now, were ever at variance, and foolishly jealous of each other. They ' are now, by the refined policy of Mr. George Grenville, united for their common defence against what they believe to be oppression ; nor will they soon forget the weight which this close union gives them. The impossibility of accounting in any other way for the imposition of the stamp duty has induced some to imagine that the minister designed by this act to force the colonies into a rebellion, and from thence to take occasion to treat them with severity, and, by military power, reduce them to servitude. But this supposes such a monstrous degree of wickedness, that charity forbids us to conclude him guilty of so black a villany. But, admitting this to have been his aim (as it is known that tyrannical ministers have at some time embraced even this hellish measure to accomplish their cursed designs), should he not have con sidered that every power in Europe looks with envy on the colonies which Great Britain enjoys in America ? Could he suppose that the powerful and politic France would be restrained by treaties, when so fair an opportunity offered for the recovery of their ancient possessions 1 At least, was he so ignorant of nature as not to know that when the rage of the people is raised by oppression to such a height as to break out in rebellion, any new alliance would be preferred to the miseries which a conquered country must necessarily expect to suffer ? And would no power in Europe take advantage of such an occasion ? And above all, did he not know that his royal, benevolent master, when he discovered his views, would detest and punish him ? But whatever was proposed by the Stamp Act, of this I am certain, that the regard which the colonies still bear to His Majesty arises more from an exalted idea of His Majesty's integrity and goodness of heart than from any prudent conduct of his late minister. " I have written, sir, much more than I intended when I first sat down, but I hope you will pardon my prolixity upon so important a subject. " I am, sir, your most sincere friend and humble servant "Joseph Warren. " To Mr. Edmund Dana. " P. S. I hope for the favor of a line from you, the first opportu nity." JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 53 Gen. Warren published three highly spirited articles, in the Boston Gazette, originated by the exercise of the arbitrary powers of Gov. Bernard, in negativing councillors elected by the representatives; and further, for severe censures on leading members of the house, unjustly expressed in letters addressed to Lord Shelburne, the king's minister of state, who, in reply, unequivocally sanctioned his measures, and also expressed displeasure that the house should object to the lieutenant- governor, who was not a member of the council, taking a seat in that body. In the first of these articles, Warren's quotation from Roches ter excited the ire of Bernard, who sent a message to the house, and another to the council, declaring the article libellous, and calling it to their serious consideration. The council pronounced it an insolent and licentious attack, and that the author deserved punishment. The house expressed a different opinion, and that the liberty of the press is a great bulwark of the liberty of the people. There were fifty-six in the affirmative, to eighteen in the negative. It was introduced to the grand jury, who would not find a bill of indictment. As these are all of the political newspaper productions of Warren that we have discov ered, and as they are strongly characteristic of his energy of charac ter, they are here presented entire. Bradford, in his History of Mas sachusetts, not appearing to be aware that Warren was the author, remarks of the first communication, that it was "a very scurrilous piece." Pemberton, Dorr, and Rees, in the Cyclopedia, ascribe them to him. Hutchinson alludes to it as " a most abusive piece against the governor." From Boston Gazette, Feb. 29, 1768. " Messrs. Edes & Gill, " Please insert the following : ' ' May it please your . We have for a long time known your enmity to this province. We have had full proof of your cruelty to a loyal people. No age has perhaps furnished a more glaring instance of obstinate perseverance in the path of malice than is now exhibited in your . Could you have reaped any advantage from injuring this people, there would have been some excuse for the manifold abuses with which you have loaded them. But when a diabolical thirst for mischief is the alone motive of your conduct, you must not wonder if you are treated with open dislike ; for it is impossible, how much soever we endeavor it, to feel any esteem for a man like you. Bad as the world may be, there is yet in every breast something which 5* 54 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. , points out the good man as an object worthy of respect, and marks the guileful, treacherous man-hater, for disgust and infamy. " Nothing has ever been more intolerable than your insolence on a late occasion, when you had, by your Jesuitical insinuations, induced a worthy minister of state to form a most unfavorable opinion of the province in general, and some of the most respectable inhabitants in particular. You had the effrontery to produce a letter from his lord ship, as a proof of your success in calumniating us. Surely you must suppose we have lost all feeling, or you would not dare thus tauntingly to display the trophies of your slanders, and upbraidingly to make us sensible of the inexpressible misfortunes which you have brought upon us. But I refrain, lest a full representation of the hard ships suffered by this too long insulted people should lead them to an unwarrantable revenge. We never can treat good and patriotic rulers with too great reverence. But it is certain that men totally aban doned to wickedness can never merit our regard, be their stations ever so high. 'If such men are by God appointed, The devil may be the Lord's anointed.' "A True Patriot." From Boston Gazette, March 7, 1768. "Messrs. Edes & Gill, " Please to insert the following : " My first performance has, by a strange kind of compliment, been by some applied to his excellency Gov. Bernard. It is not for me to account for the construction put upon it. Every man has a rio-ht to make his own remarks, and if he satisfies himself, he will not displease me. I will, however, inform the public that I have the most sacred regard to the characters of all good men, and would sooner cut my hand from my body than strike at the reputation of an honest member of the community. But there are circumstances, in which not justice alone, but humanity itself, obliges us to hold up the villain to view, and expose his guilt, to prevent his destroying the innocent. Whoever he is whose conscience tells him he is not the monster I have por- traited, may rest assured I did not aim at him ; but the person who knows the black picture exhibited to be his own, is welcome to take it to himself. The imputation of disaffection to the king and the govern ment, brought against me by His Majesty's Council, I shall answer JOSEPH WARREN. M. D. 55 only by a quotation from the paper which they have been pleased to censure, where I say. ' We can never treat good and patriotic rulers with too great reverence." In which sentence I hope the honorable board will not say I have omitted to declare my sentiments of the duty which every good subject owes to his present majesty, and all worthy subordinate magistrates : and I flatter myself that the sentiments of the board coincide with mine. If they do not. I must dissent from them. Their charge of profaneness. I humbly apprehend, was occa sioned by their forcing a sense upon the two last lines totally different from what I intended they should convey. My design ivas to compare wicked men, and especially wicked magistrates, to- those enemies to mankind, the devils : and to intimate that the devils themselves might boast of divine authority to seduce and ruin mankind, with as much reason and justice as wicked rulers can pretend to derive from God, or from his word, a right to oppress, harass, and enslave their fellow- creatures. The beneficent Lord of the universe delights in viewing the happiness of all men. And so far as civil government is of divine institution, it was calculated for the greatest good of the whole com munity : and whenever it ceases to be of general advantage, it ceases to be of divine appointment, and the magistrates in such a community have no claim to that honor Tvhieh the Divine Legislator has assigned to magistrates of his election. I hope the honorable board will not condemn a man for expressing his contempt for the odious doctrines of divine hereditary right in princes, and of passive obedience, whieh he thinlra dishonorary to Almighty God. the common and impartial Father of the species, and ruinous both to kings and subjects : and -nhich, if adhered to, would dethrone bis present majesty, and destroy the British nation. The honorable board is humbly requested to examine whether the ahove is not the most natural and obvious sense of the quoted lines. Certainly, when I read them, I thought it the only sense : and I shall think myself very unhappy in my readers, should they generally put that construction upon them which the honorable board have been pleased to adopt. •'I shall, at all times, write my sentiments with freedom, and with decency too. — - the rules of which I am not altogether unacquainted with. While the press is open, I shall publish whatever I think con ducive to general emolument ; when it is suppressed, I shall look upon my country as lost, and, with a steady fortitude, expect to feel the general shook. A True Patriot." 56 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. From Boston Gazette, March 14, 1768. "Messrs. Edes & Gill, " Please insert the following : " With pleasure I hear the general voice of this people in favor of freedom ; and it gives me solid satisfaction to find all orders of unplaced, independent men, firmly determined, as far as in them lies, to support their own rights and the liberty of the press. The honorable House of Representatives have showed themselves resolute in the cause of justice. The Grand Jurors have convinced us that no influence is able to overcome their attachment to their country, and our free consti tution. They deserve honor. But this is one of those cases in which, by doing as they have done, they really merit praise ; yet the path was so plain, that to have done otherwise would have rendered them indeed ! "While this people know their true interest, they will be able to distinguish their friends from their enemies ; and, with uniform cour age, will defend from tyrannic violence all those who generously offer themselves volunteers in the cause of truth and humanity. But if ever a mistaken complaisance leads them to sacrifice their privileges, or the well-meaning assertors of them, they will deserve bondage, and soon will find themselves in chains^ " Every society of men have a clear right to refute any unjust asper sions upon their characters, especially when they feel the ill effects of such aspersions ; and, though they may not pursue the slanderer from motives of revenge, yet are obliged to detect him, that so he may be prevented from injuring them again. This province has been most barbarously traduced, and now groans under the weight of those mis fortunes which have been thereby brought upon it. We have detected some of the authors ; we will zealously endeavor to deprive them of the power of injuring us hereafter. We will strip the serpents of their stings, and consign to disgrace all those guileful betrayers of their country. There is but one way for men to avoid being set up as objects of general hate, which is — not to deserve it. "A True Patriot." In the Diary of John Adams, it is stated that he was frequently solicited to attend the town-meetings, in 1768, after the British troops had arrived in Boston, and harangue there, which was constantly refused ; and Dr. Warren the most frequently urged him to this and JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 57 his reply to him always was, " That way madness lies." The symp toms of our great friend Otis, at that time, suggested to Warren a sufficient comment on those words, at which he always smiled, and said, "It was true." Gen. Warren once said of John Adams, that he thought he was rather a cautious man, but he could not say he was ever a trimmer. When he spoke at all, he always spoke his sentiments. Hutchinson remarks, in his history, under date of 1772, that "Mr. Adams had been pressed to pronounce the oration upon the Boston Massacre, but declined it; and Dr. Warren, whose popularity was increasing, undertook it. Though he gained no great applause for his oratorical abilities, yet the fervor, which is the most essential part of such compositions, could not fail of its effect upon the minds of the great concourse of people present." It was delivered in the Old South Church. We will select a passage from this performance, with one remark of wonder and admiration, — that he could have the courage to express such opinions in the presence of a British governor, amid the glare of royal bayonets. Here is reasoning of greater value than splendid declamation : "I would ask whether the members of the British House of Com mons are the democracy of this province ? If they are, they are either the people of this province, or are elected by the people of this province to represent them, and have therefore a constitutional right to originate a bill for taxing them. It is most certain they are neither, and therefore nothing done by them can be said to be done by the democratic branch of our constitution. I would next ask, whether the lords, who compose the aristocratic branch of the legislature, are peers of America ? I never heard it was, even in these extraordinary times, so much as pretended ; and if they are not, certainly no act of theirs can be said to be the act of the aristocratic branch of our constitution. The power of the monarchic branch, we with pleasure acknowledge, resides in the king, who may act either in person or by his represent ative ; and I freely confess that I can see no reason why a proclama tion for raising money in America, issued by the king's sole authority, would not be equally consistent with our own constitution, and there fore equally binding upon us, with the late acts of the British Parlia ment for taxing us, — for it is plain, that, if there is any validity in those acts, it must arise altogether from the monarchical branch of the legislature. And I further think that it would be at least as equita- 58 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. ble ; for I do not conceive it to be of the least importance to us by whom our property is taken away, so long as it is taken without our consent. And I am very much at a loss to know by what figure of rhetoric the inhabitants of this province can be called free subjects, when they are obliged to obey implicitly such laws as are made for them by men three thousand miles off, whom they know not, and whom they never have empowered to act for them ; or how they can be said to have property, when a body of men, over whom they have not the least control, and who are not in any way accountable to them, shall oblige them to deliver up any part or the whole of their substance, with out even asking their consent : and yet, whoever pretends that the late acts of the British Parliament for taxing America ought to be deemed binding upon us, must admit at once that we are absolute slaves, and have no property of our own, — or else that we may be freemen, and at the same time under a necessity of obeying the arbitrary commands of those over whom we have no control or influence ; and that we may have property of our own which is entirely at the disposal of another. Such gross absurdities, I believe, will not be relished in this enlightened age ; and it can be no matter of wonder that the peo ple quickly perceived and seriously complained of the inroads which these acts must unavoidably make upon their liberty, and of the hazard to which their whole property is by them exposed, — for, if they may be taxed without their consent, even in the smallest trifle, they may also, without their consent, be deprived of anything they possess, although never so valuable — never so dear. Certainly it never entered the hearts of our ancestors, that, after so many dangers in this then desolate wilderness, their hard-earned property should be at the disposal of the British Parliament ; and as it was soon found that this taxation could not be supported by reason and argument, it seemed necessary that one act of oppression should be enforced by another ; and, therefore, contrary to our just rights as possessing — or, at least, having a just title to possess — all the liberties and immunities of British subjects, a standing army was established among us in a time of peace, and evidently for the purpose of effecting that which it was one principal design of the founders of the constitution to prevent, when they declared a standing army, in a time of peace, to be against law, — namely, for the enforcement of obedience to acts which, upon fair examination, appeared to be unjust and unconstitutional." On the evening after the delivery of this effective oration, a lantern JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 59 of transparent paintings was exhibited on the balcony at Mrs. Clap- ham's, in King-street, well drawn by an ingenious young artist, repre senting in front the melancholy scene which occurred near that spot, over which was inscribed, " The Fatal Effects of a Standing Army in a Free City." At the east end was a representation of a monument, inscribed to the memory of those who were killed, with their names, etc. ; at the west end was the figure of America, sitting in a mourning posture, and looking down on the spectators, with this label, "Behold my sons ! " At a quarter after nine, the painting was taken in, and the bells tolled from that time until ten o'clock. On the 21st of November, 1774, Gen. Warren addressed a highly patriotic letter to Josiah Quincy, from which we select this remarkable passage : "It is the united voice of America to preserve their freedom, or lose their lives in defence of it. Their resolutions1 are not the effects of inconsiderate rashness, but the sound result of sober inquiry and deliberation. I am convinced that the true spirit of liberty was never so universally diffused through all ranks and orders of people, in any country on the face of the earth, as it now is through all North America." When Warren pronounced his second oration on the Massacre, March 5, 1775, at the Old South Church, the Boston papers of the day merely stated that it was an elegant and spirited performance. The pulpit stairs and the pulpit itself were occupied by officers and soldiers of the garrison, who were doubtless stationed there to overawe the orator, and perhaps prevent him by force from proceeding. War ren, to avoid interruption and confusion, entered from the rear by the pulpit window ; and, unmoved by the hostile military array that sur rounded him and pressed upon his person, delivered the bold and thrilling oration, which was published, in which he said: "If pacific measures are ineffectual, and it appears that the only way to safety is through fields of blood, I know you will not turn your faces from your foes, but will, undauntedly, press forward, until tyranny is trodden under foot, and you have fixed your adored goddess Liberty fast by Brunswick's side, on the American throne." The editor of this work has seen the original manuscript, which is in the care of Dr. John C. Warren, his nephew, and is written on white English laid folio post, in a handsome round hand, with but few interlineations, and is in a black '¦'aper cover. We know no relic, of ancient or modern date, tending to 60 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. inspire more thrilling sensations of veneration, than this fervent defence of freedom. The Rev. Dr. Homer, late of Newton, who was present at its delivery, states there was at least one silent, but not wholly insignificant, demonstration of feeling from the military. While the oration was in progress, a captain of the Royal Welsh Fusileers, who was seated on the pulpit stairs, held up one of his hands in view of Warren, with several pistol bullets on the open palm, and, with a vehe ment and fierce exclamation, endeavored to alarm the audience with the cry of fire. Warren observed the action, and, without discontin uing his discourse, dropped a white handkerchief upon the officer's hand ; and William Cooper, the town-clerk, with a voice of thunder, appeased the tumult, which, being silenced, the exercises were con cluded without much further disturbance. We will now revert to the abusive statement of the royalists, regard ing this celebration, published in Rivington's New York Gazetteer, March 16, 1775 : "On Monday, the 5th instant, the Old South meet ing-house being crowded with mobility and fame, the selectmen, with Adams, Church and Hancock, Cooper and others, assembled in the pulpit, which was covered with black ; and we all sat gaping at one another, above an hour, expecting ! At last, a single horse chair stopped at the apothecary's, opposite the meeting, from which descended the orator (Warren) of the day ; and, entering the shop, was followed by a servant with a bundle, in which were the Ciceronian toga, etc. 1 ' Having robed himself, he proceeded across the street to the meeting, and, being received into the pulpit, he was announced by one of his fra ternity to be the person appointed to declaim on the occasion. He then put himself into a Demosthenian posture, with a white handkerchief in his right hand, and his left in his breeches, — began and ended without action. He was applauded by the mob, but groaned at by people of understanding. One of the pulpiteers (Adams) then got up and pro posed the nomination of another to speak next year on the bloody massacre, — the first time that expression was made to the audience, — when some officers cried, 0 fie, fie ! The gallerians, apprehending fire, bounded out of the windows, and swarmed down the gutters, like rats, into the street. The 43d regiment, returning accidentally from exercise, with drums beating, threw the whole body into the greatest consternation. There were neither pageantry, exhibitions, processions or bells tolling, as usual, but the night was remarked for being the quietest these many months past." JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 61 We have seen an original letter of Gen. Warren, addressed to Dr. Benjamin Franklin, London, accompanied with a pamphlet, probably his oration delivered on the 5th of March, 1775, which he very mod estly wishes was more deserving of his notice. We will quote the whole letter. " Boston, AprilZ, 1775. " Sir, — Although I have not the pleasure either of a personal or epistolary acquaintance with you, I have taken the liberty of sending you, by Mr. Dana, a pamphlet which I wish was more deserving of your notice. The ability and firmness with which you have defended the rights of mankind, and the liberties of this country in particular, have rendered you dear to all America. May you soon see your enemies deprived of the power of injuring you, and your friends in a situation to discover the grateful sense they have of your exertions in the cause of freedom. " I am, sir, with the greatest esteem and respect, "Your most obedient, humble servant, " Doctor Franklin. Joseph Warren." On the day after the Battle of Lexington, when the British troops reached West Cambridge, on their return from Concord, Warren was at this place, in attendance on the Committee of Safety. When the British regulars were near, he went out, in company with Gen. Heath, to repel them ;' and, on descending the elevated ground of Menotomy, in West Cambridge, toward the plain, the firing was brisk, and at this instant a musket-ball came so near the head of Warren as to strike the pin from the hair of his forelock, and took away one of the long, close, horizontal curls, which, according to the fashion of the times, he wore above the ears. When Gov. Gage issued an extraordinary proclamation, on June 12, 1775, denouncing "the present unnatural rebellion," remarking, " In this exigency of complicated calamities, I avail myself of the last effort within the bounds of my duty to spare the effusion of blood, to offer, — and I do hereby offer in His Majesty's name, — offer and promise His Majesty's most gracious pardon to all persons who shall forthwith lay down their arms, and return to the duties of peaceable subjects ; excepting only from the benefit of such pardon Samuel Adams and John Hancock, whose offences are of too flagitious a nature to admit of any other consideration than that of condign punishment; " — the 6 62 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Provincial Congress appointed a committee, on the next day, of which Joseph Warren, — a delegate from Boston, in 1774, elected its presi dent, May 31, 1775, — was the chairman, to report on the subject, who prepared also a dignified proclamation, adopted by Congress on the day before its president was killed at Bunker Hill, recounting a statement of the oppressions inflicted on the people, and the treachery of Gov. Gage ; extending " a full and free pardon to all persons who have fled to the town of Boston for refuge, and to all other public offenders against the rights and liberties of this country, of what kind or denomination soever, — excepting only from the benefit of such pardon, Thomas Gage, Samuel Graves; those councillors who were appointed by mandamus, and have not signified their resignation, namely, Jonathan Sewall, Charles Paxton, Benjamin Hallowell ; and all the natives of America, not belonging to the navy or army, who went out with the regular troops on the 19th of April last, and were countenancing, aid ing, and assisting them in the robberies and murders then committed, whose offences are of too flagitious a nature to admit of any other con sideration than that of condign punishment : provided that they take the benefit hereof by a surrender of themselves," and subscribe a declaration of their readiness to support and abide by the decisions of Congress and of the State Legislature, within thirty days from date. It is probable that this was the last public act of Joseph Warren in the Provincial Congress. ^ The following noble passage from a letter of Dr. Warren to Arthur Lee, dated May, 1775, expresses a sentiment that should be inscribed on the Bunker Hill Monument, or on the base of a statue of his per son, in old Faneuil Hall : " God forbid that the nation should be so infatuated as to do any thing further to irritate the colonies ! If they should, the colonies will sooner throw themselves into the arms of any other power on earth, than ever consent to an accommodation with Great Britain. That patience, which I frequently told you would be at last exhausted, is no longer to be expected from us. Danger and war are become pleasing ; and injured virtue is now armed to avenge herself." "I verily believe," said Warren to Reed, in a letter of May 15, 1775, " that the night preceding the barbarous outrages committed by the soldiery at Lexington, Concord, etc., there were not fifty people in the whole colony that ever expected any blood would be shed in the contest between us and Great Britain." 63 This was one of Warren's last letters previous to the Battle of Bun ker Hill. We have the evidence of Dr. John Jeffries, who was a surgeon in the British service, under Gen. Howe, at Boston, for stating that five days previous to the Battle of Bunker Hill the noble Warren had, with his accustomed fearlessness, ventured in a small canoe to Boston, that he might personally gather information of the designs of the British, and urged the surgeon to return and espouse the cause of liberty. Gen. Warren, on the 16th of June, had a conversation with Elbridge Gerry, at Cambridge, with whom he slept all night, respect ing the determination of Congress to take possession of Bunker's Hill. He said that for himself he had been opposed to it, but that the majority had decided upon it, and he would hazard his life to effect this. Mr. Gerry expressed, in strong terms, his disapproba tion of the measure, as the situation was such that it would be in vain to attempt to hold it; adding, " But if it must be so, it is not worth while for you to be present. It will be madness for you to expose yourself, where your destruction will be almost inevitable." " I know it," he answered, " but I five within the sound of their cannon. How could I hear their roaring in so glorious a cause, and not be there ! " Again Mr. Gerry remonstrated, and concluded with saying, "As surely as you go there, you will be slain." Warren replied, enthu siastically, " Dulce et decorum, est pro patria mori." — It is pleasant and honorable to die for one's country. — The next day his princi ples were sealed with his blood. Having spent the greater part of the night in public business at Watertown, he arrived at Cambridge at about five o'clock in the morning, and being unwell, threw himself on a bed. About noon he was informed of the state of preparation for battle at Charlestown. He directly arose, saying he was well again, and mounting a horse, rode to the place. He arrived at Breed's Hill a short time before the action. Col. Prescott, the brave, as Washing ton was afterwards in the habit of calling him, was then in command. He came up to Gen. Warren to extend it to him, and asked what were his orders. Gen. Warren told him he came not to command, but to learn ; he had not received his commission. And having, as it is said, borrowed a musket and cartouch-box from a sergeant, who was retiring, he mingled in the thickest of the fight, animating and encour aging the men more by his example than it was possible to do in any other way. 64 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. The revolutionary play, previously alluded to, relates of Warren, " His nervous arm, like a giant refreshed with wine, hurled destruction where'er he came, breathing heroic ardor to adventurous deeds ; and long time in even scale the battle hung." After Col. Prescott ordered a retreat, says Everett, it was not without the greatest reluc tance that Warren quitted the redoubt ; and be was slowly retreating from it, being still at a few rods distance only, when the British had full possession. His person, of course, was in imminent danger. At this critical moment, Maj. Small, whose life had been saved in a similar emergency by the intervention of Gen. Putnam, attempted to requite the service, by rendering one of a like character to Warren. Col. Swett relates, that Maj. Small called to Warren, for God's sake, to stop and save his life. He turned, and seemed to recognize him, but still continued on. Small ordered his men not to fire at him, and threw up the muskets with his sword. But in vain, — the fatal ball had sped ! Eighty yards from the redoubt, Warren received a musket- ball through the head, which killed him instantly. Everett further relates, that Gen. Howe, though slightly wounded in the foot, passed the night upon the field of battle. The next morning, as he was rest ing, wrapped in his cloak, upon a mound of hay, word was brought to him that the body of Warren was found among the dead. It had been recognized by Gen. Winslow, then a youth. Howe refused, at first, to credit the intelligence. It was impossible that the president of Con gress could have exposed his life in such an action. When assured of the fact, he declared that his death was an offset for the loss of five hundred men. Col. Swett relates that Dr. Jeffries was on the field, dressing the Britisn wounded and the wounded American prisoners, with his usual humanity and skill. Gen. Howe inquired of him if he could identify Warren. He recollected that he had lost a finger-nail, and wore a false tooth ; and the general was satisfied of its identity. The Cambridge N. E. Chronicle, of April 25, 1776, remarking on the identity of the remains of Gen. Warren, relates that, " though the body, which our savage enemies scarce privileged with earth enough to hide it from the birds of prey, was disfigured when taken up, yet was sufficiently known by two artificial teeth, which were set for him a short time before his glorious exit." Everett states Warren was buried at the place where he fell. Rev. Dr. Allen states of Warren : Just as the retreat commenced, a ball had struck him on the head and " he died in the trenches " 65 The Hon. Needham Maynard, of Whitestown, N. Y., a native of Framingham, who states that he acted as Warren's aid in the battle, testified, on June 20, 1S43, — then aged 88 years, — that on the night of the 16th of June, 1775, Col. Prescott was sent off with a detachment of men to break ground on Bunker Hill. It was found that Breed's was better, and & they laid the fort, and went back to work there. We were ordered out early in the morning. I was in Jonathan Brewer's regiment. We came there, at last, and found them at work. We found Col. Prescott there, and Col. Brewer. The balls were then flying about us very thick. At about eleven o'clock, Gen. Warren came on; and when Col. Brewer met him, he said, " General, if you have come to take the command, I am glad to see you." " No," said Warren, : ; I have come only as a volunteer. I did not come to take the ' command, but to act as a volunteer, in any station. Our perils are commencing, and I have come to take my part." " Well," they said to him, " do you mean to stay with us. general? " "Yes," said Warren, "I mean to stay;" and then the other officers insisted upon his taking the command. They said, We have no officer to lead, — that we ought to have some particular one for the orders to come from, — and they urged him to take the command ; and he replied that he did not think it would be proper. Then Col. Brewer said, " We must have a head, and he ought to be a general. We are all colonels here, and one colonel is as good as another.'' Then he found Prescott was there, and Warren said, " If you will continue to act as a council, I will give you my views as commander ; and if you approve them, they can go as commands." And they said that amounted to the same thing as if he was commander ; and so he went on, when anything was done, giving the orders. Col. Maynard was not with Warren when he fell, having gone into the redoubt, and he was there detained by Pres cott, who said to him, " Stop ; I may want to send you, in a minute ; " and then the new contest of their breaking into the redoubt began. Mr. Maynard gave an account of an interview between Washington and the officers, on Bunker Hill, subsequently, when Washington, alluding to 'Warren, said, "You lost your commander-in-chief." "Why," continued Mr. Maynard, "in that time, there was nobody so lamented ; " and Col. Brewer went on to relate to Washington, how he lost sight of Warren as he was going towards the redoubt, and sup posed that he was gone on ahead, and followed on with as much speed as he could, but found nothing of him. Then he thought he must have 6* 66 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. been shot down by a dead shot, not many steps where they started from. They had started together from the place they had occupied during the battle, just on the other side of the gap, against the hay breastwork, only about one rod from the gap. " Warren had a dark eye, was a little under six feet in height, well formed, with a pleasant face, and a remarkable countenance." Col. John Trumbull, of New York, who visited Col. John Small, at London, in 1786, received of him the relation herewith, which is too interesting to be kept out of view : At the moment when the troops succeeded in carrying the redoubt, and the Americans were in full retreat, Gen. Howe, who had been hurt by a spent bullet which bruised his ankle, was leaning upon my arm. He called suddenly to me, "Do you see that elegant young man who has just fallen? Do you know him? " I looked to the spot to which he pointed. " Good God ! " he exclaimed; '"I believe it is my friend Warren. Leave me, then, instantly — ¦ run — keep off the troops — save him, if possible." I flew to the spot. " My dear friend," I said to him, " I hope you are not badly hurt." He looked up, seemed to recollect, smiled, and died. A musket-ball had passed through the upper part of his head. Dea. Samuel Lawrence, of Groton, the father of the Minister to the Court of St. James, who was a minute-man in the Battle of Bunker Hill, testified, in 1818, in relation to Gen. Warren, that, just before the battle commenced, Gen. Warren came to the redoubt. He had on a blue coat, white waistcoat, and I think a cocked hat, — but of this I am not certain. Col. Prescott advanced to him, said he was glad to see him, and hoped he would take the command. Gen. Warren replied, " No,— he came to see the action, but not to take command; that he was only a volunteer on that day." Afterwards I saw him when the ball struck him, and from that time until he expired. No British officer was within forty or fifty rods of him, from the time the ball struck him until I saw he was dead. This statement utterly refutes that of Col. Small, who says he spoke to Warren, as he looked at him and expired. Dr. John Warren, his brother, has related that, when the dead body of the general was discovered after the battle his right hand was covered with blood, though there was no wound upon it, occurring as if he had raised his hand to the back of his head on the right side, when the ball fractured his skull. What an affecting scene ! A small piece of granite, on which is inscribed in gilt letters "Here fell Warren, June 17, 1775," laid in the ground on Bunker JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 67 Hill, designates the spot where it is supposed he was killed. It is on Concord-street, nearly opposite the high-school. The identical bullet by which Warren was said to be killed was exhibited to the audience, by Alexander H. Everett, on the delivery of an oration at Charlestown, June 17, 1836, in which he exclaimed, " This is the one, fellow-citizens, which I now hold in my hand ! The cartridge-paper, which still partly covers it, is stained, as you see, with the hero's blood." This ball, enclosed in linen cartridge-paper, is depos ited in the library of the New England Genealogical and Historical Society. If this be not the ball that entered his skull, it is highly probable that it was one of the balls that entered his body. We will present the affidavit whieh is declared by Rev. William Montague, pastor of Christ Church, Boston, from 17S6 to '91 : " I, William Montague, of Dedham, County of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, clergyman, do certify to whom it may concern, that, in the year 17S9 or 1790, I was in London, and became acquainted with Mr. Savage. formerly an officer of the customs for the port of Boston, and who left there when the royalists and royal troops evacuated that town in 1776. When in London, Mr. Savage give me a leaden ball, which is now in my possession, with the following account of it, namely : ' On the morning of the ISth of June, 1775. after the battle of Bunker or Breed's Hill, I, with a number of other royalists and British officers, among whom was Gen. Burgoyne, went over from Boston to Charles town, to view the battle-field. Among the fallen, we found the body of Dr. Joseph Warren, with whom I had been personally acquainted. When he fell, he fell across a rail. This ball I took froni his body : and, as I never shall visit Boston again, I will give it to you to take to America, where it will be valuable as a relic of your Revolution.' His sword and belt, with some other articles, were taken by some of the officers present, and I believe brought to England, "(Signed) William Montague." •• Norfolk ss. ¦• Dedham, March 5, 1S33. The above-named William Montague appeared before me, and made oath to the above statement " (Signed) Sherman Leland, Justice of the Peace.'' The Rev. Mr. Montague received the bullet of Arthur Savage, at the residence of Harrison Gray, formerly Traasurer of Massachusetts 68 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Province ; and Mr. Gray, in a letter dated London, 1792, addressed to Rev. Mr. Montague, alluding to the bullet supposed to have killed Gen. Warren, wrote: "I hope you will take good care to preserve that relic which was given you at my house, for in future time it will be a matter of interest to you rebels." This letter was found, by his son, Mr. William Henry Montague, among the papers of Rev. Mr. Montague, who was a frequent correspondent with Mr. Gray. Letter from Hon. Judge JYewcomb. "Greenfield, Mass., April 14, 1843. "William H. Montague, Esq., Boston. 1 ' My Dear Sir, — I have just seen, in the ' Boston Daily American ' of the 8th inst., a note under your name, addressed to Edward War ren, Esq., junior editor of that paper, stating that you have deposited with him, till called for, the ball that put an end to the life of Gen. Joseph Warren. My object, in this communication, is to inquire whether you are willing or feel at liberty to part with that fatal piece of lead. My late wife, Mary, was the youngest and only surviving child of the late Gen. J. Warren. She died on Feb. 7, 1826, leaving 1 i o an only child, — a son, — who bears the name of his grandfather, Joseph Warren. He, is an attorney at law, and now lives at Springfield, in this State. He, with the exception of his two children, is the only descendant, in the direct line, of him who fell on Bunker Hill, by force of that ball. If consistent with your views of propriety, it would be grateful to his feelings, as well as my own, if some arrangement could be made by which the ball might be confided to his keeping, as a fam ily relic. The interest I feel in the subject is my apology for intruding myself upon a stranger. " I am, with much respect, your obed't serv't, "Richard E. Newcomb. "N. B. For any inquiries you may wish to make, I would refer you to Dr. John C. Warren and Dr. John B. Brown, Boston. "R. E. N." A British soldier, on his return to London, exhibited a Psalm-book to Rev. Dr. Samuel Wilton, of that city, stating that he took the vol ume from the pocket of Gen. Warren, after the battle of Bunker Hill. The clergyman, knowing that it would be a treasure to the Warren family, purchased the book of the soldier, and transmitted it to the JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. 69 Rev. Dr. William Gordon, of Roxbury, the historian, with a request that it might be given to the nearest relative of the general. It was, therefore, given to his youngest brother, Dr. John Warren, of Boston, March 15, 1778. The title of the volume, which the editor has exam ined, is a3 follows : " The Boke of Psalmes, wherein are contained praires, meditations and thanksgivings to God, for his benefits toward his Church, translated faithfully according to the Hebrew. With brief and apt annotations in the margin. Printed at Geneva, by Rowland Hall. 1559." It is less than the 32mo. size. On the inside cover of this book is inscribed,— " Taken at ye Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, out of Dr. Warren's pocket." On the inside cover, at the- end of the book, is written, "Thomas Knight," — probably the regu lar who secured the book. Warren's signature was on a blank leaf, but it has been abstracted. On the session of Congress after the decease of Warren, it was resolved that a monument should be erected to his memory in Boston, and that the eldest son should be educated at the national expense ; and, in July, 1786, Congress resolved further, — that it should be recommended to the executive of Massachusetts Bay, to make pro vision for the maintenance and education of his three younger chil dren ; and that Congress would defray the expense, to the amount of the half-pay of a major-general, to commence at the time of his death, and continue till the youngest of the children should be of age. Yet, to this day, no monument or statue has been erected to his memory. If the statue of Brutus was placed among those of the gods, who were the preservers of Roman freedom, should not that of Warren fill a lofty ?niche in old Faneuil Hall, — that temple for the perpetuation of our birth-right as a nation of freemen ? Mrs. Perez Morton, who gives a description of this world-renowned battle, in a poem, — Beacon Hill, — says of Warren : " The prophetic poet's piercing eyes Will guard the sod where wounded valor lies, Till a victorious country's grateful claim Shall bear his relics to eternal fame ; — And genius, rising o'er the rescued bier, Wake every worth, and hallow every tear ; With all the light that eloquence can give, Shine round his deeds, and bid their glory live." 70 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. THE GODLIKE WARREN. From an Elegy , published July 3, 1775. Sure, godlike Warren, on thy natal hour Some star propitious shed its brightest power ; By nature's hand with taste and genius formed, Thy generous breast with every virtue warmed ; Thy mind endued with sense, thy form with grace, And all thy virtues pencilled in thy face. Grave wisdom marked thee as his favorite child, And on thy youth indulgent science smiled ; Well pleased, she led thee to her sacred bower, And to thy hands consigned her healing power. Illustrious shade ! forgive our mingled woes, Which not for thee, but for our country, flows. We mourn her less — we mourn our hero gone ; We mourn thy patriot soul, thy godlike virtue flown. WARREN'S GHOST. From the Public Ledger, JVovember, 1775. Let little tyrants, conscience gored, Their sable vigils keep ; Bute on his downy pillow snored, — Thus greater tyrants sleep ! An hour ere day began to break, There Warren's spectre stood ; The curtains shook, — it cried, " Awake ! " Awake ! — thou log of wood ! Thy veins hath apathy congealed, Unthawed by pity's tear ; One spark a flinty heart may yield, Struck by the steel of fear ! For know, that head so proud of crest, Sunk on the cygnet's plume, May for an eminence be dressed, To meet a Strafford's doom ! Or, crouched in abject, careworn plight, Beneath its sorrows low, Its bread by day, its rest by night, To Bourbon's bounty owe. Speak, minion, which of Stuart's race Could match thy cruel work ? Go, read where Strafford was in place, — A Jeffries, and a Kirk. JOSEPH WARREN, M. D. Then, foiling history's modern page, Skilled in her ancient lore, Tell if Bejanus in his age — If Borgia could do more ? Tyrant ! dismiss your rebel clans, — The impious task forbear, Nor let that blood imbrue thine hands Which brought a sceptre there. That liberty you would invade Gave George his only right ; Thus in their sons our sires are paid, Whilst you for slavery fight. Shall not for thee, sunk deep in hell, Grim Satan forge his tongs, And fiends, who guard his inmost cell, Twine scorpions round their throngs .' But, hark ! I hear the ill-omened cock, — The Gallic Sun shall rise ; Lo ! commerce founders on a rock, The British Lion dies ! Bute felt the dream, — fetched many a shriek, And, though the ghost is gone, Starts from his bed, — still hears it speak, — A cold, damp sweat comes on. With that, like Gloster in his tent, He throws him on the ground, And by these words, seems to repent, " Boston ! bind up thy wound ! Just Heaven, give back the blood that 's spilt Bostonians' lives restore ! " He wakes, — and to atone hi3 guilt, Bids Gage go slaughter more. ACROSTIC ON WARREN. Cambridge Almanac for 1776. Just as Joseph took his flight Onward to the realms of light, Satan hurled his hellish darts, — Evil spirits play their parts. Percy, Burgoyne, Howe, and Gage, Hove about infernal rage. Warren stept beyond their path, Awed by none, nor feared their wrath Ran his race to joy and rest, — Rose 'mongst the royal blest ; Entered in the rolls of fame, — North and devil miss their aim. 72 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. JOHN HANCOCK. MARCH 5, 1771. ON TTTE BOSTON MASSACRE. Was born at Braintree, Jan. 23, 1737, the son of Rev. John Han cock, of that town, whose wife was Mary Hawke, of Hingham. He was a grandson of Rev. John Hancock, of Lexington. His father deceased when he was but seven years of age, on which he was removed to the family of his grandfather, at Lexington, who attended to his early education. He entered the Boston Latin School in 1745. and grad uated at Harvard College in 1754. His uncle, Thomas Hancock, a Boston bookseller, who became one of the wealthiest merchants in the province, and died in August 1764. bequeathed him more than fifty thousand pounds sterling, besides the reversion of twenty thou sand pounds at the decease of his widow, who was a daughter of Daniel Henchman, in whose bookstore he had been, a clerk. When young, John visited London, in 1760, on mercantile business, in com pany with Gov. Pownal, who was recalled. He witnessed the funeral obsequies of George the Second, and subsequently the coronation of George the Third, not anticipating that he beheld the monarch who was destined to offer a reward for his head. Young Hancock learned the art of swimming, in the river Thames. Gov. Hutchinson, who very naturally indulged detracting views of John Hancock, who became a powerful opponent of his administration, remarks, in the Historv of Massachusetts Bay, that his ruling passion was a fondness for popular applause : and he changed the course of his patron's business, in whose counting-room he had been a clerk, and built and employed in trade a great number of ships, — and in this way, and by building at the same time several houses, he found Work for a great number of tradesmen, made himself popular, was chosen selectman, representative in 1769, moderator of town-meetings, etc. In relation to the demeanor of Hancock, it is stated by John Adams, that Dr. Eliot Rawson thinks Hancock vain. — told a story: I was at school with him, and then upon a level with him. My father was richer than his. But I was not long since at his store, and said to Mr. Glover, whom I knew, " This. I think, is Mr. Hancock. He just asked my name, and nothino- JOHN HANCOCK. 73 more, — it was such a piece of vanity ! There is not the merest crea ture that comes from your way, but I take notice of him, — and I ought. What though I am worth a little more than they ? I am glad of it, and that I have it, that I may give some of it." I told the doctor that Mr. Hancock was far from being arrogant. In order to gratify persons of antiquarian taste, we transcribe the following advertisement of John Hancock, when in commercial business. which is inserted in the Boston Evening Post of Dec. 25, 1764 : " To be sold by John Hancock, at his Store No. 4, at the East End of Faneuil Hall Market, A general Assortment of English and India Goods, also choice Newcastle Coals, and Irish Butter, cheap for Cash. Said Hancock desires those persons who are still indebted to the Estate of the late Hon. Thomas Hancock, Esq., deceased, to be speedy in paying their respective balances, to prevent trouble. N. B. In the Lydia, Capt. Scott, from London, came the following packages : I W. No. 1, a Trunk, No. 2, a small Parcel. The owner, by applying to John Hancock and paying freight, may have his Goods." This store was last occupied by Jabez Fisher & Co., and in 1824 was demolished, on the erection of the Quincy Market. It was located on the present South Market-street. His warehouses for the storage of foreign merchandise were located on the wharf well known as Hancock's Wharf. One day, John Adams and Samuel Adams, relates Waterhouse, were walking in the Boston Mall, and when they came opposite the stately mansion of John Hancock, the latter, turning to the former, said, with emphasis, ' ' I have done a very good thing for our cause, in the course of the past week, by enlisting the master of that house into it. He is well disposed, and has great riches, and we can give him consequence to enjoy them." And Mr. Hancock did not disappoint his expecta tions ; for, in spite of his occasional capriciousness, owing partly to disease, he threw all the weight of his fortune and extraordinary pop ularity into the scale of opposition to British encroachments. "The natural powers of Hancock were moderate," says Hutchin son, " and had been very little improved by study or application to any kind of science. His ruling passion kept him from ever losing sight of his object, but he was fickle and inconstant in the means of pur suing it ; and though for the most part he was closely attached to Mr. Samuel Adams, yet he was repeatedly broken off from all connection with him for several months together. Partly by inattention to his 7 (4 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. private affairs, and partly from want of judgment, he became greatly involved and distressed, and the estate was lost with much greater rapidity than it had been acquired." He was unboundedly lavish in his liberality. At the time of a great fire in Boston, when many of his tenements were destroyed, his tenants gathered around him, and expressed sympathy at his loss, knowing that was a way to reach his heart ; on which he remarked, they were the greatest sufferers, having been almost ruined, while he was able to erect new buildings, — at the same time passing a shower of guineas around them. His generous spirit appeared in a multitude of forms. He presented the Bostonians a valuable fire-engine. He distributed deck-loads of wood to the suf fering poor, in times of great peril, and gave the poor the free use of his extensive wood-lot in the town of Milton ; and in Adams' Diary we have an incident arising from his liberality, related by James Otis, who stated that Col. Irving having met Parson Moorhead near his meet ing-house, "You have a fine steeple and bell," says he, "to your meeting-house, now." "Yes, by the liberality of Mr. Hancock, and the subscriptions of some other gentlemen, we have a very handsome and convenient house of it, at last." " But what has happened to the vane, Mr. Moorhead? It don't traverse, — it has pointed the same way these three weeks." "Ay, I did n't know it; I '11 see about it." Away goes Moorhead, storming among his parish and the tradesmen who had built the steeple, for fastening the vane so that it could not move. The tradesmen were alarmed, and went to examine it ; but soon found that the fault was not in the vane, but the weather, the wind having set very constantly at east three weeks before. Hutchinson was a native of Boston, and a graduate of the same col lege as Hancock and the two Adamses, toward each of whom his detracting spirit was parallel. He was dark, intriguing, insinuating, haughty, and ambitious, the extreme of avarice marking each feature. Oxenbridge Thacher gave Hutchinson the soubriquet of "Summa Potestatis." Hutchinson said of Samuel Adams that "he acquired a talent of artfully and fallaciously insinuating into the minds of his readers a prejudice against the characters of all whom he attacked beyond any other;" and he said of John Adams, that "his ambition was without bounds, and he has acknowledged to his acquaintance that he could not look with complaisance upon any man who was in pos session of more wealth, more honors, or more knowledge than him self." These are evidently the carpings of disappointed ambition; JOHN HANCOCK. 75 and it is related that when Hutchinson fled to England, he experienced the neglect and contempt of the House of Lords, and died at Bramp ton, June, 1780, in melancholy despondence. Trumbull thus alludes to Hutchinson, who " Affirmed he never wrote a line, Your chartered rights to undermine ; When his own letters then were by, That proved his message all a lie. How many promises he sealed To get the oppressive acta repealed ! Yet once arrived on England's shore, Set on the premier to pass more." When the two regiments of British troops debarked in Boston, Oct., 1768, they were received as unwelcome intruders, and the selectmen absolutely refused to grant them quarters. One of the regiments encamped on Boston Common. The other, after a fruitless attempt to obtain possession of the, Manufactory House, marched at sunset to Fan euil Hall, where they waited several hours, before they had leave of occupation; Col. Dalrymple having pledged his honor that Faneuil Hall should be cleared as soon as possible, otherwise they must have Buffered in the streets. The next day, the State-house, in King- street, was opened, by order of Gov. Bernard, for their reception. John Hancock being well known as a decided advocate of the Provin- cialists, and the wealthiest merchant of Boston, an attempt was made , to stigmatize his character. A writer in the Boston Gazette, of Nov. 7, 1768, remarked, in an article: "I have lately heard, from good authority, of an attempt to sully the reputation of a gentleman of great merit, as well as superior fortune, in this town, — a gentleman who has the entire confidence of his fellow-citizens, in various public stations ; — who has repeatedly served them in the General Assembly, and the last May had the honor of being chosen a member of His Majesty's Council, by a great majority of the suffrages of the two Houses of Assembly, though it must be acknowledged he was neg atived by Gov. Bernard. What could induce a scribbler to forge a letter, and publish it in a coffee-house, in New York, under the name of that gentleman, requesting Gen. Gage that he might supply the troops now in town or expected, — so unwelcome to the inhabitants, considering the errand on which all agree they are come, — unless it was to induce a belief in the minds of gentlemen in New York that, 76 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. from a sordid love of gain, he had counteracted his professed senti ments, and so to render him ridiculous there ? I doubt not but that both the general and Mr. Hancock know it to be a falsehood." The charge was repelled as follows, in the very next Gazette : " Messrs. Ebes & Gill : " I observe in your last paper a piece signed Veritas, the writer of which says he had it from good authority, that a letter under my hand was published in a coffee-house, at New York, requesting His Excellency Gen. Gage that I might supply the troops then expected, and which have since arrived in this town. H" such a letter has been produced there, or anywhere else. I declare it to be a forgery ; for I have never made application to any for the supply of said troops. nor did I ever desire any person to do it for me. The person who pro duced the letter could have no other design but to injure my reputa tion, and abuse the gentlemen of New York. I therefore desire you would give this a place in your next, in which you will oblige ' ; Your humble servant, John Hancock. "Boston, Nov. 12, 1768." In the fall of this year, a great uproar was raised in Boston on account of the unlading in the night of a cargo of wines from the sloop Liberty, from Madeira, belonging to John Hancock, without pay ing the customs. Mr. Hancock was prosecuted upon a great number of libels, for penalties upon acts of Parliament, amounting to ninety or a hundred thousand pounds sterling. ' : He thought fit to engage me as his counsel and advocate," says John Adams, " and a painful drudgery I had of his cause. There were few days, through the whole winter, when I was not summoned to attend the Court of Admiralty. It seemed as if the officers of the crown were determined to examine the whole town as witnesses. Almost every day a fresh witness was to be examined upon interrogatories. They interrogated many of his near relations and most intimate friends, and threatened to summon his amiable and venerable aunt, the relict of his uncle, Thomas Hancock, who had left the greatest part of his fortune to him. I was thoroughly weary and disgusted with the court, the officers of the crown, the cause, and even with the tyrannical bell that dangled me out of my house every morning; and this odious cause was suspended at last only by the Battle of Lexington, which put an end forever to all such pros- JOHN HANCOCK. 77 ecutions." Hutchinson, who enlarges on this affair, remarks, that an entry was made at the custom-house, upon oath, of four or five pipes only as the whole cargo ; and this was as much a submission to the authority of the act as if the whole cargo had been entered. The remainder was landed in the night, or evening ; and the wines, or freight, were sent to the owners, and no duty demanded. A furious riot ensued. The collector and comptroller had their windows broken, and a boat, belonging to the custom-house, was drawn in triumph through the streets of Boston, and burnt on the Common. Hancock constantly associated with the avowed advocates of liberty, and was an active member of the North End Caucus, which frequently gathered at William Campbell's house, near the North Battery, orig inated by Dr. Joseph Warren, who, with another person, drew up the regulations of the caucus. Here the committees of public service were formed, the plan for military companies and means of defence, and the resolves for the destruction of the detestable tea. Dr. Thomas Young was its first president, when it consisted of sixty-one members. It was here, when the best mode of expelling the regulars from Boston was discussed, that Hancock exclaimed, "Burn Boston, and make John Hancock a beggar, if the public good requires it !" King George the Third sanctioned Lord North's bill repealing duties, excepting that on tea, April 12, 1770. Shortly after this decision, several cargoes of tea had arrived in Boston, and nothing would satisfy the people but its, immediate return. The ladies signed a pledge not to drink any tea, except in sickness ; and John Hancock offered one of his vessels, freight free of expense, for that purpose, and a load of the detestable weed was conveyed to the London consignees. Samuel Adams was the chief counsellor in the destruction of the tea, Dec, 1773, and the hall of council was the back room of the Boston Gazette, at the corner of Queen and Brattle streets. In Thomas' Spy we find a poetical effusion on this subject : " Farewell the tea-board, with its equipage Of cups and saucers, cream-bucket and sugar-tongs ; The pretty tea-chest, also, lately stored With hyson, congo, and best double fine. Full many a joyous moment have I sat by you, Hearing the girls tattle, the old maids talk scandal, And the spruce coxcomb laugh at may-be nothing. No more shall I dish out the once-loved liquor, Though now detestable, 7* 78 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Because I am taught, and I believe it true, Its use will fasten slavish chains upon my country; And Liberty 's the goddess I would choose To reign triumphant in America ! " In the year 1772 Hancock was elected to the command of the Inde pendent Cadets, well known as the governor's guard ; and we find, by the Boston Gazette of May 12, at this date, the announcement of the elec tion of John Hancock as a Boston representative, as moderator of the town-meeting, and his appointment by Gov. Hutchinson as commander of the Cadets, which is stated as follows : " His Excellency the Captain General has been pleased to commissionate John Hancock, Esq., to be Captain of the Company of Cadets, with the rank of Colonel : " and the promptness with which Col. Hancock entered upon the duties of his office is shown by the following advertisement, which appears in tho next column of the Gazette: "Wanted, Immediately, For his Excellency's Company of Cadets, Two Fifers that understand Play ing. Those that are Masters of Musick, and are inclined to engage with the Company, are desired to apply to Col. John Hancock." When Thomas Gage landed at Long Wharf, May 19, 1774, this company escorted the new governor, in an extensive civil and military . procession, to the council-chamber, at the old State-house, in King- street, after which they conducted Gage, under Col. Hancock, to the Province-house, then the governor's residence. Gov. Gage soon became jealous of Hancock, for in August of this year he was noti fied, by Secretary Flucker, that the governor had no further occasion for his services as the commander ; on which, the corps disbanded themselves, and deputed a committee to wait on Gage, at Danvers, surrendering to him the standard with his arms, which his excellency had presented them on his arrival from London, informing him that they no longer considered themselves as the governor's Independent Cadets. In an address to Hancock, Aug. 18, 1774, signed by fifty-two mem bers, they remark, "At a period when the post of honor is a private station, it cannot be thought strange that a gentleman of your distin guished character should meet with every discouragement from men in power;" and Col. Hancock said, in reply, "I am ever ready to appear in a public station, when the honor or the interest of the com munity calls me ; but shall always prefer retirement in a private sta tion, to being a tool in the hand of power to oppress my countrymen." Gage and Hancock never came together again as political friends. JOHN HANCOCK. 79 The orator on the Massacre, in the year 1774, was Col. John Han cock. His performance was remarkably bold and effective, giving great offence to the executive, and more especially to the officers of the standing army ; indeed, it was a striking act of intrepidity. At the close of the exercises, a very generous collection was taken up for the unfortunate Christopher Monk, now about twenty-three years old, then present, who was wounded on the fatal evening of the Massacre, and was a shocking monument of that horrid catastrophe. This produc tion was elegant, pathetic, and spirited. The allusion of Hancock to the attempt of Parliament to enforce obedience to acts which neither God nor man ever authorized them to make, forcibly reminds us of James Otis, their most effective opponent, who was as "a wedge to split the lignum vitae block of parliamentary usurpation." John Adams, who was present on the occasion, remarks, the. composition, the pronunciation, the action, all exceeded the expectation of every body. They exceeded even mine, which were very considerable. Many of the sentiments came with great propriety from him. His invective, particularly against a preference of riches to virtue, came from him with a singular grace and dignity : " Despise the glare of wealth. The people who pay greater respect to a wealthy villain than to an honest, upright man in poverty, almost deserve to be enslaved. They plainly show that wealth, however it may be acquired, is in their esteem to be preferred to virtue." The lantern exhibition occurred on the succeeding Monday. In one of the windows at Mrs. Clapham's, was a painting of Gov. Hutchinson and Judge Peter Oliver, in the horrors occasioned by the appearance of the ghosts of Empson and Dudley, advising them to think of their fate : " Ye traitors ! Is there not some chosen curse, — Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the men Who owe their greatness to their country's ruin ? " On turning to Hutchinson, it is related that, on the evening after the delivery of the oration, "a select number of persons, styled in the newspapers friends of constitutional liberty, assembled at a house in King-street, Boston. Among them were the speaker and divers mem bers of the House of Representatives. Figures were exhibited, through the windows of the room, to the people in the street, of the governor and chief-justice, in derision. Such abuse of private characters it is 80 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. generally best to treat with contempt ; " and the Boston Post printed an original song for the Fifth of March, written in eight verses, the first of which says : "When the foes of the land our destruction had planned, They sent ragged troops for our masters ; But, from former defeat, they must now understand Their wolves shall not prowl in our pastures." As an embodiment of the condition and spirit of the Bostonians is indicated in this passage, we make no apology for its insertion here . "It was easy to foresee the consequences which so naturally followed upon sending troops into America, to enforce obedience to acts of the British Parliament which neither God nor man ever empowered them to make. It was reasonable to expect that troops who knew the errand they were sent upon would treat the people whom they were to subjugate with a cruelty and haughtiness which too often buries the honorable character of a soldier in the disgraceful name of an unfeel ing ruffian. The troops, upon their first arrival, took possession of our senate-house, and pointed their cannon against the judgment-hall, and even continued them there whilst the Supreme Court of judicature for this province was actually sitting to decide upon the lives and fortunes of the king's subjects. Our streets nightly resounded with the noise of riot and debauchery ; our peaceful citizens were hourly exposed to shameful insults, and often felt the effects of their violence and out rage. But this was not all. As though they thought it not enough to violate our civil rights, they endeavored to deprive us of our religious privileges ; to vitiate our morals, and thereby render us deserving of destruction. Hence the rude din of arms which broke in upon your solemn devotions in your temples, on that hallowed day by Heaven, and set apart by God himself for his peculiar worship. Hence impious oaths and blasphemies so often tortured your unaccustomed ear. Hence all the arts which idleness and luxury could invent were used to betray our youth of one sex into extravagance and effeminacy, and of the other to infamy and ruin. And did they not succeed but too well ? Did not a reverence for religion sensibly decay ? Did not our infants almost learn to lisp out curses before they knew their horrid import 1 Did not our youth forget they were Americans, and, regard less of the admonitions of the wise and aged, servilely copy from their tyrants those vices which must finally overthrow the empire of Great JOHN HANCOCK. 81 Britain ? And must I be compelled to acknowledge that even the noblest, fairest part of all the lower creation, did not entirely escape the cursed snare ? When virtue has once erected her throne within the female breast, it is upon so solid a basis that nothing is able to expel the heavenly inhabitant. But have there not been some — few, indeed, I hope — whose youth and inexperience have rendered them a prey to wretches, whom, upon the least reflection, they would have despised and hated, as foes to God and their country ? I fear there have been such unhappy instances ; or why have I seen an honest father clothed with shame ? — or why a virtuous mother drowned in tears ] " Mr. Hancock was a delegate from Suffolk to the first Provincial Congress, which convened at Concord, Oct. 11, 1774, when he was elected its president. He was also president of the second Provincial Congress, until he was succeeded by Dr. Joseph Warren. When Gov. Gage sent the regular troops to Concord, for the destruction of the stores of the provincials, another design was to apprehend John Hancock and Samuel Adams, his most formidable foes. In the narrative of Col. Revere, we find a statement of the escape of Hancock and Adams, at Lexington : "On Tuesday evening, the 18th of April, 1775. it was observed that a number of soldiers were march ing towards Boston Common. About ten o'clock, Dr. Warren sent in great haste for me, and begged that I would immediately set off for Lexington, where were Hancock and Adams, and acquaint them of the movement, and that it was thought they were the objects. When I got to Dr. Warren's house, I found he had sent an express by land to Lexington — a Mi-. William Dawes. The Sunday before, by desire of Dr. Warren, I had been to Lexington to see Hancock and Adams, who were at Rev. Mr. Clark's. I returned at night, through Charles town. There I agreed with a Col. Conant, and some other gentlemen, that if the British went out by water, we would show two lanterns in the North Church steeple, and if by land, one, as a signal ; for we were apprehensive it would be difficult to cross the Charles River, or get over Boston Neck. I left Dr. Warren, called upon a friend, and desired him to make the signals. I then went home, took my boots and surtout, went to the north part of the town, where I had kept a boat. Two friends rowed me across Charles River, a little to the eastward, where the Somerset man-of-war lay. It was then young 82 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. flood ; the ship was winding, and the moon was rising. They landed me on the Charlestown side. When I got into town, I met Col. Conant and several others. They said they had seen our signals. I told them what was acting, and went to get me a horse. I got a horse of Dea. Larkin. While the horse was preparing, Richard Devens, Esq., who was one of the Committee of Safety, came to me, and told me that he came down the road from Lexington, after sundown, that evening ; that he met ten British officers, all well mounted and armed, goings up the road. "I set off upon a very good horse. It was then about eleven o'clock, and very pleasant. After I had passed Charlestown Neck, and got nearly opposite where Mark was hung in chains, I saw two men on horseback, under a tree. When I got near them, I discovered they were British officers. One tried to get ahead of me, and the other to take me. I turned my horse very quick, and galloped towards Charles town Neck, and then pushed for the Medford road. The one who chased me, endeavoring to cut me off, got into a clay-pond, near where the new tavern is now built. I got clear of him, and went through Medford, over the bridge, and up to Menotomy. In Medford, I awaked the captain of the minute-men; and after that, I alarmed almost every house, till I got to Lexington. I found Hancock and Adams at the Rev. Mr. Clark's. I told them my errand, and inquired for Mr. Dawes. They said he had not been there. I related the story of the two officers, and supposed that he must have been stopped, as he ought to have been there before me. After I had been there about half an hour, Mr. Dawes came. We refreshed ourselves, and set off for Concord, to secure the stores, etc., there. We were over taken by a young Dr. Prescott, whom we found to be a high son of liberty. I told them of the ten officers that Mr. Devens met, and that it was probable we might be stopped before we got to Concord ; for I supposed that after night they divided themselves, and that two of them had fixed themselves in such passages as were most likely to stop any intelligence going to Concord. I likewise mentioned that we had better alarm all the inhabitants till we got to Concord. The young doctor much approved of it, and said he would stop with either of us, for the people between that and Concord knew him, and would give the more credit to what we said. We had got nearly half way. Mr. Dawes and the doctor stopped to alarm the people of a house. I was about one hundred rods ahead, when I saw two men in nearly the JOHN HANCOCK. 83 same situation as those officers were near Charlestown. I called for the doctor and Mr. Dawes to come up. In an instant I was sur rounded by four. They had placed thomselves in a straight road that inclined each way. They had taken down a pair of bars on the north side of tho road, and two of them were under a tree in the pasture. Dr. Prescott, being foremost, came up, and we tried to get past them ; but they being armed with pistols and swords, they forced us into the pasture. The doctor jumped his horse over a low stone-wall, and got to Concord. I observed a wood at a small distance, and made for that. When I got there, out started six officers on horseback, and ordered me to dismount. One of them, who appeared to have the command, examined me, where I came from, aud what my name was. I told him. He asked me if I was an express. I answered in the affirmative. He demanded what time I left Boston. I told him ; and added, that their troops had catched aground in passing the river, and that there would be five hundred Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the country all the way up. He immediately rode towards those who stopped us, when all five of them came down upon a full gallop. One of them, whom I afterwards found to be a Maj. Mitchell, of the 5th regiment, clapped his pistol to my head, called me by name, and told me he was going to ask me some questions, and if I did not give him true answere, he would blow my brains out. He then asked me similar questions to those above. He then ordered me to mount my horse, after searching me for arms. He then ordered them to advance, and to lead me in front. When we got to the road, they turned down towards Lexington. When we had got about one mile, Maj. Mitchell rode up to the officer that was leading me, and told him to give me to the* sergeant. As soon as he took me, the major ordered him, if I attempted to run, or anybody insulted them, to blow my brains out. We rode till we got near Lexington meeting-house, when the militia fired a volley of guns, which appeared to alarm them very much. The major inquired of me how far it was to Cambridge, and if there were any other road. After some consultation, the major rode up to the sergeant, and asked if his horse was tired. He answered him, he was. He was a sergeant of grenadiers, and had a small horse ; then said he, Take that man's horse. I dismounted, and the sergeant mounted my horse, when they all rode towards Lexington meeting house. I went across the burying-ground and some pastures, and came to the Rev. Mr. Clark's house, where I found Hancock and Adams. I 84 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. told them of my treatment, and they concluded to go from that house towards Wobum. I went with them and a Mr. Lowell, who was a clerk to Mr. Hancock. When we got to the house where they intended to stop, Mr. Lowell and myself returned to Mr. Clark's, to find what was going on. When we reached there, an elderly man came in. He said he had just come from the tavern, — that a man had come from Boston, who said there were no British troops coming. Mr. Lowell and myself went towards the tavern, when we met a man, on a full gallop, who told us the troops were coming up the rocks. We after wards met another, who said they were close by. Mr. Lowell asked me to go to the tavern with him, to get a trunk of papers belonging to Mr. Hancock. We went up chamber, and while we were getting the trunk, we saw the British very near, upon a full march. We hurried towards Mr. Clark's house. In our way, we passed through the militia. There were about fifty. When we had got about one hun dred yards from the meeting-house, the British troops appeared on both sides of the meeting-house. In their front was an officer on horseback. They made a short halt, when I saw and heard a gun fired, which appeared to be a pistol. Then I could distinguish two guns, and then a continued roar of musketry, when we made off with the trunk." In Frothingham's Siege of Boston we find it stated that Hancock and Adams, whose safety was regarded as of the utmost importance, were persuaded to retire to the then second precinct of Woburn, to the house occupied by Madam Jones, widow of Rev. Thomas Jones, and Rev. Mr. Marett, which is now standing in Burlington, and occupied by Rev. Samuel Sewell, a descendant of the venerable chief-justice. Dorothy Quincy accompanied her intended ¦ husband — Hancock. Here, at noon, they had just sat down to an elegant dinner, when a man broke suddenly in upon them with a shriek, and they believed the regulars were upon them. Mr. Marett then piloted Adams and Hancock along a cartway to Mr. Amos Wyman's house, in a corner of Billerica, where they were glad to dine off of cold salt pork and potatoes, served in a wooden tray. Thus the proud anticipations of the British troops, in regard to their capture, were blasted. As John Hancock was accustomed to wear a scarlet coat of red velvet, with ruffles on his sleeves, after the fashion of the judges of the court, Gov. Gage is made to say, in the old revolutionary play, at the period of the Battle of Lexington, " If Col. Smith succeeds in his embassy, — JOHN HANCOCK. 85 and I think there is no doubt of it, — I shall have the pleasure this evening, I expect, of having my friends Hancock and Adams' good company. I '11 make each of them a present of a pair of handsome iron ruffles, and Maj. Provost shall provide a suitable entertainment." In another passage of the same play, it is said, " Let us have one good dinner before we part, and leave us half a dozen pipes of Hancock's wine to drink your health; and don't let us part with dry lips." On the 12th of June succeeding, Gov. Gage issued a proclamation offering pardon to all the rebels, 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; " — " As for their king, John Hancock, And Adams, if they 're taken, Their heads for signs shall hang up high Upon that hill called Beacon ;" — and the Provincial Congress, as noticed more especially in the memoir of Gen. Warren, issued a proclamation of like nature, excepting Thomas Gage, Admiral Graves, and others. There is no doubt that Gov. Gage was alarmed at his position, some months previous to this date, as, in his despatches to the throne, to the 18th of March, acknowledging the king's orders to apprehend Messrs. Cushing, Adams, and Hancock, and send them over to London for trial (the second order, which was to hang them in Boston, he had not received), he expressed his fears on the occasion; and, hoping a reverse of the order, he stated that he should delay the execution a while longer, because, if the order were fulfilled, he must come to an engagement, the event of which he had every reason to apprehend would be fatal to the king's troops and to himself, as the Massachusetts provincials had at least fifteen thousand men ready for the onset, and every public and private road occupied for defence. He earnestly requested a reinforcement of regulars; if that disagreeable order must be enforced. About this period, a party of British soldiers entered the residence of John Hancock, according to the Gazette, who began to pillage and break down the fences ; but on complaint being made by the selectmen to Gov. Gage, he ordered the fences to be repaired, and appointed Earl Percy to take possession of the premises. We find additional partic ulars, in relation to this affair, in the letter of a gentleman to a friend 8 86 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. in New York, dated March 22, 1775 : "In the evening of the 17th instant, Col. Hancock's elegant seat, situate near the Common, was attacked by a number of officers, who, with their swords, cut and hacked the fence before his house in a most scandalous manner, and behaved very abusively, by breaking people's windows, and insulting almost every person they met. On the 19th instant, Col. Hancock was again insulted by a number of inferior officers and privates, who entered his enclosures, and refused to retire, after his requesting them so to do, telling him that his house and stables would soon be theirs, and then they would do as they pleased. However, on his application to the general, he immediately sent one of his aids-de-camp to the officer of the guard, at the bottom of the Common, to seize any officer or private who should molest Col. Hancock, or any inhabitant, in their lawful calling." The editor of the New York Knickerbocker, who once enjoyed the hospitality of the present Hancock family, remarks : ' ' From this house was driven the fair and noble-looking lady whose portrait hangs in the drawing-room below, that the Percy, who ' Fought for King George at Lexington, A major of dragoons, ' might here establish his quarters. As I sat there, in what was for merly the state-chamber, conjuring up thoughts of that past time, I , could almost fancy that I heard the measured tread of the red-coated sentinel in the grand old entrance-hall below, and saw the glancing bayonets in the remains of the British intrenchments on the Common nearly opposite the house. • I wandered through the lofty halls Trod by the Percys of old fame, And traced upon the chapel walls Each high heroic name, — From him who once his standard set Where now, o'er mosque and minaret, Glitter the Sultan's crescent moons, To him who, when a younger son, Fought for King George at Lexington, A major of dragoons ! ' " Mr. Hancock married, at Fairfield, Conn., Dorothy, daughter of Edmund Quincy, of Boston, Aug. 28, 1775. He had a daughter, who died in infancy, at Philadelphia, 1776 ; and one son, John George JOHN HANCOCK. 87 Washington, who received a contusion in the head, when skating at Milton, of which he died, Jan. 27, 1787, aged nine years. He left no descendant. The quaint conceit of Lord Bacon may be applied to Hancock : " Surely, man shall see the noblest works and foundations have proceeded from childless men, who have sought to express the images of their minds where those of their bodies have failed ; so the care of posterity is most in them that have no posterity." In Quincy's History of Harvard University appears a statement of the difficulties of the college with John Hancock, who was the treasurer from 1773 to 1777, which exhibits a dark shade in his his tory; — not that he was wilfully dishonorable, but he could not be aroused to an adjustment of financial duties towards the institution ; and Rev. Dr. Gray, of Roxbury, relates, that Dr. Samuel Cooper and Dr. William Gordon agreed that, at an overseers' meeting, the former should introduce a motion for the immediate settlement of the treas urer's accounts, and which was seconded by the latter. But Dr. Gor don spoke so plainly his mind of the singular neglect of the treasurer, though so often urged to do it, that the manner was thought by Dr. Cooper, who was perfectly mild and polite in everything, to be as gross ; and therefore he forbore to utter a syllable upon the subject, and it passed off at the meeting in perfect silence. This circumstance so greatly offended Gov. Hancock, that he removed immediately from Jamaica Plain to his residence in Boston, and ceased all future inter course with Dr. Gordon. No name stands emblazoned on the records of the corporation, remarks Quincy, as a benefactor, with more laudatory epithets, than that of John Hancock. But his title to this distinction must depend upon the view which is taken of his first subscription of £500. In July, 1767, when no motives of policy influenced the corporation, this donation is stated to be "the proposed gift of Thomas Hancock;" his "signified intention to subscribe, towards the restoration of the library, the sum of five hundred pounds sterling, the completion of which was prevented by his sudden death;" the act of John Hancock is recorded as a demonstration of his generous affection to the college, and as hav ing done honor to the memory of his uncle, by voluntarily fulfilling his noble intention. " In the donation-book of the college, collected by order of the corporation in 1773," the year in which Mr. Hancock, as treasurer, took Ms seat in that board, and when he was at the height of his popularity, this gift is recorded on one page as exclusively "the 88 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. gift of John Hancock;" and on the next but one, as "his gen erous fulfilment of the intentions of his late uncle, the Honorable Thomas Hancock." It was generally regarded, and probably by Mr. Hancock, as an indispensable obligation; and it would have been almost impossible for a young man ambitious of popularity and power, on receiving an estate, estimated at £70,000 sterling, from the bounty of a relative, to refuse to fulfil " his signified intention " to subscribe £500 in favor of an institution which every man of influence in the province was laboring to raise from its ruins. If the subscription be placed to the account of its avowed origin, the good will of Thomas Hancock, the college was indebted to the bounty of John Hancock, as stated in the records of the college, "for a curious dipping needle," and, after that event, for the sum of £54 4s. sterling, being the excess of the cost of the books ordered by the corporation beyond the £500 derived from the good will of his uncle ; for "a full-length picture of that benefactor," and also for a set of the most elegant carpets to cover the floor of the library, the apparatus and philosophy chambers, and covering the walls of the latter with a rich paper ; "for an Account of London and its Environs, in six vol umes," and " a curious Coralline in its natural bed." The entire value of these donations certainly did not greatly exceed — and was probably less than — the actual loss sustained, according to the state ment of treasurer Storer, his successor, "by Mr. Hancock's long denial of the rights of the college, and withholding its property." He says that "justice to a public institution, which he essentially embarrassed during a period of nearly twenty years," etc., requires a statement of the facts. A very obvious apology for the delinquency of John Hancock is to be ascribed to the great financial distress of the Old Bay State, inci dent upon the war of the Revolution, rendering it almost impossible to command funds for the liquidation of large demands, until long after the peace of 1783. Did not treasurer Hancock secure an estate on Merchant' s-row, by mortgage, to Harvard College, Dec. 29, 1785? — and, in two years after his decease, did not his nephew, John Hancock, Esq., make a payment of nine years' interest due the college? — and, Dec. 13, 1802, did not he discharge the payment of the principal due, and the interest in full to that date, as appears by the records in the office of the Suffolk Register of Deeds ? But treasurer Storer complains that the heirs refused to pay compound interest, whereby the colleo-e was a JOHN HANCOCK. 89 loser of five hundred and twenty-six dollars. This was a very natural decision of the heirs ; but we will not censure the memory of Gov. Hancock for this act of the heirs, which was their legal right. " Per haps there is not a person in America," remarked the Rev. Peter Thacher, his pastor, in the sermon at his funeral, " who has done more generous and noble actions than Gov. Hancock, and who has, upon all occasions, contributed more liberally to public institutions. Besides the grand and hospitable manner in which he entertained foreigners and others in his house, he expended large sums for every patriotic purpose, and for the benefit of our university, and equalled the gen erosity of his worthy patron to it by his own donations. I should be guilty of base ingratitude," continues Dr. Thacher, "did I not thus publicly acknowledge numberless instances of kindness, attention, and liberality, which I have received at his hands. These now lie heavy at my heart, and increase my sorrow for his loss, though they have not bribed me to exceed the truth in delineating his character." America never had a more devoted patriot than John Hancock ; and the secret motive of his soul was disclosed in the declaration he made on taking the oath of office in the old State-house, in King-street, Oct. 26, 1780, when he became the first governor under the new constitution, which is another apology for delay, where he remarked, ' ' Having, in the early stage of this contest, determined to devote my whole time and services, to the utter exclusion of all private business, even to the end of the war, and being ever ready to obey the call of my country, I venture to offer myself, and shall endeavor strictly to adhere to the laws of the constitution." Before we continue the history of John Hancock, we will revert a while to an incident that occurred in Boston when it was a besieged town, as his name is associated with it. At the close of 1774, and in the early part of 1775, Gov. Gage began to take possession of all the arms and military stores belonging to individuals and the public. These measures, which accelerated hostilities, occasioned a transaction which illustrates the popular feeling. The General Court, in Nov., 1766, ordered four brass cannon to be purchased for the use of the artillery companies in Boston. Two of these guns, which were three-pounders, were kept in a gun-house that stood opposite the Mall, at the corner of West-street. A school-house was the next building, and a yard, enclosed with a high fence, was common to both. Maj. Adino Pad dock, who then commanded the artillery, having been heard to express 8^ 90 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. his intention of surrendering these guns to the governor, a few indi viduals resolved to secure for the country a property which belonged to it, and which at this time was of great value. Maj. Paddock was a coach-maker, and a devoted loyalist. The row of elm-trees in front of the Granary Cemetery was planted by him, and long known as Paddock's Walk. He left Boston with the royal troops, in March, 1776. Having concerted their plan, the party passed through the school- house into the gun-house, and were able to open the doors which were upon the yard by a small crevice, through which they raised the bar that secured them. The moment for the execution of the project was that of the roll-call, when the sentinel, who was stationed at one door of the building, would be less likely to hear their operations. The guns were taken off their carriages, carried into the school-room, and placed in a large box under the master's desk, in which wood was kept. Directly after the roll-call, a lieutenant and sergeant came into the gun-house, to look at the cannon, previously to removing them. A ¦ young man — Samuel Gore, captain of the governor's troop of horse, of whom this narration was received, and who had assisted in their removal — remained by the building, and followed the officer, as an innocent spectator. The persons who aided in the plot were Nathaniel Balch, Jeremiah Gridley, Whiston, and others, together with master Abraham Holbrook, the schoolmaster. When the carriages were found without the guns, the sergeant exclaimed, with an oath, " They are gone ! These fellows will steal the teeth out of your head, while you are keeping guard." They then began to search the building for them, and afterwards the yard ; and when they came to the gate, and opened into the street, the officer observed that they could not have passed that way, because a cobweb across the opening was not broken. They went next into the school-house, which they examined all over, except the box, on which the master placed his foot, which was lame, and the officer, with true courtesy, on that account excused him from rising. Some boys were present, but not one lisped a word. The officers went back to the gun-room, when their volunteer attendant, in kind sympathy for their embarrassment, suggested to them that perhaps they had been carried into Mr. Greenleaf 's garden, opposite, — afterwards the "Washington Garden." On this, the sergeant took him by the collar, gave him a push, and said, it was very likely that he was one of the daring rebels who helped to get them off, and that JOHN HANCOCK. 91 he had better make himself scarce. This was too near a guess to make it worth while to wait for a second hint, and he left them. They soon after retired, in vexation. The guns remained in that box for a fortnight, and many of the boys were acquainted with the fact, but not one of them betrayed the secret. At the end of that time, the persons who had withdrawn them came, in the evening, with a large trunk on a wheelbarrow. The guns were put into it, and carried up to Whiston's blacksmith's shop, at the south end, and there deposited under the coal. After lying there for a while, they were put into a boat in the night, and safely transported within the American lines. The guns were in actual service through the whole war. After the peace, the State of Massachusetts applied to Congress for their restoration, which was granted, according to this resolve, dated May 19, 1788 : " Congress assembled. Present — New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir ginia, and South Carolina; and from Rhode Island, Mr. Arnold; from New York, Mr. Hamilton ; from North Carolina, Mr. William son ; and from Georgia, Mr. Baldwin. The Secretary at War having represented to Congress that there are in the arsenals of the United States two brass cannon, which constituted one moiety of the field artillery with which the last war was commenced on the part of Amer ica, and which were constantly on service throughout the war ; that the said cannon are the property of the Commonwealth of Massachu setts, and that the governor thereof hath requested that they be returned; Therefore, Resolved, that the Secretary at War cause a suitable inscription to be placed on the said cannon ; and that he deliver the same to the order of his Excellency the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." Gen. Knox, then Secretary at War, who had commanded the artillery of the American army during the Revolution, — one of the most gallant, generous, high-minded men that the army contained, — well knew the history of these cannon, as they were the fellow- townsmen of his native town of Boston. In pursuance of the orders of Congress, he caused the arms of Massachusetts, and the inscription herewith, to be chiselled upon them in bold relief. These two cannon were in charge of the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company" of Boston, and called the Hancock and Adams, in honor of the two patriots proscribed by Gov. Gage, from whose grasp they were rescued ; and John Hancock was governor of Massachusetts when the cannon were returned to the 92 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. State. They are deposited on the wall inside of the top of the Bun ker Hill Monument, where they hang perpendicularly suspended. The Hakoock : Sacred to Liberty. This is one of four cannon, which constituted the whole train of Field Artillery possessed by the British Colonies of North America, at the commencement of the war, on the 19th of April, 1775. This cannon and its fellow, belonging to a number of citizens of Boston, were used in many engagements during the war. The other two, the property of the Government of Massachusetts, were taken by the enemy. By order of the United States in Congress assembled, May 19, 1788. The other cannon referred to were concealed in the stable of the second house west from the court-house, on the south side of Queen-street. Mr. Williams, a respectable farmer of Roxbury, drove in his own team with a load of hay, which was taken into that stable ; the cannon were then put in the bottom of the cart, which was loaded with manure, and in this way they were taken out of town without opposition. The British officers heard, on the same day, that the cannon were concealed in that street, and were to be removed in the evening ; and, in conse quence, many of them patrolled the street for several hours, but the guns were already safe within the American lines. Hancock was a delegate to the Continental Congress convened at Philadelphia, May 10, 1775. During his tour to that city, he remained at Worcester two days, waiting for a suitable escort, and for the approach of his colleagues, when he addressed the following letter to the gentle men Committee of Safety, among whom were Joseph Warren and Ben jamin Church, besides himself: " Worcester, April 24, 1775, Monday evening. "Gentlemen: Mr. S. Adams and myself, just arrived here, find no intelligence from you, and no guard. We just hear an express has JOHN HANCOCK. 93 just passed through this place to you, from New York, informing that administration is bent upon pushing matters ; and that four regiments* are expected there. How are we to .proceed ? Where are our brethren ? Surely, we ought to be supported. I had rather be with you ; and, at present, am fully determined to be with you, before I proceed. I beg, by the return of this express, to hear from you ; and pray, furnish us with depositions of the conduct of the troops, the certainty of their firing first, and every circumstance relative to the conduct of the troops from the 19th instant to this time, that we may be able to give some account of matters as we proceed, especially at Philadelphia. Also, I beg you would order your secretary to make out an account of your proceedings since what has taken place : what your plan is ; what prisoners we have, and what they have of ours ; who of note was killed, on both sides ; who commands our forces, &c. "Are our men in good spirits ? For God's sake, do not suffer the spirit to subside, until they have perfected the reduction of our ene mies. Boston must be entered ; the troops must be sent away, or * * * Our friends are valuable, but our country must be saved. I have an interest in that town. What can be the enjoyment of that to me, if I am obliged to hold it at the will of Gen. Gage, or any one else ? I doubt not yoUr vigilance, your fortitude, and resolution. Do let us know how you proceed. We must have the Castle. The ships must be * * Stop up the harbor against large vessels coming. You know better what to do than I can point out. Where is Mr. Cushing ? Are Mr. Paine and Mr: John Adams to be with us ? What are we to depend upon ? We travel rather as deserters, which I will not submit to. I will return and join you, if I cannot detain this man, as I want much to hear from you. How goes on the Congress ? Who is your president ? Are the members hearty ? Pray remember Mr. S. Adams and myself to all friends. God be with you. "I am, gentlemen, your faithful and hearty countryman, "John Hancock." On May 13th of this date, he was chosen successor to Peyton Ran dolph, as president of that assembly. When the unanimous election was declared, he felt deeply embarrassed ; and it was not until Ben jamin Harrison, a strong-nerved man and noble-hearted, a member from Virginia, had borne him in his vigorous arms, amid the general acclamation, to the chair, that his wonted self-possession returned. 94 THE HUNDRED BOSTON' ORATORS. When the Declaration of Independence first appeared on the floor of Congress, it was circulated over the name of John Hancock, singly and alone, as President of the Congress-; and the bold and striking char acters which form his signature were the first to proclaim the fact. He resigned this station in October, 1777, owing to the severity of the gout. The nomination of Washington to be the commander-in-chief was first made by John Adams. The president, John Hancock, was then in the chair, and Washington himself was present. Hancock was ambitious for that appointment. The effect of Mr. Adams' motion upon the two patriots is thus related by himself. Washington was at a subsequent period, May 26, 1775, unanimously chosen. At the conclusion of a speech on the state of the colonies, after making a motion that Congress would adopt the army before Boston and appoint Col. Washington commander of it, Mr. Adams remarked, that he was "a gentleman whose skill as an officer, whose independent fortune, great talents, and excellent universal character, would command the approbation of all America, and unite the cordial exertion of all the colonies better than any other person in the Union. Mr. Washington, who happened to be near the door, as soon as he heard me allude to him, from his usual modesty, darted into the library-room. Mr. Hancock, who was our president, which gave me an opportunity to observe his countenance, while I was speaking on the state of the colonies, the army at Cambridge, and the enemy, heard me with visible pleasure ; but when I came to describe Washington for the commander, I never remarked a more sudden and striking change of countenance. Morti fication and resentment were expressed as forcibly as his face could exhibit them. Mr. Samuel Adams seconded the motion, and that did not soften the president's physiognomy at all." The announcement herewith is copied from a Hartford journal, under date Nov. 19, 1777: "On Friday last, passed through this town, escorted by a party of light dragoons, the Hon. John Hancock, Pres ident of the American Congress, with his lady, on his way to Boston, after an absence, on public business, of more than two and a half years." President Hancock addressed a letter to Gen. Washington, July 10, 1775, in which he proposed as follows : " I must beg the favor that you will reserve some berth for me, in such department as you may judge most proper ; for I am determined to act under you, if it be to JOHN HANCOCK. 95 take the firelock and join the ranks as a volunteer." It does not appear, however, that he joined the army, under Washington, in any military capacity. Washington addressed the following reply to Han cock, dated "Cambridge. July 21, 1775. " Dear Sir : I am particularly pleased to acknowledge that part of your favor of the 10th instant wherein you do me the honor of determining to join the army under my command. I need certainly make no professions of the pleasure I shall have in seeing you. At the same time, I have to regret that so little is in my power to offer equal to Col. Hancock's merits, and worthy of his acceptance. I shall be happy, in every opportunity, to show the regard and esteem with which ' • I am, sir. your most obedient and very humble servant. " George Washington." The official correspondence of John Hancock, as President of Con gress, is rich in patriotic fervor. In a letter to Washington, dated Dec. 22, 1775. he writes : " For your future proceedings, I must beg leave to refer you to the enclosed resolutions. I would just inform you that the last resolve, relative to an attack upon Boston, passed after a most serious debate in a committee of the whole house. You are now left to the dictates of prudence and your own judgment May God crown your attempt with success. I most heartily wish it, though, individually. I may be the greatest sufferer." In an address to the inhabitants of Canada, Hancock says : '• Let it be the pride of those whose souls are warmed and ifiurninated by the sacred flames of freedom, to be discouraged by no check, and to surmount every obsta cle that may be interposed between them and the darling object of their wishes. We anticipate, in our pleased imaginations, the happy period when the standard of tyranny shall find no place in North America." In addressing Gen. Philip Schuyler, after the surrender of Montreal, Hancock writes : " You have hitherto risen superior to a thousand dif ficulties, in giving freedom to a great and an oppressed people. You have already reaped many laurels, but a plentiful harvest still invites you. Proceed, therefore, and let the footsteps of victory open a way for the blessings of liberty and the happiness of a well-ordered govern ment to visit that extensive dominion. Consider that the road to glory is^seldom strewed with flowers; and that, when the black and bloody standard of tyranny is erected in a land possessed by freemen, patriots 96 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. cease to remain inactive spectators of their country's fall." In an address to Gen. Montgomery, in relation to the surrender of Montreal, Hancock writes : " The Congress, utterly abhorrent from every species of cruelty to prisoners, and determined to adhere to this benevolent maxim till the conduct of their enemies renders a deviation from it indispensably necessary, will ever applaud their officers for beautifully blending the Christian with the conqueror, and never, in endeavoring to acquire the character of the hero, to lose that of the man." Hancock thus writes to Gen. Washington, under date of Philadel phia, March 25, 1776 : " Sir, — I had the honor of receiving yester day yours of the 19th, containing the agreeable information of the ministerial troops having abandoned Boston. The partial victory we have obtained over them in that quarter, I hope, will turn out a happy presage of a more general one. Whatever place may be the object of their destination, it must certainly give a sincere pleasure to every friend of the country to see the most diligent preparations everywhere making to receive them. What may be their views, it is, indeed, impossible to tell with any degree of exactness. We have all the reason, however, from that rage of disappointment and revenge, to expect the worst. Nor have I any doubt that, as far as their power extends, they will inflict every species of calamity upon us. The same Providence that has baffled their attempt against the Province of Massachusetts Bay will, I trust, defeat the deep-laid scheme they are now meditating against some other part of our country. " The intelligence that our army had got possession of Boston, you will readily suppose, gave me heartfelt pleasure. I beg, sir, you will be pleased to accept my warmest thanks for the attention you have showed to my property in that town. I have only to request that Capt. Cazneau will continue to look after and take care that it be noways destroyed or damaged. This success of our arms naturally calls upon me to congratulate you, sir, to whose wisdom and conduct it has been owing. Permit me to add, that if a constant discharge of the most important duties, and the fame attending thereon, can afford genuine satisfaction, the pleasure you feel must be the most rational and exalted." Hancock says, on the 30th April, 1776 : " The unprepared state of the colonies, on the commencement of the war, and the almost total want of everything necessary to carry it on, are the true sources from whence all our difficulties have proceeded. This fact, however, JOHN HANCOCK. 97 furnishes a proof most striking of the weakness or wickedness of those who charge them with an original intention of withdrawing from the government of Great Britain, and erecting an independent empire. Had such a scheme been formed, the most warlike preparations would have been necessary to effect it." Hancock, in a letter to Gen. Washington, dated Philadelphia, May 21, 1776, where he renews an invitation to receive a visit from him, stating, "I reside in an airy, open part of the city, in Arch-street and Fourth-street," says: "Your favor of the 20th inst. I received this morning, and cannot help expressing the very great pleasure it would afford both Mrs. Hancock and myself to have the happiness of accommodating you during your stay in this city. As the house I live in is large and roomy, it will be entirely in your power to live in that manner you should wish. Mrs. Washington may be as retired as she pleases, while under inoculation, and Mrs. Hancock will esteem it an honor to have Mrs. Washington inoculated in her house ; and, as I am informed Mr. Randolph has not any lady about his house to take the necessary care of Mrs. Washington, I flatter myself she will be as well attended in my family. In short, sir, I must take the freedom to repeat my wish, that you would be pleased to condescend to dwell under my roof. I assure you, sir, I will do all in my power to render your stay agreeable, and my house shall be entirely at your disposal. I must, however, submit this to your determination, and only add that you will peculiarly gratify Mrs. H. and myself, in affording me an opportunity of convincing you of this truth, that I am, with every sentiment of regard for you and your connections, and with much esteem, dear sir, your faithful and most obedient humble servant." In a letter to the convention of New Hampshire, dated June 4, 1776, Hancock writes: "The militia of the United Colonies area body of troops that may be depended upon. To their virtue their del egates in Congress now make the most solemn appeal. They are called upon to say whether they will live slaves, or die freemen. They are requested to step forth in defence of their wives, their children, their liberty, and everything they hold dear. The cause is certainly a most glorious one, and I trust that every man of New Hampshire is deter mined to see it gloriously ended, or to perish in the ruins of it. In short, on your exertions, at this critical period, together with those of the other colonies, in the common cause, the salvation of America evi- 9 98 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. dently depends. Your colony, I am persuaded, will not be behindhand. Exert, therefore, every nerve to distinguish yourselves. Quicken your preparations, and stimulate the good people of your government, and there is no danger, notwithstanding the mighty armament with which we are threatened, but you will be able to lead them to victory, to liberty, and to happiness." Under date of July 4, 1776, John Hancock writes to the govern ments of Maryland and Delaware, in language breathing the fervor of burning patriotism. We select a passage from this truly noble docu ment: "Gen. Howe having taken possession of Staten Island, and the Jerseys being drained of their militia for the defence of New York, I am directed by Congress to request you will proceed immediately to embody your militia for the establishment of the flying camp, and march them, with all possible expedition, either by battalions, detach ments of battalions, or by companies, to the city of Philadelphia. The present campaign, I have no doubt, if we exert ourselves properly, will secure the enjoyment of our liberties forever. All accounts agree that Great Britain will make her greatest effort this summer. Should we, therefore, be able to keep our ground, we shall afterwards have little to apprehend from her. I do, therefore, most ardently beseech and request you, in the name and by the authority of Congress, as you regard your own freedom, and as you stand engaged by the most solemn ties of honor to support the common cause, to strain every nerve to send forward your militia. This is a step of such infinite moment, that, in all human probability, your speedy compliance will prove the salvation of your country. It is impossible we can have any higher motives to induce us to act. We should reflect, too, that the loss of this campaign will inevitably protract the war ; and that, in order to gain it, we have only to exert ourselves, and to make use of the means which God and nature have given us to defend ourselves. I must, therefore, again repeat to you, that the Congress most anxiously expect and request you will not lose a moment in carrying into effect this requisition, with all the zeal, spirit, and despatch, which are so indis pensably required by the critical situation of our affairs." On the 6th of July, 1776, Hancock, in writing to Washington, thus emphasizes : "The Congress, for some days past, have had their attention occupied by one of the most interesting and important subjects that could pos sibly come before them, or any other assembly of men. Although it JOHN HANCOCK. 99 is not possible to foresee the consequences of human actions, yet it is, nevertheless, a duty we owe ourselves and posterity, in all our public counsels, to decide in the best manner we are able, and to trust the event to that Being, who controls both causes and events, to bring about his own determinations. Impressed with this sentiment, and at the same time fully convinced that our affairs may take a more favora ble turn, the Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve all connec tion between Great Britain and the American Colonies, and to declare them free and independent States, as you will perceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed by Congress to transmit to you, and to request you will have proclaimed at the head of the army, in the way you shall think most proper." Hancock says to Washington, in another letter, written on the memorable 4th of July: "Sir, — The enclosed resolves, to which I must beg leave to refer your attention, will inform you of the steps Congress has taken to establish the flying camp. To the unhappy confusion that has prevailed in this colony must be principally ascribed the delays that have hitherto attended that salutary measure. However, I flatter myself things will now take a different turn, as -the contest to keep possession of power is now at an end, and a new mode of government, equal to the exigencies of our affairs, will soon be adopted, agreeably to the recommendations of Con gress to the United Colonies." In an eloquent appeal to the thirteen United States, dated at Phil adelphia, Sept. 24, 1776, our spirited Hancock says : " Let us con vince our enemies that, as we are entered into the present contest for the defence of our liberties, so we are resolved, with the firmest reliance on Heaven for the justice of our cause, never to relinquish it, but rather to perish in the ruins of it. If we do but remain firm, — if we are not dismayed at the little shocks of fortune, and are deter mined, at all hazards, that we will be free, — - 1 am persuaded, under the gracious smiles of Providence, assisted by our own most strenuous endeavors, we shall finally succeed, agreeably to our wishes, and thereby establish the independence, the happiness, and the glory, of the United States of America." In the same letter, he writes: "You will perceive, by the enclosed resolves, which I have the honor to forward in obedience to the commands of Congress, that they have come to a determination to augment our army, and to engage the troops to serve during the con tinuance of the war. As an inducement to enlist on these terms, the 100 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Congress have agreed to give, besides a bounty of twenty dollars, a hundred acres of land to each soldier ; and, in case he should fall in battle, they have resolved, that his children, or other representatives, shall succeed to such land. The many ill consequences arising from a short and limited enlistment of troops are too obvious to be men tioned. In general, give me leave to observe, that to make men well acquainted with the duties of a soldier requires time ; and to bring them under proper subordination and discipline, not only requires time, but has always been a work of much difficulty. We have had too fre quent experience that men of a few days' standing will not look for ward, but, as the time of their discharge approaches, grow careless of their arms, ammunition, &c, and impatient of all restraint. The consequence of which is, the latter part of the time for which the sol dier was engaged is spent in undoing what the greatest pains had been taken to inculcate at first. Need I add to this, that the fall of the late Gen. Montgomery before Quebec is undoubtedly to be ascribed to the limited time for which the troops were engaged, — • whose impatience to return home compelled him to make the attack, contrary to the convic tion of his own judgment. This fact alone furnishes a striking argu ment of the danger and impropriety of sending troops into the field under any restriction as to the time of the enlistment. The noblest enterprise may be left unfinished by troops in such a predicament, or abandoned at the very moment success must have crowned the attempt. The heavy and enormous expenses consequent upon calling forth the militia, the delay attending their motions, and the difficulty of keeping them in camp, render it extremely improper to place our whole depend ence upon them. Experience hath uniformly convinced us of this, some of the militia having actually deserted the camp at the very moment their services were most wanted. In the mean time, the strength of the British army, which is great, is considered much more formidable by the superior order and regularity which prevail in it." In a manly letter to Gen. Schuyler, dated Philadelphia, Oct. 4, 1776, Hancock writes, transmitting the resolve of Congress expressive of their high sense of his past conduct, that " Congress cannot give their consent to your retiring from the army in its present situation. Such a step would give your enemies occasion to exult, as they might suppose you were induced to take it from an apprehension of the truth and reality of their charges against you. The unmerited reproaches of ignorance and mistaken zeal are infinitely overbalanced by the sat- JOHN HANCOCK. 101 isfaction arising from a conscious integrity. As long, therefore, as you can wrap yourself in your innocence, I flatter myself you will not pay so great a regard to the calumnies of your enemies as to deprive your country of any services which you may have it in your power to render his." In a spirited letter to six of the States, dated Philadelphia, Oct. 9, 1776, Hancock writes : "The Congress, for very obvious reasons, are extremely anxious to keep the army together. The dangerous consequences of their breaking up, and the difficulty of forming a new one, are inconceivable. Were this barrier once removed, military power would quickly spread desolation and ruin over the face of our country. The importance, and, indeed, the abso lute necessity, of filling up the army, of providing for the troops, and engaging them to serve during the war, is so apparent, and has been so frequently urged, that I shall only request your attention to the resolves of Congress on this subject ; and beseech you, by that love you have for your country, her rights and liberties, to exert yourselves to carry them speedily and effectually, as the ouly means of preserving her in this her critical and alarming situation." In a letter to four of the States, dated Baltimore, Dec. 25, 1776, Hancock writes : " It is needless to use arguments on this occasion, or to paint the dreadful consequences, to gentlemen already fully acquainted with them, of leav ing the back settlements of the New England States open to the rav ages of our merciless foes. If anything can add to your exertions, at this time, it must be the reflection that your own most iruinediate safety calls upon you to strain every nerve. Should we heedlessly abandon the post of Ticonderoga, we give up inconceivable advantages. Should we resolutely maintain it, — and it is extremely capable of defence, — we may bid defiance to Gen. Carleton, and the northern army under his command. But our exertions for this purpose must be immediate. or they will not avail anything. The 31st of this inst the time will expire for whieh the troops in that important garrison were enlisted. and Lake Champlain will, in all probability, be frozen over soon after. For the sake, therefore, of all that is dear to freemen, be entreated to pay immediate attention to tlris requisition of Congress, and let nothing divert you from it. The affairs of our country are in a situation to admit of no delay. They may still be retrieved, but not without the greatest expedition and vigor." Gov. Hancock, in writing to the Hon. Robert Morris, Financier General at Washington, under date Philadelphia, Sept. 24. 1781, says: 9* 102 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. " Pray, my friend, when will be the properest time for me to be con sidered for my expenses while President of Congress ? They wrote me on the subject some two years ago ; but I waived troubling them, knowing the delicacy of their situation. Indeed, I kept no account of my expenses ; nor had I time for it, as you well know how my time was engrossed, and the labors and fatigue I underwent, and the expenses I must have necessarily incurred. I can speak plain to you : confident I am that fifteen hundred pounds sterling would not amount to the expenses I incurred as president. In this I think I merit considera tion, more especially as grants have been made to all my successors." Had Congress remitted Hancock twice that amount, it would have been no equivalent to the sacrifices of this devoted patriot. President Hancock was appointed, by the General Court of his native State, Feb. 8, 1778, first Major-general of the Massachusetts Militia ; and, during a recess of Congress in July, on the very day succeeding that when he acted as moderator of a town-meeting, Aug. 6th of that year, when the people at Faneuil Hall unanimously decided that persons who have left the town, and have sought and received pro tection from the British king, cannot return to it again without greatly endangering the peace and safety of Boston, the Cadet company, headed by Maj. Gen. Hancock, and commanded by Col. Hichborn, and the company of Light Infantry, commanded by Capt. Hinckley, both of this town, set out for head-quarters, to engage in an enter prise in cooperation with the fleet of the French admiral, the Count D'Estaing, against Newport, in Rhode Island, conducted by a detach ment from the regular army of Washington, and seven thousand of the militia of New England, — an expedition which excited great anticipa tions, — the whole under command of Maj. Gen. Sullivan, aided by the Marquis De La Fayette and Maj. Gen. Greene. On August 9th they landed on Newport Island, and took possession of two of the enemy's forts, under Lord Howe, and the whole island north of their fines, with out a gun fired on either side. The second line of this army was com manded by Gen. Hancock, who, warm with ardor, despatched intelli gence, on the 11th instant, to Hon. Jeremiah Powell, President of the State Council. On the arrival of these troops in the island, the fleet of Lord Howe appeared upon the coast. We would have our readers revert to the Massachusetts Historical Collections, and Bradford's Massachusetts, for a relation of this contest. Count D'Estaing, regardless of his obligations with the American JOHN HANCOCK. 103 troops, instead of defending them, hastened to the pursuit of the Brit ish, and exposed the army of his allies to all the calamities of a defeat; and the Americans were left, in the midst of great danger, to a morti fying retreat, which they achieved, however, without the loss of artil lery or baggage, and the fleet arrived at the same time in Boston harbor, shattered by a furious storm. Under these circumstances, the French were not received in Boston with the usual hospitality of its inhabitants, says Sanderson's Biogra phy, and with a displeasure which threatened unhappy results ; but Gen. Hancock, interposing, relieved his country from such a calamity, by his conciliating manners and unbounded hospitality. His elegant mansion was thrown open to the French admiral and all his officers, about forty of whom dined every day at his table, loaded with the lux uries of the season ; and, in addition, he gave a grand public ball at Concert Hall, attended by the admiral. On turning to the Gazette, however, we find that Admiral D'Estaing, Sept. 21, made a splendid entry into Boston. He was saluted from the Castle, the ships and forts in the harbor, as he approached the town. Upon landing, he was received by the State authorities, at the Council-chamber in King- street, and breakfasted with Gen. Hancock at his seat ; and a superb entertainment was given that week at Faneuil Hall, where were upwards of five hundred guests. The retreat of the Americans was, indeed, a remarkable escape. The delay of a single day would proba bly have been fatal ; for Sir Henry Clinton, who had been detained by adverse winds, arrived with a reinforcement of four thousand men the very next day, when a retreat, it is suspected, would have^been imprac ticable. In the reminiscences of John Trumbull are two allusions to Hancock. It appears that Gen. Gates, who had been appointed to the command of the northern department in Canada, had, previous to his entrance on the station, appointed Mr. Trumbull a deputy adjutant-general on that station, which was rejected by Congress as premature and unmilitary. This occurred in 1775, when Hancock was president ; and the circum stance probably excited a prejudice unfavorable to Trumbull, who relates that, " While I was in Gen. Washington's family, in 1775, Mr. Hancock made a passing visit to the general, and, observing me, he inquired of Mr. Mifflin who I was ; and, when told that I was his fellow aid-de-camp, and son of Gov. Trumbull, he made the unworthy observa tion, that ' that family was well provided for? Mr. Mifflin did not 104 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. tell me this until after Mr. Hancock had left head-quarters, but then observed that he deserved to be called to an account for it. I answered, 'No, — he is right; my father and his three sons are doubtless well provided for. We are secure of four halters, if we do not succeed.' " There is a strong probability that Hancock regretted this remark, and felt that Trumbull was wronged; and after Col. Trumbull's service, as aid-de-camp to Gen. Sullivan, in the attack on Rhode Island, in 1778, when he returned to Boston overcome with fatigue and severe indispo sition, before he rose next morning, a visit from Gov. Hancock was announced. " He followed the servant to my bedside," says Trumbull, " and, with great kindness, insisted that I should be removed to his house immediately, where, if my illness should become serious, I could be more carefully attended than was possible in a boarding-house. I made light of my illness, and, with many thanks, declined his pressing invi tation. But it was a proud and consoling reflection, that he, who had been President of Congress at the time of my resignation, and who had both signed and forwarded the misdated commission which had driven me from the service, had now witnessed my military conduct, and seen that I was not a man to ask, but to earn, distinction." No doubt these patriots were soon reconciled, as Gov. Hancock sat to Trumbull for his portrait. In 1780 Hancock was elected a member of the convention that framed a State constitution, of which James Bowdoin was president. At that time the people of the State were divided into two political par ties, with one of which the popularity of John Hancock was unbounded ; with the other, James Bowdoin was the favorite. "In the Hancock party," says Josiah Quincy, " were included many of the known mal contents with Harvard College, — - men who had no sympathy for science or classical education, and who were ready to oppose any proposition for the benefit of that institution." Is not this a sweeping denuncia tion, too severe to credit ? On the contrary, the party of which James Bowdoin may be considered the exponent " included all the active friends of that seminary, and was chiefly composed of men regarded by the opposite faction with jealousy and fear, to some of whom Hancock then gave the sobriquet of 'The Essex Junto,' — the delegates from that county being among the most talented and efficient members of the convention." Would it be uncandid to concede that the Hancock party embraced a few friends of Harvard College ? Did not Gov. Hancock prove, by his public messages, the paternal interest of his JOHN HANCOCK. 105 heart in the welfare of the college ? Does not President Quincy prove it by his own statement, where he relates that " Gov. Hancock was induced to allude to the necessity of legislative aid, in his speech to the General Court, in May, 1791, and to introduce, by a special mes sage, the memorial of Samuel Adams and others, a committee of the overseers and corporation, of the necessity of making up by the arrearages of the usual grants to college officers, — without which, they averred, that ' either the assessment on the students must be aug mented, or some of the institutions of the college must fail of support ' ? After great debates, the subject was again referred to the next session of the Legislature ; " and on another occasion, in 1781, did not Han cock remark, that the college was, "in some sense, the parent and nurse of the late happy revolution in this Commonwealth "? On the adoption of the State constitution at that date, John Han cock was elected governor, which station he occupied until his decease, with the exception of tho years 1785 and 6, when his great rival, James Bowdoin, became his successor. One who saw John Hancock in June, 1782, relates that he had the appearance of advanced age. He had been repeatedly and severely afflicted with the gout ; probably owing in part to the custom of drink ing punch, — a common practice, in high circles, in those days. As recollected at this time, Gov. Hancock was nearly six feet in height, and of thin person, stooping a little, and apparently enfeebled by dis ease. His manners were very gracious, of the old style of dignified complaisance. His face had been very handsome. Dress was adapted quite as much to be ornamental as useful. Gentlemen wore wigs when abroad, and, commonly, caps when at home. At this time, about noon, Hancock was dressed in a red velvet cap, within which was one of fine linen. The latter was turned up over the lower edge of the velvet one, two or three inches. He wore a blue damask gown lined with silk, a white stock, a white satin embroidered waistcoat, black satin small-clothes, white silk stockings, and red morocco slippers. It was a general practice, in genteel families, to have a tankard of punch made in the morning, and placed in a cooler when the season required it. At this visit, Hancock took from the cooler, standing on the hearth, a full tankard, and drank first himself, and then offered it to those present. His equipage was splendid, and such as is not custom ary at this day. His apparel was sumptuously embroidered with gold and silver and lace, and other decorations fashionable amongst men of 106 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. fortune of that period ; and he rode, especially upon public occasions, with six beautiful bay horses, attended by servants in livery. He wore a scarlet coat, with ruffles on his sleeves, which soon became the prevailing fashion; and it is related of Dr. Nathan Jacques, the famous pedestrian, of West Newbury, that he paced all the way to Boston, in one day, to procure cloth for a coat like that of John Han cock, and returned with it under his arm, on foot. Hancock was hospitable. There might have been seen, at his table, all classes, from grave and dignified clergy, down to the gifted in song, narration, anecdote, and wit, with whom "noiseless falls the foot of Time, that only treads on flowers." Madam Hancock gratified the ambition of her husband, in presiding with so much graceful ease at his hospitable board and in the social circle, that her presence ever infused an enlivening charm. So famed was Hancock for hospitality, that his mansion was often thronged with visiters ; and frequently did Madam Hancock send her maids to milk their cows on Boston Common, early in the morning, to replenish the exhausted supply of the previous evening. On July 28, 1796, widow Dorothy Hancock was married, by Peter Thacher, D. D., to James Scott, the master of a London packet, formerly in the employ of the governor. She outlived Capt: Scott many years, . and retained her mental faculties until near the close of life. She was a lady of superior education, and delightful powers of conversation. Her last days were retired and secluded, in the dwelling No. 4 Fed eral-street, next the corner of Milton-place, in Boston ; and those were most honored who received an invitation to her little supper-table. She spoke of other days with cheerfulness, and seldom sighed that they had gone. Her memory was tenacious of past times ; and there were but few officers of the British army quartered in Boston whose per sonal appearance, habits, and manners, she could not 'describe with accuracy. Her favorite was Earl Percy, whose forces encamped on Boston Common during the winter of 1774-5 ; and this nobleman, accustomed to all the luxuries of Old England, slept among his com panions in arms in a tent on the Common, exposed to the severity of the weather as much as were they. The traces of those tents have been visible, to a very recent period, on the Common, when the grass was freshly springing from the earth, and the circles around the tents were very distinct. At the dawn of day, Madam Scott related, that JOHN HANCOCK. 107 Earl Percy's voice was heard drilling the regulars near the old mansion. Madam Hancock had an opportunity, after the capture of Burgoyne, of extending her courtesies to the ladies of his army, while at Cam bridge, under the treaty with Gates. They were gratefully received by the fair Britons, and ever remembered. When Lafayette was in Boston, during his last visit, in August, 1824, he made an early call on Madam Scott. Those who witnessed this hearty interview speak of it with admiration. The once youthful chevalier and the unrivalled belle met as if only a summer had passed since they had enjoyed social interviews in the perils of the Revolution. While they both were contemplating the changes effected by long time, they smiled in each other's faces, but no allusion was made to such an ungallant subject; yet she was not always so silent on this point. One of her young friends complimented her on her good looks. She laughingly replied, " What you have said is more than half a hundred years old. My ears remember it; but what were dimples once are wrinkles now." To the last day of life, she was as attentive to her dress as when first in the circles of fashion. " She would never forgive a young girl," she said, "who did not dress to please, nor one who seemed pleased with her dress." Madam Scott died in Boston, Feb. 3, 1830, aged 83 years. The munificence of John Hancock, in the bosom of the church, was as proverbial as it was in forwarding the glory of the republic. In the year 1772 he officially proposed to contribute largely towards a new meeting-house for Brattle-street Church, of which he was a member. A plan for an edifice, drawn by John S. Copley, the artist, was rejected, because of the expense; but another, drawn by Maj. Thomas Dawes, father of the judge, was adopted. The admirers of genius will ever deplore the loss of Copley's design. There were seventy-five "free-gift" subscribers, of whom Gov. Bowdoin gave £200, and Gov. Hancock gave £1000, reserving to himself the right of erecting a mahogany pulpit and furniture, a mahogany deacon's seat and com munion-table, and seats for poor widows, and others unable to provide for themselves. When the bell, which was his gift also, was hung and rung for the first time, Oct. 28, 1774, weighing 3220 pounds, this motto had been inscribed upon it : "I to the Church the living call, And to the grave I summons all." 108 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. During the years 1775-6, regiments of the British troops were quartered in the new church, in a sugar-house to the north of it, and in houses in the near vicinity. Dr. Cooper was often a subject of their notice, in passing into the church at service-time, when paraded in the square; and the provost once, in breaking open the church door, declared that if Dr. Cooper and Dr. Warren were there, he would break their heads. The congregation was dispersed, on the 16th of April, 1775, when it was used as a barrack for the British regulars, until the evacuation of Boston, March 17, 1776. Gov. Gage had his military head-quarters opposite the church. He told Mr. Turell he had no fear of the shot from Cambridge, for his troops, while within such walls. The morning on which the British evacuated, Dea. New ell and Mr. Turell entered the church, and quenched the fires which they had left burning. A shot which struck the tower the night before was preserved in his family until the committee for making late repairs had it fastened in the tower where it had penetrated. When the Brit ish were about to occupy the church, Deacons Gore and Newell were permitted to encase the pulpit and columns, and remove the body pews, which were conveyed to the paint loft of the former. When the church was erected, the name of "Hon. John Hancock, Esq." was inscribed on one of the rustic quoins, of Connecticut stone, at the south-west corner, which the royal regulars badly defaced, and the stone remains to this day in the condition in which they left it ; and a similar inscrip tion, unmutilated, appears on one of the rustic quoins in the south-west corner of the tower. Palfrey's history of the church relates most of these facts. Though Hutchinson relates that the estate of Hancock was lost with greater rapidity than it was acquired, he was, at the latest period, one of the largest owners of real estate in Boston. His ancient stone mansion, opposite which, in the summer, a band of music played for the people, stands on the front ground of the possessions inherited from his uncle, bounded eastward on Beacon, from Mount Vernon to Clapboard, now Belknap street, including the grounds of the State- house, Hancock-avenue, and Mount Vernon-place ; and westerly, embracing Mount Vernon-street, which he gave to the town ; a part of Hancock-street, where was his gardener's extensive nursery ; and other lands, including a part of Beacon Hill, now occupied for a Cochituate Reservoir, never before improved by any building, until it was sold to the city in 1847. His lands were originally of orchards and JOHN HANCOCK. 109 pastures. Hancock was the most public-spirited person ever known in Boston, and it is said that he sacrificed more than one hundred thousand dollars in the cause of liberty. There was a lofty and spacious hall on the northern wing of his mansion, extending sixty feet, devoted to festive parties, and built of wood. It was removed, in 1818, to Allen-street ; and a complaint being entered that it endangered the neighborhood, brick walls were built around it, and the building is still standing. Public dinners, now given at the public expense, were provided by Hancock from his own private purse. The bill of cost for the dinner on election-day, at Faneuil Hall, May 25, 1791, was £90 ; and for 163 bottles of wine, also, and other items, it was £65 6s. 6d The bill was made out to John Hancock, and paid by himself. On the 6th of June following, Gov. Hancock gave a splendid entertainment in his glorious hall, it being election-day. Among the company present, were Col. Azor Orne, and Solomon Davis, Esq., a merchant who resided in Tremont- street, opposite the Savings Bank. He was very facetious. A superb plum-cake graced the centre of the table. It was noticed by the guests that Mr. Davis partook very freely of this cake ; and, more over, that the silver tankard of punch was greatly lightened of its liquid, by liberal draughts through his lips. As was the natural habit of Mr. Davis, he set the table in a roar ; and in one of his puns being specially felicitous, Col. Orne remarked, "Go home, Davis, and die; — you can never beat that ! " Mr. Davis, on his way home, fell dead, in a fit of apoplexy, near King's Chapel, and his pockets were found filled with plum-cake. His decease is recorded in Russell's Centinel of that date. Gov. Hancock would gather in his hall all the rare wits of the town, of whom Nathaniel Balch, a hatter, was a never-failing guest, well known as the governor's jester. His shop was on Washington opposite Water street ; and he would, when seated in his broad arm-chair at the shop-door, keep his visiters in a roar at his witticisms. So strong was the attachment of the governor towards him, that if the former were called away, at no matter what distance, Squire Balch attended him, like his shadow, — which we will illustrate. Hancock was called on to visit the District of Maine, on which occasion he travelled in state, and was attended by Hon. Azor Orne, of the Council, of Marblehead, and his old friend Balch.. Their arrival at Portsmouth, N. H., was thus humorously announced : On Thursday last, arrived in this town, 10 110 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Nathaniel Balch, Esq., accompanied by His Excellency John Hancock, and the Hon. Azor Orne, Esq. Among the most tenacious political opponents of John Hancock' was Stephen Higginson, a nervous writer of great spirit, whose articles, signed "Laco," in Russell's Centinel, effected a strong feeling. Mr. Higginson was a merchant on Long Wharf, and passed down State-street to his store. The truckmen who stood in State-street used great efforts to teach a parrot, that hung in a cage at the corner of Merchant' s-row, to recognize "Laco," and to curse him, relates Thomas ; and so com pletely successful were they, that pretty Poll no sooner saw Mr. Higgin son approach, than she, began to "Hurrah for Hancock ! Down with Laco ! " — and continued to do so until he was out of sight. In con nection with this, we will relate another incident. One evening, early in the year 1789, in a party, according to Russell's Centinel, consist ing of the advocates of Gov. Hancock and of his political opponents, one of the latter, long famous for his unfriendly air, began a long harangue on Hancock's unwise administration ; but before he had ended, he observed one of the company asleep. Offended at the indignity, he ceased, until the speaker's friends awoke the slumberer, who apolo gized, and proposed, as a reparation, to relate his dream. " Gentle men," said he, "I dreamed I was in the abodes of misery. The first spirit I met was Lucifer, who, as usual for him, came to welcome me, and asked, 'What news upon earth?' 'Not much,' said I. 'What are they doing at Boston ? ' said he. I told him they were trying to again elect John Hancock as governor. 'That will never do,' cried Lucifer ; ' Jack, fetch my horse, boots, and spurs. But pray what has become of Laco?' 'He is there, very busy.' '0, never mind, then, Jack ; let the horse go, and put away my boots and spurs ; for while Laco is in Boston, there is no need of my presence. He can perform the work of confusion to admiration, without my aid.' " This sally of wit set the club in a roar, and the ranter was so chagrined that he uttered no more declamation. Hancock was that year elected governor of the Old Bay State. It was asserted, in Russell's Centinel, that it was generally known that privateers were fitting out of the port of Boston, and have been, by American and French citizens, notwithstanding President Wash ington had proclaimed that our country was in a state of neutrality. A town-meeting was notified, which took place on July 25, 1793. Thomas Dawes, the moderator, called upon Mr. Benjamin Russell for JOHN HANCOCK. Ill his authority, on which he declared that Stephen Higginson related the statement. The latter roundly denied the charge. The one was accused of asserting what he could not prove, and the other for print ing what was never stated. Mr. Russell, therefore, was impelled to retract, saying that he had been misinformed. The editor of the Bos ton Mercury very pleasantly said, in his paper : " Stephen and Ben are now both even ; Stephen beat Ben, and Ben beat Stephen." Gov. Hancock was elected a delegate to the Massachusetts State Convention, on the adoption of the federal constitution, which assembled at the Rev. Jeremy Belknap's church, in Long-lane, — afterwards named Federal-street, in honor of the convention, — Jan. 9, 1788, on which occasion Hancock was elected president, and George Richards Minot, secretary. Hancock had been absent some days, from illness. On the 31st day he resumed his place ; and, after remarking on the difference of opinion which prevailed in the convention, he pro posed that the constitution should be adopted, but that it should be accompanied by certain amendments, to be submitted to Congress. He expressed his belief that it would be safe to adopt the constitution, under the hope that the amendments would be ratified, which led to a discussion on its probability. "It cannot be assumed, for certainty," says Sullivan, "that this measure of Hancock's secured the adoption; but it is highly probable. The convention may have been influenced by another circumstance. About this time, a great meeting of mechanics was held at the Green Dragon Tavern, which was thronged. At this meeting resolutions were passed, with acclamation, in favor of the adoption. But notwithstanding Hancock's conciliatory proposal, and this strong public expression, the constitution was adopted by the small majority of nineteen, out of three hundred and fifty votes." On taking this question, Gov. Hancock said : "I should have considered it as one of the most distressing misfortunes in my life, to be deprived of giving my aid and support to a system which, if amended, as I feel assured it will be, according to your proposals, cannot fail to give the people of the United States a greater degree of political freedom, and eventually as much national dignity as falls to the lot of any nation on the earth. The question now before you is such as no nation on earth, without the limits of America, have ever had the 112 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. privilege of deciding." The proposed amendments were twelve in number. They were submitted to the States. Ten of them were adopted, and now form a part of the constitution of the United States. The adoption was celebrated in Boston by a memorable procession, in which the various orders of mechanics displayed appropriate banners. It was hailed with joy throughout the republic. Gen. Washington is well known to have expressed his hearty satisfaction that the import ant State of Massachusetts had acceded to the Union. The proces sion was so vast, that though Faneuil Hall could then accommodate fifteen hundred persons, not half the people could find room to enter. " The 'Vention did in Boston meet, — But State-house could not hold 'em ; So then they went to Federal-street, And there the truth was told 'em. " They every morning went to prayer, And then began disputing, Till opposition silenced were, By arguments refuting. " Then Squire Hancock, like a man Who dearly loves the nation , By a conciliatory plan, Prevented much vexation. *' He made a woundy Federal speech, With sense and elocution ; And then the 'Vention did beseech T' adopt the constitution. " The question being outright put, Each voter independent, The Federalists agreed to adopt, And then propose amendment. " The other party, seeing then The people were against them, Agreed, like honest, faithful men, To mix in peace amongst 'em. " The Boston folks are deuced lads, And always full of notions ; The boys and girls, their marms and dads, Were filled with joy's commotions ; JOHN HANCOCK. 113 " So straightway they procession made, — Lord ! how nation fine, sir ! For every man of every trade Went with his tools to dine, sir. " John Foster Williams, in a ship, Joined in the social band, sir ; And made the lasses dance and skip, To see him sail on land, sir ! " 0 then a whopping feast began, And all hands went to eating ; They drank their toasts, shook hands, and sung, — Huzza for 'Vention meeting '. " Now, politicians of all kinds, Who are not yet derided, May see how Yankees speak their minds, And yet are not decided. " Then, from this sample, let 'em cease Inflammatory writing ; For freedom, happiness, and peace, Are better far than fighting. " So here I end my Federal song, Composed of thirteen verses ; May agriculture flourish long, And commerce fill our purses." Just three days previous to the entry of Washington into Boston, in the year 1789, an effusion appeared in Russell's Centinel, addressed to the citizens. Its fervor of affection must be our apology for its insertion here: " The man beloved approaches nigh, — Revere him, ye Bostonian sons ! Embrace the chance before you die, And cannonade with all your guns. " Let lively squibs dance through the town, And pleasing rockets gild the air ; There 's not a man can show a frown, But all shall joyously appear. " Let punch in casks profusely flow, And wine luxuriantly be spread ; That townsmen all, both high and low, May hand in hand by mirth be led." 10* 114 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. We will proceed to relate a memorable reminiscence of this reception of President Washington, which discloses an instance of frailty in regard to etiquette on the part of Gov. Hancock. It is well known that when Washington, with a mind oppressed with more painful sensations than he had words to express, accepted the presidency, and undertook the more difficult task of guiding in peace the nation which he had saved in war, he thought it a proper expression of his respect to the republic to take the tour of his country. Where- ever he came, he was received with every mark of honor and regard that a grateful and confiding people could bestow. Hancock was willing to show him attention in any way which allowed the governor to take precedence of the president. The State, though confederate, was sovereign; and who greater here than its chief magistrate ? So it was settled, in his mind, that etiquette required his excellency to be waited on first in bis own house by the president, and not make the advance to his illustrious visiter. The president, as appeared in the result, had different ideas. On Gen. Washington's approach to Bos ton, Oct. 25, 1789, at some miles distance, attended by two secretaries and six servants, he was met by the governor's suite, and an invitation to dinner, but no governor. He intends to present himself, thought Washington, at the suburbs ; but, on arriving at the Neck, he still missed Gov. Hancock. The day was unusually cold and murky. The president, with his secretaries, had been mounted for a considerable time, waiting to enter the town. He made inquiry of the cause of the delay ; and, on receiving information of the important difficulty, is said to have expressed impatience. Turning to Maj. Jackson, his sec retary, he asked, " Is there no other avenue to the town?" and he was in the act of turning his charger, when he was informed that he would be received by the municipal authorities, and was conducted amidst the universal acclamation of the people. He passed the long procession, and reached the entrance of the State-house, but no governor. He stopped, and demanded of the secretary if his excellency was above, because, if he were, he should not ascend the stairs. Upon being assured he was not, he ascended, saw the procession pass, and then went to his lodgings. A message came from the governor's mansion that dinner was waiting. The president declined, and dined at home. Loud expressions of resentment were heard from all quarters at this indignity toward the first of men, whom the town had received, on their part, with every possible respect. Thoy had not added an entertain- JOHN HANCOCK. 115 ment to their plan, because this was claimed by Hancock. In the evening, two of the Council came to Washington, with explanations and apologies in behalf of the chief magistrate, — " He was not well," etc. " Gentlemen," said Washington, "lama frank man, and will be frank on this occasion. For myself, you will believe me, I do not regard ceremony ; but there is an etiquette due to my office which I am not at liberty to waive. My claim to the attention that has been omitted rests upon the question whether the whole is greater than a part. I am told," said Washington, " that the course taken has been designed, and that the subject was considered in Council." This was denied. One gentleman said, however, it was observed that the President of the United States was one personage, and the ambassador of the French republic was another personage. " Why that remark, sir, if the sub ject was not before the Council?" Washington continued. "This circumstance has been so disagreeable and mortifying, that I must say, notwithstanding all the marks of respect and affection received from the inhabitants of Boston, had I anticipated it, I would have avoided ' the place." The friends of Gov. Hancock held a consultation on the matter, the same evening ; and, in compliance with their advice, he concluded to waive the point of etiquette, as will appear by a note written to Pres ident Washington : " Sunday, 26 October, half past twelve o'clock. " The Governor's best respects to the President. If at home, and at leisure, the Governor will do himself the honor to pay his respects in half an hour. This would have been done much sooner, had his health in any degree permitted. He now hazards everything, as it respects his health, for the desirable purpose." Washington's Reply. " Sunday, 26 October, one o'clock. " The President of the United States presents his best respects to the Governor, and has the honor to inform him that he shall be at home till two o'clock. The President needs not express the pleasure it will give him to see the Governor ; but, at the same time, he most earnestly begs that the Governor will not hazard his health on the occasion." Hancock rode in his coach, without delay, enveloped in red baize, to the lodgings of Washington, at the boarding-house of Joseph Inger- 116. THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. soil, on the corner of Court and Tremont streets, to whose apartment he was borne in the arms of attendants. Washington accepted of an invitation to dine with Hancock, partook of a public dinner of the State authorities where Hancock was not present, and attended an oratorio of Jonah, and other pieces, in King's Chapel, on which occa sion he was dressed in a black suit of velvet. The profits of this oratorio were appropriated to the expense of finishing the colonnade, or portico, of the chapel ; and it is stated that Washington contributed handsomely for the object. We find the following apostrophe to Hancock, in a poetical tribute to Washington, contained in Russell's Centinel, Oct. 31, 1789 : " Thou, too, illustrious Hancock ! by his side In every lowering hour of danger tried; With him conspicuous o'er the beamy page, Descend the theme of every future age. When first the sword of early war we drew, The king, presaging, fixed his eye on you ; 'T was your dread finger pressed the sacred seal Whence rose to sovereign power the public weal !" When Washington entered Boston, he came on horseback, dressed in his old continental uniform, with his head uncovered. He did not bow to the throngs that crowded around him, but sat on his horse, with a calm, dignified air. When he dismounted, at the old State-house, he came out on a temporary balcony at the west end. A long procession passed before him, whose salutations he occasionally returned. A tri umphal arch was erected across the street at that place, and a choir of singers were stationed there. When Washington came forward, he was saluted by the clear, powerful voice of Daniel Rea, who sang the ode prepared for the occasion. There is no question that the punctilious exactness of Gov. Hancock, in matters of etiquette, more especially in relation to the beloved Wash ington, had a tendency to diminish the respect for him, in the minds of our political leaders, that they had been accustomed to extend ; and William Cunningham, in the famous correspondence with John Adams, reminds him of what he himself once said of him in the summer of 1791, probably when Adams had in his mind this unfortunate affair of Washington's reception. Some conversation respecting Hancock led Mrs. Adams to remark that he was born near your residence, says Cunningham, — "You turned yourself towards your front door, and JOHN HANCOCK. 117 pointing to a spot in view, you laughingly exclaimed, ' Yes, — there s the place where the great Gov. Hancock was born.' Then, composing your countenance, and rolling your eye, you went on with these excla mations : ' John Hancock ! A man without head and without heart ! — the mere shadow of a man ! — and yet a Governor of old Massachu setts ! ' Pausing a moment, you breathed a sigh, which sorrowed, as plainly as a sigh could sorrow, for poor Massachusetts." Sullivan remarks that Hancock was not supposed to be a man of great intellect ual force ; and we have heard it stated, by a person of political emi nence, that Dr. Cooper was the author of Hancock's oration on the Massacre, and that Dr. Thacher wrote for him his messages. More over, we have heard that Hon. Judge Parsons wrote for him the resolves of the State convention on the adoption of the federal consti tution, which he had the reputation of preparing ; but such detracting traditions should be received with decided impressions of disbelief. It is evident that he was an ardent friend of popular education ; as in the first year of his administration, and in 17S9, he made a persuasive appeal to the State Legislature to provide by law for public schools, and for suitable instruction. In relation to the opinion of John Adams, we have stronger evidence than the statement of Cunningham, in his letter to Judge William Tudor, dated June 5, 1S13, contained in Felt's Memorials of William S. Shaw, wherein he remarks that "the two young men whom I have known to enter the stage of fife with the most luminous, unclouded prospects, and the best-founded hopes, were James Otis and John Hancock. They were both essential to the Revolution, and both fell sacrifices to it." And in another part of the same letter, John Adams further asserts of them and Samuel Adams. that "they were the first movers, the most constant, steady, perse vering springs, agents, and most disinterested sufferers, and firmest pil lars, of the whole Revolution."' Moreover. John Adams remarked, in a letter to Rev. Jedediah Morse, D. P.. written in ISIS, as follows : "Of Mr. Hancock's fife, character, generous nature, great and disin terested sacrifices, and important services, if I had forces. I should be glad to write a volume. But this, I hope, will be done by some younger and abler hand." It is honor enough to John Hancock, that his daring patriotism, in the direst period of his country's perils, rendered him especially obnoxious to the British throne. Old Massachusetts is greatly indebted to Gov. Hancock for his effi cient measures in the suppression of Shays' Rebellion, which occurred 118 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. in 1786, and for the withdrawal of three hundred pounds of his salary as governor, which act of patriotism and generosity elicited the public thanks of the General Court. In the year 1792, a company of comedians, under the direction of Charles Powell, arrived at Boston from London, and established theat rical entertainments in a stable, in Board-alley, fitted up for the occa sion. A law having been in existence ever since 1750 against such amusements, the exhibitions were advertised under the covert name of Moral Lectures. Gov. Hancock was highly offended at such a trans gression, and made it a special topic of censure in his message to the Legislature, stating that it was an open breach of the laws, and a most contemptuous insult upon the government, advising that these aliens and foreigners be brought to condign punishment. A writer in the Chronicle of Nov. 22, indignant not only that foreigners should palm themselves on a republican people, but also with " tales of love between my Lord and Lady, or Sir Charles and his Maid," in this land of lib erty and equality, as preachers of moral lectures, thus versifies : " Bostonians ! Shall a lawless Bandittis, the fasces, The refuse of a degenerate people, Pass unnoticed, and be suffered To triumph over the opinions, And the long, well-established maxims Of our venerable ancestors ? Shall vile minions, from a foreign land, Affect to treat with open, marked contempt, The mild influence of our government, In the prevention of those evils Which experience and well-known prudence Long since stampt by the slow finger of time, With wisdom and success ? What insult is not to be awaited From men, who, regardless of their honor, Trample upon our laws, — our sacred rights, — When the history of whose lives would put Modesty and every kindred virtue To the blush ! Philo Dkamatis." On Wednesday, Dec. 3d inst., there was advertised to be performed, at the New England Exhibition-room, Board-alley, Feats on the Tight Rope ; after which, a Moral Lecture — The True-born Irishman, or Irish Fine Lady, etc. On that evening, on the complaint of Mr. Sul livan, the Attorney-general, Jeremiah Allen, the sheriff of Suffolk, JOHN HANCOCK. 119 arrested Mr. Harper, one of the company of comedians who for some time past had entertained the people of Boston, as guilty of a breach of the law, and held him to bail to appear the next day before the justices, and enter into recognizance to appear at the next Supreme Court. At the period of tho scene Bosworth Field, in Richard the Third, the sheriff came unceremoniously forward upon the stage, and made prisoner the humpbacked tyrant, and declared, unless the per formances ceased, he should forthwith arrest the whole company. Much excitement ensued, and the citizens trod under foot the portrait of Hancock, that hung in front of the stage-box. A loud call ensued for the performance to proceed, but the actors advised the audience quietly to withdraw, and receive the entrance-pay. The performances were discontinued until the last day of that year, when the law was abolished ; and it is said that many attended, at that time, armed with weapons. Tho building on Federal-street was shortly after erected for stage-plays. To return : The examination was held at Faneuil Hall, when Attorney Sullivan read a special order from Gov. Hancock. H. G. Otis, counsel for Harper, objected to the legality of the warrant, as contrary to the 14th articlo of the Declaration of Rights, which requires that no warrants shall be issued except upon complaints made on oath. Mr. Tudor, also of his counsel, supported Mr. Otis, which was com bated by Mr. Sullivan. The justices acceded, and the defendant was discharged, amid loud applause. The last appearance of Gov. Hancock in the presence of the Stato Legislature occurred in the afternoon of Sept. 18, 1793, in the old State-house, in State-street, when, owing to dobility, he was brought in attended by Mr. Secretary Avery and Sheriff Allen. Being seated, Gov. Hancock informed the Legislature that tho condition of his health would not permit him to address them in the usual way. He there fore hoped they would keep their seats, and requested their indulgence whilo the Secretary of State would read his address, as his infirmity rendered it totally impossible for him to speak so as to be heard. Eager to maintain the rights of the people, he had summoned the Leg islature to decide on the important question of the suability of the States, or rather, the sovereignty of Massachusetts. It was viewed as rather remarkable that he should summon a special session for this object, as before the period to which the Court was prorogued it was 120 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. ordained that Hancock should be numbered with the dead, — as if it were the intention of Heaven that the man who had ever been fore most in asserting the Liberties of the States, should be first to check any encroachment on their sovereignty and independence. After Secretary Avery had finished reading this valuable and per tinent speech, Gov. Hancock made the following truly pathetic apol ogy, with a tone of voice which at once demonstrated the sincerity of his heart, and which could not fail of making a deep impression on the mind of every spectator. Hancock said : "I beg pardon of the hon orable Legislature, and I rely on your candor, gentlemen, to forgive this method of addressing you. I feel the seeds of mortality growing fast within me : but I think I have, in this case, done no more than my duty, as the servant of the people. I never did, and I never will, deceive them, while I have life and strength to act in their service." Whilst Great Britain dwells with enthusiasm, says the Chronicle, on the death of Chatham, who expired amid his fellow-peers, in making one glorious effort to save his country from impending ruin, let Mas sachusetts remember, and to the latest posterity be it known, that Gov. Hancock met his constituents, in General Assembly convened, when he was unable to articulate, except a few broken, pathetic sentences, and there delivered to the Senate and Representatives, through the medium of his secretary, the last political legacy of the dying patriot, replete with sentiments which deserve to be engraven on the pillars of time. The Legislature concurred in the opinion of Hancock, that a State was sovereign and independent, and not suable. This last exalted scene was worthy the pencil of Trumbull, and beamed with brighter glories than the death of Chatham. The Assembly rose. Hancock was conveyed to his carriage, and taken to his residence, but never again appeared in public. His decease occurred Oct. S. 1793, at the age of fifty-six. of gout and exhaustion. The corpse was embowelled, and remained unburied for eight days, to give an opportunity for the citizens, from remote parts of the S tate. to render the last tribute of respect to his memory : and they came in tens of thousands. The procession was an hour and one half in passing along, and it vas conducted with great ceremony. Sarauel Adams, who was lieutenant-governor, followed the bier as chief mourner ; but the venerable patriot could not endure the fatigue, and on reaching State-street was compelled to retire from the proces sion. JOHN HANCOCK. 121 " As the dead patriot's honored relics passed, The pomp was darkened, and the scene o'ereast; The world of pleasure passed unheeded by, And tears of sorrow stood in every eye." The militia of the town and the country added to the imposing effect of the scene. The judges of the Supreme Judicial Court had, to this period, worn immense wigs and broad bands above robes of scarlet English cloth, faced with black velvet, in winter, and black silk gowns, in summer. On this occasion they appeared in the latter, with their broad, flowing wigs ; the barristers, also, were in black gowns and club wigs. There is a tradition in the family, that on the night after the funeral of Hancock, the tomb, located in the Granary, was forcibly entered, and the right hand of Hancock was severed from the arm, and taken away. This rumor is probably unfounded, as when, in the year 1841, the remains were gathered, together with the relics of his only son, and carefully deposited in a new coffin, no missing hand was observed. Peace to the manes of our American Trajan ! May his grave, like his fame, bloom forever ! No monument has ever been erected to the memory of John Hancock; and in the New York Mer chant's Magazine of December, 1840, is a brief memoir of Hancock, written by George Mountfort, Esq., a native of Boston, in which it is proposed that a statue of John Hancock should be erected in the building of the Merchant's Exchange, on Wall-street, remarking: " Let an American sculptor breathe into chiselled marble the soul, and invest it with the form, of him who should be the merchant's pride and boast ; and let it stand the presiding genius of a temple reared and consecrated to the commercial interests of our great city." How much more seemly is it that the sons of the Old Bay State erect an exquisite marble statue to the memory of this most eminent patriot and munificent Bostonian, either over his unhonored remains in the Granary, or in the near view of that to Bowditch, at Mount Auburn, the sacred forest of monuments ! Thy political reputation, Hancock, says Benjamin Austin, will ever be revered by the republicans of America ! Thou wilt live, illustrious spirit, in the hearts of thy countrymen ; and while liberty and the rights of thy country are duly estimated, thy name will be held in grateful remembrance. The proscription of George the Third is a "mausoleum" to thy memory, which will survive a ponderous mon ument of marble ! 11 122 THE hundred boston orators. ON JOHN HANCOCK. BY CHAPMAN WHIIOOMB. 1795. Jove, armed in thunder, ne'er appeared more great, Old Delai Lama, on his throne of state, Had not more votaries, no Turkish Dey, Nor eastern sage, had more respect than he ; His house the seat of hospitality, And famed for alms and deeds of charity. Noble his mien, and elegant his air ; Comely his person, and his visage fair ; Old Cato's virtues did his actions grace, Courtiers were awed, and senators gave place ; Knowledge and dignity shone in his face. PETER THACHEE, D. D. MARCH 6, 1776. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. As Boston was at this time garrisoned by the British regulars, and the patriotic inhabitants were in the country, a meeting was assembled in the meeting-house at Watertown, at ten A. M., March 5, 1776, and after choosing the Hon. Benjamin Austin moderator, and after a fer vent prayer by Rev. Dr. Cooper, the Rev. Peter Thacher delivered an oration, which was received with universal approbation, it being the anniversary of Preston's Massacre, says the New England Chronicle, effected " by a band of ruffians sent hither by George, the brutal tyrant of Britain, in order to execute his infernal plans for enslaving a free people." The oration was published by Benjamin Edes, at Watertown. Boston being occupied by the royalists at this day, there was no lan tern exhibition, or other transparencies, which had previously occurred at the inn of Mrs. Mary Clapham, an antique, spacious, two-story brick house located on the site of the present Merchant's Bank. Many British officers boarded with Mrs. Clapham, who had several beautiful daughters, one of whom eloped with one of the officers, and is said to have become his wife. PETER THACHER, D. D. 123 In the patriotic performance before us, it is remarked : " English men have been wont to boast of the excellence of their constitution, — to boast that it contained whatever was excellent in every form of gov ernment hitherto by the wit of man devised. In their king, whose power was limited, they have asserted that they enjoyed the advantages of monarchy, without fear of its evils ; while their House of Commons, chosen by the suffrages of the people, and dependent upon them, repre sented a republic, their House of Peers, forming a balance of power between the king and the people, gave them the benefit of an aristoc racy. In theory, the British constitution is, on many accounts, excellent; but when we observe it reduced to practice, — when we observe the British government, as it has been for a long course of years administered, — we must be convinced that its boasted advan tages are not real. The management of the public revenue, the appointment of civil and military officers, are vested in the king. Improving the advantages which these powers give him, he hath found means to corrupt the other branches of the legislature. Britons please themselves with the thought of being free. Their tyrant suffers them to enjoy the shadow, whilst he himself grasps the substance, of power. Impossible would it have been for the kings of England to have acquired such an exorbitant power, had they not a standing- army under their command. With the officers of this army, they have bribed men to sacrifice the rights of their country. Having artfully got their arms out of the hands of the people, with their mercenary forces they have awed them into submission. When they have appeared at any time disposed to assert their freedom, these troops have been ready to obey the mandates of their sovereign, to imbrue their hands in the blood of their brethren. Having found the efficacy of this method to quell the spirit of liberty in the people of Great Britain, the right eous administration of the righteous King George the Third determined to try the experiment upon the people of America. To fright us into submission to their unjustifiable claims, they sent a military force to the town of Boston. This day leads us to reflect upon the fatal effects of the measure. By their intercourse with the troops, made up in gen eral of the most abandoned of men, the morals of our youth were corrupted ; the temples and the day of our God were scandalously pro faned ; we experienced the most provoking insults ; and at length saw the streets of Boston strewed with the corpses of five of its inhabit ants, murdered in cool blood by the British mercenaries." 124 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. This pathetic allusion herewith to the death of Warren should ever appear in the record of the times : " This day, upon which the gloomy 3cene was first opened, calls upon us to mourn for the heroes who have already died on the bed of honor, fighting for God and their country. Especially does it lead us to recollect the name and the virtues of Gen. Warren ; — the kind, the humane, the benevolent friend, in the private walks of life, — the inflexible patriot, the undaunted commander, in his public sphere, — deserves to be recollected with gratitude and esteem ! This audience, acquainted in the most intimate manner with his num berless virtues, must feel his loss, and bemoan their beloved, their intrusted fellow-citizen. Ah ! my countrymen, what tender, what excruciating sensations, rush at once upon our burdened minds, when we recall his loved idea. When we reflect upon the manner of his death, — when we fancy that we see his savage enemies exulting o'er his corpse, beautiful even in death, — when we remember that, desti tute of the rites of sepulture, he was cast into the ground, without the distinction due to his rank and merit, — we cannot restrain the starting tear — we cannot repress the bursting sigh ! We mourn, thine exit, illustrious shade ! with undissembled grief; we venerate thine exalted character ; we will erect a monument to thy memory in each of our grateful breasts, and to the latest ages will teach our tender infants to lisp the name of Warren with veneration and applause ! " Rev. Peter Thacher was born at Milton, March 21, 1752. He was a son of Oxenbridge Thacher, who published a tract, in 1764, entitled " The Sentiments of a British American, occasioned by the Act to lay certain Duties on the British Colonies," wherein he remarks : " Trade is a nice and delicate lady; she must be courted and won by soft and fan- addresses ; she will not bear the rude hand of a ravisher. Penalties increased, heavy taxes laid on, the checks and oppressions of violence removed, — these things must drive her from her pleasant abode." Our tracts were of no avail with Parliament, and the Stamp Act was passed in the next year. John Adams writes of Thacher, that "From 1758 to 1765 I attended every superior and inferior court in Boston, and recollect not one in which he did not invite me home to spend evenings with him, when he made me converse with him as well as I could on all subjects of religion, mythology, cosmogony, metaphys ics, — Locke, Clarke, Leibnitz, Bolingbroke, Berkley, — the pree'stab- lished harmony of the universe, the nature of matter and of spirit, and the eternal establishment of coincidences between their operations, fate, PETER THACHER, D. D. 125 foreknowledge absolute, — and we reasoned on such unfathomable sub jects, as high as Milton's gentry in pandemonium ; and we understood them as well as they did, and no better. But his favorite subject was politics, and the impending threatening system of parliamentary taxa tion, and universal government over the colonies. On this subject he was so anxious and agitated, that I have no doubt it occasioned his premature death.'- Young Peter entered the Boston Latin School in 1 Too. £rraduated at Harvard College in 1769. and was a school-teacher at Chelsea soon after that date. From his childhood he had devoted himself to the ministry of religion ; and his whole mind, as it expanded, had formed itself to this work. The father of Rev. Aaron Green, formerly of Maiden, being intimate with him. invited him to pass the Sabbath with him, playfully remarking. " You had better bring a couple of sermons with you, for perhaps we shall make you preach." Accordingly, it came about that he officiated at the morning service. His youthful and engaging mien his silvery voice and golden eloquence, so charmed the disturbed elements of this divided church, that, during the intermis sion, it was decided, by acclamation, that he was the man to heal the dissensions, and he became their pastor in 1770. During his resi dence in that town, he took an active part in the measure which effected the Revolution ; and wrote, at the request of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, a Narrative of the Battle of Bunker Hill, dated June 25. 1775. published in the journals of the Provincial Congress. of which he was a member, and said to be the best statement of that battle ever prepared. Dr. Thacher drafted, also, the spirited resolves and revolutionary instructions recorded on the Maiden records of 1775. He was a delegate to die Massachusetts Convention of 17S0, and strenuously contended against establishing the office of Governor of the State : and. when the matter was decided contrary to his wishes. he still objected to the title of "His Excellency," which was given to the chief magistrate : — but when the constitution was adopted, he gave it his decided support. He was often a chaplain of the State Legislature. On the 8th of October, 1770. Mr. Thacher married the widow Elizabeth Pool, and had ten children of whom were Rev. Thomas Cushing. minister of Lynn and Hon. Peter Oxenbridge. judge of the Boston Municipal Court. When Mr. Thacher was invited to the Brattle-street Church, the 11* 126 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. good people of Maiden did not relinquish their admired pastor without a struggle. After much excited negotiation, it was agreed that the Brattle-street Church should pay the debt of the Maiden Church, amounting to a thousand dollars, — a debt undoubtedly contracted in consequence of the general depression of the Revolution. His preach ing was direct, practical, and earnest ; and, like Samuel Cooper, his predecessor of Brattle-street Church, he possessed, in singular excel lence, the gift of prayer ; and so charmed with him was George Whit field, that he called him "The Young Elijah." And it is related of his brother, Rev. Thomas Thacher, of Dedham, a man of strong intel lectual powers, that he once remarked of him, " I know brother Peter excels me in prayer, but I can give the best sermons." We have heard it stated, that when Rev. Peter Thacher first appeared in the flowing silk gown and bands given him by John Hancock, and read from the elegant Bible in the new mahogany pulpit, — • also the gift of the generous governor, — and the people listened to the musical tones of his voice, reasoning for the best interests of the soul, in the graceful gestures of oratory, he effected a deep impression. He was settled in Boston, Jan. 12, 1785, and with him orthodoxy departed from Brat tle-street Church. He was a frequent inmate of Hancock's festive board, who was his parishioner. The degree of Doctor of Divinity, from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, was conferred upon him. Being afflicted with an affection of the lungs, he visited Savan nah, Ga., where he died in six weeks after leaving home. A eulogy on his character was pronounced, Dec. 31, 1802, by Rev. William Emerson, at Brattle-street Church ; and a brief memoir was written by Gov. Sullivan, who was his parishioner and devoted admirer. He pub lished twenty pamphlets of a religious and political character, written in an easy and familiar style. " There is a history in all men's lives, Figuring the nature of the times deceased; The which observed, a man may prophesy, With a near aim, of the main chance of things As yet not come to life ; which, in their Seeds and weak beginnings, lie en treasured. Such things become the hatch and brood of time." PEREZ MORTON. 127 PEREZ MORTON. APRIL 8, 1776. OVER THE REMAINS OF WARREN. The first object of public interest to the Bostonians, after the evac uation of the British troops, was the recovery of the remains of the beloved Warren. They were found on the heights of Charlestown. According to Rees' Cyclopedia, " a native of Great Britain, who was in Boston at the time of the battle, came to the friends of Warren, ten months after that period, and told them he could point out the spot where the remains were deposited. He was offered a reward, if his information should be correct ; and twO\ brothers of the general, with some other gentlemen, accompanied him to the field. A sexton com menced digging on the spot he pointed out, and a corpse soon began to appear. The brothers, unable to remain longer, retired, having Informed the other gentlemen that their brother might be distinguished by a particular false tooth. He was identified accordingly." We are credibly informed, that the Bev. Andrew Eliot, D.D., who, accord ing to his private diary, received of the munificent Hancock, in the year 1777. a three-cornered hat, a wig, a fine suit of clothes, and a cask of Madeira wine, has related to his son, Dr. Ephraim Eliot, that a barber, who was accustomed to dress the head of General Warren, being on the battle-ground at the time of the burial of those who were killed on Bunker's Hill, accidentally recognized the body of Warren, just as the British regulars were in the act of throwing it into a grave, over another body, and on his stating the fact to them, they wrapped a mat around his remains previous to covering up the earth ; and this was probably the individual alluded to in the Cyclopedia. ' ' No useless coffin enclosed his breast, — Not in sheet or in shroud they wound him ; But he lay, like a warrior taking his rest, With his martial cloak around him." We have reason to believe that the above relation is mainly correct; and we have gathered from Dr. John C. Warren, a nephew of the general, the following statement of additional facts : The remains of Gen. Warren were deposited in a grave under a locust-tree, and the spot is now designated in gilt letters on a granite 128 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. stone in the ground. They were interred beside the body of a butcher, on the day subsequent to the fatal contest, and were personally identified, on the April succeeding, by Dr. John Warren, and Ebenezer Warren, Esq., the brothers of the general, who readily recognized a false tooth, secured by wires, in the place of an eye-tooth which had been pre viously removed ; and, although his body and that of the butcher were reduced to skeletons, the discovery of the false tooth, which was famil iar to their eyes, and the aperture in the skull, together with the frock of the butcher, which remained entire, satisfied them that they witnessed the precious relics of their brother ; and they were removed to Boston, where they were entombed in the family vault of Hon. George Rich ards Minot, adjoining the tomb of Governor Hancock, in the Granary Burying-ground, and directly in the rear of the residence of Dr. John C. Warren. On turning to the letters of Mrs. Abigail Adams, we find it stated, under date of April 7, 1776 : "Yesterday, the remains of our worthy General Warren were dug up upon Bunker's Hill, and carried into town, and on Monday are to be interred with all the honors ofi war." A procession was formed, on the 8th inst., at the State-house, in King-street, consisting of a detachment of the continental forces, a numerous body of the Free and Accepted Masons, the mourners, mem bers of the General Assembly, selectmen, and citizens of the town. The pall was supported by Hon. Gen. Ward, Brig. Gen. Frye, Dr. Morgan, Col. Gridley, Hon. Mr. Gill, and J. Scollay, Esq. The remains were conveyed into King's Chapel, and a very pertinent prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Cooper, after an excellent dirge. Presi dent Adams' lady wrote on the occasion, and remarked at the time, in relation to the orator : " I think the subject must have inspired him. A young fellow could not have wished a finer opportunity to display his talents. The amiable and heroic virtues of the deceased, recent in the minds of the audience ; the noble cause to which he fell a martyr ; their own sufferings and unparalleled injuries, all fresh in their minds, must have given weight and energy to whatever could be delivered on the occasion. The dead body, like that of Csesar, before their eyes, whilst each wound, ' Like dumb mouths, did ope their ruby lips To beg the voice and utterance of a tongue : Woe to the hands that shed this costly blood, — A curse shall light upon their line.' " PEREZ MORTON. 129 Indeed, this oration of Morton over the remains of Warren instinct ively reminds one of the oration of Mark Antony over the remains of Julius Caesar ; and the occasion and the scene were of equal sublimity. The coming apostrophe, taken from the exordium of this splendid eulogy, must have deeply awakened the sensibility of the audience : " Illustrious relics ! "What tidings from the grave? Why hast thou left the peaceful mansions of the tomb, to visit again this troubled earth 1 Art thou the welcome messenger of peace ? Art thou risen again to exhibit thy glorious wounds, and through them proclaim salvation to thy country 1 Or art thou come to demand that last debt of humanity to which your rank and merit have so justly entitled you, but which has been so long ungenerously withheld 1 And art thou angry at the barbarous usage ? Be appeased, sweet ghost ! for, though thy body has long laid undis tinguished among the vulgar dead, scarce privileged with earth enough to hide it from the birds of prey, — -though not a kindred tear was dropped, though not a friendly sigh was uttered, o'er thy grave, — and though the execrations of an impious foe were all thy funeral knells, — yet, matchless patriot ! thy memory has been embalmed in the affec tions of thy grateful countrymen, who, in their breasts, have raised eternal monuments to thy bravery ! " In another passage, Morton exclaims: "Like Harrington he wrote, — like Cicero he spoke, — like Hampden he lived, — and like Wolfe he died ! " A few years since, the remains of Gen. Warren were removed from the tomb of the Minots to the family tomb of bis nephew, Dr. John C. Warren, under St. Paul's Church. His skull is in a careful state of preservation. Perez Morton was born at Plymouth, Nov. 13, 1751. His father settled at Boston, and was keeper of the White Horse Tavern, opposite Hayward-place, and died in 1793. The son entered the Boston Latin School in 1760, and graduated at Harvard College in 1771, when he studied law ; but the revolutionary war prevented his engaging in the practice, and he took an active part in the cause of freedom. In 1775 he was one of the Committee of Safety, and in the same year became deputy-secretary of the province. After the war, he opened an office as an attorney at law, at his residence in State-street, on the present site of the Union Bank. In 1778 he married , Sarah Wentworth Apthorp, at Quincy, noted by Paine as the American Sappho. Mr. Morton was a leader of the old Jacobin Club, which held meetings at 130 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. the Green Dragon Tavern, and became a decided Democrat. A polit ical poet of Boston thus satirizes Perez Morton : " Perez, thou art in earnest, though some doubt thee ! In truth, the Club could never do without thee ! My reasons thus I give thee in a trice, — You want their votes, and they want your advice ! "Thy tongue, shrewd Perez, favoring ears insures, — The cash elicits, and the vote secures. Thus the fat oyster, as the poet tells, The lawyer ate, — his clients gained the shells. ' ' Mr. Morton was Speaker of the House from 1806 to 1811, and was attorney-general from 1810 to 1832 ; was a delegate from Dorches ter to the convention for revising the State constitution, in 1820, and was vigorous in general debate. He died at Dorchester, Oct. 14, 1837. He was an ardent patriot, an eloquent speaker, of an elegant figure and polished manners. BENJAMIN HICHBORN. MARCH 5, 1777. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. We will cite a passage from this performance, which was delivered at the old brick meeting-house, to indicate its patriotic spirit: "We can easily conceive," says Mr. Hichborn, " a mixture of prejudice and fear, that will excite such awful ideas of the person to whom we have been taught from our cradles to annex the properties of a most gracious sovereign, most sacred majesty, and a train of such God-like attributes, as would make us feel conscious of a degree of impiety in calling' a villain by his proper name, while shrouded under this garb of sanctity. But it is exceedingly diverting to view the influence of this chimerical divinity in those who are made the immediate tools of supporting it. They will tell you it is a task most ungrateful to men of their sensibil ity and refinement, to be made the instruments of sending fire and death indiscriminately among the innocent, the helpless, and the fair, —but they have sworn to be faithful to their sovereign, and, were they BENJAMIN HICHBORN. 131 ordered to scale the walls of the new Jerusalem, they should not dare to decline the impious attempt. " Were it not for this ridiculous faith in the omnipotence of the tyrant whom they serve, we must suppose them fools or madmen. Indeed, that very faith would justify the charge of extreme madness and folly against all mankind who had not been nurtured in this cradle of infatuation. Were it not for the indulgence that a generous mind will always show to the weakness and prejudices of the worst of men, many whom the chance of war has thrown into our hands must have felt the severity and contempt of a justly enraged people, while they, with all their vanity and ostentation, remain the unhurt objects of our pity. " It is surely rather a subject of merry ridicule, than deserving of serious resentment, to see many of this kind of gentry affecting to deny the character of prisoners, and attributing that indulgence, which is the effect of unparalleled generosity, to the mean motive of fear ; but we will let them know that they cannot provoke us even to justice in the line of punishment, and we leave them to their own consciences, and the impartial censures of surrounding nations, to make some returns for the unexampled cruelties that many of our friends have suffered from their barbarous hands, — in lieu of that severity which, however just, humanity shudders to inflict. But we cannot think it strange to find people, in the subordinate departments of life, influ enced by such ridiculous notions, while their haughty masters seem to labor under the misfortune of the same infatuation." Benjamin Hichborn was born at Boston, Feb. 24, 1746, graduated at Harvard College in 1768, was admitted to the bar July 27th of that year, and became an eminent barrister. He was ardent in the cause of the Revolution, and one of the most fearless, dauntless patri ots. In 1775, a Tory wrote of him as a prisoner on board the Pres ton, and, as a young lawyer, standing a fair chance for the gallows. He was imprisoned on board of a ship of war in Boston harbor, and a note of his oration thus alludes to the fact : " Capt. Johnson and his crew, the prisoners in general at New York and Halifax, Mr. Lovell and many others in Boston, are instances suf ficient to destroy the little credit the British ever had for humanity ; and the sufferings of some to which I myself have been a witness, exposed to all the inconveniences and hazards of a languishing disease in confinement on ship-board, in view of the persons and habitations of their nearest friends, and a sympathizing parent turned over the side, 132 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. with reproaches for attempting to speak to his sick, suffering, dying child, must give the characters of the polite, sensible, humane Admiral Graves, and his nephew Sam, a stamp of infamy which the power of time can never wipe away." When Mr. Hichborn took his degree at the college, his commence ment part was in Latin : "An Crimen, non Republican noxium, Cogni- tioni humana? subjici debeat?" He married Hannah Gardner, March 2, 1780, the widow of Benjamin Andrews, a hardware merchant, whom tradition relates he shot with a pistol at the dinner-table of her husband, stating he was not aware that the pistol was loaded with ball. To obviate the tendency of the imputation against him, we quote from the Boston Gazette of Jan. 11, 1779, the following relation of the unfortunate death of Benjamin Andrews, which occurred on the Sat urday evening previous : " Sitting in his parlor, with his lady and a friend, he had been comparing an elegant pair of pistols, which he had bought the preceding day, with a pair which he had some time before, and which were supposed to be unloaded. Upon one of these Mr. Andrews observed some rust in a place left for the engraver to mark the owner's name upon. His friend undertook to rub it off. Having accomplished it, he was returning the pistol to Mr. Andrews, who was sitting in a chair at the table by the fireside. Unhappily, as he took it from his friend, Mr. Andrews grasped it in such a manner as brought his thumb upon the trigger, which happened to have no guard, and it instantly discharged its contents into his head, near his temple, and he expired in less than half an hour. It is remarkable that a few minutes before he had taken the screw-pins from both these pistols, and one of them almost to pieces ; and had handled them without any caution, and in every direction against his own body, and those who were in the room with him." The verdict of the jury of inquest was, that Mr. Andrews came to his death by misfortune. As colonel of the Cadets of Boston, he marched to Rhode Island in 1778. Mr. Hichborn was a representative of Boston, a democrat of the old school, and a warm advocate of Jefferson. Many famous lawyers read law in his office. He died at Dorchester, Sept. 15, 1817. A witty political poet of Boston, in 1795, thus alludes to Hichborn in a poem, " The Lyars," which, when published, excited furious riots : " Sooner shall Vinal in his school remain, Or Hewes, my pack-horse, common sense attain ; Sooner shall Morton's speeches seem too long, Or Hichborn to lay a tax upon the tongue ; JONATHAN WILLIAMS AUSTIN. 133 Sooner shall language 'scape the clam-like lip Of Tommy Edwards, ere he drinks his flip ; Sooner shall Dexter use a word uncouth, Than Dr. Jarvis ever speak the truth." JONATHAN WILLIAMS AUSTIN. MARCH 5, 1778. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. Jonathan Williams Austin was born at Boston, April 18, 1751. He entered the Latin School 1759, graduated at Harvard College 1769. The first English exercise at this college, it is said, on com mencement-day, July, 1769, was a dialogue between Mr. Austin and William Tudor. He read law with John Adams at the same period. Mr. Austin was the first witness examined in the trial of the Brit ish soldiers for the murder of the victims on the 5th of March, 1770. He is recorded as clerk to John Adams, Esq., and recognized one William McCauley, a prisoner at the bar. He related as follows: " On the evening of the 5th of March last, I heard the bells ring, and immediately went into King-street." In answer to the question how many people were present on his entrance there, he replied, "There might be twenty or thirty, I believe. I saw the sentry at the custom house door, swinging his gun and bayonet. There were a parcel of men and boys round him. I desired them to come away, and not molest the sentry. Some of them came off, and went to the middle of the street. I then left them, and went up towards the main guard. Immediately a party came down. I walked by the side of them till I came to the sentry-box, at the custom-house. McCauley then got to the right of the sentry-box ; he was then loading his piece. I was about four feet off. McCauley said, ' Damn you, stand off ! ' and pushed his bayonet at me. I did so. Immediately I heard the report of a gun. He came round the sentry-box, and stood close to it on the right. I stood inside the gutter, close by the box, which was three or four feet 12 134 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. from the corner of the custom-house." In answer to the question how many guns did you hear fired, Mr. Austin replied that there were five or six. Mr. Austin was admitted to Suffolk bar July 27, 1772. We cannot find that Mr. Austin was ever married ; we infer, how ever, from an " Epitaph for Himself," as follows, that matrimony was a subject near his heart, — but he was removed in early life : " I had my failings, be the truth oonfest ; And, reader, canst thou boast a blameless breast ? Nor hold me all defect ; I had a mind That wished all happiness to all mankind, — That more than wished, — the little in my power I cheered the sorrowing, soothed the dying hour. Yearned, though in vain, to save life's parting thread, Which mourned the pious, more the vicious, dead. Spare me one tear, and then, kind reader, go ; Live foe to none, and die without a foe. Live, and, if possible, enlarge thy plan ; Not live alone, — die, too, the friend of man. And when our dust obeys the trumpet's call, He '11 prove our friend who lived and died for all." He was an elegant writer, and an eloquent speaker. He was a member of the Middlesex Convention, in 1774, and chairman of the committee that prepared resolutions adopted by the convention. He was author of Poetical and Political Essays, and a colonel in the army of the Revolution. He died in a southern State, in 1779. The patriotic oration of Mr. Austin, delivered at the Old Brick, burns warm with pure love of country, and we select one passage to the point : " It is standing armies in time of peace, and the conse quences thence resulting, that we deprecate. Armies, in defence of our country unjustly invaded, are necessary, and in the highest sense justifiable. We, my friends, attacked by an arbitrary tyrant, under the sanction of a force the effects of which we have attempted to illus trate, have been obliged to make the last solemn appeal. And I can not but feel a pleasing kind of transport, when I see America, undaunted by the many trying scenes that have attended her, still baffling the efforts of the most formidable power in Europe, and exhibiting an instance unknown in history. To see an army of veterans, who had fought and conquered in different quarters of the globe, headed by a general tutored in the field of war, illustrious by former victories, and flushed with repeated successes, threatening, with all the pomp of WILLIAM TUDOR. 135 expression, to spread havoc, desolation, and ruin, around him, — to see such a soldiery and such a general yielding to a hardy race of men, new to the field of war, — while, on the one hand, it exalts the character of the latter, convincingly proves the folly of those who, under pre tence of having a body of troops bred to war and ever ready for action, adopt this dangerous system, in subversion of every principle of lawful government. Here, if, after having depictured scenes of so distressing nature, it may not appear too descending, I could not for bear smiling at the British general and his troops, who, not willing to reflect on their present humiliating condition, affect the air of arrogant superiority. But Americans have learnt them that men, fighting on the principles of freedom and honor, despise the examples that have been set them by an enemy ; and, though in the field they can brave every danger in defence of those principles, to a vanquished enemy they know how to be generous, — but that this is a generosity not weak and unmeaning, but founded on just sentiments, and if wantonly pre sumed upon, will never interfere with that national justice which ever ought, and lately has been, properly exerted." WILLIAM TUDOR. MARCH 5, 1779. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. William Tudor was born at Boston, March 28, 1750, a son of Dea. John Tudor, of Rev. Dr. Lathrop's church, who records, in 1779, that " the sudden judgments of an earthquake, terrible storm, and fire, have all three done damage to the meeting-house, within his remem brance." The son entered the Latin School in 1758, graduated at Harvard College in 1769, studied law with John Adams, was admitted to Suffolk bar July 27, 1772, was an eminent counsellor, a colonel in the army of the Revolution, and Judge Advocate General from 1775 to 1778. He married Delia Jarvis, March 5, 1778. He was a mem ber of the House and Senate^ and in 1809-10 the Secretary of State. 136 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Col. Tudor was Vice-president of the Society of Cincinnati of Massa chusetts, in 1816, and was the last orator of that institution, in 1791. He acted as Judge Advocate in the trials of officers engaged in the war of the Revolution. He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Historical Society, in whose collections appears an extended memoir. He died July 8, 1819. Mr. Tudor was, by the war of the Revolution, separated from the lady to whom his affections were engaged, and whom he afterwards married. For the benefit of a better air, she resided some time on Noddle's Island, in the family of Mr. Williams. One of his boyish acquisitions was now of use to him. He was, in his youth, an excel lent swimmer. When a boy, being on a visit on board of an English ship of the line in the harbor, the conversation turned upon swimming; and he proposed to jump from the taffrail rail over the stern, — which, in ships of the old model, was a considerable height, — if any one would do the same. A sailor offered himself. The boy took the leap, but the man was afraid to follow. He now profited by a knowledge of this art. To have attempted visiting the island in a boat, would have exposed him to certain capture by the enemy ; but, tying his clothes in a bundle on his head, he used to swim from the opposite shore of Chelsea to the island, make his visit, and return to the continent in the same manner. In the elegant and spirited oration of Col. William Tudor, delivered at the Old Brick, we find a passage specially worthy of perpetual record: "In 1764 the plan for raising a revenue from this country was resolved on by the British ministry, and their obsequious Parlia ment were instructed to pass an act for that purpose. Not content with having for a century directed the entire commerce of America, and centred its profits in their own island, thereby deriving from the colo nies every substantial advantage which the situation and trans-marine distance of the country could afford them ; not content with appointing the principal officers in the different governments, while the king had a negative upon every law that was enacted ; not content with our supporting the whole charge of our municipal establishments, although their own creatures held the chief posts therein ; not content with lay- in gexternal duties upon our mutilated and shackled commerce, — they, by this statute, attempted to rob us of even the curtailed property, the hard-earned peculium which still remained to us, to create a rev enue for the support of a fleet and army ; in reality, to overawe and WILLIAM TUDOR. 137 secure our subjection, — not (as they insidiously pretended) to protect our trade, or defend our frontiers ; the first of which they annoyed, and the latter deserted. "After repealing this imperious edict, — not because it was unjust in principle, but inexpedient in exercise,- — they proceeded to declare, by a public act of the whole legislature, that we had no property but what was at their disposal, and that Americans, in future, were to hold their privileges and lives solely on the tenure of the good will and pleasure of a British Parliament. Acts soon followed correspondent to this righteous determination, which not quadrating with American ideas of right, justice and reason, a fleet and army were sent to give them that force which laws receive when promulgated from the mouths of can non, or at the points of bayonets. We then first saw our harbor crowded with hostile .ships, our streets with soldiers, — soldiers accus tomed to consider military prowess as the standard of excellence ; and, vain of the splendid pomp attendant on regular armies, they contempt uously looked down on our peaceful orders of citizens. Conceiving themselves more powerful, they assumed a superiority which they did not feel ; and whom they could not but envy, they affected to despise. Perhaps, — knowing they were sent, and believing they were able, to subdue us, — they thought it was no longer necessary to observe any measures with slaves. Hence that arrogance in the carriage of the officers; hence that licentiousness and brutality in the common soldiers, which at length broke out with insufferable violence, and proceeding to personal insults and outrageous assaults on the inhabitants, soon roused them to resentment, and produced the catastrophe which we now com memorate. The immediate horrors of that distressful night have been so often and so strikingly painted, that I shall not again wring your feeling bosoms with the affecting recital. To the faithful pen of his tory I leave them to be represented, as the horrid prelude to those more extensive tragedies which, under the direction of a most obstinate and sanguinary prince, have since been acted in every comer of America where his armies have been able to penetrate." Judge Tudor, when on a tour in Europe, about the year 1800, after his arrival at London, was presented at court by our ambassador, Rufus King. On the mention of his name, King George smiled, and observed, in his rapid manner, "Tudor! what — one of us?" Having been told that he had just come from France, he eagerly made many inquiries respecting the state of that country, the situation of Paris, and the 12* 138 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. opinions of the inhabitants. These court presentations are generally a mere matter of form ; but foreigners, introduced by their ambassadors, are received apart by the king, and before the subjects of the country. The king's curiosity continued the interview so long, that Lord Gal loway, the lord in waiting, who had a great amount of duty to perform, grew impatient, and said, " His Majesty seems to be so deeply engaged with his cousin, that he forgets what a number of persons are in wait ing to be presented." The king, in this audience, exhibited all the courtesy and inquisitive good sense which always distinguished him. When at Paris, in 1807, the Empress Josephine had it in charge to amuse the courtiers during the absence of Napoleon. She gave enter tainments at the palace, which were called cercles. The first singers and actors were called to perform a few select pieces on these evenings, and a light but most exquisite supper was given to the guests. After Mr. Tudor and the ladies of his family had been presented, they were invited several times to these cercles, and also to similar entertainments from the other branches of the imperial family. A trifling circum stance will here show how minute the French are in their attentions. In the absence of Napoleon, gentlemen were presented to Cambaceres, and afterwards invited to his table. From very abstemious and simple habits in early life, he became one of the most luxurious and ostenta tious of the imperial court. He was remarkable for the expense and excellence of his table. Mr. Tudor was invited to dine with him; and. as he did not speak French, though he understood it, a gentleman was placed by him who spoke English perfectly. In the course of the din ner, he was offered a piece of plum-pudding, which he declined. He was told that it had been prepared purposely for him, thinking it was a national dish. Of course, he could not refuse to take a piece. Though he was fonder of the simple dishes of his own country than the costly and scientific preparations of French cookery, he was always willing to admit that this dinner of the arch-chancellor could not be surpassed. JONATHAN MASON. 139 JONATHAN MASON. MARCH 5, 17S0. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. Jonathan Mason was born in Boston, Aug. 30, 1752, a son of Dea. Jonathan Mason of the Old South Church ; entered the Latin School in 1763. graduated at Princeton College in 1774, a student at law under John Adams, and an attorney in 1777. Mr. Mason was one of the ninety-six attestators of the Boston Massacre, and confirms a fact regarding Hutchinson, related in the History of Massachusetts : "Jonathan Mason, of lawful age, testifies and says, that on the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, about ten o'clock, being in King- street, Boston, standing near His Honor the lieutenant-governor, he heard him say to an officer at the head of the king's troops, who, it was said, was Capt. Preston, ' Sir, you are sensible you had no right to fire, unless you had orders from a magistrate.'" To which Capt. Preston replied, ' Sir, we were insulted,' — or words to that purpose ; upon which Capt Preston desired His Honor to go with him to the guard-house, which His Honor declined, and repaired to the council- chamber. "Boston, March 21, 1770." On the Monday after the memorable 5th March, 1780, Mr. Mason delivered a spirited oration in the Old Brick Church, when a collection was taken for the unhappy Monk, still languishing from the cruel wounds received at the Massacre. " The living history of our own times will carry conviction to the latest posterity," says Jonathan Mason in his eloquent performance, "that no state, that no community, — I may say. that no family,- — nay, even that no individual. — can possibly flourish and be happy, without some portion of the sacred fire of patriotism. It was this that raised America from being the haunt of the savage, and the dwelling-place of the beast, to her present state of civil ization and opulence ; it was this that hath supported her under the severest trials ; it was this that taught her sons to fight, to conquer and to die, in support of freedom and its blessings. And what is it, but this ardent love of liberty, that has induced you, my fellow-citi zens, to attend on this solemn occasion, again to encourage the streams of sensibility, and to listen with so much attention and candor to one 140 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. of the youngest of your fellow-citizens, whose youth and inability plead powerfully against him, while the annual tribute is paid to the memory of those departed citizens who fell the first sacrifices to arbi trary power 1 Check not such generous feelings. They are the fruits of virtue and humanity ; and, while the obligations you remain under to those unhappy men lead you to shed the sympathetic tear, to dwell with pleasure upon their memories, and execrate the causes of their death, remember that you can never repay them. Ever bear it in your minds, that so implicit was the confidence you willingly placed in that country that owed to you her affection, that, notwithstanding the introduction of that inhuman weapon of tyrants into the very heart of your peaceful villages, you still would fain rely on their deceitful asser tions, and paint the deformed monster to your imaginations as the min ister of peace and protection. Men born in the bosom of liberty, living in the exercise of the social affections in their full vigor, having once fixed them upon particular objects, they are not hastily eradi cated. Unaccustomed to sport with and wantonly sacrifice these sensi ble overflowings of the heart, to run the career of passion and blinded lust, to be familiar with vice and sneer at virtue, to surprise innocence by deceitful cunning, and assume the shade of friendship to conceal the greater enmity, you could not at once realize the fixed, the delib erate intention of those from whom you expected freedom to load you with slavery and chains ; — -and not till insult repeated upon insult, — not till oppression stalked at noonday through every avenue in your cities, — nay, not till the blood of your peaceful brethren flowed through your streets, — was the envenomed serpent to be discovered in the bushes ; — ¦ not till a general trespass had been made upon the keenest feelings of human nature, and the widowed mother was sum moned to entomb the cold remains of her affectionate son, the virtuous bosom to resign its tender partner, and social circles their nearest friends, could you possibly convince yourselves that you and Britain were to be friends no more. Thrice happy day ! the consequences of which have taught the sons of America that a proper exercise of pub lic spirit and the love of virtue hath been able to surprise and baffle the most formidable and most powerful tyranny on earth." Jonathan Mason was an eminent counsellor at law, and a member of the State Legislature. In 1798 he was of the Governor's Council; in 1800 he was elected to the United States Senate, and in 1819 to the House in Congress, when he voted for the Missouri Compromise. In THOMAS DAWES. 141 his political relations he was a firm adherent of the federal party. He was distinguished for great energy of character and dignity of manners. In stature he was tall and erect. He died at Boston, November 1, 1831. Mr. Mason married Susanna, daughter of William Powell, April 13, 1779. Dr. John C. Warren married their daughter Susan in 1803, and Hon. David Sears married their daughter Miriam C. in 1809. An admirable portrait of Mr. Mason, by Gilbert Stuart, is in the family of Mr. Sears. THOMAS DAWES. MARCH 5, 1781. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. Thomas Dawes was a son of Col. Thomas Dawes, an eminent archi tect, and patriot of the Revolution. He was born at Boston, July 8, 1758. He entered the Latin School in 1766, graduated at Harvard College in 1777, early entered the profession of law, and became an eminent counsellor. He married Margaret Greenleaf in 1781, and resided on the paternal estate in Purchase-street, a place famous in the Revolu tion for private caucuses. He ever evinced a lively imagination, and natural thirst for, polite literature. His witticisms are proverbial, and his patriotic and literary poetic effusions were highly popular. When about thirty years of age, he was appointed one of the associate justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of the State, which he filled until 1803, when he became judge of the Municipal Court for Boston until 1823. He was appointed judge of Probate for Suffolk county, which station he occupied until his decease, July 22, 1825. Judge Dawes was a delegate to the State Convention of 1820 for revising the con stitution. He was of very small stature, being not five feet in height, but rotund and fleshy round the waist. His face was florid and small, with expressive eyes. His hair was long and gray. His utterance was of a striking lisp, and his voice was soft and clear. He wore small-clothes and buckled shoes. When it was announced that Thomas 142 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Dawes was appointed to the Supreme Court, Col. Hichborn, it is related, who was displeased, contemptuously said of him, " I could put him into my pocket." Upon being informed of this, Judge Dawes promptly remarked, with great dignity and good-nature, " If he did pocket me, he would have had more law in his pocket than he ever had in his head." On another occasion, standing among five other guests in a drawing-room, just before dinner was announced, all of whom were tall or stouter than himself, — Gen. Arnold Welles, Col. Roulstone, Maj. Benjamin Russell, and others, — one of them jocosely asked him how he felt, being so small, and surrounded as he was by so many large men; to whom he promptly replied, "Like a silver six penny piece among five copper cents, — much less in size than any one, but of more intrinsic value than all of them together." When the liberty-pole was erected on the spot where the Liberty Tree once flourished, opposite Frog-lane, Judge Dawes wrote as follows : " Of high renown here grew the tree, — The elm so dear to liberty. Your sires, beneath its sacred shade, To Freedom early homage paid ; This day, with filial awe, surround Its root, that sanctifies the ground ; And, by your fathers' spirits, swear The rights they left you '11 not impair." "Do we not see the darkened spring of 1770," said Judge Dawes in his oration at the Old Brick, " like the moon in a thick atmosphere, rising in blood, and ushered in by the figure of Britain plunging her poignard in the young bosom of America? 0, our bleeding country ! was it for this our hoary sires sought thee through all the elements, and having found thee sheltering away from the western wave, discon solate, cheered thy sad face, and decked thee out like the garden of God ? Time was when we could all affirm to this gloomy question, when we were ready to cry out that our fathers had done a vain thing. I mean upon that unnatural right which we now commemorate • when the fire of Brutus was on many a heart, — when the strain of Gracchus was on many a tongue. ' Wretch that I am ! — whither shall I retreat ? — whither shall I turn me ? — to the capitol ? The capital swims in my brother's blood. To my family ? There must I see a wretched, a mournful and afflicted mother.' Misery loves to brood over its own woes ; and so peculiar were the woes of that ni°fit so THOMAS DAWES. 148 expressive the pictures of despair, so various the face of death, that not all the grand tragedies which have been since acted can crowd from our minds that era of the human passions, that preface to the general conflict that now rages. May we never forget to offer a sac rifice to the manes of our brethren who bled so early at the foot of Lib erty. Hitherto we have nobly avenged their fall ; but as ages cannot expunge the debt, their melancholy ghosts still rise at a stated season, and will forever wander in the night of this noted anniversary. Let us, then, be frequent pilgrims at their tombs. There let us profit of all our feelings ; and, while the senses are ' struck deep with woe,' give wing to the imagination. Hark ! even now, in the hollow wind, I hear the voice of the departed : ' 0 ye who listen to wisdom, and aspire to immortality, as ye have avenged our blood, thrice blessed ! as ye still war against the mighty hunters of the earth, your names are recorded in heaven ! ' " Such are the suggestions of fancy; and, having given them their due scope, — having described the memorable Fifth of March as a sea son of disaster, — it would be an impiety not to consider it in its other relation ; for the rising honors of these States are distant issues, as it were, from the intricate though all-wise divinity which presided upon that night. Strike that night out of time, and we quench the first ardor of a resentment which has been ever since increasing, and now accelerates the fall of tyranny. The provocations of that night must be numbered among" the master springs which gave the first motion to a vast machinery, a noble and comprehensive system of national independence. 'The independence of America,' says the writer under the signature of ' Common Sense,' ' should have been considered as dating its era from the first musket that was fired against her.' Be it so ! but Massachusetts may certainly date many of its blessings from the Boston Massacre, — a dark hour in itself, but from which a marvellous light has arisen. From that night, revolution became inevitable, and the occasion commenced of thq present most beautiful form of government. We often read of the original contract, and of mankind, in the early ages, passing from a state of nature to immediate civilization. But what eye could penetrate through Gothic night and barbarous fable to that remote period ? Such an eye, per haps, was present, when the Deity conceived the universe, and fixed his compass upon the great deep. Ajid yet the people of Massachusetts have reduced to practice the wonderful theory. A numerous people 144 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. have convened in a state of nature, and, like our ideas of the patriarchs, have deputed a few fathers of the land to draw up for them a glorious covenant. It has been drawn. The people have signed it with rap ture, and have thereby bartered among themselves an easy degree of obedience for the highest possible civil happiness. To render that cov enant eternal, patriotism and political virtue must forever blaze, — must blaze at the present day with superlative lustre, being watched, from different motives, by the eyes of all mankind. Nor must that patriot ism be contracted to a single commonwealth. A combination of the States is requisite to support them individually. ' Unite, or die,' is our indispensable motto." Mr. Robert Patterson presented a petition to the town of Boston, on this day, March 5, 1781, setting forth that he received a wound in the right arm, on the 5th of March, 1770, by a shot from Preston's party, whereby he has entirely lost the use of it ; and that, since the death of Mr. Monk, he is the only one of the unhappy number, then badly wounded, that survives ; and therefore praying the charity of the town; — "voted, that a collection be made, at the close of this meeting, for the unhappy sufferer." Boxes were placed at each door of the Old Brick Meeting-house, to receive the contributions ; and also on the two years succeeding. We cannot resist the insertion of Judge Dawes' patriotic effusion, repeated to the editor from memory, by Thomas Somes, a merchant of Boston, and a nephew of the judge, one day in the street, when stand ing nearly opposite the Athenaeum, and who died suddenly a few days after the recital. It was sung June 17, 1786, at the festival on the opening of Charlestown Bridge, after the announcement of this senti ment : " May this anniversary be forever marked with joy, as its birth was with glory." " Now let rich music sound, And all the region round With rapture fill ; Let the full trump of fame To heaven itself proclaim The everlasting name Of Bunker's Hill. ' ' Beneath his sky- wrapt brow What heroes sleep below, — How dear to Jove ! THOMAS DAWES. 145 Not more beloved were those Who foiled celestial foes When the old giants rose To arms above ! " Now scarce eleven short years Have rolled their rapid spheres Through heaven's high road, Since o'er yon swelling tide Passed all the British pride, And watered Bunker's side With foreign blood. "Then Charlestown's gilded spires Felt unrelenting fires, And sunk in night ; But, phcenix-like, they '11 rise From where their ruin lies, And strike the astonished eyes With glories bright. " Meandering to the deep, Majestic Charles shall weep Of war no more. Famed as the Appian Way, The world's first bridge, to-day All nations shall convey From shore to shore. " On our blessed mountain's head The festive-board we '11 spread With viands high ; Let joy's broad bowl go round, With public spirit crowned ; We '11 consecrate the ground To Liberty." When Judge Dawes was a delegate in the State Convention of 1820, he made several speeches. On one occasion he remarked, the constitution was adopted just after he left the law office of one of its principal founders, and he had an opportunity of witnessing the anxiety of those who raised this bulwark of our liberties. Of the spirit of amity which prevailed in the convention of 1788, he could speak with confidence. He was one of the twelve gentlemen chosen from Boston to that convention, nine of whom have gone to render their account, and he must soon follow. Those gentlemen were obliged to change their minds, as light beamed upon them on the various subjects dis- 13 146 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. cussed. Even Samuel Adams, who was remarkable for the inflexibil ity of his opinions, after hearing Fisher Ames' speech upon the bien nial election of members of Congress, got up, — not to oppose, as was expected, but to tell us that he was satisfied with the reasons which had been given by Ames. This conduct, in such a man as Mr. Adams, had a great effect upon the other members of the convention. Mr. Dawes opposed a resolution directing the manner in which the votes on the amendments are to be given by the people, where the per sons voting are to express their opinion by annexing to each number the word Yes, or No, or any other words that may signify his opinion of the proposed amendment. He thought this latitude might lead to difficulty. It would permit a man to read a whole sermon. They had often heard whole sermons read in the Assembly, — they might read them in town-meeting, and put them on file, to express their opinion. It was amended. Judge Dawes was a member also of the convention for the adoption of a State constitution in 1780. Thomas Dawes always exhibited an honest and friendly feeling, which shone forth in his social intercourse, enlivened by classic and literary taste, undiminished by the assumption of measured manner, too often exercised to supply the place of real merit. GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT. MARCH 5, 1782. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. ¦ George Richards Minot was born at Boston, Dec. 22, 1758, and was the youngest of ten children. He entered the Latin School in 1767, where he was a shining scholar. When the important period drew near in which he was to leave school, he was not only required by Master James Lovell to compose" bis own oration, but he was also enjoined to aid several of his classmates in the same duty. While at Harvard College he devoted himself with great industry and success to classical and historical studies. He graduated in 1778. His most GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT. 147 admired models were Robertson's Charles the Fifth, and the London Annual Register. At his graduation he received the highest honors of the college, without an expression of envy from his classmates ; such is the force of superior merit towards the youth who loved every one, and who veiled his talent in the garb of modesty. Mr. Minot entered on the study of law under Judge .Tudor, towards whom he had a warm veneration. It was in his office that he enjoyed the advantage of being the fellow-student of Fisher Ames, where his own genius caught fire from the flame which burned so intensely in the imagina tion of his companion. Fisher Ames was at that time unknown to the world, but Minot never spoke of him without enthusiasm ; and he often predicted the splendid reputation which this powerful orator would in coming time attain. On the adoption of the State constitution, in 1780, Mr. Minot was elected clerk of the House of Representatives. During this period, the causes which led to the insurrection of Daniel Shays were in opera tion, and he had the opportunity of being familiar with the debates, which were of intense public interest. This insurrection was a primary cause of the adoption of the constitution of the United States. Mr. Minot was appointed secretary of the State Convention of 1788, on the discussion of its adoption. Mr. Minot was married in March, 1783, to Mary Speakman, of Marlboro', the lady of his early love, whose warmth of affection towards him was ardent as that of his towards herself. At this period he was a liberal contributor to the Boston Magazine, and was an editor of three early volumes of the Massachusetts Historical Collections, of which society, the Humane, the Charitable, and the American Academy, he was a devoted mem ber. He was appointed judge of Probate in 1792, which office he honored with impartiality and humanity. He became judge of the Municipal Court from 1800, and wisely sustained its duties until his decease, Jan. 2, 1802. His residence was in Devonshire-street, on the site of the Type and Stereotype Foundery, and no private mansion in Boston was more famous for a free and generous hospitality. He was remarkable for sprightly sallies of wit, radiant benignity, and blandness of manners. In 1795 his address for the Massachusetts Charitable Society, of which he was president, was published. His impassioned eulogy on the character of Washington, pronounced at the request of the town of Boston, was ready for sale on the day after its delivery, and was more rapidly sought than even that by Fisher Ames, 148 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. an edition being sold in one day, and two more shortly after being taken up. His intimate friend and pastor, Dr. James Freeman, remarked of this eulogy, that a kindred likeness may be traced in the features of the minds, in Minot's delineations of the character of Washington, so striking as to be obvious to those who best knew them both. Judge Minot had but ten days' notice to prepare the funeral oration, and thus described the emotions of his mind at this time : "My only refuge was in an enthusiastic pursuit of my subject, which stimulated what little powers I possessed to their utmost exertion. A candor and mild expectation prevailed through all ranks of people, which encouraged me. A like kind of attentive silence enabled me to deliver myself so as to be heard. I sat down unconscious of the effect, feeling as though the music was at once playing the dirge of Washing ton's memory and my own reputation. I was soon astonished at my good fortune. All praised me ; a whole edition of my eulogy sold in a day; the printers, Manning and Loring, presented me with an addi tional number of copies, on account of their success ; invitations were sent me to dine in respectable companies ; my friends are delighted, and, although nearly exhausted by sickness, I am happy. Such was the successful issue of the most unpropitious undertaking that I was ever engaged in." In 1798, Judge Minot published a Continuation of Hutchinson's History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and the second volume in 1803. Our American Sallust is peculiar for veracity, perspicuity and vigor, and was the first purely elegant historian of New England. His History of the Insurrection in Massachusetts, and the Rebellion consequent thereon, published by Manning and Loring, in 1798, , is the best record of that perilous period ever prepared. In the polished oration of George Richards Minot, pronounced at the Old Brick, on the Boston Massacre, in 1782, we find an appeal to the moral sense of this republic, where he remarks : " Let us not trust to laws. An uncorrupted people can exist with out them ; a corrupted people cannot long exist with them, or any other human assistance. They are remedies which, at best, always disclose and confess our evils. The body politic once distempered, they may indeed be used as a crutch to support it a while, but they can never * heal it. Rome, when her bravery conquered the neighboring nations and united them to her own empire, was free from all danger within, because her armies, being urged on by a love for their country, would GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT. 149 as readily suppress an internal as an external enemy. In those times she made no scruple to throw out her kings who had abused their power. But when her subjects sought not for the advantage of the commonwealth, — when they thronged to the Asiatic wars for the spoils they produced, and preferred prostituting the rights of citizenship upon any barbarian that demanded them, to meeting him in the field for their support, — then Rome grew too modest to accept from the hands of a dictator those rights which she ought to have impaled him for daring to invade. No alteration in her laws merely could have effected this. Had she remained virtuous, she might as well have expelled her dictators as her kings. But what laws can save a people who, for the very purpose of enslaving themselves, choose to consider them rather as counsels which they may accept or refuse, than as precepts which they are bound to obey ? With such a people they must ever want a sanction, and be contemned. Virtue and long life seem to be as intimately allied in the political as in the moral world. She is the guard which Providence has set at the gate of freedom." Here we have the peroration of Minot's oration: "America once guarded against herself, what has she to fear ? Her natural situation may well inspire her with confidence. Her rocks and her mountains are the chosen temples of liberty. The extent of her climate, and the variety of its produce, throw the means of her greatness, into her own hands, and insure her the traffic of the world. Navies shall launch from her forests, and her bosom be found stored with the most precious treasures of nature. May the industry of her people be a still surer pledge of her wealth ! The union of her States, too, is founded upon the most durable principles. The similarity of the manners, religion and laws, of their inhabitants, must ever support the measure whieh their common injuries originated. Her government, ' while it is restrained from violating the rights of the subject, is not disarmed against the public foe. Could Junius Brutus and his colleagues have beheld her republic erecting itself on the disjointed neck of tyranny, how would they have wreathed a laurel for her temples as eternal as their own memories ! America ! fairest copy of such great originals ! be virtuous, and thy reign shall be as happy as durable, and as dura ble as the pillar's of the world you have enfranchised." The character of Judge Minot was thus admirably described by Hon. John Quincy Adams, on the year of his decease : "Are you an observer of men, and has it been your fortune only 150 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. once to behold George Richards Minot? You have remarked the ele gance of his person, and the peculiar charm of expression in his coun tenance. Have you witnessed his deportment? It bore the marks of graceful simplicity, of dignified modesty, of unassuming urbanity. Have you listened to his conversation? It was the voice of harmony; it was the index of a penetrating and accurate mind ; it was the echo to a warm and generous heart. Such appeared Mr. Minot on a first and transient acquaintance, from which period to that of the most con fidential intimacy, our own knowledge, and the unvaried testimony of indisputable authority, concur in affirming that every trace of pleas ing first impression was proportionably deepened, every anticipation of sterling worth abundantly fulfilled. His character, as the citizen of a free country, was not less exemplary. The profoundest historian of antiquity has adduced the life of Agricola as an extraordinary proof that it is possible to be a great and good man, even under the despot ism of the worst of princes. "Minot's example may be alleged as a demonstration equally rare, under a free republic, that, in times of the greatest dissensions, and amidst the most virulent rancor of factions, a man may be great and good, and yet acquire and preserve the esteem and veneration of all. In the bitterness of civil contention he enjoyed the joint applause of minds the most irreconciled to each other. Before the music of his character, the very scorpions dropped from the lash of discord,- — the very snakes of faction listened and sunk asleep ! Yet did he not pur chase this unanimous approbation by the sacrifice of any principle at the shrine of popularity. From that double-tongued candor which fashions its doctrines to its company, — from that cowardice, in the garb of good-nature, which assents to all opinions because it dares sup port none, — from that obsequious egotism, ever ready to bow before the idol of the day, to make man its God, and hold the voice of mortal ity for the voice of Heaven,— he was pure as the crystal streams. Personal invectives and odious imputations against political adversaries he knew to be seldom necessary. He knew that, when unnecessary, whether exhibited in the disgusting deformity of their nakedness, or tricked out in the gorgeous decorations of philosophy, — whether livid with the cadaverous colors of their natural complexion, or flaring with the cosmetic washes of pretended patriotism, — they are ever found among the profligate prostitutes of party, and not among the vestal vir gins of truth. He disdained to use them ; but, as to all great ques- GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT. 151 tions upon principle, which are at the bottom of our divisions, there was no more concealment or disguise in his lips than hesitation or wavering in his mind. So far was he from courting the prejudices or compromising with the claims of faction, that he published the History of the Insurrection in the commonwealth, at a time when the passions which had produced them were still rancorous and flourishing ; and although nothing contributed more than that work to consign the rebel lion it recorded to infamy, none of its numerous abettors ever raised a reclamation against the veracity of the history, or the worth of the historian." In Democracy Unveiled, canto 3, on Mobocracy, by Christopher Caustic, appears a happy allusion to George Richards Minot, as fol lows : " But I '11 purloin a little — why not ? From classic history of Minot ; For theft can need no other plea Than this — our government is free ! Our Demo's steal each other's trash, While Coleman plies in vain the lash. And prithee, therefore, why can I not Steal my Mobocracy from Minot ? Fas est ab hoste doceri, — If that be true, why then 't is clear I. But, gentle reader, have you read it ? ' Yes,' — then I '11 give my author credit." The nature and operation of the causes which led to the rebellion in Massachusetts, says Caustic, in a note to Mobocracy, are explained in a lucid and masterly manner, in the history of George Richards Minot, the style of which might rank its author as the Sallust of America. According to that writer, the commonwealth of Massachusetts was in debt upwards of £1,350,000 private State debt, exclusive of the fed eral debt, which amounted to one million and a half of the same money. And, in addition to that, every town was embarrassed by advances they had made to comply with repeated requisitions for men and supplies to support the army, and which had been done upon their own credit. The people, Minot informs us, had been laudably employed, during the nine years in which this debt had been accumulating, in the defence of their liberties ; but though their contest had instructed them in the nobler science of mankind, yet it gave them no proportionable insight into the mazes of finance. Their honest prejudices were averse to duties 152 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. of impost and excise, which were at that time supposed to be anti-repub lican by many judicious and influential characters. The consequences of the public debt did not at first appear among the citizens at large. The bulk of mankind are too much engaged in private concerns to anticipate the operation of national causes. The men of landed inter est soon began to speak plainly against trade, as the source of luxury, and the cause of losing the circulating medium. Commercial men, on the other hand, defended themselves by insisting that the fault was only in the regulations which the trade happened to be under. Minot then proceeds to point out other causes which contributed to lead the people astray ; and his history exhibits abundant proof that the people at large are not always correct judges of what political measures may best subserve their own prosperity. " To paint the ills which power attend, Our men of mind their talent3 lend ; But overlook the great propriety Of power to guarantee society." The following effusion was addressed to the Hon. George Richards Minot, when he was preparing the History of Massachusetts : " Let jarring spirits turn the leaf, And Coke and Littleton explore ; Pleased with the logic of a brief, And wise with metaphysic lore. Let others on the laws decide, •And on the Norman records grope ; Lay thou the wrangling bar aside, And give thy genius ampler scope. Thy equal mind, on truth intent, To paltry strife must not descend ; Another task for thee is meant, — Thy country's genius to defend. What though that country's tardy voice Nor urge thy labor nor reward ? The historic Muse approves the choice, And all the wise and good applaud. Ere laurelled science twine the wreath, The bud of genius must unfold ; Our hardy sires, the snow beneath, Grew strong, unmindful of the cold. Mark'st thou yon river's peopled shore, Its wheat-crowned hills, its bleating meads, Taught through delicious banks to pour, Where not a stone its course impedes ? GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT. 153 Mark'st thou, too, the industrious sires Who cleared the current, crowned the hills ? What love and gratitude inspires One sweet memorial of thy skill ? Yet more than if the castle told ' Some wily victor ravaged here, Your sires to vassalage he sold, Or scourged, the pyramid to rear.' For where no crowning castles found, No despotism has been known ; The honest peasant reaps the ground By free-born fathers tamed and sown. Short is the tale of tyrant power, — Easy the story of its reign, — Whose march was destined to devour, Whose glory, to recount the slain. But the slow progress of a tribe By nature's energies alone Cool reason only can describe, Ere the first principles have flown. Yet, lo ! with careless ease we sleep, While rapid sweeps unstable time Disgorgeless to oblivion's deep, The records of a nation's prime. While to hoar winter's snowy wells, Ridged by eternal frost and hail, When spring the laughing current swells, And cheers, swift Merrimac, thy vale ; Urged as the vernal streams descend, Exciting wonder as they flow, Some ardent minds their source ascend, And meet the untravelled realms of snow Shall, from a country's wasting page, Which moth and rust and reason maim, Ere darkened by a crowding age, None snatch the unmutilated name ? Yes, ere the fabled tale is wrought, While yet the features are imprest, Shall thy discriminating thought Portray the Pilgrims of the West." " The series of events," says Washington to Minot, " which followed from the con clusion of the war, forms a link of no ordinary magnitude in the chain of the American annals. That portion of domestic history which you have selected for your narrative deserved particularly to be discussed, and set in its proper point of light, while mate rials for the purpose were attainable. Nor was it unbecoming or unimportant to enlighten the Europeans, who seem to have been extremely ignorant with regard to these transactions. While I comprehend fully the difficulty of stating facts on the spot, amidst the living actors and recent animosities, I approve the more cordially that candor with which you appear to have done it." 154 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. THOMAS WELSH, M. D. MARCH 6, 17S3. ON THE BOSTON MASSACRE. Thomas Welsh was born at Charlestown, June 1, 1754, and mar ried Mary Kent, of that town. He was an army-surgeon at Lex ington and Bunker Hill. He was in attendance at the latter battle, principally at a house under the western side of the hill, in company with Lieut. Col. Brickett, a physician, who came off with the first of the wounded, and of whom Gen. Warren obtained his arms for the battle. Dr. Welsh was afterwards near Winter Hill, by which route the troops who went to Cambridge retreated. Dr. Welsh and Samuel Blodgett assisted in arresting the retreat of the New Hampshire troops. On the morning of the Battle of Lexington, Dr. Warren, at about ten o'clock, rode on horseback through Charlestown, says Frothingham. He had received, by express, intelligence of the events of the morn ing, and told the citizens of Charlestown that the news of the firing Was correct. Among others, he met Dr. Welsh, who said, " Well, they are gone out." " Yes," replied the doctor, " and we will be up with them before night." Dr. Welsh, who was on Prospect Hill when the British were pass ing from Lexington, saw Col. Pickering's regiment on the top of Win ter Hill, near the front of Mr. Adams' house, the enemy being very near in Charlestown road. Washington wrote of this period : "If the retreat had not been as precipitate as it was from Lexington, — and God knows it could not well have been more so, — the ministerial troops must have surrendered, or been totally cut off; for they had not arrived in Charlestown (under cover of their ships) half an hour, before a powerful body of men from Marblehead and Salem were at their heels, and must, if they had happened to be up one hour sooner, inevitably have intercepted their retreat from Charlestown." Dr. Welsh was surgeon at Castle Island, 1799. He was the hospital phy sician at Rainsford's Island for many years ; was member of the Bos ton Board of Health, and vice-president of the Massachusetts Medi cal Society, in 1814 ; was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Welsh was a decided Whig of the Revolution, au amiable, social, and estimable citizen, and died at Boston, Febru ary, 1831. He graduated at Harvard College iu 1772. THOMAS WELSH, M. D. 155 The patriotic Dr. Welsh, the- last of the orators at the Old Brick, on the eventful Boston Massacre, thus remarks in the peroration : " When we consider our own prosperous condition, and view the state of that nation of which we were once a part, we even weep over our enemy, when we reflect that she was once great; that her navies rode formidable upon the ocean ; that her commerce was extended to every harbor of the globe; that her name was revered wherever it was known ; that the wealth of nations was deposited in her island ; and that America was her friend. But, by means of standing armies, an immense continent is separated from her kingdom. Near eight full years have now rolled away since America has been cast off from the bosom and embraces of her pretended parent, and has set up her own name among the empires. The assertions of so young a country were at first beheld with dubious expectation ; and the world were ready to stamp the name of rashness, or enterprise, according to the event. But a manly and fortunate beginning soon insured the most generous assist ance. The renowned and the ancient Gauls came early to the combat, — wise in council, mighty in battle ! Then with new fury raged the storm of war ! The seas were crimsoned with the richest blood of nations ! America's chosen legions waded to freedom through rivers dyed with the mingled blood of her enemies and her citizens, — through fields of carnage, and the gates of death ! " At length, independence is ours ! ¦ — the halcyon day appears ! Lo ! from the east I see the harbinger, and from the train 't is peace her self, — and, as attendants, all the gentle arts of life. Commerce dis plays her snow-white navies, fraught with the wealth of kingdoms ; Plenty, from her copious horn, pours forth her richest gifts. Heaven commands ! The east and the west give up, and the north keeps not back. All nations meet, and beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, and resolve to learn war no more. Henceforth shall the American wilderness blossom as the rose, and every man shall sit under his fig-tree, and none shall make him afraid." 156 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. JOHN WARREN, M. D. JULY i, 1783. ON THE NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE. The last public act in the career of James Otis, that presiding genius of our colonial Revolution, occurred at a town-meeting of the inhabitants of Boston, March 5, 1783, at Faneuil Hall, when he officiated as moder ator ; and it was voted to substitute the celebration of the Declaration of Independence for that of the Boston Massacre, after Dr. Thomas Welsh had pronounced the annual oration on the latter occasion. Otis was struck out of existence by a flash of lightning, at Andover, in Massa chusetts, on the 23d day of May succeeding. Who can tell but what this time-honored festival of liberty originated in his penetrative mind ? It may be said of Otis that his political career was as a poem that lights warm hearts with living flame. How cheering was it to witness the eagle-eyed, round-faced, plump, short-necked, and smooth-skinned Otis, as he has been described by an enemy, at the head of the assem bly in old Faneuil Hall on this glorious occasion ! William Cooper, the town-clerk, made the following motion : ' "Whereas, the annual celebration of the Boston Massacre, on the 5th of March, 1770, by the institution of a public oration, has been found to be of eminent advantage to the cause of virtue and patriotism among her citizens ; and whereas, the immediate motives which induced the commemoration of that day do now no longer exist in their primi tive force, while the benefits resulting from the institution may and ought ever to be preserved, by exchanging that anniversary for another, the foundation of which will last so long as time endures ; — it is there fore resolved, that the celebration of the 5th of March from henceforth shall cease, and that instead thereof, the anniversary of the Fourth Day of July, 1776,— a day ever memorable in the annals of this country for the Declaration of Independence, — shall be constantly celebrated by the delivery of a public oration, in such place as the town shall determine to be most convenient for the purpose, — • in which the orator shall consider the feelings, manners and principles, which led to this great national event, as well as the important and happy effects, whether general or domestic, which have already, and will forever continue, to flow from this auspicious epoch." At a town-meeting on May of that date, Hon. Samuel Adams mod- 157 erator, the resolve was accepted, and a committee consisting of Perez Morton, William Tudor, Thomas Dawes, Joseph Barrell, and Charles Jarvis, were chosen to consider this matter at large, and report at the adjournment. At a town-meeting, July 4th inst., Hon. James Sullivan moderator, the committee announced that they had unani mously made choice of Dr. John Warren to deliver an oration on the 4th of July inst., who had accordingly accepted that service. They also voted that, as Faneuil Hall not being capacious enough to receive the inhabitants that may attend upon that occasion, it should be delivered at Dr. Cooper's church, as soon as the General Court is ended ; and that leave be requested of the committee of said church for the use of that building. According to Edes' Boston Gazette, that mirror of patriotism, the joy of the day was announced by the ringing of bells and discharge of cannon. At eleven o'clock, His Honor the Lieutenant-governor, Thomas Cushing, — His Excellency, John Hancock, being absent by reason of sickness, — the Hon. Council, the Senate and Representatives, escorted by the brigade train of artillery, commanded by Maj. Davis, repaired to the church in Brattle-street, where the Rev. Dr. Cooper, after a polite and elegant address to the auditory, returned thanks to Almighty God for his goodness to these American States, and the glory and suc cess with which he had crowned their exertions ; then an anthem was sung suitable to the occasion, and the solemnity was concluded by a most ingenious and elegant oration, delivered by Dr. John Warren, at the request of the town. They were conducted back to the Senate- chamber, where an agreeable entertainment was provided. At two o'clock, the brigade train, and the regiment of militia, commanded by Col. Webb, paraded in State-street, where the former saluted Avith thirteen discharges from" the field-pieces, and the militia with thirteen feu-de-joies, in honor of the occasion. The officers of the militia dined together at the Bunch of Grapes and the brigade train at the Exchange taverns. Thirteen patriotic toasts were drunk by each corps, and the same number, which were given in the Senate-chamber, appear in the Gazette, one of which was, "May the spirit of union prevail in our country." On the next day the selectmen of the town, consisting of John Scollay, Harbottle Dorr, Thomas Greenough, Ezekiel Price, Capt. William Mackay, Tuthill Hubbard, Esq., David Jeffries, Esq., requested a copy of the oration for the press. Here we have the modest reply of the author : 14 158 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Gentlemen, — On condition that the honesty of my intentions, and the warmth of my feelings, on the important event which was the sub ject of this oration, may be admitted to atone for the imperfection of the performance, I deliver a copy for the press. " I am, with the greatest respect, " Your obedient servant, "John Warren." This was a brilliant production, breathing patriotic ardor and fra ternal warmth, of which we present a specimen : " Transported from a distant clime less friendly to its nurture, you have planted here the stately tree of Liberty, and lived to see it flourish. But whilst you pluck the fruit from the bending branches, remember that its roots were watered with your blood ! Remember the price at which you purchased it, nor barter liberty for gold. Go, search the vaults where lay enshrined the relics of your martyred fellow-citizens, and from their dust receive a lesson on the value of your freedom ! When virtue fails, — when luxury and corruption shall undermine the pillars of the State, and threaten a total loss of liberty and patriotism, — then sol emnly repair to those sacred repositories of the dead, and, if you can, return and sport away your rights. When you forget the value of your freedom, read over the history that recounts the wounds from which your country bled, — peruse the picture which brings back to your imaginations, in the lively colors of undisguised truth, the wild, distracted feelings of your hearts ! But if your happy lot has been not to have felt the pangs of convulsive separation from friend or kindred, learn them of those that have." The noble remark of John Adams, the apostle of liberty, in allu sion to this great natal day, should be printed in capitals in every newspaper of our vast republic, on every anniversary of that event : "The 4th day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever- more." The attention of the Bostonians was involuntarily directed to the JOHN WARREN, M. D. 159 brother of the hero of Bunker Hill, as we have seen, as the most suit able person to deliver the first town oration on our national independ ence. John Warren was born at Roxbury, July 27, 1753, and gradu ated at Harvard College, 1771, where he was leader of a College Club for the study of anatomy. He was a student in medicine under his brother, Gen. Joseph Warren. In 1773 he established himself at Salem, and was associated with the famous Dr. Holyoke. On the 19th of April, 1775, the regiment of that town marched to Lexington, and Dr. Warren acted as their surgeon. Two of his brothers were in that scene of contest. " The life which has been devoted to the public good," said Dr. Warren, in a eulogy on Thomas Russell, "must be an interesting theme of historical narration ; because scarcely any events can take place, in the course of such a life, but what must derive dig nity and importance from the character which it sustains," — and this may be suitably said of John Warren. We will continue his history in the language of his own journal, dated June 17, 1775 : " This day, — a day ever to be remembered by the United American Colonies, — at about four o'clock in the afternoon, I was alarmed with the inces sant report of cannon, which appeared to be at or near Boston. Towards sun-setting a very great fire was discovered, nearly in a direction from Salem for Boston; at the beginning of the evening, news arrived that a smart engagement had happened in the afternoon on Bunker Hill, in Charlestown, between the king's regular troops and the pro vincials ; and, soon after, we received intelligence our own troops were repulsed with great loss, and the enemy had taken possession of the ground which we had broke the night before. I was very anxious, as I was informed that great numbers had fallen on both sides, and that my brother was in all probability in the engagement. I, however, went home, with a determination to take a few hours' sleep, and then to go immediately for Cambridge with my arms. Accordingly, in the morning, at about two o'clock, I prepared myself, and went off on horseback ; and when I arrived at Medford, received the melancholy and distressing tidings that my brother was missing. Upon the dread ful intelligence, I went immediately to Cambridge, and inquired of almost every person I saw whether they could give me any informa tion of him. Some told me that he was undoubtedly alive and well, others that he was wounded, and others that he fell on the field. Thus perplexed almost to distraction, I went on, inquiring with a solicitude 160 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. which was such a mixture of hope and fear as none but such as have felt it can form any conception. In this manner I passed several days, every day's information diminishing the probability of his safety. "0, ye blood-thirsty wretches, who planned this dreadful scene which you are now forcing your bloodhounds to execute ! Did you but feel the pangs of heartfelt, pungent grief for the cruel wounds you inflicted upon the tenderest part of the public, as well as individuals, you would have execrated those diabolical measures which by your counsels have been adopted, and precipitated us into all the horrors of a civil war. Unfeeling wretches ! reflect, a moment, if you have still one feature of humanity which is still unobliterated from your minds, and view the helpless orphan bereft of its fond and only parent, stript of every comfort of life, driven into an inhospitable wild, and exposed to all the misery which are the results of your brutal violence, and forbear, if you can ; but I defy even you to show yourselves so refined in your darling acts of cruelty as to be capable of supporting the shocking reflection. Here stay your hands, ye miscreants ! stay your bloody hands, still warmed with the purple fluid, and ask yourselves if you are not sated with the inhuman carnage — your hearts long since inured to view these shocking scenes without emotion ! Go on, then, ye dastard butchers ! let desolation and destruction mark your bloody steps wherever your brave opposers are by fortune destitute of proper arms for their defence ; but give up forever your pretensions to honor, justice or humanity, and know that this brave, undaunted and oppressed people, have an arm which will soon be exerted to defend themselves, their wives and children, — an arm which will ere long inflict such vengeance on their haughty, presumptuous foes, as shall convince them they are determined that British cowards, though their number be as the sands on the sea-shore, shall never subjugate the brave and inno cent inhabitants of the American continent. Cover your heads with shame, ye guilty wretches ! Go home, and tell your blood-thirsty mas ter your pitiful tale ; and tell him, too, that the laurel which once dec orated the soldier has withered on the brow, upon the American shore ! Tell him that the British honor and fame have received a mortal stab from the brave conduct of the Americans. Tell him that even your conquests have but served to inspire the sufferers with fresh courage and determined resolution ; and let him know that since that accursed day when first the hostile forces of Britain planted their foot on the American shore, your conduct has been such as has resulted in a con- JOHN WARREN, M. D. 161 tinued series of disgraceful incidents, weak councils, and operations replete with ignorance and folly. Tell him this, ye contemptible cow ards ! hide yourselves like menial slaves in your master's kitchens, nor dare approach the happy asylum of once extinct liberty,- — for if ye dare, ye die ! " It appears that about 2500 men were sent off from the ministerial in Boston to dispossess a number, — about 700 of our troops, — who had, in the course of the night, cast up a small breastwork upon the hill. They accordingly attacked them, and, after having retreated three times, carried their point ; upon which our men retreated with precipitation, having lost about 200 dead and 300 wounded ; the ene my, according to Gage's account, 1025 killed and wounded, amongst whom were a considerable proportion of officers, Lieut. Col. Abercrom- bie, Maj. Pitcairn, etc., — a dear purchase to them, indeed." " Look back, ye honored veterans few, Whose locks are thin, of silver hue, That ran, at war's loud piercing thrill, To Lexington and Bunker's Hill ! When Charlestown's flame in pillars rose, Caused by our cruel British foes, Midst thundering cannon, blood and fire, You saw Lord Percy's host expire ! With faltering tongue, you yet can tell Where some dear friend or brother fell ; With palsied limbs, and glimmering eyes, Point' to the place where Warren lies ! ' ' Dr. John Warren had a portion of the care of administering to the wounded in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and was appointed hospital- surgeon by Washington, during the siege of Boston ; and he was one of the detachment ordered to take possession of Boston, on its evacua tion by the British troops. We will present the statement of Dr. War ren regarding the condition of the town on the day of its evacuation, as the relation is too interesting to be dispensed with, and the most authentic statement extant : "March 17, 1776. — This morning, all the soldiers belonging to Bunker Hill were seen marching towards the ferry ; soon after which, two men went upon the hill, and finding the posts entirely deserted by the enemy, gave a signal, upon which a body of our forces went on and took possession of Charlestown. At the same time, two or three thousand men were paraded at the boats in Cambridge, for the purpose 14* 162 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. of going to Boston, if there should appear any probability of opposition from the regulars. The boats carried the men to Sewall's Point, where they landed ; and, upon intelligence being received, from the selectmen who had come out of town, that all the troops had left, only a small body of men, who had recovered of the small-pox, were selected from several regiments to take possession of the heights in town. Being one of the party, by permit from the general, I had an opportunity of seeing everything just as it was left, about two hours before, by the enemy. Two redoubts in the neighborhood of Mount Whoredom appeared to me to be considerably strong. There were two or three half moons at the hill, upon the bottom of the Common, for small arms, and there were no ambrosiers at the redoubt above mentioned. Just by the shore, opposite Lechmere's Point, is a bomb-battery lined with plank, and faced with a parapet of horse-dung, being nothing but a simple line ; near it lies a thirteen-inch mortar, a little moved from its bed. This is an exceeding fine piece, being, as I am sure, seven and a half inches thick at the muzzle, and near twice that over the chamber, with an iron bed all cast as one piece, the touch-hole all spiked up, and shot drove into the bores ; there was only a simple line, being plank filled with dirt. Upon Beacon Hill were scarcely more than the fortifications of nature, — a very insignificant shallow ditch, with a few short pickets, a platform, and one twenty-four-pounder, which could not be brought to bear upon any part of the hill. This was left spiked up, and the bore crammed. On Copp's Hill, at the north, was nothing more than a few barrels, filled with dirt, to form parapets. Three twenty-four-pounders, upon a platform, were left spiked and crammed ; all these, as well as the others, on carriages. The parapet in this fort and Beacon Hill did not at all cover the men who should work the cannon. There was a small redoubt behind, for small arms, very slender indeed. On Fort Hill were only five lines of barrels filled with earth, — very trifling indeed. Upon the Neck the works were strong, consisting of redoubts, number of lines with ambrosier for can non, a few of which were left as the others. A very strong work at the old Fortification, and another near the Haymarket. All these were ditched and picketed. On Hatch's Wharf was a battery of rafters with dirt, and two twelve-pounders left as the others ; one of these I saw drilled out and cleared for use, without damage. "A great number of other cannon were left at the north and south batteries, with one or both trunnions beat off. Shot and shells were in JOHN WARREN, M. D. 163 divers parts of the town. Some cartridges, great quantities of wheat, hay, oil, medicine, horses, and other articles to the amount of a great sum. The houses I found to be considerably abused inside, where they had been inhabited by the common soldiery, but the external parts of the houses made a tolerable appearance. The streets were clean, and, upon the whole, the town looks much better than I expected. Sev eral hundreds of houses were pulled down, but these were very old ones. The inhabitants in general appeared to rejoice at our success, but a considerable number of Tories have tarried in the town to throw themselves upon the mercy of the people ; the others are aboard with the shipping, all of which now lay -before the Castle. They appear to have gone off in a hurry. In consequence of our having, the night before, erected a fort upon Nook Hill, which was very near the town, some cannon were fired from their lines, even this morning, to the Point. " We now learn certainly that there was an intention, in consequence of a court-martial held upon the occasion of our taking possession of Dorchester Hills, to make an attack ; and three thousand men, under command of Lord Percy, went to the Castle for the purpose. It was the intention to have attacked us, at the same time, at Roxbury lines. It appears that Gen. Howe had been very careful to prevent his men from committing depredations ; that he, with other officers, had an high opinion of Gen. Washington, — of the army in general, — much higher than formerly. Lord Percy said he never knew us do a foolish action yet, and therefore he believed we would not induce them to burn the town by firing upon their fleet. They say they shall come back again soon. The small-pox is in about ten or a dozen places in town- "March 20. — This evening they burn the Castle, and demolish, by blowing up, all the fortifications there ; they leave not a building stand ing." Before parting with this treasure, we will give Dr. Warren's visit to Charlestown and Bunker Hill, with his reflections on the event, inspiring sensations not less thrilling than a view of the battle-field of Waterloo, where Napoleon met his last great defeat : "March 21. — Our men go upon the Castle, and soon begin to erect new fortresses, as they had begun, a day or two before, on Fort Hill ; and the fleet all fall down into Nantasket Road. The winds have been fair for them to sail, but their not embracing the opportunity favors a suspicion of some intended attack. It seems, indeed, very improbable 164 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. that they will be willing to leave us in so disgraceful manner as this. It is very surprising that they should not burn the town, when they had it entirely in their power to do it. The soldiers, it appears, were much dissatisfied at being obliged to leave the town without glutting their revengeful tempers with the blood of the Yankees. "This day I visit Charlestown, and a most melancholy heap of ruins it is. Scarcely the vestiges of those beautiful buildings remain, to dis tinguish them from the mean cottages. The hill which was the theatre upon which the bloody tragedy of the 17th of June was acted com mands the most affecting view I ever saw in my life. The walls of magnificent buildings, tottering to the earth, below ; above, a great num ber of rude hillocks, under which are deposited the remains of clusters of those deathless heroes who fell in the field of battle. The scene was inexpressibly solemn. When I considered myself as walking over the bones of many of my worthy fellow-countrymen, who jeoparded and sacrificed their lives in these high places, — when I considered that perhaps, whilst I was musing over the objects around me, I might be standing over the remains of a dear brother, whose blood has stained these hallowed walks, — with veneration did this inspire me. How many endearing scenes of fraternal friendship, now past and gone forever, pre sented themselves to my view ! But it is enough ; the blood of the inno cent calls for vengeance on the guilty heads of the vile assassins. 0, may our arms be strengthened to fight the battles of our God ! When I came to Bunker Hill, I found it exceeding strong ; the front parapet, about thirteen feet high from the bottom of the trench, composed of earth, containing plank supported by huge timber, with two look-outs upon the top. In the front of this were two bastions, and a semi circular line with very wide trenches, and very long picket as well as trenches. Within, the causeway was secured with a hedge and brush. All that part of the main fort which was not included within the high works above-mentioned, — namely, the rear, — was secured by another parapet, with a trench picketed inside as well as out. "There was a half-moon which commanded the river at the side. There was, moreover, a block-house upon Schoolhouse Hill, enclosed by a very strong fence spiked, and a dungeon and block-house upon Breed's Hill, enclosed in a redoubt of earth, with trenches and pickets ; the works which had been cast up by our forces had been entirely lev elled." In Dr. Warren's manuscript we find a beautiful and patriotic tribute JOHN WARREN, M. D. 165 to Gen. Montgomery : " This brave man was determined either to take Quebec or lose his fife. He accordingly died nobly on the field. His course of victory was short, rapid, and uninterrupted, but truly great and glorious. He has, in his conquest, behaved like the hero and like the patriot. 0, America! thy land is watering with the blood of thy richest sons. Every drop calls for vengeance upon the infamous administration which authorized this unnatural butchery. God grant that, in this great man's stead, and for that of every hero who perishes in the noble struggle, double the number may rise up ! Peace to his beloved shade ! The tears of a grateful country shall flow copiously whilst they lament your death. Ten thousand ministers of glory shall keep vigils around the sleeping dust of the invincible war rior, whilst the precious remains shall be the resort of every true patriot in every future age ; and whilst the truly good and great shall approach the place sacred with the dust of the hero, they shall point to the little hillock, and say, There rests the great Montgomery, who bravely conquered the enemies to freedom in this province ; who, with utmost rapidity, with his all-conquering arms, reduced no less than three strong fortresses, and bravely died in the noble attempt to take possession of the strongest garrison upon the whole continent of Amer ica. He died, it is true, and in dying became invincible." Dr. Warren was in the disastrous action on Long Island. He was in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and narrowly escaped captiv ity. In 1777 he was appointed superintending surgeon of the military hospitals in Boston, which he occupied until the peace. Dr. Warren married Abigail, daughter of Gov. John Collins, of Newport, R. I., Nov. 2, 1777, by whom he had five sons and four daughters. His eldest son, John Collins, the Astley Cooper of New England, has long been the most eminent surgeon in Massachusetts, whose son, Jonathan Mason, is destined to be as elevated in surgery as his fathers. In the year 1780, according to Thacher, a contemporary, Dr. War ren gave a course of dissections to his colleagues, with great success, in connection with a series of lectures, in the Military Hospital, situated in a pasture in the rear of the present Massachusetts General Hos pital, at the corner of Milton and Spring streets. They were con ducted with the greatest secrecy, owing to the popular prejudice against dissections. In 1781, his lectures, given at the same place, became public, when the students of Harvard College were permitted to attend; and at this time he performed the amputation at the 166 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. shoulder-joint, with complete success. The third course was given in the year 1782, at the Molineux House, located on Beacon-street, oppo site the north side of the State-house. This, or a preceding course, was delivered at the request of the Boston Medical Society, when Har vard students attended. Dr. Warren was founder of the medical institution of Harvard Uni versity, arising from these lectures ; and, on the request of President Willard, originated the plan for the present medical institution, which was organized in the year 1783, when three professors were inducted. Dr. Warren was at that time appointed Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, and efficiently performed the duties of that station until his decease. In the year 1806, Dr. John C. Warren, his son, was appointed adjunct professor on the same foundation, and continued in the discharge of the office during the period of forty years. Many a student, to the last day of life, has heartily responded to the fervent tribute of Susanna Rowson, to the memory of Dr. John Warren, which may be applied to the son with like effect : " How sweet was the voice that instructed our youth ! What wisdom, what science, that voice could impart ! How bright was that face, where the radiance of truth Beamed over each feature direct from the heart ! " In 1784, he established the small-pox hospital, at Point Shirley. In 1804, he was elected President of the Massachusetts Medical Soci ety, and was ever viewed as the Magnus Apollo, the life and soul, of that institution. He 'was president, also, of the Massachusetts Humane, Massachusetts Agricultural, and the Massachusetts Medical societies, of the last of which he was an originator, in 1783. Dr. Warren was of middling stature ; an elevated forehead, black eyes, aquiline nose, and hair retreating from the forehead, gave an air of dignity to his polished manners, inspired by intercourse with officers from France. As a lecturer, his voice was most harmoniously sono rous, his utterance distinct and full, and his language perspicuous. His perception was quick and acute, his imagination lively and strong, his actions prompt and decided. The rapidity in all his intellectual oper ations constituted a very striking trait in his character. Dr. Warren died April 4, 1815, at his residence in School-street, of an inflamma tion of the lungs, in connection with an organic disease which had long BENJAMIN HICHBORN. 167 affected his system. His remains are deposited under St. Paul's Church, beside those of his brother, Gen. Joseph Warren. In 1782, Dr. Warren delivered a Charge to the Masons, on the fes tival of St. John the Baptist; and, in 1813, he published a View of Mercurial Practice in Febrile Disease. A eulogy on Dr. Warren was pronounced by Dr. James Jackson, April 8, 1815, before the Massa chusetts Medical Society; and another eulogy was delivered by Josiah Bartlett, for the Massachusetts Grand Lodge. President Quincy, in the History of Harvard University, remarks of Dr. Warren, that he " has just claims to be ranked among the dis tinguished men of our country, for his spirit as a patriot, his virtues as a man, and his preeminent surgical skill. The qualities of his heart, as well as of his mind, endeared him to his contemporaries." BENJAMIN HICHBORN. JULY i, 17S4. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. The quotation herewith, from this patriotic oration on the union of the States, and the dangers of an increased territory in this republic, comes upon us at this period with great power. "The American States," says Hichborn, "seem by nature to have such an intimate connection, that necessity will oblige them to be close friends, or the most inveterate enemies. Friends they may be for ages, but cannot long exist in a state of war with each other. Sepa rated only by mathematical or imaginary lines, a very small superiority of force in either must be fatal to the neighborhood. Every acquisi tion will render the victorious party more irresistible ; and in propor tion as the conquerors advance, the power of opposing them will be lessened, till the whole are subdued by a rapacious discontented part. But experience having taught us that the force of government is gen erally lessened in proportion to the extent of territory over which it is to be exerted, we must expect, in a country like this, inhabited by men too sensible of their rights to rest easy under a control founded in fraud and supported by oppression, that discontent will break out in every quarter, till, by the clashing of various powers, a new division 168 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. of territory will take place, which must soon be succeeded with fresh quarrels, similar to those which disturbed the original tranquillity. Thus this happy land, formed for the seat of freedom and resort of the dis tressed, may, like other countries, in her turn, become a prey to the restless temper of her own inhabitants. But should any of the States, pressed by unequal force, call in the aid of some foreign power, the consequences must be equally ruinous. A demand of foreign aid in one State will produce a similar application from another, till America becomes the common theatre on which all the warlike powers on earth shall be engaged. But since this combined force, without an adequate power somewhere to give it a proper direction, can only operate like a mass of unanimated matter to check and destroy the natural activity of the body from whence it originates, it becomes an object of the last importance to form some great continental arrangements." JOHN GARDINER. JULY 4, 1785. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. The nervous and comprehensive oration of John Gardiner, showing a relation of some of the historical causes of the Revolution, states that an event occurred in the fifth year of Queen Anne, of vast import ance to this country. "A statute was passed for the union of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland ; by the fourth article of which, it is declared that all the subjects of the United Kingdom shall have full freedom of trade and navigation to any port within the United King dom, and the dominions thereto belonging ; and that there should be a communication of all other rights which belonged to the subjects of . either kingdom. By this article, our tender, nursing mother, — as she has most falsely and impudently been called, — without consulting our legislative bodies, or asking the consent of any one individual of our countrymen,- — assumed upon herself to convey, as stock in trade, one full undivided moiety of all the persons, and all the estates and property, of the freemen of America, to an alien, who will prove a harsh, cruel, and unrelenting stepmother. Then, too much blinded with foolish affection for that country whose oppressions had forced our JOHN GARDINER. 169 stern, free-minded progenitors into these remote regions of the world, — into an howling and a savage wilderness, — like children not yet attained to the years of reason and discretion, who inconsiderately sup pose their parent ever in the right, our predecessors sat quiet under the arbitrary disposition, nor once murmured aloud at the unnatural, and to us iniquitous, transaction. " Our new parent, Great Britain, then made our kings, appointed our governors, and kindly sent many of her needy sons to live upon the fruits of our toil ; to reap where neither she nor they had sown, and to fill the various offices which she had generally created here, for her and their own emolument. Every twentieth cousin of an alehouse- keeper, who had a right of voting in the election of a member of Par liament, was cooked up into a gentleman, and sent out here commis sioned to insult the hand that gave him daily bread. Although greatly displeased with these injurious proceedings, we submitted to the harsh hand of our unfeeling, selfish stepmother, nor once remonstrated against these, her unjust, her cruel usurpations." John, son of Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, was born at Boston, in the year 1731. He was in early life sent to England, and entered on the study of law at the Inner Temple. He was admitted to practice in the courts of Westminster Hall, and became an intimate friend of Church ill, the famous poet. Whilst reading law in the Temple, he formed an acquaintance with Lord Mansfield, with whom he became a favorite ; and, having the assurance of his patronage, he commenced legal prac tice, with every prospect of rising in England to considerable emi nence. But, being eccentric in character, fearless and independent in action, he adopted Whig principles, and, to the surprise of Lord Mans field, appeared as junior counsel in the famous case of John Wilkes, the reformer ; and argued with success in the defence of Beardmore and Meredith, who, for writings in support of Wilkes, had been impris oned on a general warrant. His zeal on this occasion blasted all hope of favor from court or Tory influence. In reference to Mr. Gardiner's efforts in these trials, there now remains in the possession of William H. Gardiner, his grandson, and a counsellor-at-law, a valuable and beautiful piece of plate, bearing this inscription : " 'Pro libertate semper strenuus.' " To John Gardiner, Esq., this waiter is presented by Arthur Beard- more, as a small token of gratitude, for pleading his cause, and that 15 170 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. of his clerk, David Meredith, against the Earl of Halifax, then Sec retary of State, for false imprisonment, under his warrant, commonly called a Secretary of State's warrant, that canker of English lib erty— 1766." He practised a period at South Wales, Haverford West, where he mar ried Margaret Harris. Their eldest son, John Sylvester John, was born June, 1765, in Haverford West, and educated under the tuition of the celebrated Dr. Samuel Parr, in England. In 1766, Mr. Gardiner was appointed chief-justice of the province of New York, which was declined. Mr. Gardiner, having been appointed attorney-general in the island of St. Christopher, removed his family to the West Indies, where he continued until the close of the American Revolution, in 1783, when he removed his family to Boston, where he soon became an eminent barrister-at-law, and distinguished himself by the highly learned oration pronounced July 4, 1785. The notes at the end of this production, exceeding in matter the text, are of great historic value. In the next year, Mr. Gardiner settled at Pownalboro', Maine, where he was elected a representative to the Massachusetts Legislature, and was an ardent advocate for the abolition of special pleading, but was defeated. He effected, however, an abolition of the law of primogen iture. On Jan. 26, 1792. Mr. Gardiner strenuously vindicated the establishment of the Boston Theatre, in the Legislature, and was decidedly opposed by Samuel Adams and Harrison Gray Otis. His speech was published, and was entitled "The Expediency of Repealing the Law against Theatrical Exhibitions." This essay elicited from a Roman Catholic priest — one John Thayer ¦ — some strictures on what he viewed to be "not solid arguments." Mr. Gardiner replied, over the signature of Barebones, with great warmth and bitterness. The controversy continued for some time, and originated the following epigram : " Thayer squibs at Gardiner, — Gardiner bangs at Thayer, — A contest quite beneath the public care ; Each calls the other fool, and rails so long, 'T is hard to say that either 's in the wrong." This production is probably the most scholastic argument in defence of the stage ever written by an American ; and it was in this speech that Charles Jarvis was first termed " the towerino- bald eao-le of the Boston seat." " If the door be opened to the repeal of the act against the stage," said Gardiner, " there can be no doubt but that, in time, JOHN GARDINER. 171 this country will produce poets who may tower into the sublimest paths of tragedy, and lightly tread along the smiling, flowery road of chaste comedy. But if in sullen silence the door is to be forever kept shut, and this Gothic statute is to remain unrepealed, our genius will be stifled, and our ears will continue to be harassed with nothing better than the untuned screechings of the dull votaries of old Sternhold and Hopkins ! " In the same year he published A Dissertation on the Ancient Poetry of the Romans, in which he said, when contrasting the Roman church with the English Established church: "The first of their thirty-nine articles is superstitious, contradictory, and unintel ligible : for, if the first part of that article be true, to a plain, honest mind, the latter part thereof cannot, in my opinion, be also true ; and if the latter part be true, it is a direct contradiction of the first part, for the second person there mentioned had parts and passions. Their dignified clergy claim an heavenly, or divine, hereditary succession, and to have a certain spiritual something bottled in their carcasses, which they can communicate to whom they please, and which none but themselves, and those whom they touch for that purpose, can possess or enjoy. They deny transubstantiation, and yet they cherish con- substantiation, which differs only in the name. In short, they are in a very small degree removed from the Mother of Harlots." The opin ions of John Gardiner, barrister, are wide apart from John Sylvester John, his son, the divine, who published a very learned discourse, entitled "A Preservative against Unitarianism," at Boston, in 1810, wherein he thus contemptuously lashes the Unitarians : "No faction was ever more active in spreading its tenets than the Unitarians. In England they have long conducted the most popular magazines and reviews, and here they are eager to seize on every avenue to the pub lic eye and ear. From the slight opposition which they have encoun tered, they really seem to imagine that they are the only wise, and that all learning and genius are confined to themselves. But if there be a man of supereminent talents among them, let him be pointed out. I know him not. The pert conceit, the supercilious sneer, the claim to infalhbility, the declamation against bigotry and superstition, by which they mean belief in the essential doctrines of Christianity, may excite admiration among the thoughtless and superficial, but will gain them little credit with the sensible and reflecting. The Unitarians are for ever harping upon candor and liberality, which they display by ineffa ble contempt for all sects but their own. The candor of a Unitarian 172 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. resembles the humanity of a revolutionary Frenchman. It is entirely confined to words ; and I will venture to affirm that no greater out rages against good manners can be found than in the writings of their leaders, Wakefield, Belsham, and Priestley. But let them measure their own moderate stature with the gigantic dimensions of a Bacon, a Milton, and a Johnson, and perhaps they will be candid enough to allow that all genius and knowledge are not confined to Unitarians, and that a man may be a Trinitarian without being necessarily either a blockhead or a hypocrite." In 1785, John Gardiner took an active part in the alteration of the Liturgy in the Common Prayer, being on a committee, with Perez Mor ton and others, of King's Chapel church, striking out the doctrine of the Trinity. Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, long a warden of King's Chapel, was the father of the subject of this article, of whom John Adams said, that "he had a thin, grasshopper voice, and an affected squeak; a meagre visage, and an awkward, unnatural complaisance." Barrister Gardiner was a ripe scholar, a rare wit, and the most vigorous writer' of his day; but highly sarcastic and vituperative toward his opponents. He was a zealous politician, learned in his profession, of tenacious memory, and of nervous eloquence. When on his passage to the General Court of Massachusetts, in the packet Londoner, wrecked off Cape Ann in a storm, he was drowned, October, 1793, where his chest of clothing floated ashore. JONATHAN LORING AUSTIN. JULY i, 1786. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. In the smooth and animated oration of Mr. Austin, glowing with patriotic fervor, it is said : " What country, my friends, can produce so many events, in the course of a few years, as must ever distinguish the American page, — a young continent, contending with a nation whose establishment had been for ages, and whose armies had con quered the powers of the world ? What spirit, short of an heavenly enthusiasm, could have animated these infant colonies, boldly to JONATHAN LOSING AUSTIN. 173 renounce the arbitrary mandates of a British Parliament, and. instead of fawning like suppliants, to arm themselves for their common defence } You dared to appeal to that God who first planted the principles of natural freedom in the human breast. — principles repeatedly impressed on our infant minds by our great and glorious ancestors : and may yonder sun be shorn of its beams, ere their descendants forget the heavenly admonitions ! " When I behold so many worthy patriots, who. during the la:e glo rious struggle, have shone conspicuous in the cabinet and in the field. — when I read in each smiling face and placid eye the happy occasion for joy and gratulation. — the transporting subject fires my bosom, and, with emotions of pleasure. I congratulate my country on the return of this anniversary. Hail, auspicious day ! an era in the American annals to be ever remembered with joy. while, as a sovereign and independent nation, these United States can maintain with honor and applause the character they have so gloriously acquired ! How shall we maintain, as a nation, our respectability, should be the zrand sub ject of inquiry. This is the object to which we must attend : for the moment America sullies her name, by forfeiting her honor, the fame she ha; acquired from the heroism of her sons, and the virtues she has displayed in the midst of her distress, will only serve, like a train of mourners, to attend the funeral of her glory. But. by a due culti vation of manners, a firm adherence to the faith we have pledged, an union in council, a refinement in sentiment, a liberality and benevo lence of eonluot. we shall render ourselves happy at home and respectable abroad : our constellation will brighten in the political hem isphere, and the radiance of our stars sparkle with increasing lustre." Jonathan Loring. son of Hon. Benjamin Austin, was born at Bos ton. Jan. 2. 174f : entered the Latin School in 1755 : graduated at Harvard College in lTo'o. on which occasion he delivered the first Eng lish oration ever assigned to a candidate for the bachelor's degree. The recent repeal of the Stamp Act had streo.I universal joy among the people, and naturally superseded all classical subjects for such an occa sion. The holiness of some of the sentiments was not much approved by the faculty, and had well-nigh cost the candidate the honors of his elis.?. Mr. Austin's father was of the Council, and a selectman in Bos ton in 1773. whose upright and venerable form, large, white wig. scarlet roquelot, and gold-headed cane, were the personification of the man ners and dress of that period. 15* 174 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. After leaving Cambridge, Mr. Austin commenced business as a mer chant, in Portsmouth, N. H. He was appointed a major in a volun teer regiment, under the command of the late Gov. Langdon, raised for the protection of that place. On the commencement of hostilities, he became aid-de-camp to Gen. Sullivan ; but being about that period appointed Secretary of the Board of War in Massachusetts, he directly accepted the latter situation, which he sustained until October, 1777. Mr. Austin married Miss Hannah Ivers. When it became probable that Gen. Gates and the northern army would be able by their success to counterbalance the loss of Philadel phia and the gloomy character of the southern campaign, the executive Council of Massachusetts resolved to transmit the intelligence by a safe and early conveyance to the American Commissioners at Paris. For this purpose a vessel was chartered at Boston, and Mr. Austin was appointed a special messenger. As soon as the official despatches of the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne could be prepared, Mr. Austin sailed from Boston, October, 1777. It would seem that the feeble resources of the State were exhausted by the expense of the vessel. Their messenger was allowed to provide his cabin stores at his own charge, and to trust to the effect of his intelligence for the means of compensation. The pious habit of New England did not at that time permit a voyage to Europe, without proposing a note at church on the Sunday previous, for the prayers of the congregation. Such was accordingly offered at the Old Brick, where his father's family wor shipped. The good Dr. Chauncy, though not gifted like Dr. Cooper in prayer, was on this occasion strongly excited. He thanked the Lord most fervently for the great and glorious event which required the departure of a special messenger. He prayed that it might pull down the haughty spirit of our enemies ; that it might warm and inspirit our friends ; that it might be the means of procuring peace, so anxiously desired by all good men ; and he prayed that no delay might retard the arrival in Europe of the packet which conveyed this great news. He invoked a blessing, as desired, on the person who was about to expose himself to the dangers of the deep to carry this wonderful intel ligence across the mighty waters ; but, said he, good Lord, whatever, in thy wise providence, thou seest best to do with the young man, we beseech thee most fervently, at all events, to preserve the packet. The vessel arrived at Nantes, November, 1777. The commissioners had assembled at Dr. Franklin's apartments, on JONATHAN LORING AUSTIN. 175 the rumor that a special messenger had arrived, and were too impatient to suffer a moment's delay. They received him in the court-yard. Before he had time to alight, Dr. Franklin addressed him, — " Sir, is Philadelphia taken? " " Yes, sir ! " The old gentleman clasped his hands, and went to the hotel. "But, sir, I have greater news than that ; General Burgoyne and his whole army are prisoners of war ! ' ' The effect was electrical. The despatches were scarcely read before they were put under copy. Mr. Austin was himself impressed into the service of transcribing them. Communication was, without delay, made to the French ministry. Lord Stormont, the English ambassa dor, left Paris, and, on the 6th of December, official information was given to the American commissioners that the king recognized the independence of the United States. Treaties to that effect, and for commerce and alliance, were negotiated and signed in sixty days from that date ; and the American commissioners, who before were obliged almost to keep themselves prisoners, were received into favor at court, and into unbounded popularity through all France. Dr. Franklin transferred to Mr. Austin the affection of a father, as if he had been not merely the messenger, but the cause, of this glorious information. He took him directly into his family, constituted him an additional private secretary, and continued towards him the kindest regards during the whole period of his abode in France. Often, at breakfast or other occasions of their meeting, the old gentleman would break from one of those musings in which it was his habit to indulge, and, clasping his hands together, exclaim, " 0 ! Mr. Austin, you brought glorious news ! " He made it a matter of etiquette that Mr. Austin should accompany him wherever he was invited. He held him at his bedside during the intervals of the painful disease with which he was visited ; taught him to play chess, that he might have some con stant cause for the enjoyment of his society, to heap upon him every mark of personal attachment during the period of nearly two years of his residence in France. Dr. Franklin was from that moment the object of unbounded curi osity and interest. The saloons of Paris were incomplete without his presence. There was an enthusiasm excited concerning him, which brought him into all the most beautiful society of that great metropolis, and in which his dress and simplicity of appearance formed a singular contrast to the rich and splendid attire of all others of the company. The young American, it may well be imagined, was delighted with the 176 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. splendor and fascinations of these novel scenes ; and might have found in their allurements a too dangerous occupation, if the cause of all this attraction had not extended to him as well the watchfulness of a father as the kindness of a friend. A rigid etiquette controlled the court dress, of which a sword and bag were indispensable parts. The costume, which was regulated by the season, was so strictly enforced, that admission was refused to him who wore lace ruffles when the time required cambric ; but a sword was as inappropriate to Franklin as it would be in the hands of a woman, and he determined to go unarmed. This resolution aston ished the chamberlain of the palace, and delayed, for a time, the presentation of the American commissioners. But Franklin knew his ground ; and, although it is not probable he would have sacrificed the advantage of an introduction at court to any vain regard to costume, he determined, if possible, to appear in the simple fashion of his own country. The privilege was accorded to him, and the novelty of his appearance served to increase admiration for his character. Attended by his suite, he had a public audience of the king, and was introduced to the private circle of the queen; and from that moment, everything Franklin, and everything American, was first in style in the gay coteries of the French capital. Dr. Franklin's quarters became the point of attraction to all that was distinguished or desirous of being prominent in philosophy or fashion, in politics and taste ; and the duty of receiving and attending to their numerous calls generally devolved on Loring Austin. Ten thousand marks of per sonal kindness which were lavished on Dr. Franklin could not but sometimes excite the good-natured jealousy of the other commissioners, who, though his equals in political rank, seemed to be forgotten entirely by the French people ; and it required some address, certainly, on the part of Franklin, to preserve harmony. Among numberless similar instances of the consideration in which he was held, a large cake was sent, one morning, to the commissioners' apartment, inscribed, " Le digne Franklin," or, For the worthy Franklin. "We have," said one of the gentlemen, " as usual, to thank you for our accommodations, and to appropriate your present to our joint use." " Not at all," said Franklin ; " this must be intended for all the commissioners, only these French people cannot write English. They mean, no doubt, ' Lee, Dean, Franklin.' " "That might answer," said Mr. Lee; " but we know, whenever they remember us at all, they always put you first." JONATHAN LORING AUSTIN. 177 The capture of Burgoyne, and the French alliance, changed wholly the character of the American cause, and it began to be believed in Europe that the independence of the Colonies might be maintained. The members of the English opposition in Parliament maintained a correspondence with Dr. Franklin ; and it has been said that he was privately visited in Paris by more than one of them. The ministry, it was known, was desirous of keeping the nation in great ignorance of the state of American affairs. Little confidence was placed in their accounts ; and the most intelligent men sought information from other sources, and especially through France. The Americans in England were principally loyalists, and the fairness of their representations was liable to suspicion. There was in the conduct and constitution of American affairs a great departure from the usual course of European politics ; — the mode of government, the strength, resources and prospects of the country, were little understood ; — how the war was conducted, when there was none of that machinery which was thought indispensable to raise taxes, support armies, and enforce authority. They were desirous of having these matters explained, especially as the enemies of the American cause made this the constant theme for their prophecy of ruin. To communicate this information in an authentic and satisfactory manner, to explain and illustrate the actual state of things in the United States, it was thought could best be done by personal interviews with some intelligent and confidential per son ; and Dr. Franklin proposed a mission for this purpose to Loring Austin. It may readily bo supposed that the young American acceded to this proposal with pleasure. The business was in a high degree confidential ; and, as preparatory to it, Franklin required of Austin to burn in his presence every letter which he had brought from his friends in America, — in exchange for which he gave him two letters, which he assured him would open an easy communication to whatever was an object of interest or curiosity, either among men or things. One difficulty had, however, nearly destroyed this plan. Franklin was unwilling that Austin should be known, lest his connection with the commissioners in France might be suspected. But he had many relatives in England of distinction, and was, besides, personally acquainted with all the loyalists who had left Boston. Trusting, however, to his prudence, and enjoining on him the most scrupulous attention to preserve from all but the proper per- 178 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. sons the secret of his connection with the commissioners, Franklin furnished him with the means of a passage to England. Probably no American ever visited England under more fortunate circumstances than did Loring Austin. Few of our countrymen have the means of associating with the rank and wealth of that nation. Those who gain this access by means of official station maintain a cold and formal intercourse, limited in its character, and confined to official circles. But the letters of Dr. Franklin, and the desire that was felt by the leaders of the opposition to see and converse with an intelligent American, who had the confidence of that eminent man, and was from the country of their absorbing interest, brought Loring Austin into familiar personal intercourse with the master spirits of the age. In narrating the progress of his commission, Mr. Austin writes : "My time passes with so little of the appearance of business, that if I was not assured it was otherwise, I should think myself without useful employment. The mornings I devote to seeing such objects of curi osity or interest as I am advised to, and wholly according to my own inclination. I attend constantly the debates of Parliament, to which I have ready admission ; and have been particularly enjoined to attend, that I may not miss any question on our affairs. Dinner, — • or, as it ought to be called, supper, — which follows afterward, is the time allotted to conversation on the affairs of our country. I am invariably detained to parties of this kind, sometimes consisting of seven or eight, and sometimes of the number of twenty. The com pany is always composed of members of Parliament, with very few additions ; indeed, I do not know of any ; and no question which you can conceive is omitted, to all which I give such answers as my knowl edge permits. I am sadly puzzled with the various titles which differ ent ranks require. My small knowledge of French prevented this trouble in Paris ; but here I frequently find myself at fault, which subjects me to embarrassment, that is yet forgiven to a stranger." A constant and familiar intercourse with whatever was noble or learned or eminent in the British capital must have made this a most delightful winter in London to a young American, educated in the plain habits of New England. Mr. Austin was domesticated in the family of the Earl of Shelburne ; placed under the particular care of his chap lain, the celebrated Dr. Priestley ; introduced to the king, then a youth ; in company with Mr. Fox, present at all the coteries of the opposition, and called upon to explain and defend the cause and character of JONATHAN LORING AUSTIN. 179 his countrymen, in the freedom of colloquial discussion, before the greatest geniuses of the age, against the doubts of some, the ridicule of others, the censure of many, and the inquiries of all. The communications made by Mr. Austin were calculated to explain the condition and circumstances of his countrymen, to give a better conception of their physical and moral strength, to do away the impression of their being at variance among themselves, to explain what might otherwise lead to a belief of their want of harmony ; and, by stating facts which, with the minuteness that was known to him, his hearers could not be acquainted with, he effected a very useful impression. The object of his visit to England was accomplished to the satisfaction of Dr. Franklin, in whose family he continued for some time after his return to Paris. Being charged with the despatches of the commis sioners to Congress, he left France, and arrived at Philadelphia, May, 1779. A very liberal compensation was made him by Congress for his services in Europe ; and Mr. Austin again returned to his business in Boston, as an owner of a rope- walk, and interested in shipping. On the 11th January, 1780, Mr. Austin was appointed by the State of Massachusetts a commissioner to negotiate in Europe for a loan of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, " and to pledge the faith of the government for the repayment of the same ; " and shortly after embarked for Spain. Such, however, was the low credit of the country abroad, or the want of information among nionied men of its resources and condition, that this small sum could not be obtained. Mr. Austin was captured on his outward passage, and carried a prisoner into England. Personal incivility, inconsistent with the usages of more modern warfare, was practised towards him by the captor, for the purpose of discovering the object of his voyage, the papers concerning it having been thrown overboard during the chase ; and, on the appearance of an American vessel of force, the master of the English ship actually confined him to the main-mast, and threat ened to keep him there during the action, — a threat which he would probably have put in execution, if an engagement had ensued. Mr. Austin, having obtained his hberation in England, by means of friends to whom he had formerly been known, passed over to France, and there and in Spain and Holland pursued the object of his mission, with very indifferent success. He was enabled, by adding his own per sonal credit to that of the State, to procure some articles of clothing, 180 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. but far short of the amount desired by the commonwealth. Mr. Austin continued his exertions in Holland until the summer of 1781 ; and, after twenty-two months' absence, returned to the United States. After the close of the Revolutionary War, Mr. Austin engaged again in commercial and manufacturing pursuits, and confined himself chiefly to these occupations. In his native town he was repeatedly honored with the confidence of the people. He served for many years on the boards of overseers of the poor and school committee, and in the State Senate, as a member from Suffolk. On removing to Cambridge, where he resided during the period his sons were passing through the uni versity, — one of whom prepared the greatest part of this sketch, — Mr. Austin was elected a representative from that town to the Legis lature, and was successively elected secretary and treasurer of the commonwealth. The associations of his early life, and his intercourse with educated society in the courts of Europe, had given a refinement and polish to his manners and mode of thinking, that entitled him to the reputation he then universally enjoyed, of being one of the most accomplished gentlemen of the day. There are those remaining who remember that he, whom for many years we had been accustomed to see bowed clown by infirmity and age, was once " The glass of fashion and the mould of form, The observed of all observers." Shortly before his death, Mr. Austin interested some young friends, by reciting, memoriter, several of the fine descriptions of Homer and Virgil, which he was ever able fluently to repeat. He died at Boston, May 15, 1826. The Hon. Benjamin Austin, an active and zealous leader of the old Republican party, and a brother of Jonathan Loring Austin, was a frequent writer in the Independent Chronicle, over the signature of Honestus, and author also of a warm political work, entitled " Old South," comprising 350 pages, 8vo. His political articles effected a greater sensation than the productions of any writer in his party, and elicited the following severe effusion from the most satirical poet of Boston : " In vain our literary champions write, — Their satire tickles, and their praises bite. They, by their poor, dull nonsense, clearly own Our depth of anguish to the laughing town. JONATHAN LORING AUSTIN. 181 Their pens inflict not e'en a moment's pain, And Honee scribbles, and his friends, in vain ; Like angry flies that buzz upon the wing, They show the will, but not the power, to sting ; Ambitious with ephemeras to vie, Or moles that thunder into light, and die." Here follows an account of the fruitless efforts of Honestus to make a speech at the Jacobin Club, which met at the Green Dragon Tavern : " Thrice from his seat his form Honestus reared, And thrice in attitude to speak appeared ; His lean left hand he stretched as if to smite, And manful grasped his breeches with his right. Thrice he essayed to speak, and thrice his tongue In his half-opened mouth suspended hung ; Once more he rose, with mortifying pain, — Once more he rose, — and then sat down again. His disappointed bosom heaved a sigh, And tears of anguish started from his eye. * # * * Thrice he essayed, and thrice, in spite of scorn, Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth at last ; Words, interwove with sighs, found out their way. * # * * Of all her sons, none gained so much applause As lank Honestus, with his lanthorn jaws. * * * # Once, too, misguided by some adverse power, You aped patrician's airs in evil hour, And Federal Russell, in resentful fit, Thy back belabored, and thy face bespit." In "The Democratiad," a political satire, published at Philadel phia in 1795, we find the following allusion to a speech of Benjamin Austin, in Faneuil Hall, on Jay's treaty, and in our sketch of Joseph Hall are further allusions. The "satirizing priest" of whom the poet says Mr. Austin had such dread was probably Dr. Gardiner : " Now, sage Honestus from his seat arose, Thrice stroked his chops, and thrice surveyed his toes ; Thrice strove his mighty project to declare, Thrice stopped to see if Parson G. were there ; — For well he knew the satirizing priest Would hang him up, a scarecrow and a jest, If once he saw his wayward footsteps stray But a small distance in the factious way. 16 182 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Ah ! timid man, thou nothing hadst to dread, ¦ Among thy Club appeared no honest head ; No Parson G. was there thy steps to trace, And paint the guilty terrors of thy face." THOMAS DAWES. JULY i, 1787. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. Judge Dawes introduced the following felicitous figure, in this pro duction: "One of the late aerostatic navigators," — probably Dr. John Jeffries, — "has intimated that, when sailing in his balloon through the blue climes of air, over European territories, the eye was gratified in the accuracy with which the divisions were made between contiguous owners of the lands below. The circumstance suggested the idea of firm laws. Had this philosopher made his aerial voyage over the fields of Massachusetts, he would have enjoyed an additional sentiment, — an idea of equality would have been joined to that of certainty. The senti mentalist would not only have discovered the justness of outlines in the bounds of property, but he would have observed the equality of por tions of the respective owners, — a species of equality how exalted above the condition of those countries where the peasant is alienated with the soil, and the price of acres is the number of slaves ! Not, indeed, that perfect equality which deadens the motives of industry, and places demerit on a footing with virtue ; but that happy mediocrity which soars above bondage, without aspiring to domination. Less favorable to liberty were those agrarian laws which lifted the ancient republics into grandeur." In the peroration of this oration, Judge Dawes says, in a strain of eloquence : " Poverty of genius is not our misfortune. The forms of free and justly balanced politics maintain our title to legislative wis dom. Nor have we narrowed the gates of our religious institutions. Liberality is not an exotic that dies on our soil. Independent ground is not watered with the blood of unbelievers. We have not contracted the worship of the Deity to a single establishment, but we have opened an asylum to all people, and kindred, and tongues, and nations. No ! THOMAS DAWES. 183 Mediocrity is not the bane of independent minds. Nature has dealt with us not on the minute scale of economy, but the broader principles of bounty. What remains, then, but that we improve the gratuities of Providence ? Roused by a sense of past suffering and the dignity of freedom, we have once more called on venerable sages of our first Congress, on other immortal characters, to add new strength and beauty to the fair fabric of independence. "A legislation, common in certain cases to all the States, will make us a nation in reality, as well as in name. This will permit us to respect our own station, and to treat on equal grounds with other powers; will suffer us to be just at home and respectable abroad; will render property secure, and convince us that the payment of debts is our truest policy and highest honor. This will encourage husbandry and arts ; will settle, with numerous and happy families, the banks of the Ohio and the borders of Kennebec. Huron's neglected waves — Superior's wilderness of waters, now forlorn and unemployed — shall bear the countless vessels of internal traffic. Niagara's foaming cataract, crowned with columns of vapor and refracted lines, shall not always bar the intercourse of mighty lakes. The mechanic arts shall find a passage from Erie to Ontario, and Champlain shall be led in triumph to the bosom of the deep. " Hail, glorious age ! when the potent rays of perfect liberty shall burst upon the now benighted desert ; when the tawny natives of America, and the descendants of those who fled hither from the old world, shall forget their animosities ; when all parts of this immense continent shall be happy in ceaseless communications, and the mutual exchange of benefits ; when the cornucopia of peace shall be pre ferred to the waste of war, as the genial gales of summer to the ruf fian blasts of winter ; when nations, who now hold the same jealous relation to each other which individuals held before society was formed, shall find some grand principle of combination, like that which rolls tho heavenly bodies round a common centre. The distinct fires of" American States, which are now blended into one, rising just through broken clouds from the horizon, shall blaze bright in the zenith, — the glory of the universe ! ' ' "You and I," says John Adams to Samuel Adams, "have seen four noble families rise up in Boston, — the Crafts, Gores, Dawes and Austins. These are as really a nobility, in our town, as the Howards, Somersets, Berties, &c, in England. By nobles I mean not pecu liarly an hereditary nobility, or any particular modification, but the natural and actual aristocracy among mankind." 184 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. JOHN BROOKS. JULY i, 1787. FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI. Before the dissolution of the American army, the officers, in their cantonments near Hudson's river, instituted a society, May 10, 1783, which, from similarity in their situation to that of the celebrated Roman, was to be denominated " The Society of the Cincinnati." It was to be designated by a medal of gold, representing the American eagle, bearing on its breast the devices of the order, which was to be suspended by a deep blue ribbon, edged with white, descriptive of the union of America and France. The immutable principles of the society required the members to preserve the rights and privileges of human nature, for which they had fought and bled, and to promote and cherish union and honor between the respective States. Its objects were to perpetuate the remembrance of the American Revolution, as well as a cordial affection among the officers, and to extend acts of beneficence to those officers and their families whose situation might require assistance. A common fund was to be created, by the deposit of one month's pay on the part of every officer becoming a member. This institution excited no inconsiderable degree of jealousy and oppo sition. The ablest dissertation against it was entitled " Considerations on the Society or Order of Cincinnati," dated Charleston, S. C, Oct. 10, 1783, and signed " Cassius." It was the production of Acdamus Burke, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of South Carolina, who undertook to prove that the Cincinnati creates two distinct orders among our people : a race of hereditary nobles founded on the military, together with the most influential families and men in the State, — and the people, or plebeians. On about the year 1803, Col. Humphrey wrote, in reply, that "more than twenty years have elapsed, and not one fact has occurred to countenance these jealous insinuations." This institution is said to have been originated by Maj. Gen. Knox. Its first president was George Washington, who gave his signature at the head of the list of members on its establishment. Gen. Knox was secretary-general. The first officers for the Massachusetts branch of that society were as follows : Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, President; Maj. Gen. Henry Knox, Vice President; Col. John Brooks, Secretary; Col. Henry Jackson, Treasurer ; Capt. Benjamin Haywood, Assistant Treasurer. JOHN BROOKS. 185 The first orator for this branch of the institution was Hon. John Brooks, in 1787. After 1790, the delivery of orations for this society ceased ; but annual meetings, and civic feasts, with toasts and senti ments, on the anniversary of independence, are to this day perpetuated. A strong indication of the patriotic motives of this remnant of revo lutionary heroes is evident from the eloquent appeal of Gen. John Brooks, in this oration. " Considering the temper of the times," says Gen. Brooks, " in which you live, the part you have to act is confess edly difficult. For, although, as a society, friendship and benevolence are your great objects, yet apathy in you with regard to the public welfare would be construed into disaffection, and uncommon sensibility into design. It is impossible for men, whose great ambition it has been to deserve the approbation of their fellow-citizens, to view with indifference the reproach which has been cast upon your institution. But there is a degree of respect due from every man to himself, as well as to others ; and there are situations from which one may not recede, without the unavoidable imputation of weakness or of guilt. While, therefore, a consciousness of virtuous and laudable views will prompt you to cherish the benevolent principles which first induced you to associate, you will be led to respect that spirit of jealousy which always characterizes a free government, and, when not carried to excess, is useful in its support. Time, which places everything in its true light, will convince the world that your institution is founded in virtue, and leads to patriotism. '" Besides the motives you have, in common with others, to seek the public welfare, a regard to the consistence of your own character, that sense of honor which has raised you superior to every temptation and to every distress, the reiterated testimonials you have received from your country of their sense of your patriotism and military merit, are ties that must forever bind you most sacredly to her interests. Prosecute, then, with resolution, what you have instituted in sincerity. Make it the great object of your ambition, as you have shone as soldiers, to excel as citizens. Treat with just indifference the insinua tions which envy may be disposed to throw out against you. Silence the tongue of slander, by the rectitude of your conduct and the bril liance of your virtues. Suffer not the affected jealousy of individuals to abate the ardor of your patriotism. As you have fought for lib erty, convince the world you know its value. As you have greatly contributed to establish these governments, teach the licentious traitor 16* 186 THE hundred boston orators. that you will support them ; and as you have particularly fought under the banners of the Union, inculcate, in your several circles, the neces sity of preserving the unity of the national character. Fortify your minds against that foe to integrity, that bane of republicanism, an immoderate thirst for popularity." Hon. John Brooks was born at Medford, June 6, 1752, and received a town-school education. He was an indented apprentice to Simon Tufts, M. D., at the age of fourteen, until he became of age. He early settled at Reading, in medical practice, and married Lucy Smith, an orphan. While at Reading, he became captain of a company of minute-men, and it being at the period when Boston was in the pos session of the British troops, under pretext of going into town for medicine to be used in his profession, he engaged a drill-sergeant of the regulars to secretly instruct him in the manual exercise ; and he often remarked, it was of this British soldier that he acquired the rudiments of military tactics. He was not at the battle of Bunker Hill, but was engaged in other services on that day and night, at Cambridge. His daughter Lucy was prematurely born, at Reading, on that memorable day ; and, being remarkable for active and ener getic habits, her brother Alexander observed to her, one day. when she was bustling about the house, " Why, Lucy, you was born in a bustle, and I believe you will die in a bustle." Mr. Brooks was a schoolmate with the eminent Count Rumford. Hon. Loammi Baldwin, of Woburn, was his early friend : and each was destined for college, but neither of them ever received a literary education, being diverted from their purpose by patriotic ardor. Capt. Brooks was in the battle of Lexington, and. meeting the British force on their return from Concord, he ordered his men to post themselves behind the barns and fences, and fire incessantly upon them. Col. Brooks, in the battle of Saratoga, at the head of his regiment, stormed and carried the intrenchments of the German troops. In the battle of Monmouth, Brooks was acting adjutant-general. After the battle of Saratoga, he thus laconically wrote to a friend: "We have met the British and Hessians, and have beat them: and. not content with this victory, we have assaulted their intrenchments, and carried them." Col. Brooks detected a conspiracy of officers at Newburgh, early in 1783. He kept them within quarters, to prevent an attendance on the insurgent meeting. On this occasion, which was probably the JOHN BROOKS. 187 most anxious period in the career of Washington, who rode up to him for counsel on this point, Brooks said, " Sir, I have anticipated your wishes, and my orders are given." Washington, with tears in his eyes, extended to him his hand, and said, " Col. Brooks, this is just what I expected from you." What a scene for an artist ! In 1780, Col. Brooks delivered a Masonic oration at West Point, in the presence of the noble Washington. He was commander of the Ancient and Hon orable Artillery Company in 1786, and major-general of the Massa chusetts troops in Shays' insurrection. In 1788 he was a member of the State convention for the adoption of the federal constitution. Was president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. In 1795 Gen. Brooks published an oration for the Massachusetts Humane Society. In 1800 he published a eulogy on Washington, delivered at Medford. He had, previous to this period, been appointed a U. S. marshal, and supervisor of the direct tax. He Avas vice-president of the first temperance society in New England, on its institution, in 1813. He was the State adjutant-general under Caleb Strong, and Governor of the State from 1816 to 1823. We well remember the beautiful scene of August 25, 1824, when Lafayette stood on the balcony of the mansion-house at the head of Park-street, attended by Gov. Eustis on the right, and his immediate predecessor, Gov. Brooks, on the left side of him, each in full military dress amid the cheerings of the gathered multitude, and the escort of the Boston regiment, on retiring to their quarters. When Lafayette visited his old companion-in-arms, during this month, one of the arches displayed, on his entrance into Medford, this inscription, " Welcome to our Hills and Brooks." Gov. Brooks died at Medford, March 1, 1825. Lieut. John, a son of Gov. Brooks, of youthful beauty and generous enterprise, fell in the battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, on board Perry's flag-ship Lawrence. Alexander S., his other son, en tered the U. S. army. Lucy married Rev. Geo. 0. Stuart, of Canada. "In the character of this estimable man," remarks his pastor, Andrew Bigelow, D. D., "there was a junction of qualities equally great and good. Great qualities he certainly possessed. The faculties of his mind, naturally of no inferior order, had been unusually strength ened by culture and exercise. Separately, they were all entitled to respect on the score of power ; and, had the entire assemblage centred in some one not endued with his genuine goodness of heart, or in whose breast a baleful ambition reigned, they would have clearly 188 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. proved the possessor to be a talented man, in the popular sense of the phrase. In the case supposed, they would have stood all naked and open, and have glared upon human observation." The best memoir of John Brooks extant is that written by his pastor. HARRISON GRAY OTIS. JULY 4, 1788. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. In this spirited and elegant oration of Mr. Otis, it is remarked : " A review of the history of the North American settlements exhibits an early and almost a continual struggle between tyranny and avarice upon one side, and an ardent sense of native liberty upon the other. Those are mistaken who think that the original source of oppression may be traced in the ordinance of the Stamp Act. The first colonial institution established in Virginia was subjected to an arbitrary council, dependent upon the capricious pleasure of a king. Patience and enterprise, at length had discovered to the inhabitants a staple production at that period peculiar to the colony, when the harsh man date of a tyrant foe had the cultivation of it, and condemned commerce to defile her infant hands in the fruitless, ignoble drudgery of searching after mines. In other southern colonies, instances are not wanting of inquisitorial writs and of violated charters. " It must, however, be allowed, that, sheltered by the canopies of their paramounts, they were in general less exposed than their sister provinces to the scorching rays of supreme majesty. Advancing into New England, the system of oppression becomes more uniform, and the resistance consequently more conspicuous. No affluent proprie tary appeared to protect our hardy ancestors. The immeasurable wild had yielded to their industry a vacancy barely sufficient for their household gods. At the same moment, the pestilential breath of a despot blew into their country a swarm of locusts, commissioned to corrode their liberties to the root. Even in those early times, not only the freedom, but the use of the press, was prohibited ; new taxes were imposed ; old charters were abrogated ; citizens were impressed. HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 189 The crown of England restrained emigrations from that country, dis couraged population upon this side of the Atlantic, confiscated estates, suppressed the habitual modes of public worship, and precluded the wretched privilege of complaint. Oppressed in a manner so irritating, so unworthy, how did our forefathers sustain these accumulated mis eries 1 Did they crouch, dismayed, beneath the iron sceptre 1 Did they commit treason against themselves, by alienating the dearest pre rogatives of humanity 1 No ; we find them persevering in decent, pathetic remonstrances, in the time of Charles the First, refusing to surrender their patent to Cromwell, and exhibiting a bill of rights at the time of the restoration. After the abdication of James, the tri umph of liberty in Britain became complete. Ministers naturally grew fearful lest her pervading influence should extend to the colonies ; and from the era of the Revolution until the gloomy hour of the Stamp Act, the plan of our slavery was always resumed in the inter vals of domestic peace. Affairs now assumed a more serious aspect. The minds of men became vehemently agitated ; and, after a sad vari ety of disappointment, the citizens of these provinces were compelled to draw their swords, and to appeal to the God of armies. What, then, may we hence infer, were the principles which actuated the high-spir ited Americans, placed in a situation so critical and disastrous 1 They were elevated, patriotic, godlike. They induced a voluntary sacrifice of ease and fortune, a contempt for danger, and inspired confidence in leaders chosen by themselves. What were the manners 1 These con sisted in honor, temperance, fortitude, religion. What were the feel ings 1 These, no power of language can describe. Had they still continued to animate our bosoms, they might have supplied the want of a new government, which now alone can save us from perdition." Harrison Gray Otis was a son of Samuel Alleyne Otis, a native of Barnstable, who married Elizabeth, the only daughter of Harrison Gray, Receiver-general of this province ; and second to Mary, the widow of Edward Gray, Esq., and daughter of Isaac Smith. His father was early in mercantile fife, settled in Boston, and was active in the cause of liberty, but was too youthful to become eminent in the Revolution, like his brother James, the great advocate. He was, however, a rep resentative from Boston in 1776, and member of the State convention of 1780. He was a member of the Board of War, and Speaker of the House, 1784. In 1787 he was appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate regarding Shays' insurrection. He was elected a member 190 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. of Congress in 1788, and after the adoption of the federal constitu tion was chosen Secretary of the Senate of the United States, which he filled with scrupulous fidelity, blandness and courtesy, — without, it is said, being absent from his post a single day during a period of thirty years, and till his decease, amid the collision of party strife, to the approbation of all parties. He died at Washington, April 22, 1814, aged 73. The grandfather of the subject of this article — Harrison Gray, Esq. — adhered to the royal cause, and removed from Boston, March 17, 1776, with the British troops, on their evacuation. John Adams once impulsively said of Harrison Gray, that he has a very tender mind, and is extremely timid. He says, "When he meets a man of the other side, he talks against him; when he meets a man of our side, he opposes him, — so that he fears he shall be thought against everybody, and so everybody will be against him." And at another time, Mr. Adams remarked: " I went in to take a pipe with brother Cranch, and there I found Zab Adams. He told me he heard that I had made two very powerful enemies in this town, and lost two very valuable clients — Treasurer Gray and Ezekiel Goldthwaite ; and that he heard that Gray had been to me for my account, and paid it off, and determined to have nothing more to do with me. 0, the wretched, impotent malice ! They show their teeth, — they are eager to bite, — but they have not strength. I despise their anger, their resentment, and their threats ; but I can tell Mr. Treasurer that I have it in my power to tell the world a tale which will infallibly unhorse him, whether I am in the house or out. If this province knew that the public money had never been counted these twenty years, and that no bonds were given last year, nor for several years before, there would be so much uneasiness about it that Mr. Treasurer Gray would lose his election another year." And Trumbull, in McFingal, satirically says : " What Puritan could ever pray In godlier tone than Treasurer Gray ? Or at town-meetings, speechifying, Could utter more melodious whine, And shut his eyes, and vent his moan, Like owl afflicted in the sun ? ' ' Bold imputations having been declared that Treasurer Gray had appropriated funds of this province to private purposes, the grand son prepared a clear refutation of the unjust aocusation, from which we HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 191 select a portion. It may be found entire in Russell's Centinel, June. 1830. Alluding to grandfather Gray, Mr. Otis says : "I was indeed only nine years old when I last saw him, but my recollections of him and of the circumstances of his exile axe associated with the most vivid and affectionate impressions of that tender age. My paternal ances tors were, in the phrase of the day, high Whigs. My paternal grand father was president of the council held in 1774, immediately after the dissolution dc facto of the regular government, by Gage ; and in the years next following the departure of the British from Boston, my uncles and father were, some of them, in the General Court, and inti mately connected with the public transactions of the times. In 1775. my father, with his wife, the treasurer's only daughter and children, took refuge in my paternal grandfather's mansion in the country. In 1776, immediately after the evacuation, we returned to Boston. Though the opposite political attitudes of the two families never interrupted for a moment the tender attachment of my parents for each other, yet the separation of my father from her father, whose darling child she was. preyed upon her peace of mind, and finally destroyed her health. Thus it may well be conceived that the public relation and affairs of Treas urer Gray, from November, 1774. wheu the people took the reins of government into their own hands. — my paternal grandfather then behi£. in fact, the presiding officer, — to the time of his leaving the country. and that his departure itself and the circumstances attending it. were themes of constant discussion and intense interest in the family circle. in my hearing ; and that, had any suspicion, hint or accusation, of his carrying away the public money, prevailed among the ruling party, they could not have been hidden or forgotten by me. Two yeare after this time, at the age of twelve, I began a correspondence with the treasurer. After the peace, and before I was of age. he employed me in attempting to save and convey to him something from the wreck of his fortune. In 1794. at the advanced age of eighty-four, this excellent and virtuous man sunk to rest. Yet. through the long period of eighteen years of constant correspondence with him, and the longer time of six-and-thirty yeare, during which his bones have been mouldering in the grave. I solemnly declare that I never heard of the suggestion of any defalcation of the public money bj- him, or of any offence commit ted against his country, but his acceptance of the mandamus commis sion. But I well remember the constant exultation of my mother, in the midst of her troubles, that ' his enemies could say nothing against 192 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. him.' This negative testimony should suffice to put down the idle and unsupported fabrication." Mr. Otis, after going into a detail unequiv ocally proving the financial honor of his maternal grandfather, thus eloquently remarks : "I have never, to the best of my remembrance, written a line in vindication of my own public character, though for years together I have been doomed to run the gauntlet through rank and file of my political opponents. But I have now no choice. Some old resurrectionist, in fumbling over the tomb of a relative recently deceased, disturbs the ashes of another long since dead. It is my duty to protect them. They are the sacred relics of my earliest friend and benefactor, whose name I bear, whose blood is in my veins, and whose exile I was taught to regard as the heaviest calamity that befell my childhood and youth. He atoned for a solitary political error of judg ment by sacrificing fortune to principle, and left instead of it the leg acy only of a good name. An attempt is now made to conjure up a mist of slander or suspicion over his antiquated tomb. To the name of the dark magician I have no clue. He calls himself Senex, and deals in the gossip by which ' narrative old age ' betrays its approxima tion to dotage. I hope the exceeding absurdity of the statement into which he has been led will naturally restrain him hereafter, — the pro pensity natural to old folks of prating about sixty years' since, — and that he will remember, when they grow anecdotical, they become obnoxious to the character once given by a lady to an old busy-body, who, inquiring what the world thought of him, was answered, ' All the women think you an old man, and all the men consider you an old woman.' " Harrison Gray, in a letter to Rev. Mr. Montague, of Christ Church, Boston, dated London, Aug. 1, 1791, remarks to him, in a spirit of loyalty to the crown of Britain, as follows : " The melancholy state in which you represent religion to be in Boston and New England is con firmed by all who come from thence. Is this one of the blessings of your independence, to obtain which you sacrificed so many lives ? I am glad that your federal constitution ' has had a very great and good effect,' but very much question whether you will ever be so happy as you were under the mild and gentle government and protection of Great Britain ; for, notwithstanding the freedom my countrymen boast of, if, in order to obtain it, they have sacrificed their religion, they have made a poor bargain.. They cannot, in a religious sense, be called a free people, till the Son of God has made them free. HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 193 "It is very surprising, considering the establishment of the Roman Catholic religion at Quebec was one of the heavy grievances the Amer ican Congress complained of, that your governor and other great men in your town should attend the worship of God in a Roman Catholic church, to hear a Romish bishop, on a Sunday ; and that he should be one of the chaplains who officiated at a public dinner ! I cannot, at present, account for their inconsistency any otherwise than by supposing the part they took in the late unhappy contest lays so heavy upon their consciences that they imagine no one can absolutely absolve them but a Romish priest." Harrison Gray Otis was born in Boston, Oct. 8, 1765, on the estate adjoining the Revere House, and next that of the late Capt. Jonathan Chapman. He remembered standing at the window of his birth-place, to see the British regulars, when on the march to Lexington. He entered the public Latin School irt 1773. The youthful days of Mr. Otis, at this period, are narrated by himself, in his speech at the dedi cation of the Otis School, on Lancaster-street, March 13, 1845 ; and this was his last public address. Mr. Otis said that nothing was more remote from his mind than the idea of making an address upon a sub ject of such importance as education. The clay for making addresses had long since passed with him. Old men should know when to retire. They should not, like old ladies, appear in public bedizened with the ornaments of youth. He was not competent to make one now, but he could do what all old men could, — tell a story about him self. As the school had been named after him, he was vain enough to suppose that some of the pupils would be interested in hearing some thing that related to his school-boy days. He was a Boston boy, and he had received all his education at the public schools after he was seven years old. He cherished a great affection for those days, and he thought with pleasure on the memory of his schoolmasters, with whom he had always been on good terms, excepting an occasional flogging. The first school he went to was a quasi public school. It was kept by Master Griffith, in Hanover-street. His friend, Deacon Grant, who was near him, knew exactly where it was. Master Griffith was a worthy old creature, and had some pretensions to facetiousness. His ideas, as to rewards, were a little peculiar. Every Wednesday after noon, the boys who had demeaned themselves with propriety expected to receive a prize, which expectation was not disappointed. But what did they think it was 1 Shellbarks, thrown out of the window, for 17 194 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. which the boys scrambled ! He then went to the Latin School, which was in School-street. The master, Mr. Lovell, was a worthy old gen tleman : but there had been a sort of rivalry between the Latin and the writing schools, which was the cause of several curious doggerel effusions on the part of the boys, some extracts of which were repeated by Mr. Otis with humorous effect. Forty years ago. continued Mr. Otis, the place where this school was built was a mill-pond. The tide flowed into it to the depth of ten or twelve feet. There was then no expectation that a school-house would ever be erected on this spot. There were " schools " of fishes here. but there was no schoolmaster, except the successor of St. Anthony, who, it was said, could preach to the fishes. Mr. Otis said he was entirely inadequate to describe the great advantages which the children of the present day had over the boys and girls of his time. What did they learn then ?- A few Latin roots to squeeze them into college, and mere ciphering. They had then none of those advantages which he now saw. There was not then that group of learned teachers, who were deserving of the thanks of the country. He spoke with great venera tion of those who had lived in his time ; but he did not think it was any disparagement to their memory to say that they were not to be compared to the instructors of the present day. He commended them to their teachers, and their teachers to them: and he prayed them to be satisfied of the great advantages which they enjoyed, and to improve the opportunity which was afforded to them of becoming good and enlightened citizens. He hoped that, as the school had been called after him. they would remember him in their good will ; and he more affectionately and fervently commended them — teachers and pupils — to the care and protection of their Maker. In connection with this period in the youth of Otis, we have a rem iniscence, finely woven in his own charming language. " Barnstable," savs he. "was not only the place of the birth and residence of my immediate ancestors for four generations, but it afforded to my child hood an asylum from the storms of war, and a retreat for my peaceful studies, during the siege of Boston. I had been there but a few weeks before the news arrived of the conflagration of Charlestown. This came to us not in the shape which it has since assumed, of a real vic tory, though nominal defeat ; but with the unmitigated horrors of con flagration and massacre, and as a specimen of the mode in which our peaceful villages were intended to be swept with the fire and sword. HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 195 " I was placed at school," continues Mr. Otis, " with the admirable pastor, Mr. Hilliard, of the east parish, where I passed my time from Mondays to Saturdays. On the last day of the week, I was sent for and conveyed to the patriarchal mansion, and attended on Sundays the religious instructions of the pious and venerable Mr. Shaw. In these weekly journeyings, I became familiar with the location of every house and building between my points of departure, and with the younger inmates of many of them ; and I feel as if I could jot down the principal part of them upon a plan of the road. Barnstable was not only the scene of my earliest friendship, but of my first love. I became enam ored of a very charming young person, nearly of my own age, — but the course of this love did not run smoothly. In an innocent ramble over the fields and hedges with her and other young persons, she had the misfortune to lose a necklace of genuine gold beads : the fault was neither hers nor mine, but of the string on which they were threaded ; but still, as real mint-drops were in that day very valuable, and treasury- notes greatly on the decline, the circumstance brought me into some discredit with the family, as accessory to a loss which impaired the faculty of resuming specie payments when the time should arrive, and resulted in a future non-intercourse." The mother of young Otis, in a letter to her father, while in this seclusion, speaking of him, says, " I shall enclose you a letter from Harry, of his own writing and indit ing, which will enable you to form some judgment of his genius, which, his tutor tells me, is very uncommon." Young Otis graduated at Harvard College in 1783, when but eighteen years of age, receiving the highest honors of a class among whom were William Prescott, Artemas Ward, and Ambrose Spencer. At that period, his young friends warmly conceded that the mantle of his eloquent uncle, James Otis, had encircled him, for he was greatly admired for brilliant and graceful oratory : " Otis rises like a vernal morn, Clear, brilliant, sweet, in nature's gifts arrayed, Where not a cloud obtrudes its devious shade." Here we will again recur to the sprightly and delightful remembrance of Mr. Otis in relation to this period, contained in his letter read at the centennial celebration of Harvard University, Sept. 8, 1836. " It is now fifty-three years since I first received the honors of the univer sity. The surviving number of my fellow-classmates is very small. 196 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. To those of us who are v present — 'remnant of ourselves' — these years probably appear like the ' tale that is told.' My own career, through the long period, seems, in the retrospect, like a rapid journey through a path beset with flowers and thorns ; — the wounds received from the latter remaining, while the color and fragrance of the former are gone forever. In the year in which I was graduated, the com mencement was preceded by the acknowledgment of independence and the treaty of peace, and the English oration was assigned to me. You will naturally presume that the event, adapted to enkindle enthusiasm in an orator of the gravest character and age, would stimulate the fervid imagination of eighteen to paint in somewhat gorgeous colors the pros pects unfolded to our country by this achievement of its liberties, and its probable effect upon the destinies of other nations. I remember that I did so, and indulged the impulse of a sanguine temperament in building what doubtless seemed to others, and perhaps to myself, castles in the air. But, had it been in my imagination to conceive, and in my power to describe, what we now know to be a reality, I should have been considered as ballooning in the regions of bombast, and appeared ridiculously aiming to be sublime." Mr. Otis, in the same admirable epistle, of which we cite only a part, makes very shrewd remarks on the great topic of education. "It is of incomparably less moment," says he, " that a few persons should wear the gown of the scholar, than that the great body of the commu nity should be clad in the costume of fixed principles. But one cannot flourish without the other. Unless a due proportion of the people be educated in universities and colleges, learning must run wild. There might be plenty of itinerant orators and preachers to the dear people, and of political sportsmen to set man-traps for straggling patriots. It is vain to say ' the schoolmaster is abroad,' unless he is qualified for his vocation. When the schoolmaster has been educated at a uni versity, or has otherwise, by means of instruction from scholars, become fit for the calling, then, indeed, he goes abroad a most respectable and interesting member of an honorable profession, implanting the seeds of religion and of morality, private and public, wherever he goes. With out these, he travels, like a pedler, with bundles of trashy pamphlets and orations on his back, scattering his miserable wares through all the cottages and workshops and kitchens in the country, defrauding the humble purchasers. It is from the colleges that the wants of the legislatures, the pulpits, the courts and the school, can be most effectu- HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 197 ally supplied. They are the mints in which the genuine bullion is kept, and the pure coin stamped. The pulpit, the press and the school, are the banks of deposit, whence it is circulated ; and, Avithout fre quent recurrence to the standards kept in the mints, they will put in circulation base coin and rag money, to the confusion and destruction of the sound currency. Let us cultivate and adhere to the principles taught here, and not trust to the promises of the conductors on the modern intellectual railroad, to grade and level the hills of science, and to take us along at rates that will turn our heads and break our bones. Let us eschew the vagaries and notions of the new schools, and let each of us be reminded of a quotation which Burke did not tliink unworthy of him, and be ready to say, ' What though the flattering tapster Thomas Hangs his new angel two doors from us, As fine as painter's daub can make it, Thinking some traveller may mistake it I I hold it both a shame and sin To quit the good old Angel Inn.' " On the year previous to graduating at college, Mr. Otis had an impressive interview with his noble uncle, the great advocate ; and as it was the last period of intercourse with him, we will quote his own words: "I brought James Otis in a gig from Andover to Boston, in the year 1782, at a period when my father and his friends thought he was recovered. Nothing could be more delightfully instructive than his conversation on the journey, but it was in reference chiefly to the study of my profession, which it was intended I should pursue under his patronage. But I went back to college. He remained at home for a few weeks, and was induced to go into the Court of Common Pleas, where, it is said, he displayed great powers in a very pathetic case, but, as I have learnt from those who heard him, he appeared a sun shorn of his beams. His house, however, became the resort of much company, calling to visit and converse with him. Gov. Hancock was particularly attentive, and forced him to dine with him in a very large party. He was observed, before this time, to become thoughtful and sad, lying in bed until a very late hour ; but immediately after the dinner there was a visible oscillation of his intellect. He was overwhelmed by the recollection of past days, impressed, probably, with greater force by the presence of Hancock and others of the convives, by the scene alto- 17* 198 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. gether. There was, however, no frenzy. A hint was given him, by my father, that he had better return to Andover ; and he went like a lamb, where in a very short period he was struck with lightning." This statement implies that this was the last time of his visit to Boston. It is a fact, however, that his uncle was moderator of a town- meeting, in March, 1783. Perhaps Mr. Otis mistook the date of conveying him from Andover. The profession of law was the pursuit of his choice while at college, and he long anticipated the privilege of entering Temple Inns, London ; but the confiscation of his grandfather Gray's estate, and the derange ment of his father's pecuniary affairs, consequent on the Revolution, crushed that hope. He, however, prepared himself for the profession under the guidance of Judge John Lowell, the jurist and patriot. He pursued his studies with an intensity of application unsurpassed by any young student in the courts of Suffolk, being well apprized of the opinions of his uncle James, who said once, in relation to his father, when he had it in view to study law, " I hold it to be of vast import ance that a young man should be able to make some eclat at his opening. It has been observed, before I was born, if a man don't obtain a character in any profession soon after his first appearance, he hardly ever will obtain one." We will relate a remarkable fact in relation to his devotion to study. Mr. Bussey, afterwards an eminent merchant, who was accustomed to rise early to go to his store, often noticed, in passing Judge Lowell's office, a pair of shoes posted at the window, and soon discovered that a young man was engaged there in close study. Feeling curiosity to know whether he was engaged there all night, Mr. Bussey arose one morning before daybreak, and. as he passed, he saw the shoes were on the window. He then ventured to inquire of the young law-student if he engaged there all night in study. On which Mr. Otis replied that early study in the morning was his decided choice. " On leaving college, in 1783," relates Mr. Otis, " I entered Mr. Lowell's office as a pupil, and in the following autumn was graciously invited by him, and permitted by my father, to accompany him, Dr. Lloyd, and Mr. Adam Babcock, in a journey to Philadelphia. This afforded me a better opportunity of seeing him in hours of unguarded relaxation from the cares of business than afterwards occurred. The whole journey was a continued scene of pleasant and instructive con versation, and on his part of kind and condescending manners, spark- HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 199 ling anecdotes, and poetical quotations. We came to New York before the evacuation by the British army was consummated. There Mr. Lowell found Col. Upham, aid of Sir Guy Carleton, and Mr. Ward Chipman, judge-advocate, as I recollect, of the British army, — both old acquaintances and early companions. Their inter view, after eight years' separation and various fortunes, was most cordial. They introduced Mr. Lowell to Sir Guy, with whom he and my other fellow-travellers dined, with a large and splendid party of military and civilians, into which they had me worked, as an attache to the Boston delegation ; and it seemed to me as brilliant as Alexan der's feast. While in New York, Mr. Lowell received the hospitality and attentions of the distinguished citizens who had begun to return from exile. In Philadelphia, among others, he was waited upon by Mr. Robert Morris, who was still in his glory, and regarded in public estimation next to Washington, as the man on whose financial exer tions had depended the success of the Revolution. He entertained us, I still hanging as a bob to the kite, at a dinner of thirty persons, in a style of magnificence which I have never seen equalled. I left him at Philadelphia, and went on an excursion to Baltimore for a few days. On my return to Boston, I resumed my desk and books in his office. At the end of my probationary term, in 1786, Mr. Amory, the partner of Mr. Lowell, set up on his own account. I was thereupon invited by Judge Lowell to take his place and business in the lower courts, which I gladly accepted." A few weeks after Mr. Otis had opened his office, the late Benjamin Bussey, already alluded to, ¦ — ¦ a gentleman still remembered in this city, — needing the services of a lawyer at an early hour in the morning, found none of the profession in their cham bers but Mr. Otis, whom he consequently employed, and who was his advocate ever after. Mr. Otis having at this time no books, and no other means of obtaining any, borrowed of Mordecai M. Hayes, Esq., one hundred and sixteen pounds, in December, 1786, which he expended in purchasing a law library. At the close of his first year's practice at the bar, the loan was refunded out of his professional income. About this period Mr. Otis partially turned his attention to military tactics, and in 1787 he was elected captain of a company of young gentlemen,— the Light Infantry, which in 1789 escorted Washington on his entrance into Boston, — -which station he held until 1793; and, presuming that the present Boston Light Infantry is a scion of 200 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. . that stock, he gave this company a splendid entertainment at his resi dence, shortly before his death. He was an aid-de-camp to Major General John Brooks in Shays' Insurrection. In 1790 Mr. Otis married Sarah, daughter of William Foster. In 1792, when Mr. Otis spoke with great eloquence in town-meeting, at Faneuil Hall, in opposition to Gardiner's proposed instructions to the representatives, tolerating the drama in Boston, so strong was his rhetorical power, that Samuel Adams lifted up his hands in ecstasy, and thanked God that there was one young man willing to step forth in defence of the good old cause of morality and religion. At another town-meeting, in the Old South Church, in a period of political excite ment, Mr. Otis, standing amid a great throng of people, on the top of a pew, exclaimed, ' ' There is ever a strong spirit of discontent among these democrats. Why, Mr. Moderator, I sincerely believe, if they were in heaven, they would forthwith rebel." On this, the famous Dr. Charles Jarvis, who was in the gallery, sprang upon his feet, and remarked, "That's good, Mr. Otis; I should like to have said that, myself." In 1796 Mr. Otis was elected one of seven representatives from Boston to the State Legislature ; and in this year he was elected to Congress as the successor of Fisher Ames, and became a decided opponent of the measures of Thomas Jefferson. He was one of the embarrassed number who had to choose between Jefferson and Aaron Burr. From that period to the close of Madison's war, Mr. Otis was constantly in Congress ; and towards the close of Adams' administra tion he was U. S. District Attorney, which station he occupied until he was succeeded by George Blake. During the prevalence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia, in 1798, the government was located at Trenton. In that summer, President John Adams visited his seat in Quincy : and whilst there, Mr. Otis, one morning, meeting his friend William Lee in State-street, Boston, who was an auditor of the treasury at Washington, and a decided opponent of Mr. Adams, proposed to him to ride out and present their respects to the president. Mr. Lee objected, on account of the political stand he had taken against the federal administration, and presumino- he would not be a welcome visiter to his excellency just at that time. Mr. Otis replied that himself being a strong advocate to the president's principles was a sufficient passport, not only to the president, but to the whole Essex junto. This decided Mr. Lee to visit Quincy with HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 201 Mr. Otis. On arriving, they found George Cabot, with a committee of the old Essex junto, who had come out to remonstrate against the appointment of Elbridge Gerry's mission abroad. Mr. Otis, with his friend Lee, entered the room in the midst of the president's reply to the committee. He most cordially received them ; and, after inviting them to be seated, turned to the committee, and continued in warm terms his positive and fixed determination in favor of Mr. Gerry. Otis, seeing the committee wince at the strong expressions from the president, and thinking himself an intruder in the eyes of the discoin- ¦ fited committee, all of whom were his political friends, gave a wink to Lee that it was high time to retire ; and, taking a hasty leave of the president and his speech to the Federal committee, returned to Boston highly elated ; and from that day Lee became a convert to the Adams dynasty, for the independent course which the president pursued towards the Essex junto committee. In the year 1802, a political vilifier of Harrison Gray Otis publicly declared that he was a member from the royal State of Massachusetts, who labored, with all the cunning of a quibbling attorney, to have the alien bill passed into a law. This man, it was said, is not entirely devoid of fancy, but is a stranger to argument, and unacquainted with the virtues of truth and candor. The interested British merchants, it is reported, procured him to be one of the directors of the Bank of the United States ; and several pecuniary favors which he has granted these gentlemen in return prove that he possesses in an eminent degree the qualification of gratitude, and a bountiful hand to his friends. He is neither devoid of filial affection, if we may judge from his petty man oeuvres to procure an addition of two hundred dollars to the salary of his father. But the fear he expresses of the Frenchmen, and his hatred at Irishmen, are the two striking characteristics of his mind. In the summer of 1798, Mr. Otis so much dreaded a French invasion, that it is said he would have removed into some of the back settle ments, had it not been for the persuasion of Dwight Foster and George Thacher. "No man," says Callender, one of the rudest and coarsest politicians of that day, " can be more ambitious to be the scavenger of his party than this calumniator of the Irish nation. Mr. Otis has since obtained his wish, for no man is more employed in rallying and collecting together the scattered dregs of Federalism than Harrison Gray Otis." The most decided refutation of vituperative slander, like that in the 202 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. paragraph preceding, appears in the eloquent eulogium of Samuel L. Knapp, who remarked of Harrison Gray Otis, that "from his cradle, as from Plato's, swarmed the Hyblean bees, and left the honeys of elo quence on his tongue. Minerva was his tutelar goddess, but the Graces had no small share in his education. His political course was early shaped ; and from the dawn of manhood to this his meridian day, he has been a firm, undeviating disciple of Washington. Long in pub lic life, he has constantly been the champion of the cause he espoused. In every political contest he has carried terror and dismay into the ranks of his opponents, searched the dark caverns of corruption and intrigue, and dragged, with Herculean strength, each Cacus to the light, and held him up for the contempt and derision of the world. Democracy knew his worth, and has used every endeavor to allure him to come over to her cause. Mighty meeds of honor have been hinted as his rewards, but he did not yield. We love him, for he has fre quently turned aside from his labors, and, with reverence and homage, sacrificed at the tomb of the immortal Hamilton. No envy, which disturbs little minds, chafed his breast ; but, penetrated with grief, he shed upon Hamilton's grave such tears as genius weeps at the loss of kindred souls." Mr. Otis was elected Speaker of the House in 1803 until 1805, and President of the Senate in 1805, which stations he filled during twelve years, with grace, dignity, and urbanity. He was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, on its institution in 1814, and continued in that vocation until April, 1818, when he was succeeded by William Prescott, the father of the historian. The most important event in the political life of Mr. Otis was his connection with the Hartford Convention. He was chairman of the legislative committee which, October, 1814, urged arguments in favor of calling a convention of the New England States, because of internal difficulties arising from the war with Great Britain. He was a member of this convention, which gathered at Hartford, Dec. 15th of that year, when Hon. George Cabot was elected president. The nature of this conclave may be apprehended from the instructions extended to com missioners sent to the General Government, January, 1815, by this State and Connecticut. Mr. Otis, Thomas H. Perkins, and William Sullivan, represented Massachusetts in this matter. They were instructed to make earnest and respectful application to the government of the United States, requesting their consent to some arrangement HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 203 whereby the State of Massachusetts, separately, or in concert with neighboring States, may be enabled to assume the defence of their ter ritories against the enemy; and that, to this end, a reasonable portion of the taxes collected within said States may be paid into the respective treasuries thereof, and appropriated to the payment of the balance due to the said States, and to the future defence of the same, — the amount so paid into the treasuries to be credited, and the disbursements so made to be charged, to the United States. The commissioners were further required to consult with, and to solicit the assistance and coop eration of, the senators and representatives of this commonwealth in the Congress of the United States. The commission was dated Jan. 31, 1815. The commissioners had just arrived at Washington, about the 14th of February, when the joyful news of peace was proclaimed, thus rendering nugatory the necessity of their object ; and this result was doubtless hastened by a fear of the consequences of this conven tion. The popular clamor was forthwith raised against the Hartford Con- tion, accusing its managers of an attempt to dissolve the Union ; and, at a national festival of the Washington Society, a democratic leader said that it was a dangerous combination of internal foes, who had art fully entwisted themselves within the legitimate branches of our federal and State governments. And the charge has been reiterated — Novem ber, 1850 — by another democratic leader, the moderator of a party caucus at Faneuil Hall, that the Hartford Convention designed a north ern confederacy, involving an entire change in the organization of our institutions. The lively and forcible language of Fisher Ames, that falsehood will travel from Maine to Georgia while truth is putting on her boots, was fully verified in the early efforts to assert the patriotic intent of this assembly. The inquiry has often been urged, Was not the Hartford Convention conceived by that constellation of very estima ble and talented men, the Essex junto, as it was brought forth by that lesser light, the Bay State Legislature of Caleb Strong? We will cite Mr. Otis on this question. The convention was not the plan or contrivance of one man,, or of a junto, or oabal ; but a simultaneous and instinctive conception of many, prompted by the nature and the imagined necessity of the case. The surpassingly eloquent defence of the Hartford Convention, from the highly-polished hand of Harrison Gray Otis, like his speeches, — or, rather, orations, as they should be termed, — so often pronounced 204 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. at Faneuil Hall, in the halls of Congress, and in our State Legislature, for force and beauty of argument, will be treasured by posterity among the noblest efforts of patriotism ; and posterity will rank the epistles of Junius and Otis, for purity of diction, effective sarcasm and elevation of thought, as models of diction, in both hemispheres. Moreover, the speeches of Otis, when Napoleon was in the zenith of his power, awakened in the Bostonians a keen jealousy of his thirst for conquest, and remind one of the eloquence of Demosthenes, when rousing the Athenians to precautions against the ambition of Philip of Macedon. Mr. Otis remarks that his mission to Hartford was forced upon him by three-fourths of the Massachusetts Legislature, against his most earnest remonstrances, and to the great sacrifice of his convenience. The germ of the expedient may be traced to Gov. Jones, of Rhode Island, who, in September, 1814, proposed to this State, in case of invasion, to march his troops to the aid of any neighboring State, and requested the cooperation of our State in like emergency. The great objects of the convention were, to devise, if possible, means of security and defence, consistent with preservation from total ruin, adapted to their local situation, and not repugnant to their obligations as members of the Union. The faculty of defending the States by their own militia, and at the expense of the United States, has since been sanc tioned by Congress. Mr. Otis says, here is a curious subject of specu lation for posterity. The principal measure of an assembly intended, as was said, to concentrate all the force of opposition to the constituted authorities of the nation, was, by deliberate act of those authorities, virtually adopted ; and the egg that was laid in the darkness of the Hartford conclave was hatched by daylight, under the wing and incubation of the national eagle. Those who serve the State in the civil department have no court of inquiry, like those in the naval and military service, for protection, but are at the mercy of every popinjay, says Otis, who can throw a squib or discharge an air-gun from a garret window, — of editors who pander for the bad passions of party, and for rivals who humble themselves to imitate the starlings and halloo " Mor timer," instead of giving an elevated tone to the public sentiment, in which all men of high minds, even of their own party, would be glad to harmonize. There is no doubt that this convention was influenced by a decided love of country, and, of course, by the most honorable motives. Another serious object of this convention was to prevent the danger of a civil HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 205 war, as in the western parts of Massachusetts and in Connecticut there was a decided opposition to an internal tax, for the purpose of contin uing the contest with Great Britain. We make this statement on the authority of the Hon. Judge Wilde, probably the last survivor of the delegates to the convention. " I am sensible," remarks Mr. Otis, ' ' that among such men I was not meet to be called an 'Apostle.' But hav ing nothing to retract, no favors to ask, no propitiatory incense to offer upon new altars, I hope there will be seen neither vanity nor conde scension in my declaring that I am unconscious of any conduct that would justify the singling me out as a political desperado, who offered to the convention projects by which they were revolted. I challenge the production or quotation of any speech or writing for which I am accountable, without garbling or interpolation, conspicuous for unseemly violonce, intolerance, or even disrespect for my political adversaries ; much less, pointing to a disunion of the States, which I should dread as a national and perpetual earthquake. In the ardor of debate, I have repelled personalities by giving ' measure for measure ; ' but if I am inimical to republican principles and equal rights, I must have basely degenerated from my parent stock. And though I claim no merit from ' genus et proavos,' yet, that I should go into the convention to instigate others to pull down that ' temple ' which, for at least forty-and-two years, my ancestors with their countrymen had been engaged in building, from the first trench and corner-stone, and in which I had always professed to worship, would seem to be an unnatu ral act, at least, of which all just men will one day require better proof than has been or can be furnished by the unjust. My political sins are those of congresses, senates, and houses of representatives, — of a majority of the people, first of the United States, then of my native State and city. Of my full aliquot part of these, I would nothing extenuate, and more should not be set down to me in malice. I have lived to see triumphant all the principles of the great original Federal party, of which Washington was the head, and of which I was an indi vidual member, though, by the perversity of the course of human affairs, I have survived the downfall of the party itself. There is no prominent feature of Federal policy, — unless the alien and sedition law be so regarded, by means of a factitious importance, — which the ruling party has not found itself compelled to adopt, and place in a bolder relief. The funding system, bank, navy, army, loans, taxes, embas sies, — in short, whatever appertaining to the civil and military estab- 18 206 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. lishments was formerly a theme of opposition, — have been patronized not merely as appendages, but essentials to the machinery of govern ment. All the hydras and chimeras are transformed into goodly shapes and proper agents. And not a question has been decided — nor, as far as I am informed, agitated — upon old party principles, since the peace." Let it never be forgotten that the very system recommended by the Hartford Convention became, by act of Congress, the law of the land, and its effect has been to consolidate the national union ; and though Mr. Otis has often been denounced by political Hotspurs, in public caucus, as an enemy to his country, posterity in all coming time will simulta neously concede the purity of his motives, and exclaim, in their pro found sense of his honesty, like Aufidius in Shakspeare : " If Jupiter should, from yond cloud, Speak divine things, and say 't is true, I' d not believe them more than thee, all noble Marcius ! " President John Quincy Adams declared, in a communication under his authority, in the National Intelligencer of Oct. 21, 1828, that during the session of Congress in 1808 he had informed his confiden tial correspondents that he knew, from unequivocal evidence, although not provable in a court of law, that the object of certain leaders of the party which had in its hands the management of the Legislature of Massachusetts was, and had been for several years, "a dissolution of the Union, and the establishment of a separate confederation ; and that, in case of a civil war, the aid of Great Britain to effect that purpose would be as surely resorted to as it would be indispensably necessary to the design." And in a communication addressed to the following persons, namely, H. G. Otis, Israel Thorndike, T. H. Perkins, Wil liam Prescott, Daniel Sargent, John Lowell, William Sullivan, Charles Jackson, Warren Dutton, Benjamin Pickman, Henry Cabot (son of Hon. George Cabot), C. C. Parsons (son of Chief Justice Theophilus Parsons), Franklin Dexter (son of Hon. Samuel Dexter), who had requested him to state who are the persons designated as leaders of the party prevailing in Massachusetts in the year 1808, whose object, he asserted, was, and had been for several years, a dissolution of the Union, and the establishment of a separate confederation, together with the whole evidence on which that charge is founded, — at the same time protesting that, constrained by a regard to their deceased friends HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 207 and to posterity, as well as by a sense of what was due to their own honor, most solemnly to declare that they have never known nor sus pected that any party in Massachusetts ever entertained the design of a dissolution of the Union, or the establishment of a separate confed eracy, — President Adams replied : "That project, I repeat, had gone to the length of fixing upon a military leader for its execution; and, although the circumstances of the time never admitted of its execution, nor even of its full development, I had yet no doubt in 1808 and 1809, and have no doubt at this time, that it is the key to all the great movements of these leaders of the Federal party in New England, from that time forward till its final catastrophe in the Hartford Convention:" And President Adams said, in the conclusion of his letter : " It is not improbable that, at some future day, a solemn sense of duty to my country may require me to disclose the evidence which I do possess, and for which you call. But of that day the selection must be at my own judgment ; and it may be delayed till I myself shall have gone to answer for the testimony I may bear, before the tribunal of your God and mine. Should a disclosure of names ever then be made by me, it will, if possible, be made with such reserve as tenderness to the feelings of the living, and to the families and friends of the dead, may admon ish." The evidence in support of this opinion of John Quincy Adams never having to this day been exhibited, and it being admitted that it is not such as would suffice to establish the charge in a court of justice, the opinion remains, for all purposes of evidence, utterly inef fective. We have the charity to express the opinion that President Adams over-estimated the weight of the evidence on which he relied, — an opinion which, at the worst, does him no injustice, since, should it be well founded, his mistake of judgment would be like that of heated partisans of every name and age. The origin of the whole mystery is probably traceable to the disclosures of John Henry, an officer in the British army, who, in the year 1809, was employed by Sir James Craig, the Governor of Canada, to visit the United States for the purpose of ascertaining whether the dominant party of New Eng land would favor a dissolution of the Union, and a connection with Great Britain. We refer our readers to D wight's History of the Hart ford Convention, and to Walsh's review of that work in the American Quarterly Review, for a clear development of this subject. In reply to the inquiry, Why not leave the honor of the Hartford Convention where Ford's heroine left her fame, "to Memory, and Time's old 208 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. daughter, Truth'"? — Mr. Walsh says, in reply, for the simple reason that all experience has taught us that memory is always defective, and truth frequently perverted. Already, in the case before us, newspaper surmises have gradually grown up into rhetorical text ; and these, by dint of repetition, are fast forming into materials for history. In the year 1817 Mr. Otis was elected, by a strong vote, of the State Legislature, to the United States Senate, in the place of Gen. Joseph B. Yarnum, the successor of Timothy Pickering. Here Mr. Otis shone with peculiar lustre, for his force as a statesman and graceful rhetoric. His speech in reply to Mr. Pinckney, on the Missouri ques tion, January, 1820, was a noble burst of eloquence, in a caveat on slavery, classed among the imperishable few of the floor of Congress. He was ever devoted to the interest of his native State, especially in asserting her claims in public service during the contest with Britain. Mr. Otis resigned his seat in 1823 ; and, on the retirement of John Brooks from the chair of State, he became the Federal candidate, in competition with William Eustis. Mr. Otis was defeated ; and he remarked to a friend, " My failure in this contest was a mortification and a severe disappointment to me at the time, but I look back upon it now without regret. I regard it as the most fortunate event of my life. I have been a happier and better man, since I was thrown out of political life, than I should ever have been had I remained in it." Mr. Otis was elected mayor of his native city in 1829, and in the inaugural address delivered on the occasion he remarks: "With the friends of former days, whose constancy can never be forgotten, others have been pleased to unite, and to honor me with their suffrages, who hold in high disapprobation the part I formerly took in political affairs. Their support of me on this occasion is no symptom of a change of their sentiment in that particular. I presume not to infer from it even a mitigation of the rigor with which my public conduct has been judged. But it is not presumptuous to take it for granted that those who have favored me with their countenance on this occasion confide in my sense of the obligation of veracity, and of the aggravated prof ligacy that would attend a violation of it. standing here in the presence of God and my country. On this faith, I feel myself justified by cir cumstances to avail myself of this occasion, — the first, and probably the last, so appropriate, that it will be in my power, — distinctly and solemnly to assert, that in no time in the course of my life have I been present at any meeting of individuals, public or private, of the HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 209 many or the few, or privy to any correspondence of whatever descrip tion, in which any proposition having for its object the dissolution of the Union, or its dismemberment in any shape, or a separate confed eracy, or a forcible resistance to the government or laws, was ever made or debated; that I have no reason to believe that any such scheme was ever meditated by distinguished individuals of the old Fed eral party. But, on the other hand, every reason which habits of intimacy and communion of sentiment with most of them afforded, for the persuasion that they looked to the remote possibility of such events as the most to be deprecated of all calamities, and that they would have received any serious proposal, calculated for those ends, as a par oxysm of political delirium. This statement will bear internal evi dence of truth to all who reflect that among those men were some by the firesides of whose ancestors the principles of the union and inde pendence of these States were first asserted and digested ; from which was taken the coal that kindled the hallowed flame of the Revolution; from whose ashes the American eagle rose into life. Others, who had conducted the measures and the armies of that Revolution, — ¦ Solo mons in council, and Samsons in combat ; others, who assisted at the birth of the federal constitution, and watched over its infancy with paternal anxiety ; — and, I may add, to the best of my knowledge and belief, that all of them regarded its safety and success as the best hope of this people, and the last hope of the friends of liberty throughout the world. I again express my hope that these remarks will not be considered ill-timed. They are a testimony offered in defence of the memory of the honored dead, and of patriotic survivors, who have not the same opportunity of speaking for themselves. Their object is not personal favor, though I am free to admit that I am not indifferent to the desire of removing doubts and giving satisfaction to the minds of any who, by a magnanimous pledge of kind feelings toward me, have a claim upon me for every candid explanation and assurance in my power to afford." In this connection, we cannot restrain the desire to introduce an instance of the condescension and courtesy of Mr. Otis towards his political opponents. At a festival of Federal, advocates of the admin istration of Andrew Jackson, in Faneuil Hall, when it was splendidly decorated with the banners of the old Washington Benevolent Society, March 4, 1829, Mr. Otis, the mayor, gave — "Homage to the con stitution, manifested in respect to its chief functionary : May New 18* 210 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. England conquer his esteem, as he conquered the public enemy, by meeting him more than half-way." And when Mr. Otis had retired, the Hon. Theodore Lyman, who presided on the occasion, gave this sentiment — " The Mayor : May the discerning citizens of Boston ren der full justice to his patriotic endeavors for the welfare of a city of which he has so long been a conspicuous ornament." On the morning of the 17th day of September, 1830, just previous to the delivery of the centennial discourse on the history of Boston, by Josiah Quincy, an address was delivered by Mr. Otis, the mayor, on the removal of the municipal government to the old State-house, in which he chronicles the men and the occurrences giving celebrity to the edifice, thereafter named the City Hall, until its removal to Court- square. We will cite a few passages from this graphic view of remem brances : The history of the town-house, considered as a compages of brick and wood, is short and simple. It was erected between the years 1657 and '59, and was principally of wood, as far as can be ascer tained. The contractor received six hundred and eighty pounds, on a final settlement, in full of all contracts. This was probably the whole amount of the cost, being double that of the estimate, — a ratio pretty regularly kept up in our times. The population of the town, sixty years afterwards, was about ten thousand; and it is allowing an increase beyond the criterion of its actual numbers at subsequent peri ods, to presume that at the time of the first erection of the Town-house it numbered three thousand souls. In 1711 the building was burnt to the ground, and soon afterwards it was built with brick. In 1747 the interior was again consumed by fire, and soon repaired in the form which it retained until the present improvement, with the exception of some alterations in the apartments made upon the removal of the Leg islature to the new State-house. The eastern chamber was originally occupied by the Council, afterwards by the Senate. The representa tives constantly held their sittings in the western chamber. The floor of these was supported by pillars, and terminated at each end by doors, and at one end by a flight of steps leading into State-street. In the day-time the doors were kept open, and the floor served as a walk for the inhabitants, always much frequented, and during the sessions of the courts thronged. On the north side were offices for the clerks of the supreme and inferior courts. In these the judges robed them selves, and walked in procession, followed by the bar, at the opening of the courts. Committee-rooms were provided in the upper story. HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 211 Since the removal of the Legislature, it has been internally divided into apartments and leased for various uses, in a mode familiar to you all, and it has now undergone great repairs. This floor being adapted to the accommodation of the city government and principal officers, while the first floor is allotted to the post-office, news-room, and private warehouses. " In this brief account of the natural body of the building, which, it is believed, comprehends whatever is material, there is nothing certainly dazzling or extraordinary. It exhibits no pomp of architectural grand eur, or refined .taste ; and has no pretensions to vie with the magnifi cent structures of other countries, or even of our own. Yet it is a goodly and venerable pile ; and, with its recent improvements, is an ornament of the place of whose liberty it was once the citadel. And it has an interest for Bostonians who enter it this day, like that which is felt by grown children for an ancient matron by whom they were reared, and whom visiting after years of absence, they find in her neat, chaste, old-fashioned attire, spruced-up to receive them, with her com forts about her, and the same kind, hospitable creature and excellent, whom they 'left in' less flourishing circumstances. But to this edifice there is not only a natural, but ' a spiritual body,' which is the immortal soul of independence. Nor is there on the face of the earth another building, — however venerable for its antiquity, or stately in its magnificence, however decorated by columns, and porticos, and cartoons, and statues, and altars, and outshining ' the wealth of Ormus or of Ind,' — entitled in history to more honorable mention, or whose spires and turrets are surrounded with a more glorious halo, than this unpretending building. "This assertion might be justified by a review of the parts performed by those who have made laws, for a century after the first settlement of Boston ; of. their early contention for their chartered rights ; of their perils and difficulties with the natives; of their costly and heroic exertions, in favor of the mother country, in the common cause. But I pass over them all, replete as they are with interest, with wonder, and with moral. Events posterior to these — growing out of them, indeed, and taking from them their complexion — are considered, by reflecting men, as having produced more radical changes in the character, rela tions, prospects, and, so far as becomes us to prophesy, in the destinies of the human family, than all other events and revolutions that have transpired since the Christian era. I do not say that the principles 212 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. which have led to these events originated here. But I venture to assert that here, within these walls, they were first practically applied to a well-regulated machinery of human passions, conscious rights and steady movements, which, forcing these United States to the summit of prosperity, has been adopted as a model by which other nations have been, and will yet be, propelled on the railroad which leads to universal freedom. The power of these engines is self-moving, and the motion is perpetual. Sages and philosophers had discovered that the world was made for the people who inhabit it, and that kings were less entitled in their own right to its government, than lions, whose claims to be lords of the forest are supported by physical prowess. But the books and treatises which maintained these doctrines were read by the admir ers of the Lockes, and Sidneys, and Miltons, and Harringtons, and replaced on their shelves as brilliant theories. Or, if they impelled to occasional action, it ended in bringing new tyrants to the throne, and sincere patriots to the scaffold. But your progenitors, who occupied these seats, first taught a whole people systematically to combine the united force of their moral and physical energies, to learn the rights of insurrection not as written in the language of the passions, but in codes and digests of its justifiatile cases ; to enforce them, under the restraints of discipline ; to define and limit its objects ; to be content with success, and to make sure of its advantages. All this they did ; and when the propitious hour had arrived, they called on their coun trymen, as the angel called upon the apostles, ' Come, rise up quickly ! — and the chains fell from their hands.' The inspiring voice echoed through the welkin in Europe and America, and awakened nations. He who would learn the effects of it must read the history of the world for the last half-century. He who would anticipate the conse quences must ponder well the probabilities with which time is preg nant, for the next. The memory of these men is entitled to a full share of all the honor arising from the advantage derived to mankind from this change of condition, but yet is not chargeable with the crimes and misfortunes, more than is the memory of Fulton with the occa sional bursting of a boiler. "Shall I, then, glance rapidly at some of the scenes, and the actors who figured in them, within these walls 1 Shall I carry you back to the controversies between Gov. Bernard and the House of Representatives, commencing nearly seventy years ago, respecting the claims of the mother country to tax the colonies without their consent 1 HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 213 To the stand made against writs of assistance, in the chamber now intended for your mayor and aldermen, where and when, according to John Adams, ' Independence was born,' and whose star was then seen in the east by wise men. To the memorable vindication of the House of Representatives by one of its members'? To the "Rights of the Colonies," adopted by the Legislature as a text-book, and trans mitted to the British ministry 1 To the series of patriotic resolutions, protests, and State papers, teeming with indignant eloquence and irre sistible argument in opposition to the stamp and other tax acts — to the landing and quartering of troops in the town 1 To the rescinding of resolutions in obedience to royal mandates 1 To the removal of the seat of government, and the untiring struggle in which the Legislature was engaged for fourteen or fifteen years, supported by the Adamses, the Thachers, the Hawleys, the Hancocks, the Bowdoins, the Quincys, and their illustrious colleagues 1 In fact, the most important measures which led to the emancipation of the colonies, according to Hutchinson, a competent judge, originated in this house, in this apartment, with those men who, putting life and fortune on the issue, adopted for their motto ' Let such, such only, tread this sacred floor, Who dare to love their country and be poor.' " Events of a different complexion are also associated with the Boston Town-house. At one time it was desecrated by the king's troops quartered in the Representatives' chamber, and on the lower floor. At another time, cannon were stationed and pointed towards its doors. Below the balcony in King-street, on the doleful night of the fifth of March, the blood of the first victims to the military executioners was shed. On the appearance of the governor in the street, he was sur rounded by an immense throng, who, to prevent mischief to his person, though he had lost their confidence, forced him into this building, with the cry, ' To the Town-House ! to the Town-House ! ' He then went forth into the balcony, and, promising to use his endeavors to bring the offenders to justice, and advising the people to retire, they dispersed, vociferating ' Home ! home ! ' The Governor and Council remained all night deliberating in dismal conclave, while the friends of their country bedewed their pillows with tears, ' such tears as patriots shed for dying laws.' But I would not wish, under any circumstances, to dwell upon incidents like these, thankful as I am that time, which 214 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. has secured our freedom, has extinguished our resentments. I there fore turn from these painful reminiscences, and refer you to the day when Independence, mature in age and loveliness, advanced with angelic grace from the chamber in which she was born, into the same balcony ; and, holding in her hand the immortal scroll on which her name and character and claims to her inheritance were inscribed, received, from the street filled with an impenetrable phalanx, and windows glittering with a blaze of beauty, the heartfelt homage and electrifying peals of the men, women and children, of the whole city. The splendor of that glorious vision of my childhood seems to be now present to my view, and the harmony of universal concert to vibrate in my ear." When our immortal Webster, — that presiding genius of the consti tution, often characterized as the modern Dexter, — on the decision of the Whig party, in the presidential contest, to adopt Zachary Taylor as their candidate, exclaimed, in the heat of disappointed ambition, that it was a nomination not fit to be made, thus exciting confusion in the minds of the party, our venerable octogenarian, the Hon. Mr. Otis, in a magnanimous spirit of conciliation, addressed an epistle to the public, in the style of freshness, beauty and effect, so peculiar to him before the prime of life, advocating the expediency of this nomina tion. It had a tendency to unite the party, and insure the elevation of Zachary Taylor ; and this last generous act of his life so overpowered his mind, that it accelerated his decease, written as it was under the pressure of years and infirmity. " The general objections to placing a military chieftain at the head of the nation are two-fold," says Mr. Otis, in this document : " first, the apprehension that the habits of absolute authority may be carried from the field to the cabinet, — that he may thus be inclined to say, ' I am the State ; ' and, if he cannot bend the constitution to his will, to pierce it with his sword. But a soldier of this species, before he is intrusted with civil offices, displays his character sufficiently to give warning. Like the rattlesnake, he may be known by his notes of preparation; and if the people will incur a danger equal to plague, pestilence and famine, it is their own fault. Second, the want of political experience, and other qualifications for a new sphere of action. But, for these, the constituency must generally take its chance. In our country, few persons ' make commonwealth's affairs their only study.' Politics are not a regular profession for which men are educated, though too many make it a trade. This last objection, therefore, applies to all other professions. Eminence HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 215 in either of them, especially of the bar, is regarded as an earnest of ability adequate to the mo3t elevated station. Yet a great lawyer, in full practice, can do little more, if so much, to qualify himself for a new vocation, than a general. They will each have acquired a knowl edge of the current of affairs from the public journals and from inter course with others ; and neither will have been able to do more. The soldier, perhaps, has most leisure for such pursuits, except in time of actual war. The studies and occupation of the lawyer seem to be most congenial to those of a civil chieftain ; yet great names may be found to contend that these .-very studies and pursuits contract the mind of the practical jurist, and impair his qualifications for enlarged views of civil administration and adroit diplomacy. "The truth, however, is, that a truly great man will always show himself great. The talents called forth by the strategy of a succession of military campaigns, in a country new and unexplored, and inacces sible by ordinary means, where resources must be created, and embar rassments not to be foreseen are constantly met and surmounted, would easily accommodate themselves to the varying, though less difficult exigencies of civil affairs. For myself, I rest satisfied that General Taylor would be found fully competent to the office of presi dent, for the same reasons that I think Daniel Webster would make a great general. Each would require some little training and experience, in a new harness, and, perhaps, a good deal of consultation with others. History is replete with heroes transformed into statesmen. Who is unacquainted with the agency and influence of the great Marlborough, in the councils as well as in the wars of Queen Anne 1 Where did the greater Duke of Wellington qualify himself to settle the peace of Europe, which he had won by his sword, associated in congress with emperors and kings, and the most accomplished diplomatists from the principal cabinets of the old world ? And whence did he derive the faculty which since that period has been displayed, in the intuitive sagacity with which he has controlled the measures of the British cabinet and peerage, and enabled his country to persevere in her career of power and glory, despite the most novel and serious embar rassments ? In what school did the great Napoleon acquire the knowledge of affairs which enabled him to hold the strings of his administration in his own hands, to reform the interior management of the whole empire, and to preside in a council of the most distinguished jurists and civilians in the formation of the civil code, himself initiating 216 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. some of the most essential improvements 1 Finally, our own great Washington was a Samson in combat before he became a Solomon in council. On very mature reflection, I am satisfied that General Taylor, in a short time after he shall have taken the chair, will acquit himself of his high duties to the entire public satisfaction. " It is further objected that General Taylor is a slave-holder. This objection comes sixty years too late. It was disposed of in substance by the original articles of confederation, and annulled in form by the constitution of the United States. The Northern States were glad enough to avail themselves of the cooperation of the South in their struggle for independence, and 'no questions asked.' Not less thankful were they to cement the incipient alliance by a most solemn compact, expressly recognizing their right to property in their slaves, and engag ing to protect it, — treating with them, as proprietors of slaves, as our equals in all respects, and eligible, of consequence, to all offices under the constitution. What would have been the fate of a motion in that glorious assembly which formed the constitution, or of those who might have made it, — George Washington present, — to declare a slave-holder ineligible to any office under it 1 I well remember the adoption of the constitution by my fellow-citizens of the State, when Hancock, muffled in red baize, was brought into the convention, to sign the ratification. The evening preceding, a demonstration in favor of the measure was made in the streets of Boston, by an assemblage favorable to it, whose numbers, Paul Revere assured Samuel Adams, were like the sands of the sea-shore, or like the stars in heaven." This vigorous document was published on Oct. 2, and the decease of Otis occurred on the 28th day of that month. His remains were entombed at Mount Auburn. He was aged 83 years and twenty days. " Of no distemper, of no blast, he died, But fell like autumn fruit that mellowed long, — E'en wondered at, because he dropped no sooner ; Fate seemed to wind him up to fourscore years, Yet freshly ran he on three winters more, Till, like a clock worn out with eating time, The wheels of weary life at last stood still." Old Faneuil Hall will ever be memorable as the forum whence, with a voice of silvery sweetness, the flashes of wit and stirring eloquence of our Boston Cicero captivated the people. Like Cicero, our Otis was by nature a statesman ; but the honestly-conceived Hartford Conven- HARRISON GRAY OTIS. 217 tion, of which he was the most powerful advocate, blighted his political elevation above that of the Senate in Congress. Otis, however, was the pride of the Bostonians ; and, while many a political opponent, both from the press and the rostrum, to use the words of our native poet, Sprague, " Soils the green garlands that for Otis bloom, And plants a brier even on Cabot's tomb," we are confident that posterity will view him as a luminous star in the constellation of American patriots. He was never rivalled for eloquence by any politician of his native city, or any of his native State, excepting only his noble kinsman, and the accomplished Fisher Ames. The contour of his head was beautiful, with animated eyes, and a ruddy complexion. He was rather tall, of noble bearing, grace ful gestures, and courteous manners. A full-length portrait of Otis is in the care of the Massachusetts Mechanics' Charitable Association, and an accurate portrait by Stuart is in the family. William Sullivan aptly remarks of him, that he was the orator of all popular assemblies, — the guide of popular opinion in all the trying scenes of commercial restric tions, embargo, and war. With a fine person and commanding elo quence, with a clear perception and patriotic purpose, he was the first among his equals, alike ready at all times with his pen and his tongue. And Samuel K. Lothrop, his pastor, says of him, that the action and play of his mental power was so easy, that one was apt to forget the profound and subtle nature of the subjects with which he was dealing. His power of nice analysis and sharp discrimination was extraordinary, and the broad and deep wisdom of his thought was often as remarkable as the language in which he clothed it was brilliant and beautiful. The biography of Harrison Gray Otis remains to be written. It was well said of him, at the Harvard centennial, by William H. Gard iner, that he was the first scholar of the first class of a new nation, the career of whose life has been according to the promise of his youth ; who has touched nothing which he has not adorned, and who has been rewarded with no office, nor honor, nor emolument, to which he was not richly entitled. 19 218 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. GEN. WILLIAM HULL. JULY 4, 1788. FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI. The patriotic appeal of the orator to his companions in arms arouses in their descendants an impressive conception of the burning ardor of our Revolutionary heroes : The return of this joyful anniver sary, my dear friends and companions, will naturally recall to your minds the various interesting scenes which have fallen to your lot while on the theatre of action. The rugged and thorny paths you have together trod, — the dangerous but honorable part you have been called to act, — the mingled emotions which have been excited, while the fate of your country was uncertain, and the scenes of your military drama were continually shifting. In the recollection of these important transactions, you will not be unmindful of your companions in danger. Are they all present to partake in the festivity of the day, and to com memorate those great events for the acquisition of which their valor and their virtue have largely contributed 1 No, my friends, many of the most ornamental pillars have fallen, in erecting the great fabric of freedom ; and, while our feelings are alive on the subject, scarcely does the magnitude of the object compensate the magnitude of the sacrifice. May unfading laurels ever bloom around their tombs ! May monu ments more durable than marble be erected to their memories ! May we, my brethren, ever bear on our minds the amiable and manly virtues by which they were distinguished while actors on the stage, and the glory and dignity with which they closed the scene. And while their memories live deeply engraven on the hearts and affections of a grate ful people, may faithful history transmit their illustrious deeds to the latest time, and her fairest pages be ornamented with the lustre of their fame ! The memorable day we now celebrate, and the purposes for which we are assembled, will recall to our recollection the period which gave birth to our institution, the motives from whence it originated, and the principles upon which it is founded. Having for more than eight years devoted our lives to the service of our country, — having cheerfully endured the dangers and fatigues which are incident to a military employment, and having seen our efforts crowned with success, the period arrived when we were to take a farewell of each other. A WILLIAM HULL. 219 crisis so interesting must have excited a variety of emotions. While. on the one hand, we were animated with joy that our country was freed from danger, and honorably seated in the chair of independence, — on the other, we must have been penetrated with grief; not that we were about to quit the splendid scenes of military command, and mingle with our fellow-citizens ; not that toil and poverty would probably be our portion, — for to them we had long been wedded: — but that we were to act the last affectionate part of our military connection, and to sep arate, perhaps never to meet again. Was it possible to suppress the feelings which the occasion excited? Did not the same principles which had animated you to endure the fatigues of war and dangers of the field, for the attainment of independence, loudly call upon you to institute a memorial of so great an event ? When the representatives of your country bestowed upon you the honorable appellation of the patriot army, and honored you with the united thanks of America for the part you had acted, was it not your duty, by your future conduct to give the highest possible evidence that the applause was not unmerited ? Could you possibly have exhib ited a more striking example, or given a higher proof, than by forming an institution which inculcated the duty of laying down in peace the arms you had assumed for public defence ? If the various fortunes of war had attached you to each other, if there was sincerity in that friendship you professed, if you wished to contribute a small portion of the little you possessed to the relief of your unfortunate compan ions, wis it possible for you to separate, without forming yourselves into a society of friends, for the continuance and exercise of these benevolent purposes ? Heaven saw with approbation the purity of your intentions, and your institution arose on the broad foundation of patri otism, friendship, and charity. William Hull was born at Derby. Ct.. June 24. 1753. He grad uated at Yale College in 1772 : studied divinity during one year, and then attached himself to the Law School in Litchfield. Ct.. and entered the bar in 1775 ; after which he engaged in the war of the Revolution as a captain. The first incident recorded by Capt Hull, on his arrival in camp, is a striking illustration of the deficiency of military order, discipline and etiquette, with which Washington had to contend. A body of the enemy landed at Lechmere's Point in Cambridge. It was expected an attack would be made on the American lines. The alarm was 220 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. given, and the troops ordered to their respective stations. When the regiment of Col. Webb was formed for action, the, captains and subal terns appeared dressed in long cloth frocks, with kerchiefs tied about their, heads. Capt. Hull was the only man in uniform. The officers inquired why he came out in full dress, — that the regiment was going into action, and that he would be a mark for the enemy's fire. He replied that he thought the uniform of an officer was designed to aid his influence and increase his authority over his men ; and if ever important in these points, it was more particularly so in the hour of battle. They referred to their experience, remarking that in the French war it was not customary, and they had never worn it. Capt. Hull yielded to age and experience, sent his servant for a frock and kerchief, and dressed himself after the fashion of his companions. His company was in advance of the British lines. While at this station, Gen. Washington and suite, in the course of reviewing the troops, stopped at the redoubt, and asked what officer commanded there. With feelings of inexpressible mortification, says Gen. Hull, I came forward in my savage costume, and reported that Capt. Hull had the honor of commanding the redoubt. As soon as Gen. Washington passed on, Capt. Hull availed himself of the first moment to despatch his ser vant, with all possible speed, to bring him his uniform. As he put it on, he quietly resolved never more to subscribe to the opinions of men, however loyal and brave in their country's service, whose views were so little in unison with his own. After the troops had waited four or five hours in expectation of an attack, the enemy returned to his encampment, having no other object in making the descent than to procure provisions. Hull was in the surprise on Dorchester Heights, at White Plains, battle of Trenton, and Princeton, where he was promoted as major ; was at Ticonderoga, at the surrender of Bur goyne, in the battle of Monmouth, and at the capture of Stoney Point ; was appointed army-inspector under Baron Steuben, became a colonel in the capture of Cornwallis, and was sent on a mission to Quebec to demand the surrender of Forts Niagara, Detroit, and several smaller forts. In Shays' insurrection, Col. Hull had command of the left wing of the troops under Gen. Lincoln, and, in making a forced march through a violent snow-storm, surprised the insur gents in their camp, who fled in every direction. In 1781 Col. Hull married Sarah, daughter of Judge Fuller, of Newton. In 1789 he was the commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. WILLIAM HULL. 221 In 1793 he was a commissioner to Upper Canada for a treaty with the Indians. In 1798 he visited Europe, and on his return he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was in the Mas sachusetts Senate. In 1805 he was appointed by Congress the Gov ernor of Michigan, when he surrendered Detroit to Maj. Gen. Isaac Brock, Aug. 15, 1812. In 1814 he was condemned by court-martial for cowardice, and sentenced to be shot, but was pardoned by President Madison. In 1824 Maj. Gen. Hull published a series of letters in defence of his conduct in the campaign of 1812. The North Amer ican Review said that, from the public documents collected and pub lished in them, the conclusion must unequivocally be drawn that Gen. Hull was required by the government to do what it was morally and physically impossible that he should do ; and his grandson, Rev. James Freeman Clarke, author of the Military and Civil Life of Gen. William Hull, in 482 pages 8vo., after a critical examination of the whole case, remarks that the charge of cowardice, when examined, becomes incred ible and absurd. The only questions which can now be raised by rea sonable men are these : Did not Gen. Hull err in judgment in some of his measures 1 Might it not have been better to have attacked Mai den 1 And was the surrender of his post at Detroit, without a struggle for its defence, reconcilable with his situation at that time ? The reason for not attacking Maiden was the deficiency of suitable cannon for that purpose ; and a want of confidence in the militia, as acknowledged by the officers in command, to storm the works at Mai den, which were defended by cannon batteries, while reliance on the part of the Americans was on militia bayonets almost entirely. In considering the conduct of Gen. Hull, in surrendering Detroit, we ought always to bear in mind that he was governor of the territory as well as general of the army ; that he accepted the command of the army for the express purpose of defending the territory ; and that though, in compliance with the orders of government, he had invaded Canada, a principal object was still the defence of the people of Mich igan. If, therefore, his situation was such that even a successful tem porary resistance could not finally prevent the fall of Detroit, had he any right to expose the people of Michigan to that universal massacre which would unquestionably have been the result of a battle at Detroit ? It must also be remembered that at the time of the surrender the fort was crowded with women and children, who had fled thither for protec tion from the town, which tended still more to embarrass the situation 19* 222 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. and move the sympathies of the governor. If, therefore, some persons, with whom military glory stands higher than humanity and plain duty, may still blame Gen. Hull for not fighting a useless battle, and for not causing blood to be shed where nothing was to be gained by its effusion, we are confident that all high-minded and judicious persons will con clude that, to sign the surrender of Detroit, was an act of greater cour age and truer manliness, on the part of Gen. Hull, than it would have been to have sent out his troops to battle. On his death-bed, he expressed his happiness that he had thus saved the wanton destruction of the peaceful citizens of Michigan. He died at Newton, Mass., Nov. 29, 1825. SAMUEL STILLMAN, D. D. JULY 4, 1789. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. Samuel Stillman was born at Philadelphia, Feb. 27, 1737 ; was educated at Charleston, S. O, and married Hannah, daughter of Evin Morgan, merchant of Philadelphia, May 23, 1759. He settled in the ministry at James' Island, but impaired health occasioned his removal to Bordentown, N. J., in 1760, where, after continuing two years, he visited Boston, became an assistant at the Second Baptist Church, and was, on Jan. 9, 1765, installed as successor of Rev. Jeremiah Condy, over the First Baptist Church. On the repeal of the Stamp Act, Mr. Stillman published a patriotic sermon, which was greatly admired. This occurred May 17, 1766. " Should I serve you a century in the gospel of Christ," says Stillman in this performance, " I might never again have so favorable an oppor tunity to consider this passage, — ' As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.' It is a proverb, the truth of which you are now feeling ; hence, great is the propriety of improving its spirit ual meaning. And the preacher will have the advantage, while he attempts to illustrate the glories of the Gospel, by what the people feel. Has not a general joy diffused itself amongst us 1 Does not Boston and the country wear a face of pleasantness 1 You may read good news in every countenance. How great the alteration that has taken place amongst us, in consequence of a late most interesting decision in 223 our favor ! When the news arrived, so as to be confidently believed, there was a universal shout. It now became impossible for every lover of liberty and his country to conceal the gladness of his heart, — pub lic and private were the expressions of joy on this important occasion. Yea, your children, yet ignorant of the importance of this event to these colonies, bear a part in the triumphs of the day, — in imitation, no doubt, of their parents and others, whom they observe pleased on this happy occurrence. Well, thought I, good news from an earthly prince, that brings deliverance, and gives us the prospect of the contin uance of our most dear and invaluable rights and privileges, which we apprehended on the brink of departing from'us, fill us with such a gen eral gladness that scarce a tongue will be silent. 0 ! how much more might we expect that the glad tidings of salvation — salvation from everlasting misery, to the fruition of endless happiness — would diffuse a universal joy ! " Samuel Stillman, at that period, was a loyal subject of King George the Third, as appears by this passage: "May the British Parliament receive that deference from us that they deserve, and be convinced by our future Conduct that we aim not at independ ency, nor wish to destroy distinctions where distinctions are necessary, — that we rejoice in being governed according to the principles of that constitution of which we make our boast as Englishmen ; yea, further, that if it was put to our choice, whether our connection with Great Britain should be dissolved, we, the inhabitants of these colonies, would rise like a cloud, and deprecate such a disunion." Mr. Stillman soon became one of the most popular pulpit orators of his day, and was consequently appointed to preach on great occasions. He pronounced a sermon before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, under William Heath, and the train of Artillery, under Capt. Adino Paddock, June 4, 1770. In allusion to the massacre in King-street, he says, " On account of which we have wept sore, our tears are still on our cheeks ; which doubtless will be a mournful anniversary in years to come. And it is but entertaining such an opinion of his majesty's paternal regards for his subjects as they ought ever to cherish, to suppose that he has wept, or will weep with us, over the five unhappy men who fell on that gloomy night. What heart is hard enough to refuse a tear 1 " And in a note Stillman says, " How ever well a wound may be healed, a scar always remains. So, however satisfactorily to the colonists the present disputes may terminate, they will not forget the names of those who were the cause of troops being 224 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. quartered in this metropolis in a time of peace, nor the errand on which they came." Pure eloquence like this, together with the living voice, whose tones and emphases, in an orator like our own Stillman, says Dr. Park, of Andover, are themselves almost a doc trine : not with the voice alone, but with the hand, which opens in order to give out the truth ; with the eye, which radiates a thought unutterable by the lips ; with the whole person, which bodies forth what is concealed within. Mr. Stillman, in this discourse, urges the neces sity of a well-organized militia, and says : "In this town there are above two thousand men able to bear arms, many of whom are excused from duty, except in cases" of alarm ; others, inattentive to the import ance of a well-disciplined militia, choose rather to pay their fines than appear in the field. Permit me, then, with modesty to ask, how is it possible, things continuing thus, that the regiment should appear either complete or respectable? Whereas, would gentlemen of reputation among us set the good example, it would render our militia repu table, and tend to increase the number of volunteers in the service. Hence it is in their power, in a great degree, to strengthen the things which remain in this respect, and seem ready to die. This, among other things, would be an evidence of a truly public spirit, and an honor to those who should lead the way." In Mr. Stillman's Election Sermon, delivered May, 1779, we find the following bold passage, in which he says that " the very men who were appointed the guardians and conservators of the rights of the people have dismembered the empire, and, by repeated acts of injustice and oppression, have forced from the bosom of their parent country millions of Americans, who might have been drawn by a hair, but were not to be driven by all the thunder of Britain. A few soft words would have fixed them in her interest, and have turned away that wrath which her cruel conduct had enkindled. The sameness of religion, of language, and of man ners, together with interest, that powerful motive, and a recollection of that reciprocation of kind offices which had long prevailed, would have held America in closest friendship with Great Britain, had she not governed too much;" and, in the oration at the head of this article, Dr. Stillman remarks, " We have often been told that the independence of America hath taken place fifty or an hundred years too soon. Rather, it hath happened at the very time Infinite Wisdom saw best. He without whose knowledge the sparrow doth not fall to the ground hath directed the innumerable intermediate events which SAMUEL STILLMAN, D. D. 225 connect the settlement of the country with the declaration of independ ence, in 1776. It is because unerring wisdom chose it should be. What makes this event appear altogether providential is, that it was not the ground of the quarrel with Great Britain, nor the object for which the Americans first contended. They fought for liberty, not for independence. There was a period, after the contest began, when they would have rejoiced to be placed in the same condition in which they were in 1763. And when the proposition of independence was first made, the people in general were much opposed to it, and consented to it at last as a matter of absolute necessity." Dr. Stillman was a delegate from Boston to the Massachusetts State convention, on the acceptance of the federal constitution, in February, 1788. In his speech on the last day of the session, he remarked : " I have no interest to influence me to accept this constitu tion of government, distinct from the interest of my country at large. We are all embarked in one bottom, and must sink or swim together. Heaven has stationed me in a line of duty that precludes every pros pect of the honors and emoluments of office. Let who will govern, I must obey. Nor would I exchange the pulpit for the highest honors my country can confer. I, too, have personal liberties to secure, as dear to me as any gentleman in the convention ; and as numerous a family, probably, to engage my attention. Besides which, I stand here, with my very honorable colleagues, as a representative of the citizens of this great metropolis, who have been pleased to honor me with their confidence, — an honor, in my view, unspeakably greater than a peerage or a pension." After an elaborate course of argument, he remarks : " Viewing the constitution in this light, I stand ready to give my vote for it, without any amendments at all. I am ready to submit my life, my liberty, my family, my property, and, as far as my vote will go, the interest of my constituents, to this general gov ernment. After all, if this constitution were as perfect as is the sacred volume, it would not secure the liberties of the people, unless they watch their own liberties. Nothing written on paper will do this. It is, therefore, necessary that the people should keep a vigilant, not an over-jealous eye, on their rulers ; and that they should give all due encouragement to our colleges and schools of learning, that so knowl edge may be diffused through every part of our country." Dr. Stillman was a decided Whig, and a Federalist of the Washington school. He died March 13, 1807. 226 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. A biography of Dr. Stillman, written by his son-in-law, Thomas Gray, D. D., of Roxbury, is prefixed to a volume of occasional ser mons, published in 1808. It should be stated that the analysis of his doctrinal opinions was written by a layman of Dr. Stillman's church. Madam Stillman, his wife, founded the Boston Female Asylum, in 1800, where her portrait is exhibited. A person detractingly re marked of Stillman, in conversation with Moses Stuart, of Andover, that he was not a man of talents. "How long was Dr. Stillman pastor of the church?" inquired Stuart. "He was its pastor forty years," was the reply. "Was he popular during all that period?" " He was." " What ! and not a man of talents — impossible ! " said Stuart. The oratory of Stillman was a rare exception to the reply of Garrick to a clergyman who inquired of him how it was that the stage pro duced so much greater an effect on an audience than the pulpit. " The difference consists in this," said Garrick; " that we speak fiction as if we believed it fact, while you preach the truth as if you supposed it fiction." So flexile was the bow of Stillman, however, that the well- directed arrow was sure to reach the heart. " One of the best specimens of effect in preaching," remarks the Panoplist, "was Dr. Stillman, of the Baptist church. It should always be remembered that when speaking of oratory we mean two distinct things, which are seldom found united in one person. We call Burke an orator, and the same appellation we give to White- field. But how different ! Burke was a very tedious speaker ; no man thinned the benches of the House of Commons more,— and it was not until his rich and flowing style appeared from the press that his merits were appreciated. With Whitefield it was exactly the reverse. He was thrilling from the desk, but it would have been happy for his memory if none of his discourses had ever been published. We cannot claim for Dr. Stillman the oratory of Burke. His printed sermons are no reflection of the man. The voice is wanting, — the melting tones, the restless activity, the match less emphasis (sometimes, at least), the fervor, the life, the energy. He was a thin, spare man, dressed with the utmost neatness ; he wore a large, powdered, bushy wig ; his motions very quick, and his tones some of the most melting and quickening we ever heard. There was a sort of nervous impatience in him during the singing of the last hymn before the sermon, which seemed to say to you, ' I SAMUEL STILLMAN, D. D. 227 long to be at my work ;' and the moment the choir stopped, he started from his seat, like shot from the cannon's mouth, and was announcing his text before your hymn-book was half closed. It was once our lot to see him enter the jail, in Court-street, where a criminal was con fined, waiting for execution. A vast crowd was assembled in the yard, around the old court-house, blocking up all the passages. He was driven up by an elderly negro man, who sat on a strapped seat before the body of the chaise. The impatient chaplain leaped from his carriage like a bird ; and I shall never forget the impression his motions made on me, as he darted through the crowd, like a glancing arrow or a bounding rocket, rushing through every opening, and almost pushing one one way, and another another, seeming to say by his very motions, ' Make way, gentlemen, make way ; your business cannot be equal to mine. I have but one work to do ; it must be done ; I go to rescue a sinner from the darkness of his ignorance and the pangs of the second death. Make way, gentlemen, make way.' " His enunciation was .rapid, and his emphasis, as I have before said, sometimes inimitable. He had some nice flexures of voice, which I have never heard from another man, and which never can be restored, now that the voice that modulated them is silent in the grave. For example, the following hymn : ' Well, the Redeemer 's gone, To appear before our God ; To sprinkle o'er the flaming throne, With his atoning blood.' " Some cold-blooded critic has lately censured this verse ; but I think he must have been disarmed, could he have heard Dr. Stillman read it. His voice had a beautiful circumflex to it ; he threw this emphasis on the word ' well,' then a pause, and the rest of the verse pronounced in that cheerful and animating tone which seemed to rend the veil, and transport the hearer into the unseen world. The most skilful actor never made a more sudden and happy transition. His voice, however, was more felicitous in sweetness and pathos than in majesty and terror. The solemn, guttural tones were entirely wanting to him; and there was no apparent art in his style or delivery. It was all earnest sim plicity." 228 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. DR. SAMUEL WHITWELL. JULY 4, 1789. FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI. Was born at Boston ; entered the Latin School, 1762 ; graduated at Princeton, 1774; student of medicine under Dr. James Lloyd, and married Lucy Tyler, of Boston, 1783. Was an army surgeon in Col. James Jackson's regiment, and died at Newton, November, 1791, aged 38 years. In Dr. Whitwell's oration we have a happy allusion to the adoption of the federal constitution : " Fearful of exhibiting any appearance of despotism, at a time when every heart was animated with republican principles, the most rigid in their form ; at a period when the cry of liberty was ushered to the ear as the goddess of the country, ensigns of which were waved around as emblems of true contentment, and a name which our little offspring were taught to repeat before they could scarcely articulate ; when all ranks of people united in sentiment to repel every principle that seemed derogating from freedom, suspicious of infringing their darling rights, ¦ — it was wisdom, and, indeed, neces sary, to adapt public conduct and measures to the temper and feeling of the times. But what a train of evils, my friends, was hence gener ated, — our treasures exhausted, trade decaying, credit sinking, our national character blasted, and ruin and destruction the gloomy pros pect ! Where was the soul that was not affected with the most poignant sensations ? Where was the patriot that did not bleed at every vein, and shed tears of sorrow for his expiring country ? — But what do 1 say — expiring ? I recall the word ; phoenix-like, from the ruins of the old, a new constitution is framed, adopted, and is now in operation. What prospects of future benefits will hence result, I leave my antici pating audience to determine ; but, as your countenances bespeak the sentiments of your hearts and the wishes of your breasts, suffer me, in all the warmth of enthusiastic zeal, to congratulate you on this memo rable era. May we prostrate ourselves before the great potentate of the universe, and, in the sublime language of inspiration, exclaim, ' Praise waited for thee, oh God, in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed.' " EDWARD GRAY. 229 EDWARD GRAY. JULY 4, 1790. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES Edward Gray was born at Boston, 1764 ; entered the Latin School 1772, graduated at Harvard College 1782, was a counsellor-at-law, and married Susanna Turell, 1790 ; was a polished gentleman of great blandness of manners, and highly esteemed. Rev. Frederick T. Gray was his son. He died at Boston, Dec. 10, 1810, aged forty-six. WILLIAM TUDOR. JULY 4, 1790. FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI. William Tudor, the last orator for this veteran institution, very pertinently remarks, that " to ascertain the precise time, under the administration of a Cecil or a Chatham, when Britain and her colonies must have separated, might afford amusement to a speculative inquirer, but can be of no utility now. That the crisis was precipitated, is con ceded. But it was not the despotic statutes of England, — it was not the haughty and fastidious manners of her officers, civil or military, — which compelled the mighty Revolution which severed her empire. These did rouse, but they could not create, that unconquerable spirit which stimulated America to vindicate, and irrevocably to fix, those rights which distance and other causes might for ages have kept indef inite, dependent, and precarious. No ; it was that native, fervid sense of freedom, which our enlightened ancestors brought with them and fos tered in the forests of America, and which, with pious care, they taught their offspring never to forego. Although the present age cannot forget, and posterity shall learn to remember, those violences which impelled their country to war, yet it must be admitted that the period of parting had arrived. British influence and foreign arts might have corrupted, silenced or destroyed, that spirit which, thus early outraged, became invincible, gave birth to the immortal edict, and all those glo rious circumstances in which we this day rejoice. 20 230 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. " Whole oceans rolled between, yet the colonies retained a strong attachment to their parent State. The numerous memorials transmit ted from every province to that infatuated country remain the evidence of their patience and affection. But, deaf to the voice of supplication and aloof to entreaty, she added indignity to wrong, until ' humility was tortured into rage.' Oppression was crowded upon oppression, until submission was criminal, and resistance became an obligation. On this auspicious day, and through every revolving year, the magnanimity exhibited by our country at that all-interesting and momentous crisis shall cheer the patriot mind, and raise a glow of honest pride. She neither hesitated nor halted ; but, sacrificing her attachments at the shrine of duty, appealed to God and to her sword for justice and suc cess. Heaven approbated the appeal, invigorated her councils, and pointed the road to victory. That sword which she drew by compul sion she wore with honor, and her enemies have confessed that she sheathed it without revenge." THOMAS CRAFTS, JR. JULY 4, 1791. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES In the peroration of this performance Mr. Crafts says : " Locally remote from the causes of quarrel which drench the European world in blood, what have we to do but cultivate in peace those virtues which make a nation great, as well as happy ? The goddess of Liberty has condescended to reside among us. Let us cherish the lovely guest, — for where will she find an asylum, if driven from these happy shores ? To look before us, a field presents itself over which the excursive wing of fancy might soar unwearied. In a few years, our extensive lakes shall be crowded with ships charged with the rich produce of yet unfur- rowed soils. On the banks of rivers, where human footstep yet has never trod, cities shall rear their gilded spires. The trackless wilder ness, where now the tawny aboriginals, in frantic yells, celebrate their orgies, shall become the peaceful abodes of civilized life. And America shall be renowned for the seat of science and the arts, as she already has been for the wisdom of her counsels and the valor of her arms." JOSEPH BLAKE, JR. 231 Thomas Crafts, Jr., was born at Boston, April 9, 1767 ; entered the Latin School 1774, and graduated at Harvard College 1785, where he took part in a syllogistic disputation — " Sol est habitabilis," and read law with Gov. Gore. He was probably a son of Col. Thomas Crafts, who proclaimed the Declaration of Independence from the balcony of the old State-house, in 1776, in presence of the people. The son was counsellor-at-law. He was secretary to Hon. Mr. Gore, in the mission to the court of St. James, and was appointed United States consul for Bourdeaux. He was a bachelor. He was an effective political writer, and his chaste productions often appeared in Russell's Centinel. He had an infinite fund of wit and humor, and his companionship was eagerly sought. The elder Adams remarked of him that he was one of the rarest wits he ever knew. He died Aug. 25, 1798. This was not the person so graphically characterized by the Boston satirist. Mr. Crafts was too decided an advocate for the Federal party to be the subject of such shafts. Old Democratic Justice Crafts was probably a near kinsman. " Dear Justice Crafts, fair faction's partisan, I like thee much, thou fiery-visaged man ; I love to hear thee charm the listening throng, Thy head and wig still moving with thy tongue ! Thus Jove of old, the heathen's highest god, Their minor godships governed with his nod. In this you differ from that great divine, — Once from his head came wisdom, ne'er from thine. The mind of Justice Crafts no subject balks, Of kingcraft, priestcraft, craftily he talks ; Oft have we heard his crafty tales, and laughed, But never knew him mention justice-craft." JOSEPH BLAKE, JR. JULY 4, 1792. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. Joseph Blake, Jr., was born at Boston, and a brother of Hon. George Blake ; graduated at Harvard College in 1786, when he gave an English oration ; became an attorney-at-law, and married Anna 232 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Black, in 1793. He removed to New York, and died at Kingston, Jamaica, July 10, 1802, aged thirty-four years. We find in the Democratiad, printed in 1796, a poetical sketch of Dr. Charles Jarvis' speech at Faneuil Hall, against Jay's treaty, which elicited an allusion to Mr. Blake : " Now loud and clamorous the debate begins, — Jarvis his thread of tropes and figures spins ; And often pauses, often calls aloud, To every member of the gaping crowd, To show him, if the treaty should go down, Why faction's hopes were not forever flown. He wished delay — delays must not be had ; I 've never read it, but I say 'tis bad. If it goes down, I '11 bet my ears and eyes It will the people all unpopularize ; Boobies may hear it read ere they decide, — I move it quiokly be unratified." We quote the above for the purpose of introducing the allusion in a note of the Democratiad, as follows : " The doctor said this ' in a manner that would have done honor to a Cicero,' says his printer, Mr. Adams. Pray, Mr. Adams, who ever told you anything about Cicero ? Why did you not say, which would have done honor to a Joseph Blake, Jr., that classical young orator who seconded the doctor at the town- meetings in routing poor Mr. Hall ? You might then have appealed for proof to an oration he spoke a few years ago, on the 4th of July, in which he says that this continent is very happily situated, being ' bar ricaded on one side by vast regions of soil.' Be so good, Mr. Blake, before you decide against the treaty, as to tell us which side of this con tinent is barricaded by vast regions of soil." We will quote the passage exactly as it is given in Mr. Blake's oration : " Most favorable is the situation of this continent. It stands a world by itself. Barricaded from external danger on one side by vast regions of soil ; on the other, by wide plains of ocean. The Atlantic, upon her bosom, may undulate riches to its shore, but all the artillery in Europe cannot shake it to its centre." As political meetings in Boston are known by the term caucus, it is not irrelevant to cite Gordon, who, in his history of the American Revolution, published in 1788, says, " More than fifty years ago Mr. Samuel Adams' father, and twenty others, — one or two from the north end of the town, where all ship business is carried on, — used to meet, make a caucus, and lay their plan for introducing certain persons into places of trust and power." JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 233 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. JULY 4, 1793. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. In this model oration, our orator, with a burst of fervor, exclaims : "Americans ! let us pause for a moment to consider the situation of our country at that eventful day when our national existence commenced. In the full possession and enjoyment of all those prerogatives for which you then dared to adventure upon ' all the varieties of untried being,' the calm and settled moderation of the mind is scarcely competent to conceive the tone of heroism to which the souls of freemen were exalted in that hour of perilous magnanimity. Seventeen times has the sun, in the progress of his annual revolutions, diffused his prolific radiance over the plains of independent America. Millions of hearts, which then palpitated with the rapturous glow of patriotism, have already been translated to a brighter world, — to the abodes of more than mor tal freedom ! Other millions have arisen, to receive from their parents and benefactors the inestimable recompense of their achievements. A large proportion of the audience whose benevolence is at this moment listening to the speaker of the day, like him, were at that period too little advanced beyond the threshold of life to partake of the divine enthu siasm which inspired the American bosom, which prompted her voice to proclaim defiance to the thunders of Britain, which consecrated the banners of her armies, and, finally, erected the holy temple of American Liberty over the tomb of departed tyranny. It is from those who have already passed the meridian of life, — it is from you, ye venerable assertors of the rights of mankind, — that we are to be informed what were the feelings which swayed within your breasts, and impelled you to action, when, like the stripling of Israel, with scarce a weapon to attack, and without a shield for your defence, you met, and, undis mayed, engaged with the gigantic greatness of the British power. Untutored in the disgraceful science of human butchery,- — ¦ destitute of the fatal materials which the ingenuity of man has combined to sharpen the scythe of death, — unsupported by the arm of any friendly alliance, and unfortified against the powerful assaults of an unrelenting enemy, — you did not hesitate at that moment, when your coasts were invaded by a numerous and veteran army, to pronounce the sentence of eter nal separation from Britain, and to throw the gauntlet at a power the 20* 234 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. terror of whose recent triumphs was almost coextensive with the earth. The interested and selfish propensities, which in times of prosperous tranquillity have such powerful dominion over the heart, were all expelled ; and, in their stead, the public virtues, the spirit of personal devotion to the common cause, a contempt of every danger in compar ison with the subserviency of the country, had an unlimited control. The passion for the public had absorbed all the rest, as the glorious luminary of the heaven extinguishes, in a flood of refulgence, the twinkling splendor of every inferior planet. Those of you, my coun trymen, who were actors in those interesting scenes, will best know how feeble and impotent is the language of this description to express the impassioried emotions of the soul with which you were then agi tated; yet it were injustice to conclude from thence, or from the greater prevalence of private and personal motives in these days of calm serenity, that your sons have degenerated from the virtues of their fathers. Let it rather be a subject of pleasing reflection to you, that the generous and disinterested energies which you were summoned to display are permitted, by the bountiful indulgence of Heaven, to remain latent in the bosoms of your children. From the present pros perous appearance of our public affairs, we may admit a rational hope that our country will have no occasion to require of us those extraor dinary and heroic exertions which it was your fortune to exhibit. But, from the common versatility of all human destiny, should the prospect hereafter darken, and the clouds of public misfortune thicken to a tem pest, — should the voice of our country's calamity ever call us to her relief, — we swear, by the precious memory of the sages who toiled and of the heroes who bled in her defence, that we will prove ourselves not unworthy of the prize which they so dearly purchased, — that we will act as the faithful disciples of those who so magnanimously taught us the instructive lesson of republican virtue." President John Adams, the father of the subject of this article, — one of the most ardent patriots of the Revolution, one of the firmest advocates for the Declaration of Independence, and the first ambassa dor to the court of St. James, — was characterized by Thomas Jeffer son as our Colossus on the floor of Congress ; not graceful, not elegant, not always fluent in his public addresses, yet he came out with a power, both of thought and, expression, that moved us from our seats. On his interview with King George, in 1785, Mr. Adams displayed a manly dignity that would have honored the representative of the most JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 235 powerful monarch of any nation. King George said to him ; '•' I vas the last to conform to the separation ; but, the separation having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States, as an independent power." In reply to an insinuation from the king, regarding an attachment to France, Adams remarked. "I must avow to your majesty I have no attachment but to my own country."' The king replied, as quick as lightning. '•'• An honest man will never have any other." As an indication of the malignant prejudice of the royalists towards this eminent statesman, we will cite a paragraph written by a Tory refugee, published in the London Political Magazine of 1781 : " This Adams was originally bred to the law, and is a native of the province of Massachusetts, in New England; he was born at Braintree, a village ten miles south, or rather south-east, of Boston. In person, he is a clumsy, middle-sized man ; and, accoitfirur to aU appearance, by taking to the law and polities, has spoiled an able ploughman or porter. though the trade of a butcher would have better suited the bent of his mind. He has read Tristram Shandy, and affects, awkwardly enough. a smartness which does not at all correspond either with his personal figure or with his natural dulness. What has tended chiefly to distin guish him among the rebels is. the eagerness with which he urged the taking up arms, and his continued malignity towards all the friends of peace and the mother country. For these excellent qualities, he -was chosen a delegate from Massachusetts to the first Congress. When at Philadelphia, several of his letters to his friends in New England were intercepted in the mail, as the post courier •was crossing; Narra^anset Ferry. In one of them, dated July 24. 1775, and addressed to his wife. Mrs. Abigail Adams, he tells her. by way of secret, that no mortal tale could equal the fidgets, the whims, the caprice, the vanitv- the superstition and the irritability, of his compatriots, on their journey from New England to Philadelphia. These compatriots were, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, and Robert Treat Paine. The first of these was a distiller, and the last a lawyer ; and both were weak and insig nificant men, the tools of Samuel Adams, the grand confederate and correspondent of that hoary traitor, Franklin In another letter. dated the day after, addressed to CoL Warner, of Plymouth, then at Watertown, President of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, he displayed the barbarity of his disposition, by asking him, : Will your new legislative and executive feel bold or irresolute ? Will your 236 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. judicial hang, and whip, and fine, and imprison, without scruple? It is to this advice that he alludes, when he mentions the refugees, in his letter from Amsterdam. He was for stopping their career by hang- ing them on the spot, without favor or affection. If this man should live till the close of the rebellion, and be found in America, no good subject will lament if he should meet with that fate which he so strenu ously prescribed for others. The public will not be surprised that, with respect to the refugees from America, there should be such a coinci dence of opinion between certain speechifiers and a rebel ambassador. Neither will they be surprised that this man should regret his rebel confederate Laurens ; prognosticate the ruin of this country ; promise his rebel friends the assistance of Russia, and money from the Dutch ; abuse the British ministry ; talk of sumptuary laws to restrain super fluities in dress, where there is not even a sufficiency of the most ordi nary clothing ; and of paying the whole of their army expenses in a manner that would not be felt, by a few duties and excises, in a country where the paper money has gone to wreck, and where solid coin is not to be seen." John Quincy Adams was born in a house still standing, in the near vicinity of that in which his father had been born, within what is now Quincy, and was then Braintree, July 11, 1767 ; and was baptized in the meeting-house of the First Church, by Rev. Anthony Wibird, on the day after his birth. Mr. Adams once related, in regard to his grand father Quincy : " The house at Mount Wollaston has a peculiar inter est to me, as the dwelling of my great-grandfather, whose name I bear. The incident which gave rise to this circumstance is not without its moral to my heart. He was dying when I was baptized ; and his daughter, my grandmother, present at my birth, requested that I might receive his name. The fact, recorded by my father at the time, has connected with that portion of my name a charm of mingled sensibility and devotion. It was filial tenderness that gave the name. It was the name of one passing from earth to immortality. These have been among the strongest links of my attachment to the name of Quincy, and have been to me, through life, a perpetual admonition to do nothing unworthy of it." Senator Davis said of him, "the cradle hymns of the child were the songs of liberty;" it being the period when our country was struggling for liberty. To the plastic influence of his masculine mother, John Quincy ascribed whatever he had been, and hoped to be in futurity. His mother writes to one, "I have taken a JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 237 very great fondness for reading Rollin's Ancient History, since you left me. I am determined to go through with it, if possible, in these days of my solitude. I find great pleasure and entertainment from it, and have persuaded Johnny to read a page or two every day, and hope he will, from his desire to oblige me, entertain a fondness for it." " The child of seven years old," says Everett, " who reads a serious book with fondness, from his desire to oblige his mother, has entered the high road of usefulness and honor." An effective reminiscence of Mr. Adams was related by Robert C. Winthrop, at the Acton celebration, Oct. 29, 1851, which, remarked he, is "one of the most interesting personal incidents that I can look back upon in the course of a ten-years' service in Congress. It was an interview which I had with our late venerated fellow-citizen, John Quincy Adams, about five or six years ago. It was on the floor of the capitol, not far from the spot where he soon afterwards fell. The house had adjourned one day somewhat suddenly, and at an early hour ; and it happened that after all the other members had left the hall, Mr. Adams and myself were left alone in our seats, engaged in our private correspondence. Presently the messengers came in rather unceremoniously to clean up the hall, and began to wield that inexorable implement which is so often the plague of men, both under public and private roofs. Disturbed by the noise and dust, I observed Mr. Adams approaching me with an unfolded letter in his hands. ' Do you know John J. Gurney ? ' said he. ' I know him well, sir, by reputation ; but I did not have the pleasure of meeting him per sonally when he was in America.' 'Well, he has been writing me a letter, and I have been writing him an answer. He has been calling me to account for my course on the Oregon question, and taking me to task for what he calls my belligerent spirit and warlike tone towards England.' "And then the 'old man eloquent' proceeded to read tome, so far as it was finished, one of the most interesting letters I ever read or heard in my life. It was a letter of auto-biography, in which he described his parentage and early life, and in which he particu larly alluded to the sources from which he derived his jealousy of Great Britain, and his readiness to resist her, even unto blood, when ever he thought that she was encroaching on American rights. He said that he was old enough in 1775 to understand what his father was about in those days ; and he described the lessons which his mother 238 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. taught him during his father's absence in attending the Congress of independence. Every day, he said, after saying his prayers to God, he was required to repeat those exquisite stanzas of Collins, which he had carefully transcribed in his letter, and which he recited to me with an expression and an energy which I shall never forget — the tears coursing down his cheeks, and his voice, every now and then, choked with emotion : ' How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blest ! When spring, with dewy fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallowed mould, She there shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 1 By fairy hands their knell is rung ; By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay, And Freedom shall a while repair, To dwell, a weeping hermit, there. ' " And there was another ode, by the same author, which, he said, he was also obliged to repeat, as a part of this same morning exercise, — the ode, I believe, on the death of Col. Charles Ross, in the action at Fontenoy, one verse of which, with a slight variation, would not be inapplicable to your own Davis : ' By rapid Scheld's descending wave, His country's vows shall bless the grave, Where'er the youth is laid ; That sacred spot the village hind With every sweetest turf shall bind, And Peace protect the shade.' " Such, sir, was the education of at least one of our Massachusetts children at that day. And, though I do not suppose that all the mothers of 1775 were like Mrs. Adams, yet the great majority of them, we all know, had as much piety and patriotism, if not as much poetry, and their children were brought up at once in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and of liberty." In February, 1778, being then a lad in the eleventh year of his age, he was taken to France by his father (in ship Boston, Capt. Tucker), who was sent by Congress as joint commissioner with Benjamin JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 239 Frankhn and Arthur Lee, to the court of France. During the pas sage, they were exposed to extreme danger in a violent storm, and his father said of him, " I confess I often regretted that I had brought my son. I was not so clear that it was my duty to expose him as myself; but I had been led to it by the child's inclination, and by the advice of all my friends. Mr. Johnny's behavior gave me a satisfaction that I cannot express; fully sensible of our danger, he was constantly endeavoring to bear it with a manly patience, very attentive to me, and his thoughts constantly running in a serious strain. My little son is very proud of his knowledge of all the sails, and the captain put him to learn the mariner's icompass." His father established himself at Passy, the residence of Franklin. Here he was sent to school, and acquired the French language. His dear mother, in writing to him, says : "I would much rather you should have found your grave in the ocean you have crossed, or that any untimely death should crop you in your infant years, than see you an immoral, profligate, or graceless child." And his father, in writing to his mother under date of 1779, says, young John " is respected wherever he goes, for his vigor and vivacity both of mind and body, for his constant good humor, and for his rapid progress in French, as well as for his general knowledge, which at his age is uncommon." The treaty of alliance being consum mated, John Adams returned with his sOn, and arrived at Boston Aug. 2, 1779. In 1781, when only fourteen years of age, he became private secre tary to Hon. Francis Dana, the minister to Russia. He remained at St. Petersburg until October, 1782, when he left Mr. Dana, and journeyed alone to Holland, where he joined his father, April, 1783. After the treaty at Paris, signed in September of that year, he went to the court of St. James with his father, which occurred in 1785. He was a remarkably precocious youth, and since he was twelve years old had talked with men. Mr. Jefferson, then minister at Paris, in writ ing to Mr. Gerry, says : "I congratulate your country on their pros pect in this young man." In 1786 he was admitted at Harvard College at an advanced stand ing, and graduated in 1787. The subject of his oration evinces the maturity of his mind; it was on " The Importance and Necessity of Public Faith to the Well-being of a Community." He entered on the study of law under the instruction of the celebrated Theophilus Parsons, at Newburyport ; and in 1790 he commenced legal practice, 240 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. which he continued until 1794, during which period he pronounced the oration at the head of this article, and became a liberal contributor of political essays in Russell's Centinel, over the signatures of Publicola and Marcellus, which developed the true policy of union at home, and independence of all foreign combinations abroad. Over " Colum bus " he also advocated a national neutral policy toward foreign nations. Washington, in 1794, appointed Mr. Adams minister to the Hague, who remained in Europe on public business until his recall by his father, the successor of Washington. In 1797, our first president declared that he was "the most valuable public character we have abroad, and the ablest of all our diplomatic corps." On the 26th of July, 1797, Mr. Adams was married to Louisa, the daughter of Joshua Johnson, of Maryland, then acting as consular agent of the United States at London, who for more than fifty years was the partner of his affections and fortunes. In 1801 he was elected to the Senate of his native State, and in 1803 he was elected to the Senate of the United States. This station in the national councils he filled until he became obnoxious to the Legislature of his native State, from the support which he gave to parts of Jefferson's administration ; and, in consequence, he resigned his seat, in March, 1808. He was the first Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory in Harvard College, from 1806 to 1809. In 1810 he published his lectures on rhetoric and oratory, in two volumes, 8vo. At this period he was confirmed as minister to Russia, on the nomination of Madison, and was abroad eight years. In 1814 he was one of the commissioners who negotiated, at Ghent, the treaty of peace which closed the second war between Great Britain and the United States. In 1815 Mr Adams was appointed minister to the court of St. James, under Madison. In 1817 he returned to America, and discharged the duties of Secretary of State during the whole administration of President Monroe. It will be recollected that Andrew Jackson said, at this period, of Mr. Adams, that he was "the fittest person for the office; a man who would stand by the country in the hour of danger." In 1825 Mr. Adams was elected to the presidency of the United States by the National House of Representatives, on the first ballot. His administration, in its principles and policy, was similar to that of his very popular predecessor. Not long after Mr. Adams was sue- JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 241 ceeded by Andrew Jackson, he wrote to a friend, saying, " One of the most pathetic and terrible passages in that masterpiece of Shakspeare and of the drama is that exclamation of the dying Hamlet : ' 0 God ! Horatio, what a wounded name Things standing thus unknown shall live behind me ! ' I cannot describe to you the thrill with which I first read these lines, generalizing the thought as one of the melancholy conditions of human life and death ; nor say to you how often, in the course of my long career, I have applied these lines to myself. My name, conduct and character, have been many years open to the constant inspection of a large portion of the civilized world. Of that portion whose notice they have attracted, I am deeply conscious that the estimate they have formed of me has been and is neither just nor kind." But it is equally certain, says Lunt, that, between the time when the words just quoted were penned and his death, he lived long enough to have his name vindicated. He continued on the stage of action till he could put his ear to the confessional of posterity, and hear much that must have gratified a mind conscious of high aims and patriotic endeavors. Mr. Adams pronounced eulogies on his two immediate predecessors, at the request of the city authorities of Boston. " Too happy should I be," said Mr. Adams, " if, with a voice speaking from the last to the coming generation of my country, I could effectively urge them to seek, in the temper and moderation of James Madison, that healing balm which assuages the malignity of the deepest-seated political disease, redeems to life the rational mind, and restores to health the incorpo rated union of our country, even from the brain fever of party strife." And of James Monroe he emphasized, that he was of a mind anxious and unwearied in the pursuit of truth and right, patient of inquiry, patient of contradiction, courteous even in the collision of sentiment, sound in ultimate judgments, and firm in its final conclusions. In his administration strengthening and consolidating the federative edifice of his country's union, till he was entitled to say, like Augustus Caesar of his imperial city, that he had found her built of brick, and left her constructed of marble. Mr. Adams, ever ready for political life, once more put on the har dness, and served ten successive years as Representative in Congress from the twelfth district of Massachusetts, until, in 1842, upon a new 21 242 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. distribution of political power, he was elected to represent the eighth district of hi3 native State, where he was succeeded by Horace Mann. In the autumn of the year 1833, Hon John Quincy Adams was unanimously nominated, at a large convention of the Anti-masonic party, as their candidate for the office of Governor of Massachusetts. The result was a triangular contest, at the election, between the three political parties into which the State was divided, and the failure of a choice. The election devolved on the State Legislature, on which Mr. Adams withdrew from the contest. During the periods of 1831 and 1833. Mr. Adams published, in papers of the day, a series of letters to eminent persons on the nature and tendency of Freemasonry. We select a striking passage from his letter to Hon. Edward Livingston, Secretary of State, and Grand High Priest of the U. S. Royal Arch Chapter of Masonry. " When John Milton," says Mr. Adams, "published his Paradise Lost, Andrew Marvell declared that he for some time misdoubted his intent, — • ' That he would ruin The sacred truths to fable and old song.' And he adds,- ' Or, if a work so infinite be spanned, Jealous I was that some less skilful hand Might hence presume the whole creation's day To change in scenes, and show it in a play.' " That which the penetrating sagacity and sincere piety of Andrew Marvell apprehended as an evil which might result even from the sub lime strains of the Paradise Lost, is precisely what the contrivers of the Masonic mysteries have effected. They have travestied the awful and miraculous supernatural communications of the ineffable Jehovah to his favored people into stage-plays. That Word, which in the begin ning was with God, and was God ; that abstract, incorporeal, essential, and ever-living existence ; that eternal presence, without past, without future time ; that Being, without beginning of days or end of years, declared to Moses under the name of I Am that I Am, — the moun tebank juggleries of Masonry turn into a farce. A companion of the Royal Arch personates Almighty God, and declares himself the Being of all eternity, — I Am that I Am. Your intention, in the perform ance of this ceremony, is to strike the imagination of the candidate with terror and amazement. I acquit the fraternity, therefore, of JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 243 blasphemy; but I cannot acquit them of extreme indiscretion, and inexcusable abuse of the Holy Scriptures. The sealed obligation, the drinking of wine from a human skull, is a ceremony not less objection able. This you know, sir, is the scene in which the candidate takes the skull in his hand and says, ' As the sins of the whole world were laid upon the head of our Saviour, so may the sins of the person whose skull this once was be heaped upon my head in addition to my own, and may they appear in judgment against me both here and hereafter, should I violate any obligation in Masonry, or the orders of knight hood, which I have heretofore taken, take at this time, or may be here after instructed in, — so help me God ! ' and he drinks the wine from the skull. And is not this enough ? ' No ; the Knight Templar takes an oath, containing many promises, binding himself under no less pen alty than to have his head struck off and placed on the highest spire in Christendom, should he knowingly or willingly violate any part of his solemn obligation of a Knight Templar." The fearless stand which Mr. Adams maintained through all the storm and tempest of opposition on the right of petition, says Water- ston, alone were enough to give him immortality. He looked upon slavery as the unmitigated curse of his country. He loathed it with an utter detestation ; and when the slave-power refused to hear the cry that was coming more and more loudly from distant sections of the land, and trampled beneath its feet the holiest privileges of the consti tution, the fire in his soul kindled. His efforts and his triumphs at that time will never be forgotten. We have an important political reminiscence of this period, related by President Millard Fillmore, in an address to the people of Freder- icksburgh, Va., June, 1851, on his arrival in that city. Mr. Fillmore was a colleague of Mr. Adams in Congress : "I had an old and val ued friend, — one whom I esteemed, yet who possessed some eccentric ities and peculiar notions of political duty which I did not approve. I need not say that I allude to the venerable Mr. Adams. You are all well aware that he was early imbued with the principle, upon which he universally practised, that every citizen had the right to be heard in Con gress by his petition ; and that he was often made the medium of pre senting to the house matters of which he entirely disapproved. His maxim was, that every citizen had the right to petition, and that it was the duty of Congress to consider such petition. Acting upon this known principle, he was often played upon, doubtless, by those who were 244 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. influenced by mischievous purposes. I well recollect, on one occasion, that he rose and stated to the house that he had received a petition of a very peculiar character, the sentiments of which he did not approve ; but, on the principle upon which he universally acted, he felt it to be his duty to present it to the house. He stated that it was a petition from certain citizens whose names were signed to it, praying for a dis solution of the Union ; but, for the purpose of freeing himself from the imputation of favoring such a sentiment, he, at the same time that he discharged his duty in the presentation of the petition, felt it also to be his duty to accompany it with a resolution that it be referred to a select committee, with positive instructions to report against the prayer of the petitioners. What were the proceedings upon that occasion ? This annunciation was no sooner made in the House of Representatives, than the whole house seemed to be in a ferment ; and in a very few moments a resolution was introduced for the purpose of expelling Mr. Adams from the house, for having dared to introduce a petition there for a dissolution of the Union, although accompanied at the same time with a positive declaration on his part that he was opposed to it, and an appeal to the house to sanction his sentiments on the subject. But what do we see now ? Ten years have not elapsed since that scene took place, and since that man who for four years had discharged the duties of Chief Magistrate of this Union stood at the bar of that house, and morning after morning came to me and asked of me not to move the public business, so as to force a vote on the resolution expel ling him from the house, until he had a chance to be heard. He feared that he might be expelled from that body, for doing what he deemed to be his imperative duty, in preservation of the right of peti tion, although he was imbued with the strongest sentiments in favor of the Union of these States. I was forced, from a feeling of sympathy and regard for him, to suffer the public business to be delayed, from day to day, for one or two weeks, in order that he might present his sentiments to the house on the subject, to convince them that, al thou oh he presented a petition for the dissolution of the Union, he did not approve of those sentiments. I doubt whether anything short of that could have saved this distinguished man from expulsion from that body." " The patriotism of Mr. Adams," says Horace Mann, his successor in Congress, " was coextensive with his country; it could not be crushed and squeezed in between party lines. Though liable to err, — and JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 245 what human being is not ? — yet his principles were believed by him to be in accordance with the great moral laws of the universe. They were thought out from duty and religion, and not carved out from expe diency. When invested with patronage, he never dismissed a man from office because he was a political opponent, and never appointed one to office merely because he was a political friend. Hence he drew from Mr. Holmes, of South Carolina, this noble eulogium, — a eulogium, considering the part of, the country from which it came, as honorable to its author as to its object, — that 'he crushed no heart beneath the rude grasp of proscription ; he left no heritage of widows' cries or orphans' tears.' Could all the honors which Mr. Adams ever won from offices held under the first five presidents of the United States, and from a public service which, commencing more than fifty years ago, continued to the day of his death, be concentrated in one effulgent blaze, they would be far less shining and inextinguishable than the honor of sacrificing his election for a second presidential term, because he would not, in order to obtain it, prostitute the patronage and power which the constitution had placed in his hands. I regard this as the sublimest spectacle in his long and varied career. He stood within reach of an object of ambition doubtless dearer to him than life. He could have laid his hands upon it. The still small voice said, No ! Without a murmur, he saw it taken and borne away in triumph by another. Compared with this, the block of many a martyr has been an easy resting-place." Perhaps one of the most remarkable features of his mind was the universality of its acquirements. There was hardly a subject upon which he had not thought, and few upon which he was not wise. The amount of his information was immense. He was well versed in polit ical economy, and all matters pertaining to civil government. As a philologist, he passed much time in critical research. He was skilled in science and art. Philosophy had not been neglected, and religion was a subject of laborious study. He was thoroughly versed in gen eral literature ; was passionately fond of poetry, and the words of our great dramatic and epic poets were familiar to him as household words. The wide sweep of history seemed to lay clearly open to his mind ; while he was intimate, also, with its minutest details, and could repeat names and dates as if they had been the sole subject of his thoughts. By the wonderful power of his memory, he seemed able to recall what ever he read, or saw, or heard. He repeated, without limit, passages from 21* 246 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. books in various languages. To him, the events and characters of past history were like the occurrences of to-day. And the circumstances of his own life, back to his early childhood, seemed clothed in transparent light. Conversations he had enjoyed with persons more than a half- century back, he could recall at pleasure ; and the varied scenes he had witnessed stood out like pictures before his view. Quick in feeling, indignant at injustice and wrong, there was at times impetuosity ; and, wlien occasion called for it, his words were like consuming lightning, and shattered what they struck. No man could be more witheringly severe, — withering with terrific truth. But then he was also simple as a child, and naturally overflowing with genial affection. Of few could it be more aptly said : " He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one ; Exceeding wise, fair-spoken, and persuading : Lofty and sour to them that loved him not ; But to those men that sought him, sweet as summer." A few years before his decease, Mr. Adams was invited, by the school-committee of the town of Quincy, to accompany them in their round of visits to the several district schools in the town. He com plied very readily ; gave his attention, during a session of three hours " in the forenoon and three in the afternoon of each day, to the lessons of the pupils ; and entered into the humble work before him with as much animation of manner as he would have evinced in political dis cussions, or in managing the affairs of a nation. Lord Bacon has said that " he who cannot contract the sight of his mind, as well as disperse and dilate it, wanteth a great quality." This mark of true greatness was not wanting in President Adams. On the first day of the indisposition of Mr. Adams, he gave his sig nature to the effusion herewith, laid aside in his desk in the hall of Congress, addressed to the Muse of History, perched on her rook- wheeled and winged car over the front door of the House of Repre sentatives at Washington : " Muse ! quit thy car, come down upon the floor, And with thee bring that volume in thy hand ; Rap with thy marble knuckles at the door, And take at a reporter's desk thy stand. Send round thy album, and collect a store Of autographs from rulers of the land ; Invite each Solon to inscribe his name, A self-recorded candidate for fame. ' ' JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 247 Mr. Adams, on the 21st of February, 1848, entered the hall of the House of Representatives apparently in his usual health and spirits. When the house had been in session about an hour, the yeas and nays being ordered on the question of a vote of the thanks of Congress, and awarding gold medals, to Generals Twiggs, Worth, Pillow, Shields, Quitman, and others, for their services in the Mexican war, Mr. Adams responded in the negative in a voice unusually clear, and with more than ordinary emphasis. After the speaker had risen to put another ques tion to the house, a sudden cry was heard on the left of the chair, " Mr. Adams is dying ! " Turning their eyes to the spot, the mem bers beheld the venerable man in the act of falling over the left arm of his chair, while his right arm was extended, grasping his desk for support. He would have dropped upon the floor, had he not been caught in the arms of the member sitting next to him. A great sensa tion was created in the house ; members from all quarters rushing from their seats, and gathering round the fallen statesman, who was immediately lifted into the area in front of the clerk's table. The speaker instantly suggested that some gentleman move an adjourn ment, which being promptly done, the house adjourned. A sofa was brought, and Mr. Adams, in a state of perfect helplessness, though not of entire insensibility, was gently laid upon it. The sofa was then taken up and borne out of the hall into the rotunda, where it was set down ; and the members of both houses, and strangers who were fast crowding around, were with some difficulty -repressed, and an open space cleared in its immediate vicinity ; but a medical gentleman, a member of the house, advised that he be removed to the door of the rotunda, opening on the east portico, where a fresh wind was blowing. This was done ; but, the air being chilly and loaded with vapor, the Sofa was, at the suggestion of Mr. Winthrop, once more taken up and removed to the speaker's apartment, the doors of which were forthwith closed to all but professional gentlemen and particular friends. While lying in this apartment, Mr. Adams partially recovered the use of his speech, and observed, in faltering accents, " This is the end of earth; " but quickly added, "lam composed." Members had by this time reached Mr. Adams' abode with the melancholy intelligence, and soon after, Mrs. Adams and his nephew and niece arrived, and made their way to the appalling scene. Mrs. Adams was deeply affected, and for some moments quite prostrated, by the sight of her husband, now insensible, the pallor of death upon his countenance, and those sad pre- 248 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. monitories fast making their appearance which fall with such a chill upon the heart. Mr. Adams, after having been removed to the apartment of Speaker Winthrop, sank into a state of apparent insensibility, and expired at a quarter past seven o'clock, on the evening of Feb. 23, 1848. JOHN PHILLIPS. JULY 4, 1794. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. This production bears the finest marks of intellectual vigor and cor rect principles ; and so well was it received, that extracts from it were for a long time going the rounds in the newspapers of the day, and some of these passages have a permanent place in our school-books, as models for our youth. We will glean a passage : " The effects of the event we this day commemorate were not confined to our own country, but soon extended across the Atlantic. The prospect of humbling a powerful rival induced an arbitrary prince to aid the American cause with numerous armies and powerful fleets, exhibiting the paradoxical appearance of slavery fighting the battles of freedom. The subjects of despotism soon imbibed the principles they were employed to defend, and caught the ardor which flamed in the Amer ican bosom. Surrounding circumstances led to reflections highly unfa vorable to their own situation. They perceived the tree of liberty profusely watered with their blood ; its foliage spreading, yet yielding them no shelter ; its fruit blooming and mellowing in luxuriance, yet denied the delicious taste, it excited no passion but despair. When the mandate of their sovereign summoned them to their native shores, a deeper horror seemed to shade the darkness of despotism. They beheld, with mingled grief and indignation, a people in the most fertile country of Europe, amid the profusion of the bounties of nature, obliged to live on the gleanings of their own industry. The scanty pit tance, saved from the exactions of arbitrary power, yielded by igno rance and superstition, to satisfy the boundless demands of a rapacious clergy. A kingdom converted to a Bastile, in which the mind was imprisoned by a triple impenetrable wall of ignorance, superstition, and despotism. The fervid spirit which glowed within them soon per- JOHN PHILLIPS. 249 vaded their country, and threatened destruction to their government. On the first favorable contingency, the enthusiastic energies of reviving Freedom burst the cerements which had confined it for two thousand years, and the Gothic fabric of feudal absurdity, with all its pompous pageants, colossal pillars and proscriptive bulwarks, the wonder and veneration of ages, was instantly levelled with the dust. "An astonished world viewed with awful admiration the stupendous wreck. They beheld, with pleasing exultation, the fair fabric of Freedom rising in simple proportion and majestic grace upon the mighty ruin. The gloomy horrors of despotism fled before the splendid efful gence of the sun of liberty. The potent rays of science pierced the mist of ignorance and error, ' republican visions were realized, and the reign of reason appeared to commence its splendid progress.' But the whirlwind of discord threatened to raze the fabric from its foundation. The lowering clouds of contention hung around, and darkened the horizon. Fayette, the apostle of liberty, was abandoned by the people whom he saved, and became a victim to despotic cruelty and coward ice. The damp, poisonous exhalations of a gloomy dungeon now encircle and chill that bosom, whose philanthropy was coextensive with the universe, whose patriotism no power could extinguish, no dan gers appal. But, illuminated by the rectitude of thy heart and the magnanimity of thy virtue, the trickling dews of thy prison- walls shall sparkle with more enviable lustre than the most luminous diadem that glitters on the brow of the haughtiest emperor." The apostrophe to Lafayette was uttered at ¦ the precise time when the patriot was lan guishing in the dungeon of Olmutz. John Phillips, a son of William Phillips and Margaret, a daughter of Jacob Wendell, was born in Boston, Nov. 26, 1770. His mother was a lady of fervent piety ; and Rev. Dr. Palfrey relates that her son informed him that his mother, at the last interview when she was able to sustain a connected conversation, on the occasion of an assurance from him that her directions should be strictly fulfilled after her death, raised herself, and, addressing him in a manner of the most emphatic solemnity, she charged him to remember then the many official oaths he had taken. His birthplace was on the ancient Phillips estate, now known as No. 39 Washington-street, where his widowed mother kept a dry-goods shop for many years. When seven years of age, he entered Phillips' Academy, at Ando ver, founded by his relatives, where he received instruction, residing 250 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. in the family of Lieut. Gov. Samuel Phillips, until he entered Harvard College in 1784. After his graduation, when he gave the salutatory oration, he read law with Judge Dawes, the successor of Oliver Wen dell, in Suffolk Probate. On being of age, he was admitted to practice in the Suffolk bar, and in 1794 married Sally, daughter of Thomas Walley, a merchant and selectman of Boston. In the year 1800, says Knapp, the population of Boston had so much increased that it was found necessary to petition the Legisla ture to establish a Municipal Court of criminal jurisdiction for the county of Suffolk. The Supreme Judicial Court, and the Common Pleas, had become burdened by the numerous entries on the criminal side of the docket; and parties in civil actions suffered tedious delays, while the courts were engaged in jail delivery. The Muni cipal Court was established in 1800, and George Richards Minot became its first judge, and John Phillips was selected as a public pros ecutor, to vindicate the'majesty of the laws. He was annually elected town advocate for this purpose, until he was succeeded by Peter O. Thacher. In 1803 he was elected a representative, and in 1804 he was sent to the Senate, which station he occupied for twenty years, and was president of this body for ten years. In 1809 he became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, until that court was abolished for another on a new model. In 1820 Mr. Phillips was elected to the convention for revising the constitution of the State, where he dis played great wisdom and playful humor. In remarks on the third article of the bill of rights, on which there Was great diversity of opin ion, he urged its indefinite postponement, saying it was well to remem ber the adage, When you know not what to do, take care not to do you know not what. He hoped they should not resemble the man who had the epitaph on his tombstone, "I was well; I would be better, and here I am." In 1812 Mr. Phillips was elected a member of the corporation of Harvard College, which station he filled until his decease, and was frequently moderator of the town-meetings of the old town of Boston. Mr. Phillips was chairman of the committee of twelve who reported a city charter, which was adopted by the town on January 1, 1822. One attempt having been made to elect a mayor, without success, Mr. Phillips was solicited to stand as candidate, in order to effect a union ; and he received nearly a unanimous vote. He was inaugurated, JOHN PHILLIPS. 251 May 1, 1822. A powerful minority of the citizens decidedly preferred the patriarchal system of the selectmen. Others decidedly advocated reform and energetic measures. In acting out the principles of the charter, Mayor Phillips was kind, conciliatory, and conservative. Such was the general confidence at the time in his taste and judgment, that he could have taken what direction he preferred in regard to the mode in which the mayor should in future bear the forms of office. Some were for display and pomp. Mr. Phillips preferred republican simplicity, and probably, by his example, we are saved the trappings of a lord mayor's day, or any profuseness at an annual organization of the city authorities. Mayor Quincy, his successor, said, " The first administration have laid the foundation of the prosperity of our city deep, and on right principles ; and whatever success may attend those who come after them, they will be largely indebted for it to the wisdom and fidelity of their predecessors." The course of his control over the city government was unruffled as Lake Ontario on a calm, sunny day, . and a striking contrast to the measures of his successor, whose opera tions, like the rushings of the resistless Niagara, in its vicinity, washed away the old landmarks, when Boston lost its identity as a town. As a speaker, Mr. Phillips was clear, forcible, conciliatory and judicious. His voice was strong, without harshness, and his words flowed without any great effort. If he never gave any striking speci men of eloquence, he certainly never mortified his friends by a failure in debate, so often the misfortune amongst those who sometimes reach the sublime. He was not unfrequently, in the course of a week, called to make speeches before several different bodies of men, on various subjects, — political, educational, commercial, financial or philanthropic, — and at all times he was listened to with profound attention and pleasure ; and probably no cotemporary of any standing, in a moment of rivalry, could say to him, " My advice is as often followed as yours, and the influence you have I have also." Mayor Phillips was of the common height in stature. His face was oval, with expressive eyes, and his cheeks were of a very ruddy hue ; with partially gray hair, like a half-powdered dressing, and very neat attire. His appearance as president of the Senate, or at the meetings of the municipal authorities, was manly and dignified. In his countenance there was a peculiar calmness, indicative of that purity of heart for which he was greatly distinguished. Indeed, from the decease of his excellent mother, there was more than a commonly serious train of 252 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. thought in his letters and conversation ; and it is not singular that the last impressions of a man should be religious, who learned to pray as he learned his alphabet, in his mother's arms, and, at school, was as careful to commit his biblical lesson as to retain his classical studies. He presided in the Senate on the day previous to his death, and was a spectator at the delivery of the election sermon at the Old South Church. In the course of the succeeding night he became so unwell as to require the attendance of a physician, and in the morning he for a short time appeared relieved, but, on a relapse of spasms, occasioned by an ossification of the heart, at nine o'clock in the morning he expired, May 29, 1823. The clamorous notes of fame, breathed over the conqueror's bier, have no music in them, without the conception of indestructible virtue in his mind, as it shone in Phillips. The ancestor of the Phillips family of New England was Rev. George Phillips, of Raymond, Norfolk county, Old England, who came to America in 1630, and was the first minister of Watertown. The children of Mayor Phillips were Thomas Walley, H. C. 1814 ; George W., H. C. 1829; Wendell, H. C. 1831, ever active in the cause of humanity, a graceful speaker and fine classical scholar ; Grenville Tudor, H. C. 1836; John C, H. C. 1826, in the ministry; Sarah H., married Alonzo Gray, of Brookline; Margaret W., married Dr. Edward Reynolds, of Boston ; Miriam, married Rev. Dr. Blagden, of the Old South Church. The eldest son was for many years clerk of Suffolk Municipal Court. It were glory enough to have had such a family, and lived in the shades of retirement, without being in elevated public stations. Blessings on the memory of the first mayor of Boston ! Mr. Otis, a successor, said of him, that " his aim was to allure, and not to repel ; to reconcile by gentle reform, not to revolt by startling innovation, — so that, while he led us into a new and fairer creation, we felt ourselves surrounded by the scenes and comforts of home." " His hand and heart both open and both free, For what he has he gives, — what thinks, he shows ; Yet gives he not till judgment guides his bounty Nor dignifies an impure thought with breath." GEORGE BLAKE. 253 GEORGE BLAKE. JULY 4, 1795. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. The impassioned and declamatory oration of Mr. Blake is strongly evincive of the zeal of a youthful politician : " The whole continent of America, according to ministerial calculations, was destined to become a mere appendage to the patrimonial inheritance of George the Third ; and the people of America, like the dragon of Hesperides, would have been allowed the honor to cherish and protect the fruit of which they were refused the power to participate. A project so infernal in its design, at the same time so uncertain in its event, could have been generated but by a ministry in the very dotage of wickedness, approved but by a monarch in leading-strings, and seconded only by the unthinking automatons who never move or act but from the impulse of their sovereign. In justice, however, to the more rational part of that deluded people, we shall not forget the feeling remonstrances which were poured forth by the purer spirits of the kingdom. But in vain ! In vain did a Chatham, and a Camden, like the oracles of old, foresee and pronounce the fatal issue that awaited the measures of their gov ernment."- Again Mr. Blake says, " Parliament, by their usual sanc tity of pretension, could no longer conceal the malignity of their designs. That secret cabinet of iniquity was now thrown open, and, behold ! like the den of the Cyclops, it exhibited a group of demons busied in forging engines of destruction, — in fabricating chains, dag gers, and fetters, to enslave or destroy her devoted colonies." George Blake was a descendant of William Blake, the common ancestor, who died at Dorchester, Oct. 25, 1663, and bequeathed by his will funds for keeping a fence or wall around the burying-ground in Dorchester, to keep hogs and other vermin from rooting up the bodies of the saints. George, the subject of this outline, was born at Hardwick, Mass., 1769, and graduated at Harvard College in 1789, when he took part in a conference with Samuel Haven — ' ' Whether unlimited toleration be prejudicial to the cause of religion." He was a student at law under Governor Sullivan, and admitted to the bar in 1794. He settled in the practice of law in Boston, when he delivered the oration at the request of the town. On the same day, Gov. 22 254 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Samuel Adams laid the corner-stone of the State-house in Boston, who said, "May the principles of our excellent constitution, founded in nature and in the rights of man, be ably defended here ;" and in the year previous, Gov. Adams said, in Faneuil Hall, at the celebration of the destruction of fhe Bastile in Paris, " May the laurel of victory never wither on the brow of republicanism." Mr. Blake married Rachel Baty, who died in early life, and he married a second time Sarah Murdock. On the fourth of February, 1800, Mr. Blake deliv ered a eulogy on Washington, for St. John's Lodge. In 1801 he was appointed the United States District Attorney for Massachusetts, at which time he was a representative in the State Legislature. Mr. Blake was a delegate to the Massachusetts State convention for the revision of the State constitution, in 1820. His speeches on important topics were frequent, and no man displayed a keener jealousy for the democracy, or readier adroitness of conception. In his speech on sen atorial apportionment, he remarked that he considered the constitution of this commonwealth the purest and most perfect model of republican government that ever existed on the face of the globe. There cannot be found in any State, or in the world, a constitution so free and so liberal as that of Massachusetts, which we now have, independent of any amendments which may be proposed. He had been a republican in the most gloomy times, — it was fashionable to be republican now, — and he should not be disposed to desert republicanism at such a time. He said that he had used the other day a very improper figure, when he called the Senate the rich man's citadel. It was no more the citadel of the rich than of the poor man. It was the only branch of the government which was particularly designed for the protection of property, and the protection was as important for those who have little as for those who have much. Mr. Blake opposed the investiture of Boston into a city corporation, and also opposed the city charter, as subversive of democracy. He was the first Democratic candidate for the mayoralty. In 1829 Mr. Blake resigned his office of District Attorney, and was again elected to the House, until his advance to the Senate, in 1833. He was profound in legal acquirement, and his forensic powers were of a high order. His control over the jury was often irresistible. The propriety and elegance of his diction, and his fervor in debate, excited admiration. He was an active leader of the Democratic party, and a frequent contributor to the Worcester National JEgis, edited by his brother, Francis Blake, and a decided ioo advocate of the measures of Jefferson. His speeches in General Court, and learned arguments at the bar, were often published. All that Mr. Blake said was delivered " in such apt and gracious words That younger ears played truant at his tale, And older hearings were quite ravished, So voluble and sweet was his discourse." He died October 6, 1841. JOHN LATHROP, JR. JULY 4, 1796. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. In the nervous and patriotic performance of our orator, we have this happy exordium : " It is now acknowledged as a fact in political biography, that Liberty descended from heaven on the 4th of July, 1776. We are assembled on this day, the twentieth anniversary of her advent, to sympathize in those pleasures which none but freemen can enjoy, to exchange those mutual congratulations which none but freemen can express. " The first promulgation of the gospel of liberty was the declaration of American independence. Her apostles, the venerable Congress, whose mode of evangelizing made many a Felix tremble, sealed the doom and issued the death-warrant of despotism. The measure of her iniquity was filled up. The decree was gone forth, and Amer icans were elected by God to redeem from bondage the miserable victims of arbitrary power. But it would have been of no avail for them to publish to the enslaved the beauties of freedom, describe her charms, and urge the duty of possessing her, while they themselves were declared, by an act of the British legislature, liable to be bounden by the will and laws of that overbearing kingdom, ' in all cases what soever.' They disdained an inconsistency of character, — they pre sented the world with a glorious example, by effecting their own emancipation. Yes, my fellow-countrymen ! you indignantly refused a base submission to the usurpation of Great Britain — to the imposi tions of her Parliament, and the insolence of her ministry. After opposing reasoning and argument to her absurd pretensions, and digni- 256 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. fied remonstrance to her unjustifiable encroachments, the solemn appeal was made to Heaven, — the sword was drawn, and the once inseparable tie of connection between the two countries severed in twain. The mighty blow resounded through the universe. The nations of the earth were astonished, dumb with surprise, or trembling with appre hension. The deep-rooted thrones of aged monarchies were shaken to their centres. The Bastiles of tyranny, riven by the shock, reluctantly admitted the rays of hope to gladden the desponding hearts of their wretched tenants, and opened to their view a distant prospect of scenes illumined with Liberty's full and perfect day." John Lathrop was born in Boston, January, 1772. His father was pastor of the New Brick Church, of which Cotton Mather had been the minister. Owing to differences in the church, which originated the New North Church, when Rev. Peter Thacher was its first pastor, the New Brick Society elevated the figure of a cock, as a vane, upon the steeple, out of derision to Mr. Thacher, whose Christian name was Peter, says Eliot, and, taking advantage of a north wind, which turned the head of the cock towards the New North Church, when it was placed upon the spindle, a merry fellow sat astride over it, and crowed three times, to complete the ceremony. Rev. Dr. Lathrop was a fervent patriot ; and, on the Sunday after the massacre in King-street, delivered a sermon, which was printed, entitled " Inno cent Blood Crying to God from the Streets of Boston." The subject of this outline pursued the study of law under Christopher Gore, but he was soon known more as a poet than a lawyer, as his poetry appeared in the journals. In 1797, after the delivery of the oration at the head of this article, he removed to Dedham, and became clerk of Norfolk courts, but soon returned to Boston, where he became an intimate with Paine and Prentiss, the poets. In 1799 he made a voyage to Calcutta, where he hoped the patron age of the Marquis of Wellesley. In the ardor of his zeal for instructing the rising generation of Calcutta, Mr. Lathrop presented to the Marquis of Wellesley, then governor-general, a plan of an insti tution at which the youths of India might receive an education, patron ized by government, without going to England for that purpose. In an interview with his lordship,' Mr. Lathrop urged with great eloquence the advantages of such a plan ; but his lordship decidedly opposed him, remarking, with vehemence, "No, no, sir; India is, and ever ought to be, a colony of Great Britain ; the seeds of independence JOHN CALLENDER. 257 must not be sown here. Establishing a seminary in New England at so early a period of time hastened your revolution half a century." He established a school for the instruction of youth, and became a writer for the Calcutta Post : and, after a ten years' residence, returned to his country. His first wife was daughter of Joseph Peirce, Esq.. whom he married in 1793; and he married a second time. — Miss Bell, of Calcutta. His work on the manners and customs of India was never published. On his return to Boston, he taught a school, delivered lectures on natural philosophy, published songs and orations, and contributed to the public journals. He published a school-book on the use of globes. He soon removed to Washington, where, and at Georgetown in the vicinity, he practised as an instructor, lecturer, and writer in the newspapers. He obtained a situation in the post-office. and died Jan. 30, 1S20. a victim of sensibility, and a son of frailties and misfortune. Lathrop's best poem was the ¦• Speech of Canonicus.'' In 1S13 he delivered the first anniversary discourse for the Associate Instructors of Youth in Boston : in 179S. an oration for 4th of July, at Dedham ; a Masonic address at Charlestown. in 1S11, and a Monody on JohnL. Abbot, in 1815. When he graduated at college, inl7S9. he delivered a poem on the Influence of Civil Institutions on the Social and Moral Faculties. Lathrop once closed an ode as follows : •' Ye sainted spirits of the just. Departed friends, we raise our eyes From humbler scenes cf mouldering dust. To brighter mansions in the skies. — Where Faith and Hope, their trials past. Shall smile in endless joy secure, And Charity's blest reign shall last While heaven's eternal courts endure." JOHN CALLENDER. JULY 4, 1797. FOR THE TOWS" AUTHORITIES. John Callender was born at Boston, Feb. 4, 1772. and son of Capt FJeasar Callender, who married Elizabeth, sister of Gov. Gore, 258 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Nov. 23, 1768. He entered the Latin School in 1779, and graduated at Harvard College in 1790. His topic at commencement was an ora tion, in French, on the revolution in France. He was an attorney- at-law, and married Catharine Templeman, of Georgetown, Md., Nov. 23, 1794 ; was lieutenant of the Boston Light Infantry, on its institution, in 1798 ; was a representative in the State Legislature, secretary of Massachusetts Society of Cincinnati, and clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court. He died in Boston, Nov. 21, 1833. In the oration of Mr. Callender it is remarked " that our Revolution was so little disgraced by cruelty and injustice, much is due to the exer tions of our clergy; and it is with pride I here offer my humble tribute of applause to that devout and learned profession. The holy precepts of our religion which they inculcated, and the bright examples of virtue which they exhibited, gave them a great and merited influence with the people. To their eternal honor be it recorded, that influence, exerted on the side of liberty and humanity, in a great measure restrained those wild excesses which have too frequently blasted in the execution a cause designed by the noblest motives of the human mind." JOSIAH QUINCY. JULY 4, 1798. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. Our orator remarks, with nervous vigor : " The factious spirits whose intrigues have produced such losses and distress to the United States, and forced our federated stars from the pathway of peace and heaven, are servile copyists of those ancient enemies of colonial inde pendence. They have neither the claim of originals, the merit of ingenuity, or the charm of novelty. It is not a mere general resem blance ; it is the old piece in a new position, — the same in character and attitude, in expression and passion, in drapery and design. The tories and royalists of old time, compared with the true friends of Amer ica, were a small and weak party, unable to acquire the confidence of the people. Ambition which cannot be gratified by honorable means has a sure resource in intrigue. Their invitations stimulated and encouraged aggression. They marked out the plan for our enemies. JOSIAH QUINCY. £59 Divide and conquer. Insert your influence amid the parties of the State. Corrupt the avaricious, frighten the weak, vilifv virtue turn talents to ridicule, weaken the obligations of morality, destrov the influence of religion, make men worthy to be slaves, and they will sue fox fetters. How minutely the opponents of the will of the people have adhered to these principles in our day, is too obvious to remark. We shall find the likeness not less striking, if, keeping our own times in view, we call to recollection the arts by which the tories and roval- ists formerly played this eternal game of tyranny. To encouraire and unite the inhabitants of the Old World, they everywhere proclaimed us a divided people : that, embarked in a common cause, we refused to bear our share of expense : that, reared under their wins, in our strength . we were unmindful of our patrons. In America different changes were rung. They attempted to set at variance the southern and northern colonies ; to make the orders of State contend : to render the poor sus picious of the rich, — the rich fearful of the poor. They told the people of fleets and armies ; of the power of the adversary, and their weak ness. The arms and victories of a nation, then styled terrible to her enemies and generous to her friends, were painted in colors best suited to alarm. The sin, the crying sin, of ingratitude to a nation who had fought our battles, the bones of whose warriors were mingled in the same plains with ours, was blazoned in terms designed to make us odious and contemptible at home and abroad. Every man of talent and virtue was designated as an obiect of the most atrocious slander. Our clergy. — God ever preserve to them the glorious prerogative ! — calumniated by the enemies of their country. Our patriots, loaded with every insult which abandoned minds could invent : — Otis, the spirited and elegant statesman ; Mayhew. the man of wit, learning, and piety : Adams, the equal pride of past and present times.' ' Josiah Quincy was the son of Josiah Quincy, Jr.. and Abigail Phil lips, who were married October, 1769. The memory of his father will be ever dear in the records of patriotism, for his dignified defence of the British soldiers, and his manly arguments on the Boston Port Bill. Previous to his death, which occurred April 2(3. 1775. just as he reached within sight of Cape Ann. in his beloved country, when on his return from a visit to London for his health, Mr. Quincy says, in his will, " I give to my son. when he shall arrive to the age of fifteen years, Algernon Sidney's works, John Locke's works. Lord Bacon's works, Gordons Tacitus, and Cato's Letters. May the spirit of liberty 260 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. rest upon him ! " This only son, Josiah, was born at Boston, Feb. 4, 1772, on the Callender estate, now 166 Washington-street, then Marl boro' -street ; and, by the Old South records, he was baptized Feb. 16, 1772. It is said that his father was the first Boston lawyer who put up a sign-board over his office-door. Many of his nearest connec tions were dispersed by the siege of Boston. His mother had been detained in the town by the dangerous illness of both their children. His only sister died April 13, 1775. After this event, his mother, with her only surviving child, sought the protection of her parents, at their place of refuge at Norwich, in Connecticut. Young Josiah was prepared for college at Phillips' Academy, in Andover, an institution established by a relative in 1778. He graduated at Harvard College in 1790, when he gave an English oration on the Ideal Superiority of the Present Age in Literature and Politics ; engaged in legal studies under Hon. Judge Tudor ; was early admitted to the bar, and married Eliza Susan, daughter of John Morton, Esq., merchant and banker, of New York, June, 1797. He delivered the Phi Beta Kappa oration at Cambridge, in 1794. In 1796 Mr. Quincy became a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and was its treasurer from 1803 to 1820. He was president of the Boston Athenaenm from 1820 to 1830, and author of its History and Biography of its Founders, published in 1851. Mr. Quincy was in 1804 elected to the State Senate ; a representative in Congress from the year 1805 to 1813, and consequently present at the creation of commercial restrictions, embargo, and war. Naturally impetuous from his earliest youth, indiscretion often marked his career ; but his ingenuous heart always guided him to retract his rashness. He was ever fearless, and of fervent eloquence. His speeches are among the best specimens of the spirit of the times. His admirable minority address in Congress is imperishable. As an indication of the playful wit of Mr. Quincy, we find in the diary of his pastor, Rev. Joseph S. Buckminster, this record under date September, 1805: "President Nott preached in Brattle-street Church ; the fullest audience ever known there, except on ordination-day. Epigram made on by Josiah Quincy. ' Delight and instruction have people, I wot, Who in seeing not see, and in hearing hear not.' " Mr. Quincy was major of the Boston Hussars, on its institution, in 1810, and continued its commander until 1816. It was the most superb troop of horse ever known in the town. JOSIAH QUINCY. 261 During the discussion in Congress on the war with Great Britain, Mr. Quincy suffered himself at times to be so passionately inflamed with opposition to the Democratic members, as to forget, in the warm excite ment, the pure feeling of decorum and dignified respect so important to their elevated station ; and the poignancy of his grief, after impetu ously pouring out such figures as follow, far overbalanced the moment ary pleasure of hurling around bitter invectives. He described them, it is said, as " young politicians, with the pin-feathers yet unshed, and the shell sticking upon them, — perfectly unfledged, — though they fluttered and cackled upon the floor of Congress ; bloodhound mongrels, who were kept in pay to hunt down all that opposed the court ; a pack of mangy dogs of recent importation, their backs still sore with the stripes of European castigation, and their necks marked with the check-collar." At another time he described them as " fawning syc ophants, reptiles who crawled at the feet of the president, and left then- filthy slime upon the carpet of the palace." Henry Clay, then the champion of the Democratic party, repelled the rude severity of Josiah Quincy with great effect, remarking of Jef ferson, that "he is not more elevated by his lofty residence upon the summit of his own favorite mountain, than he is lifted by the serenity of his mind, and the consciousness of a well-spent life, above the malignant passions and bitter feelings of the day. No ! his own beloved Monticello is not less moved by the storms that beat against its sides, than is this illustrious man by the whole British pack, set loose from the Essex kennel ! When the gentleman to whom I have been compelled to allude shall have mingled his dust with that of his abused ancestors, — when he shall have been consigned to oblivion, or, if he fives at all, shall live only in the treasonable annals of a certain junto, — • the name of Jefferson will be hailed with gratitude, his mem ory honored and cherished as the second founder of the liberties of the people, and the period of his administration will be looked back to as one of the happiest and brightest epochs of American history — ¦ an oasis in the midst of a sandy desert. But I beg the gentleman's pardon ; he has, indeed, secured to himself a more imperishable fame than I had supposed. I think it was about four years ago that he submitted to the House of Representatives an instructive proposition for an impeachment of Mr. Jefferson. The house condescended to consider it. The gentleman debated it with his usual temper, moder ation, and urbanity. The house decided upon it in the most solemn 262 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. manner, and, although the gentleman had somewhere obtained a second, the final vote stood, one for, and one hundred and seventeen against, the proposition ! The same historic page that transmitted to posterity the virtue and the glory of Henry the Great, of France, for their admiration and example, has preserved the infamous name of the frantic assassin of that excellent monarch ! " In the speech of Mr. Quincy on the proposal to revive and enforce the non-intercourse law against Great Britain, wherein he argues that it is not fiscal, nor protective of manufactures, nor competent to coerce, nor the product of any prospective intelligence, but the result of chaotic opinions, he remarked that "they who introduced it abjured it. They who advocated it did not wish, and scarcely knew, its use. And now that it is said to be extended over us, no man in this nation, who values his reputation, will take his Bible oath that it is in effectual and legal operation. There is an old riddle, on a coffin," said Mr. Quincy, "which I presume we all learnt when we were boys, that is as perfect a representation of the origin, progress, and present state of this thing called non-intercourse, as is possible to be conceived : ' There was a man bespoke a thing, Which, when the maker home did bring, That same maker did refuse it, — The man that spoke for it did not use it, — And he who had it did not know Whether he had it, yea or no.' True it is, that if this non-intercourse shall ever be, in reality, sub tended over us, the similitude will fail, in a material point. The poor tenant of the coffin is ignorant of his state. But the poor people of the United States will be literally buried alive in non-intercourse and realize the grave closing on themselves and their hopes, with a full and cruel consciousness of all the horrors of their condition." Our rustic bard, Dinsmore, says : " Non-intercourse ! the thing is hollow, A measure causeless, vague, and shallow ! The heads who formed it sure were mellow ! " We find the following bold figure in Mr. Quincy's speech on the necessity of repealing the embargo law: "An embargo liberty was never cradled in Massachusetts. Our liberty was not so much a JOSIAH QUINCY. 263 mountain, as a sea-nymph. She was free as air. She could swim or she could run. The ocean was her cradle. Our fathers met her as she came, like the goddess of beauty, from the waves. They caught her as she was sporting on the beach. They courted her whilst she was spreading her nets upon the rocks. But an embargo liberty, a handcuffed liberty, a liberty in fetters, a liberty traversing between the four sides of a prison, and beating her head against the walls, is none of our offspring. We abjure the monster. Its parent age is all inland." When the exciting question of the admission of Louisiana into the Union was agitated, Mr. Quincy used strong language against it, remarking, " I am compelled to declare it as my deliberate opinion, that, if this bill passes, the bonds of this Union are virtually dissolved ; that the States which compose it are free from their moral obligations, and that, as it will be the right of all, so it will be. the duty of some, to prepare definitely for a separation, — amicably if they can, violently if they must." Language like this excited the severe rebuke of Mr. Poindexter, of Mississippi, who said : " Influenced by a desire to stamp on these expressions their merited disgrace, and to preserve dignity and decorum in our deliberations, I feel it my duty to call the gentleman to order. These sacred walls ought not to be polluted by direct invi tations to rebellion." In allusion to Aaron Burr, Mr. Poindexter said, that, had he used such expressions, " instead of exile, he would have been consigned to a gibbet ; and his fate ought to be a warning against treasonable machinations." Mr. Quincy promptly replied to Mr. Poindexter, that, on the adoption of the constitution, it was agreed, in the treaty-making power, that old States within the ancient limits could not be sold from us ; " and I maintain," said he, "that by it new States, without the ancient limits, cannot be saddled upon us. It was agreed at that time that the treaty-making power could not cut off a limb. And I maintain that neither has it the competency to clap a hump upon our shoulders." In relation to the moral and political con sequences of usurping thi3 power, said Mr. Quincy, " I have said that it would be a virtual dissolution of the Union ; and gentlemen express great sensibifity at the expression. But the true source of terror is not the declaration I have made, but the deed you propose. With respect to this love of our Union, I have no fear about analyzing its nature. There is in it nothing of mystery. It depends upon the qualities of that Union, and it results from its effects upon our and our 264 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. country's happiness. It is valuable for 'that sober certainty of waking bliss ' which it enables us to realize. It grows out of the affections, and has not, and cannot be made to have, anything universal in its nature. Sir, I confess it, the first public love of my heart is the commonwealth of Massachusetts. There is my fireside, there are the tombs of my ancestors : ' Low lies that land, yet blest with fruitful stores ; Strong are her sons, though rocky are her shores ; And none, ah ! none so lovely to my sight, Of all the lands which heaven o'erspreads with light.' The love of the Union grows out of this attachment to my native soil, and is rooted in it. I cherish it because it affords the best external hope of her peace. I oppose this bill from no animosity to the people of New Orleans, but from the deep conviction that it contains a prin ciple incompatible with the liberties and safety of my country. I have no concealment of my opinion. The bill, if it passes, is a death-blow to the constitution. It may afterwards linger, but, lingering, its fate will at no very distant period be consummated." The speech of Josiah Quincy in Congress, January 1, 1811, on the influence of place and patronage, was one of his most successful efforts ; and John Quincy Adams exclaimed, after its delivery, " It ought to be hung up in every office of every office-holder in the Union." We will cite two passages from this effective, patriotic speech : " Is there on this earth any collection of men, in which exists a more intrinsic, hearty, and desperate love of office or place, particularly of fat places 1 Is there any country more infested than this with the vermin that breed in the corruptions of power 1 Is there any in which place and official emolument more certainly follow distinguished ser vility at elections, or base scurrility in the press 1 And as to eager ness for the reward, what is the fact 1 Let, now, one of your great office-holders — a collector of the customs, a marshal, a commissioner of loans, a post-master in one of your cities, or any officer, agent, or factor, for your territories, or public lands, or person holding a place of minor distinction, but of considerable profit — be called upon to pay the last great debt of nature. The poor man shall hardly be dead, — he shall not be cold, — long before the corpse is in the coffin, the mail shall be crowded to repletion with letters, certificates, recommendations and representations, and every species of sturdy, sycophantic solicita- JOSIAH QUINCY. 265 tion, by which obtrusive mendicity seeks charity or invites compassion. Why, sir, we hear the clamor of the craving animals at the treasury- trough here in this capitol. Such running, such jostling, such wrig gling, such clambering over one another's backs, such squealing, because the tub is so narrow and the company so crowded ! No, sir : let us not talk of stoical apathy towards the things of the national treasury, either in this people, or in the representatives, or senators." Mr. Quincy, in this speech, uttered a prediction which should be revived previous to every presidential election. " Without meaning, in this place," says he. " to cast any particular reflections upon this, or upon any other executive, this I will say, that if no additional guards are provided, and now, after the spirit of party has brought into so full activity the spirit of patronage, there never will be a pres ident of these United States, elected by means now in use, who, if he deals honestly with himself, will not be able, on quitting, to address his presidential chair as John Falstaff addressed Prince Hal: ' Before I knew thee I knew nothing, and now I am but little better than one of the wicked.' The possession of that station, under the reign of party, will make a man so acquainted with the corrupt principles of human conduct, — he will behold our nature in so hungry and shivering and craving a state, and be compelled so constantly to observe the solid rewards daily demanded by way of compensation for outrageous patri otism, — that, if he escape out of that atmosphere without partaking of its corruption, he must be below or above the ordinary condition of mortal nature. Is it possible, sir, that he should remain altogether uninfected ?"' Mr. Quincy was an ardent opponent of the embargo, and the war with Great Britain ; and, in his oration for the Washington Benevolent Society, April 30, 1813. — an institution consisting of the Federal party, — he impugns the motives of our national rulers. " The prin ciple of Washington, which lay at the foundation of his glory," says Quincy, " and was the basis of the blessingof his day, was to introduce virtue and talent into the conduct of pubhc affairs. The principle of our present rulers is to introduce tools and instruments. With these men, the great requisite is political subserviency. This single feature is, alone, sufficient to account for the whole difference of our political con dition. For the particular in which that difference consists is, in fact, the corner-stone of the republican system of government. The theory of which rests upon this basis, that, in its result, the virtue and talents 23 266 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. of a country shall preside over its destinies. Whenever this fail, and attachment to a party, or fidelity to a chief, or subserviency to a cabal. — whenever, as was distinctly avowed in the outset of the power of these men, other considerations than ' honesty, capacity, and fidelity to the constitution,' become the criterions of office and appointment, — the moral basis of the republic is gone. Its form may, indeed, remain ; but its vital spirit has fled. The stream of corruption, when once it begins to flow, in a free country, never retreats to its fountain, nor does the spring which feeds it ever become dry. At first, it winds its way in secrecy and silence, attracting to its current only what is light and hollow, and rotten and feculent ; but soon, gathering boldness in its course, it advances with an irresistible torrent, and sweeps away every honor of the field, and every mound of safety. ' ' Whenever the rulers of a nation become the mere heads of a party, the last and least consideration with them is the good of the people. How to secure their power, — how to manage the elections, — who is the fittest tool, — who will run the fastest, go the farthest, and hold out the longest for the least wages of corruption, — are«the only inquiries. To give muscle and durability to their influence is the single end of their political system. For this, British antipathies are stimulated. For this, British injuries are magnified. For this, French affections are cultivated, and French insults and injuries palliated or concealed. For this, we had restriction. For this, embargo. For this, we have war. For this, war shall be continued. And if peace come, for this peace shall be concluded. For unprincipled ambition, in power, effects not even public good, except from corrupt motives." I\h\ Quincy was elected to the State Senate, June, 1813, when a proposition was made for the adoption of resolutions expressive of their sense of the gallantry and good conduct of Capt. James Lawrence, of the U. S. sloop-of-war Hornet, and the officers and crew of that ship, in the destruction of the British ship-of-war Peacock, the preamble and resolve of which were proposed by Hon. Josiah Quincy. As this resolve is a political curiosity, expressive of the sentiment of the Legis lature, and the decided opposition of the author to the existing war, we will quote the document almost entire : " Whereas, It has been found that former resolutions of this kind, passed on similar occasions, relative to other officers engaged in similar service, have given great discontent to many of the good people of this commonwealth, it being considered by them as an encouragement and JOSIAH QUINCY. 267 excitement to the countenance of the present unjust, unnecessarv, and iniquitous war ; and, on this account, the Senate of Massachusetts have deemed it their duty to refrain from acting on the said proposition. And whereas, this determination of the Senate may, without explana tion, be misconstrued into an intentional slight of Capt. Lawrence, and a denial of his particular merits, the Senate therefore deem it their duty to declare that they have a high sense of the naval skill and mil itary and civil virtues of Capt. James Lawrence ; and they have been withheld from acting on said proposition solely from considerations relative to the nature and principle of the present war : and, to the end that all misapprehension on this subject may be obviated, Resolved, as the sense of the Senate of Massachusetts, that, in a war like the present, waged without justifiable cause, and prosecuted in a manner which indicates that conquest and ambition are its real motives, it is not becoming a moral and religious people to express any approbation of military or naval exploits which are not immediately connected with the defence of our sea-coast and soil." On Feb. 10, 1814. Mr. Holmes moved that this resolution be erased from the journal of the Senate ; on which it was decided in the negative, by twenty-one nays to eight yeas. In the administration of Gov. Eustis, on the motion of Hon. Seth Sprague, Jan. 23. 1824. it was voted that the preamble and reso lution be expunged, as it was predicated upon an erroneous estimate of the nature and character of the late war, and involves and asserts principles unsound in policy, and dangerous and alarming in tendency. It is related in Russell's Centinel, that on Jan. 26. 1814. after a speech from Hon. John Holmes, warmly advocating the war with Great Britain, whieh closed at seven o'clock in the evening, the Hon. Mr. Quincv rose and entered on a full exposition of the measures of Mas sachusetts on the subject ; but, after having spoken about forty min utes, in a room crowded to overflowing, and in a hot and close air, he found his strength fail him, and, fainting, he fell in his chair. The Senate immediately voted to adjourn ; the windows were thrown open, and in a' short time he was recovered. The Chronicle relates of this incident that Mr. Quincy drank " two tumblers of cold water in about thirty minutes, to extinguish the volcano within his bosom : and yet, with all this salutary cooling application, he was so far burnt up with ardent passion, that he cried out, ; I am gone," and fell immediately back wards into his chair. But if this was a faint attempt to imitate the Earl of Chatham, it was a poor description of that sublime scene. The Earl 268 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. of Chatham really expired ; but Josiah Quincy, on the next day, waa more alert than ever." And Forsyth, of Georgia, said on the floor of Congress, in allusion to this incident, ascribed to severe illness, that he who cowers under the falcon eye of an indignant adversary will not court the fiery glance of angry steel. This war with Great Britain prompted the philanthropic Noah Worcester to originate the Massachusetts Peace Society, in 1815, and Mr. Quincy was one of its earliest members. In 1820 Mr. Quincy deliv ered an address for the society, in which he said that war establish ments are everywhere scions of despotism, which, when engrafted on republics, always begin by determining the best sap to their own branch, and never fail to finish by withering every branch excepting their own. Peace societies are the moral armories destined to break in pieces the sword, the spear and the battle-axe, in like manner as the rays of light and of truth, concentrated by the magic mirror of Cer vantes, melted into air and dissipated the dwarfs, the knights, the giants, the enchanters and battlements, of ancient chivalry. Mr. Quincy continued a member of the Senate until 1821, and in the two successive years he was elected to the house, on the last of which he was chosen speaker. He was a delegate to the convention of 1820, on revising the State constitution. In 1822 he was appointed judge of the Municipal Court, which he resigned on his election to the mayoralty of IJoston, on the decease of Hon. John Phillips, the first incumbent of that station. At one of the political meetings subsequent to the contest between Mr. Otis and his quondam friend and rival, Josiah Quincy, who was viewed as the most efficient man to effect the great projects in founding the city, the latter took occasion to account for his success over his brilliant competitor, on the decease of Phillips, by remarking that the result was, after all, an indirect compliment to the superior genius of Mr. Otis, inasmuch as it demonstrated the conviction, on the part of their mutual constituents, that to degrade Mr. Otis by such a compar atively subordinate office would be like making a common drag-chain of a diamond necklace. Mayor Quincy was a more vigorous and energetic director of the municipal interests of his native city than any of his successors, and effected most for its advancement and elegance. The establishment of the House of Industry, the House of Reformation for Juvenile Offend ers, the new avenue to the north part of the city by Commercial- JOSIAH QUINCY. 269 street, and the Quincy Market-house, standing between two very broad streets, are alone monuments of his taste and enterprise. He transformed, as it were by enchantment, the antiquated town of Boston into the most elegant city of the United States. At daylight, Mayor Quincy mounted his horse, and traversed the streets and lanes of the city, reforming abuses, devising improvements, and performing the duties of a vigilant police-officer. He was founder of the noble fire department, in 1827. Our city exhibits traces of his efficiency never to be obliterated. We cannot resist here introducing an effective allusion to the Quincy Market-house. At the annual festival for the public schools of Bos ton, in Faneuil Hall, August 1826, and on the completion of the granite market-house, the Hon. Judge Story, being present, volunteered the sentiment herewith : " May the fame of our honored mayor prove as durable as the material of which the beautiful market-house is con structed." On which, quick as light, Mayor Quincy responded as fol lows : " That stupendous monument of the wisdom of our forefathers, the Supreme Court of the United States : In the event of a vacancy,' may it be raised one Story higher; " which was received with raptur ous applause. At the public dinner of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, after the institution of the Story Association, Mr. Quincy gave this sentiment : " The Members of the Bar : Let them rise as high as they may, they can never rise higher than one Story." We will relate an incident to illustrate the opinion of Mr. Otis, his successor, in regard to his character for energy of action. On the occasion when Mayor Otis was inspecting the excavation of earth, "where the gravestone of Wil liam Paddy and human bones were discovered," Mr. Quincy, who was present, remarked to Mr. Otis that, in the whole of his administration, he had never been accused of disturbing the bones of his ancestors. On this, Mr. Otis archly replied, "Why, Mr. Quincy, I always sup posed you never made any bones of doing anything." During the early period of the mayoralty of Mr. Quincy, in conse quence of the destructive fire in Central and Kilby streets, which occurred April 8, 1825, when fifty warehouses of our merchants were destroyed, it was resolved by the city authorities, on the 12th of that date, to effect the construction of reservoirs for protection from fire ; and, on the second of May following, a joint committee on this subject, of which Mayor Quincy was chairman, recommended also the estab lishment of a new fire department, which was organized June 18th of 23* 270 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. that year. On this committee was John Parker Rice, Esq., a native of Princeton, Mass., a resident of Boston since 1818, and a member of the Common Council from ward No. 10, who proposed to the com mittee the consideration of the subject of obtaining a supply of pure, soft water, for domestic purposes, as well as for security against fire, at the expense and under the control of the city. Mr. Quincy promptly expressed the opinion that the Mayor and Aldermen could not bring the subject before the public, if they wished to retain their official stations, or their due influence. "But," he added, "if you gentlemen of the Common Council will take the responsibility of bringing forward the subject, it shall receive clue attention." On the 16th of May, Mr. Rice introduced the following order to the notice of the Council, which was accepted : " Ordered, that the committee on the subject of protect ing the city against fire be instructed to inquire into the practicability, expense and expediency, of supplying the city with good, wholesome, soft water, both for the general use of the inhabitants, and for the pur pose of extinguishing fire." It is not named on the original record who presented this order ; but the Boston Daily Advertiser of that date states that it was adopted on the motion of John P. Rice, who confirms the fact also himself, and further states that the report of the commit tee on the subject of protecting, the city against fire was made and accepted at this meeting ; and their duties having thus been brought to a close, a new committee was appointed on the subject of introducing water, and the order was made to conform accordingly. Moreover, it was the opinion of Mr. Rice that Spot Pond was a source that could be ren dered and kept more pure, under the control of the city authorities, than any other source. At a meeting of the Council, on June 9th fol lowing, it was resolved, on the report of this committee on the subject, that " the Mayor and Aldermen be empowered to cause a survey of suitable points for this object." In the mean time, Mr. Quincy had decided to forward the enterprise; and Mr. Daniel Treadwell was appointed to make a survey, who reported to the city Council, Nov. 14, 1825, his opinion in favor of Spot Pond, in Stoneham. Mr. Quincy decidedly advocated the project in his inaugural address, Jan. 2, 1826, arguing the necessity of " a sufficient and never-failing supply for our city of pure river or pond water, which shall be adequate for all pur poses of protection against fire, and for all culinary and other domestic purposes, and capable of being introduced into every house in the city. I deem it my duty to state, unequivocally, that the object ought never JOSIAH QUINCY. 271 to bo lost sight of by the city Council, until effected upon a scale pro portionate to its convenience and our urgent necessities. If there be any privilege which a city ought to reserve exclusively in its own hands, and under its own control, it is that of supplying itself with water." During a period of twenty years this vastly important enterprise was a subject of warm controversy, until the breaking up of the earth, by the hands of John Quincy Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., on the embankments of Lake Cochituate, Aug. 20, 1846. Mr. Quincy was succeeded by Mr. Otis to the mayoralty of his native city, in the year 1829 ; and President Kirkland having resigned his station as the head of Harvard University in the year previous, Mr. Quincy was elected by the corporation to the presidency, Jan. 15, 1829. The intellectual capacities, energetic manners, and espec ially the financial penetration, of Mr. Quincy, induced such men as Bowditch, Story and Jackson, to single him as the individual peculiarly qualified to improve the fiscal concerns and control the insubordinate spirit of the students. The inauguration occurred June 2, 1829 ; and, after the seal of the university and other badges of office were extended to the president elect, by Gov. Lincoln, Mr. Quincy responded in Latin, when he made a happy allusion to the fact of his being unexpectedly called, from the dust and clamor of the capital, to preside over our great literary institution, which elicited a prompt expression of applause from the audience. The president then took his seat in the pulpit, and assumed the academic cap, on which occasion the old house rang again with applause. He delivered an inaugural discourse on the occasion, in which he urged the expediency of concentrating public patronage to one great university, in preference to wasting away the resources of the State upon small institutions, where its benefits would not be generally felt. An apt volunteer sentiment for this university was given at the dinner, which was — " May it unite the beauty, strength and dura bility, of Quincy granite." The same decision of character, so strongly marked in his city administration, forthwith operated to the benefit of this ancient seat of learning, which, from being heavily encum bered with debt, emerged into the light of pecuniary independence; and he has done more to improve and beautify the premises of venera ble Harvard than any of his predecessors. He once said of the uni versity, "May it, like the royal mail packets, distribute good letters over our land." We cannot forbear introducing an incident illustrative of Mr. Quin- 272 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. cy's happy presence of mind. We find it in a letter of William Wirt, addressed to William Pope, Aug. 29, 1829, in which he relates of President Quincy: " He happened, when I made him a visit, to ask me in what college I had graduated. I was obliged to admit that I had never been a student at any college. A shade of embarrassment, scarcely perceptible, just flitted across his countenance ; but he recov ered in an instant, and added, most gracefully, " Upon my word, you furnish a very strong argument against the utility of a college educa tion." Mr. Quincy had but just entered on his new sphere of usefulness, when he was called to prepare an address on the celebration of the close of the second century from the settlement of his native city, in the last sentence of which he says : "In all times to come, as in all times past, may Boston be among the foremost and the boldest to exemplify and uphold whatever constitutes the prosperity, the happiness, and the glory, of New England." At the festival in Faneuil Hall, Sept. 17, 1830, on this occasion, the following sentiment was advanced by William Hayden : " The Peninsula of Shawmut : Bought by Edmund Quincy, for the benefit of our ancestors. The City of Boston : Improved and embel lished by Josiah Quincy, for our benefit." At the centennial celebration of Harvard College, September, 1836, the Rev. Dr. Palfrey read a passage from the will of the father of President Quincy, by which he bequeathed two thousand pounds sterling to the college, in case his son should die a minor. After com puting the relative value of money at the date of the will, and its value at the present day, Dr. Palfrey estimated the conditional bequest to be equal to ten thousand dollars, and forthwith proposed this toast : "Har vard College : A strangely fortunate yet disappointed legatee, who, in losing ten thousand dollars, gained a president." On this occasion, Edward Everett, in allusion to a remark of President Quincy, announced the sentiment, that "his fame shall not be left to a dog gerel dirge and a Latin epitaph ; we pronounce him, while he lives, in our mother tongue, the ornament of the forum, the senate, and the academy." President Quincy was remarkable for ready wit on public festive occasions, one of the finest specimens of which appears in his speech at the dinner to Charles Dickens, the famous author of the Pickwick Club, at the Papantis Hall, in Boston, Feb. 2, 1842. When Judge Loring introduced a happy compliment to Mr. Quincy, in an allusion JOSIAH QUINCY. 273 to Harvard College at the close of an effective speech, — that there is one lesson of hers that we have learned by heart, and would repeat now when we meet her at our own festival; it is. " To give honor to those who in their high office do honor to her," — President Quiney, amid enthusiastic greetings, immediately replied : " It isn't quite fair. gentlemen : it is n't quite fair. When I received your invitation. I had great doubts on the subject of accepting it: fori saw very plainly that if I did, by some hook or crook, I should be set up for a speech ; and I felt like giving myself the same advice that Swift gave to the man. Said the man, 'I have set up for a wit." 'Well,' replied Swift. I would now advise you to sit down.' But I thought that I had laid an anchor to the windward ; that I was not to be assailed by toast or sentiment, and that no machinery of any kind would be set to work here to rasp speeches out of dry and reluctaut natures. But, gentle men I belong to a past age, and you should no more expect a man of three-score and ten to make an after-dinner speech than to dance a hornpipe. Nature is against you : for, to make a good after-dinner speech, many things are required which an old man has not Such a speech should be witty as well as wise : and, with an abundance of imagination, it should have a sprinkling of salt — the pure Attic. It should be strewn with roses, such as are grown on the sides of Parnas sus. There should be alternate layers of the utile and the dulee, and on the top of all these should be a layer of sugared sentiment. Gen tlemen, it is impossible that an old man can compound anything like this, for he is deficient in the two great requisites, memory and fancy. To an old man. memory is an arrant jade, and she is no way delicate in lettini; him know that, like the rest of her sex. she gives young men the preference. An old man's fancy will neither run nor walk; and still less can it fly. for there is not a pin-feather in its wings. Besides, gentlemen, it is a universal rule, that when a son has set up for himself in the world, and is doing a pretty good business, it is time for the father to retire, lest his presence may give rise to unpleasant compari sons. For to say that the young man beats the old man, would be cruel ; and to say, as in this case I fear it cannot be said, the old man beats the young man, would be anything but complimentary.'' After a round of witty remarks, President Quincy said. " I will detain you no longer, but conclude by giving you a toast, if my treacherous mem ory will so far serve me. I will give you. Genius — in ' Here. however, the venerable president's memory did desert him ; and, after 274 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. a brief interval spent in vain attempts to summon her to his aid, he looked pleasantly round, and said : " Gentlemen, a good memory is a great thing, and I will give you all a piece of advice, which it may be useful to you to remember : when you are not certain that you can keep a thing in your memory, be sure to keep it in your pocket." He then, enforcing his precept by example, drew from his own pocket a scrap of paper, and read : "Genius, in its legitimate use, uniting wit with purity ; instructing the high in their duties to the low ; and, by improving the morals, elevating the social condition of man." During the delivery of his speech, Mr. Quincy was frequently interrupted with bursts of applause and hearty peals of laughter ; and the happy sally, with which he got over his concluding difficulty set the company in a roar, which continued until the president of the company, Josiah Quincy, Jr., arose and said that as the president of Harvard Univer sity had introduced to them Samuel Weller, he would take the liberty to read to them one of the sayings of that distinguished personage : "If ever I wanted anything of my father," said Sam, "I always asked for it in a werry 'spectful and obliging manner. If he did n't give it me, I took it, for fear I should be led to do anything wrong, through not having it." President Quincy had felt an intense desire to know whether the present company was to be composed of any but young men, and said, by way of illustration : "I felt, in regard to the com position of this meeting, much as Sam Weller did. You have all heard of Sam Weller, gentlemen, when he was invited to dine upon veal-pie : ' A weal -pie is a werry nice thing — ¦ werry nice ; but I should like to know beforehand how it is composed, and whether there is anything there besides kittens.' " This was the point to which the president of the meeting alluded. Amid the arduous duties necessarily involved in the administration of the university, Mr. Quincy prepared an extensive history of this ancient seat of learning, in two volumes, published in the year 1840, with engravings. This work, though deeply lined with personal and sectarian prejudice, exhibits profound research, and furnishes valuable materials for a candid and impartial history. It should be specially noticed that Quincy lashes the Mathers with a caustic severity unwor thy of this golden age of toleration. Moreover, is there not a shade of injustice to the memory of our time-honored Hancock'? The memoir of Josiah Quincy, Jr., by his son, one of the most valuable works of the sort, representing his revered image in the best expres- JOSIAH QUINCY. 275 sions, should be printed in a popular form. His History of the Boston Athenseum, with the Biography of its Founders, is another production of his last days, evincing the research of an antiquarian, and the pol ish of a scholar. He prepared also the Memoirs of Maj. Samuel Shaw, and the Memoir of James Grahame, productions of historical value. President Quincy, on the inauguration of Edward Everett as suc cessor to the presidency of Harvard University, April 30, 1846, in expressing his grateful sense to the corporation and the faculty, for their friendly concurrence in his measures, remarked, they had received him covered with the dust from the streets of Boston, in which he had been sent to work, as if it had been gathered on the top of Hel icon, or in the walks of Plato's academy. He stated that seventeen years ago he proposed Mr. Everett for the presidency, to the eminent Bowditch, who replied, " That may do in twenty years hence, but it will not do now." "Why not?" said Quincy. "The eagle must have its flight," said Bowditch. And so Mr. Quincy was called to the sta tion, who was as much surprised by it, to use his own words, "as if he had received a call to the pastoral charge of the Old South Church," where he was baptized. The greatest achievement probably ever effected by Mr. Quincy con sists of the concise History of Boston from its first settlement, in 1630, and more especially from its incorporation as a city, — a labor which has absorbed many of the best days of his life, during a period of nearly twenty years. This valuable legacy to his native city can only be measured in importance by the inconceivable advantages he secured to its citizens during his administration over its destinies. We know not the man whose decision and perseverance could have conceived and completed such a noble memorial for posterity as our own Josiah Quincy. We know not the writer, in the length and breadth of this city, who has nerved himself to more intense mental labor than the venerated Josiah Quincy. In his address, or rather eloquent appeal, on taking final leave of the mayoralty; on Jan. 3, 1829, Mr. Quincy implied his intention to prepare a history of the city; when he remarked that it was his purpose in another way and in a more permanent form to do justice to those who had favored his most important measures. This farewell exhibit of his six years' administration was prepared as a shield to ward off the calumnies of partisans who wished him to retire from his station. " The public officer," said Mr. Quincy, " who. from a sense of public duty, dares to cross strong interests in their way to 276 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. gratification at the public expense, always has had, and ever will have, meted to him the same measure. The beaten course is first to slander in order to intimidate ; and if that fail, to slander in order to sacrifice. He who loves his office better than his duty will yield, and be flattered as long as he is a tool. He who loves his duty better than his office will stand erect, and take his fate." Mr. Quincy had been absorbed in a laborious fulfilment of every known duty, a prudent exercise of every invested power, a disposition shrinking from no official responsibility, and an absolute self-devotion to the interest of the city. This is an eloquent defence, comprising thirty-two pages of argument, exhibiting the fact that he retired from the mayoralty when the real estate owned by the city exceeded more than seven hundred thousand dollars, and the debt of the city was six hundred and thirty-seven thousand dollars ; the income and interest of their real estate, including bonds and mort gages, amounting to fifty-two thousand dollars, while the annual inter- • est of the debt was only forty-seven thousand dollars. Mayor Quincy further exhibits what he had effected for the public health, the popular education, and advance in the public morals. The last political communication of Josiah Quincy to the people of his native city, with the exception of his successful remonstrance to proposed alterations of the city charter, was presented at a meeting in Faneuil Hall, October 14, 1850, on the expediency of the fugitive- slave law, occasioned by the invitation of citizens without distinction of party, at the head of which was his own name. Mr. Quincy expressed a hope, in his letter to the meeting, that this assembly would not partake of a party or political character, as he had been assured that it was the intention of those interested in this invitation that it should not be a party movement. The meeting was, however, con ducted by advocates of the free-soil or abolition project. The Hon. Charles Francis Adams was appointed the moderator; and it was at this meeting that the proposed resolve of Rev. Nathaniel Colver was adopted, declaring, emphatically, " Constitution or no constitution, law or no law, we will not allow a fugitive slave to be taken from Massachusetts." It was in allusion to the policy of this party, that Daniel Webster advanced the bold comparison herewith, in his famous speech at Albany. " It was in Cromwell's time," remarks he, " there sprung up a race of saints, who called themselves Fifth Monarchy Men. A happy, felicitous, glorious people they were ; for they had practised so many virtues, they were so enlightened, so perfect, that JOSIAH QUINCY. 277 they got to be, in the language of that day, above ordinances. That is the higher law of this day, exactly. It is the old doctrine of the Fifth Monarchy Men of Cromwell's time revived. They were above ordinances, — walked about like the man in the play, prim and spruce, self-satisfied, thankful to God that they were not as other men, but had attained so far to salvation as to be above ordinances." We are of opinion that this figure is not too broad to cover the shoulders of many enthusiasts of the free-soil party ; at the same time, it is our decided belief, that Josiah Quincy, Charles Sumner, and the almost entire majority of advocates for emancipation, would repudiate such a doctrine. Indeed, we know that our country never had a more devoted advocate of the constitution and the laws than Josiah Quincy. Mr. Quincy's letter, dated Quincy, Oct. 14, 1850, contains an inter esting political reminiscence in his own career, which we will quote : " I can speak of this subject with a somewhat personal certainty, so far as respects the existence of the feeling prevalent on this subject fifty-six years ago. Sometime about the year 1794. soon after the first law on this subject was passed, I was sent for, as a counsellor-at- law, to appear before one of our acting justices of the peace, — Green- leaf, — to defend a person then on trial, under the charge of being a slave, on the claim of his master for delivery to him. On appearing before the justice, I found the room filled with a crowd of persons, not one of whom I knew, but who were attending the court apparently from interest or curiosity. Among them were the constables, and the agent of the master ; but who the other persons were, or what was the object of their assembling, I was ignorant. I entered, of course, on my duties as an advocate ; called for the evidence of the agent's aufhoritv, and denied the authority of the law of Congress, and of the magistrate under it, to deliver an inhabitant of Massachusetts into the custody of another, unless after trial by jury, according to the consti tution of the State. While occupied with my argument, I was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise behind me ; and, on turning round, I found, to my astonishment, both the constable and the agent on the floor, and the alleged slave passing out of the room between the files of bystanders, which were opened to the right and left for his escape. "About a fortnight elapsed, when I was called upon by Rufus Greene Amory, a lawyer of eminence at the Boston bar in that day, who showed me a letter from a southern slave-holder, directing him to 24 278 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. prosecute Josiah Quincy for the penalty under the law of 1793, for obstructing the agent of the claimant in obtaining his slave under the process established by that law. "Mr. Amory felt, not less than myself, the folly of such a pre tence ; and I never heard from him, or from any one, anything more upon the subject of prosecution. This fact, and the universal gratifi cation which the result appeared to give to the public, satisfied my mind, that,- unless by accident, or stealth, or in some very thin-settled parts of the country, the law of 1793 would forever be inoperative, as the event has proved, in Massachusetts. And the same will, in my opinion, be the case, as I have already said, with the law of 1850." President Quincy, having represented Suffolk eight years in the national Congress, his native city in the State Legislature eight years, the mayoralty for a period of six years, and the presidency of Harvard University during sixteen years, has retired to his residence on the location of Beacon Hill, now levelled and overspread by elegant dwell ings and the granite Cochituate reservoir ; the spot from the summit of which was a striking view of Bunker Hill, thus famed by Mrs. Morton : " Witness yon tract, where first the Briton bled ! Driven by our youth, redoubted Percy fled. There Breed asoends, and Bunker's bleeding steeps, Still o'er whose brow abortive victory weeps." JOHN LOWELL. JULY i, 1799. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. "A free government," says our orator, "is the very hot-bed of ambition. Ambition is an indigenous plant in democracies, which pro duces and scatters its seeds like the balsamine, and propagates with indescribable rapidity. In such governments, therefore, there is always a plentiful crop of candidates for promotion,- — ¦ of proud and haughty claimants, as well as servile beggars, of popular favor. These gormandizers of popularity are no epicures, — they have not very nice discriminating palates. They are ready to taste the sweets of every JOHN LOWELL. 279 office, from the high dignity of the presidency, down to the lowest muni cipal employment in the State. Still, however, with this humble spirit of accommodation, they cannot all be gratified, The disappointed will pursue their revenge with an acrimony proportioned to the raven ous hunger after fame which impelled them. The mortified ambitious are never in want of tools to carry on the trade of faction. The igno rant, the jealous, and the envious, — -the bankrupt in morals and char acter, and the insolvent in purse, — are the small weapons with which the great leviathans in opposition continually operate. Review the past history of the United States, and what page is there in which the proofs of these principles are not inscribed 1 Coeval with our govern ment has been an inveterate opposition, — an opposition growing with our growth, and strengthening with our strength. At first, small and feeble, it uttered its discontents only in the gentle whispers of disap probation ; — now, bold, hardy and shameless, it thunders its anathemas in the language of rebellion. We have remarked, that faction is the spontaneous production of a free soil ; but, like all native plants, it is not destined wholly to destroy the vegetation which surrounds it. It is by the introduction of exotics, alone, that the work of extermination can be effected. In vain would our domestic enemies assail the goodly fabric of our constitution, — vain would be the calumny against our ablest patriots. — feeble and nerveless would be the assaults of our internal enemies, — if they were not supported by foreign gold, and encouraged by external assistance. Without this aid, our infant Hercules would have strangled the rebellious reptile in his cradle. Still our young and vigorous Samson would have burst asunder the cords with which an insidious faction had bound him, if this internal foe had not entered into a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, with a foreign adversary." In the oration of Mr. Lowell, an object of which is to vindicate our Revolution from the misrepresentation and calumnies of those who have endeavored, by its example, to justify that of France, our orator has, with much warmth of coloring and fervor of imagination, exhib ited a comparison between the spirit and character of both. The two pictures present a perfect contrast. In that of America, we behold a people distinguished for unsullied virtue, uncorrupted simplicity, and a pure and undented religion, impelled by an ardent love of liberty, an unconquerable spirit of independence, a hatred of foreign dominion, and detestation of domestic oppression, calmly and dispassionately 280 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. resolve to resist the earliest encroachments of arbitrary power, and pursuing, with moderation and firmness, that one legitimate object, preserving inviolate moral and religious institutions, the principles of justice, the order of civil society, and the rights of persons, — and, when their lofty purpose was accomplished, return to the enjoyment of innocence and repose. In another passage, Mr. Lowell points out the more imminent and striking hazards to which the United States were then exposed, from the open attacks and secret machinations of the rulers of France, boundless in their ambition, and insatiable in their avarice, whose support was plunder, whose nutriment was carnage, and whose pastime was human wretchedness. He depicted the conduct of the French republic towards surrounding nations, and demands if from so ferocious a monster we have reason to expect forbearance, to hope for its friend ship, to trust to its moderation, or to confide in its justice. Those who still cherished the love of peace, and persevered in their faith of the ' professions of France, he reproaches for their supineness and credulity, reminding them of the opinion of John Adams, then the president, that "there can be no peace without degradation and submission, and no security in negotiation and convention." The law dissolving the treaties and consular convention with France was approved by Presi dent Adams, July 7, 1798. John Lowell was the son of Hon. John Lowell, whom Harrison Gray Otis very graphically describes as being about five feet ten inches in height, and inclined to corpulence. " His gait was rapid and hurried; his conversation, animated and ardent. He appeared to strangers, at first, to speak too much ex cathedra ; but he was free of all propensity to browbeat or show ill humor. On the contrary, he was the very mirror of benevolence, which beamed in and made attractive a countenance not remarkable for symmetry of feature or beauty ; and his companionable talents, though never displayed at the expense of dignity, made him the delight of the society in which he moved, and which he always put at ease. His private character was irreproachable ; his honesty and moderation, proverbial. In a satirical and very personal farce, got up by a witty desperado, and which had a great run, he was dubbed by the author — no friend of his — Lawyer Candor ; a most appropriate sobriquet, which the world unanimously applied to him. He was most ardent in his attachment to his partic ular friends, who, in their turn, looked to him as their oracle. His JOHN LOWELL. 281 general health," continues Mr. Otis, "during the time of my intimacy with him, was good, though occasionally inclined to be a malade imag- inaire, an ordinary symptom of ardent temperament and ethereal genius." He was known to be one of the confidential advisers of the measures that were successfully adopted to suppress that formidable outbreak of Shays' Insurrection, and was appointed judge of the Dis trict Court U. S. by Washington, on its institution. John Lowell, Jr., was born in Newburyport, Oct. 6, 1769. Soon after the town and harbor of Boston were evacuated by the royalists, in 1776, his father removed to the city with his family, where his res idence was in the dwelling afterwards occupied by the late Samuel Eliot, Esq., directly opposite King's Chapel. He was for a brief period in the Latin School, but was fitted for college in Phillips' Acad emy, and graduated at Harvard College in 1786. On this occasion his part was in a forensic dispute on this subject : Whether the happi ness of the people consists most in the constitution or administration of government ; and in the year 1789, when a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts, he engaged in another forensic dispute, with Isaac Parker, afterwards the chief-justice of Massachusetts : Whether a law making administration between an insolvent by vice and one by mis fortune, would tend to the good of society 1 He studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar before he was twenty years of age. In preparing arguments, he was laborious and searching. In his man ner he was animated, eloquent, vehement, rapid, and highly logical ; his memory was tenacious. In his person he was a great contrast to his father, being very short and slender. On June 3, 1793, Mr. Lowell married Rebecca Amory. He was a representative in the State Legislature from 1798 to 1801. He was a member of the cor poration of Harvard College from 1810 to 1822, and was an overseer from that period to 1827. He was an honored member of the State Senate. Mr. Lowell's articles in Russell's Centinel, over the signature of the Boston Rebel, in opposition to the war of the United States and Great Britain, were of a character the most inflammatory of any political writings of that day. His productions were in a highly nervous style, abounding in piquant philippics. His remarks on Madison's war, in a large pamphlet, exhibited the most exciting attack on the democratic administration that emanated from any political writer. His fervid genius and rapid pen poured forth pamphlet after pamphlet, and column • 24* 282 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. after column in the newspapers, replete with spirit and force and pur pose, on the side of the Federal party, in warm opposition to the gen eral government. In these exciting times, a rumor was circulated that some of those who had been exasperated by his political remarks had threatened to burn his house in Roxbury to the ground. This rumor was so far believed, that some of his friends went out or sent out from Boston to offer themselves as the guard of his person and property for the night. Mr. Lowell expressed his belief that his fel low-townsmen were incapable of such an act, and insisted on declining the offer of defence. Indeed, no assistance beyond the limits of the town would in any case have been required ; for several of the most respectable inhabitants of Roxbury itself, and of both political parties, voluntarily offered to stand ready to defend to the last extrem ity. Indeed, Mr. Lowell was an extraordinary man, adapted to exciting times. He was a tenacious sectarian in theology, and wrote with fervent severity. He entered with delight on the pursuits of agriculture. To hear him converse in his farm or his garden, one would suppose that his entire occupation was farming and gardening. He would discuss the qualities of a fruit-tree, or an exotic plant, with the same earnestness, copiousness and tact, that he would have given to a question of politics, law or divinity. Horticulture was also an object of devoted interest, and the periodical was enriched with articles for the florist from his ready hand. His residence in Boston wa3 directly opposite Horticultural Hall, in School-street. Amid the violence of contending parties, Mr. Lowell's sincerity and integrity were never seriously questioned. His motives were manifestly pure. " He never sought a political office, and never would accept one. Amid all the buffets of the conflict, he never cherished one spark of malice," says Greenwood, " or one root of bitterness, in his heart, which was no place for one or the other ; and, as I lately glanced over some of the pamphlets of which he was the author, — not with all the attention they deserved, but with all I could spare, — entertaining the common impression that the zeal of the times and the zeal of his own nature had betrayed him into offensive and uncharitable statements, and remembering also, as I well remembered, the language of mutual exas peration which was everywhere to be heard during that tempestuous period, I was surprised to find how little there was of an objection able description in these writings ; and was rather struck with their power of argument and store of rich illustration, than with their heat. ROBERT TREAT PAINE. 283 That night has gone by ; and, though the side which he espoused so disinterestedly did not prevail, I am disposed to think that his and his friends' efforts, with all the deductions which may be made from them, contributed to restore the morning." By resolute opposition, they most probably modified the measures of the other party to beneficial results. The winter of 1839 was spent by Mr. Lowell in the West India Islands, which he had visited for his health. He returned with improved health, but very much enfeebled. On the 12th of March, 1840, as he was reading a daily paper in his residence in the city, the summoner came ; the paper dropped from his hands, and he expired that very hour, without suffering. He was buried in Roxbury. Dinsmore thus emphasizes : " Lowell and Channing may debate, As politicians wise and great Predict their country's future fate, By reasoning clear, And show blind rulers of the State What course to steer." ROBERT TREAT PAINE. JULY 17, 1799. ON THE DISSOLUTION OF THE TREATIES AND CONSULAR CON TENTION BETWEEN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES. FOR THE YOUNG MEN OF BOSTON. " It is a day," says our orator, "which will forever be illustrious in our annals. It is the completion of our liberties, the acme of our inde pendence. The Fourth of July will be celebrated by our latest pos terity, as the splendid era of our national glory ; but the Seventh will be venerated as the dignified epoch of our national character. The one annihilated our colonial submission to a powerful, avowed, and determined foe ; the other emancipated us from the oppressive friend ship of an ambitious, malignant, treacherous ally. The former asserted our political supremacy, which preserved to us our country from sub jection, our liberties from encroachment, and our government from for eign control; the latter united to the same momentous object a declaration of our moral sovereignty, which rescued our principles from subjugation, as well as our persons from slavery; which secured 284 the hundred boston orators. our cities from massacre, as well as their inhabitants from debasement ; which preserved our fair ones from violation, as well as our religion from bondage. In fine, the Declaration of Independence, which dis solved our connection with Great Britain, may be correctly denomi nated the birth-day of our nation, when, as its infant genius was ushered into political existence, a lambent flame of glory played around its brows, in presage of its future greatness. But the period which sun dered our alliance with France may be pronounced the day of our nation's manhood, when this genius had become an Hercules, who, no longer amused with the coral and bells of 'liberty and equality,' — no longer 'pleased with the rattles, tickled with the straws,' of 'health and fraternity,' — -no longer willing to trifle at the distaff of a 'lady negotiator,' — boldly invested himself in the toga vir His, and assumed his rank in the forum of nations. " It will, therefore, in all ages be pointed to as a luminous page in our history, when the patriotic statesmen of America, with a decision of character which has shot a ray of enthusiasm into the coldest regions of Europe, cut asunder the inexplicable knot of so contagious a con nection, and forever abolished the impolitic and deleterious instrument which had created it ; when that memorable treaty, which had linked together two heterogeneous nations in an unnatural, unequal and hate ful alliance, after an attenuated life of twenty years, was ignominiously committed to the grave, where, in the language of French philosophy, 'its death will prove an eternal sleep.' " Robert Treat Paine, whose name was originally Thomas, and changed in 1801 by an act of the Massachusetts Legislature, as he was desirous of being known by a Christian name, abhorring an association of the man who, in his Age of Reason, lost his Common Sense, was born in Taunton, Bristol county, Mass., Dec. 9, 1773. His father was the celebrated Robert Treat Paine, who acted as counsel for the 'jrown, in company with Samuel Quincy, in the trial of the British soldiers for the massacre in King-street ; and was, moreover, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, whose residence was at the corner of Milk and Federal streets. Young Robert was early in the school of Master James Carter. In the year 1781 he entered the Latin School, under Master James Hunt ; he graduated at Harvard College in 1792, on which occasion he delivered an oration on the Nature and Progress of Liberty, — a theme naturally expected from a scion of the Revolution. He was stimulated to a taste for poetry by the famous ROBERT TREAT PAINE. 285 Joseph Allen, the laureate of his class, who inscribed on the colleo-e- wall several abusive satirical verses on Paine, who fearlessly repelled him in rhyme ; and he once remarked, that if it were not for this cir cumstance, probably he never should have undertaken a couplet. On leaving college, he entered the store of Mr. James Tisdale, a Boston merchant ; but his mind was so much absorbed in poetry, that he made entries in the day-book in verse, and once made out a charter party in the same style. He soon became devoted to the theatre, which, con trary to law, had been established in Board-alley, in 1792, by a small party of actors from England, — " And plays their heathen names forsook, And those of ' Moral Lectures ' took." The law was abrogated, and in 1793 an elegant brick theatre was erected in Federal-street, on which occasion the prize medal was awarded to him for the best prologue on the occasion. His mind was so averse to mercantile pursuits, that he left Mr. Tisdale in 1794. In October of that year he established a political and literary paper, — "The Federal Orrery," — in which appeared "The Jacobiniad," a political poem, and also " The Lyars," from both of which passages appear in this volume. So caustic and personal were these produc tions, that it drew upon him the summary vengeance of a mob, who attacked the dwelling of Major Wallach, with whom he resided, and who gallantly defended his castle, and compelled them to retreat. The son of a gentleman at whom the shafts of wit had been aimed called upon Paine for satisfaction, which was denied. The parties accident ally met, — Mr. Paine presented his pistol, but the assailant fearlessly rushed forward, and violently assaulted him. In 1797 Mr. Paine married Elizabeth Baker, who was a retired actress, and they were forbid his father's dwelling. They were hospitably sheltered in the family of Major Wallach for the period of fifteen months. With tears of gratitude Mr. Paine once remarked, " When I lost a father, I gained a wife and found a friend." In the year 1798 a reconciliation was effected ; and it is related that at a congratulatory party the forth coming sentiments were publicly advanced, "The love of liberty and the liberty of loving ; " " Champagne to real friends, and real pain to sham friends." Paine was bold in his views, quick at retort, and sometimes fearfully sarcastic. His genius was certainly of a high order, and his imagination prolific. His talents always commanded 286 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS- admiration, his wit excited merriment and delight. He was followed and eulogized, honored by social attentions in the higher ranks, and viewed as the first poet of the town. His poem on " The Invention of Letters" was greatly admired, and Washington sent him a letter highly expressive of admiration at its merits. It afforded him a profit of fifteen hundred dollars. " The Ruling Passion," intended as a gallery of portraits, is a rare production, for which he realized a profit of twelve hundred dollars. In 1798 Mr. Paine wrote the celebrated national song of Adams and Liberty ; and never was a political song more favorably received than this patriotic effusion. Visiting Major Russell, of the Centinel, it was pronounced as imperfect, for the conception of Washington was not advanced. The sideboard was replenished, and Paine was ready for a libation, when Major Russell familiarly interposed, and insisted, in his humorous manner, that he should not slake his thirst till he had written an additional stanza, in which Washington should be introduced. Paine paced back and forth a few minutes, and, suddenly starting, called for a pen. He forthwith wrote the following sublime stanza : " Should the tempest of war overshadow our land, Its bolts could ne'er rend Freedom's temple asunder ; For, unmoved, at its portal, would Washington stand, And repulse, with his breast, the assaults of the thunder ! His sword from the sleep Of its scabbard would leap, And conduct with its point every flash to the deep ! " Paine's eulogy on the death of Washington was serious even to sadness, with the melancholy reflections inspired by that event. In a political discussion, which was conducted with warmth, in 1807, Mr. Paine once said of the Essex Junto, " Washington was its sublime head, and the tower of its strength ; it was informed by the genius and guided by the energy of Hamilton. Since their decease, nothing but the Attic salt of Fisher Ames has preserved it from putre faction. When the ethereal spirits escaped, the residuum settled into faction. It has captured Boston, and keeps it in tow, like a prize-ship." In 1799 Mr. Paine became a student at law under the eminent Judge Parsons, at Newburyport, who greatly esteemed him; was admitted to Suffolk bar in 1802 ; retired from the profession in 1809, and removed to Dorchester ; but he soon returned to Boston, and became an inmate at his father's mansion, where he wrote, at the JOHN THORNTON KIRKLAND. 287 request of the Jockey Club, " The Steeds of Apollo." This was his last famous effusion. Depressed in spirits, afflicted with disease, and reduced in his circumstances, he died, Nov. 14, 1811. President Allen remarks of Paine, "There is nothing of simple, natural beauty in his writings ; his poetry is entirely unworthy of the praise extended in its favor, and his prose is in bad taste ; " while Bradford, on the other hand, was of opinion that Paine resembled Pope more than any English poet, and was always happy in his phraseology : but it is probable the fact lies between the two extremes. Boston may well be proud of his talent, and throw away the weeds that blemish his fame. Everett says that "Paine was a luckless man, but, oh ! how sweet a bard ! " " Never shall his tuneful numbers Charm the listening ear again, — Cold and silent where he slumbers, Genius weeps the fate of Paine." The Hon. Judge Story remarks of him that he enjoyed reputation, in his day, not since attained by any American poet. JOHN THORNTON KIRKLAND. DEC. 29, 1799. EULOGY ON WASHINGTON. " America, without Washington," says Kirkland, " resembles the earth without the light of day. Associated as he was with all we loved and valued in our country, possessions, pursuits and pleasures, for a time, sink in our esteem. We exulted in our country, because it gave him birth ; we thought better of our nature, because it pro duced such a man. The sense of this gift of Heaven increased the fervor of our devotions ; and our national felicity seemed to be crowned in Washington. Time has been, when, indeed, his services were more immediately necessary, and the political salvation of his country seemed to depend on the continuance of his life. But if his departure at this time has a less unpropitious aspect upon the public prosperity, yet it cannot be thought unimportant to the momentous interests of the 288 the hundred boston orators. empire, whilst it arrests our melancholy feelings, and wounds our fond attachment to his name. His sun approached the horizon ; yet, with delighted eyes, we gazed on its parting splendor, believing that, if clouds should thicken to a tempest in our political sky, it would shine out in all its meridian brightness, and chase them away. Though he had left the drama to distinguished actors, yet he might again be called out to support a part in some master scene, to which no other man might be found suited. Nay, he was already prepared, if the catastrophe should require it, to step upon the stage, and be the hero of the eventful tragedy into which his country seemed to be hastening. Was the nation to be roused from dangerous sleep ? — his name was sounded in their ears. Was faction to be driven from the light 1 — it was pointed to his awful frown. Was a foreign foe to be deterred from invasion? — it was shown his hand upon his sword. With him its patron, the federal administration would not despair of final support ; with him their leader, the armies of America would be ineffectually held up to odium, would be created with facility, and, in every con flict, would feel invincible. In the present dubious aspect of our national interests, everything was hoped, in aid of the present system, from the part which he would take, in case of civil dissension, or increased danger from foreign arts or arms." John Thornton Kirkland was born at Little Falls, Herkimer county, N. Y., August 17, 1770; entered Phillips' Academy in 1784; graduated at Harvard College in 1789; became assistant teacher at Andover Academy ; studied theology, and was a tutor in Harvard College, when he gave the salutatory oration. A singular episode in his college life was his having borne arms in the winter vacation of his sophomore year, during the campaign to suppress Shays' Insurrection. He was pastor of the New South Church, from Feb. 5, 1794, until his induction to the presidency of Harvard College, Nov. 14, 1810, which station he occupied until his resignation, Aug. 27, 1828. He was the Phi Beta Kappa orator at Cambridge in 1798. He married Elizabeth, the only daughter of Hon. George Cabot, Sept. 1, 1827. After his retirement from public life, Dr. Kirkland suffered from the effects of a paralysis, with powers of mind and body considerably impaired ; but with the same undisturbed and delightful temper, and with an occasional flash of those clear and profound thoughts, says Eliot, that intellectual humor, and those generous affections, which in previous years had been the delight of all JOHN THORNTON KIRKLAND. 289 who knew him. The carelessness which made him write his sermons upon mere scraps of paper, in an almost illegible hand, and the physical indolence which made him neglect to transcribe or arrange them, might excite a smile, rather than provoke a frown ; and it has been well said of Dr. Kirkland, that his sermons were full of intellectual wealth and practical wisdom, with sometimes a quaintness that bordered on humor, yet had never been inspired by the peculiar genius of pulpit eloquence. He was president of the Anthology Club. His biography of Pisher Ames is one of the most classic productions of an American mind. After having visited Europe, Egypt, and Palestine, he died at Boston, of an inveterate disease that had long afflicted him, April 26, 1840. His successor, President Quincy, remarks of him : ' : Possessing talents of a high order, which he had diligently cultivated, enjoying the friendship and confidence of many of the most influential and eminent men among his contemporaries, combining great sagacity with great knowledge of human nature, he conducted this seminary for a succession of years prosperously and with great popularity. Under his auspices, the standard necessary for obtaining admission to its privileges was raised, its literary character elevated, the general sphere of its usefulness extended, and great improvements effected ; " and Dr. Young, his successor in the pastoral care of the New South Church, says of him, in his highly graphic biography, of which a divine of another sect said he did not see how it could be better written, " What style shall I set forth of this excellent man, to whom I never came but I grew stronger in moral virtue, from whom I never went but I parted better instructed ? If I speak much, it were not to be marvelled ; if I speak frankly, it is not to be blamed ; and though I speak partially, it were to be pardoned." ' The preaching of Kirkland was of the same character with his conversation, says Young. It was sententious, and full of apo thegms. There was not much visible logic or induction in his dis courses. The description which he gives of Fisher Ames' writings is strikingly applicable to his own. When the result of his researches was exhibited in discourse, the steps of a logical process were in some measure concealed by the coloring of rhetoric. It was the prerogative of his mind to discern by a glance, so rapid as to seem intuition, those truths which common capacities struggle hard to comprehend. His style is conspicuous for sententious brevity, for antithesis and point. Single ideas appear with so much lustre and prominence, that 25 290 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. the connection of the several parts of his discourse is not always obvious to the common mind, and the aggregate impression of the composition is not always completely obtained. His learning seldom appeared as such, but was interwoven with his thoughts, and became his own. There was little apparent method, arrangement or connection, in Dr. Kirkland' s preaching ; so that it was not uncommon for him to bring into the pulpit half a dozen sermons or more, and, on the instant, construct a new sermon as he went along, turning the leaves backwards and forwards, and connecting them together by the thread of his extemporaneous discourse. These scattered leaves resembled those of the Sybil, not only in their confusion, causing many to marvel how he could marshal and manage them so adroitly, but also in their hidden wisdom, and in the fact that when two-thirds of what he had thus brought into the pulpit was omitted, — ¦ thrown by, as unworthy of delivery, — the remaining third, which he uttered, was more precious than the entire pile of manuscript, containing, as it did, the spirit and essence, the condensed and concentrated wisdom, of the whole. Condensation, indeed, continues Dr. Young, was his crowning faculty. It was here, especially, that he manifested the supremacy of his intellect. He always spoke from a crowded and overflowing mind. Although he said so much, you felt that there was much more behind unsaid. He poured himself forth into a full stream of thought, which evidently flowed from a living and inexhaustible fountain. Chief Justice Parsons used to say that Dr. Kirkland put more thought into one sermon than other ministers did into five. And how much weight and wisdom were there even in single sentences of his writings, as when, in his Life of Fisher Ames, he says, "He did not need the smart of guilt to make him virtuous, nor the regret of folly to make him wise ; " and when, in the same work, he says, " The admission of danger implies duty; and many refuse to be alarmed, because they wish to be at ease." Such was his wonderful and accurate knowledge of human nature, and his clear insight into the springs of human action, that sometimes, when I have heard Kirkland preach, it seemed to me that he had actually got his hand into my bosom, and that I could feel him moving it about, and inserting his fingers into all the interstices and crevices of my heart. According to Dr. Palfrey, there were twelve hundred graduates of Harvard College who enjoyed his care, having been, at the period of his decease, nearly one quarter part of the whole that had been educated at that institution. FISHER AMES. 291 FISHER AMES. FEB. 8, 1800. STATE EULOGY ON WASHINGTON. In the speech of Hon. Fisher Ames, on Jay's treaty, April 28, 1796, delivered on the floor of Congress, he says : " We are either to execute this treaty, or break our faith. To expatiate on the value of public faith, may pass with some men for declamation. To such men I have nothing to say. To others, I will urge, can any circumstance mark upon a people more turpitude and debasement? Can anything tend more to make men think themselves mean, or degrade to a lower point their estimation of virtue, and their standard of action ? It would not merely demoralize mankind ; it tends to break all the ligaments of society, to dissolve that mysterious charm which attracts individuals to the nation, and to inspire in its stead a repulsive sense of shame and disgust. " What is patriotism? Is it a narrow affection for the spot where a man was born ? Are the very clods where we tread entitled to this ardent preference, because they are greener? No, sir; this is not the character of the virtue, and it soars higher for its object. It is an extended self-love, mingling with all the enjoyments of life, and twist ing itself with the minutest filaments of the heart. It is thus we obey the laws of society, because they are the laws of virtue. In their authority we see not the array of force and terror, but the vener able image of our country's honor. Every good citizen makes that honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious, but as sacred. He is willing to risk his fife in its defence, and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it. For what rights of a citizen will be deemed inviolable, when a State renounces the principles that consti tute their security ? Or, if his life should not be invaded, what would its enjoyment be, in a country odious in the eyes of strangers, and dis honored in his own ? Could he look with affection and veneration to such a country as his parent ? The sense of having one would die within him. He would blush for his patriotism, if he retained any ; and justly, for it would be a vice. He would be a banished man in his native land. " I see no exception to the respect that is paid among nations to the law of good faith. If there are cases in this enlightened period when 292 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. it is violated, there are none when it is denied. It is the philosophy of politics, the religion of governments. It is observed by barbarians. A whiff of tobacco-smoke, or a string of beads, gives not merely bind ing force, but sanctity, to treaties. Even in Algiers, a truce may be bought for money ; but, when ratified, even Algiers is too wise or too just to disown and annul its obligation. Thus, we see, neither the igno rance of savages, nor the principles of an association for piracy and rapine, permit a nation to despise its engagements. If, sir, there could be a resurrection from the foot of the gallows, — if the victims of jus tice could live again, collect together, and form a society, — they would, however loath, soon find themselves obliged to make justice — that justice under which they fell — the fundamental law of their state. They would perceive it was their interest to make others respect, and they would therefore soon pay some respect themselves, to the obliga tions of good faith." Fisher Ames was born at Dedham, April 9, 1758, and was the youngest son of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, who was for forty years a noted author of almanacs ; of whom it is related, having accidentally entered in one of them the prediction of snow in June, and a snow-storm occurring on the day named, it caused a rapid sale of his almanacs. It is related in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, that Dr. Nathaniel Ames, whose son Nathaniel was a surgeon in the army of the Revolution, had two wives, Mary and Deborah, successively of the name of Fisher. The first dying young, but not until after his mother, and her estate having vested in him, gave rise to the famous lawsuit, in which it was first determined that real estate ascended, con trary to the English rule, to the father, as next of kin, by the province law. Dr. Ames was a public taverner at Dedham ; and there is a tradition that, after this case was decided, a sign-board was suspended over his door, with the painted figure of the judges, in full-bottomed wigs and robes, among whom were caricatured the two who were of adverse opinion. This being viewed as a contempt of court, it was shortly after taken down. Dr. Ames died at Dedham in 1764, aged fifty-seven years. His son Fisher was born in the Woodward man sion, on the north side of the court-house, opposite the monumental stone, surmounted by a pillar and a bust, erected in honor of William Pitt, for his services to the colonies. He graduated at Harvard College in 1774 ; studied law under Judge Tudor, and became a counsellor-at- law. In 1788 he was a representative in the State Legislature; and' FISHER AMES. 293 was elected to Congress for Suffolk county, December 18th of the same year, in opposition to Samuel Adams, and was probably the junior member of the house. He was also a delegate to the State convention on the federal constitution, in 1788 ; and was of the State Executive Council, in 1800. Mr. Ames married Frances, daughter of John Worthington, Esq., July 15, 1792. He continued in Congress during a period of eight years, where he displayed irresistible eloquence ; and, after his memorable speech in favor of the treaty with Great Britain, from which a passage is presented at the head of this article, a mem ber, opposed to Ames, objected to taking a vote at that time, as they had been overwhelmed by his eloquence. One day, when in the book store of Manning & Loring, in Boston, on observing their new edi tion of Perry's Dictionary, which was on the counter, in which words are accented, — "Here is a book," said Ames, "showing us how to pronounce words." After a moment's reflection, he continued, "But we are told that the best standard of pronunciation is the imitation of the best speakers." The residence of Fisher Ames was in the dwell ing now occupied by John Gardner, Esq. He died at Dedham, July 4, 1808. The stanzas herewith added were sung in King's Chapel, July 6, 1808, after the delivery of the eulogy of Samuel Dexter over the remains of Fisher Ames, and are ascribed to Rev. Dr. Gardiner : " As, when dark clouds obscure the dawn, The day-star's lustre disappears, So Ames beheld our natal morn, And left desponding friends in tears. Soon as the distant cannon's roar Announced that morn's returning ray, He feared its early hopes were o'er, And flew to everlasting day. 0, drop thy mantle, sainted shade, On some surviving patriot name, Who, great by thy example made, May yet retrieve a nation's fame '. The manly genius, ardent thought, The love of truth, and wit refined, The eloquence that wonders wrought, And flashed its light on every mind, — These gifts were thine, immortal Ames ! Of motive pure, of life sublime ; Their loss our flowing sorrow claims, — Their praise survives the wreck of time." 25* 294 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. President Dwight, of Yale College, remarked of Fisher Ames that few men have so much good sense, and none with whom I have con versed, a mind so ready to furnish, at every call, the facts which should be remembered, the truths which should be declared, the arguments which should be urged, language in which they might be clearly and forcibly expressed, and images with which they might be beautifully adorned. His imagination was perhaps too brilliant, and too rich. It could hardly be said that any of the pictures which it drew were ill- drawn or out of place ; yet it might, I think, be truly said, that the gallery was crowded. The excess was not, however, the consequence of a defective taste, or a solicitude to shine ; but the produce of a fancy over creative, always exuberant, and exerting its powers more easily in this manner than in any other. To speak and write as he actually spoke and wrote, was only to permit the thoughts and images which first offered themselves to flow from his lips or his pen. "Mr. Ames was distinguished by a remarkable and very amiable sim plicity of character. In circles where any man would have thought it an honor to shine, and where he always shone with superior lustre, he appeared entirely to forget himself, and to direct all his observations to the entertainment of the company, and the elucidation of the subject. Whenever he conversed, it was impossible to fail of receiving both instruction and delight. But the instruction flowed not from the pride of talents, or the ambition of being brilliant. Whatever was the field of thought, he expanded it ; whatever was the theme of discussion, he gave it new splendor. But the manner in which he did both showed irresistibly that they were the most obvious and the least laborious employments of such a fancy. His sense of rectitude, both public and personal, was not only exact, but delicate and exquisite. His patriotism was glowing. Eminent as he was among those who were most eminent, I should more strongly covet his private character;" and President Allen says of Ames, he compelled assent more by striking allusions than by regular deductions, and for charms of conversation was unequalled. Ames was opposed to democracy, as it would end in monarchy ; and was an ardent advocate of the Federal party, as being the shield of our constitution. Though the professional brethren of Fisher Ames held him in the highest respect, they concurred with President Kirkland, who prepared the biography prefixed to his collected works, that he was more adapted for the senate than the bar. It was easy and delightful to him to illus- FISHER AMES. 295 trate by a picture, but painful and laborious to prove by a diaoTam. He was a man of purest morals, of most amiable disposition, and most sincerely beloved by his friends, among whom were some of the most eminent men of that day. He was graphically sketched by Sullivan, " as above the middle stature, and well formed. His features were not strongly marked. His forehead was neither high nor expansive. His eyes were blue and of middling size, his mouth handsome, his hair black, and short on the forehead, and in his latter years unpowdered. He was very erect, and when speaking he raised his head, or rather his chin, with the most projected part of his face. His face had a most complacent expression when he was speaking ; and when he meant to be severe, it was seen in good-natured sarcasm, rather than in ill-natured words. It was said that the beautiful productions of his pen were the first flowings of his mind, and hardly corrected for the press. His life is supposed to have been shortened by his excessive anxiety about his country. Many of his predictions have been realized, and some of them in his lifetime. His air, manner and countenance, were those of an honest and sincere man. The condition of the country furnishes abundant proof that he was, politically, a wise man. All his mournful prophecies seem to be in the course of fulfilment." Fisher Ames once said : "If every gravestone of a departed repub lic bore a lesson of wisdom and warning, the democrats would shut their eyes rather than look upon it. They have no idea of any principles, excepting their extremes when they are no longer principles;" and, in his Dangers of American Liberty, he asserts "it never happened in the world, and it never will, that a democracy has been kept out of the control of the fiercest and most turbulent spirits in the society. They breathe into it all their own fury, and make it subservient to the worst designs of the worst men ; " and in another paragraph exclaims : " All history hes open for our warning, — open like a church-yard, all whose lessons are solemn, and chiselled for eternity in the hard stone; — lessons that whisper, — 0 ! that they could thunder to repub lics, — ' Your passions and your vices forbid you to be free ! ' " Upon one occasion, Judge Story related the following anecdote in relation to three great men. " Samuel Dexter," said he, "was one of those men whom, as was said of Burke, if you should meet on a rainy day beneath a shed, you would at once distinguish as a great man. A few moments' conversation with Mr. Dexter showed this ; and I remember that when I first met him, not knowing who he was, I 296 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. stared in wonderment, — and yet his mind was rather of a brilliant shade than a great one. Mr. Dexter was once in company with Fisher Ames and Chief Justice Marshall. The latter commenced a conver sation, or rather an opinion (for he was almost solus in the dialogue), which lasted some three hours. On breaking up, the two former com menced, on their way homeward, praising the depth and learning of their noble host. Said Ames, after a short talk, 'To confess the truth, Dexter, I have not understood a word of his argument for half an hour.' 'And I,' good-humoredly rejoined Dexter, 'have been out of my depth for an hour and a half.' " In Felt's Memorials of William S. Shaw, we find it stated by Hannah Adams, in a letter to Mr. Shaw, that in the year 1790 she sent a petition to Congress, which Mr. Ames presented at her request, for a general law to be passed which would secure to authors the exclusive right of their publications. We find, on turning to the laws of Con gress, that this act, which is entitled an act for the encouragement of learning, etc., was established on the 31st of May, 1790. The following incident regarding Fisher Ames is worthy of record. There lived in Dedham a farmer of great natural wit and smartness of repartee, — one Joseph Kingsbury, — who had a great partiality for Mr. Ames, yet would never let pass an opportunity of showing his tact, even at the expense of his friend. A town-meeting was held, at which Mr. Ames made an eloquent speech. Kingsbury, in his dirty frock and trousers, had taken a seat in the adjoining pew ; and no sooner had our orator finished, than he rose and said, " Mr. Moderator, my brother Ames' eloquence reminds me of nothing but the shining of a fire-fly, which gives just light enough to show its own insignificance;" and down he sat, having thus, at a blow, by exciting the risibles of the audience, defeated the effect of Mr. Ames' eloquence. In public speaking, Fisher Ames trusted much to excitement, and did little more in his closet than draw the outlines of his speech and reflect on it, till he had received deeply the impressions he intended to make ; depending for the turns and figures, says Kirkland, of lan guage, illustrations, and modes of appeal to the passions, on his imag ination and feelings at the time. This excitement continued, when the cause had ceased to operate. After debate, his mind was agitated like the ocean after a storm, and his nerves were like the shrouds of a ship torn by the tempest. When Washington died, he pronounced his eulogy before the State Legislature. This performance, though it FISHER AMES. 297 contains touches of real pathos, is less impassioned than might at first be expected. The numerous funeral honors paid to the memory of this beloved man had already made a great demand on the public sensibil ity. Mr. Ames chose rather to dwell on the political events and acts which illustrated his character, than merely to draw tears for his loss ; and it abounds in accurate discrimination and sententious wisdom. From his knowledge of affairs, says Kirkland, and his confidential standing with those who were principals in effecting a measure regard ing the public credit, he might have made himself a gainer, along with the public, by the funding system. But he consulted his lively sense of reputation by a scrupulous abstinence from participating in this advantage. He observed upon a calumny, which was uttered not because it was deserved, but because it might be believed, " I have too good proofs of the want of property for surmise to the contrary to have weight ; I have much more occasion to justify myself to my family for being poor, than to repel the charge by being rich." His delicate mind and amiable temper made the contests of his public station often irksome. Though he did not allow himself to complain, yet he some times felt these irritations with much sensibility. " The value of friends," he observes, " is the most apparent and highest rated to those who mingle in the conflicts of political life. The sharp contests for little points wound the mind, and the ceaseless jargon of hypocrisy overpowers the faculties. I turn from scenes which provoke and dis gust me, to the contemplation of the interest I have in private life, and to the pleasures of society with those friends whom I have so much reason to esteem." Fisher Ames was a devoted member of the Episcopal church in Dedham, and ever entered with spirit and devotion into the service, by audibly responding in the litany and gloria patri. He observed to a friend, one day, after reading " Nelson on the Fasts and Feasts," that he admired the church, though he would wish to be understood that he did not consider all those holy days to be essential. It was observed to him that the Episcopal church differed very widely from the Con gregational platform, in her ordination, government, and mode of wor ship. He replied : " The difference is what I like, and for which I give the church the preference." He directed his parish taxes to be paid to the rector of the Episcopal church, whom he requested, during his last illness, to come to his house and have the church service, and make it familiar to his family. On the Christmas eve of 1807, he had his 298 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. house decorated with green boughs, and made some beautiful observa tions on that ancient custom, which has become as venerable by age as the church catechism. Some time after he was a member of the church, one Madam Sprague proposed to dispose of her pew in the Congregational church at a very low rate, and which was the best pew in the house. He replied to her that he did not desire it. She then said, " If they build a new, splendid meeting-house, Mr. Ames, I presume you will return to the old society." On which he gravely replied : "No, madam ; if they erect a meeting-house of silver, and line it with gold, and give me the best pew in it, I shall go to the Episcopal church." In the poem by John Pierpont, recited at the celebration of the Newburyport Washington Benevolent Society, Oct. 27, 1812, appears this glowing tribute to Fisher Ames : " Then a bright spirit, free from every vice As was the rose that bloomed in Paradise, — A zeal as warm to see his country blest As lived in Cato's or Lycurgus' breast ; A fancy chaste and vigorous as strong To holy themes Isaiah's hallowed tongue ; And strains as eloquent as Zion heard, When, on his golden harp, her royal bard Waked to a glow devotion's dying flames, Flowed from the lips and warmed the soul of Ames. Like Memnon's harp, that breathed a mournful tone When on its strings the rays of morning shone, That stainless spirit, on approaching night, Was touched and saddened by prophetic light ; And, as the vision to his view was given, That spirit sunk, and, sighing, fled to heaven." TIMOTHY BIGELOW. FEB. 11, 1800. EULOGY ON WASHINGTON. FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS GRAND LODGE. "His administration was a satire on those who are born to rule," says Mr. Bigelow. " Making the general good the sole object of his pursuit, and carefully distinguishing the attention which was due from TIMOTHY BIGELOW. 299 him as an individual to the claims of relation and friendship, from the duties he owed to the public, he never yielded to the influence of private partiality, nor stooped to the low policy of aggrandizing his family by the gifts of office. He bestowed employments on those only who added to integrity the qualities necessary to discharge them. Patient in investigation, and cautious in research, he formed his reso lutions with deliberation, and executed them with decision. Conscious of the purity of his motives, and satisfied with the propriety of his determinations, — daily estimating, also, the sacred duty of maintaining the constitutional rights of his office, — he was not to be soothed into dishonorable compliance by the blandishments of flattery, nor diverted from his purposes by the terror of numbers, or the imposing weight of public character. When a revolution, unprecedented in its kind, had involved the European world in confusion, and the flame of war was spreading into other quarters of the globe, neither the insidious attempts of the emissaries of France, nor the treacherous arts of her American adherents, could induce him to hazard our quiet. Though himself a soldier, and equal to the emergencies of war, he perceived not only the true interests of his country, but justice and humanity, enjoined a continuance of peace. He therefore wisely adjusted the misunderstandings which threatened our tranquillity, and resolved on a strict neutrality. Our own experience, and the events which have since transpired in other countries, have fully justified the measure. Yet, strange to tell, disappointed faction, despairing of success in an impeachment of his discernment or understanding, has dared here to arraign the purity of his motives. Circumstances seem to have placed him beyond the reach of suspicion. His wealth was more than suf ficient for all the purposes of splendid enjoyment ; he had no posterity to inherit hereditary honors ; and he was surely too wise not to know that a crown would tarnish his glory, — that his own reputation was inseparably connected with the prosperity of his country, — that his fame would mount no higher than her eagle could soar. What more than he possessed could ambition pant for ? What further had the world to bestow ? * * * * Animated with a generous philan thropy, our deceased brother early sought admission into our ancient and honorable fraternity, at once to enable him to cherish with advan tage this heavenly principle, and enlarge the sphere of its operation. He cultivated our art with sedulous attention, and never lost an opportunity of advancing the interest or promoting the honor of the 300 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. craft. While commander-in-chief of the American Revolutionary army, he countenanced the establishment and encouraged the labors of a travelling lodge among the military. He wisely considered it as a school of urbanity, well calculated to disseminate those mild virtues of the heart so ornamental to the human character, and so peculiarly useful to correct the ferocity of soldiers, and alleviate the miseries of war. The cares of his high office engrossed too much of his time to admit of his engaging in the duties of the chair ; yet he found frequent opportunities to visit the lodge, and thought it no derogation from his dignity there to stand on a level with the brethren. True to our principles on all occasions, an incident once occurred which enabled him to display their influence to his foes. A body of American troops, in some successful rencounter with the enemy, possessed themselves, among other booty, of the jewels and furniture of a British travelling lodge of Masons. This property was directed by the commander-in- chief to be returned, under a flag of truce, to its former proprietors, accompanied with a message, purporting that the Americans did not make war upon institutions of benevolence." We find a highly independent and dignified passage in the oration of Mr. Bigelow, pronounced for the Washington Benevolent Society, that deserves to be perpetuated : " Thanks be to God, we still retain the right of expressing our opinions ! Nor will we ever surrender it. It is our inheritance. For let it be remembered that our ancestors, from the moment of their first landing on these shores, were always free ; that their resistance to Great Britain was not so much the effect of actual suffering, as of apprehension of approaching danger. It was not the resistance of slaves, but of those who were determined never to become such. It is proverbial, in our country, that Boston is the cradle of liberty. It is not so much her cradle as her asylum ; not so much her place of nurture as her citadel. If this were her birth-place, she must have been produced at once, as Minerva is said to have sprung forth from the brain of Jupiter, full-grown and com plete in armor. Except a short exile at the commencement of the Revolution, this always was, and I trust always will be, her favorite abode." Col. Timothy, the father of Hon. Timothy Bigelow, married Anna Andrews, of Worcester, an orphan, July 7, 1762. He was an intrepid adherent of the cause of the Revolution ; and, after the battle of Lex ington, with the assistance of General Warren, effected the removal TIMOTHY BIGELOW. 301 of the printing-press and the materials of the printing-office of the Mas sachusetts Spy, a decided Whig paper, conducted by Isaiah Thomas, founder of the American Antiquarian Society, incorporated in 1812. They were conveyed across Charles River to Lechmere Point, thence to Worcester, and deposited in the dwelling-house of Col. Bigelow, where the operations of this patriot paper were boldly executed. During the Revolution, many towns voted that they would have no slaves ; and it is related of Col. Bigelow, that, when solicited to make sale of a slave whom he owned, he replied that, "while fighting for liberty, he would never be guilty of selling slaves." Col. Bigelow, then a major, was captured in the attack on Quebec, when Montgomery was killed. In 1777 he became a colonel in the continental army, and assisted in the capture of Burgoyne. He was active at Saratoga, Valley Forge, and West Point. After the war, he was appointed to the command of the national arsenal at Springfield, and died March 31, 1790, aged 51. Hon. Timothy Bigelow, the second son of six children, was born at Worcester, April 30, 1767. His elementary education was at the public school of his native town ; but the perils of the war suspending school operations, he entered the office of Thomas' Spy, where he was occupied during two years, in which period Benjamin Russell was also employed in the same office. In 1778 he became a pupil of Rev. Joseph Pope, of Spencer, and was finally prepared for college under the care of Hon. Samuel Dexter. He graduated at Harvard College in 1786, and on commencement day he took part in a forensic dispute, whether religious disputation promotes the interest of true piety. Mr. Bigelow engaged in the study of law, under the guidance of Levi Lincoln, senior, at Worcester. Previous to entering college, he first engaged in classical studies under the care of Benjamin, son of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, of Hingham. Among his fellow-companions pre paring for the bar, were Judge Edward Bangs, Joseph Dennie, the essayist, and Theophilus Wheeler. The insurrection of Shays occur ring in 1786, these young patriots threw aside Blackstone and the dry study of law, and shouldered their muskets, and marched to Petersham as volunteers, to thwart the treasonable designs of the reckless rebels, who were soon defeated. In 1789 Mr. Bigelow entered on the prac tice of law at Groton, in Massachusetts. In 1806 he removed to Medford, and practised law in Boston. He was of the State Legisla ture during more than twenty years. He was Speaker of the House 26 302 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. during eleven years. He was a State Senator during four years, and of the Executive Council during two years. In the popular period of Freemasonry, Mr. Bigelow presided during two triennial terms at the head of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts ; and, in that capacity, with a splendid escort of craftsmen, in the year 1808, made a journey to Portland, for the instalment of officers of the Grand Lodge of Maine. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and vice-president of the American Antiquarian Society. He was an originator of the institution of Middlesex Hus bandmen His devoted taste for horticulture prompted him to adopt a tasteful plan of ornamental gardening around his mansion at Medford, which his social spirit made the seat of hospitality, and where were exhibited domestic virtues rendering his society as desirable as his public career wa3 eminent. He was profoundly endowed with a knowl edge of theology, and was so well versed in Greek and Hebrew as to easily read the Scriptures in the original languages. In a period of political excitement, when an anonymous writer in Dr. Park's Repertory was pouring out his political philippics, inflaming the whole State, Mr. Bigelow, having a great desire to know who he was. proceeded to the printing-office, where he remarked that he wa3 somewhat familiar with case-work, and requested leave to try hi3 hand : on which, some manuscript ~ the oration of Mr. Townsend, we find a happy allusion to a pre diction advanced in Smith's Wealth of Nations : " The tree of our republican liberty, like the fabled myrtle of iEneas, sinks its roots in blood. To agitate it extremely, might disturb the repose of our fathers. Like Polydore, they would cry to us from the ground, 6 That every drop this living tree contains Is kindred blood, and ran in patriotic veins.' 30 350 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Let us rally under its branches. Its leaves are healing to the taste. Transatlantic genius long since predicted, when we were one in govern ment with Britain, that in little more than a century, perhaps, Amer ican taxation would be more productive than British, and the seat of empire change." " Riot robbed glory of scarcely a life," says Mr. Townsend. "Not a drop of the blood that was poured out for liberty could be spared for licentiousness. Little mob violence disgraced our proceedings. The din of arms could not drown the voice of law. Men, hurrying on to liberty, still stopped to do homage to justice. The fifth of March, 1770,' while it did much to establish our independence, did more to prove we were worthy of it. The very soldiers, viewed in the most odious light, as members of a standing army quartered upon us in time of peace, whose firing upon the populace produced death and liberty, were almost immediately, by that populace, and for that firing, solemnly, deliberately and righteously, acquitted of murder. My friends, this is the greatest glory in our history, the brightest gem in our national diadem. Brutes have passions ; men should govern them. We have another instance. In the temple of justice a voice was after wards heard : ' I will this day die soldier, or sit judge ; ' and then was suddenly expressed what since, thank God, has proved a permanent feature of the New England judiciary." Alexander Townsend was born in Boston, and son of David Towns- end, formerly a watch-maker in State-street. He graduated at Har vard College in 1802, read law under the eminent Samuel Dexter, was an attorney of Suffolk bar in 1806, and soon became a counsellor- at-law. He was an unmarried man. After the delivery of the oration at the head of this article, the following sentiment was given for the orator of the day, by the president, at the dinner in Faneuil Hall : " May the principles he has this day eulogized long have the support of his talents and his eloquence." Mr. Townsend gave, on this occa sion, "Faneuil Hall: May it never rock to sleep the independence it created." Mr. Townsend was a large owner of real estate in Boston ; and was proprietor of the Marlboro' Hotel, originally a dark, unsightly build ing, which he remodelled in handsome style ; and, when advertising the edifice to let, informed those who complained that the building was deficient in light that they had better blame their eyes than the edifice. Mr. Townsend was warmly interested in the political topics DANIEL WALDO LINCOLN. 351 of the day, and frequently engaged in active debate at Faneuil Hall ; hut was not a popular speaker, more because of his uncouth, declama tory manner, than for want of forcible argument. He died in Bos ton, April 13, 1835, aged 51 years. DANIEL WALDO LINCOLN. JULY 4, 1810. FOR THE BUNKER HILL ASSOCIATION. Was son of Levi Lincoln, and born in Worcester, March 2, 1784 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1803, on which occasion he delivered a poem on "Benevolence." He studied law with his father, settled in Portland, Me., and was appointed by Gov. Sullivan the county attorney of Cumberland ; he removed to Boston in 1810, and returned to Portland in 1813. The early decease of the beautiful Miss Cald well, of Worcester, to whom he was engaged, shortened his days. He was a brother of Governor Lincoln. He died April 17, 1815. The Bunker Hill Association was originated on the brow of the battle-field, in Charlestown, July 4, 1808, in consequence, probably, of the refusal of the Federal selectmen of Boston to permit the Repub lican party the use of Faneuil Hall, for the celebration of our national independence, thus subjecting them to the necessity of obtaining a church, or public hall, for several years; which elicited the forth coming sentiment at the public festival, July 4, 1810, after the deliv ery of the oration by D. W. Lincoln : " The Republican Orator of the Day : Well might his enemies endeavor to obstruct his passage to a rostrum ; the name of Cicero was not more dreadful to the Catilines of Rome than is that of Lincoln to the Essex Junto." The oration pronounced this day, and another, delivered at Worces ter, July 4, 1808, are the only printed memorials of this writer of fine rhetorical power. " Tyrants, beware ! " commences our orator, in the peroration. "Dare not to invade the sacred rights chartered to nature's children by nature's God ! Dare not to provoke the ven geance of valor, the indignation of virtue, the anathema of Heaven ! Restrain the savage myrmidons of thy power from the sacrilegious violation of peace, the prostration of law, the destruction of estate, and 352 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. the sacrifice of life ! Such were the dictates of reason, ere usurping pride trampled on the prerogatives and irnmunities of freemen. Such were the arguments of justice, ere legislative voracity wrested from the stubborn hand of labor the wages of toilsome industry. Such were the petitions of loyalty, ere wanton cruelty had curdled the mantling blood of kindred affection, or annulled the hallowed obligation of filial submission. Such were the entreaties of humanity, ere the ministers of royal barbarity were unleashed, ere ruin revelled at his harvest home, or death celebrated bis carnival." There were present at its delivery John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, and Governor Gerry, signers of the Declaration of Independence ; H. G. Otis, President of the Senate, and Perez Morton, Speaker of the House. Without doubt, the abrupt outbreak of the orator prompted the men of power to gaze at him, as the audience involuntarily cast their eyes upon them, desiring to know who were rebuked. We will cite another passage from the one at this date, in which our orator enlarges on the direful effects of party strife : " Like the enchantment of Circe's bale ful cup, party spirit has transformed mankind, unmoulding reason's mintage. It has frozen the current of the heart, and paralyzed the pulses of love. Friendship meets a stranger in forgotten sympathy ; fraternity turns aside from alienated affection ; and parental tenderness petrifies in filial estrangement. The demon of party spirit has per vaded even to the penetralia, and subverted the altars of the Penates, while, enthroned on the ruins, he triumphs in domestic discord. Party spirit has invaded places most sacred, reverend and holy; has pol luted the judgment-seat, and profaned the temples of the Most High. History points to her sanguine leaf, the mournful memorial of party rage. See Marius' spear reeking with gore ! Behold, expiring breath lingers on Sylla's blade ! Can the drops be numbered that fall from Julius' sword? Can the stains be scoured from Antonius' helm? Mark the rose dripping with blood, where brother falls beneath a brother's hand, where man is unhumanized, and the savage is fleshed in kindred carnage ! Father of mercies'! let not such be the destiny of my country ! Let not the evening star go down in blood ! Educa tion can unlock the clasping charm, and thaw the murmuring spell of party spirit. By informing man how little man can know, it will relax the dogmatical pertinacity of ignorance, and infuse a temper of candor and kind conciliation ; not the obsequious conciliation which receives and adopts errors, but that which forgives them." JAMES SAVAGE. 353 JAMES SAVAGE. JULY i, 1811. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. In the peroration of the eloquent performance of Mr. Savage, we have a remonstrance against the commercial encroachments of Napo leon, at the very period when he was the most powerful despot in the world, which evinces a manly and patriotic spirit. "Can we be deluded, my countrymen," says Mr. Savage, "out of our liberties by him who announces that ' the Americans cannot hes itate as to the part which they are to take ; ' who declares that ' we ought either to tear to pieces the act of our independence,' or coincide with his plans ; who implicitly calls our administration ' men with out just political views, without honor, without energy;' and who threatens them ' that it will be necessary to fight for interest, after having refused to fight for honor ' 1 Shall the emperor, who is no less versed in the tactics of desolation than in the vocabulary of insult and the promises of perfidy, deceive our government by assertions that ' His Majesty loves the Americans,' — their prosperity and their commerce are within the scope of his policy'? We knew before that his political magazine contains rattles for babies, as well as whips for cowards. Our commerce has, indeed, long been within the scope of his policy, as our merchants and mariners will forever remember. His Majesty, no doubt, does love the Americans, as the butcher delights in the lamb he is about to slaughter, as the tiger courts the kid he would mangle and devour. For such promises, the sacrifice of honor, of interest, of peace, of liberty, and of hope, is required. For such promises, some are willing to stir up former national antipathies, and, when these are too weak for their purpose, to employ new artifices of treachery, to excite the passions of those who are slow to reason ; while others pro mote the design by reproaching opponents with idle words, and threat ening them with empty menaces. If Heaven has abandoned us to be so deceived into ruin, on some future anniversary of our national exist ence we may exclaim, with Antony, in the bitterness of despair : ' They tell us 'tis our birthday, and we '11 keep it With double pomp of sadness ; 'T is what the day deserves that gave us breath. Why were we raised the meteor of the world, 30* 354 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. Hung in the skies, and blazing as we travelled, Till all our fires were spent, and then cast downwards To be trod out by Caesar ? ' "Without adverting to the political questions of our own govern ment, we have, my fellow-citizens, a criterion by which to distinguish the supporters of American independence. They who behold with indifference the freedom of other nations prostrated are no friends of our own. One country after another, in melancholy and rapid suc cession, is absorbed in the imperial vortex ; and some of our citizens are led, by the enmity against England which they are instructed to cherish, to exult in these forewarnings of our destruction. Shall the delusion be corrected ? Shall we feel that our own existence is haz arded, when Holland, and Switzerland, and Naples, and Spain, dissolve into the heated mass of French power, like the towering ice-mountains of the pole, as they float towards the south ? Shall our rulers ' suffer scorn till they merit it,' and lose the inheritance of valor by the expe dients of imbecility 1 Shall they adhere to error till it becomes trea son 1 Ardent as is my execration of the cowardly policy that submits without resistance to degradation, I should more earnestly abhor the alliance in which many apprehend that we are irrevocably bound. Every part of our body that was sensible to pain has smarted with the lash of French enmity ; but the sighs and groans of Europe, from the Baltic to the Hellespont, witness the exquisite torments inflicted by their friendship. Let the spirit of our fathers be evoked from their tombs, to recall their posterity to the recollection of their honorable origin, to the vindication of their ancient glory. There is, we hope, a redeeming spirit in the people, which will restore dignity to govern ment and prosperity to the country, — which will bring us back to the principles of better times, and the practice of Washington, — ¦ which will assert our independence wherever the enterprise of our commerce has been exhibited, and make it lasting and incorruptible as the private virtues of our countrymen." The ancestor of James Savage, who was Maj. Thomas Savage, came to Boston from St. Albans, Hertfordshire, April, 1635, in the ship Planter, Nic. Trarice, master ; was one of the Court of Assistants, and a founder of the Old South Church. He was one of those who under took, in 1673, to erect a barricade in Boston harbor, for security against a fleet then expected from Holland ; out of which grew, in less than forty years, the Long Wharf, a small portion of which has continued JAMES SAVAGE. 355 ever since, the property of some of his descendants. The father of James Savage was Habijah, a merchant of Boston, who married Eliz abeth, daughter of John Tudor, whose residence was in Winter-street, on the south side, opposite the Common, where the subject of this out line was born, July 13, 1784. His mother died before he was four years of age, and he early entered Derby Academy, in Hingham, under the tuition of Abner Lincoln, and Washington Academy, at Machias, Me., under Daniel P. Upton. He graduated at Harvard College in 1803, on which occasion he gave an oration in English on the Patronage of Genius. Mr. Savage engaged in the study of law under the late Chief Justice Parker, Samuel Dexter, and William Sul livan, and entered Suffolk bar, January, 1807 ; previous to which he became a member of the Boston Anthology Society, and was its secre tary in January of that year ; and being, previous to this period, in declining health, he visited, with his relative and devoted friend, Wil liam Tudor, Jr., in 1805, the islands of Martinique, Dominique, St. Thomas, St. Domingo, and Jamaica. He was an original founder and life-subscriber of the Boston Athenaeum, in the same year. Mr. Savage was, during a period of five years, an editor of the Monthly Anthology, which was the first purely literary periodical in New England, conducted by members of the Anthology Society, a lit erary club of many of our finest scholars, which met at private dwell ings, and after supper devoted their time to literary criticisms and general discussions on polite literature, theology, and varied contro versy. When this periodical was discontinued, in 1811, New England was without a literary review of like character ; and it was not until 1815 that the North American Review, like a phoenix, arose from its ruins, originated by such scions of the parent club as William Tudor and William S. Shaw, to which review Mr. Savage was a contributor. There is, in the pages of the Anthology, a curious controversy between Dr. J. S. J. Gardiner and Rev. J. S. Buckminster, on the merits of Gray as a poet. This dispute bears some resemblance to the discussions between the romantic and classical schools in literature, says the biographer of Buckminster. Dr. Gardiner maintains, with dry reasoning, that Pope's is the only true model for real poetry. The object of an allusion to this controversy is to introduce an anecdote related by Mr. Savage, then a member of the society. " Controversy," said he, " sprang up in the club, on the literary nature of Gray's Odes ; and the war began with a burlesque ode to Winter, by our president, Rev. 356 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. J. S. J. Gardiner, who followed it up with one on Summer, also in the Anthology. In the same number, Buckminster gave a forcible defence of the imagery and epithets of the poet, which the next month was replied to by the assailant, and in the following number was strength ened by the other side ; and this also was counteracted by another par ody of the lyric inspiration, in which Gray's Odes were caricatured. A fourth attempt at the ludicrous, by our president, contained some thing unguardedly personal from the satirist to his antagonist, which produced strong though silent emotions of sympathy in many of the party. In an instant, the writer threw the inconsiderate effusion into the fire. From that moment, no allusion was made in the club to Gray's merits." In 1806, when Mr. Savage was a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts, he gave an oration on the progress and advancement of com merce; and in 1812 he pronounced the Phi Beta Kappa oration. Mr. Savage was elected a State representative several times, first in 1812 ; to the State Senate, first in 1826 ; to the Executive Council, first in 1830, and is an overseer of Harvard College. In 1819 Mr. Savage visited Demarara. He was elected to the Common Council first in 1823, to the board of Aldermen, first in 1827, and to the school com mittee. In April, 1823, Mr. Savage married Elizabeth Otis, widow of James Otis Lincoln, Esq., and daughter of George Stillman, of Machias, Me., an officer of the Revolution ; by whom he had one son, James, and three daughters, one of whom married Prof. William B. Rogers, of the University of Virginia, 1849 ; another daughter married Amos Binney, of Boston. Mr. Savage was a delegate to the State convention on the revision of the constitution in 1820, and was actively engaged in the debates. In a discussion on education, he remarked, the common schools are the children of religion, and religion not the child of town-schools. He hoped that the children would never succeed to destroy their mother. An abstract of his excellent speech against religious tests appears in the printed journal of the convention. Mr. Savage published, in the year 1825, The History of New Eng land from 1630 to 1649, by John Winthrop, first Governor of the Col ony of Massachusetts Bay, from his original manuscripts : with Notes to illustrate the civil and ecclesiastical concerns, the geography, settle ment, and institutions of the country, and the lives and manners of the principal planters. The learned Notes of Mr. Savage to this work JAMES SAVAGE. 357 will ever rank him among the most profound antiquaries of his coun try. But would it detract from the reputed candor of Mr. Savage, should the Notes to a new edition of this work be entirely divested of his own expression of sectarian feeling 1 Whenever Mr. Savage has restored the true reading, he has accompanied it with a note of ref erence to the corresponding word or sentence in the first edition as inserted at the bottom of the page. Who will suppose that Gov. Win throp could say, in speaking of a night which he was obliged to pass in the woods in consequence of losing his way, that it was through God's mercy a weary night, instead of a warm night; or, that one Noddle, an honest man of Salem, was drowned while running wood in a canoe, instead of carrying wood ; or, lastly, that all breeches were made up, and the church saved from ruin beyond all expectation, instead of breaches 1 The good sense and impartiality of Mr. Savage's comments form a singular contrast to the strong and unqualified par tiality too often extended by editors towards authors whom they have labored to render famous. The last days of James Savage are devoted to antiquarian research. " During the summer of 1842," says he, " in a visit to England, I was chiefly occupied with searching for materials to illustrate our early annals ; and, although disappointment was a natural consequence of some sanguine expectations, yet labor was followed by success in sev eral. Accident threw in my way richer acquisitions, which were secured with diligence." These comprise gleanings from New Eng land history, extending along one hundred pages in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, of names of early settlers, extracts from records, and an account of rare books and tracts written in New England. May the shade of Prince environ our antiquary ! His last, best days are intensely devoted, both by day and sometimes to the last hour of night, in preparing an elaborate work exhibiting the early genealogy of the first settlers of New England ; and no subtle divine or civilian ever followed up the minutest point of doubt with more conscientious regard to accuracy, which will render him the most eminent genealogist in America. The very exordium to the oration of Mr. Savage, at the head of this article, exhibits the ruling passion of his mind ; for he says : " K the accidental advantage of generous birth may well be a cause of congratulation to an individual, how greatly ought we to exult, my countrymen, on a review of our national origin ! Descended from the only people to whom Heaven has afforded the enjoyment of 358 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. liberty, with a well-balanced government, the means of securing its continuance in an age of general refinement, in a season of universal peace, our fathers began the controversy which ended in the glorious event that we this day celebrate." Mr. Savage published, in the New England Magazine for 1832, a History of the Adoption of the Constitution of Massachusetts, a per formance of great merit. In the paragraph on popular representation in the Legislature, of which he had been a member, he remarks : " Twenty years ago I had a right to a seat here, when the representa tives were seven hundred ; and one town favored the commonwealth with its delegate whose constituents were so few that, had an equal pro portion through the State been allowed to show equal kindness, the num ber would have exceeded five thousand and three hundred. A stranger might have been astonished at the manner in which Mr. Kuhn, the doorkeeper, performed his anxious duty ; and he would perhaps have irreverently said, that the members had been subjected to the treatment which carcasses undergo from the inspector-general of provisions. " In the diminution of the State, by the loss of Maine," continues Mr. Savage, in a note, " the relative weight of Hull has increased. Instead of one five thousand three hundred and twentieth, it is now one three thousand and eighteenth of the whole. But it has had no representative since, and I presume never had before." The well- known accuracy of Mr. Savage is proverbial. We know not the man of more scrupulous nicety ; but in this point of Hull he is off his guard. The editor of this work, being descended of the far-famed peninsula, of which is an old saying, "As goes Hull, so goes the State," feels some ambition that its representation be accurately stated. The General Court records show that Hull sent John Loring as its rep resentative in 1692 ; the venerable Benjamin Cushing in 1810 ; and since 1812, Samuel Loring, the justice of Hull, who was also of the house in the two years previous. The facetious editor of the Boston Courier, Mr. Kettelle, whose sprightly articles over the signature of Peeping Tom at Hull have extended its fame, said of this watering- place : " While stands the Pickerelseum, Hull stands; when falls the Pickerelaeum. Hull falls ; and when Hull falls, then roof and rafter of Boston town come tumbling after." One of the most profound instances of antiquarian research in James Savage appears in his argument on ancient and modern dating, com prising the report of a committee of the Pilgrim Society, of which he was JAMES SAVAGE. 359 chairman, on the question of the day to be observed as that of the landing of the Plymouth Pilgrims. It has been stated that the Hon. Judge Davis urged an attention to this subject in the year 1830, being of opinion that the date was Dec. 21, instead of the day usually cele brated. Moreover, it is stated in the Perpetual Calendar for Old and New Style, prepared by Dr. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, printed in 1848 : " Our Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth on Monday, the 11th day of December, 1620, 0. S. By the New Style, this occurrence would be on Monday, Dec. 21, 1620, and not on Dec. 22, as was erroneously adopted at Plymouth, at the first celebration of that event. This error arose by adopting the correction of eleven days, in use after the year 1700, it not being noticed that this event happened in the previous cen tury, when ten days only were required." The protracted existing doubts on this point induced the Pilgrim Society of Plymouth to appoint a committee, Dec. 15, 1849, to consider the expediency of cel ebrating in future the landing of the Pilgrims on the 21st day of December, instead of the 22d day. The learned report, prepared by Mr. Savage, tending to establish the former date, was unanimously accepted by the committee ; and accepted unanimously, also, by the Pilgrim Society, May 27, 1850. Mr. Savage enlarges, moreover, in this document, which should be perpetuated in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, on mistakes in relation to the date of the surrender of Louisburg, to the date of the landing of Endicott, in Salem, of the landing of Winthrop in Charlestown, of the naming of Boston, which Judge Davis ascertained in 1830, and to the mistake of the Historical Society regarding the period of the confederation of the four New England colonies. And, in conclusion, Mr. Savage very pleas antly remarks : " Why should we celebrate a day later, for that of our fathers' landing ? The truth should be good enough for us ; and that is the only reason for preference of one day to another. When, by habit, the right day has become the day of reverence, it will be won dered why the wrong was so often observed." Indeed, we cannot leave this subject without noticing an error of the American Antiquarian Society, alluded to in the Perpetual Calendar, in adopting Oct. 23, 1492, as the date of the discovery of America by Columbus, for the annual meeting of the society, instead of Oct. 21, which was the actual date, and arising from the same cause as that of the Pilgrim Society. We hope this investigation will prevent the recurrence of similar mistakes, and, with Shakspeare, — 360 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. "Let 's take the instant by the forward top ; For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees The inaudible and noiseless foot of time Steals, ere we can effect them." Mr. Savage is a man of untiring industry. He prepared the index to the Ancient Charter and Laws of Massachusetts Bay, and revised the work for the press, published in 1814. He edited Paley's works, and the press-work of American State papers, in ten volumes, selected by John Quincy Adams. He is president of the Massachu setts Historical Society, and editor of a few volumes of its Historical Collections, and contributor of many valuable articles in that work, and in the Boston Daily Advertiser. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of the New York Historical Society ; and is a vice-president, and has been treasurer, of the Provident Insti tution for Savings in Boston, of which he was the principal originator, on its foundation, in 1816. HENRY ALEXANDER SCAMMELL DEARBORN. JULY i, 1811. FOR THE BUNKER HULL ASSOCIATION. In this performance of Gen. Dearborn, delivered in the presence also of the State executive, he remarks : "On Bunker's ever-memorable heights was first displayed the lofty spirit of invincible patriotism which impelled the adventurous soldier to brave the severest hardships of the tented field, and endure in northern climes the rugged toils of war uncanopied from the boreal storm and rude inclemencies of Canadian winters. On that American Thermopylae, where, wrapt in the dim smoke of wanton conflagration, fought the assembled sovereigns of their native soil, the everlasting bulwarks of freedom, and thrice rolled back the tremendous tide of war, was evinced that unconquerable intrepid ity, that national ardor and meritorious zeal, which secured victory on the plains of Saratoga, stormed the ramparts of Yorktown, and bore the bannered eagle in triumph from the shores of the Atlantic to the furthest confines of the wilderness. " By that destructive battle were awakened the most exalted facul ties of the mind. Reason, unrestrained, burst forth in the plenitude HENRY ALEXANDER SCAMMELL DEARBORN. 361 of its effulgence. Man, regenerated and disenthralled, beat down the walls of slavish incarceration, and trampled on the broken chains of regal bondage. The vast resources of an emancipated people were called into generous exertion. An enthusiastic spirit of independence glowed in every breast, and spread the uncontaminated sentiments of emulative freemen over the broad extent of an exasperated republic. The united energies of a virtuous people were strenuously directed to the effectual accomplishment of national independence. During those portentous times were achieved the most honorable deeds which are inscribed on the ever-during records of fame. Stimulated by accumu lating wrongs, and elated by the purest feelings of anticipated success, no disastrous events could check the progress of their arms, — no fas cinating allurements deflect them from that honorable path which they had sworn to pursue, or perish in the hazardous attempt. Inspired by the guardian genius of Liberty, no barriers could oppose their impet uous career. Like the ' Pontic Sea, whose icy current and compul sive course ne'er feels retiring ebb,' the irrefluent tide of freedom rolls unrestrained. By the courageous virtue of our illustrious heroes were secured those inestimable blessings which we have since enjoyed. To the warriors and statesmen of the Revolution are we indebted for all those distinguished privileges which place the citizens of the United States beyond the predatory vengeance of ruthless oppression. This invaluable inheritance is the prize of slaughter acquired by the lives of contending freemen, secured with the blood of battling patriots." The father of Gen. Dearborn, who was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and a captain in Col. Stark's regiment, relates that, being desti tute of ammunition, the regiment formed in front of a house occupied as an arsenal, where each man received a gill-cup full of powder, fifteen balls, and one flint. The several captains were then ordered to march their companies to their respective quarters, and make up their powder and ball into cartridges, with the greatest possible despatch. As there were scarcely two muskets in a company of equal calibre, it was nec essary to reduce the size of the balls for many of them ; and as but a small proportion of the men had cartridge-boxes, the remainder made use of powder-horns and ball-pouches. Every platoon-officer was engaged in discharging his own musket, and left his men to fire as they pleased, but never without a sure aim at some particular object. He did not see a man quit his post during the action ; and did not believe a single soldier who was brought into the field fled until the 31 362 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. whole army was obliged to retreat for want of powder and ball. It is a most extraordinary fact, that the British did not make a single charge during the battle ; which, if attempted, would have been decisive and fatal to the Americans, as they did not carry into the field fifty bay onets. In his company there was but one. Not an officer or sol dier of the continental troops engaged was in uniform, but were in the plain and ordinary dress of citizens ; nor was there an officer on horse back. Henry A. S. Dearborn was born in Exeter, N. H., March 3, 1783 ; was the son of Gen. Henry, who married Dorcas Osgood, March 28, 1780. He early entered Williamstown Academy ; was first a student at Williamstown College ; entered, in advance, at William and Mary's College, Williamsburgh, Ya., where he graduated in 1803. He studied law under Hon. William Wirt, and closed his course with Judge Story, of Salem ; begun the practice of law in Portland, in 1806, and married Hannah Swett, a daughter of Col. William R. Lee, of Marblehead, at Salem, Mass., May 3, 1807. He became a coun- sellor-at-law ; was deputy-collector of Boston, under his father, in 1811, and his successor as collector of the port of Boston in 1813, which station he occupied until the appointment of David Hen- shaw, in 1830. Gen. Dearborn delivered the oration on our national independence, July 4, 1811, for the Bunker Hill Association ; which, with the Republican Society, were merged in a new society, called the Washington Society, of which Charles Hood was the first president. He was commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, in 1816 ; was brigadier-general of the Massachusetts militia, in 1814 ; was a member from Roxbury of the convention for revising the State constitution, 1820. He was a Roxbury representative in 1830 ; of the Governor's Council, of the State Senate, from Norfolk, 1831, and a member of Congress in 1832. He was also the adjutant-general of Massachusetts, 1835. In 1847 Gen. Dearborn was the second elected Mayor of Roxbury, which station he honored to the day of his decease, July 29, 1851. The reports of the speeches of Gen. Dearborn, in the journal of the convention of 1820, evince force of argument and political sagacity. In his speech on religious tests, he remarked that political opinions were not subject to a test, — why should those upon religion be subject to any 1 They had no right to compel a man to throw open the portals of the mind, and discover his religious sentiments. He trusted such HENRY ALEXANDER SCAMJIELL DEARBORN. 363 oppression would not prevail in this free and enlightened country. There wis no authority for it in the Scriptures ; and it was not until the third century that persons raised to civil offices were required to believe in any particular religious creed. He had heard it said that this test will exclude immoral and wicked men from office. He asked if such had been the effect of tests in other countries. The offer of a sceptre had induced princes to cross themselves, or to throw off their allegiance to the Pope, just as suited their views of aggrandizement. In England a man goes to take the sacrament, not to repent of his sins, but because he is chosen First Lord of the Treasury. The Dec laration of Independence which proclaims, and the United States con stitution which prescribes, our rights, require no test — no reason requires a test in the State constitution. The origin of the Rural Cemetery at Mount Auburn may be traced to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, whose anniversary discourse he delivered September. 182i' : and was its first president, when a com mittee was selected to devise measures for this purpose, in connection with an experimental garden. Gen. Dearborn, while president of this society, was chairman of this committee, and prepared a report, in which an extensive and able exposition was made of the advantages of the undertaking ; and, on the 8th of June, 1831, another committee, of which Gen. Dearborn was a member, was appointed to forward this object. — - and for sixty days a horse and chaise was ready at his door, that he might traverse the grounds and execute the design. On Sept. 24th. of the same year, the cemetery was consecrated, and Hon. Judge Story gave an eloquent address on the occasion: and much credit should be conceded to Gen. Dearborn for the architectural and rural taste exhibited in the order of Mount Auburn Cemetery. The city of Roxbury is under peculiar obligation to Mayor Dearborn as the originator of Forest Hills Cemetery, consecrated June 28. 184S. In allusion to this noble repository of the dead, the honored Mayor Dear born remarks of it as "a retired, umbrageous, magnificent, and sacred garden, -which will continually augment the number and variety of funereal monuments, as well as insure the erection of such other struc tures as may be deemed expedient, and so capacious as to entirely supersede the occasion for any other burial-place in that city." Mayor Dearborn, of Roxbury, had accumulated ninety volumes of manuscript, largely of his own production : among which is the Life ¦ and Times of Maj. Gen Henry Dearborn, including an extensive cor- 364 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. respondence with the greatest men of our country, in eleven volumes. He had written a Diary, or journal of his own life and times, and cor respondence with famous men, in forty-five volumes. He had written Grecian Architecture, in two volumes folio ; a volume on Flowers, with drawings, and compiled a Harmony of the Life of Christ, 8vo., prepared for the instruction of his children, when they were educated. He had written the Memoirs of Commodore William Bainbridge, in 400 pa^es ; a History of the Battle of Bunker Hill, in several hundred pages of quarto, besides literary and scientific works. He was author, moreover, of the Memoirs of Col. William R. Lee, in two volumes quarto. Gen. Dearborn had an extensive library in his romantic cot tage in Roxbury, where the intervals of leisure were devoted to his diary and literary research. Would that he had lived to complete the hundredth volume of mental power ! No man in New England was more devoted to literature and science. He had great force of intel lect, and a large share of varied learning. His unpublished produc tions will add new illustrations to American history, and would be a valuable legacy to. the Massachusetts Historical Society, should they never be published. The most valuable work ever printed of which he was the author is the History of the Commerce of the Black Seas, in two volumes octavo, which has a high character in the North Amer ican Review of 1820. Should his residence be destroyed by fire, with all the manuscripts, it would cause a vacuum that never can be filled. In the peroration of Dr. Putnam's eulogy on Gen. Dearborn we find this glowing passage: "Lie lightly upon his bosom, ye clods of the valley; for he trod softly on you, in loving regard for every green thing that ye bore ! Bend benignantly over him, ye towering trees of the forest, and soothe his slumbers with the whisperings of your sweet est requiem ; for he loved you as his very brothers of God's garden, and nursed you, and knew almost every leaf on your boughs ! Guard sacredly his ashes, ye steep, strong cliffs that gird his grave ; for ye were the altars at which he worshipped the Almighty One, who planted you there in your strength." Mayor Dearborn was a member of the American Antiquarian Soci ety, Massachusetts Historical Society, New England Genealogical Historic Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Amer ican Association for Advancement of Science. BENJAMIN POLLARD. 365 BENJAMIN POLLARD. JULY i, 1812. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. The ancestor of this family was William Pollard, whose wife, Anne -, died in Boston, Dec. 6, 1725, aged one hundred and five years, and lefjt of her offspring one hundred and thirty. She used to relate that she went over in the first boat that crossed Charles River, in 1630, to what has since been called Boston ; that she was the first that jumped ashore ; and she described the place as being at that time very uneven, abounding in small hollows and swamps, and covered with blueberry and other bushes. In the library of the Massachusetts His torical Society is a portrait of this centenarian, taken in 1723, pre sented by Isaac Winslow, Esq. Col. Benjamin Pollard, a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1726, Sheriff of Suffolk for thirteen years, and founder of the Boston Cadets in 1744, whose portrait is also in the Historical Society, was father of Col. Jonathan Pollard, who married Mary Johnson ; was a goldsmith, whose shop adjoined that of the bookstore of Gen. Knox, and in 1777 was an aid-de-camp to the latter in the Revolutionary War; and Benjamin, the subject of this notice, was his son, born in Boston in 1780, on the site of the Tremont Temple. His teacher was Francis Nichols, in Scollay's Buildings, who was an importer of books from London. He was Clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1811 to 1815. He was secretary of the State convention for revising the constitution, in 1820 ; and was the City Marshal of Boston from its incorporation, in 1822, until his. decease, November, 1836, aged fifty- six. Marshal Pollard was very partial to polite literature and politics, and was the reputed editor of two periodicals, — the Emerald, and the Ordeal, — which, it is said, went down at no distant period from each other. Ignorant of this fact, a literary stranger inquired of Robert Treat Paine " what rank this gentleman held among the literati." Paine answered, "He possesses the greatest literary execution of any man in America. Two journals have perished under his hands, in six months." The Ordeal was first issued in January, 1809, in connec tion with Joseph T. Buckingham ; and its objects were, to attack the Democratic party, to review and ridicule the small literary publica- 31* 366 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. tions of the press, and to discipline the children of Thespis. Pollard was a vigorous writer. His letters, reviews, and essays on political topics, evinced rare ability. He was an admirer of Ames, Hamilton, Strong, Gore, Lowell, and other Federal authors, and a real hater of Jefferson, Madison, and the writers in the Independent Chronicle. He wrote a review of Giles' speech in the U. S. Senate, on the resolution of Hillhouse to repeal the embargo laws. He addressed, in part, a series of letters to Madison, signed "Marcus Brutus." He wrote on the " Spanish cause," Napoleon being then at war with that country and showed much vituperation. The political articles in this periodi cal were in a tone of caustic and vindictive censure, and "rather applied to personages of scale and office," said Mr. Pollard, "than to individuals who, however they might have deserved, have found protection in insignificance." Mr. Pollard, though not possessing a liberal share of charity toward his political opponents, gave peculiar evidence of a warm spirit of benevolence in the cause of common humanity. He remarked, in an address for a charitable society : "As the faculty of speech marks the chief distinction between man and the brute creation, so the sympathies of his heart are the elevating qualities which exalt him to a rank among celestial beings. And perhaps the divinity of his origin and his destiny is in nothing more fully evinced than in the relief which he extends to his fellow-men in the various vicissitudes of their lives. The majesty of his soul expands by the natural enlargement of his charity, which comprehends the whole human race within its folds ; his grovelling appetites and passions are left at an infinite distance below him, and though his feet are fixed upon earth, yet his ethereal essence is combining with congenial spirits in the skies. His common feelings extend beyond the reach of the sudden impulses of ordinary men, as a great river is always superior to a smaller stream, however swelled by accidental accumulations." Mr. Pollard was an early editor of the Boston Evening Gazette, and his talent was mostly devoted to dramatic criticism in that paper. A friend wrote of him, in the Gazette, after his decease, that he had the ready wit of Garrick, and more dignity than Sterne. Marshal Pollard had the qualities of an orator. His enunciation was clear and sonorous, and he for many years read in a manly and eloquent manner the "Declaration of Independence" at Fourth-of- July celebrations, previous to the delivery of an oration by a speaker EDWARD ST. L0E LIVERMORE. 367 for the occasion. The oration of Mr. Pollard at the head of this article was not printed. Russell's Centinel remarked that the prayer of Rev. Mr. Holley, and the oration, were peculiarly pertinent, animating and patriotic. Mr. Pollard was about six feet in height, with rather a bending of the shoulders. He was highly accomplished in manners, and a finished gentleman. With what graceful ease and dignity he performed the ceremony of introducing the citizens of Boston to the admired Lafayette, in the Doric hall of the State House, August, 1824, is strong in the memory of many who enjoyed the honor. The refined taste and social qualities of Marshal Pollard were better suited for the drawing-room than for the purlieus of the City Hall, or the duties of a police-officer. Marshal Pollard, though amply qualified to devise projects for the prevention of crime, had not the efficiency to execute them. His successors were, Parkman, Weston, Blake, Gibbs, and Tukey. It may be a question whether Francis Tukey is to the municipality what Fouche was to the court of Napoleon ; but can there be a doubt that he is the Eugene Vidocq of New England, as regards the vigilant detection of offenders 1 EDWARD ST. LOE LIVERMORE. JULY 4, 1813. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. Was born at Holderness, N. H., where he resided in 1815. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1800; was a counsellor-at-law ; and married Sarah Creese, daughter of William Stackpole, a merchant of Boston. Was U. S. Attorney to the Circuit Court ; a member of Congress for Essex county, Mass., 1806 to 1812. Was a judge of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. Was a resident of Boston in 1813. Miss Harriet Livermore, the celebrated lecturer, was his daughter. When at Portsmouth, he gave an oration on the dissolution of the political union between the United States and France, in 1799; and an oration on the embargo law, Jan. 6, 1809. He died at Tewksbury, Sept. 22, 1832, aged seventy. 368 THE HUNDRED BOSTON ORATORS. BENJAMIN WHITWELL. JULY 4, 1814. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. Was born at Boston, June 22, 1772 ; entered the Latin School in 1779 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1790 ; was a counsellor-at- law ; and married Lucy Scollay, May, 1808. Was deputy Secretary of State in 1816 ; was poet for the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cam bridge in 1806 ; and died at Hallowell, April 5, 1825. In 1799, at Augusta, he gave a eulogy on Washington. HORACE HOLLEY. APRIL 30, 1815. FOR THE WASHINGTON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. This institution was organized Feb. 22, 1812, on which occasion Gen. Arnold Welles was elected president, and William Sullivan, Josiah Quincy, Henry Purkitt, Daniel Messenger, Francis J. Oliver, and Benjamin Russell, were elected vice-presidents. The Washington Benevolent Society was originated, it is said, in the office of Nathan Hale, attorney-at-law, No. 12 Exchange-street. The object of this society was to cherish and disseminate the principles of Washington, and to establish a fund for the aid of those unfortunate members of the institution who are reduced by the pressure of the times to a state of poverty. To effect its objects, they held monthly meetings for debate at the Exchange Coffee-house, when political speeches were delivered by our first men. The meetings were free to all parties. Political editors and party leaders attended ; and the society soon increased to more than two thousand members. An oration was delivered annually on the 30th of April, in honor of the inauguration of Washington. The admission fee was two dollars, to constitute a member. The orations were pronounced until the peace of Dec. 22, 1815 ; and its orators were Sullivan, Quincy, Bigelow and Holley, whose per formances, with the exception of the latter, were printed. The HORACE HOLLEY. 369 oration of Holley was delivered in the Old South Church. Rus sell, of the Centinel, remarked of this performance, that it comprised a full and able commentary upon the principles professed by the disciples of Washington ; an application of them to the recent events which have occurred since the elevation of the Jeffersonian administration, etc. It is highly probable that the Hartford Convention owes its origin more especially to this institution than to the Essex Junto. In the absence of Holley's oration, we will introduce a beautiful passage from an unpublished manuscript of his, which we have recently perused, where, in enlarging on truly great minds of varied influence, he lastly introduces Washington, "whose judgment presides over almost every other power, where there is but little or no preeminence of genius ; where there is no attempt at invention, at great and comprehensive arguments in form ; where wonder and novelties have nothing to do with the decisions for practice ; where experiment is so mingled with the tried result of past years as not to be distinguished ; where there is a clear knowledge of character in the individual state, and an unri valled judgment to collect, sift, separate, and use for the most valu able purposes, the information thus obtained. Such was the mind of Washington, — and here I stop, declaring the most gratified admira tion, and uttering the most fervent prayers for the wider diffusion of this uncommon class of minds." In the procession of this institution were four hundred boys, in a uniform dress, decorated with wreaths and garlands, each one bearing on his breast a copy of Washington's Legacy, in a morocco-bouhd miniature volume, suspended by a ribbon. An elegant standard, and twenty banners, were borne by twenty-one youths, on each of which were inscribed patriotic mottoes. These sons of Sparta were drilled for parade in Faneuil Hall ; and a complete record of their names, preserved by Lemuel Blake, Esq., one of the managers, and a treas urer of the society, is appended to this volume. This institution was watched with a keen eye of jealousy. In the Boston Gazette of May 2, 1814, we find an impromptu, on hearing an "envious" Democrat boast of the success of his prayers for rain to drench the Washington roses, on the day of the procession : " Cease, railer ! thy prayer is both foolish and vain, The Washington rose-tree is safe from disaster ; The gentle effusion of April's soft rain WiU nourish its root, and expand its buds faster. 370 Tmi HUNDRED BOSTON 02AT0B^. Ner think for the c-ooi-zna^tlei son that it grieres, — It shall S -.tz-Is! wfcai natnre'a Tirigii glories are KLfei ; T--.r^.'».n>!i ^: heaven, its odorous leases .?li cr=a.i» iSiesr perf^* Trisere is Patram '= asreoded- Irc=i t-.^rri— "= =.:£ lis TTasbiszteE. wee rTial! draw is rirrirlir, is U'jra ncra- feding, W>~p the pr.i3cn;s= p-s^.- ~ii in Ertri5 ~.'== »- ..." rejrsrd, Treiiisi 'lane, ihy pro&ae sisx^ii^g ! " The eloqueioce of Hcraoe Holler, on the delivery of a sermon before the Ancient ar.1 Hot-oraole Artillery Conpsnv. in 1811. was so over- powerLi.z. tlst a sr/_:ot.aiie42. At. als uri attenpt has been made id trace his descent front Einatnod Hallej, tie etnioeTt astrc.ttOir.er of Eno-lanl who del in 1741. a sr eat- grandson of VLom iras said to he Luther Holley. tie tatler of tie saliect of tils CTrtiix-e. 3£. Holey iras -tottlit interested in the old Eeieral party, hut liefer stole at a political caucus : and it is related of lino, that, afier ft—f-r '-- z a 'debate lo Faneuil Hal. -srlit-l he entered am in ana -^tiil Sotio:el Dexter, lis persc