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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9174-h.zip b/9174-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e82f4a --- /dev/null +++ b/9174-h.zip diff --git a/9174-h/9174-h.htm b/9174-h/9174-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..68b8ce6 --- /dev/null +++ b/9174-h/9174-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5265 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= + "text/html; charset=us-ascii"> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bay State Monthly, Vol. I, No. 1, + by Various. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + --> + </style> + </head> + <body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Bay State Monthly, Vol. 1, Issue 1., by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bay State Monthly, Vol. 1, Issue 1. + A Massachusetts Magazine of Literature, History, Biography, + And State Progress + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: October 14, 2012 [EBook #9174] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 11, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BAY STATE MONTHLY, VOL 1, ISSUE 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + + + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <center> + THE + </center> + <h1> + Bay State Monthly + </h1> + <center> + <b>A Massachusetts Magazine<br> + <br> + of<br> + <br> + LITERATURE, HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, AND STATE PROGRESS</b> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <hr> + <b>VOLUME I</b> + <hr> + </center> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h2> + CONTENTS + </h2> + + <center> + <i>(Contains listings for other issues; links are only included for the articles in this issue.)</i> + </center><br> + <p> Abbott, Josiah Gardner <i>John Hatch George</i></p> + + <p><a href="#a04"> + An Incident of Sixteen Hundred and Eighty-Six</a> <i>Mellen + Chamberlain</i> + </p> + <p> + Ansart, Louis <i>Clara Clayton</i> + </p> + <p> + Arthur, Chester Alan <i>Ben: Perley Poore</i> + </p> + <p> + Beacon Hill Before the Houses <i>David M. Balfour</i> + </p> + <p> + Boston Tea-Party, The + </p> + <p> + Boston, The First Schoolmaster of <i>Elizabeth Porter + Gould</i> + </p> + <p><a href="#a07"> + Boston, The Siege of, Developed</a> <i>Henry B. Carrington, + U.S.A., LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Boston Young Men's Christian Association, The <i>Russell + Sturgis, Jr.</i> + </p> + <p> + Boundary Lines of Old Groton, The <i>Samuel Abbott Green, + M.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + British Force and the Leading Losses in the Revolution + </p> + <p> + British Losses in the Revolution + </p> + <p> + Bunker Hill <i>Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Butler, Benjamin Franklin + </p> + <p> + Chelsea <i>William E. McClintock, C.E.</i> + </p> + <p> + Defence of New York, 1776, The <i>Henry B. Carrington, + U.S.A., LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Dungeon Rock, Lynn <i>Frank P. Harriman</i> + </p> + <p> + Early Harvard <i>Josiah Layfayette Seward, A.M.</i> + </p> + <p> + Esoteric Buddhism.—A Review <i>Lucius H. Buckingham, + Ph.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Fac-Simile Reprint of Daniel Webster's Fourth-of-July + Oration, Delivered in 1800. + </p> + <p><a href="#a03"> + Family Immigration to New England, The</a> <i>Thomas W. Bicknell, + LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + First Baptist Church in Massachusetts, The <i>Thomas W. + Bicknell, LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + First Schoolmaster of Boston, The <i>Elizabeth Porter + Gould</i> + </p> + <p> + From the White Horse to Little Rhody <i>Charles M. + Barrows</i> + </p> + <p> + Fuller, George <i>Sidney Dickinson</i> + </p> + <p> + Gifts to Colleges and Universities <i>Charles F. Thwing</i> + </p> + <p> + Groton, The Boundary Lines of Old <i>Samuel Abbott Green, + M.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Groton, The Old Stores and the Post-Offices of <i>Samuel + Abbott Green, M.D.</i> + </p> + <p><a href="#a02"> + Groton, The Old Taverns and Stage-Coaches of</a> <i>Samuel Abbott + Green, M.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Harvard, Early <i>Josiah Lafayette Seward, A.M.</i> + </p> + <p> + Historical Notes + </p> + <p> + Historic Trees: The Washington Elm; The Eliot Oak <i>L.L. + Dame</i> + </p> + <p> + Lancaster in Acadie and the Acadiens in Lancaster <i>Henry S. + Nourse</i> + </p> + <p> + Lovewell's War <i>John N. McClintock, A.M.</i> + </p> + <p> + Lowell + </p> + <p> + Loyalists of Lancaster, The <i>Henry S. Nourse</i> + </p> + <p> + Massachusetts, The First Baptist Church in <i>Thomas W. + Bicknell, LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Massachusetts, Young Men's Christian Associations of + <i>Russell Sturgis, Jr.</i> + </p> + <p><a href="#a03"> + New England, The Family Immigration to</a> <i>Thomas W. Bicknell, + LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + New England Town-House, The <i>J.B. Sewall</i> + </p> + <p> + New York, 1776, The Defence of <i>Henry B. Carrington, + U.S.A., LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Ohio Floods, The <i>George E. Fencks</i> + </p> + <p> + Old Stores and the Post-Office of Groton, The <i>Samuel + Abbott Green, M.D.</i> + </p> + <p><a href="#a02"> + Old Taverns and Stage-Coaches of Groton, The</a> <i>Samuel Abbott + Green, M.D.</i> + </p> + <p><a href="#a05"> + One Summer.—A Reminiscence</a> <i>Annie Wentworth Baer</i> + </p> + <p> + Perkins, Captain George Hamilton <i>George E. Belknap, + U.S.N.</i> + </p> + <p> + Poet of the Bells, The <i>E.H. Goss</i> + </p> + <p><a href="#a08"> + Railway Mail Service, The</a> <i>Thomas P. Cheney</i> + </p> + <p><a href="#a09"> + Reuben Tracy's Vacation Trips</a> <i>Elizabeth Porter Gould</i> + </p> + <p> + Revolution, British Force and Leading Losses in the + </p> + <p> + Revolution, British Losses in the + </p> + <p> + Rice, Alexander Hamilton <i>Daniel B. Hagar, Ph.D.</i> + </p> + <p><a href="#a07"> + Siege of Boston Developed, The</a> <i>Henry B. Carrington, + U.S.A., LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Town and City Histories <i>Robert Luce</i> + </p> + <p> + Webster, Colonel Fletcher <i>Charles Cowley, LL.D.</i> + </p> + <p> + Webster, Daniel, Fourth-of-July Oration of + </p> + <p><a href="#a01"> + Wilder, Marshall P.</a> <i>John Ward Dean, A.M.</i> + </p> + <p> + Young Men's Christian Associations <i>Russell Sturgis, + Jr.</i> + </p> + <p> + Young Men's Christian Associations of Massachusetts + <i>Russell Sturgis, Jr.</i> + </p> + <center> + <b>POETRY.</b> + </center> + <p><a href="#a06"> + Bells of Bethlehem, The</a> <i>James T. Fields</i> + </p> + <p> + His Greatest Triumph <i>Henrietta E. Page</i> + </p> + <p> + Rent Veil, The <i>Henry B. Carrington</i> + </p> + <p> + Song of the Winds <i>Henry B. Carrington</i> + </p> + <p> + Tuberoses <i>Laura Garland Carr</i> + </p> + <p> + Yesterday <i>Kate L. Brown</i> + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <center> + + <img alt="01.jpg (220K)" src="images/01.jpg"> + + </center> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <center> + <b>THE<br> + BAY STATE MONTHLY.<br> + <br> + <i>A Massachusetts Magazine</i><br> + <br></b> VOL. I. JANUARY, 1884. No. 1. + <p> + + </p> + </center> + <hr> +<a name="a01"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + Hon. MARSHALL P. WILDER, Ph.D. + </h2> + <h3> + BY JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M. + </h3> + <center> + [Librarian of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.] + </center> + <p> + The editors of THE BAY STATE MONTHLY, having decided to begin + in its pages a series of articles devoted to the material + advancement and prosperity of Massachusetts, and the record + of her past greatness, have selected the Honorable Marshall + Pinckney Wilder as a representative man, and have decided + that his memoir shall be the initial article in the series, + and also in this periodical. He has as a merchant won for + himself a high position, and by his enterprise has + essentially advanced the business of the city and the State. + He has also been active in developing our manufacturing + industries, while his name is first on all lips when those + who have increased the products of the soil are named. His + life affords a striking example of what can be achieved by + concentration of power and unconquerable perseverance. The + bare enumeration of the important positions he has held and + still holds, and the self-sacrificing labors he has + performed, is abundant evidence of the extraordinary talent + and ability, and the personal power and influence, which have + enabled him to take a front rank as a benefactor to mankind. + </p> + <p> + MARSHALL PINCKNEY WILDER, whose Christian names were given in + honor of Chief-Justice Marshall and General Pinckney, eminent + statesmen at the time he was born, was the eldest son of + Samuel Locke Wilder, Esq., of Rindge, New Hampshire, and was + born in that town, September 22, 1798. His father, a nephew + of the Reverend Samuel Locke, D.D., president of Harvard + College, for whom he was named, was thirteen years a + representative in the New Hampshire legislature, a member of + the Congregational church in Rindge, and held important town + offices there. His mother, Anna, daughter of Jonathan and + Mary (Crombie) Sherwin (married May 2, 1797), a lady of great + moral worth, was, as her son is, a warm admirer of the + beauties of nature. + </p> + <p> + The Wilders are an ancient English family, which The Book of + the Wilders, published a few years ago, traces to Nicholas + Wilder, a military chieftain in the army of the Earl of + Richmond at the battle of Bosworth, 1485. There is strong + presumptive evidence that the American family is an offshoot + from this. President Chadbourne, the author of The Book of + the Wilders, in his life of Colonel Wilder gives reasons for + this opinion. The paternal ancestors of Colonel Wilder in + this country performed meritorious services in the Indian + wars, in the American Revolution, and in Shays' Rebellion. + His grandfather was one of the seven delegates from the + county of Worcester, in the Massachusetts convention of 1788, + for ratifying the Constitution of the United States, who + voted in favor of it. Isaac Goodwin, Esq., in The Worcester + Magazine, vol. ii, page 45, bears this testimony: "Of all the + ancient Lancaster families, there is no one that has + sustained so many important offices as that of Wilder," + </p> + <p> + At the age of four, Marshall was sent to school, and at + twelve he entered New Ipswich Academy, his father desiring to + give him a collegiate education, with reference to a + profession. When he reached the age of sixteen, his father + gave him the choice, either to qualify himself for a farmer, + or for a merchant, or to fit for college. He chose to be a + farmer; and to this choice may we attribute in no small + degree the mental and physical energy which has distinguished + so many years of his life. But the business of his father + increased so much that he was taken into the the store. He + there acquired such habits of industry that at the age of + twenty-one he became a partner, and was appointed postmaster + of Rindge. + </p> + <p> + In 1825, he sought a wider field of action and removed to + Boston. Here be began business under the firm-name of Wilder + and Payson, in Union Street; then as Wilder and Smith, in + North Market Street; and next in his own name at No. 3 + Central Wharf. In 1837, he became a partner in the commission + house of Parker, Blanchard, and Wilder, Water Street; next + Parker, Wilder, and Parker, Pearl Street; and since Parker, + Wilder, and Company, Winthrop Square, having continued until + this time in the same house for forty-seven years. Mr. Wilder + has lived to be the oldest commission merchant in domestic + fabrics in active business in Boston. He has passed through + various crises of commercial embarrassments, and yet he has + never failed to meet his obligations. He was an original + director in the Hamilton (now Hamilton National) Bank and in + the National Insurance Company. The former trust he has held + for fifty-two years, and the latter for forty years. He has + been a director in the New England Mutual Life Insurance + Company for nearly forty years, and also a director in other + similar institutions. + </p> + <p> + But trade and the acquisition of wealth have not been the + all-engrossing pursuits of his life. His inherent love of + rural pursuits led him, in 1832, to purchase his present + estate in Dorchester, originally that of Governor Increase + Sumner, where, after devoting a proper time to business, he + has given his leisure to horticulture and agriculture He has + spared no expense, he has rested from no efforts, to instil + into the public mind a love of an employment so honorable and + useful. He has cultivated his own grounds, imported seeds, + plants, and trees, and endeavored by his example to encourage + labor and elevate the rank of the husbandman. His garden, + greenhouses, and a forest of fruit-trees have occupied the + time he could spare from business, and here he has prosecuted + his favorite investigations, year after year, for half a + century, to the present day. + </p> + <p> + Soon after the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was + formed, Mr. Wilder was associated with the late General Henry + A.S. Dearborn, its first president, and from that time till + now has been one of its most efficient members, constantly + attending its meetings, taking part in its business and + discussions, and contributing largely to its exhibitions. + Four years since, he delivered the oration on the occasion of + its semi-centennial. One of the most important acts of this + society was the purchase of Mount Auburn for a cemetery and + an ornamental garden. On the separation of the cemetery from + the society, in 1835, through Mr. Wilder's influence + committees were appointed by the two corporations, Judge + Story being chairman of the cemetery committee, and Mr. + Wilder of the society committee. The situation was fraught + with great difficulties; but Mr. Wilder's conservative + course, everywhere acknowledged, overcame them all and + enabled the society to erect an elegant hall in School + Street, and afterward the splendid building it now occupies + in Tremont Street, the most magnificent horticultural hall in + the world. It has a library which is everywhere acknowledged + to be the best horticultural library anywhere. In 1840, he + was chosen president, and held the office for eight + successive years. During his presidency the hall in School + Street was erected, and two triennial festivals were held in + Faneuil Hall, which are particularly worthy of notice. The + first was opened September 11, 1845, and the second on the + fiftieth anniversary of his birth, September 22, 1848, when + he retired from the office of president, and the society + voted him a silver pitcher valued at one hundred and fifty + dollars, and caused his portrait to be placed in its hall. As + president of this association he headed a circular for a + convention of fruit-growers, which was held in New York, + October 10. 1848, when the American Pomological Society was + formed. He was chosen its first president, and he still holds + that office, being in his thirty-third year of service. Its + biennial meetings have been held in New York, Philadelphia, + Cincinnati, Boston, Rochester, St. Louis, Richmond, Chicago, + and Baltimore; and it will hold its next meeting in Detroit. + On these occasions President Wilder has made appropriate + addresses. The last meeting was held, September, 1883, in + Philadelphia, when his last address was delivered. In this + address, with his usual foresight, he proposed a grand reform + in the nomenclature of fruits for our country, and asked the + co-operation of other nations in this reform. + </p> + <p> + In February, 1849, the Norfolk Agricultural Society was + formed. Mr. Wilder was chosen president, and the Honorable + Charles Francis Adams, vice-president. Before this society + his first address on agricultural education was delivered. + This was a memorable occasion. There were then present, + George N. Briggs, the governor, and John Reed, the + lieutenant-governor, of the State, Daniel Webster, Edward + Everett, Horace Mann, Levi Lincoln, Josiah Quincy, president + of Harvard University, General Henry A.S. Dearborn, Governor + Isaac Hill, of New Hampshire, the Reverend John Pierpont, + Josiah Quincy, Jr., Charles Francis Adams, and Robert C. + Winthrop,—of which galaxy of eminent men, the last two + only are now living. It was the first general effort in that + cause in this country. He was president twenty years, and on + his retirement he was constituted honorary president, and a + resolution was passed recognizing his eminent ability and + usefulness in promoting the arts of horticulture and + agriculture, and his personal excellence in every department + of life. He next directed his efforts to establishing the + Massachusetts board of agriculture, organized as the + Massachusetts Central Board of Agriculture, at a meeting of + delegates of agricultural societies in the State, held at the + State House, September, 1851, in response to a circular + issued by him as president of the Norfolk Agricultural + Society. He was elected president, and held the office till + 1852, when it became a department of the State, and he is now + the senior member of that board. In 1858, the Massachusetts + School of Agriculture was incorporated, and he was chosen + president; but before the school was opened Congress granted + land to the several States for agricultural colleges, and in + 1865 the Legislature incorporated the Massachusetts + Agricultural College. He was named the first trustee. In + 1871, the first class was graduated, and in 1878 he had the + honor of conferring the degree of Bachelor of Science on + twenty young gentlemen graduates. He delivered addresses on + both occasions. In 1852, he issued a circular in behalf of + several States for a national meeting at Washington, which + was fully attended, and where the United States Agricultural + Society was organized. Daniel Webster and a host of + distinguished men assisted in its formation. This society, of + which he was president for the first six years, exercised a + beneficial influence till the breaking out of the late Civil + War. On Mr. Wilder's retirement he received the gold medal of + honor and a service of silver plate. He is a member of many + other horticultural and agricultural societies in this and + foreign lands. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Wilder, at an early age, took an interest in military + affairs. At sixteen he was enrolled in the New Hampshire + militia, and at twenty-one he was commissioned adjutant. He + organized and equipped the Rindge Light Infantry, and was + chosen its captain. At twenty-five five he was elected + lieutenant-colonel, and at twenty-six was commissioned as + colonel of the Twelfth Regiment. + </p> + <p> + Soon after his removal to Boston he joined the Ancient and + Honorable Artillery Company. In 1856, he was chosen commander + of the corps, being the one hundred and fifty-fifth in + command. He had four times previously declined nominations. + He entered into correspondence with Prince Albert, commander + of the Royal Artillery Company of London, founded in 1537, of + which this corps, chartered in 1638, is the only offspring. + This correspondence established a friendly intercourse + between the two companies. In June, 1857, Prince Albert was + chosen a special honorary member of our company, and + twenty-one years later, in 1878, Colonel Wilder, who then + celebrated the fiftieth or golden anniversary of his own + membership, nominated the Prince of Wales, the present + commander of the London company, as an honorary member. Both + were commanders of the Honorable Artillery Company of London + when chosen. The late elegantly illustrated history of the + London company contains a portrait of Colonel Wilder as he + appeared in full uniform on that occasion. + </p> + <p> + In 1839, he was induced to serve for a single term in the + Massachusetts Legislature, as a representative for the town + of Dorchester. In 1849, he was elected a member of Governor + Briggs's Council, and the year following a member of the + senate and its president, and he is the the oldest + ex-president of the senate living. In 1860, he was the member + for New England of the national committee of the + "Constitutional Union Party," and attended, as chairman of + the Massachusetts delegation, the national convention in + Baltimore, where John Bell and Edward Everett were nominated + for President and Vice-President of the United States. + </p> + <p> + He was initiated in Charity Lodge, No. 18, in Troy, New + Hampshire, at the age of twenty-five, exalted to the Royal + Arch Chapter, Cheshire No. 4, and knighted in the Boston + Encampment. He was deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge of + Massachusetts, and was one of the six thousand Masons who + signed, December 31, 1831, the celebrated "Declaration of the + Freemasons of Boston and Vicinity"; and at the fiftieth + anniversary of that event, which was celebrated in Boston two + years ago, Mr. Wilder responded for the survivors, six of the + signers being present. He has received all the Masonic + degrees, including the 33d, or highest and last honor of the + fraternity. At the World's Masonic Convention, in 1867, at + Paris, he was the only delegate from the United States who + spoke at the banquet. + </p> + <p> + On the seventh of November, 1849, a festival of the Sons of + New Hampshire was celebrated in Boston. The Honorable Daniel + Webster presided, and Mr. Wilder was the first + vice-president. Fifteen hundred sons of the Granite State + were present. The association again met on the twenty-ninth + of October, 1852, to participate in the obsequies of Mr. + Webster at Faneuil Hall. On this occasion the legislature, + and other citizens, of New Hampshire were received at the + Lowell railway-station, and were addressed by Mr. Wilder in + behalf of sons of that State resident in Boston. + </p> + <p> + The Sons celebrated their second festival, November 2, 1853, + at which Mr. Wilder occupied the chair as president, and + delivered one of his most eloquent speeches. They assembled + again, on June 20, 1861, to receive and welcome a New + Hampshire regiment of volunteers, and escort them to the + Music Hall, where Mr. Wilder addressed them in a patriotic + speech on their departure for the field of battle. + </p> + <p> + The two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the + settlement of Dorchester was celebrated on the Fourth of + July, 1855. The oration was by Edward Everett; Mr. Wilder + presided, and delivered an able address. On the central + tablet of the great pavilion was this inscription: "Marshall + P. Wilder, president of the day. Blessed is he that turneth + the waste places into a garden, and maketh the wilderness to + blossom as a rose." + </p> + <p> + In January, 1868, he was solicited to take the office of + president of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, + vacated by the death of Governor Andrew. He was unanimously + elected, and is now serving the seventeenth year of his + presidency. At every annual meeting he has delivered an + appropriate address. In his first address he urged the + importance of procuring a suitable building for the society. + In 1870, he said: "The time has now arrived when absolute + necessity, public sentiment, and personal obligations, demand + that this work be done, and done quickly." Feeling himself + pledged by this address, he, as chairman of the committee + then appointed, devoted three months entirely to the object + of soliciting funds, during which time more than forty + thousand dollars was generously contributed by friends of the + association; and thus the handsome edifice at No. 18 Somerset + Street was procured. This building was dedicated to the use + of the society, March 18, 1871. He has since obtained + donations, amounting to upward of twelve thousand dollars, as + a fund for paying the salary of the librarian. + </p> + <p> + In 1859, he presided at the first public meeting called in + Boston, in regard to the collocation of institutions on the + Back Bay lands, where the splendid edifices of the Boston + Society of Natural History and the Massachusetts Institute of + Technology now stand. Of the latter institution he has been a + vice-president, and the chairman of its Society of Arts, and + a director from the beginning. General Francis A. Walker, the + present president of the Institute, bore this testimony to + his efforts in its behalf at the in banquet to Mr. Wilder on + his eighty-fifth anniversary: "Through all the early efforts + to attract the attention of the legislature and the people to + the importance of industrial and art education, and through + the severe struggles which so painfully tried the courage and + the faith even of those who most strongly and ardently + believed in the mission of the Institute, as well as through + the happier years of fruition, while the efforts put forth in + the days of darkness and despondency were bearing their + harvest of success and fame, Colonel Wilder was through all + one of the most constant of the members of the government in + his attendance; one of the most hopeful in his views of the + future of the school; ever a wise counsellor and a steadfast + ally." + </p> + <p> + He was one of the twelve representative men appointed to + receive the Prince of Wales in 1860, at the banquet given him + in Boston, Edward Everett being chairman of the committee; + also one of the commissioners in behalf of the Universal + Exposition in Paris, 1867, when he was placed at the head of + the committee on horticulture and the cultivation and + products of the vine, the report of which was published by + act of Congress. + </p> + <p> + In 1869, he made a trip to the South, for the purpose of + examining its resources; and in 1870, with a large party, he + visited California. The result of Mr. Wilder's observations + has been given to the public in a lecture before the + Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, which was repeated + before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, Amherst + College, the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Dartmouth + College, the Horticultural Society, the merchants of + Philadelphia, and bodies in other places. + </p> + <p> + His published speeches and writings now amount to nearly one + hundred in number. A list to the year 1873 is printed in the + Cyclopaedia of American Literature. Dartmouth College, as a + testimonial to his services in science and literature, + conferred upon him, in the year 1877, the degree of Doctor of + Philosophy. + </p> + <p> + The Honorable Paul A. Chadbourne, LL.D., late president of + Williams College in a recent Memoir of Mr. Wilder remarks: + "The interest which Colonel Wilder has always manifested in + the progress of education, as well as the value and + felicitous style of his numerous writings, would lead one to + infer at once that his varied knowledge and culture are the + results of college education. But he is only another + illustrious example of the men who, with only small + indebtedness to schools, have proved to the world that real + men can make themselves known as such without the aid of the + college, as we have abundantly learned that the college can + never make a man of one who has not in him the elements of + noble manhood before he enters its halls." + </p> + <p> + In 1820, Mr. Wilder married Miss Tryphosa Jewett, daughter of + Dr. Stephen Jewett, of Rindge, a lady of great personal + attractions. She died on a visit to that town, July 21, 1831, + leaving four children. On the twenty-ninth of August, 1833, + Mr. Wilder was united to Miss Abigail, daughter of Captain + David Baker of Franklin, Massachusetts, a lady of education, + accomplishments, and piety, who died of consumption, April 4, + 1854, leaving five children. He was married a third time on + the eighth of September, 1855, to her sister, Miss Julia + Baker, who was admirably qualified to console him and make + his dwelling cheerful, and who has two sons, both living. No + man has been more blessed in domestic life. We know not where + there would be a more pleasing picture of peace and + contentment exhibited than is found in this happy family. In + all his pursuits and avocations, Mr. Wilder seems to have + realized and practised that grand principle, which has such a + bearing and influence on the whole course of life—the + philosophy of habit, a power almost omnipotent for good or + evil. His leisure hours he devotes to his pen, which already + has filled several large volumes with descriptions and + delineations of fruits and flowers, proved under his own + inspection, and other matters pertaining to his various + relations in life. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Wilder has shown us by his life what an individual + may accomplish by industry, perseverance, and the + concentration of the intellectual powers on grand objects. + Without these, no talent, no mere good fortune could have + placed him in the high position he has attained as a public + benefactor. He has been pre-eminent in the establishment and + development of institutions. Few gentlemen have been called + upon so often, and upon such various occasions, to take the + chair at public meetings or preside over constituted + societies. Few have acquitted themselves so happily, whether + dignity of presence, amenity of address, fluency of speech, + or dispatch of business, be taken into consideration. As a + presiding officer he seems "to the manner born." His personal + influence has been able to magnetize a half-dying body into + new and active life. This strong personal characteristic is + especially remarked among his friends. No one can approach + him in doubt, in despondency, or in embarrassment, and leave + him without a higher hope, a stronger courage, and a manlier + faith in himself. The energy which has impelled him to labor + still exists. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wilder is now president of the New England Historic + Genealogical and Society, the American Pomological Society, + and the Massachusetts Agricultural Club. He is senior trustee + of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and senior member + of the State Board of Agriculture, and of the executive + committee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. He is + senior director in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, + the Hamilton National Bank, the New England Mutual Life + Insurance Company, and the Home Savings Bank. He is an + honorary member of the Royal Historical Society of Great + Britain; a corresponding member of the Royal Horticultural + Society of London, and the Société Centrale d' + Horticulture of France; and a fellow of the Reale Accademia + Araldica Italiana of Pisa. + </p> + <p> + Well did Governor Bullock on a public occasion speak of Mr. + Wilder as "one who has applied the results of his well-earned + commercial earnings so liberally that in every household and + at every fireside in America, when the golden fruits of + summer and autumn gladden the sideboard and the hearthstone, + his name, his generosity, and his labors are known and + honored." He is also known and honored abroad. The London + Gardener's Chronicle, the leading agricultural paper in + Europe, in April, 1872, gave his portrait and a sketch of his + life, in which is introduced the following merited + compliment:— + </p> + <p> + "We are glad to have the opportunity of laying before our + readers the portrait of one of the most distinguished of + transatlantic horticulturists, and one who, by his zeal, + industry, and determination, has not only conferred lasting + benefits on his native country, but has by his careful + experiments in hybridization and fruit-culture laid the + horticulturists of all nations under heavy obligations to + him. The name and reputation of Marshall P. Wilder is as + highly esteemed in Great Britain as they are in America." + </p> + <p> + In closing this sketch, we may remark that complimentary + banquets were given him on the eightieth and the eighty-fifth + anniversaries of his birth. On the former occasion, September + 22, 1878, the Reverend James H. Means, D.D., his pastor for + nearly thirty years, the Honorable Charles L. Flint, + secretary of the Board of Agriculture, the Honorable John + Phelps Putnam, judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court, and + others, paid tributes to the high moral character, the + benevolent disposition, and the eminent services, of the + honored guest of the evening. + </p> + <p> + The last banquet, September 22, 1883, on his completing the + ripe age of eighty-five, was a much more important occasion. + The banquet was held, as the former was, at the Parker House, + in Boston, and over one hundred gentlemen participated, among + whom were some of the most distinguished persons in this and + other States. Charles H.B. Breck, Esq., vice-president of the + Massachusetts Horticultural Society presided, and the + venerable Reverend Dr. George W. Blagden invoked a blessing. + Mr. Breck addressed Mr. Wilder, who responded. Addresses were + then made by a number of Mr. Wilder's friends, among them the + Honorable Alexander H. Rice and the Honorable Nathaniel P. + Banks, ex-governors of Massachusetts, his Honor Oliver Ames, + lieutenant-governor of the State, his Honor Albert Palmer, + mayor of Boston, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, ex-governor + of Maine, the Honorable Frederick Smyth, ex-governor of New + Hampshire, Professor J.C. Greenough, president of the + Massachusetts Agricultural College, General Francis A. + Walker, president of the Institute of Technology, the + Honorable Francis B. Hayes, president of the Horticultural + Society, the Reverend Edmund F. Slafter, corresponding + secretary of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, + John E. Russell, secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, + and Major Ben: Perley Poore, secretary of the United States + Agricultural Society, and ex-commander of the Ancient and + Honorable Artillery Company. Other societies with which Mr. + Wilder is connected were also represented, as the + Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, the + New England Agricultural Society, the New England Life + Insurance Company, the Hamilton Bank, the Home Savings Bank, + the Grand Lodge of Masons, and the Second Church of + Dorchester. Letters were received from the Honorable Robert + C. Winthrop, president of the Massachusetts Historical + Society, his Excellency Benjamin F. Butler, governor, and the + Honorables John D. Long, William Claflin, and Thomas Talbot, + ex-governors of the State, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the + Honorable Dr. George B. Loring, United States Commissioner of + Agriculture, and the Honorable Francis W. Bird, president of + the Bird Club, The addresses and letters are to be printed in + full. A few extracts follow: + </p> + <p> + Dr. Holmes referred to Mr. Wilder as: "The venerable and + venerated friend who has outlived the fruits of fourscore + seasons, and is still ripening as if his life were all + summer." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Winthrop wrote: "No other man has done so much for our + fields and gardens and orchards. He has distinguished himself + in many other lines of life, and his relations to the + Legislature of Massachusetts and to the Historic Genealogical + Society will not soon be forgotten. But his name will have + its most enduring and most enviable association with the + flowers and fruits for whose culture he was foremost in + striving, both by precept and example. He deserves a grateful + remembrance as long as a fine pear is relished or a brilliant + bouquet admired." + </p> + <p> + Governor Rice said: "There is hardly a public enterprise of + the last three generations, scarcely a pursuit in life, or an + institution of patriotism, discipline, or charity, that does + not bear the signet of his touch and feel the vigor of his + co-operation. Why, sir, it may be said, almost with literal + truth, that the trees which this great arborist has planted + and cultivated and loved are not more numerous than the + evidences of his handiwork in all the useful and beneficent + departments of life; and all the flowers that shall grow to + the end of time ought to bear fragrance to his memory." + </p> + <p> + Mayor Palmer said: "Time would fail me to recount his great + and honorable services to society and the State. It must + suffice to say that no name of this century is written more + imperishably in the affection and esteem of Boston and + Massachusetts than the name of him, our honored guest." + </p> + <p> + Dr. Loring wrote: "It is with pride and satisfaction that the + business associations of the city of Boston can point to him + as a representative of that mercantile integrity which gives + that city its distinguished position among the great + commercial centres of the world." + </p> + <p> + Governor Banks said: "I can scarcely enumerate, much less + analyze, the numerous and important social and national + enterprises which make the character and career of our + distinguished guest illustrious." + </p> + <p> + Governor Chamberlain said: "We rejoice in this honored old + age,—this youth, rounded, beautified, and sweetened + into supreme manhood; and we rejoice also that it shall + remain for after times an example and inspiration for all who + would live true lives, and win the honor that comes here and + hereafter to noble character." + </p> + <p> + President Greenough thus spoke:—"The line of buildings + which to-day at Amherst graces one of the fairest landscapes + in New England, and the sound and practical education which + they were built to secure, are to be a lasting monument to + his foresight, his patriotism, and his eloquent persuasion." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Russell said: "To him the agriculture of the Commonwealth + owes a debt that can never be paid; the records of our board + are a monument of his good works more enduring than brass. + And, sir, in view of his venerable years, so lightly borne, + his interest in all the active affairs of men, and his + continued powers of social enjoyment, I may well repeat the + wish of the poet Horace, expressed in one of his invocations + to the Emperor Augustus: 'Serus in coelum redeas.'" + </p> + <p> + Major Poore said: "Mr. President, I am confident that the + distinguished gentlemen around these tables will long + remember to-night, and recall with pleasure its varied + homages to Colonel Wilder, thankful that we have so pure a + shrine, so bright an oracle, as the common property of all + who reverence virtue, admire manhood, or aspire to noble + deeds. Succeeding years will not dim the freshness of Colonel + Wilder's fame; and the more frequently we drink at this + fountain, the sweeter we shall find its waters. + </p> + <pre> + 'You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will, + But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.'" +</pre> + <hr> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> +<a name="a02"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + THE OLD TAVERNS AND STAGE-COACHES OF GROTON. + </h2> + <h3> + BY THE HON. SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN, M.D. + </h3> + <p> + It has been said that there is nothing contrived by man which + has produced so much happiness as a good tavern. Without + granting or denying the statement, all will agree that many + good times have been passed around the cheerful hearth of the + old-fashioned inn. + </p> + <p> + The earliest tavern in Groton, of which there is any record + or tradition, was kept by Samuel Bowers, Jr., in the house + lately and for a long time occupied by the Champney family. + Mr. Bowers was born in Groton on December 21, 1711, and, + according to his tombstone, died on "the Sixteenth Day of + December Anno Domini 1768. Half a hour after Three of the + Clock in ye Afternoon, and in the Fifty Eight year of his + age." He kept the house during many years, and was known in + the neighborhood as "land'urd Bowers,"—the innkeeper of + that period being generally addressed by the title of + landlord. I do not know who succeeded him in his useful and + important functions. + </p> + <p> + The next tavern of which I have any knowledge was the one + kept by Captain Jonathan Keep, during the latter part of the + Revolution. In The Independent Chronicle (Boston), February + 15, 1781, the Committee of the General Court for the sale of + confiscated property in Middlesex County, advertise the + estate of Dr. Joseph Adams, of Townsend, to be sold "at Mr. + Keep's, innholder in Groton." This tavern has now been kept + as an inn during more than a century. It was originally built + for a dwelling-house, and, before the Revolution, occupied by + the Reverend Samuel Dana; though since that time it has been + lengthened in front and otherwise considerably enlarged. + Captain Keep was followed by the brothers Isaiah and Joseph + Hall, who were the landlords as early as the year 1798. They + were succeeded in 1825 by Joseph Hoar, who had just sold the + Emerson tavern, at the other end of the village street. He + kept it for nearly twenty years,—excepting the year + 1836, when Moses Gill and his brother-in-law, Henry Lewis + Lawrence, were the landlords,—and sold out about 1842 + to Thomas Treadwell Farnsworth. It was then conducted as a + temperance house, at that time considered a great innovation + on former customs. After a short period it was sold to Daniel + Hunt, who kept it until 1852, and he was followed by James M. + Colburn, who had it for two years. It then came into the + possession of J. Nelson Hoar, a son of the former landlord, + who took it in 1854, and in whose family it has since + remained. Latterly it has been managed by three of his + daughters, and now is known as the Central House. It is the + only tavern in the village, and for neatness and comfort can + not easily be surpassed. + </p> + <p> + In the list of innholders, near the end of Isaiah Thomas's + Almanack, for 1785, appears the name of Richardson, whose + tavern stood on the present site of the Baptist church. It + was originally the house owned and occupied by the Reverend + Gershom Hobart, which had been considerably enlarged by + additions on the north and east sides, in order to make it + more suitable for its new purposes. Mine host was Captain + Jephthah Richardson, who died on October 9, 1806. His father + was Converse Richardson, who had previously kept a small inn, + on the present Elm Street, near the corner of Pleasant. It + was in this Elm Street house that Timothy Bigelow, the rising + young lawyer, lived, when he first came to Groton. Within a + few years this building has been moved away. Soon after the + death of Captain Jephthah Richardson, the tavern was sold to + Timothy Spaulding, who carried on the business until his + death, which occurred on February 19, 1808. Spaulding's widow + subsequently married John Spalter, who was the landlord for a + short time. About 1812 the house was rented to Dearborn + Emerson, who had been possession of it for a few years. + </p> + <p> + During the War of 1812 it was an inn of local renown; and a + Lieutenant Chase had his headquarters here for a while, when + recruiting for the army. He raised a company in the + neighborhood, which was ordered to Sackett's Harbor, near the + foot of Lake Ontario. The men were put into uniforms as they + enlisted, and drilled daily. They were in the habit of + marching through the village streets to the music of the + spirit-stirring drum and the ear-piercing fife; and + occasionally they were invited into the yard of some + hospitable citizen, who would treat them to "the cups that + cheer but not inebriate," when taken in moderation. William + Kemp was the drummer, and Wilder Shepley the fifer, both + noted musicians in their day. Sometimes his brother, Moses + Kemp, would act as fifer. William is still alive, at the + advanced age of nearly ninety-five years, and gives many + reminiscences of that period. He was born at Groton on May 8, + 1789, and began to drum in early boyhood. His first + appearance in the public service was during the year 1805, as + drummer of the South Company of Groton, commanded by Luther + Lawrence, afterward the mayor of Lowell. He has been the + father of nine children, and has had thirty grandchildren, + thirty-three great-grandchildren, and one + great-great-grandchild. Mr. Kemp can even now handle the + drumsticks with a dexterity rarely equaled; and within a + short time I have seen him give an exhibition of his skill + which would reflect credit on a much younger person. Among + the men enlisted here during that campaign were Marquis D. + Farnsworth, Aaron Lewis, William Shepley, and John Woodward, + of this town; and James Adams, and his son, James, Jr., of + Pepperell. + </p> + <p> + It was about the year 1815 that and Dearborn Emerson left the + Richardson tavern, and moved down the street, perhaps thirty + rods, where he opened another public house on the present + site of Milo H. Shattuck's store. The old tavern, in the + meantime, passed into the hands of Daniel Shattuck, who kept + it until his death, which occurred on April 8, 1831. The + business was then carried on during a short time by Clark + Tenny, who was followed by Lemuel Lakin, and afterward by + Francis Shattuck, a son of Daniel, for another brief period. + About the year 1833 it was given up entirely as a public + house, and thus passed away an old landmark widely known in + those times. It stood well out on the present road, the front + door facing down what is now Main Street, the upper end of + which then had no existence. In approaching the tavern from + the south, the road went up Hollis Street and turned to the + left somewhere south of the Burying-Ground. The house + afterward was cut up and moved off, just before the Baptist + meeting-house was built. My earliest recollections carry me + back faintly to the time when it was last used as a tavern, + though I remember distinctly the building as it looked before + it was taken away. + </p> + <p> + Dearborn Emerson married a sister of Daniel Brooks, a large + owner in the line of stage-coaches running through Groton + from Boston to the northward; and this family connection was + of great service to him. Jonas Parker, commonly known as + "Tecumseh" Parker, was now associated with Emerson in keeping + the new hotel. The stage business was taken away from the + Richardson tavern, and transferred to this one. The house was + enlarged, spacious barns and stables were erected, and better + accommodations given to man and beast,—on too large a + scale for profit, it seems, as Parker and Emerson failed + shortly afterward, This was in the spring of 1818, during + which year the tavern was purchased by Joseph Hoar, who kept + it a little more than six years, when he sold it to Amos + Alexander. This landlord, after a long time, was succeeded in + turn by Isaac J. Fox, Horace Brown, William Childs, Artemas + Brown, John McGilson, Abijah Wright, and Moses Gill. It was + given up as a hotel in 1856, and made into a shoe factory; + and finally it was burned. Mr. Gill had the house for eight + years, and was the last landlord. He then opened a public + house directly opposite to the Orthodox church, and called it + The Globe, which he kept for two years. He was succeeded by + Stephen Woods, who remained only one year, after which time + this also was given up as a public house. + </p> + <p> + Another hostelry was the Ridge Hill tavern, situated at the + Ridges, three miles from the village, on the Great Road to + Boston. This was built about the year 1805, and much + frequented by travelers and teamsters. At this point the + roads diverge and come together again in Lexington, making + two routes to Boston. It was claimed by interested persons + that one was considerably shorter than the + other,—though the actual difference was less than a + mile. In the year 1824 a guide-board was set up at the crotch + of the roads, proclaiming the fact that the distance to + Lexington through Concord was two miles longer than through + Carlisle. Straightway the storekeepers and innholders along + the Concord road published a counter-statement, that it had + been measured by sworn surveyors, and the distance found to + be only two hundred and thirty-six rods further than by the + other way. + </p> + <p> + The first landlord of the Ridge Hill tavern was Levi Parker, + noted for his hospitality. He was afterward deputy-sheriff of + Middlesex County, and lived in Westford. He was followed, for + a short time, by John Stevens, and then by John H. Loring, + who conducted the house during many years, and was succeeded + by his son Jefferson. After him came Henry L. Lawrence, who + kept it during one year; he was followed by his + brother-in-law, Moses Gill, who took the tavern in April, + 1837, and kept it just five years. When Mr. Gill gave up the + house, he was followed by one Langdon for a short time, and + he in turn by Kimball Farr as the landlord, who had bought it + the year previously, and who remained in charge until 1868. + During a part of the time when the place was managed by Mr. + Farr; his son Augustus was associated with him. Mr. Farr sold + the tavern to John Fuzzard, who kept it for a while, and is + still the owner of the property. He was followed by Newell M. + Jewett; the present landlord is Stephen Perkins, a native of + York, Maine, who took it in 1880. The house had been vacant + for some years before this time. A fair is held here + regularly on the first Tuesday of every month, for the sale + of horses, and buyers are attracted from a long distance. At + one time this property was owned by Judge Samuel Dana, who + sold it to John H. Loring. + </p> + <p> + As early as the year 1798 there was a tavern about a mile + from the Ridges, toward Groton. It was kept by Stephen + Farrar, in the house now standing near where the brook + crosses the Great Road. Afterward one Green was the landlord. + The house known as the Levi Tufts place in this neighborhood + was an inn during the early part of this century, conducted + by Tilly Buttrick. Also about this time, or previously, the + house situated south of Indian Hill, and occupied by Charles + Prescott,—when the map in Mr. Butler's History was + made,—was an inn. There was a tavern kept from the year + 1812 to 1818 by a Mr. Page, in Mr. Gerrish's house, near the + Unitarian church in the village. There was also a tavern, + near the present paper-mills of Tileston and Hollingsworth, + kept for many years (1825-55) by Aaron Lewis, and after him + for a short time by one Veazie. It was originally the house + of John Capell, who owned the sawmill and gristmill in the + immediate neighborhood. Amos Adams had an inn near + Squannacook, a hundred years ago, in a house now owned by + James Kemp. + </p> + <p> + Just before and during the Revolution a tavern was kept by + George Peirce, in the south part of the town, within the + present limits of Ayer. This landlord was probably the + inn-holder of Littleton, whose name appears in The + Massachusetts Gazette, of August 8, 1765. The house was the + one formerly owned by the late Calvin Fletcher, and burned + March 25, 1880. It was advertised for sale, as appears from + the following advertisement in The Boston Gazette, September + 27, 1773:— + </p> + <pre> + To be Sold at PUBLIC VENDUE, to the highest Bidder, on + Wednesday the 3d Day of November next, at four o'Clock in the + Afternoon (if not Sold before at Private Sale) by me the + Subscriber, A valuable FARM in Groton, in the County of + Middlesex, pleasantly situated on the great County Road, + leading from Crown Point and No. 4 to Boston: Said Farm + contains 172 Acres of Upland and Meadow, with the bigger Part + under improvement, with a large Dwelling House and Barn, and + Out Houses, together with a good Grist Mill and Saw Mill, the + latter new last Year, both in good Repair, and on a good + Stream, and within a few Rods of the House. Said Farm would + make two good Livings, and would sell it in two Divisions, or + together, as it would best suit the Purchaser. Said House is + situated very conveniently for a Tavern, and has been improved + as such for Ten Years past, with a Number of other + Conveniences, too many to enumerate. And the Purchaser may + depend upon having a good warrantee Deed of the same, and the + bigger Part of the Pay made very easy, on good Security. The + whole of the Farming Tools, and Part of the Stock, will be sold + as above-mentioned, at the Subscriber's House on said Farm. + + GEORGE PEIRCE. + Groton, Aug. 30, 1773. +</pre> + <p> + The gristmill and sawmill, mentioned in the advertisement, + were on Nonacoicus Brook. In the Gazette, of November 15, + 1773, another notice appears, which shows that the tavern was + not sold at the time originally appointed. It is as + follows:— + </p> + <pre> + The Publick are hereby Notified that the Sale of the FARM in + Groton, which was to have been sold the 3d Instant on the + Premisses, at the House of Mr. George Peirce, is adjourn'd to + the house of Mr. Joseph Moulton, Innholder in Boston, where it + will certainly be Sold to the highest Bidder, on Wednesday the + 1st Day of December next, at 4 o'Clock, P.M. +</pre> + <p> + The following advertisement appears in The Independent + Chronicle (Boston), September 19, 1808; the site of the farm + was near that of Peirce's inn, just mentioned. Stone's tavern + was afterward kept by one Day, and subsequently burned. + </p> + <pre> + A FARM—for Sale, + + Containing 140 acres of Land, situated in the South part of +<i>Groton, (Mass.)</i> with a new and well-finished House, Barn, & + Out-houses, and Aqueduct, pleasantly situated, where a Tavern + has been kept for the last seven years;—a part of the whole + will be sold, as best suits the purchaser. For further + particulars, inquire of THO's B. RAND, of <i>Charlestown</i>, or the + Subscriber, living on the Premises. + + Sept. 12. JESSE STONE. +</pre> + <p> + About a generation ago an attempt was made to organize a + company for the purpose of carrying on a hotel in the + village, and a charter was obtained from the Legislature. The + stock, however, was not fully taken up, and the project fell + through. Of the corporators, Mr. Potter and Mr. Smith still + survive. Below is a copy of the act:— + </p> + <pre> + An Act to incorporate the Groton Hotel Company. + +<i>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, + in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, + as follows:—</i> + + SECT. 1. Luther F. Potter, Nathaniel P. Smith, Simeon Ames, + their associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, + by the name of the Groton Hotel Company, for the purpose of + erecting, in the town of Groton, buildings necessary and + convenient for a public house, with all the powers and + privileges, and subject to all the liabilities, duties, and + restrictions, set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the + Revised Statutes. + + SECT. 2. Said corporation may hold such real and personal + property, as may be necessary and convenient for the purposes + aforesaid, not exceeding in amount twenty thousand dollars: +<i>provided</i>, that no shares in the capital stock of said + corporation shall be issued for a less sum or amount, to be + actually paid in on each, than the par value of the shared + which shall be first issued. And if any ardent spirits, or + intoxicating drinks of any kind whatever, shall be sold by said + company, or by their agents, lessees, or persons in their + employ, contrary to law, in any of said buildings, then this + act shall be void. [<i>Approved by the Governor, May 2, 1850.</i>] +</pre> + <p> + In the spring of 1852, a charter was given to Benjamin Webb, + Daniel D.R. Bowker, and their associates, for the purpose of + forming a corporation to carry on a hotel at the Massapoag + Springs, in the eastern part of this town, but the project + fell through. It was to be called the Massapoag Spring Hotel, + and its capital stock was limited to $30,000. The act was + approved by the Governor, May 18, 1852, and it contained + similar conditions to those mentioned above in regard to the + sale of liquors. These enterprises are now nearly forgotten, + though the mention of them may revive the recollections of + elderly people. + </p> + <p> + During the first half of the present century Groton had one + characteristic mark, closely connected with the old taverns, + which it no longer possesses. It was a radiating centre for + different lines of stage-coaches, until this mode of travel + was superseded by the swifter one of the railroad. During + many years the stage-coaches were a distinctive feature of + the place; and their coming and going was watched with great + interest, and created the excitement of the day. In early + times the drivers, as they approached the village, would blow + a bugle in order to give notice of their arrival; and this + blast was the signal at the taverns to put the food on the + table. More than a generation has now passed away since these + coaches were wont to be seen in the village streets. They + were drawn usually by four horses, and in bad going by six. + Here a change of coaches, horses, and drivers was made. + </p> + <p> + The stage-driver of former times belonged to a class of men + that has entirely disappeared from this community. His + position was one of considerable responsibility. This + important personage was well known along his route, and his + opinions were always quoted with respect. I can easily recall + the familiar face of Aaron Corey, who drove the accommodation + stage to Boston for so many years. He was a careful and + skilful driver, and a man of most obliging disposition. He + would go out of his way to bear a message or leave a + newspaper; but his specialty was to look after women and + children committed to his charge. He carried, also, packages + and parcels, and largely what is to-day entrusted to the + express. I recall, too, with pleasure, Horace George, another + driver, popular with all the boys, because in sleighing-time + he would let us ride on the rack behind, and even slacken the + speed of his horses so as to allow us to catch hold of the + straps. + </p> + <p> + Some people now remember the scenes of life and activity that + used to be witnessed in the town on the arrival and departure + of the stages. Some remember, too, the loud snap of the whip + which gave increased speed to the horses, as they dashed up + in approved style to the stopping-place, where the loungers + were collected to see the travelers and listen to the gossip + which fell from their lips. There were no telegraphs then, + and but few railroads in the country. The papers did not + gather the news so eagerly, nor spread it abroad so promptly, + as they do now, and items of intelligence were carried + largely by word of mouth. + </p> + <p> + The earliest line of stage-coaches between Boston and Groton + was the one mentioned in The Columbian Centinel, April 6, + 1793. The advertisement is headed "New Line of Stages," and + gives notice that— + </p> + <pre> + A Stage-Carriage drives from <i>Robbins'</i> Tavern, at Charles-River + Bridge, on Monday and Friday, in each week, and passing through + Concord and Groton, arrives at <i>Wyman's</i> tavern in <i>Ashley</i> + [Ashby?] in the evening of the same days; and after exchanging + passengers there, with the Stage-Carriage from <i>Walpole</i>, it + returns on Tuesdays and Saturdays, by the same route to <i>Robbins's</i>. +</pre> + <hr> + <pre> + The <i>Charlestown</i> Carriage drives also from <i>Robbins'</i> on + Wednesday in each week, and passing through <i>Concord</i>, arrives + at <i>Richardson's</i> tavern, in <i>Groton</i>, on the evening of the + same day, and from thence returns on Thursday to <i>Robbins'</i>. +</pre> + <hr> + <p> + Another Carriage drives from <i>Richardson's</i> tavern in + <i>Groton</i>, on Monday in each week, at six o'clock in the + morning, and passing by <i>Richardson's</i> tavern in + <i>Concord</i> at ten o'clock in the forenoon, arrives at + <i>Charlestown</i> at three o'clock in the afternoon. From + <i>Charlestown</i> it drives on Tuesday and Thursday in each + week, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and returns back as + far as <i>Richardson's</i> tavern in <i>Concord</i>—and + from that place it starts at 8 o'clock in the mornings, of + Wednesday and Friday, and runs again to <i>Charlestown</i>. + From there it moves at six o'clock on Saturday morning, and + returns to <i>Richardson's</i> tavern in <i>Groton</i>, in + the evening of the same day. + </p> + <p> + It was probably one of these "Carriages" to which allusion is + made in Mr. Winthrop's Memoir of the Honorable Nathan + Appleton,[Footnote: Proceedings of the Massachusetts + Historical Society, v, 249, 250.] as follows:— + </p> + <pre> + At early dusk on some October or November evening, in the year + 1794, a fresh, vigorous, bright-eyed lad, just turned of + fifteen, might have been seen alighting from a stage-coach near + Quaker Lane,[Footnote: Now Congress Street.] as it was then + called, in the old town of Boston. He had been two days on the + road from his home in the town of New Ipswich, in the State of + New Hampshire. On the last of the two days, the stage-coach had + brought him all the way from Groton in Massachusetts; starting + for that purpose early in the morning, stopping at Concord for + the passengers to dine, trundling them through Charlestown + about the time the evening lamps were lighted, and finishing + the whole distance of rather more than thirty miles in season + for supper. For his first day's journey, there had been no such + eligible and expeditious conveyance. The Boston stage-coach, in + those days, went no farther than Groton in that direction. His + father's farm-horse, or perhaps that of one of the neighbors, + had served his turn for the first six or seven miles; his + little brother of ten years old having followed him as far as + Townsend, to ride the horse home again. But from there he had + trudged along to Groton on foot, with a bundle-handkerchief in + his hand, which contained all the wearing apparel he had, + except what was on his back. +</pre> + <p> + It has been said that the first public conveyance between + Boston and Groton was a covered wagon, hung on chains for + thoroughbraces: perhaps it was the "Charlestown Carriage," + mentioned in the advertisement. It was owned and driven by + Lemuel Lakin, but after a few years the owner sold out to + Dearborn Emerson. + </p> + <p> + The following advertisement from The Columbian Centinel, June + 25, 1800, will give a notion of what an undertaking a trip to + Boston was, at the beginning of the century:— + </p> + <pre> + GROTON STAGE. + + The subscriber respectfully informs the public that he drives + the Stage from <i>Boston</i> to <i>Groton</i>, running through +<i>Lexington, Concord</i>, and <i>Littleton</i>, to <i>Groton</i>: Starts from +<i>Boston</i> every <i>Wednesday</i> morning, at 5 o'clock, and arrives + at <i>Groton</i> the same day; Starts from <i>Groton</i> every <i>Monday</i> + morning, at 7 o'clock, and arrives at <i>Boston</i> the same day at + 4 o'clock. Passage through, 2 dols. per mile, 4<i>d</i>. + + DANBORN EMERSON. + + + Seats taken at Mr. SILAS DUTTON'S in <i>Royal Exchange Lane</i>. + Newspapers supplied on the road, and every attention paid to + conveyances. +</pre> + <p> + The given name of Emerson was Dearborn, and not "Danborn," + which is a misprint. Two years later he was running a + stage-coach from Groton to New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and on + the first return trip he brought three + passengers,—according to the History of New Ipswich + (page 129). Emerson was a noted driver in his day; and he is + mentioned, with pleasant recollections, by the Honorable + Abbott Lawrence, in an after-dinner speech at the jubilee of + Lawrence Academy, on July 12, 1854. Subsequently he was the + landlord of one of the local taverns. + </p> + <p> + It is advertised in The Massachusetts Register, for the year + 1802, that the + </p> + <pre> + GROTON Stage sets off from J. and S. Wheelock's [Indian Queen + Inn], No. 37 Marlboro-Street [now a part of Washington Street, + Boston], every Wednesday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and + arrives at Groton at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, same day; + leaves Groton every Monday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and + arrives in Boston at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, same day. + (Pages 19, 20.) +</pre> + <p> + It seems from this notice that it took three hours longer to + make the trip down to Boston than up to Groton,—of + which the explanation is not clear. In the Register for 1803 + a semi-weekly line is advertised, and the same length of time + is given for making the trip each way. + </p> + <p> + About the year 1807 there was a tri-weekly line of coaches to + Boston, and as early as 1820 a daily line, which connected at + Groton with others extending into New Hampshire and Vermont. + Soon after this time there were two lines to Boston, running + in opposition to each other,—one known as the Union and + Accommodation Line, and the other as the Telegraph and + Despatch. + </p> + <p> + One of the drivers for the Telegraph and Despatch line was + Phineas Harrington, known along the road as "Phin" + Harrington. He had orders to take but eight passengers in his + coach, and the trip was made with remarkable speed for that + period. "Phin" was a man of small size, and the story used to + be told of him that, on cold and stormy nights, he would get + inside of one of the lamps fixed to his box in order to warm + his feet by the lighted wick! He passed almost his whole life + as a stage-man, and it is said that he drove for nearly forty + years, He could handle the reins of six horses with more + skill than any other driver in town. + </p> + <p> + William Shephard and Company advertise in The Groton Herald, + April 10, 1830, their accommodation stage. "Good Teams and + Coaches, with careful and obliging drivers, will be provided + by the subscribers." Books were kept in Boston at A.M. + Brigham's, No. 42 Hanover Street, and in Groton at the + taverns of Amos Alexander and Joseph Hoar. The fare was one + dollar, and the coach went three times a week. + </p> + <p> + About this time George Flint had a line to Nashua, and John + Holt another to Fitchburg. They advertise together in the + Herald, May 1, 1830, that "no pains shall be spared to + accommodate those who shall favor them with their custom, and + all business intrusted to their care will be faithfully + attended to." The first stage-coach from this town to Lowell + began to run about the year 1829, and John Austin was the + driver. An opposition line was established soon afterward, + and kept up during a short time, until a compromise was made + between them, Later, John Russ was the owner and driver of + the line to Lowell, and still later, John M. Maynard the + owner. Near this period there was a coach running to + Worcester, and previously one to Amherst, New Hampshire. + </p> + <p> + The following is a list of some of the old drivers, who were + well known along their respective routes. It is arranged in + no particular order and by no means complete; and the dates + against a few of the names are only approximations to the + time when each one sat on the box:— + </p> + <p> + Lemuel Lakin was among the earliest; and he was followed by + Dearborn Emerson. Daniel Brooks drove to Boston during the + period of the last war with England, and probably later. + </p> + <p> + Aaron Corey drove the accommodation stage to Boston, through + Carlisle, Bedford, and Lexington, for a long time, and he had + previously driven the mail-coach. He was succeeded by his + son, Calvin, the driver for a few years, until the line was + given up in 1850. Mr. Corey, the father, was one of the + veterans, having held the reins during thirty-two years; he + died March 15, 1857, at the age of seventy-three. + </p> + <p> + Isaac Bullard, 1817-30; William Smart, 1825-30; George Hunt, + Jonathan Buttrick, Thomas A. Staples, Obediah Kendall, Albert + Hayden, Charles Briggs, Levi Robbins, James Lord, Frank + Brown, Silas Burgess, Augustus Adams, William Dana, Horace + Brown, Levi Wheeler, Timothy Underwood, —— Bacon, + Horace George, 1838-45; Lyman W. Gushing, 1842-45, and Joseph + Stewart. These drove to Boston. After the stages were taken + off, "Joe" Stewart drove the passenger-coach from the village + to the station on the Fitchburg Railroad, which ran to + connect with the three daily trains for Boston. The station + was three miles away, and now within the limits of Ayer. + </p> + <p> + Among the drivers to Keene, New Hampshire, were Kimball + Danforth, 1817-40; Ira Brown, Oliver Scales, Amos Nicholas, + Otis Bardwell, Abel Marshall, the brothers Ira and Hiram + Hodgkins, George Brown, Houghton Lawrence, Palmer Thomas, Ira + Green, Barney Pike, William Johnson, Walter Carleton, and + John Carleton. There were two stage routes to Keene, both + going as far as West Townsend in common, and then separating, + one passing through Ashby, Rindge, and Fitzwilliam, while the + other went through New Ipswich and Jaffrey. + </p> + <p> + Anson Johnson and Beriah Curtis drove to Worcester; Addison + Parker, Henry L. Lawrence, Stephen Corbin, John Webber, and + his son, Ward, drove to Lowell; the brothers Abiel and Nathan + Fawcett, Wilder Proctor, and Abel H. Fuller, to Nashua; Micah + Ball, who came from Leominster about the year 1824, drove to + Amherst, New Hampshire, and after him Benjamin Lewis, who + continued to drive as long as he lived, and at his death the + line was given up. The route to Amherst lay through + Pepperell, Hollis, and Milford. + </p> + <p> + Other drivers were John Chase, Joel Shattuck, William + Shattuck, Moses Titus, Frank Shattuck, David Coburn, + —— Chickering, Thomas Emory, and William Kemp, + Jr. + </p> + <p> + The sad recollection of an accident at Littleton, resulting + in the death of Silas Bullard, is occasionally revived by + some of the older people. It occurred about the year 1825, + and was caused by the upsetting of the Groton coach, driven + by Samuel Stone, and at the time just descending the hill + between Littleton Common and Nagog Pond, then known as + Kimball's Hill. Mr. Bullard was one of the owners of the + line, and a brother of Isaac, the veteran driver. + </p> + <p> + Besides the stage-coaches the carrier wagons added to the + business of Groton, and helped largely to support the + taverns. The town was situated on one of the main + thoroughfares leading from Boston to the northern country, + comprising an important part of New Hampshire and Vermont, + and extending into Canada. This road was traversed by a great + number of wagons, drawn by four or six horses, carrying to + the city the various products of the country, such as grain, + pork, butter, cheese, eggs, venison, hides; and returning + with goods found in the city, such as molasses, sugar, + New-England rum, coffee, tea, nails, iron, cloths, and the + innumerable articles found in the country stores, to be + distributed among the towns above here. In some seasons, it + was no uncommon sight to see forty such wagons passing + through the village in one day. + </p> + <p> + In addition to these were many smaller vehicles, drawn by one + or two horses, to say nothing of the private carriages of + individuals who were traveling for business or pleasure. + </p> + <p> + For many of the facts mentioned in this paper I am indebted + to Mr. Moses Gill, an octogenarian of Groton, whose mind is + clear and body active for a man of his years. Mr. Gill is a + grandson of Lieutenant-Governor Moses Gill, and was born at + Princeton, on March 6, 1800. He has kept several public + houses in Groton, already mentioned, besides the old brick + tavern situated on the Lowell road, near Long-sought-for + Pond, and formerly known as the Half-way. House. This hotel + came within the limits of Westford, and was kept by Mr. Gill + from the year 1842 to 1847. In his day he has known + personally seventy-five landlords doing business between + Davenport's (opposite to the celebrated Porter's tavern in + Cambridge) and Keene, New Hampshire; and of this number, only + seven are thought to be living at the present time. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> +<a name="a03"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + THE FAMILY IMMIGRATION TO NEW ENGLAND. + </h2> + <h3> + BY THOMAS W. BICKNELL, LL.D. + </h3> + <p> + The unit of society is the individual. The unit of + civilization is the family. Prior to December 20, 1620, + New-England life had never seen a civilized family or felt + its influences. It is true that the Icelandic Chronicles tell + us that Lief, the son of Eric the Red, 1001, sailed with a + crew of thirty-five men, in a Norwegian vessel, and driven + southward in a storm, from Greenland along the coasts of + Labrador, wintered in Vineland on the shores of Mount Hope + Bay. Longfellow's Skeleton in Armor has revealed their + temporary settlement. Thither sailed Eric's son, Thorstein, + with his young and beautiful wife, Gudrida, and their + twenty-five companions, the following year. His death + occurred, and put an end to the expedition, which Thorfinn + took up with his marriage to the young widow, Gudrida; with + his bride and one hundred and sixty-five persons (five of + them young married women), they spent three years on the + shores of the Narragansett Bay, where Snorre, the + <i>first</i> white child, was born,—the progenitor of + the great Danish sculptor, Thorwaldsen. But this is + tradition, not history. Later still, came other adventurers + to seek fortunes in the New World, but they came as + individuals,—young, adventurous men, with all to gain + and nothing to lose, and, if successful, to return with gold + or fame, as the reward of their sacrifice and daring. + </p> + <p> + Six hundred years pass, and a colony of one hundred and five + men, not a woman in the company, sailed from England for + America, and landed at Jamestown, Virginia. Within six months + half of the immigrants had perished, and only for the courage + and bravery of John Smith, the whole would have met a sad + fate. The first European woman seen on the banks of the James + was the wife of one of the seventy Virginia colonists who + came later, and her maid, Anne Burroughs, who helped to give + permanency and character to a fugitive settlement in a + colony, which waited two hundred and fifty years to learn the + value of a New-England home, and to appreciate the + civilization which sprang up in a New-England town, through + the agency of a New-England family. + </p> + <p> + An experience similar to that of the Virginia + settlers—disappointment, hardship, death—attended + the immigrants who, under George Popham, Raleigh, and + Gilbert, attempted to make a permanent home on the coast of + Maine, but their house was a log camp, with not a solitary + woman to light its gloom or cheer its occupants. Failure, + defeat, and death were the inevitable consequences. There was + no family, and there could be no permanency of civilization. + </p> + <p> + The planting of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies was + of another sort. Whole families embarked on board the + Mayflower, the Fortune, the Ann, the Mary and John, and other + ships that brought their precious freight in safety to a New + World. Of the one hundred and one persons who came in the + Mayflower, in 1620, twenty-eight were females, and eighteen + were wives and mothers. They did not leave their homes, in + the truest sense,—they brought them with them. Their + household goods and hearthstone gods were all snugly stowed + beneath the decks of the historic ship, and the multitude of + Mayflower relics, now held in precious regard in public and + private collections, but testify to the immense inventory of + that one little ship of almost fabulous carrying capacity. To + the compact signed in Plymouth harbor, in 1620, John Carver + signs eight persons, whom he represents; Edward Winslow, + five; William Brewster, six; William Mullins, five; William + White, five; Stephen Hopkins, Edward Fuller, and John Turner, + each, eight; John Chilton, three,—one of whom, his + daughter Mary, was the first woman, as tradition says, to + jump from the boat upon Plymouth Rock. In the Weymouth + Company, under the leadership of the Reverend Joseph Hull, + who set sail from Old Weymouth, England, on the twentieth of + March, 1635, and landed at Wessaguscus,—now Weymouth, + Massachusetts,—there were one hundred and five persons, + divided into twenty-one families. Among these were John + Whitmarsh, his wife Alice, and four children; Robert Lovell, + husbandman, with his good wife Elizabeth and children, two of + whom, Ellen and James, were year-old twins; Edward Poole and + family; Henry Kingman, Thomas Holbrook, Richard Porter, and + not least of all, Zachary Bicknell, his wife Agnes, their son + John, and servant John Kitchen. + </p> + <p> + Families these,—all on board,—households, + treasures, all worldly estates, and best of all the rich + sympathies and supports of united, trusting hearts, daring to + face the perils of an ocean-passage of forty-six days' + duration, and the new, strange life in the wilds of America, + that they might prove their faith in each other, in their + principles, and in God. "He setteth the solitary in + families," says the Psalmist; and the truth was never better + illustrated than in the isolated and weary life of our + ancestry, two and a half centuries ago. + </p> + <p> + To the Pilgrim and the Puritan, wife, children, house, home, + family, church, were the most precious possessions. Nothing + human could divorce ties which nature had so strongly woven. + And whenever we think of our honored ancestry, it is not as + individual adventurers; but we see the good-man, the + good-wife, and their children, as the representatives of the + great body of those, who with them planted homes, families, + society, civilization, in the Western World. They came + together, or if alone, to pioneer the way for wife and + children or sweetheart by the next ship, and they came to + stay, as witness the names of the old families of Plymouth, + Weymouth, Salem, Boston, Dorchester, in the leading circles + of wealth and social position in all of these old towns. + "Behold," says Dr. Bushnell, "the Mayflower, rounding now the + southern cape of England, filled with husbands and wives and + children; families of righteous men, under covenant with God + and each other to lay some good foundation for religion, + engaged both to make and keep their own laws, expecting to + supply their own wants and bear their own burdens, assisted + by none but the God in whom they trust! Here are the hands of + industry! the germs of liberty! the dear pledges of order! + and the sacred beginnings of a home!" Of such, only, could + Mrs. Hemans's inspired hymn have been written:— + </p> + <pre> + "There were men with hoary hair + Amidst that pilgrim band; + Why had they come to wither there, + Away from their childhood's land? + + "There was woman's fearless eye, + Lit by her deep love's truth; + There was manhood's brow, serenely high, + And the fiery heart of youth." +</pre> + <center> + REASONS FOR FAMILY REMOVALS. + </center> + <p> + To understand the reasons why thirty-five thousand loyal and + respectable subjects of Charles I should leave Old England + for the New, in family relations, between 1620 and 1625, let + us look, if we can, through a chink in the wall, into the + state of affairs, civil, social, and religious, as they + existed in the best land, and under the best government, the + sun then shone upon. + </p> + <p> + Charles I succeeded his father, James I of Scotland, in 1624. + The great, good act of James was the translation of our + English Bible, known as King James's Version, a work which, + for the exercise of learning, scholarship, and a zealous + religious faith, has not been surpassed in any age. Take him + all in all, James was a bigot, a tyrant, a conceited fool. He + professed to be the most ardent devotee of piety, and at the + same time issued a proclamation that all lawful recreations, + such as dancing, archery, leaping, May-games, etc., might be + used after divine service, on Sundays. An advocate of + religious freedom, he attempted to enforce the most abject + conformity in his own Scottish home, against the well-known + independence of that section of his realm, and drove the + Puritans to seek an asylum in Holland, where they might find + liberty to worship God. + </p> + <p> + In the county of Somerset, the old king consented to an act + of tyranny which would grace the age of Henry VIII. One + Reverend Edmund Peacham, a clergyman in Somersetshire, had + his study broken open, and a manuscript sermon being there + found in which there was strong censure of the extravagance + of the king and the oppression of his officers, the preacher + was put to the rack and interrogated, "before torture, in + torture, between torture, and after torture," in order to + draw from him evidence of treason; but this horrible severity + could wring no confession from him. His sermon was not found + treasonable by the judges of the King's Bench and by Lord + Coke; but the unhappy man was tried and condemned, dying in + jail before the time set for his execution. Just about this + time was the State murder of Overbury, and the execution of + Sir Walter Raleigh, one of England's noblest sons, brave and + chivalric, who, at the executioner's block, took the axe in + his hand, kissed the blade, and said to the sheriff: "'Tis a + sharp medicine, but a sound cure for all diseases." These and + kindred acts serve to illustrate the history of a king whose + personal and selfish interests overruled all sentiments of + honor and regard for his subjects, and who publicly declared + that "he would govern according to the good of the + commonweal, but not according to the common will." With such + a king as James on the throne, is it a wonder that the more + intelligent and conscientious of his subjects—like the + Pilgrims and Puritans—sought a home on this side the + Atlantic, where wild beasts and savage men were their only + persecutors? + </p> + <p> + We are told that "the face of the Court was much changed in + the change of the king" from James to Charles I; "that the + grossness of the Court of James grew out of fashion," but the + people were slow to learn the difference. Of the two evils, + James was to be preferred. Charles ascends the throne with + flattering promises, attends prayers and listens to sermons, + pays his father's debts and promises to reform the Court. Let + us see what he does. The brilliant but profligate Buckingham + is retained as prime minister. Charles marries the beautiful + Henrietta Maria, the Roman Catholic princess of France. He + fits out fleets against Spain and other quarters, and demands + heavy taxes to meet his heavy expenses. Parliament is on its + dignity, and demands its proper recognition. He dissolves it, + and calls another. That is more rebellious, and that he + summarily dissolves. Men of high and low degree go to prison + at the king's behest, and the disobedient were threatened + with severer penalties. + </p> + <p> + The people of England are aroused, as the king of the earth + sets himself against their claims in behalf of the royal + prerogative. The king and the people are at war. Which will + come off conquerer? There is only one answer to that + question, for the battle is one between the pigmy and the + giant. The contest grows sharper as the months go on, and the + people are in constant alarm. Murders are common, and even + Buckingham, the favorite minister, dies at the point of the + assassin's knife, and the murderer goes to the Tower and the + scaffold accompanied by the tumultuous cheers of London. Soon + comes the Parliament of 1629, in which the popular leaders + make their great remonstrance against the regal tyranny. In + that House sat a plain young man, with ordinary cloth + apparel, as if made by an old-country tailor, "his + countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp and + untonable," with "an eloquence full of fervor." That young + man is yet to be heard from. His name is Cromwell, known in + history as Oliver Cromwell. His briefly-reported speech of + six lines is destined to be weightier than the edicts of a + king. The session was brief. Popery and Arminianism, unjust + taxation and voluntary payment of taxes not ordered by + Parliament, were declared treasonable and hostile principles + in Church and State,—so said Parliament. "You are a + Parliament of vipers,"—so said the king; and, on the + tenth of March, Parliament was dissolved, not to meet again + in the old historic hall for eleven long years; until, in + 1640, the majesty of an outraged people rises superior to the + majesty of an outraging ruler. Now follow the attempted + riveting of the chains of a despotic and unscrupulous power, + which does not understand the temper of the common people, + nor the methods of counteracting a great popular upheaval in + society. + </p> + <p> + It is not easy to resist the iron pressure of a tyrant; but, + to our ancestors, it was far better than to accept the peace + and profit which might follow abject submission. To borrow + the words of De Tocqueville: "They cling to freedom for its + native charms independent of its gifts,—the pleasure of + speaking, acting, and breathing without restraint, under no + master but God and the Law." The Englishmen of the first half + of the seventeenth century were the fathers of the men who + fired shots at Lexington and Concord, "heard round the + world." + </p> + <p> + But how do the royal prerogatives affect our ancestors in + England? Our fathers were of common mould, and feel the + unjust demand of the tax-gatherer and the insolent demeanor + of the Crown officers, who threaten fines and imprisonment + for a refusal to obey. The people are aroused and are united; + some are hopeless, some hopeful. The Crown seems to have its + sway, but the far-sighted see the people on the coming throne + of righteous judgement. What troubles our ancestors most is + the interference with their religious life. Archbishop Laud + is now supreme, and the Pope never had a more willing vassal. + Ministers are examined as to their loyalty to the government, + their sermons are read to private judges of their orthodoxy, + the confessional is established, and the alter-service is + restored. It is a time when earnest men and women cannot be + trifled with on soul concerns. Their property may perish or + be confiscated, but the right to unmolested worship is older + than Magna Charta, and as inalienable as life itself. What is + to be done? Resistance or emigration—which? Resist and + die, say Cromwell and Wentworth, Eliot and Hampden. Emigrate + and live, say the men and women who came by thousands from + all parts of England during the reign of this monarch, and + made possible the permanent establishment of a new society, + on the basis of social order and family life. + </p> + <hr> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> +<a name="a04"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + AN INCIDENT OF SIXTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX. + </h2> + <h3> + BY THE HON. MELLEN CHAMBERLAIN. + </h3> + <p> + On the afternoon of the twenty-sixth of May, 1686, two + horsemen were riding from Boston to Cambridge. By which route + they left the town is now known; but most probably over the + Roxbury Neck, following the path taken by Lord Percy when he + went to the relief of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith's ill-starred + expedition to seize the military stores at Concord, on the + nineteenth of April, 1775. Of the nature of their + errand—whether peaceful or hostile,—of the + subject of their conversation, as they rode along the King's + highway, neither history nor tradition has left any account. + But when they had reached Muddy River, now the beautiful + suburb of Brookline, about two miles from Cambridge, they + were met by a young man riding in the opposite direction, + who, as he came against them, abruptly and without other + salutation, said: "God save King James the Second!" and then + rode on. But soon turning his horse towards the travelers he + most inconsequentially completed his sentence by adding, "But + I say, God curse King James!" and this malediction he + repeated so many times and with such vehemence, that the two + horsemen at last turned their horses and riding up to him, + told him plainly that he was a rogue. This expression of + their opinion produced, however, only a slight modification + of the young man's sentiments, to this form: "God curse King + James and God bless Duke James!" But a few strokes of their + whips effected his complete conversion, and then, as a loyal + subject, he exclaimed: "God curse Duke James, and God bless + King James!" + </p> + <p> + Such is the unadorned statement of facts as sworn to the next + day in the Council by these riders, and their oath was + attested by Edward Randolph, the "evil genius of New + England." I present it in its legal baldness of detail. The + two horsemen are no reminiscence of Mr. James's celebrated + opening, but two substantial citizens of Boston, Captain + Peter Bowden and Dr. Thomas Clarke; and the young man with + somewhat original objurgatory tendencies was one Wiswell, as + they called him—presumably not a son of the excellent + Duxbury parson of the same name; and for the same reason, + even less probably, a student of Cambridge University, as it + was at that early day sometimes called. + </p> + <p> + The original paper in which the foregoing facts are recorded + has long been in my possession; and as often as my eye has + rested on it, I have wondered what made that young man swear + so; and by what nicety of moral discrimination he found his + justification in blessing the Duke and cursing the + King—"unus et idem"—in the same breath. Who and + what was he? and of what nature were his grievances? Was + there any political significance in that strange mingling of + curses and blessings? That his temper was not of martyr + firmness was evident enough from the sudden change in the + current of his thoughts brought about by the tingling of the + horsewhip. All else was mystery. But the commonest knowledge + of the English and colonial history of those days was + sufficient to stimulate conjecture on these points. At the + date of the incident recorded James II had been on the throne + more than a year, and for a long time both as duke and king + had been hated and feared on both sides of the ocean. The + Duke of Monmouth's ill-fated adventure for the Crown had + failed at Sedgemoor, and his young life ended on the block, + denied expected mercy by his uncle, the king: ended on the + block: but not so believed the common people of England. They + believed him to be still living, and the legitimate heir to + the British crown, and that his unnatural uncle was only Duke + James of England. In those days English affairs were more + closely followed by the colonists than at present, and for + obvious reasons; and it is quite open to conjecture at least + that the feelings of English yeomen and artisans were known + to, and shared by, their cousins in Massachusetts Bay, and + that Master Wiswell only gave expression to a sentiment + common to people of his class on both sides the water. + </p> + <p> + This, however, is mere conjecture. But there are important + facts. On the preceding day, in the Town House, which stood + at the head of State Street, where the old State House now + stands, events culminated, in comparison with which the + causes which led to the war of the Revolution sink into utter + insignificance. On the twenty-third of October, 1684, in the + High Court of Chancery of England, judgment was entered on + the writ of <i>scire facias</i>, by which the charter of + Massachusetts Bay was vacated; and as a consequence, the + title to the soil, with all improvements, reverted to the + Crown, to the ruin of those who had wrested it from the + wilderness, and guarded it from the savage foe. The old + government, so endeared to the people, and defended against + kingly assault with the truest courage, was swept away by + arbitrary power, and in its place a new one established, + under the presidency of Joseph Dudley, and he a recreant son + of the colony. It was the inauguration of this government + which had taken place on the day before Captain Bowden and + Dr. Clarke encountered John Wiswell, Jr., on their ride to + Cambridge. There ceremonies of the inauguration were not + without circumstances of pomp, and are set forth in the + Council records at the State House, from which I transcribe + the following incidents: When the new government, the + president, and Council were assembled, the exemplification of + the judgment against the charter of the late governor and + company of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, publicly + (in the court where were present divers of the eminent + ministers, gentlemen, and inhabitants of the town and + country) was read with an audible voice. The commission was + read and the oaths administered, and the new president made + his speech, after which, proclamation was openly read in + court, and commanded to be published by beat of drum and + trumpet, which was accordingly done. + </p> + <p> + The people in the Forum heard these drum and + trumpets—young Wiswell, doubtless, with the + rest—and knew what they signified: the confiscation of + houses and lands; the abrogation of existing laws; taxes + exacted without consent or legislation; the enforced support + of a religion not of the people's choice; and navigation laws + ruinous to their foreign commerce, then beginning to assume + importance; and from these consequences they were saved only + by the revolution, which two years later drove James II from + his throne. It is difficult to credit these sober facts of + history, and still more to fully realize their destructive + import; but they should always be borne in mind; for if any + one reflecting on the causes assigned by the leaders of the + great Revolution, as justifying the violent partition of an + empire, is led for a moment to question their sufficiency, + let him then consider that they were assigned by a people + full of the traditions of the long struggle against kingly + injustice, in the days of the second Charles and the second + James. + </p> + <p> + A few words—the result of later investigation—as + to the actors in the events of this ride to Cambridge. When + Bowden and Clarke had attested their loyalty by horsewhipping + young Wiswell, they took him in charge to Cambridge, and + vainly tried to persuade Nathaniel Hancock, the constable, to + carry him before a magistrate. This refusal brought + <i>him</i> into difficulty with Council; but his humble + submission was finally accepted and he was discharged on + payment of costs, on the plea that upon the change of the + government there was no magistrate authorized to commit him + to prison. Not quite so fortunate was John Wiswell, Jr., for + on the third of August the grand jury found a true bill + against him for uttering "these devilish, unnatural, and + wicked words following, namely, <i>God curse King James</i>." + That he was brought to trial on this complaint I cannot find. + And so the actors in these scenes pass away. Of Bowden and + Clarke I know nothing more; and the little which appears of + John Wiswell's subsequent life is not wholly to his credit, I + am sorry to say, and the more so, as I have recently + discovered that he was once a townsman of mine, and doubtless + a playmate of my kindred at Rumney Marsh. + </p> + <p> + These actors have all gone, and so has gone the old Town + House; not so, as yet, let us heartily thank God, has gone + the old State House which stands where that stood; on the one + spot—if there is but one—which ought to be dear + to the heart of every Bostonian, and sacred from his + violating hand. For here, on the spot of that eastern + balcony, looking down into the old Puritan Forum, what epochs + in our history have been announced: the abrogation of the + First Charter—the deposition of Andros—the + inauguration of the Second Charter—the death and + accession of English sovereigns—the Declaration of + Independence, and the adoption of the Constitution of the + United States; and here still stands the grandest historic + edifice in America, and within it?—why add to the + hallowing words of old John Adams?—"Within its walls + Liberty was born!" + </p> + <hr> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> +<a name="a05"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + ONE SUMMER. A REMINISCENCE. + </h2> + <h3> + BY ANNIE WENTWORTH BAER. + </h3> + <p> + It was a beautiful morning in June. The sun was just peeping + through the pines fringing the eastern horizon; fleecy mists + were rising, like "ghosts of the valley," from every brook + and low place in field and pasture, betokening a warm, fair + day. As I opened the heavy front door of Mr. Wetherell's old + gambrel-roofed house, and stepped out onto the large flat + stone at the door-sill, every blade of grass was glistening + with dew-drops; such a sweetness pervaded the air as one only + realizes when the dew is on the grass and bushes. At my + right, close to the door-stone, a large bush of + southern-wood, or man's-first-love, was growing; just beyond + it and under the "middle-room" windows two large, white-rose + bushes were bending beneath the weight of a multitude of + roses and buds. A large yellow-rose bush claimed the left, + and spread itself over the ground. Single red roses were + standing guard at the corner of the house. A rod or more + below the front door the garden fence stood and looked as if + it had been standing for many a year. It was made of palings, + pointed; I should think it was five feet high. The posts had + begun to lean into the garden and the palings were covered + with a short green moss, which seemed soft and growing in the + dew. The old gate swung itself to after me with a bang, and I + noticed that a string with a brick fastened to it and tied to + the gate at one end, and twisted around a stake driven into + the ground a few feet from the gate, was the cause of its + closing so quickly. Red-cherry trees loaded with small green + cherries were growing on one side of the garden; purple-plum + trees skirted the other side; and I knew full well how two + months later those creased, mouldy-looking plums would be + found hiding in the short, green grass beneath the trees. + </p> + <p> + Peach-trees were leaning over the fence in the southeast + corner; a long row of red-currant bushes ran through the + middle of the garden; English gooseberry bushes threw out + their prickly branches laden with round, woolly fruit at the + north end. Rows of hyssop, rue, saffron, and sage, and beds + of lettuce, pepper-grass, and cives, all had their place in + this old-fashioned garden. In the southwest corner an immense + black-currant bush was growing on both sides of the fence. + Out in the field below the garden two Bell-pear trees, as + large as elms, were bending their branches, loaded with + fruit, a luscious promise for the autumn-time. A button-pear + tree, just beyond, was making up in quantity what its fruit + lacked in quality. + </p> + <p> + While I was exploring this well-cultivated spot, Mrs. + Wetherell called me to breakfast. The kitchen was a large + room, running across one end of the house; it had four + windows in it, two east and two west. All this space was + filled with the fragrance of coffee and cornmeal bannocks. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Wetherell said: "I don't know as you will like your + coffee sweetened in the pot, but I always make ours so." + </p> + <p> + I assured her I should. + </p> + <p> + During breakfast Mr. Wetherell passed me some cheese, and I + asked Mrs. Wetherell if she made cheese. + </p> + <p> + "Not this month," she replied, "in July and August I shall. I + am packing butter now." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think you are going to be contented back + here?—you won't see as much going on as you do at + home," Mr. Wetherell asked me. + </p> + <p> + "O, yes," I answered; "I expect to enjoy myself very much." + </p> + <p> + Samanthy, the daughter, now well advanced in life, seemed + very solemn and said very little. I wondered if she were + sick, or unhappy. A little later in the day, while I was + watching Mrs. Wetherell salt a churning of butter in the back + porch, she said to me: "You mustn't mind Samanthy, she isn't + quite right in her head: a good many years ago she had a sad + blow." She hesitated; I disliked to ask her what it was, so I + said "Poor woman!" "Yes," said her mother, "she is a poor + soul. She was expecting to be married to Eben Johnson, a + young man who worked on our new barn. She got acquainted with + him then, and after a year or so they were promised. Eben was + a good fellow, a j'iner by trade. He lived in the village. In + the fall before they would have been married, in the spring, + he had typhoid fever, and they sent for Samanthy. She went + and took care of him three weeks, and then he died. She came + home, and seemed like one in a maze. After a little while she + was took with the fever, and liked to died, and my two girls, + Margaret and Frances, both had it and died with it. Samanthy + has never been the same since she got well. Her health has + been good, but her mind is weak." I had noticed that Mrs. + Wetherell seemed very much broken in health and spirits, and + after hearing this story I did not wonder that the blows of + Providence had weakened her hold on life. + </p> + <p> + Samanthy was very shy of me at first, but after a few days + she would talk in her disjointed way with me. + </p> + <p> + One morning I was out in the well-house. The well was very + deep, and by leaning over the curb, and by putting one's arms + around one's head, one could see the stars mirrored in the + bottom of the dark old well. Samanthy came out for some + water, while I was star-gazing in this way. She said: "What + you lost?" + </p> + <p> + "O, nothing. I am only looking at the stars." + </p> + <p> + Samanthy looked as if she thought I might be more profitably + engaged. I took hold of the handle of the windlass, swung off + the great oaken bucket, and watched it descend its + often-traveled course, bumping against the wet, slippery + rocks with which the well was stoned. + </p> + <p> + Samanthy said: "You can't pull that up; it's heavy." + </p> + <p> + "Let me try," I said. "I never drew water with a windlass." + </p> + <p> + I had a much harder task than I supposed, but succeeded in + swinging the bucket onto the platform of the curb, and turned + the water into Samanthy's pail. I never asked permission to + draw another bucketful. + </p> + <p> + I noticed below the well a large mound, grass-grown, with an + apple-tree growing on its very top. I wondered how it came + there, and one day asked Mr. Wetherell. + </p> + <p> + He said: "That's where we threw the rocks and gravel out of + the well fifty years ago; we never moved it. It grassed over, + and the apple-tree came up there; it bears a striped apple, + crisp and sour." + </p> + <p> + I thought, What a freak of Nature! and I wished that many + more piles of rubbish might be transformed into such a pretty + spot as this. + </p> + <p> + Below the mound stood the old hollow tree; its trunk was low + and very large, one side had rotted away, leaving it nearly + hollow. Still there was trunk enough left for the sap to run + up; and every year it was loaded with fruit. + </p> + <p> + Close by the path across the field to the road stood the Pang + apple-tree. This tree was named Pang because a dog by that + name was sleeping his last sleep beneath the tree. He was + much beloved by the family. I thought, What a pretty place to + be buried in! and a living monument to mark his grave. From + the stories I heard of Pang, I know he must have been a fine + dog, and I should have liked to have known him. + </p> + <p> + Just back of the house stood the cider-house. At this season + of the year the wood for summer use was stored there, but in + autumn all the neighbors brought their apples, and ground + them into cider. Samanthy told me how she used to clean the + cider nuts with a shingle; this was when she was small. + </p> + <p> + She said: "A cousin of mine, living at Beech Ridge, got his + arm caught while cleaning the pummy out, and ground it all + up. After that father was afraid for we children to do it." + </p> + <p> + Back of the building I saw thousands of little apple-trees, + growing from the pomace which was shoveled out there year + after year. + </p> + <p> + The loft, over the part where the cider-mill was, was the + corn-house. I went up over the wide plank stairs and looked + around. + </p> + <p> + Traces of snapping-corn and of white-pudding corn were + hanging over a pole at one end. A large chest, filled with + different kinds of beans, stood at one side. On the plates + which supported the rafters, marks made in this + wise—[Symbol: Tally mark of 5]—told of the + bushels of corn carried up there and spread on the clean, + white floor. + </p> + <p> + These marks had been made by many hands, and I wondered where + they were now. Some undoubtedly were sleeping the + </p> + <pre> + "Sleep that knows not breaking: + Morn of toil, nor night of waking." +</pre> + <p> + Others, perhaps, were making their mark somewhere else. + </p> + <p> + "Independence Day," as Mr. Wetherell called it, was observed + in a very liberal manner on the farm. A lamb was slaughtered, + green peas were picked, and a plum-pudding made. + </p> + <p> + Lemonade, made of sparkling spring water, was a common drink. + Mr. Wetherell told me how his father always kept the day. He + brought out the large blue punchbowl and square cut-glass + decanters, which his father used on such occasions. + </p> + <p> + The next morning after the Fourth, I started out through the + field for the pasture. The grass was tall, and it waved + gently in the morning breeze. The whiteweed and clover sent + forth an agreeable perfume. In the low ground buttercups were + shining like gold dollars, sprinkled through the tall + herdsgrass. Yellow-weed, the farmer's scourge, held up its + brown and yellow head in defiance. + </p> + <p> + On a knoll, a little before I reached the graveyard, I passed + over a piece of ground where the winter had killed the grass + roots. Here I found sorrel, cinque-foil, and a few bunches of + blue-eyed grass growing. Nature seemed to try to conceal the + barrenness of the spot with beauty. It was a grave, + decorated. + </p> + <p> + Off to my right, in a piece of rank grass, where branches of + dock had sprung up, bobolinks were swinging the pale, green + sprays, filling the air with melody. "Bobolink, bobolink, + spirk, spank, spink, chee, chee, chee!" + </p> + <p> + I knew that "Mrs. Robert of Lincoln" was sitting contentedly + on her little round nest, under a tuft of grass, very near + the sweet singer. I paused at the graveyard, and looked over + the wall. I read: "Margaret and Frances Wetherell, daughters + of John and Hannah Wetherell, aged 18 and 20 years." I knew + these were the girls who had died of the fever; a twin + gravestone had been put up to their graves. Another stone + told of a little girl, two and a half years + old—Catherine. I reckoned up the date, and had she been + living, she would have been over forty years old. Many other + stones stood there, but I left them without reading the + inscriptions, and hastened on to the pines. + </p> + <p> + I stepped over the low wall between the field and pasture and + walked down by the brook until I came to the Stony Bridge. + This I crossed and followed up on the broad wheelpath. The + pines smelled so sweet: the grass was short and green: + everything seemed calm and cool. I sat down by a large Norway + pine and watched the birds. Right below me I saw a fox-hole, + with the entrance so barricaded with sticks and stones, that + I felt very sure poor Reynard must have been captured unless + he dug out somewhere else. I began to walk around. Six or + seven feet to the south of the besieged door, I discovered + another entrance. I don't know whether some animal was still + living in the old house, or no: but this hole looked as if it + were used. A little pine grew in front, a juniper made its + roof and spread its fine branches over the door, squaw vines + and checkerberry leaves grew on either side. + </p> + <p> + I walked on in the wheelpath. On the north side many tall + Norway pines were growing, with white pines scattered here + and there. Crimson polygalas were carpeting the ground in + open spaces; pale anemones and delicate star-flowers were + still blooming under the protection of small pines; wild + strawberries were blossoming in cold places; and I wondered + when they would fruit. + </p> + <p> + Finally I came to an open field, or what looked like land + that had been cultivated. Hosts of bluets and plots of + mouse-ear everlasting, had taken possession of the land. + Small pines were scattered here and there, like settlers in a + new country. Junipers were creeping stealthily in, as if + expecting the axe. There were traces of where a fence had run + along. I concluded that this was years ago a field, but now + the cows roamed over it at will. + </p> + <p> + Going around in the edge of the woods I came to four pines + growing from one root; two grew on each side close together, + and left a fine seat between the pairs. I sat down there, and + felt thankful that I was living, and that my abiding-place + was among the granite hills of New England. + </p> + <p> + Soon I saw something move a few rods beyond me in the woods. + I looked again and saw the finest woodchuck I ever saw. He + stood in a listening attitude. I suppose he had heard me, but + had not seen me. His fur was yellow and brown mixed; his nose + and feet were black; his countenance was expressive of lively + concern. He disappeared and I left my sylvan seat, and walked + up where the woodchuck had been standing. I found his home + and numerous little tracks around the door. I hastened off, + because I feared my presence would worry him. + </p> + <p> + I knew it must be near noontime, so I began to retrace my + way. I walked up through the pasture and passed the "Great + Ledge." This ledge was on the side of a steep hill. One side + of it was perpendicular thirty feet. It was covered with + crisp, gray moss. In the chinks and crannies on the top, + short grass was growing in little bunches. + </p> + <p> + As I followed down in the lane which led from the pasture to + the cow-yard, striped squirrels were playfully skipping + through the dilapidated wall, coming out, and disappearing; + sitting down and putting their forefeet up to their faces as + if they were convulsed with laughter to think how the old + black-and-white cat had gone to sleep lying on the wall in + the sun, only a few rods below them. + </p> + <p> + Dinner was ready, as I expected. I told Mrs. Wetherell of my + walk over the Stony Bridge. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," she said. "Years ago, when I kept geese, one night I + went out to feed them and I found that they hadn't come. I + knew something must be the matter. I started for the brook. + When I got out on the hill by the graveyard, I heard the + gander making an awful noise. I hurried on, and, when I got + to the corner of the field, I found a fox jumping at the old + gander as he was walking back and forth in front of the geese + and goslings. I screeched and the fox run. The geese came + right up to me. I was pretty pleased to save them. I had two + geese and thirteen goslings beside the gander." + </p> + <p> + I said: "Is that a ledge out in the field where sumachs and + birches are growing?" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Wetherell said: "Yes; and that piece of ground is where + Father Wetherell raised the last piece of flax. I don't + suppose you ever saw any growing?" + </p> + <p> + "No," I said. "Only in gardens. A field must be very + handsome." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, the flower is a bluish purple, with a little yellow dot + in the middle." + </p> + <p> + I asked her when they cut it. + </p> + <p> + "O, they never cut it; they pulled it after the seeds got + ripe; then they would beat the seeds out of the pods. These + pods look like little varnished balls. When the seed was out, + the flax was laid in a wet place in the field for weeks; + occasionally the men would turn it over. When it was well + rotted they dried it and put it up in the barn until March. + Then Father Wetherell would take it down and brake it in the + brake. After that he would swingle it over a swingling-board, + with a long knife; then he made it into hands of flax. The + women used to take it next and comb it through a flax-comb; + this got out all the shives and tow. There was a tow which + came out when it was swingled, called swingle tow. Mother + Wetherell said that, years before, when she was young she + used to use this to make meal-bags and under-bedticks of. But + I never used any of it." + </p> + <p> + I asked her how they used the flax after it was combed. + </p> + <p> + "Then it was wound onto the distaff." + </p> + <p> + "What was that?" Mrs. Wetherell smiled at my ignorance, but + proceeded kindly to explain. + </p> + <p> + "A distaff was made of a small pine top. They peeled off the + bark, and when it was dry, tied down the ends, and put the + other end onto the standard of the wheel. Then they would + commence and wind on the flax. A hand of flax would fill it. + I used to be a pretty good hand to spin tow on a big wheel, + but I never could spin linen very even. Old Aunt Joanna used + to spin linen thread; and Mother Wetherell used to buy great + skeins of her. She said it was cheaper to buy than to spend + so much time spinning." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Wetherell told me that I should go up in the garret and + see the wheels and all the old machinery used so long ago. + </p> + <p> + That evening I asked Mr. Wetherell: "Has there ever been a + field beyond the pines?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes," he said: "Father cleared that piece nigh onto eighty + year ago. We always called it 'the field back of the pines.' + When father got old, and I kinder took the lead, I said we + better turn that field out into the paster. He felt bad about + it at first, but when I told him how much work it was to haul + the manure over there, and the crops back, he gave in. Them + Norrerway pines are marster old; I s'pose they'd stood there + a hundred and fifty year." + </p> + <p> + I felt a thrill of pity for the old man, now at rest. He must + have been nearly at the base of life's western slope, when he + rescued those few acres from the forest. The little field was + his pride, I think it ought to have been left, while he + lived. + </p> + <p> + One morning when Lucy, as Mrs. Wetherell called her, was + washing at the farm, she said to me: "Did you ever have your + fortin told?" I answered, "No." + </p> + <p> + "Well," she said, "I dunno as I b'lieve all they say, but + some can tell pretty well. Did you ever try any projects?" + </p> + <p> + "No. How is that done?" I asked. + </p> + <p> + "O! there's ever so many! One is, you pick two of them big + thistles 'fore they are bloomed out, then you name 'em and + put 'em under your piller; the one that blooms out fust will + be the one you will marry. 'Nuther one is to walk down cellar + at twelve o'clock at night, backwards, with a looking-glass + in your hand. You will see your man's face in the glass. But + there! I don't know as its best to act so. You know how + Foster got sarved?" + </p> + <p> + "No. How was it?" + </p> + <p> + "Why! Didn't you never hear? Well, Foster told the Devil if + he would let him do and have all he wanted for so many year, + when the time was out, he would give himself, soul and body, + to the Devil. He signed the writing with his blood; Foster + carried on a putty high hand, folks was afear'd of him. When + the time was up, the Devil came: I guess they had a tough + battle. Folks said they never heard such screams, and in the + morning his legs and arms was found scattered all over the + cowyard." + </p> + <p> + I recognized in this tragic story, Marlowe's Faustus. I was + much amused at Lucy's rendering. + </p> + <p> + A few weeks afterwards she told me how the house where she + lived was haunted. I asked her, "Who haunts it?" + </p> + <p> + "Why!" she said, "it's a woman. She walks up and down them + old stairs, dressed in white, looking so sorrowfullike, I + know there must have been foul play. And then such noises as + we hear overhead! My man says that it's rats. Rats! I know + better!" + </p> + <p> + I thought that Lucy wanted to believe in ghosts, so I didn't + try to reason with her,— + </p> + <pre> + "For a man convinced against his will + Is of the same opinion still." +</pre> + <p> + Lucy was quite an old woman; and I used to think that washing + was too hard work for her; but she seemed very happy. All the + while she was rubbing the clothes over the wooden washboard, + or wringing them out with her hands, she would be singing + old-fashioned songs, such as Jimmy and Nancy, Auld Robin + Gray, and another one beginning "In Springfield mountain + there did dwell." It was very sad! + </p> + <p> + These songs were chanted, all in one tune. If the words had + not been quaint, and suggestive of a century or more ago, I + think the entertainment would have been monotonous, + </p> + <p> + Lucy brought the news of the neighborhood. One morning she + came in, and said: "John King's folks thinks an awful sight + of themselves, sence Calline has been off. She has sot + herself up marsterly. They have gone to work now and painted + all the trays and paint-kags they can find red, and filled + them with one thing another, and set them round the house. No + good will come of that! When you see every thing painted red, + look out for war; it's a sure sign." + </p> + <p> + One evening late in summer, when I came in from a walk + through the fields, I found in the back porch all the + implements for cheese-making. Mrs. Wetherell said: "It's too + warm to make butter, now dog-days have come in, so I am going + to make cheese." + </p> + <p> + That night all the milk was strained into the large tub. The + next morning this milk was stirred and the morning's milk + strained into it. Then Mrs. Wetherell warmed a kettleful and + poured into the tub, and tried it with her finger to see if + it was warm enough. She said: "My rennet is rather weak, so I + have to use considerable." + </p> + <p> + After she had turned the rennet in, she laid the cheese-tongs + across the tub, and spread a homespun tablecloth over it, and + looking up to me, she said: "In an hour or so that will + come." + </p> + <p> + I made it my business, when the hour was out, to be back in + the porch. Mrs. Wetherell was stirring up the thick white + curd, and dipping out the pale green whey, with a little + wooden dish. After she had "weighed it," she mixed in salt + thoroughly. She asked me to hand her her cheese-hoop and + cloth, which were lying on the table behind me. She put one + end of the cloth into the hoop and commenced filling it with + curd, pressing it down with her hand. When it was nearly full + she slipped up the hoop a little: "to give it a chance to + press," she said. After this, she put the cheese between two + cheese-boards, in the press, and began to turn the + windlass-like machine, to bring the weights down. + </p> + <p> + "Now," said she, "I shall let this stay in press all day, + then I shall put it in pickle for twenty-four hours. The next + night I shall rub it dry with a towel, and put it up in the + cheese-room. Now comes the tug-o'-war! I have to watch them + close to keep the flies out." + </p> + <p> + The forerunners of autumn had already touched the hillsides, + and my thoughts were turning homeward, when one Saturday + morning Mr. Wetherell came in and said: "Miss Douglass, don't + you want to ride up to the paster? I'm going up to salt the + steers." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Wetherell hastened to add: "Yes, you go; you hain't had + a ride since you been here. Old Darby ain't fast, but he's + good." + </p> + <p> + Eagerly I accepted the invitation, and in a few minutes we + set off. + </p> + <p> + Darby was a great strong white horse, with minute brown spots + all over him. Mr. Wetherell told me stories of all the + people, as Darby shuffled by their houses, raising a big + cloud of dust. + </p> + <p> + When we came to a sandy stretch of road, Mr. Wetherell said: + "This is what we call the Plains. Here is where we used to + have May trainings, years and years ago. Once they had a + sham-fight, and I thought I should have died a-laughing. I + was nothing but a boy. We always thought so much of the + gingerbread we got at training; I used to save my money to + spend on that day. Once, when I was about thirteen year old, + a <i>passel</i> of us boys got together to talk over + training. Jim Barrows said that old Miss Hammet (she lived + over behind the hill there) had got a cake baked, with plums + in it, for training, and was going to have five cents a slice + for it. He said: 'Now, if the rest of you will go into the + house and talk with her, I will climb into the foreroom + window, and hook the cake out of the three-cornered + cupboard.' We all agreed. I went in, and commenced to talk + with the old woman; some of the boys leaned up against the + door that opened into the foreroom. After a little while we + went out and met Jim, down by the spring, and we ate the + cake. Some way a-nother it didn't taste so good as we + expected. There was an awful outscreech when she found it + out. Jim was a mighty smart fellar. He married a girl from + Cranberry Medder, and they went down East. I have heard that + they were doing fust-rate." + </p> + <p> + After riding for some time through low, woody places, where + the grass grew on each side of the horse's track, we came to + the main traveled road. Thistles were blooming and going to + seed, all on one stock. Flax-birds were flying among them + filling the air with their sweet notes. Soon we turned into a + lane, and came to the pasture-bars, Mr. Wetherell said: "You + stay here with Darby, and I will drive the steers up to the + bars, and salt them." + </p> + <p> + I got out of the wagon, and unchecked Darby's head, and led + him up to a plot of white clover, to get a lunch. Nature + seemed to have made an uneven distribution of foretop and + fetlock in Darby's case, his foretop was so scanty and his + fetlocks so heavy. A fringe of long hairs stood out on his + forelegs from his body to his feet, giving him quite a savage + look. As I looked down at his large flat feet, I felt glad + that he didn't have to travel over macadamized roads. + </p> + <p> + I sat down on some logs which were lying at one side, and + listened to the worms sawing away, under the bark. + </p> + <p> + Soon Mr. Wetherell came back with the steers, and dropped the + salt down in spots. We watched them lick it up. + </p> + <p> + I asked Mr. Wetherell why those logs were left there. + </p> + <p> + "O, Bascom is a poor, shiftless kind of a critter. I s'pose + the snow went off before he got ready to haul them to the + mill; but if he had peeled them in June or July, they would + have been all right; but now they will be about sp'iled by + the worms." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wetherell got Darby turned around after much backing and + getting up, for the lane was narrow, and we started homeward. + </p> + <p> + As we rode slowly along, Mr. Wetherell asked me: "Have you + ever been to the beach?" + </p> + <p> + I told him, "Yes, and I enjoyed it." + </p> + <p> + He said: "I always liked to go, but Mis' Wetherell has a + dread of the water, ever since her brother Judson was + drowned." + </p> + <p> + "Was he a sailor?" I asked. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, he was a sea-capt'n. He married a Philadelphy woman, + and they sailed in the brig Florilla. She was wrecked on the + coast of Ireland. She run on a rock, and broke her in two + amidships. Her cargo was cotton, the bales floated in ashore, + and formed a bridge for a second or so. The first mate and + one of the sailors ran in on this bridge, but the next wave + took them out and scattered them, and there was no way to + save the rest. Judson and his wife, and all the crew, except + the mate and one sailor, were all drowned. The mate stayed + there for some time, and buried the bodies which washed + ashore. He found Judson's body first, and had most given up + finding his wife's, when one day she washed into a little + cove, and he buried them side by side. He came here to our + house, and told us all about it. It was awful. It completely + upsot Mis' Wetherell. Her health has been poor for a good + many year. She has bad neuralgy spells." + </p> + <p> + "Come, Darby, get up! you are slower than a growth of white + oaks." + </p> + <p> + After several vigorous jerks, Darby started off at a long, + swinging gait, and we soon reached home. + </p> + <p> + Only once more did I watch the sun go down behind the western + hills, lighting them up with a flood of crimson light; while + a tender, subdued gleam rested for a moment on the eastern + summits, like the gentle kiss a mother gives her babe, when + she slips him off her arm to have his nap. + </p> + <hr> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> +<a name="a06"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + THE BELLS OF BETHLEHEM. + </h2> + <center> + [On hearing them in the hill country of New Hampshire, + September, 1880.]<br> + "The far-off sound of holy bells." + </center> + <pre> + How the sweet chimes this Sunday morn, + 'Mid autumn's requiem, + Across the mountain valleys borne,— + The bells of Bethlehem! + "Come join with us," they seem to say, + "And celebrate this hallowed day!" + + Our hearts leap up with glad accord— + Judea's Bethlehem strain, + That once ascended to the Lord, + Floats back to earth again, + As round <i>our</i> hills the echoes swell + To "God with us, Emanuel!" + + O Power Divine, that led the star + To Mary's sinless Child! + O ray from heaven that beamed afar + And o'er his cradle smiled! + Help us to worship now with them + Who hailed the Christ at Bethlehem! +</pre> + <p> + <i>James T. Fields, in The Granite Monthly.</i> + </p> + <hr> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <center> + + <img alt="02.jpg (255K)" src="images/02.jpg" > + + </center> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> +<a name="a07"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + THE SIEGE OF BOSTON DEVELOPED. + </h2> + <h3> + BY HENRY B. CARRINGTON, U.S.A., LL.D. + </h3> + <center> + [Author of The Battles of the American Revolution, etc.] + </center> + <p> + By order of the President of the United States, a national + salute was fired, at meridian, on the twenty-fourth day of + December, 1883, as a memorial recognition of the one hundreth + anniversary of the surrender by George Washington, on the + twenty-third day of December, 1783, at Annapolis, of his + commission as commander-in-chief of the patriotic forces of + America. This official order declares "the fitness of + observing that memorable act, which not only signalized the + termination of the heroic struggle of seven years for + independence, but also manifested Washington's devotion to + the great principle, that ours is a civil government, of and + by the people." + </p> + <p> + The closing sentence of Washington's order, dated April 18, + 1783, may well be associated with this latest centennial + observance. As he directed a cessation of hostilities, his + joyous faith, jubilant and prophetic, thus forecast the + future: "Happy, thrice happy! shall they be pronounced, + hereafter, who have contributed anything, who have performed + the meanest office, in erecting this stupendous fabric of + freedom and empire, on the broad basis of + independence,—who have assisted in protecting the + rights of human nature, and establishing an asylum for the + poor and oppressed of all nations and religions." + </p> + <p> + The two acts of Washington, thus associated, were but the + fruition of deliberate plans which were formulated in the + trenches about Boston. The "centennial week of years," which + has so signally brought into bold relief the details of + single battles and has imparted fresh interest to many + localities which retain no visible trace of the scenes which + endear them to the American heart, has inclined the careless + observer to regard the battles of the War for Independence as + largely accidental, and the result of happy, or even of + Providential, circumstances, rather than as the fruit of + well-considered plans which were shaped with full confidence + in success. + </p> + <p> + Battles and campaigns have been separated from their true + relation to the war, as a systematic conflict, in which the + strategic issue was sharply defined; and too little notice + has been taken of the fact that Washington took the + aggressive from his first assumption of command. The title + "Fabius of America" was freely conferred upon him after his + success at Trenton; but there was a subtle sentiment embodied + in that very tribute, which credited him with the political + sagacity of the patriot and statesman, more than with the + genius of a great soldier. All contemporaries admitted that + he was judicious in the use of the resources placed at his + command, that he was keen to use raw troops to the best + possible disposal, and took quick advantage of every + opportunity which afforded relief to his poorly-fed and + poorly-equipped troops, in meeting the British and Hessian + regulars; but there were few who penetrated his real + character and rightly estimated the scope of his strategy and + the sublime grandeur of his faith. + </p> + <p> + The battles of that war (each is its place) have had their + immediate results well defined. To see, as clearly their + exact place in relation to the entire struggle, and that they + were the legitimate sequence of antecedent preparation, + requires that the preparation itself shall be understood. + </p> + <p> + The camps, redoubts, and trenches, which engirdled Boston + during its siege, were so many appliances in the practical + training-school of war, which Washington promptly seized, + appropriated, and developed. The capture of Boston was not + the chief aim of Washington, when, on the third day of July, + 1775, he established his headquarters at Cambridge. Boston + was, indeed, the immediate objective point of active + operations, and the issue, at arms, had been boldly made at + Lexington and Concord. Bunker Hill had practically + emancipated the American yeomanry from the dread of British + arms, and foreshadowed the finality of National Independence. + However the American Congress might temporize, there was not + alternative with Washington, but a steady purpose to achieve + complete freedom. From his arrival at Cambridge, until his + departure for New York, he worked with a clear and serene + confidence in the final result of the struggle. A mass of + earnest men had come together, with the stern resolve to + drive the British out of Boston; but the patriotism and zeal + of those who first begirt the city were not directed to a + protracted and universal colonial resistance. To the people + of Massachusetts there came an instant demand, imperative as + the question of life or death, to fight out the issue, even + if alone and single-handed, against the oppressor. Without + waiting for reports from distant colonies as to the effect of + the skirmish at Lexington and the more instructive and + stimulating experience at Breed's Hill, the penned the + British in Boston and determined to drive them from the land. + Dr. Dwight said of Lexington: "The expedition became the + preface to the history of a nation, the beginning of an + empire, and a theme of disquisition and astonishment to the + civilized world." + </p> + <p> + The battle of Bunker Hill equalized the opposing forces. The + issue changed from that of a struggle of legitimate authority + to suppress rebellion, and became a context, between + Englishmen, for the suppression, or the perpetuation, of the + rights of Magna Charta. + </p> + <p> + The siege of Boston assumed a new character as soon as it + became a part of the national undertaking to emancipate the + Colonies, on and all, and thereby establish one great + Republic. + </p> + <p> + From the third of July, 1775, until the seventeenth of March, + 1776, there was gradually developed a military policy with an + army system, which shaped the whole war. + </p> + <p> + Many battles have been styled "decisive." many slow tortures + of the oppressed have prepared the way for heroic defiance of + the oppressor. Many elaborate preparations have been made for + war, when at last some sudden outrage or event has + precipitated and unlooked-for conflict, and all preparations, + however wisely adjusted, have been made in vain. "I strike + to-night!" was the laconic declaration of Napoleon III, as he + informed his proud and beautiful empress, that "the + battalions of France were moving on the Rhine." The march of + Lord Percy to Concord was designed to clip off, short, the + seriously impending resistance of the people to British + authority. With full recognition of all that had been done, + before the arrival of Washington to assume command of the + besieging militia, <i>as the "Continental Army" of + America</i>, there are facts which mark the months of that + siege, as months of that wise preparation which ensured the + success of the war. Washington at once took the offensive. He + was eminently aggressive; but neither hasty nor rash. Baron + Jomini said that "Napoleon discounted time." So did + Washington. Baron Jomini said, also, that "Napoleon was his + own best chief-of-staff." So, pre-eminently, was Washington. + </p> + <p> + The outlook at Cambridge, on the third of July, 1775, + revealed the presence of a host of hastily-gathered and + rudely-armed, earnest men, well panoplied, indeed, in the + invulnerable armor of loyalty to country and to God; + fearless, self-sacrificing, daring death to secure liberty; + but lacking that discipline, cohesion, and organized + assignment to place and duty, which convert a mass of men + into an army of soldiers. Washington stated the case, fairly, + in the terse expression: "They have been accustomed, officers + and men alike, to have their own way too long already." + </p> + <p> + The rapidly succeeding methods through which that mass of + fiery patriots became a well-ordered army, obedient to + authority, and accepting the delays and disappointments of + war with cheerful submission, will stand as the permanent + record of a policy which cleared the way for an assured + liberty. + </p> + <p> + As early as 1775, Lord Dartmouth had asserted, with vigor, + that Boston was worthless as a base, if the authority of the + Crown was to be seriously defied by the colonies, acting in + concert. He advocated the evacuation of Boston, and the + consolidation of the royal forces at New York. Washington, + early after his arrival at Cambridge, saw that the British + commander had made a mistake. His letters to Congress are + full of suggestions which citizens could only slightly value, + so long as they saw Boston still under British control. It is + difficult to see how the war could have been a success, if + New York had been occupied, in force, by Lord Howe in 1775, + and the rashness of Gates had not precipitated the skirmish + at Lexington and the battle of Bunker Hill. It is no less + hard to see where and how Washington could have found time, + place, and suitable conditions for that practical campaign + experience which the siege of Boston afforded. + </p> + <p> + The mention of some of these incidents will suggest others, + and illustrate that experience. + </p> + <p> + A practical siege was undertaken, under the most favorable + circumstances. The whole country, near by, was in sympathy + with the army. The adjacent islands, inlets, and bays swarmed + with scouting parties, which cut off supplies from the city. + The army had its redoubts and trenches, and the heights of + Bunker Hill were in sight as a pledge of full ability to + resist assault. As a fact, no successful sortie was made out + of Boston during the siege; but constant activity and + watchfulness were vital to each day's security. Provisions + were abundant and the numerical strength was sufficient. + System and discipline alone were to be added. + </p> + <p> + The details of camp life in the immediate presence of skilled + enemies compelled officers and men, alike, to learn the + minutest details of field engineering. Gabions, fasces, + abattis, and other appliances for assault or defence were + quickly made, and all this practical schooling in the work of + war went on, under the watchful cooperation of the very + officers who afterward became conspicuous in the field, from + Long Island to Yorktown. THE CAMP ABOUT BOSTON MADE OFFICERS, + Its discipline dissipated many colonial jealousies; and there + was developed that confidence in their commander, which, in + after years, became the source of untold strength and solace + to him in the darkest hours of the war. + </p> + <p> + The details of the personal work of the commander-in-chief + read more like some magician's tale. Every staff department + was organized under his personal care, so that he was able to + retain even until the end of the war his chief assistants. + Powder, arms, provisions, clothing, firewood, medicines, + horses, carts, tools, and all supplies, however incidental, + depended upon minute instructions of Washington himself. + </p> + <p> + A few orders are cited, as an illustration of the system + which marked his life in camp, and indicate the value of + those months, as preparatory to the ordeal through which he + had yet to pass. + </p> + <p> + To withhold commissions, until some proof was given of + individual fitness, involved grave responsibility. He did it. + To punish swearing, gambling, theft, and lewdness, evinced a + high sense of the solemnity of the hour. He did it. To rebuke + Protestants for mocking Catholics was to recognize the + dependence of all alike upon the God of battles. He did it. + To repress gossip in camp, because the reputation of the + humblest was sacred; to brand with his displeasure all + conflicts between those in authority, as fatal to discipline + and unity of action, and to forbid the settlement of private + wrongs except through established legal methods, showed a + clear conception of the conditions which would make an army + obedient, united, and invincible. These, and corresponding + acts in the line of military police regulations, and touching + every social, moral, and physical habit which assails or + enfeebles a soldier's life and imperils a campaign, run + through his papers. + </p> + <p> + It is in the light of such omnipresent pressure and + constraint that we begin to form some just estimate of the + relations which the siege of Boston sustained to the + subsequent operations of the war, and to the work of Lee, + Putnam, Sullivan, Greene, Mifflin, Knox, and others, who were + thus fitted for immediate service at Long Island and + elsewhere, as soon as Boston was evacuated. + </p> + <p> + It is also through these orders that the careful student can + pass that veil of formal propriety, reticence, and dignity + which so often obscured the inner, the tentative, elements of + Washington's military character. + </p> + <p> + While the slow progress of the siege afforded opportunity to + study the contingencies of other possible fields of conflict, + a double campaign was made into Canada: namely, by Arnold + through Maine, and by Montgomery toward Montreal. This was + based upon the idea that the conquest of Canada would not + only protect New England on the north, but compel the British + commanders to draw all supplies from England. The fact is + noted, as evidence of the constant regard which the American + commander had for every exposed position of the enemy which + could be threatened, without neglecting the demands of the + siege itself. Frequent attempts were made to force the siege + to an early conclusion. The purpose was to expel or capture + the garrison before Great Britain could send another army, + and open active operations in other colonies, and not, merely + in the indolence of the mere watchdog, to starve the enemy + into terms. "Give me powder or ice, and I will take Boston," + was the form in which Washington demanded the means of + bombardment or assault, and gave the assurance that, if the + river would freeze, he would force a decisive issue with the + means already at command. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, he sent forth privateers to scour the coast and + search for vessels conveying powder to the garrison; and soon + no British transport or supply-vessel was secure, unless + under convoy of a ship-of-war. + </p> + <p> + At last, Congress increased the army to twenty-four thousand + men and ordered a navy to be built. Washington redoubled his + efforts, confident that Boston was substantially at his + mercy; but seeing as clearly that the capture or the + evacuation of the city would introduce a more general and + desperate struggle, and one that would try his army to the + most. + </p> + <p> + At this juncture, General Howe was strongly reinforced. When + he succeeded Gates, on the tenth of October, 1775, he + "assumed command of all his Britannic Majesty's forces, from + Nova Scotia to Florida," and thus indicated his appreciation + of the possible extent of the American resistance. It was a + fair response to the claim of Washington to represent "<i>The + Colonies, in arms</i>." Howe's reinforcements had reported + for duty by the thirty-first of December. During the + preceding months, and, in fact, from his arrival at + Cambridge, Washington had freely conferred with General + Greene. That young officer had studied Caesar's Commentaries, + Marshal Turenne's Works, Sharp's Military Guide, and many + legal and standard works upon government and history, while + drilling a militia company, the Kentish Guards, and following + the humble labor of a blacksmith's apprentice. He fully + appreciated the value of the hours spent before Boston. + Together with General Sullivan, who, as well as himself, + commanded a brigade in Lee's division, he looked beyond the + lines of the camp rear-guard, and spent extra hours in + discipline and drill, to bring his own command up to the + highest state of proficiency. + </p> + <p> + The following is the theory which he entertained, in common + with Washington, as to the proper method for prosecution of + the war; and he so expressed himself, when he first encamped + before Boston and united his destinies with those of America. + </p> + <p> + His words are worthy of double recognition by the citizens of + the United States, because they not only furnish a key to the + embarrassments which attended the uncertain policy of + Congress during the Revolution, but they illustrate some of + the embarrassments which attended the prosecution of the war + of 1861-65. + </p> + <p> + First. "One general-in-chief." + </p> + <p> + Second. "Enlistments for the war." + </p> + <p> + Third. "Bounties for families of soldiers in the field." + </p> + <p> + Fourth. "Service: to be general, regardless of place of + enlistment." + </p> + <p> + Fifth. "Money loans to be effected equal to the demands of + the war." + </p> + <p> + Sixth. "A Declaration of INDEPENDENCE, with the pledge of all + the resources of each Colony to its support." + </p> + <p> + Such was the spirit with which the American army hastened its + operations before Boston. Every week of delay was increasing + the probability that Great Britain would occupy New York, in + force. The struggle for that city would be the practical + beginning of the war anew, and upon a scientific basis. + </p> + <p> + Lord Dartmouth alone had the military sagacity to give sound + advice to the British cabinet. He maintained that by the + occupation of New York, and the presence of a strong naval + force at Newport, Rhode Island (within striking distance of + Boston), and the control of the Hudson River, the New England + Colonies would be so isolated, as neither to be able to + protect themselves, nor to furnish aid to the central + Colonies beyond the Hudson River. + </p> + <p> + For the same reason, an adequate garrison at New York might + detach troops to seize the region lying on the waters of the + Delaware and Chesapeake, and thereby separate the South from + the centre. When General Howe, in 1775, formally urged the + evacuation of Boston and the occupation of New York and + Newport, he also advised the seizure of "some respectable + seaport at the southward, from which to attack seacoast + towns, in the winter." + </p> + <p> + Washington never lost sight of the fact, that, while an + important issue had been joined at Boston, its solution must + be so worked out as to conserve the general interests of the + Colonies as a Nation, and that the delay which was incident + to scarcity of powder, and the resulting inability to assault + the city, was to be employed, to the utmost, in preparing the + troops for an ultimate march to New York, there to face the + British in the field. + </p> + <p> + The reinforcement of General Howe, at midwinter, when an + attack upon the American lines would be without hope of + success, quickened Washington's preparations for crowding the + siege, while constantly on the watch for some manifestation + of British activity in other directions. + </p> + <p> + Within a week after the garrison of the city had been thus + strengthened, Washington learned that Clinton had been + detached, to make some expedition by sea. General Lee, then + in Connecticut on recruiting service, was ordered to New York + to put the city in a condition for defence, and arrived on + the very day that Clinton anchored at Sandy Hook. Clinton, + however, neglected his opportunity, and sailed southward to + attack Charleston. Lee also went South, to co-operate with + Governor Rutledge, in the defense of that city. The repulse + of that expedition at Fort Sullivan (afterwards called Fort + Moultrie) could not be known to Washington; but the knowledge + that the British had enlarged their theatre of active war was + a new stimulus to exertion. + </p> + <p> + The strain upon the American Commander-in-Chief, in view of + this rapid development of hostilities beyond the reach of his + army, was intense. Clinton had been authorized to burn all + cities that refused submission. In a letter to Congress, + Washington wrote: "There has been one single freeze, and some + pretty good ice," but a council of war opposed an assault. At + last he conceived an alternative plan, in the event that he + would not have sufficient powder to risk a direct assault, + and the two plans were balanced and matured in his own mind + with the determination to act promptly, and solely, at his + own independent will. + </p> + <p> + Few facts testify more significantly of the value to the army + and the American cause of that long course of training, in + the presence of the enemy, than the preparations thus made by + Washington, without the knowledge of most of the officers of + his command. He collected forty-five batteaux, each capable + of transporting eighty men, and built two floating batteries + of great strength and light draught of water. Fascines, + gabions, carts, bales of hay, intrenching-tools, and two + thousand bandages, with all other contingent supplies, were + gathered, and placed under a guard of picked men. + </p> + <p> + Three nights of <i>mock bombardment</i> kept the garrison on + the alert, awaiting an assault. "On the night of the fourth + of March, and through all its hours, from candle-lighting + time to the clear light of another day, the same incessant + thunder rolled along over camps and city; the same quick + flashes showed that fire was all along the line, and still, + both camps and city dragged through the night, waiting for + the daylight to test the work of the night, as daylight had + done before." + </p> + <p> + When daylight came,— + </p> + <pre> + "Two strong redoubts capped Dorchester Heights." +</pre> + <p> + By the tenth of March, the Americans had fortified Nook's + Hill, and this drove the British from Boston Neck. Eight + hundred shot and shell were thrown into the city during that + night. On the morning of March 17, the British embarked for + Halifax. + </p> + <p> + Five thousand American troops entered the city, under General + Ward (the venerable predecessor of Washington) as the last + boats left. + </p> + <p> + On the eighteenth of March, and before the main army had + entered Boston, General Heath was ordered to New York with + five regiments of infantry and a part of the field artillery. + </p> + <p> + On the twenty-seventh, the whole army, excepting a garrison + of five regiments, was ordered forward, General Sullivan + leading the column. + </p> + <p> + On the evening of April fourteenth, after the last brigade + marched, Washington started for his new field of duty. + </p> + <p> + The siege of Boston is indeed memorable for that patient, + persistent pressure by which the Colonists grasped, and held + fast, all approaches to the city, until a sufficient force + could be organized for a systematic siege; but, as the eye + rests upon an outline map of the principal works of the + besieging force, and we try to associate Ploughed Hill, + Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, and other memorable strongholds, + with the surroundings of to-day, we are glad to find an + abounding source of comfort in the assurance, that the whole + struggle for our National Independence is indelibly + associated with the names, the vigils, and the experiences + which belong to those long months of education in the art and + appliances of war. + </p> + <p> + Swiftly as that well-instructed army moved to New York, they + had only time to gain position, before they realized the + value of their training in the trenches and redoubts around + Boston; and no battle or siege, including the capture of + Yorktown, is without its tribute to the far-reaching + influence which that training assured. + </p> + <p> + The echoes of the national salute which have so recently + commemorated the one hundredth anniversary of the close of + the official career of Washington as commander-in-chief of + the army of the Revolution, may well be associated with those + midnight salvos of artillery which crowned his first campaign + with an enduring success, and, once for all, rescued the soil + of the Bay State from the tread of a hostile foot. + </p> + <hr> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> +<a name="a08"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. + </h2> + <center> + [Footnote: Illustrated by pen and ink sketches furnished by + the author.] + </center> + <h3> + BY COLONEL THOMAS P. CHENEY. + </h3> + <center> + [Superintendent New England Division United States Railway + Mail Service.] + </center> + <center> + + <img alt="03.jpg (79K)" src="images/03.jpg" > + + </center> + <p> + It is not the purpose of this paper to give a history of the + growth of this important branch of the government service, so + much as to impart, perhaps to an indifferent degree, the + methods of its intricate workings, and the care and study + employed to expedite the vast correspondence of the country. + A system as colossal as the Railway Mail Service of this + country is, could not be organized but through a process of + development meeting needs as they arise. This development is + best shown by a comparative illustration from an early date + to the present time. + </p> + <p> + In 1811, there were 2,403 post-offices, and during the year + the mail was carried 46,380 miles in stages, and 61,171 miles + in sulkies and on horseback. In Postmaster-General Barry's + report for the fiscal year ending November 1, 1834, it is + said, that, "The multiplication of railroads in different + parts of the country promises within a few years to give + great rapidity to the movements of travelers, and it is a + subject worthy of inquiry whether measures may now be taken + to secure the transportation of the mail upon them. Already + have the railroads between Frenchtown in Maryland and New + Castle in Delaware, and between Camden and South Amboy in New + Jersey, afforded great and important facilities to the + transmission of the great Eastern mail." The lines of railway + at that time, 1834, amounted to seventy-eight miles. + </p> + <p> + In 1838, the Railway Mail Service began with 1,913 miles of + railroad throughout the country. In 1846, mails were carried + over 4,092 miles of railway, which increased in 1882 to + 100,563 miles. + </p> + <p> + The miles of annual transportation of mail by railroad in + 1852 amounted to 11,082,768, which increased to 113,995,318 + in 1882, with an increase in the number of Railway Mail + Service employees from 43 in 1846 to 3,072 in 1882. This + wonderful expansion was but proportional with the development + of the country at large. At the close of the war of the + Rebellion, business was at its height. Industry and + intelligence were seeking together new channels for their + diffusion. The Pacific Railway was the grand conception that + met this demand, and by its means were united the borders of + the continent, and communication thus made more frequent and + rapid between our interior, the West, and Europe: the most + ancient civilization of the world in the Orient greeted the + youngest in the Occident, and completed the girdle about the + earth. + </p> + <p> + The lumbering stage and caravan laboring across the plains, + and the swift mustang flying from post to post, frequently + intercepted by the wily savage, were but things of yesterday, + though fast becoming legendary. When those slower methods by + which correspondence was conveyed at a great expense and + delay, and current literature was to a great extent debarred, + were supplanted by a continuous line of stages, it was + considered a revolution in the wheel of progress, and the + consummation. The possible accomplishments of the present + day, if entertained at all at that time, were in general + considered Munchausen, and not difficulties to be surmounted + by practical engineering and undaunted perseverance. The + civilization of the world has kept pace with its channels of + communication and has accordingly rendered invaluable aid to + it. In our country the field in this direction is exceedingly + broad. + </p> + <p> + There is no branch of the government service that reaches so + near and supplies the wants of the people as the Post-Office + Department, and whose ramification may not be inaptly + compared to the human system with its arteries filled with + the life-current coursing through the veins and diffusing + health and vigor to the various parts; in the same manner the + people in the different sections of the country interchange + their information. The centres of art and literature, + conveying to the vast producing region in the West the + products of their refined taste, scientific research, and + mechanical achievements, keep alive and propagate the spirit + of inquiry, making remote parts of the nation homogeneous in + tastes, knowledge, and a common interest in all matters of + national advancement. + </p> + <p> + If a map of the United States with every railway that crosses + and recrosses its broad surface were laid before us, it would + appear that a regulated system for an expeditious + transmission of the mails in such an intricate confusion of + lines, apparently going nowhere yet everywhere, would be an + impossibility; but by study and untiring energy this has been + accomplished. + </p> + <p> + The machinery of the Post-Office Department is a system of + cog-fitting wheels, in all its component parts; and were it + not so, in the necessarily limited period and space allotted, + the work in postal-cars could not be successfully + accomplished. + </p> + <p> + The interior dimensions of postal-cars vary, from whole cars + sixty feet in length, to apartments five feet five inches in + length by two feet six inches in width. The most + comprehensive conception of the practical working of the + postal-car system, can be formed in a railway post-office + from forty to sixty feet in length; with this in view, we + will make a trip in one. A permit to ride in the car, signed + by the superintendent of the division of the service, is + necessary to allow us the privilege; and it is also required + of clerks belonging to other lines. This rule is necessary, + in order that the clerks may perform their work + uninterruptedly and correctly; and also to exclude + unauthorized persons from mail apartments. After a hasty + exchange of salutations with the four clerks, the "clerk in + charge" notes our names on his "trip report," and we are + assigned a spot in the contracted space, where, we are + assured, we will be undisturbed, at least for a while. The + trip report mentioned is used in noting connections missed, + and other irregularities that may occur. The interior of the + car is fitted up with a carefully-studied economy of space, + upon plans made under the supervision of the superintendent + of the division, or chief clerk of the line. Occupying one + end of the car are cases of pigeon-holes, or boxes, numbering + from six hundred to one thousand, arranged in the shape of a + horse-shoe, for the distribution of letters. These boxes are + labeled with the names of the post-offices on the line of + road, connecting lines, States, and prominent cities and + towns throughout the country. A long, narrow aisle passes + through the centre of the car, on both sides of which are + racks for open sacks and pouches, into which packages of + letters and pieces of other mail matter are thrown; on the + sides above are rows of suspended pouches, with their hungry + mouths open. By this plan, in this contracted space, upwards + of two hundred different pouches and sacks can be distributed + into between the termini. On one side of the aisle is a + narrow counter, upon which the mail matter is emptied from + the pouches and sacks; this is hinged to the pouch-rack, and + can be swung back, to enable the clerks to get at the pouches + more easily. The space beyond, divided by stanchions, is for + the stowage of mails, and for their separation into piles. + </p> + <center> + + <img alt="04.jpg (127K)" src="images/04.jpg" > + + </center> + <p> + In order that a minute may not be lost, when passing through + tunnels or standing in dark railway-stations, the lamps are + kept burning from the start to the finish. The last wagon, + gorgeously suggestive of a circus, has arrived with its load + of mail, and the busy work receives at once a new impetus. + Several loads, however, have already arrived, and have been + disposed of as much as possible; for the work begins, in some + cases, several hours before the starting of the train. + Transfer clerks and porters deliver the pouches and sacks + into the car, the label of each being scanned and checked by + the clerks, to detect if all connections due are received, + and that no mail may be delayed by being carried out on the + road with the other mail and returned. The last pouch is + scarcely received, when a sudden, but not violent, shock + announces that the locomotive is attached to the train, and + the start about to be made. The sound of the gong, seconded + by the electrifying and resonant "Aboard!" of the conductor, + and the post-office on wheels is under way. Now, all is a + scene of bustle, but not confusion. The two clerks, to whom + are assigned the duty of distributing direct packages of + letters and newspaper mail, including merchandise, deftly + empty the pouches, out of which pour packages of letters and + circulars, to be distributed unbroken into pouches, and + others labeled to this route and different States, which are + in turn to be separated into packages by routes, States, and + large towns, at the letter-case. To the clerk in charge is + assigned the sorting of such letters as are destined to + distant routes or terminal connecting lines; and his + associate, or second clerk, is busy distributing letter mail + for local delivery, and into separations for intermediate + connections. + </p> + <p> + In addition to sorting letters, the clerk in charge has + charge of the registered mail, which requires special care in + its reception and delivery, booking and receipting therefor. + Large pouches of registered mail are also placed in his + charge, <i>en transit</i> between large cities, and represent + great value. The peculiar tooting of the whistle, or a + peculiar movement of the train around a curve, warns the + fourth clerk, who is on the alert, of a "catch" station; the + letter mail for that post-office is quickly deposited by the + local clerk in the pouch, the lock is snapped, and he is + standing at the door not a minute too soon or too late; the + pouch is thrown out at a designated spot and one deftly + caught an instant after without a slackening of the speed of + the train. The pouch thus caught is taken to the counter, + opened and emptied by the fourth clerk, and the letters + immediately placed in the hands of the second clerk, who + assorts the local mail; the through letters, or those + destined to go over distant lines beyond the terminus, are + sorted by the clerk in charge; the local, or second, clerk + distributes his mail as rapidly as possible, with a watchful + eye for letters, etc., to be put into the pouch to be + delivered at the next station; the pouch is locked and + everything is ready for the next delivery and "catch." When + the stations at which pouches are caught are within a mile or + two of each other, the greatest activity is needed to assort + the mail between stations, to avoid carrying mail by + destination and subjecting it to considerable delay before + its delivery by a railway post-office on the train to be met + at a point perhaps many miles ahead. + </p> + <center> + + <img alt="05.jpg (53K)" src="images/05.jpg" > + + </center> + <p> + The manner of taking or "catching" the mail from the + trackside by some invisible power on a railroad train + plunging through space has seemed to many a feat of almost + legerdemanic skill, when all that is required is a simple + mechanical apparatus and a quick, firm movement of the arm in + using it at the right moment. A crane similar in appearance + to the oldtime gibbet is erected near the track, and may have + served as a warning by its suggestive appearance to some + would-be train-wrecker. Its base is a platform two feet and a + half square, with two short steps on top to assist the person + hanging the pouch; a post ten feet in height passes up + through this platform near the edge; a stout joist about five + feet in length is fixed across the top of the post and so + balanced that when relieved of the weight of the pouch it + flies up perpendicularly against the post. The pouch used for + this purpose is made of canvas and is somewhat narrower than + the ordinary leathern pouch. It is lightly suspended by a + slender iron rod projecting from the horizontal joist, passed + through a ring at the top and lightly held at the bottom in + the same manner as at the top. + </p> + <center> + + <img alt="06.jpg (18K)" src="images/06.jpg" > + + </center> + <p> + When the pouch is snatched from the crane, the top piece + flies up as described, and a parallel short joist at the + bottom of the pouch drops. The pouch is strapped small in the + middle, resembling an hour-glass, where the catcher-iron on + the car is to strike it. This "catcher" consists of a round + iron bar across the door of the car, and placed in a socket + on each side about shoulder high; a strong handle, similar to + a chisel-handle, projects perpendicularly from this bar; on + the under side of the bar projects, at an angle of about + forty-five degrees, a slender and strong iron rod, slightly + turned at the end to prevent its tearing the pouch, of about + three feet in length. As the train approaches the crane, the + operating clerk with a quick, steady throw delivers the mail + at a given point, usually near the crane; he then grasps the + handle with his right hand, swinging the handle over inward; + the arm when thrown outward, the horizontal bar turning in + the sockets, comes in contact with the pouch, striking that + part of it narrowed by the strap and striking the arm near + the vertex of the angle into which it is driven by the + momentum of the train; the greater the speed the more + securely it is held there; but the clerk is on the <i>qui + vive</i>, and as soon as it strikes the catcher-iron, grasps + the pouch to make sure of getting it, as sometimes if the + pouch is not hung properly, the arm will strike it at such a + part as to require the most agile movement on the part of the + clerk to secure it and to prevent its falling to the ground + or under the wheels of the train and being torn to pieces; + these cases, however, are rare, but pouches have lodged on + the trucks and have been carried many miles. + </p> + <p> + To return to the clerks and their work. In the meantime, the + "through" work continues, when the distance between stations + and junctions will allow of it; letters in packages are + distributed into boxes with a celerity and economy of motion + which could be acquired only by continued practice and + training of the eye to decipher an ever-varying chirography, + and of mental activity to almost instantly locate a + post-office on its proper route, its earliest point of + supply, or connecting line. + </p> + <p> + The emptying of pouches continues; package after package of + letters roll out on the counter as though they were potatoes + rather than the dumb expression of every human emotion, or + the innocent touchspring of their awakening. The pouches are + labeled to indicate those requiring the earliest attention, + as are also the packages of letters they contain; this plan + prevents, to a great extent, the carrying of mail past its + destination. + </p> + <p> + The packages of letters to be distributed by routes, + post-offices, and States, are taken to the letter-case; those + not to be so separated, that is, unbroken packages, <i>en + transit</i>, are placed at once into their proper pouches. + </p> + <p> + The emptying of sacks of paper mail follows that of the + pouches; the papers and packages of merchandise are faced in + a manner to be readily picked up, their addresses read, and + deftly thrown into the mouths of the pouches and sacks in the + racks; this is very skilfully done, as the want of space + requires that they shall be crowded closely together. + </p> + <p> + The swaying of the train around a curve makes little + difference, as the clerks in a short time learn to follow + every motion of the train. A quick decision, ready eye, and + economy of movement as a superstructure to a good knowledge + of his duties, are the invaluable qualities of a successful + railway postal-clerk; and one so equipped soon outstrips his + lagging seniors and associates in grade. As the train + approaches a junction, preparations are made to "close out" + that part of the mail to be delivered at that point, the + sacks are tied, the tags or labels having been attached + before starting. The clerks at the letter-case are rapidly + taking the letters from the boxes tying them into packages, + and separating them into piles, which are dropped into their + proper pouches and locked, and so on until all is ready. Let + us examine these packages of letters and at the same time + describe the slip system. On the outside of each package for + redistribution, and also inside each direct package, that is, + containing mail for a single post-office, is placed a brown + paper slip, or label, about the size of an ordinary envelope, + bearing its address or destination, which may be that of a + post-office, a group of post-offices supplied therefrom, and + labelled "dis." (the abbreviation of distribution), or for a + railway post-office; this slip also bears the imprint of the + name of the clerk who sorted into the package and is + responsible for its correctness, the postmark with date, and + a letter, as "N." for north, or "W." for west, indicating the + direction the train is moving at the time. A similar slip is + also placed loose in each pouch and sack. + </p> + <p> + The errors discovered in the packages of letters, or among + the loose pieces in the pouches and sacks, are endorsed on + the proper slip, signed and postmarked by the clerk in the + railway post-office receiving it. These errors may be the + result of carelessness, ignorance, or misinformation; in the + latter case, had the clerk been properly informed, perhaps a + delay of half an hour or less might have been avoided if sent + by some other route. These error-slips are sent each day + enclosed in a trip report to the division superintendent; if + approved, the record is made, and the clerk in receiving the + error-slip at the end of the month is informed of his + mistake, and it is needless to add that the error, if one of + ignorance or misinformation, will not be repeated. This forms + a part of the record of the clerk upon which to a degree his + future advancement depends. The beneficial effect of this + system as an incentive to study, care in distribution, and a + commendable rivalry, is indisputable. + </p> + <p> + The postmarks on the letters in the package in our hands show + that they joined the current at a junction but a few miles + past, and if the location of one of them is sought on the + map, it is found to be an obscure hamlet on a remote stage + route, by which it reaches the railroad, over which a single + clerk in an office seven feet square, or less, performs local + service, and which line makes connection with the through + mail-train on the main road. The letters described are tied + in a package with others, and a label slip placed thereon + addressed to some railway post-office, perhaps hundreds of + miles distant, which is reached unbroken through a + many-linked chain of connections; with this package are + others for large cities which will be passed along intact to + destination, and also letters labeled to railway post-office + lines making connections in their turn. The pouches and sacks + into which the packages of letters and papers are deposited + will be received at the next junction into a railway + post-office car, sorted and forwarded in the manner + described. In many cases a mail is sent across by a stage + route to connect a parallel line, and thereby feeding a new + section. + </p> + <p> + Mail matter is frequently received, through error, for + post-offices on the line of road but just passed, or for + post-offices supplied only by one railway post-office train + moving in the opposite direction; to provide for such mail a + pouch is left at the meeting-point of this train; and so the + train plunges on with its busy workers, its pleasure-seekers, + and its composite humanity, The clerks have long since become + grim with the smut of the train, paling all others but the + fireman, and the long-nursed illusion that all government + positions are sinecures is rudely dispelled by their + appearance, and an insight into their arduous duties. As the + train lazily rolls into the terminal station, pouches and + sacks are ready for delivery and the clerks make ready to + leave the car. + </p> + <p> + The instant the train stops, a portion of the mail, large or + small as the case may be, is delivered into a wagon for rapid + transfer to a railway post-office train about to start from + another station. If the incoming train is late, it may be + necessary to exact the utmost speed to reach the outgoing + train, and in many cases it is always necessary to effect it + rapidly. After the transfer mail is disposed of, the labels + of the remaining pouches and sacks are examined, and as the + mail is passed out of the car we are surprised at its + quantity, filling a number of large wagons; this, however, + does not constitute the entire mail distributed <i>en + route</i>, as the quantities delivered at junctions and + stations aggregate, in many cases, more by far than that + delivered at the terminal station, There are many details of + work that our space forbids us to describe, that are + technical and of little interest to the reader, but are of + relative importance. These we must leave, and prepare for the + return journey on the night-train, feeling grateful that our + busy fellow-travelers are to have an opportunity to refresh + themselves. + </p> + <p> + The work performed in a railway post-office on a night-train + differs somewhat from that on a day-train, yet maintaining + the same general principle of distribution. The methods + differ, governed by the connections, and a clerk suddenly + transferred from a day-train to a night-train on the same + route, unless thoroughly informed of the train schedules, of + close and remote connections, the time of the dispatch of + direct closed pouches from many post-offices, stage route + schedules, etc.,—which knowledge, even approximating + correctness, would be extraordinary,—would be almost as + much at a loss as if transferred to another route, excepting + his knowledge of the location of the post-offices on his own + line. In all cases if a delay occurs, causing a connection to + be missed, it is the duty of the clerk to know at once the + next most expeditious route by which the mail can be + forwarded. + </p> + <p> + The hardship incurred by a night-clerk is greater in many + respects than that of the day-clerk; while in the latter case + a continual active strain is required in the performance of + local work and its multiplicity of detail, yet this is more + than offset by the handling of bulky and heavy through mail + and the unnatural necessity of sleeping in the daytime, which + at most affords but a partial rest. On many night-lines the + clerks commence work in mid-afternoon, accomplishing + considerable before the train starts, and as the train + plunges through darkness into the gray dawn and early + morning, they sturdily empty pouches and sacks, and the + incessant flow of letters and papers is only interrupted when + approaching some important junction where mail is delivered + and received from connecting lines or post-offices. + Everything presents a weird aspect in a railway-station at + midnight,—men flit about in a dazed way with satchels, + the bright light bursting through the doorway of the car + gives a ghastly look to the face of the man who throws in the + pouches and sacks, and all appear like ghosts that will + vanish with the approach of dawn; but we realize the + substance of our surroundings when we again turn our + attention to the busy scene in the car. The city distribution + of letters—a feature of the service on night-trains + which has greatly facilitated the early delivery of mails in + a few of the larger cities—has been extended to other + cities, and others are still to receive its benefit. For + instance, clerks from the Boston post-office detailed to do + this duty enter the mail-car at the Boston and Albany Railway + at Springfield, Massachusetts, and sort the city letters by + carriers' routes, post-office box sections, banks, insurance + offices, etc. The corresponding train moving in the opposite + direction is boarded by New York post-office clerks making + similar separations. + </p> + <p> + The packages of letters thus made up go direct to their + respective divisions in the post-office, thereby avoiding the + delay that would be caused in passing through other + preliminary distributing departments. This work has been + taken up recently by the Railway Mail Service, the plan + enlarged and extended, and added to the other duties of the + clerks. Additional clerks, however, have been employed to + perform this work, yet the others are required to know it, + and on lines where additional clerks were not appointed, to + make it their regular duty. + </p> + <p> + A glance has been given at one of the many links in the + continuous chains of connections that cross and recross the + face of the country. A comparison of the oldtime method and + of the railway post-office service will show the superior + advantage of the latter. At some remote hamlet in Nova + Scotia, a letter is started for San Francisco, California. It + crosses the boundary line into the United States and enters + at once the swelling current at Vanceborough, Maine. Leaving + that place at 1.35 A.M., Monday, without delay it reaches + Boston at 5.10 P.M., is transferred across the city, leaves + at 6.00 P.M., connecting with the fast mail train from New + York City at Albany, through Syracuse, Rochester, and + Buffalo, reaches Cleveland at 6.00 P.M., Tuesday, and Chicago + at 6.00 A.M., Wednesday, where an intermission of six hours + makes the longest delay in the line of connection. The next + morning, Thursday, at 11. A.M., Omaha is reached; Friday, at + 6.00 P.M., Laramie, Wyoming; Saturday, at 6.00 P.M., Ogden, + Utah; Sunday, Humboldt, Nevada; and Monday, at 11.00 A.M., + San Francisco. This illustration has been made to show the + far-reaching continuity of connecting lines across the + country, passing through many of the principal cities but not + entering a post-office for distribution, rather than a + complexity of connections almost innumerable in a + thickly-settled country, and over which study and patient + inquiry to simplify are ever at work. + </p> + <p> + Lyons, Wayne County, New York, is located on the New York + Central Railway; a letter is started from that place for + Leeds, Franklin County, Massachusetts; it is received into + the New York and Chicago railway post-office at 8.17 A.M., + then it is given to the Boston and Albany railway post-office + at Albany, the latter line connecting at Westfield, + Massachusetts, with the Williamsburgh and New Haven railway + post-office, arriving at destination at 9.37 that night. + </p> + <p> + Again at 6.08 P.M., from Lyons, another New York and Chicago + railway post-office train passes, but, owing to different + connections, disposes of it differently: from this railway + post-office a pouch containing a similarly addressed letter, + with other mail, is delivered at Albany for the Boston and + Albany railway post-office, due to leave Springfield, + Massachusetts, at 7.15 A.M.; this pouch is conveyed from + Albany in the baggage-car attached to an express-train, which + train, passing Westfield, connects at Springfield with the + 7.15 A.M. railway post-office train East. At Palmer a short + distance east of Springfield a return mail is left for the + railway post-office that left Boston at five o'clock that + morning; into this mail the letter for Leeds is placed, as + the clerks in the latter-named railway post-office deliver at + Westfield a pouch for Leeds, which place is reached 10.07 + that morning, on train in charge of baggage-master. This + illustration is comparatively a simple one. Many instances + could be given where a detour of many miles is made to gain a + few minutes in time. By the old system the letter would, in + all probability, have gone to Albany post-office for + distribution, thence either to New Haven, Connecticut, or + Westfield, Massachusetts, for the same purpose, losing trains + at each place waiting to be distributed, and consuming fully, + or more, than sixty-four instead of sixteen hours. By the old + method delays became almost interminable as the connections + became intricate, more so than on a continuous line. The + advantage of the "catcher" system described elsewhere, which + enabled towns to communicate with one another in a few + minutes, instead of by the direct closed pouch system through + a distributing office miles away, consuming hours, is not + inconsiderable. + </p> + <p> + The gain by the present method is incomparable. Intersecting + at Albany, New York, with the line from Vanceborough, Maine, + to San Francisco, just described, or perhaps what may be + called the vertebral column of the system, is the New York + and Chicago railway post-office line, known also as the "Fast + Mail" or the "White Mail," as the mail-cars on this line were + originally painted white. A mail-train consisting of four + mail-cars and express-cars leaves New York City at 8.50 P.M., + making the through connection to Chicago. There are two + similar trains, leaving New York at 4.35 A.M., and at 10.30 + A.M., with a less number of cars; and three moving in the + opposite direction. There are twenty mail-cars on this line, + each interior is sixty feet in length, and the exterior, as + already mentioned, painted white, and bearing the + coat-of-arms of some State and the name of its past or + present governor. Each car is devoted to a special purpose: + the distribution of letters and local, or "way," work; the + distribution of paper mail; and others for storage. The + distributing cars are built upon a different plan from the + one hereinbefore described; the packages, etc., are + distributed into large compartments or boxes slightly + pitching back one over the other in a large case, and the + clerk wishing to empty one of them passes into the narrow + aisle to the rear of the case; the pouch or sack is hooked to + the case under the door of the box, and the mail drops into + it. Pouches and sacks are also hung in racks to be + distributed into. These cars are post-offices of no mean + pretensions when the amount of work performed is considered. + When it is considered how densely populated the country is + through which this line passes many times each day, and its + numerous and swelling tributaries, the volume of mail + conveyed is enormous, yet not disproportionate. + </p> + <p> + The average amount conveyed during thirty days, in the sixty + days in January and February of 1881, that the weights of + mails were taken between New York City and Buffalo, a + distance of four hundred and forty-two miles, amounted to + 4,416,451 lbs.; between Buffalo and Chicago, a distance of + five hundred and forty-two miles, 2,874,918 lbs. Over the + first section 73,607 lbs. per day, the second section 47,848 + per day; while either of these amounts does not equal those + carried during the same period between New York and West + Philadelphia, on the route to Washington, a distance of + ninety miles, amounting to 6,202,370 lbs. for the thirty + days, and 103,372 lbs. per day, the great discrepancy in + miles must be borne in mind and the fact that government + supplies and public documents to the East and North + contribute no small proportion of the amount. The mail + between New York and Chicago is altogether a working mail. It + requires more than two hundred and sixty clerks to handle + this mail, who travel annually 2,030,687 miles. + </p> + <p> + The clerks on the westerly bound trains are assigned the + distributing of mails by route, for all Middle, Western, + Southwestern, and Northwestern States, and on the easterly + bound trains for the Middle and Eastern States. + </p> + <p> + When such States as New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and + Illinois, with respectively 3,070, 3,681, 2,603, and 2,568 + post-offices, are taken into consideration, some idea may be + formed of the work required in preparing a system of + distribution, the vigilance required to keep pace with the + frequently changing schedules, and the study of the clerks to + properly carry its requirements into effect. Beyond Chicago, + in the new country, the work of distribution grows less + intricate, but the powers of endurance of the clerks are + severely tested. On the line between Kansas City, Missouri, + and Deming, New Mexico, a distance of 1,147 miles, the clerks + ship for a long voyage—five days on the outward trip + and the same on the inward, sleeping and eating on the train. + </p> + <p> + There are a number of lines in the far West, on which the + clerks do not leave the train for a number of days. + Throughout the country the total number of pieces of ordinary + mail handled by 3,855 railway postal clerks on the lines, + during the year ending June 30, 1883, amounted to + 3,981,516,280; the number of errors made in their + distribution was 958,478 pieces, or a per centage of correct + distribution of 99.97. This minutia of detail is applied to + the distribution of a vast bulk of mail. It is estimated that + in Boston, Massachusetts, between eighty and one hundred tons + of mail matter are daily dispatched, and between forty and + sixty tons are daily received; while at New York City this + quantity is more than doubled. Even figures become + interesting when they represent the standard of intelligence + and progress, as shown by an increased correspondence and + literature. In no branch of the government service, it can be + safely said, have the tenets advanced by the advocates of the + civil-service reform been so nearly realized as in this + bureau of the Post-Office Department even at that period when + the initiatory steps now being applied to other departmental + machinery were considered all but Utopian,—a system + consisting of a probationary period preceding appointment, + and promotion from grade to grade, based upon a practical and + thorough system of examination, had long since been developed + up through an experimental stage to a well-grounded success. + The complexity of the postal system, continually varying in + detail, demanded a uniform system of giving information, and + a corresponding test of its operation. The system of + distribution for each State is compiled in tabulated form in + a book or sheet, known as a "scheme," for ready reference + when on duty, or study when off the road. In thickly-settled + States, where numerous railroads cross and re-cross each + other in the same county, it is necessary to have the names + of the post-offices arranged alphabetically; opposite the + name of each office is given all its methods of supply and + also the hour the mail reaches that office. In more + sparsely-settled States the schemes are arranged by counties; + this is done where the majority of the offices in a county + are supplied by one or two lines, and the exceptions, which + are only specified in detail in the scheme, by other lines or + a number of post-offices. In this case the clerk memorizes + the supply of the excepted post-offices particularly, the + disposition of the remaining post-offices in the county being + the same; it is of the first importance to be properly + informed in which county an office is located, and the line + supplying the principal part of that county. A name prefixed + with "north" in one county may have the prefix of "south" in + another, or a similar name in a remote county. These schemes + are compiled at division headquarters, and the general orders + are revised almost daily, informing the clerks of changes + affecting the distribution, and also instructions as to other + duties. From the schemes mentioned, lists of distribution are + made and time computed applicable to each line or train of + the States for which mail is selected. + </p> + <p> + To return from this preliminary digression to the + examinations. These examinations are of the most practical + character and serve to develop the mental abilities and + intelligent understanding of the clerks. To clearly + understand the method, the clerk should be followed step by + step from the time of his probationary appointment into the + service, through the probationary period and his examinations + as a full-fledged clerk. After a month's service on a line, + the clerk is assigned a day and hour for his examination; + here is laid the foundation for future usefulness, the + intelligent understanding of a service, acquired by continual + study and inquiry, that gives to all occupations that + peculiar zest when understandingly rather than mechanically + followed. A single State, with the least number of offices, + that in the course of duty he will be required to assort, is + selected at the first; it is not expected that it will be + memorized understandingly, or the location of each office + fully known at once, but it forms the basis of inquiry, and + develops either future excellence or mediocrity, or total + incapacity. The room in which these examinations are usually + conducted (excepting when a clerk on a route in a remote part + of the division is the subject, in which case he is visited + by the examining clerk) is kept quiet, and nothing that will + distract the attention allowed. He is placed before a case + containing one hundred pigeon-holes, or more, each the width + of an ordinary visiting-card, and sufficiently high to + contain a large pack of them. Cards are then produced, upon + each one of which is printed the name of a post-office, + comprising a whole State. The cards are distributed into the + case by the clerk being examined and the number of + separations made as required when on actual duty in the + railway post-office. The number of separations varies + according to the connections due to be made; when the line is + through a thickly-settled country, the separations are made + in fine detail. In the State of Massachusetts there are seven + hundred and seventy-two post-offices; and the number of + separations made by one line is upwards of eighty. On the + train it is necessary to make many (what are known as) direct + packages that the examination does not call for. Account is + taken of the time consumed in "sticking" the cards, and + questions asked to test the knowledge of connections. A large + number of questions are asked relating to the Postal Laws and + Regulations, as affecting the Railway Mail Service; these + latter questions vary in number from fifty to one hundred. + When practicable, during the probationary period of six + months, one examination is held each month, taking a + different State each time. + </p> + <p> + The results of these examinations are placed on record, and + at the expiration of the probationary term, this record, + together with the list of errors in sending mail, are + forwarded to the Honorable William B. Thompson, General + Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, in Washington, + District of Columbia, with a recommendation that the clerk be + permanently appointed or dropped out of the service. These + examinations are held at intervals among all the clerks to + test their efficiency, and as an incentive to study, to keep + fresh in their minds the proper disposition of the important + mails passing through their hands. In these examinations a + good-natured rivalry exists, and a vigilant eye is kept by + the clerks that their line shall make as high an average per + centage, or, if possible, higher than any other. The per + centage of correctness rarely falls below seventy-five; an + average is generally made of ninety-five per cent. The list + of errors made is closely scanned by better-informed clerks, + and no stone left unturned by them to clear their record, and + to satisfactorily settle disputed points. These discussions + and inquiries are invited, not only that all may feel + satisfied with the result, but also that much valuable + information is frequently elicited from the clerks, who in + many cases are situated advantageously to see where practical + benefits may be attained. + </p> + <p> + During the fiscal year which ended June 30, 1882, there were + 2,898 examinations of permanent clerks held, and 3,140,630 + cards handled; of this number 208,736 were incorrect, 512,460 + not known, making a correct average per centage of 77.05. + This record does not include that of probationary clerks. + This constant watchfulness, it can readily be seen, redounds + to the benefit of the public and results in the most + expeditious methods of forwarding the mails attainable. In + some cases a test of reading addresses of irregular or + difficult legibility as rapidly as possible is given, but + this idea has not been generally adopted. The query naturally + arises, Is there no incentive to study other than to make a + good record? There is; for upon this basis, together with a + knowledge of a ready working capacity and + application—both great considerations—are the + promotions and reductions made. Those in charge of lines are + fully cognizant of the status of the men, bearing on all + points. The clerks in the service are classified, those on + the small or less important routes according to the distance. + Our attention, however, is drawn particularly to the trunk + lines. The probationary appointee is of class 1, receiving + pay at the rate of eight hundred dollars per annum; but at + the expiration of his six months' probation, if he is + retained, he is paid nine hundred dollars per annum, and + placed in class 2. The number of men in a crew on a trunk + line making through connections is governed by the quantity + of work performed, and generally consists of four men, + excepting the fast lines, New York to Chicago and Pittsburgh, + where more than one mail-car on a train is required. With + four men in a crew the clerk in charge is classed 5, and + others successively 4, 3, and 2, and paid at the rate of + thirteen hundred dollars, eleven hundred and fifty dollars, + one thousand dollars, and nine hundred dollars per annum. In + the event of a vacancy in class 5, the records of + examinations and errors made in the performance of work are + scanned, the relative working capacity of the eligible men in + class 4 considered, and a copy of the records, with + recommendations, forwarded to the General Superintendent. The + gap caused by the retirement of one of class 5, and filled by + one of class 4, necessitates promotions from classes 2 and 3, + and also a new appointment into class 1, probationary, and + after that period is passed into class 2, thus preserving a + uniform organization. + </p> + <p> + The selections for promotion are made from the clerks on the + entire line. Thus it will be seen that a graduated system of + promotion exists, based upon merit and competitive + examination, and which to the fullest extent is practical and + theoretically satisfactory to the most exacting civil-service + reform doctrinaire. The general supervision of the Railway + Mail Service is under a General Superintendent, the Honorable + William B. Thompson, located in Washington, District of + Columbia. It is divided into nine sections, with offices in + Boston, New York City, Washington, Atlanta, Cincinnati, + Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Cleveland, and is + respectively under the superintendence Messrs. Thomas P. + Cheney, R.C. Jackson, C.W. Vickery, L.M. Terrell, C.J. + French, J.E. White, E.W. Warfield, H.J. McKusick, and W.G. + Lovell,—men who have risen from humble positions in the + service, step by step, to their present positions of + responsibility. + </p> + <p> + It is an erroneous impression that prevails in certain + quarters that the forwarding of mails over the various + railroads is arranged by postmasters; the especial charge and + control of the reception and dispatch of mails is under the + Superintendents of the Railway Mail Service, who, in their + turn, are responsible to the General Superintendent, who, in + his turn is responsible to the Honorable Second Assistant + Postmaster-General. + </p> + <p> + It will readily be seen by the foregoing sketch that a + clerkship in the Railway Mail Service is far from being a + sinecure, either mentally or physically. As the country + increases in population and the system becomes more complex, + it is found to be important to the public that the clerks + should be insured against removal except for the following + reasons: "Intemperance, inattention to or neglect of duty, + incapacity for the duties of the office, disobedience of + official instructions, intentional disrespect to officers of + this or other departments of the government, indecency in + speech, intentional rudeness of language or behavior towards + persons having official business with them or towards + associates, and conduct unbecoming a gentleman." In several + annual reports the General Superintendent has urged upon + Congress that some provision be made for pensioning disabled + clerks. This would seem to be only fitting justice to the + clerks, who hourly incur a risk of either limb or life. + </p> + <hr> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> +<a name="a09"><!-- Marker --></a> + <h2> + REUBEN TRACY'S VACATION TRIPS. + </h2> + <h3> + BY ELIZABETH PORTER GOULD. + </h3> + <p> + "Mamma, where is the old Witch House? I met on the street + this morning Johnnie Evans and his mother, who came way down + from Boston just to see that, and Witch Hill, and some other + places here in Salem that they had been reading about + together this vacation. Why, I haven't seen these things, and + I have lived here all my life. And they said, too, that they + were going to find the house where Hawthorne was born. Who + was he, mamma? I think Johnnie said that the house was on + Union Street. Can't I go there, too? I am tired of playing + out in the street all the time. I want to go somewhere and + see something." + </p> + <p> + So said Reuben Tracy to his mother, as he came into the house + from his play one day about the middle of his long summer + vacation. His little eyes had just been opened to the fact + that there was something in old Salem which made her an + object of interest to outsiders; and, if so, he wanted to see + it. As his mother listened to him, her eyes were opened, too, + to her want of interest, through which her boy should have + been obliged to ask this of her, rather than that she should + have guided him into this pleasant path to historic + knowledge. But she determined that this should not happen + again. The vacation was only half through, and there was yet + time to do much in this direction. Her boy should not spend + so much time in idle play in the streets. She would begin + that very afternoon and read to him some stories of local + history, and impress upon his little mind, as Mrs. Evans was + doing with her boy, by visiting with him all that she could + of the places mentioned. She herself had not seen Hawthorne's + birthplace; she would learn more about him and his work, so + as to tell Reuben, and then they would visit the place + together; after which they would take a trip to Concord and + see where he was buried, and also the places where he had + lived, which, she had heard, were so charming. She could then + tell her boy of Emerson and Thoreau; and, through a sight of + the place where the first battle of the Revolution was + fought, she could lead him willingly into the study of + history. + </p> + <p> + Thus Mrs. Tracy planned with herself. She had suddenly become + converted to a knowledge of her larger duty in the training + of her child—her only child now; for, nearly two years + before, death had claimed, in one week, her two other + children, one older and one younger than Reuben; and since + then she had fallen into a sad, listless state of mind which + she found hard to get out of. She was an unusually good + mother in the ordinary sense of the word, since she was + careful to have her boy well-fed, well-clothed, and + well-behaved; but now she saw more than that was required of + her. + </p> + <p> + The good resolution of Mrs. Tracy became so fruitful, that + another week's time found Reuben and herself acquainted with + the points of interest which Johnnie Evans had mentioned, and + several more beside. Mrs. Tracy had accompanied these visits + with much interesting information, which Reuben had enjoyed + greatly. Such success led her to provide something new for + the following week. Now, she herself had never seen the old + town of Marblehead,—only four miles from + Salem,—although of late she had been to Marblehead Neck + to see a sister who was boarding there for the summer. So + with an eye to visiting the old town, she spent an hour each + day, for several days, reading and talking with Reuben on the + history and legends of Marblehead; and, through the guidance + of Drake's New England Coast, learning what now remained + there as mementos of the past. Then, after having invited two + of Reuben's little playfellows to accompany them, they + started, one bright morning, to drive over by themselves. As + they passed up Washington Street in the old town, Reuben's + eyes were looking for the Lee mansion, which he said was now + used for a bank, and which, with its furniture, cost its + builder, Colonel Lee, fifty thousand dollars. They found it, + with its date of 1768 over the door, and soon were in the + main hall, where was hanging the same panel paper which was + put on when the house was built. They noticed the curious + carving of the balusters, as well as of a front room, which + was wainscoted from floor to ceiling; they wished that it had + never been used for a bank, but that it was still the old + mansion as it used to be; for then they could see, among + other things, the paintings hanging on the walls, of Colonel + Lee and his wife, which Reuben said were eight feet long and + five feet wide, and painted by a man named Copley. His mother + smiled when she heard him add, with all the spirit of Young + America: "And he painted them both for one hundred and + twenty-five dollars. Why, just my head alone cost my papa one + hundred dollars; and just think of those two big ones for + only one hundred and twenty-five dollars!" + </p> + <p> + As all three of the boys sat in the large recessed + window-seat, Reuben declared that he did not see how the + window-panes could have been the wonder of the town, for they + were not near as large as his Uncle Edward's, and nobody + wondered at them! + </p> + <p> + They then imagined, walking in the same room where they then + were, General Washington, as he came there in 1789 to be + entertained by the Lees; and also Monroe, Jackson, and even + Lafayette, who had been there, too. When one of the boys + asked if the street in which he lived, in Salem, was named + for that Lafayette, Mrs. Tracy noted the question as a good + sign. + </p> + <p> + Soon they were in search of the old St. Michael's Episcopal + Church, near there, which they had learned was the third + oldest in Massachusetts, and the fourth in New England, those + in Boston, Newbury, and Newport being the three older. As + Mrs. Tracy approached it, she became indignant that the outer + frame had ever been put over the original church with its + seven gables and its towers; she wondered if it could not now + be taken off and leave the old church, as it was meant to be, + pretty and unique. When from the inside she saw the peculiar + ceiling, she thought more than ever that it ought to be and + could be done. While she was thus speculating, the boys were + observing the quaint old brass chandelier, with its candles, + a gift from England, also the pillars of the church, stained + to imitate marble. Then they all examined the Decalogue over + the altar, written in the ancient letters, and done in + England in 1714. Mrs. Tracy wished that the old high pulpit + and sounding-board had never been replaced by the desk which + she now saw there. The sexton showed them the old English + Bible, which he said had been in use there about one hundred + and twenty-five years. They noticed the little organ, which + was very old, and also sent over from England. As they came + out of the church, they saw, by its side, a graveyard + containing some old inscriptions, and then went on to see the + old Town House in the square, which Reuben said was in its + prime in the days of George III. He told the boys to wait + until they should study history, and then they would know + more about this king. That was what he was going to do. Mrs. + Tracy noted this remark as another good sign. + </p> + <p> + She treated them to some soda-water in Goodwin's + apothecary-store, nearly opposite, so that they could the + more easily remember the house, of which this was the parlor, + where Chief-Justice Story was born. + </p> + <p> + They were still driving up Washington Street, through one of + the oldest parts of the town, when, all of a sudden, Reuben + asked his mother to stop and let him and his friends get out + and run up some stone steps, which he said he knew would lead + them up through backyards into another street. So out they + jumped, and soon were up in High Street, following its + winding way over the rocky soil, and amidst old houses, until + they came out to Washington Street again, where Mrs. Tracy + had driven on to meet them. They then drove along Front + Street, where they had a fine view of the ocean, and also of + the Neck, so prettily decked with its unique jewels. Reuben + was anxious to go in Lee and State Streets because they were + old and quaint, which they soon found. The boys, much to + their delight, spied some more steps leading to another + street, and also noticed, on much of the way, the want of + sidewalks. They touched upon other streets which they were + inclined to call lanes. + </p> + <p> + So they spent a day in this old town, with its Fort Sewall; + its Powder House, built in 1755; its Ireson's house on Oakum + Bay, where Mrs. Tracy reread to them Whittier's poem on + Ireson; its cemeteries, where in one they found a gravestone + bearing the date of 1690. They visited the new Abbott Hall, + which Mrs. Tracy told them to consider as a historical + connecting link between the old and the new. She now felt + that they had seen enough for one day: so, with a promise to + drive over again, some time, to visit more especially the + newer part of the town, and also to drive around the Neck, + they left for home. The next day, indeed for several days, + the boys were in high spirits talking over their trip. All of + the boys in the neighborhood were interested to hear of it, + and doubtless some mother was stimulated to do as much for + her children. As for Mrs. Tracy, her sorrow was still keen, + but her interest in her living child's growth was becoming + the means of softening its sharpest edge. She had discovered + an elixir which should renew her life to larger ends. + </p> + <p> + By another week's time Marblehead was pretty well talked + over, and Mrs. Tracy was interested to find another subject + for the rest of the vacation, A few days before, Reuben had + asked her what an island was. She felt then, as she answered + him, that a visit to such a place would give him a much + better idea of its capabilities than any description which + she could give. So, now, in thinking over an interesting + island within easy distance, for a day's trip, she recalled + the pleasure which, some years before, she had found in a + short stay upon Star Island, among the Isles of Shoals. When + she had decided that this should be the place, she talked the + matter over with Reuben, telling him that he might invite his + cousin Frank, a boy of fifteen years, to come from a + neighboring town and spend the rest of the vacation with him; + for he would enjoy studying with them about the Isles of + Shoals before they should all go to see them. Reuben was + delighted with the proposition; he secretly wondered what had + made his mother so <i>extra</i> good lately; he determined + that he would love her more and more, and do all that he + could for her; he did wish that his brother Albert was alive + to go with them, but he was so glad to have his cousin Frank, + who was certainly coming to him the next day. + </p> + <p> + The following morning brought him, after which the days flew + quickly by. Reuben not only showed to him the antiquities of + Salem, but told him much of Marblehead town. They played + together their vacation plays, and had, each day, their + hour's talk and reading with Mrs. Tracy on the geography and + history of the Isles of Shoals. At last they were ready to + go, and the day was set. Mrs. Tracy had invited Reuben's + school-teacher, Miss De Severn, a lovely young lady, whom sad + reverses had sent to hard work, and denied much pleasure in + travel, to join her in their trip. Reuben teased his papa to + go with them, but business engagements prevented his so + doing. But he encouraged his son in his pleasure, and told + him that whenever he could tell all that he wanted to see in + Europe he should go there on a tour, but not before. Frank, + particularly, caught his uncle's idea, and determined then to + read all the good books of travel that he could find. + </p> + <p> + On the pleasant morning of the appointed time they were all + on hand in the Salem station to take the train for + Portsmouth; they arrived there in time to take the steamer + Appledore, as it started at eleven o'clock, for its ten-mile + trip to the Shoals. The boys were delighted with the novelty + of sailing between New Hampshire on one side and Maine on the + other. As they passed on the right the quaint old town of + Newcastle, Miss De Severn told them of the old Wentworth + house, built in 1750, which was still standing there, and + which still contained the old portraits of Dorothy Quincy and + others. She promised to read to them, on their return home, + the story of Dorothy Quincy, as told by Dr. Holmes, and also + the story of Martha Hilton, the Lady Wentworth of the Hall, + as told by Longfellow. While she was telling them of the old + Fort Constitution, which they soon passed, and other tales of + Great Island, or Newcastle, Mrs. Tracy was enjoying the + Kittery side, which also had its suggestive history. They + soon passed the twin lighthouses of Whale's Back. Reuben was + still wondering why that name was given to it, when his quick + ear heard the ringing of a bell afar off in the distance. + What could that be? Then Mrs. Tracy told the boys of the + valuable bell-buoys, of which they had never heard. The sea + was just rough enough to cause the bell stationed there to + ring most of the time; and as they passed it, they declared + that they never heard anything more dismal. Frank said that + he should always think of that in a stormy night ringing out + to warn the sailors. After a sail of an hour and a half, they + landed at Appledore Island, the largest of the seven which + comprise the Isles of Shoals, and which altogether make a + little over six hundred acres. Reuben said that they were now + in Maine, for Appledore, Smutty Nose, Duck, and Cedar + belonged to Maine; while Star, White, and Londoner belonged + to New Hampshire. His mother was pleased to hear him apply + his geographical knowledge of the place so soon. She was sure + now that he never would forget that fact. They spent a short + time in looking around the island, with its attractive hotel, + so finely situated, and its half dozen pretty cottages. One + of them Mrs. Tracy pointed out as the home of Celia Thaster, + who, she told them, was a poetess who had written so + feelingly of the sea, and who had told, in a pretty poem, how + in the years gone by she had often lighted with her own hands + the light in the lighthouse which they could see on White + Island, a short distance from them. The boys wished to go + there, as they had never been near a lighthouse; but as Mrs. + Tracy felt that in their limited time Star Island would, on + the whole, afford them more pleasure and profit, they took + the little miniature steamer Pinafore, which constantly plied + between the two islands, and in a few minutes' time were + landed on its historic ground. + </p> + <p> + After they had dined at the Oceanic, a hotel kept by the same + proprietors as the Appledore House, on the island which they + had just left, they found that they had an hour and a half in + which to look around before the steamer should return to + Portsmouth. As they sauntered along over the rocks back of + the hotel, they came near enough to the little meeting-house, + which was standing there, to read on its side the following + inscription:— + </p> + <pre> + GOSPORT CHURCH. + + ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED OF THE TIMBERS + FROM THE WRECK OF A SPANISH SHIP, A.D. + 1685; WAS REBUILT IN 1720, AND BURNED BY + THE ISLANDERS IN 1790. THIS BUILDING OF + STONE WAS ERECTED A.D. 1800. +</pre> + <p> + Through the kindness of a gentleman who had brought the key + to gain entrance into the interior, they all went in through + the little side door to see a comparatively small room, with + about twenty-five pews, and a quaint desk with a large chair + each side of it. Mrs. Tracy said that when this church was + built, in 1800, that island had only fifteen families and + ninety-two persons, while Smutty Nose had three families and + twenty persons, and Appledore had not an inhabitant upon it. + Reuben said that there was a time, more than a hundred years + before the Revolutionary War, when the town of Gosport, which + included all the islands, contained from three hundred to six + hundred inhabitants. Miss De Severn wished that they had time + to read some old preserved records of that place, which were + now to be seen at the hotel. + </p> + <p> + As they came out of the church, Reuben spied the + weather-vane, in the form of a fish, which crowned the little + wooden tower, in which was the bell, still used, although + rather dismal in sound. + </p> + <p> + As they wandered on, Mrs. Tracy noticed that the march of + improvement had torn down most of the old fishing-houses, as + well as the little old school-house, which she knew had once + been there. They soon came upon the old burial-ground among + the rocks, where they found inscribed on two horizontal slabs + the only two inscriptions which were there. On one they saw + this tribute:— + </p> + <pre> + IN MEMORY OF + THE REV. JOSIAH STEPHENS, + A FAITHFUL INSTRUCTOR OF YOUTH, AND PIOUS + MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, + SUPPORTED ON THIS ISLAND BY THE SOCIETY + FOR PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL, + WHO DIED JULY 2, 1804. AGED 64 YEARS. + —————- + LIKEWISE OF + MRS. SUSANNAH STEPHENS, + HIS BELOVED WIFE, + WHO DIED DEC. 7, 1810. AGED 64 YEARS. +</pre> + <p> + and, on the other, this high eulogy:— + </p> + <pre> + UNDERNEATH ARE THE REMAINS OF + THE REV. JOHN TUCKE, A.M., + HE GRADUATED AT HARVARD COLLEGE, A.D. 1723; WAS + ORDAINED HERE JULY 26, 1732. + AND DIED AUG. 12, 1773. AET 72. + + HE WAS AFFABLE AND POLITE IN HIS MANNER, + AMIABLE IN HIS DISPOSITION, + OF GREAT PIETY AND INTEGRITY, GIVEN TO HOSPITALITY, + DILIGENT AND FAITHFUL IN HIS PASTORAL OFFICE, + WELL LEARNED IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY, AS WELL + AS GENERAL SCIENCE, + AND A CAREFUL PHYSICIAN BOTH TO THE BODIES AND + THE SOULS OF HIS PEOPLE. + ERECTED 1800. IN MEMORY OF THE JUST. +</pre> + <p> + Miss De Severn bowed reverently in honor of such lives having + been lived in the midst of the ignorance and corruption which + she knew to have then pervaded the islands. + </p> + <p> + From this rocky burial-ground they wended their way to the + three-sided monument, enclosed within a railing, which was on + one of the highest rocks on the island. Frank remembered that + it was erected in 1864, in honor of Captain John Smith, one + of the first explorers of the islands; but as he was ignorant + of the meaning of the Turk's head on its top—the one + left of the three which were once there—Mrs. Tracy told + him and Reuben about Smith's successful encounter with the + three Turks, as well as some other tales pertaining to his + brave exploits, after which they read on the sides of the + monument the words inscribed in his honor. + </p> + <p> + As they stopped to gaze around them for a moment, they saw, a + little more than half a mile off, Haley's (or Smutty Nose) + Island, with its few black houses, prominent among which was + the one stained by an awful tragedy. Mrs. Tracy hoped that it + would soon be taken down, for it was too suggestive of terror + and wickedness to be always in sight of those seeking rest + and peace on the islands. Reuben said that Smutty Nose was + the most verdant of all the islands, and the one the earliest + settled; while Duck Island, three miles away, was noted for + its game. He also remembered, much to his mother's surprise, + that Cedar Island was only three eighths of a mile distant, + and Londoner not a quarter of a mile away. When Frank added + that Appledore was seven eighths of a mile off, and White + Island nearly two miles distant, Reuben, not to be outdone by + him, said that Star Island was three quarters of a mile long, + and half a mile wide, while Appledore was a mile long. They + would have gone on till all their knowledge had been told, if + Mrs. Tracy had not suggested that they continue their walk + over the rocks which gave Star Island its natural grandeur. + They would have liked to have remained there all of the + afternoon, to have enjoyed the waves as they dashed up over + the rocks; but they only stopped long enough to find Miss + Underhill's Chair, the name of a large rock, on which Frank + read aloud an inscription stating the fact, that, in 1848, on + that spot, Miss Underhill, a loved missionary teacher, was + sitting, when a great wave came and washed her away. Miss De + Severn said that her body was found a week later at York + Beach, where the tide had left it. + </p> + <p> + On their way back to the hotel they noticed some willows and + wild roses, enclosed in a wooden fence, wherein Mrs. Tracy + said would be found the graves of three little children of a + missionary who once lived upon the island; whereupon the boys + searched until they found the three following inscriptions: + "Jessie," two years, "Millie," four years, and "Mittie," + seven years old. Under the name of Mittie they said was + inscribed: "I don't want to die, but I'll do just as Jesus + wants me to." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Tracy found herself looking back tenderly to this sacred + spot, as she followed the boys to the other side of the + Oceanic to see the ruins of the old Fort, which Reuben said + had been useful before the Revolutionary War. + </p> + <p> + On their way to the steamer, which was to leave in a few + minutes, they stepped into a small graveyard of dark stones, + of which Mrs. Tracy said all but one were inscribed with the + name of Caswell. + </p> + <p> + Soon they were on the steamer, bound for Portsmouth, then on + the cars for Salem, where they arrived home in time for + supper. They had seen what they went to see, and Reuben now + very well knew what an island was. Hereafter, geography and + history would be more real to him. On the following Monday, + Frank was telling in his home all that he had seen, thus + inspiring a larger circle with a desire to see and to know, + and Rueben was in his schoolroom ready to begin another + year's school work. His teacher was glad to see that he + certainly would be a more interesting pupil for his + intelligent vacation rambles, and silently wished that more + mothers would do what his mother has done. + </p> + <p> + As for Mrs. Tracy, she not only decided to interest herself + in the studies of her boy more than she had done in the past, + but she determined to prepare the way for some little + historic excursion for every vacation which her son should + have. Another summer should bring Concord, surely, and + perhaps Plymouth too. + </p> + <hr> + <center> + + <img alt="07.jpg (63K)" src="images/07.jpg" > + + </center> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Bay State Monthly, Vol. 1, Issue 1., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BAY STATE MONTHLY, VOL 1, ISSUE 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 9174-h.htm or 9174-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/7/9174/ + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bay State Monthly, Vol. 1, Issue 1. + A Massachusetts Magazine of Literature, History, Biography, + And State Progress + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: October 14, 2012 [EBook #9174] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 11, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BAY STATE MONTHLY, VOL 1, ISSUE 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + +THE BAY STATE MONTHLY + +A Massachusetts Magazine + +of + +LITERATURE, HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, AND STATE PROGRESS + + + +VOLUME I. + + + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. + + (This table of contents alos contains listings + for articles in the other issues.) + + +Abbott, Josiah Gardner _John Hatch George_ + +An Incident of Sixteen Hundred and Eighty-Six _Mellen Chamberlain_ + +Ansart, Louis _Clara Clayton_ + +Arthur, Chester Alan _Ben: Perley Poore_ + +Beacon Hill Before the Houses _David M. Balfour_ + +Boston Tea-Party, The + +Boston, The First Schoolmaster of _Elizabeth Porter Gould_ + +Boston, The Siege of, Developed _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., +LL.D._ + +Boston Young Men's Christian Association, The _Russell Sturgis, +Jr._ + +Boundary Lines of Old Groton, The _Samuel Abbott Green, M.D._ + +British Force and the Leading Losses in the Revolution + +British Losses in the Revolution + +Bunker Hill _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D._ + +Butler, Benjamin Franklin + +Chelsea _William E. McClintock, C.E._ + +Defence of New York, 1776, The _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D._ + +Dungeon Rock, Lynn _Frank P. Harriman_ + +Early Harvard _Josiah Layfayette Seward, A.M._ + +Esoteric Buddhism.--A Review _Lucius H. Buckingham, Ph.D._ + +Fac-Simile Reprint of Daniel Webster's Fourth-of-July Oration, Delivered +in 1800. + +Family Immigration to New England, The _Thomas W. Bicknell, LL.D._ + +First Baptist Church in Massachusetts, The _Thomas W. Bicknell, +LL.D._ + +First Schoolmaster of Boston, The _Elizabeth Porter Gould_ + +From the White Horse to Little Rhody _Charles M. Barrows_ + +Fuller, George _Sidney Dickinson_ + +Gifts to Colleges and Universities _Charles F. Thwing_ + +Groton, The Boundary Lines of Old _Samuel Abbott Green, M.D._ + +Groton, The Old Stores and the Post-Offices of _Samuel Abbott Green, +M.D._ + +Groton, The Old Taverns and Stage-Coaches of _Samuel Abbott Green, +M.D._ + +Harvard, Early _Josiah Lafayette Seward, A.M._ + +Historical Notes + +Historic Trees: The Washington Elm; The Eliot Oak _L.L. Dame_ + +Lancaster in Acadie and the Acadiens in Lancaster _Henry S. Nourse_ + +Lovewell's War _John N. McClintock, A.M._ + +Lowell + +Loyalists of Lancaster, The _Henry S. Nourse_ + +Massachusetts, The First Baptist Church in _Thomas W. Bicknell, +LL.D._ + +Massachusetts, Young Men's Christian Associations of _Russell Sturgis, +Jr._ + +New England, The Family Immigration to _Thomas W. Bicknell, LL.D._ + +New England Town-House, The _J.B. Sewall_ + +New York, 1776, The Defence of _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D._ + +Ohio Floods, The _George E. Fencks_ + +Old Stores and the Post-Office of Groton, The _Samuel Abbott Green, +M.D._ + +Old Taverns and Stage-Coaches of Groton, The _Samuel Abbott Green, +M.D._ + +One Summer.--A Reminiscence _Annie Wentworth Baer_ + +Perkins, Captain George Hamilton _George E. Belknap, U.S.N._ + +Poet of the Bells, The _E.H. Goss_ + +Railway Mail Service, The _Thomas P. Cheney_ + +Reuben Tracy's Vacation Trips _Elizabeth Porter Gould_ + +Revolution, British Force and Leading Losses in the + +Revolution, British Losses in the + +Rice, Alexander Hamilton _Daniel B. Hagar, Ph.D._ + +Siege of Boston Developed, The _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D._ + +Town and City Histories _Robert Luce_ + +Webster, Colonel Fletcher _Charles Cowley, LL.D._ + +Webster, Daniel, Fourth-of-July Oration of + +Wilder, Marshall P. _John Ward Dean, A.M._ + +Young Men's Christian Associations _Russell Sturgis, Jr._ + +Young Men's Christian Associations of Massachusetts _Russell Sturgis, +Jr._ + + +POETRY. + +Bells of Bethlehem, The _James T. Fields_ + +His Greatest Triumph _Henrietta E. Page_ + +Rent Veil, The _Henry B. Carrington_ + +Song of the Winds _Henry B. Carrington_ + +Tuberoses _Laura Garland Carr_ + +Yesterday _Kate L. Brown_ + + + +[Illustration: Marshall P. Wilder] + + + +THE BAY STATE MONTHLY. + + +_A Massachusetts Magazine_ + + +VOL. I. JANUARY, 1884. No. 1. + + * * * * * + +Hon. MARSHALL P. WILDER, Ph.D. + +BY JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M. + +[Librarian of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.] + + +The editors of THE BAY STATE MONTHLY, having decided to begin in its +pages a series of articles devoted to the material advancement and +prosperity of Massachusetts, and the record of her past greatness, have +selected the Honorable Marshall Pinckney Wilder as a representative man, +and have decided that his memoir shall be the initial article in the +series, and also in this periodical. He has as a merchant won for +himself a high position, and by his enterprise has essentially advanced +the business of the city and the State. He has also been active in +developing our manufacturing industries, while his name is first on all +lips when those who have increased the products of the soil are named. +His life affords a striking example of what can be achieved by +concentration of power and unconquerable perseverance. The bare +enumeration of the important positions he has held and still holds, and +the self-sacrificing labors he has performed, is abundant evidence of +the extraordinary talent and ability, and the personal power and +influence, which have enabled him to take a front rank as a benefactor +to mankind. + +MARSHALL PINCKNEY WILDER, whose Christian names were given in honor of +Chief-Justice Marshall and General Pinckney, eminent statesmen at the +time he was born, was the eldest son of Samuel Locke Wilder, Esq., of +Rindge, New Hampshire, and was born in that town, September 22, 1798. +His father, a nephew of the Reverend Samuel Locke, D.D., president of +Harvard College, for whom he was named, was thirteen years a +representative in the New Hampshire legislature, a member of the +Congregational church in Rindge, and held important town offices there. +His mother, Anna, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Crombie) Sherwin +(married May 2, 1797), a lady of great moral worth, was, as her son is, +a warm admirer of the beauties of nature. + +The Wilders are an ancient English family, which The Book of the +Wilders, published a few years ago, traces to Nicholas Wilder, a +military chieftain in the army of the Earl of Richmond at the battle of +Bosworth, 1485. There is strong presumptive evidence that the American +family is an offshoot from this. President Chadbourne, the author of The +Book of the Wilders, in his life of Colonel Wilder gives reasons for +this opinion. The paternal ancestors of Colonel Wilder in this country +performed meritorious services in the Indian wars, in the American +Revolution, and in Shays' Rebellion. His grandfather was one of the +seven delegates from the county of Worcester, in the Massachusetts +convention of 1788, for ratifying the Constitution of the United States, +who voted in favor of it. Isaac Goodwin, Esq., in The Worcester +Magazine, vol. ii, page 45, bears this testimony: "Of all the ancient +Lancaster families, there is no one that has sustained so many important +offices as that of Wilder," + +At the age of four, Marshall was sent to school, and at twelve he +entered New Ipswich Academy, his father desiring to give him a +collegiate education, with reference to a profession. When he reached +the age of sixteen, his father gave him the choice, either to qualify +himself for a farmer, or for a merchant, or to fit for college. He chose +to be a farmer; and to this choice may we attribute in no small degree +the mental and physical energy which has distinguished so many years of +his life. But the business of his father increased so much that he was +taken into the the store. He there acquired such habits of industry that +at the age of twenty-one he became a partner, and was appointed +postmaster of Rindge. + +In 1825, he sought a wider field of action and removed to Boston. Here +be began business under the firm-name of Wilder and Payson, in Union +Street; then as Wilder and Smith, in North Market Street; and next in +his own name at No. 3 Central Wharf. In 1837, he became a partner in the +commission house of Parker, Blanchard, and Wilder, Water Street; next +Parker, Wilder, and Parker, Pearl Street; and since Parker, Wilder, and +Company, Winthrop Square, having continued until this time in the same +house for forty-seven years. Mr. Wilder has lived to be the oldest +commission merchant in domestic fabrics in active business in Boston. He +has passed through various crises of commercial embarrassments, and yet +he has never failed to meet his obligations. He was an original director +in the Hamilton (now Hamilton National) Bank and in the National +Insurance Company. The former trust he has held for fifty-two years, and +the latter for forty years. He has been a director in the New England +Mutual Life Insurance Company for nearly forty years, and also a +director in other similar institutions. + +But trade and the acquisition of wealth have not been the all-engrossing +pursuits of his life. His inherent love of rural pursuits led him, in +1832, to purchase his present estate in Dorchester, originally that of +Governor Increase Sumner, where, after devoting a proper time to +business, he has given his leisure to horticulture and agriculture He +has spared no expense, he has rested from no efforts, to instil into the +public mind a love of an employment so honorable and useful. He has +cultivated his own grounds, imported seeds, plants, and trees, and +endeavored by his example to encourage labor and elevate the rank of the +husbandman. His garden, greenhouses, and a forest of fruit-trees have +occupied the time he could spare from business, and here he has +prosecuted his favorite investigations, year after year, for half a +century, to the present day. + +Soon after the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was formed, Mr. +Wilder was associated with the late General Henry A.S. Dearborn, its +first president, and from that time till now has been one of its most +efficient members, constantly attending its meetings, taking part in its +business and discussions, and contributing largely to its exhibitions. +Four years since, he delivered the oration on the occasion of its +semi-centennial. One of the most important acts of this society was the +purchase of Mount Auburn for a cemetery and an ornamental garden. On the +separation of the cemetery from the society, in 1835, through Mr. +Wilder's influence committees were appointed by the two corporations, +Judge Story being chairman of the cemetery committee, and Mr. Wilder of +the society committee. The situation was fraught with great +difficulties; but Mr. Wilder's conservative course, everywhere +acknowledged, overcame them all and enabled the society to erect an +elegant hall in School Street, and afterward the splendid building it +now occupies in Tremont Street, the most magnificent horticultural hall +in the world. It has a library which is everywhere acknowledged to be +the best horticultural library anywhere. In 1840, he was chosen +president, and held the office for eight successive years. During his +presidency the hall in School Street was erected, and two triennial +festivals were held in Faneuil Hall, which are particularly worthy of +notice. The first was opened September 11, 1845, and the second on the +fiftieth anniversary of his birth, September 22, 1848, when he retired +from the office of president, and the society voted him a silver pitcher +valued at one hundred and fifty dollars, and caused his portrait to be +placed in its hall. As president of this association he headed a +circular for a convention of fruit-growers, which was held in New York, +October 10. 1848, when the American Pomological Society was formed. He +was chosen its first president, and he still holds that office, being in +his thirty-third year of service. Its biennial meetings have been held +in New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Boston, Rochester, St. Louis, +Richmond, Chicago, and Baltimore; and it will hold its next meeting in +Detroit. On these occasions President Wilder has made appropriate +addresses. The last meeting was held, September, 1883, in Philadelphia, +when his last address was delivered. In this address, with his usual +foresight, he proposed a grand reform in the nomenclature of fruits for +our country, and asked the co-operation of other nations in this reform. + +In February, 1849, the Norfolk Agricultural Society was formed. Mr. +Wilder was chosen president, and the Honorable Charles Francis Adams, +vice-president. Before this society his first address on agricultural +education was delivered. This was a memorable occasion. There were then +present, George N. Briggs, the governor, and John Reed, the +lieutenant-governor, of the State, Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, +Horace Mann, Levi Lincoln, Josiah Quincy, president of Harvard +University, General Henry A.S. Dearborn, Governor Isaac Hill, of New +Hampshire, the Reverend John Pierpont, Josiah Quincy, Jr., Charles +Francis Adams, and Robert C. Winthrop,--of which galaxy of eminent men, +the last two only are now living. It was the first general effort in +that cause in this country. He was president twenty years, and on his +retirement he was constituted honorary president, and a resolution was +passed recognizing his eminent ability and usefulness in promoting the +arts of horticulture and agriculture, and his personal excellence in +every department of life. He next directed his efforts to establishing +the Massachusetts board of agriculture, organized as the Massachusetts +Central Board of Agriculture, at a meeting of delegates of agricultural +societies in the State, held at the State House, September, 1851, in +response to a circular issued by him as president of the Norfolk +Agricultural Society. He was elected president, and held the office till +1852, when it became a department of the State, and he is now the senior +member of that board. In 1858, the Massachusetts School of Agriculture +was incorporated, and he was chosen president; but before the school was +opened Congress granted land to the several States for agricultural +colleges, and in 1865 the Legislature incorporated the Massachusetts +Agricultural College. He was named the first trustee. In 1871, the first +class was graduated, and in 1878 he had the honor of conferring the +degree of Bachelor of Science on twenty young gentlemen graduates. He +delivered addresses on both occasions. In 1852, he issued a circular in +behalf of several States for a national meeting at Washington, which was +fully attended, and where the United States Agricultural Society was +organized. Daniel Webster and a host of distinguished men assisted in +its formation. This society, of which he was president for the first six +years, exercised a beneficial influence till the breaking out of the +late Civil War. On Mr. Wilder's retirement he received the gold medal of +honor and a service of silver plate. He is a member of many other +horticultural and agricultural societies in this and foreign lands. + +Colonel Wilder, at an early age, took an interest in military affairs. +At sixteen he was enrolled in the New Hampshire militia, and at +twenty-one he was commissioned adjutant. He organized and equipped the +Rindge Light Infantry, and was chosen its captain. At twenty-five five +he was elected lieutenant-colonel, and at twenty-six was commissioned as +colonel of the Twelfth Regiment. + +Soon after his removal to Boston he joined the Ancient and Honorable +Artillery Company. In 1856, he was chosen commander of the corps, being +the one hundred and fifty-fifth in command. He had four times previously +declined nominations. He entered into correspondence with Prince Albert, +commander of the Royal Artillery Company of London, founded in 1537, of +which this corps, chartered in 1638, is the only offspring. This +correspondence established a friendly intercourse between the two +companies. In June, 1857, Prince Albert was chosen a special honorary +member of our company, and twenty-one years later, in 1878, Colonel +Wilder, who then celebrated the fiftieth or golden anniversary of his +own membership, nominated the Prince of Wales, the present commander of +the London company, as an honorary member. Both were commanders of the +Honorable Artillery Company of London when chosen. The late elegantly +illustrated history of the London company contains a portrait of Colonel +Wilder as he appeared in full uniform on that occasion. + +In 1839, he was induced to serve for a single term in the Massachusetts +Legislature, as a representative for the town of Dorchester. In 1849, he +was elected a member of Governor Briggs's Council, and the year +following a member of the senate and its president, and he is the the +oldest ex-president of the senate living. In 1860, he was the member for +New England of the national committee of the "Constitutional Union +Party," and attended, as chairman of the Massachusetts delegation, the +national convention in Baltimore, where John Bell and Edward Everett +were nominated for President and Vice-President of the United States. + +He was initiated in Charity Lodge, No. 18, in Troy, New Hampshire, at +the age of twenty-five, exalted to the Royal Arch Chapter, Cheshire No. +4, and knighted in the Boston Encampment. He was deputy grand master of +the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and was one of the six thousand Masons +who signed, December 31, 1831, the celebrated "Declaration of the +Freemasons of Boston and Vicinity"; and at the fiftieth anniversary of +that event, which was celebrated in Boston two years ago, Mr. Wilder +responded for the survivors, six of the signers being present. He has +received all the Masonic degrees, including the 33d, or highest and last +honor of the fraternity. At the World's Masonic Convention, in 1867, at +Paris, he was the only delegate from the United States who spoke at the +banquet. + +On the seventh of November, 1849, a festival of the Sons of New +Hampshire was celebrated in Boston. The Honorable Daniel Webster +presided, and Mr. Wilder was the first vice-president. Fifteen hundred +sons of the Granite State were present. The association again met on the +twenty-ninth of October, 1852, to participate in the obsequies of Mr. +Webster at Faneuil Hall. On this occasion the legislature, and other +citizens, of New Hampshire were received at the Lowell railway-station, +and were addressed by Mr. Wilder in behalf of sons of that State +resident in Boston. + +The Sons celebrated their second festival, November 2, 1853, at which +Mr. Wilder occupied the chair as president, and delivered one of his +most eloquent speeches. They assembled again, on June 20, 1861, to +receive and welcome a New Hampshire regiment of volunteers, and escort +them to the Music Hall, where Mr. Wilder addressed them in a patriotic +speech on their departure for the field of battle. + +The two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of +Dorchester was celebrated on the Fourth of July, 1855. The oration was +by Edward Everett; Mr. Wilder presided, and delivered an able address. +On the central tablet of the great pavilion was this inscription: +"Marshall P. Wilder, president of the day. Blessed is he that turneth +the waste places into a garden, and maketh the wilderness to blossom as +a rose." + +In January, 1868, he was solicited to take the office of president of +the New England Historic Genealogical Society, vacated by the death of +Governor Andrew. He was unanimously elected, and is now serving the +seventeenth year of his presidency. At every annual meeting he has +delivered an appropriate address. In his first address he urged the +importance of procuring a suitable building for the society. In 1870, he +said: "The time has now arrived when absolute necessity, public +sentiment, and personal obligations, demand that this work be done, and +done quickly." Feeling himself pledged by this address, he, as chairman +of the committee then appointed, devoted three months entirely to the +object of soliciting funds, during which time more than forty thousand +dollars was generously contributed by friends of the association; and +thus the handsome edifice at No. 18 Somerset Street was procured. This +building was dedicated to the use of the society, March 18, 1871. He has +since obtained donations, amounting to upward of twelve thousand +dollars, as a fund for paying the salary of the librarian. + +In 1859, he presided at the first public meeting called in Boston, in +regard to the collocation of institutions on the Back Bay lands, where +the splendid edifices of the Boston Society of Natural History and the +Massachusetts Institute of Technology now stand. Of the latter +institution he has been a vice-president, and the chairman of its +Society of Arts, and a director from the beginning. General Francis A. +Walker, the present president of the Institute, bore this testimony to +his efforts in its behalf at the in banquet to Mr. Wilder on his +eighty-fifth anniversary: "Through all the early efforts to attract the +attention of the legislature and the people to the importance of +industrial and art education, and through the severe struggles which so +painfully tried the courage and the faith even of those who most +strongly and ardently believed in the mission of the Institute, as well +as through the happier years of fruition, while the efforts put forth in +the days of darkness and despondency were bearing their harvest of +success and fame, Colonel Wilder was through all one of the most +constant of the members of the government in his attendance; one of the +most hopeful in his views of the future of the school; ever a wise +counsellor and a steadfast ally." + +He was one of the twelve representative men appointed to receive the +Prince of Wales in 1860, at the banquet given him in Boston, Edward +Everett being chairman of the committee; also one of the commissioners +in behalf of the Universal Exposition in Paris, 1867, when he was placed +at the head of the committee on horticulture and the cultivation and +products of the vine, the report of which was published by act of +Congress. + +In 1869, he made a trip to the South, for the purpose of examining its +resources; and in 1870, with a large party, he visited California. The +result of Mr. Wilder's observations has been given to the public in a +lecture before the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, which was +repeated before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, Amherst +College, the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Dartmouth College, the +Horticultural Society, the merchants of Philadelphia, and bodies in +other places. + +His published speeches and writings now amount to nearly one hundred in +number. A list to the year 1873 is printed in the Cyclopaedia of +American Literature. Dartmouth College, as a testimonial to his services +in science and literature, conferred upon him, in the year 1877, the +degree of Doctor of Philosophy. + +The Honorable Paul A. Chadbourne, LL.D., late president of Williams +College in a recent Memoir of Mr. Wilder remarks: "The interest which +Colonel Wilder has always manifested in the progress of education, as +well as the value and felicitous style of his numerous writings, would +lead one to infer at once that his varied knowledge and culture are the +results of college education. But he is only another illustrious example +of the men who, with only small indebtedness to schools, have proved to +the world that real men can make themselves known as such without the +aid of the college, as we have abundantly learned that the college can +never make a man of one who has not in him the elements of noble manhood +before he enters its halls." + +In 1820, Mr. Wilder married Miss Tryphosa Jewett, daughter of Dr. +Stephen Jewett, of Rindge, a lady of great personal attractions. She +died on a visit to that town, July 21, 1831, leaving four children. On +the twenty-ninth of August, 1833, Mr. Wilder was united to Miss Abigail, +daughter of Captain David Baker of Franklin, Massachusetts, a lady of +education, accomplishments, and piety, who died of consumption, April 4, +1854, leaving five children. He was married a third time on the eighth +of September, 1855, to her sister, Miss Julia Baker, who was admirably +qualified to console him and make his dwelling cheerful, and who has two +sons, both living. No man has been more blessed in domestic life. We +know not where there would be a more pleasing picture of peace and +contentment exhibited than is found in this happy family. In all his +pursuits and avocations, Mr. Wilder seems to have realized and practised +that grand principle, which has such a bearing and influence on the +whole course of life--the philosophy of habit, a power almost omnipotent +for good or evil. His leisure hours he devotes to his pen, which already +has filled several large volumes with descriptions and delineations of +fruits and flowers, proved under his own inspection, and other matters +pertaining to his various relations in life. + +Colonel Wilder has shown us by his life what an individual may +accomplish by industry, perseverance, and the concentration of the +intellectual powers on grand objects. Without these, no talent, no mere +good fortune could have placed him in the high position he has attained +as a public benefactor. He has been pre-eminent in the establishment and +development of institutions. Few gentlemen have been called upon so +often, and upon such various occasions, to take the chair at public +meetings or preside over constituted societies. Few have acquitted +themselves so happily, whether dignity of presence, amenity of address, +fluency of speech, or dispatch of business, be taken into consideration. +As a presiding officer he seems "to the manner born." His personal +influence has been able to magnetize a half-dying body into new and +active life. This strong personal characteristic is especially remarked +among his friends. No one can approach him in doubt, in despondency, or +in embarrassment, and leave him without a higher hope, a stronger +courage, and a manlier faith in himself. The energy which has impelled +him to labor still exists. + +Mr. Wilder is now president of the New England Historic Genealogical and +Society, the American Pomological Society, and the Massachusetts +Agricultural Club. He is senior trustee of the Massachusetts +Agricultural College, and senior member of the State Board of +Agriculture, and of the executive committee of the Massachusetts +Horticultural Society. He is senior director in the Massachusetts +Institute of Technology, the Hamilton National Bank, the New England +Mutual Life Insurance Company, and the Home Savings Bank. He is an +honorary member of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain; a +corresponding member of the Royal Horticultural Society of London, and +the Societe Centrale d' Horticulture of France; and a fellow of the +Reale Accademia Araldica Italiana of Pisa. + +Well did Governor Bullock on a public occasion speak of Mr. Wilder as +"one who has applied the results of his well-earned commercial earnings +so liberally that in every household and at every fireside in America, +when the golden fruits of summer and autumn gladden the sideboard and +the hearthstone, his name, his generosity, and his labors are known and +honored." He is also known and honored abroad. The London Gardener's +Chronicle, the leading agricultural paper in Europe, in April, 1872, +gave his portrait and a sketch of his life, in which is introduced the +following merited compliment:-- + +"We are glad to have the opportunity of laying before our readers the +portrait of one of the most distinguished of transatlantic +horticulturists, and one who, by his zeal, industry, and determination, +has not only conferred lasting benefits on his native country, but has +by his careful experiments in hybridization and fruit-culture laid the +horticulturists of all nations under heavy obligations to him. The name +and reputation of Marshall P. Wilder is as highly esteemed in Great +Britain as they are in America." + +In closing this sketch, we may remark that complimentary banquets were +given him on the eightieth and the eighty-fifth anniversaries of his +birth. On the former occasion, September 22, 1878, the Reverend James H. +Means, D.D., his pastor for nearly thirty years, the Honorable Charles +L. Flint, secretary of the Board of Agriculture, the Honorable John +Phelps Putnam, judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court, and others, +paid tributes to the high moral character, the benevolent disposition, +and the eminent services, of the honored guest of the evening. + +The last banquet, September 22, 1883, on his completing the ripe age of +eighty-five, was a much more important occasion. The banquet was held, +as the former was, at the Parker House, in Boston, and over one hundred +gentlemen participated, among whom were some of the most distinguished +persons in this and other States. Charles H.B. Breck, Esq., +vice-president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society presided, and +the venerable Reverend Dr. George W. Blagden invoked a blessing. Mr. +Breck addressed Mr. Wilder, who responded. Addresses were then made by a +number of Mr. Wilder's friends, among them the Honorable Alexander H. +Rice and the Honorable Nathaniel P. Banks, ex-governors of +Massachusetts, his Honor Oliver Ames, lieutenant-governor of the State, +his Honor Albert Palmer, mayor of Boston, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, +ex-governor of Maine, the Honorable Frederick Smyth, ex-governor of New +Hampshire, Professor J.C. Greenough, president of the Massachusetts +Agricultural College, General Francis A. Walker, president of the +Institute of Technology, the Honorable Francis B. Hayes, president of +the Horticultural Society, the Reverend Edmund F. Slafter, corresponding +secretary of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, John E. +Russell, secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, and Major Ben: +Perley Poore, secretary of the United States Agricultural Society, and +ex-commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. Other +societies with which Mr. Wilder is connected were also represented, as +the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, the New +England Agricultural Society, the New England Life Insurance Company, +the Hamilton Bank, the Home Savings Bank, the Grand Lodge of Masons, and +the Second Church of Dorchester. Letters were received from the +Honorable Robert C. Winthrop, president of the Massachusetts Historical +Society, his Excellency Benjamin F. Butler, governor, and the Honorables +John D. Long, William Claflin, and Thomas Talbot, ex-governors of the +State, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the Honorable Dr. George B. Loring, +United States Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Honorable Francis W. +Bird, president of the Bird Club, The addresses and letters are to be +printed in full. A few extracts follow: + +Dr. Holmes referred to Mr. Wilder as: "The venerable and venerated +friend who has outlived the fruits of fourscore seasons, and is still +ripening as if his life were all summer." + +Mr. Winthrop wrote: "No other man has done so much for our fields and +gardens and orchards. He has distinguished himself in many other lines +of life, and his relations to the Legislature of Massachusetts and to +the Historic Genealogical Society will not soon be forgotten. But his +name will have its most enduring and most enviable association with the +flowers and fruits for whose culture he was foremost in striving, both +by precept and example. He deserves a grateful remembrance as long as a +fine pear is relished or a brilliant bouquet admired." + +Governor Rice said: "There is hardly a public enterprise of the last +three generations, scarcely a pursuit in life, or an institution of +patriotism, discipline, or charity, that does not bear the signet of his +touch and feel the vigor of his co-operation. Why, sir, it may be said, +almost with literal truth, that the trees which this great arborist has +planted and cultivated and loved are not more numerous than the +evidences of his handiwork in all the useful and beneficent departments +of life; and all the flowers that shall grow to the end of time ought to +bear fragrance to his memory." + +Mayor Palmer said: "Time would fail me to recount his great and +honorable services to society and the State. It must suffice to say that +no name of this century is written more imperishably in the affection +and esteem of Boston and Massachusetts than the name of him, our honored +guest." + +Dr. Loring wrote: "It is with pride and satisfaction that the business +associations of the city of Boston can point to him as a representative +of that mercantile integrity which gives that city its distinguished +position among the great commercial centres of the world." + +Governor Banks said: "I can scarcely enumerate, much less analyze, the +numerous and important social and national enterprises which make the +character and career of our distinguished guest illustrious." + +Governor Chamberlain said: "We rejoice in this honored old age,--this +youth, rounded, beautified, and sweetened into supreme manhood; and we +rejoice also that it shall remain for after times an example and +inspiration for all who would live true lives, and win the honor that +comes here and hereafter to noble character." + +President Greenough thus spoke:--"The line of buildings which to-day at +Amherst graces one of the fairest landscapes in New England, and the +sound and practical education which they were built to secure, are to be +a lasting monument to his foresight, his patriotism, and his eloquent +persuasion." + +Mr. Russell said: "To him the agriculture of the Commonwealth owes a +debt that can never be paid; the records of our board are a monument of +his good works more enduring than brass. And, sir, in view of his +venerable years, so lightly borne, his interest in all the active +affairs of men, and his continued powers of social enjoyment, I may well +repeat the wish of the poet Horace, expressed in one of his invocations +to the Emperor Augustus: 'Serus in coelum redeas.'" + +Major Poore said: "Mr. President, I am confident that the distinguished +gentlemen around these tables will long remember to-night, and recall +with pleasure its varied homages to Colonel Wilder, thankful that we +have so pure a shrine, so bright an oracle, as the common property of +all who reverence virtue, admire manhood, or aspire to noble deeds. +Succeeding years will not dim the freshness of Colonel Wilder's fame; +and the more frequently we drink at this fountain, the sweeter we shall +find its waters. + + 'You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will, + But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.'" + + * * * * * + + + + +THE OLD TAVERNS AND STAGE-COACHES OF GROTON. + +BY THE HON. SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN, M.D. + + +It has been said that there is nothing contrived by man which has +produced so much happiness as a good tavern. Without granting or denying +the statement, all will agree that many good times have been passed +around the cheerful hearth of the old-fashioned inn. + +The earliest tavern in Groton, of which there is any record or +tradition, was kept by Samuel Bowers, Jr., in the house lately and for a +long time occupied by the Champney family. Mr. Bowers was born in Groton +on December 21, 1711, and, according to his tombstone, died on "the +Sixteenth Day of December Anno Domini 1768. Half a hour after Three of +the Clock in ye Afternoon, and in the Fifty Eight year of his age." He +kept the house during many years, and was known in the neighborhood as +"land'urd Bowers,"--the innkeeper of that period being generally +addressed by the title of landlord. I do not know who succeeded him in +his useful and important functions. + +The next tavern of which I have any knowledge was the one kept by +Captain Jonathan Keep, during the latter part of the Revolution. In The +Independent Chronicle (Boston), February 15, 1781, the Committee of the +General Court for the sale of confiscated property in Middlesex County, +advertise the estate of Dr. Joseph Adams, of Townsend, to be sold "at +Mr. Keep's, innholder in Groton." This tavern has now been kept as an +inn during more than a century. It was originally built for a +dwelling-house, and, before the Revolution, occupied by the Reverend +Samuel Dana; though since that time it has been lengthened in front and +otherwise considerably enlarged. Captain Keep was followed by the +brothers Isaiah and Joseph Hall, who were the landlords as early as the +year 1798. They were succeeded in 1825 by Joseph Hoar, who had just sold +the Emerson tavern, at the other end of the village street. He kept it +for nearly twenty years,--excepting the year 1836, when Moses Gill and +his brother-in-law, Henry Lewis Lawrence, were the landlords,--and sold +out about 1842 to Thomas Treadwell Farnsworth. It was then conducted as +a temperance house, at that time considered a great innovation on former +customs. After a short period it was sold to Daniel Hunt, who kept it +until 1852, and he was followed by James M. Colburn, who had it for two +years. It then came into the possession of J. Nelson Hoar, a son of the +former landlord, who took it in 1854, and in whose family it has since +remained. Latterly it has been managed by three of his daughters, and +now is known as the Central House. It is the only tavern in the village, +and for neatness and comfort can not easily be surpassed. + +In the list of innholders, near the end of Isaiah Thomas's Almanack, for +1785, appears the name of Richardson, whose tavern stood on the present +site of the Baptist church. It was originally the house owned and +occupied by the Reverend Gershom Hobart, which had been considerably +enlarged by additions on the north and east sides, in order to make it +more suitable for its new purposes. Mine host was Captain Jephthah +Richardson, who died on October 9, 1806. His father was Converse +Richardson, who had previously kept a small inn, on the present Elm +Street, near the corner of Pleasant. It was in this Elm Street house +that Timothy Bigelow, the rising young lawyer, lived, when he first came +to Groton. Within a few years this building has been moved away. Soon +after the death of Captain Jephthah Richardson, the tavern was sold to +Timothy Spaulding, who carried on the business until his death, which +occurred on February 19, 1808. Spaulding's widow subsequently married +John Spalter, who was the landlord for a short time. About 1812 the +house was rented to Dearborn Emerson, who had been possession of it for +a few years. + +During the War of 1812 it was an inn of local renown; and a Lieutenant +Chase had his headquarters here for a while, when recruiting for the +army. He raised a company in the neighborhood, which was ordered to +Sackett's Harbor, near the foot of Lake Ontario. The men were put into +uniforms as they enlisted, and drilled daily. They were in the habit of +marching through the village streets to the music of the spirit-stirring +drum and the ear-piercing fife; and occasionally they were invited into +the yard of some hospitable citizen, who would treat them to "the cups +that cheer but not inebriate," when taken in moderation. William Kemp +was the drummer, and Wilder Shepley the fifer, both noted musicians in +their day. Sometimes his brother, Moses Kemp, would act as fifer. +William is still alive, at the advanced age of nearly ninety-five years, +and gives many reminiscences of that period. He was born at Groton on +May 8, 1789, and began to drum in early boyhood. His first appearance in +the public service was during the year 1805, as drummer of the South +Company of Groton, commanded by Luther Lawrence, afterward the mayor of +Lowell. He has been the father of nine children, and has had thirty +grandchildren, thirty-three great-grandchildren, and one +great-great-grandchild. Mr. Kemp can even now handle the drumsticks with +a dexterity rarely equaled; and within a short time I have seen him give +an exhibition of his skill which would reflect credit on a much younger +person. Among the men enlisted here during that campaign were Marquis D. +Farnsworth, Aaron Lewis, William Shepley, and John Woodward, of this +town; and James Adams, and his son, James, Jr., of Pepperell. + +It was about the year 1815 that and Dearborn Emerson left the Richardson +tavern, and moved down the street, perhaps thirty rods, where he opened +another public house on the present site of Milo H. Shattuck's store. +The old tavern, in the meantime, passed into the hands of Daniel +Shattuck, who kept it until his death, which occurred on April 8, 1831. +The business was then carried on during a short time by Clark Tenny, who +was followed by Lemuel Lakin, and afterward by Francis Shattuck, a son +of Daniel, for another brief period. About the year 1833 it was given up +entirely as a public house, and thus passed away an old landmark widely +known in those times. It stood well out on the present road, the front +door facing down what is now Main Street, the upper end of which then +had no existence. In approaching the tavern from the south, the road +went up Hollis Street and turned to the left somewhere south of the +Burying-Ground. The house afterward was cut up and moved off, just +before the Baptist meeting-house was built. My earliest recollections +carry me back faintly to the time when it was last used as a tavern, +though I remember distinctly the building as it looked before it was +taken away. + +Dearborn Emerson married a sister of Daniel Brooks, a large owner in the +line of stage-coaches running through Groton from Boston to the +northward; and this family connection was of great service to him. Jonas +Parker, commonly known as "Tecumseh" Parker, was now associated with +Emerson in keeping the new hotel. The stage business was taken away from +the Richardson tavern, and transferred to this one. The house was +enlarged, spacious barns and stables were erected, and better +accommodations given to man and beast,--on too large a scale for profit, +it seems, as Parker and Emerson failed shortly afterward, This was in +the spring of 1818, during which year the tavern was purchased by Joseph +Hoar, who kept it a little more than six years, when he sold it to Amos +Alexander. This landlord, after a long time, was succeeded in turn by +Isaac J. Fox, Horace Brown, William Childs, Artemas Brown, John +McGilson, Abijah Wright, and Moses Gill. It was given up as a hotel in +1856, and made into a shoe factory; and finally it was burned. Mr. Gill +had the house for eight years, and was the last landlord. He then opened +a public house directly opposite to the Orthodox church, and called it +The Globe, which he kept for two years. He was succeeded by Stephen +Woods, who remained only one year, after which time this also was given +up as a public house. + +Another hostelry was the Ridge Hill tavern, situated at the Ridges, +three miles from the village, on the Great Road to Boston. This was +built about the year 1805, and much frequented by travelers and +teamsters. At this point the roads diverge and come together again in +Lexington, making two routes to Boston. It was claimed by interested +persons that one was considerably shorter than the other,--though the +actual difference was less than a mile. In the year 1824 a guide-board +was set up at the crotch of the roads, proclaiming the fact that the +distance to Lexington through Concord was two miles longer than through +Carlisle. Straightway the storekeepers and innholders along the Concord +road published a counter-statement, that it had been measured by sworn +surveyors, and the distance found to be only two hundred and thirty-six +rods further than by the other way. + +The first landlord of the Ridge Hill tavern was Levi Parker, noted for +his hospitality. He was afterward deputy-sheriff of Middlesex County, +and lived in Westford. He was followed, for a short time, by John +Stevens, and then by John H. Loring, who conducted the house during many +years, and was succeeded by his son Jefferson. After him came Henry L. +Lawrence, who kept it during one year; he was followed by his +brother-in-law, Moses Gill, who took the tavern in April, 1837, and kept +it just five years. When Mr. Gill gave up the house, he was followed by +one Langdon for a short time, and he in turn by Kimball Farr as the +landlord, who had bought it the year previously, and who remained in +charge until 1868. During a part of the time when the place was managed +by Mr. Farr; his son Augustus was associated with him. Mr. Farr sold the +tavern to John Fuzzard, who kept it for a while, and is still the owner +of the property. He was followed by Newell M. Jewett; the present +landlord is Stephen Perkins, a native of York, Maine, who took it in +1880. The house had been vacant for some years before this time. A fair +is held here regularly on the first Tuesday of every month, for the sale +of horses, and buyers are attracted from a long distance. At one time +this property was owned by Judge Samuel Dana, who sold it to John H. +Loring. + +As early as the year 1798 there was a tavern about a mile from the +Ridges, toward Groton. It was kept by Stephen Farrar, in the house now +standing near where the brook crosses the Great Road. Afterward one +Green was the landlord. The house known as the Levi Tufts place in this +neighborhood was an inn during the early part of this century, conducted +by Tilly Buttrick. Also about this time, or previously, the house +situated south of Indian Hill, and occupied by Charles Prescott,--when +the map in Mr. Butler's History was made,--was an inn. There was a +tavern kept from the year 1812 to 1818 by a Mr. Page, in Mr. Gerrish's +house, near the Unitarian church in the village. There was also a +tavern, near the present paper-mills of Tileston and Hollingsworth, kept +for many years (1825-55) by Aaron Lewis, and after him for a short time +by one Veazie. It was originally the house of John Capell, who owned the +sawmill and gristmill in the immediate neighborhood. Amos Adams had an +inn near Squannacook, a hundred years ago, in a house now owned by James +Kemp. + +Just before and during the Revolution a tavern was kept by George +Peirce, in the south part of the town, within the present limits of +Ayer. This landlord was probably the inn-holder of Littleton, whose name +appears in The Massachusetts Gazette, of August 8, 1765. The house was +the one formerly owned by the late Calvin Fletcher, and burned March 25, +1880. It was advertised for sale, as appears from the following +advertisement in The Boston Gazette, September 27, 1773:-- + + To be Sold at PUBLIC VENDUE, to the highest Bidder, on + Wednesday the 3d Day of November next, at four o'Clock in the + Afternoon (if not Sold before at Private Sale) by me the + Subscriber, A valuable FARM in Groton, in the County of + Middlesex, pleasantly situated on the great County Road, + leading from Crown Point and No. 4 to Boston: Said Farm + contains 172 Acres of Upland and Meadow, with the bigger Part + under improvement, with a large Dwelling House and Barn, and + Out Houses, together with a good Grist Mill and Saw Mill, the + latter new last Year, both in good Repair, and on a good + Stream, and within a few Rods of the House. Said Farm would + make two good Livings, and would sell it in two Divisions, or + together, as it would best suit the Purchaser. Said House is + situated very conveniently for a Tavern, and has been improved + as such for Ten Years past, with a Number of other + Conveniences, too many to enumerate. And the Purchaser may + depend upon having a good warrantee Deed of the same, and the + bigger Part of the Pay made very easy, on good Security. The + whole of the Farming Tools, and Part of the Stock, will be sold + as above-mentioned, at the Subscriber's House on said Farm. + + GEORGE PEIRCE. + + Groton, Aug. 30, 1773. + + +The gristmill and sawmill, mentioned in the advertisement, were on +Nonacoicus Brook. In the Gazette, of November 15, 1773, another notice +appears, which shows that the tavern was not sold at the time originally +appointed. It is as follows:-- + + The Publick are hereby Notified that the Sale of the FARM in + Groton, which was to have been sold the 3d Instant on the + Premisses, at the House of Mr. George Peirce, is adjourn'd to + the house of Mr. Joseph Moulton, Innholder in Boston, where it + will certainly be Sold to the highest Bidder, on Wednesday the + 1st Day of December next, at 4 o'Clock, P.M. + + +The following advertisement appears in The Independent Chronicle +(Boston), September 19, 1808; the site of the farm was near that of +Peirce's inn, just mentioned. Stone's tavern was afterward kept by one +Day, and subsequently burned. + + A FARM--for Sale, + + Containing 140 acres of Land, situated in the South part of + _Groton, (Mass.)_ with a new and well-finished House, Barn, & + Out-houses, and Aqueduct, pleasantly situated, where a Tavern + has been kept for the last seven years;--a part of the whole + will be sold, as best suits the purchaser. For further + particulars, inquire of THO's B. RAND, of _Charlestown_, or the + Subscriber, living on the Premises. + + Sept. 12. JESSE STONE. + + +About a generation ago an attempt was made to organize a company for the +purpose of carrying on a hotel in the village, and a charter was +obtained from the Legislature. The stock, however, was not fully taken +up, and the project fell through. Of the corporators, Mr. Potter and Mr. +Smith still survive. Below is a copy of the act:-- + + An Act to incorporate the Groton Hotel Company. + + _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, + in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, + as follows:--_ + + SECT. 1. Luther F. Potter, Nathaniel P. Smith, Simeon Ames, + their associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, + by the name of the Groton Hotel Company, for the purpose of + erecting, in the town of Groton, buildings necessary and + convenient for a public house, with all the powers and + privileges, and subject to all the liabilities, duties, and + restrictions, set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the + Revised Statutes. + + SECT. 2. Said corporation may hold such real and personal + property, as may be necessary and convenient for the purposes + aforesaid, not exceeding in amount twenty thousand dollars: + _provided_, that no shares in the capital stock of said + corporation shall be issued for a less sum or amount, to be + actually paid in on each, than the par value of the shared + which shall be first issued. And if any ardent spirits, or + intoxicating drinks of any kind whatever, shall be sold by said + company, or by their agents, lessees, or persons in their + employ, contrary to law, in any of said buildings, then this + act shall be void. [_Approved by the Governor, May 2, 1850._] + + +In the spring of 1852, a charter was given to Benjamin Webb, Daniel D.R. +Bowker, and their associates, for the purpose of forming a corporation +to carry on a hotel at the Massapoag Springs, in the eastern part of +this town, but the project fell through. It was to be called the +Massapoag Spring Hotel, and its capital stock was limited to $30,000. +The act was approved by the Governor, May 18, 1852, and it contained +similar conditions to those mentioned above in regard to the sale of +liquors. These enterprises are now nearly forgotten, though the mention +of them may revive the recollections of elderly people. + +During the first half of the present century Groton had one +characteristic mark, closely connected with the old taverns, which it no +longer possesses. It was a radiating centre for different lines of +stage-coaches, until this mode of travel was superseded by the swifter +one of the railroad. During many years the stage-coaches were a +distinctive feature of the place; and their coming and going was watched +with great interest, and created the excitement of the day. In early +times the drivers, as they approached the village, would blow a bugle in +order to give notice of their arrival; and this blast was the signal at +the taverns to put the food on the table. More than a generation has now +passed away since these coaches were wont to be seen in the village +streets. They were drawn usually by four horses, and in bad going by +six. Here a change of coaches, horses, and drivers was made. + +The stage-driver of former times belonged to a class of men that has +entirely disappeared from this community. His position was one of +considerable responsibility. This important personage was well known +along his route, and his opinions were always quoted with respect. I can +easily recall the familiar face of Aaron Corey, who drove the +accommodation stage to Boston for so many years. He was a careful and +skilful driver, and a man of most obliging disposition. He would go out +of his way to bear a message or leave a newspaper; but his specialty was +to look after women and children committed to his charge. He carried, +also, packages and parcels, and largely what is to-day entrusted to the +express. I recall, too, with pleasure, Horace George, another driver, +popular with all the boys, because in sleighing-time he would let us +ride on the rack behind, and even slacken the speed of his horses so as +to allow us to catch hold of the straps. + +Some people now remember the scenes of life and activity that used to be +witnessed in the town on the arrival and departure of the stages. Some +remember, too, the loud snap of the whip which gave increased speed to +the horses, as they dashed up in approved style to the stopping-place, +where the loungers were collected to see the travelers and listen to the +gossip which fell from their lips. There were no telegraphs then, and +but few railroads in the country. The papers did not gather the news so +eagerly, nor spread it abroad so promptly, as they do now, and items of +intelligence were carried largely by word of mouth. + +The earliest line of stage-coaches between Boston and Groton was the one +mentioned in The Columbian Centinel, April 6, 1793. The advertisement is +headed "New Line of Stages," and gives notice that-- + + A Stage-Carriage drives from _Robbins'_ Tavern, at Charles-River + Bridge, on Monday and Friday, in each week, and passing through + Concord and Groton, arrives at _Wyman's_ tavern in _Ashley_ + [Ashby?] in the evening of the same days; and after exchanging + passengers there, with the Stage-Carriage from _Walpole_, it + returns on Tuesdays and Saturdays, by the same route to _Robbins's_. + + * * * * * + + The _Charlestown_ Carriage drives also from _Robbins'_ on + Wednesday in each week, and passing through _Concord_, arrives + at _Richardson's_ tavern, in _Groton_, on the evening of the + same day, and from thence returns on Thursday to _Robbins'_. + + * * * * * + +Another Carriage drives from _Richardson's_ tavern in +_Groton_, on Monday in each week, at six o'clock in the morning, +and passing by _Richardson's_ tavern in _Concord_ at ten o'clock +in the forenoon, arrives at _Charlestown_ at three o'clock in the +afternoon. From _Charlestown_ it drives on Tuesday and Thursday in +each week, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and returns back as far as +_Richardson's_ tavern in _Concord_--and from that place it starts +at 8 o'clock in the mornings, of Wednesday and Friday, and runs again to +_Charlestown_. From there it moves at six o'clock on Saturday morning, +and returns to _Richardson's_ tavern in _Groton_, in the evening +of the same day. + +It was probably one of these "Carriages" to which allusion is made in +Mr. Winthrop's Memoir of the Honorable Nathan Appleton,[Footnote: +Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, v, 249, 250.] as +follows:-- + + At early dusk on some October or November evening, in the year + 1794, a fresh, vigorous, bright-eyed lad, just turned of + fifteen, might have been seen alighting from a stage-coach near + Quaker Lane,[Footnote: Now Congress Street.] as it was then + called, in the old town of Boston. He had been two days on the + road from his home in the town of New Ipswich, in the State of + New Hampshire. On the last of the two days, the stage-coach had + brought him all the way from Groton in Massachusetts; starting + for that purpose early in the morning, stopping at Concord for + the passengers to dine, trundling them through Charlestown + about the time the evening lamps were lighted, and finishing + the whole distance of rather more than thirty miles in season + for supper. For his first day's journey, there had been no such + eligible and expeditious conveyance. The Boston stage-coach, in + those days, went no farther than Groton in that direction. His + father's farm-horse, or perhaps that of one of the neighbors, + had served his turn for the first six or seven miles; his + little brother of ten years old having followed him as far as + Townsend, to ride the horse home again. But from there he had + trudged along to Groton on foot, with a bundle-handkerchief in + his hand, which contained all the wearing apparel he had, + except what was on his back. + +It has been said that the first public conveyance between Boston and +Groton was a covered wagon, hung on chains for thoroughbraces: perhaps +it was the "Charlestown Carriage," mentioned in the advertisement. It +was owned and driven by Lemuel Lakin, but after a few years the owner +sold out to Dearborn Emerson. + +The following advertisement from The Columbian Centinel, June 25, 1800, +will give a notion of what an undertaking a trip to Boston was, at the +beginning of the century:-- + + GROTON STAGE. + + The subscriber respectfully informs the public that he drives + the Stage from _Boston_ to _Groton_, running through + _Lexington, Concord_, and _Littleton_, to _Groton_: Starts from + _Boston_ every _Wednesday_ morning, at 5 o'clock, and arrives + at _Groton_ the same day; Starts from _Groton_ every _Monday_ + morning, at 7 o'clock, and arrives at _Boston_ the same day at + 4 o'clock. Passage through, 2 dols. per mile, 4_d_. + + DANBORN EMERSON. + + Seats taken at Mr. SILAS DUTTON'S in _Royal Exchange Lane_. + Newspapers supplied on the road, and every attention paid to + conveyances. + +The given name of Emerson was Dearborn, and not "Danborn," which is a +misprint. Two years later he was running a stage-coach from Groton to +New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and on the first return trip he brought +three passengers,--according to the History of New Ipswich (page 129). +Emerson was a noted driver in his day; and he is mentioned, with +pleasant recollections, by the Honorable Abbott Lawrence, in an +after-dinner speech at the jubilee of Lawrence Academy, on July 12, +1854. Subsequently he was the landlord of one of the local taverns. + +It is advertised in The Massachusetts Register, for the year 1802, that +the + + GROTON Stage sets off from J. and S. Wheelock's [Indian Queen + Inn], No. 37 Marlboro-Street [now a part of Washington Street, + Boston], every Wednesday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and + arrives at Groton at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, same day; + leaves Groton every Monday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and + arrives in Boston at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, same day. + (Pages 19, 20.) + +It seems from this notice that it took three hours longer to make the +trip down to Boston than up to Groton,--of which the explanation is not +clear. In the Register for 1803 a semi-weekly line is advertised, and +the same length of time is given for making the trip each way. + +About the year 1807 there was a tri-weekly line of coaches to Boston, +and as early as 1820 a daily line, which connected at Groton with others +extending into New Hampshire and Vermont. Soon after this time there +were two lines to Boston, running in opposition to each other,--one +known as the Union and Accommodation Line, and the other as the +Telegraph and Despatch. + +One of the drivers for the Telegraph and Despatch line was Phineas +Harrington, known along the road as "Phin" Harrington. He had orders to +take but eight passengers in his coach, and the trip was made with +remarkable speed for that period. "Phin" was a man of small size, and +the story used to be told of him that, on cold and stormy nights, he +would get inside of one of the lamps fixed to his box in order to warm +his feet by the lighted wick! He passed almost his whole life as a +stage-man, and it is said that he drove for nearly forty years, He could +handle the reins of six horses with more skill than any other driver in +town. + +William Shephard and Company advertise in The Groton Herald, April 10, +1830, their accommodation stage. "Good Teams and Coaches, with careful +and obliging drivers, will be provided by the subscribers." Books were +kept in Boston at A.M. Brigham's, No. 42 Hanover Street, and in Groton +at the taverns of Amos Alexander and Joseph Hoar. The fare was one +dollar, and the coach went three times a week. + +About this time George Flint had a line to Nashua, and John Holt another +to Fitchburg. They advertise together in the Herald, May 1, 1830, that +"no pains shall be spared to accommodate those who shall favor them with +their custom, and all business intrusted to their care will be +faithfully attended to." The first stage-coach from this town to Lowell +began to run about the year 1829, and John Austin was the driver. An +opposition line was established soon afterward, and kept up during a +short time, until a compromise was made between them, Later, John Russ +was the owner and driver of the line to Lowell, and still later, John M. +Maynard the owner. Near this period there was a coach running to +Worcester, and previously one to Amherst, New Hampshire. + +The following is a list of some of the old drivers, who were well known +along their respective routes. It is arranged in no particular order and +by no means complete; and the dates against a few of the names are only +approximations to the time when each one sat on the box:-- + +Lemuel Lakin was among the earliest; and he was followed by Dearborn +Emerson. Daniel Brooks drove to Boston during the period of the last war +with England, and probably later. + +Aaron Corey drove the accommodation stage to Boston, through Carlisle, +Bedford, and Lexington, for a long time, and he had previously driven +the mail-coach. He was succeeded by his son, Calvin, the driver for a +few years, until the line was given up in 1850. Mr. Corey, the father, +was one of the veterans, having held the reins during thirty-two years; +he died March 15, 1857, at the age of seventy-three. + +Isaac Bullard, 1817-30; William Smart, 1825-30; George Hunt, Jonathan +Buttrick, Thomas A. Staples, Obediah Kendall, Albert Hayden, Charles +Briggs, Levi Robbins, James Lord, Frank Brown, Silas Burgess, Augustus +Adams, William Dana, Horace Brown, Levi Wheeler, Timothy Underwood, ---- +Bacon, Horace George, 1838-45; Lyman W. Gushing, 1842-45, and Joseph +Stewart. These drove to Boston. After the stages were taken off, "Joe" +Stewart drove the passenger-coach from the village to the station on the +Fitchburg Railroad, which ran to connect with the three daily trains for +Boston. The station was three miles away, and now within the limits of +Ayer. + +Among the drivers to Keene, New Hampshire, were Kimball Danforth, +1817-40; Ira Brown, Oliver Scales, Amos Nicholas, Otis Bardwell, Abel +Marshall, the brothers Ira and Hiram Hodgkins, George Brown, Houghton +Lawrence, Palmer Thomas, Ira Green, Barney Pike, William Johnson, Walter +Carleton, and John Carleton. There were two stage routes to Keene, both +going as far as West Townsend in common, and then separating, one +passing through Ashby, Rindge, and Fitzwilliam, while the other went +through New Ipswich and Jaffrey. + +Anson Johnson and Beriah Curtis drove to Worcester; Addison Parker, +Henry L. Lawrence, Stephen Corbin, John Webber, and his son, Ward, drove +to Lowell; the brothers Abiel and Nathan Fawcett, Wilder Proctor, and +Abel H. Fuller, to Nashua; Micah Ball, who came from Leominster about +the year 1824, drove to Amherst, New Hampshire, and after him Benjamin +Lewis, who continued to drive as long as he lived, and at his death the +line was given up. The route to Amherst lay through Pepperell, Hollis, +and Milford. + +Other drivers were John Chase, Joel Shattuck, William Shattuck, Moses +Titus, Frank Shattuck, David Coburn, ---- Chickering, Thomas Emory, and +William Kemp, Jr. + +The sad recollection of an accident at Littleton, resulting in the death +of Silas Bullard, is occasionally revived by some of the older people. +It occurred about the year 1825, and was caused by the upsetting of the +Groton coach, driven by Samuel Stone, and at the time just descending +the hill between Littleton Common and Nagog Pond, then known as +Kimball's Hill. Mr. Bullard was one of the owners of the line, and a +brother of Isaac, the veteran driver. + +Besides the stage-coaches the carrier wagons added to the business of +Groton, and helped largely to support the taverns. The town was situated +on one of the main thoroughfares leading from Boston to the northern +country, comprising an important part of New Hampshire and Vermont, and +extending into Canada. This road was traversed by a great number of +wagons, drawn by four or six horses, carrying to the city the various +products of the country, such as grain, pork, butter, cheese, eggs, +venison, hides; and returning with goods found in the city, such as +molasses, sugar, New-England rum, coffee, tea, nails, iron, cloths, and +the innumerable articles found in the country stores, to be distributed +among the towns above here. In some seasons, it was no uncommon sight to +see forty such wagons passing through the village in one day. + +In addition to these were many smaller vehicles, drawn by one or two +horses, to say nothing of the private carriages of individuals who were +traveling for business or pleasure. + +For many of the facts mentioned in this paper I am indebted to Mr. Moses +Gill, an octogenarian of Groton, whose mind is clear and body active for +a man of his years. Mr. Gill is a grandson of Lieutenant-Governor Moses +Gill, and was born at Princeton, on March 6, 1800. He has kept several +public houses in Groton, already mentioned, besides the old brick tavern +situated on the Lowell road, near Long-sought-for Pond, and formerly +known as the Half-way. House. This hotel came within the limits of +Westford, and was kept by Mr. Gill from the year 1842 to 1847. In his +day he has known personally seventy-five landlords doing business +between Davenport's (opposite to the celebrated Porter's tavern in +Cambridge) and Keene, New Hampshire; and of this number, only seven are +thought to be living at the present time. + + + + +THE FAMILY IMMIGRATION TO NEW ENGLAND. + +BY THOMAS W. BICKNELL, LL.D. + + +The unit of society is the individual. The unit of civilization is the +family. Prior to December 20, 1620, New-England life had never seen a +civilized family or felt its influences. It is true that the Icelandic +Chronicles tell us that Lief, the son of Eric the Red, 1001, sailed with +a crew of thirty-five men, in a Norwegian vessel, and driven southward +in a storm, from Greenland along the coasts of Labrador, wintered in +Vineland on the shores of Mount Hope Bay. Longfellow's Skeleton in Armor +has revealed their temporary settlement. Thither sailed Eric's son, +Thorstein, with his young and beautiful wife, Gudrida, and their +twenty-five companions, the following year. His death occurred, and put +an end to the expedition, which Thorfinn took up with his marriage to +the young widow, Gudrida; with his bride and one hundred and sixty-five +persons (five of them young married women), they spent three years on +the shores of the Narragansett Bay, where Snorre, the _first_ white +child, was born,--the progenitor of the great Danish sculptor, +Thorwaldsen. But this is tradition, not history. Later still, came other +adventurers to seek fortunes in the New World, but they came as +individuals,--young, adventurous men, with all to gain and nothing to +lose, and, if successful, to return with gold or fame, as the reward of +their sacrifice and daring. + +Six hundred years pass, and a colony of one hundred and five men, not a +woman in the company, sailed from England for America, and landed at +Jamestown, Virginia. Within six months half of the immigrants had +perished, and only for the courage and bravery of John Smith, the whole +would have met a sad fate. The first European woman seen on the banks of +the James was the wife of one of the seventy Virginia colonists who came +later, and her maid, Anne Burroughs, who helped to give permanency and +character to a fugitive settlement in a colony, which waited two hundred +and fifty years to learn the value of a New-England home, and to +appreciate the civilization which sprang up in a New-England town, +through the agency of a New-England family. + +An experience similar to that of the Virginia settlers--disappointment, +hardship, death--attended the immigrants who, under George Popham, +Raleigh, and Gilbert, attempted to make a permanent home on the coast of +Maine, but their house was a log camp, with not a solitary woman to +light its gloom or cheer its occupants. Failure, defeat, and death were +the inevitable consequences. There was no family, and there could be no +permanency of civilization. + +The planting of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies was of another +sort. Whole families embarked on board the Mayflower, the Fortune, the +Ann, the Mary and John, and other ships that brought their precious +freight in safety to a New World. Of the one hundred and one persons who +came in the Mayflower, in 1620, twenty-eight were females, and eighteen +were wives and mothers. They did not leave their homes, in the truest +sense,--they brought them with them. Their household goods and +hearthstone gods were all snugly stowed beneath the decks of the +historic ship, and the multitude of Mayflower relics, now held in +precious regard in public and private collections, but testify to the +immense inventory of that one little ship of almost fabulous carrying +capacity. To the compact signed in Plymouth harbor, in 1620, John Carver +signs eight persons, whom he represents; Edward Winslow, five; William +Brewster, six; William Mullins, five; William White, five; Stephen +Hopkins, Edward Fuller, and John Turner, each, eight; John Chilton, +three,--one of whom, his daughter Mary, was the first woman, as +tradition says, to jump from the boat upon Plymouth Rock. In the +Weymouth Company, under the leadership of the Reverend Joseph Hull, who +set sail from Old Weymouth, England, on the twentieth of March, 1635, +and landed at Wessaguscus,--now Weymouth, Massachusetts,--there were one +hundred and five persons, divided into twenty-one families. Among these +were John Whitmarsh, his wife Alice, and four children; Robert Lovell, +husbandman, with his good wife Elizabeth and children, two of whom, +Ellen and James, were year-old twins; Edward Poole and family; Henry +Kingman, Thomas Holbrook, Richard Porter, and not least of all, Zachary +Bicknell, his wife Agnes, their son John, and servant John Kitchen. + +Families these,--all on board,--households, treasures, all worldly +estates, and best of all the rich sympathies and supports of united, +trusting hearts, daring to face the perils of an ocean-passage of +forty-six days' duration, and the new, strange life in the wilds of +America, that they might prove their faith in each other, in their +principles, and in God. "He setteth the solitary in families," says the +Psalmist; and the truth was never better illustrated than in the +isolated and weary life of our ancestry, two and a half centuries ago. + +To the Pilgrim and the Puritan, wife, children, house, home, family, +church, were the most precious possessions. Nothing human could divorce +ties which nature had so strongly woven. And whenever we think of our +honored ancestry, it is not as individual adventurers; but we see the +good-man, the good-wife, and their children, as the representatives of +the great body of those, who with them planted homes, families, society, +civilization, in the Western World. They came together, or if alone, to +pioneer the way for wife and children or sweetheart by the next ship, +and they came to stay, as witness the names of the old families of +Plymouth, Weymouth, Salem, Boston, Dorchester, in the leading circles of +wealth and social position in all of these old towns. "Behold," says Dr. +Bushnell, "the Mayflower, rounding now the southern cape of England, +filled with husbands and wives and children; families of righteous men, +under covenant with God and each other to lay some good foundation for +religion, engaged both to make and keep their own laws, expecting to +supply their own wants and bear their own burdens, assisted by none but +the God in whom they trust! Here are the hands of industry! the germs of +liberty! the dear pledges of order! and the sacred beginnings of a +home!" Of such, only, could Mrs. Hemans's inspired hymn have been +written:-- + + "There were men with hoary hair + Amidst that pilgrim band; + Why had they come to wither there, + Away from their childhood's land? + + "There was woman's fearless eye, + Lit by her deep love's truth; + There was manhood's brow, serenely high, + And the fiery heart of youth." + + +REASONS FOR FAMILY REMOVALS. + +To understand the reasons why thirty-five thousand loyal and respectable +subjects of Charles I should leave Old England for the New, in family +relations, between 1620 and 1625, let us look, if we can, through a +chink in the wall, into the state of affairs, civil, social, and +religious, as they existed in the best land, and under the best +government, the sun then shone upon. + +Charles I succeeded his father, James I of Scotland, in 1624. The great, +good act of James was the translation of our English Bible, known as +King James's Version, a work which, for the exercise of learning, +scholarship, and a zealous religious faith, has not been surpassed in +any age. Take him all in all, James was a bigot, a tyrant, a conceited +fool. He professed to be the most ardent devotee of piety, and at the +same time issued a proclamation that all lawful recreations, such as +dancing, archery, leaping, May-games, etc., might be used after divine +service, on Sundays. An advocate of religious freedom, he attempted to +enforce the most abject conformity in his own Scottish home, against the +well-known independence of that section of his realm, and drove the +Puritans to seek an asylum in Holland, where they might find liberty to +worship God. + +In the county of Somerset, the old king consented to an act of tyranny +which would grace the age of Henry VIII. One Reverend Edmund Peacham, a +clergyman in Somersetshire, had his study broken open, and a manuscript +sermon being there found in which there was strong censure of the +extravagance of the king and the oppression of his officers, the +preacher was put to the rack and interrogated, "before torture, in +torture, between torture, and after torture," in order to draw from him +evidence of treason; but this horrible severity could wring no +confession from him. His sermon was not found treasonable by the judges +of the King's Bench and by Lord Coke; but the unhappy man was tried and +condemned, dying in jail before the time set for his execution. Just +about this time was the State murder of Overbury, and the execution of +Sir Walter Raleigh, one of England's noblest sons, brave and chivalric, +who, at the executioner's block, took the axe in his hand, kissed the +blade, and said to the sheriff: "'Tis a sharp medicine, but a sound cure +for all diseases." These and kindred acts serve to illustrate the +history of a king whose personal and selfish interests overruled all +sentiments of honor and regard for his subjects, and who publicly +declared that "he would govern according to the good of the commonweal, +but not according to the common will." With such a king as James on the +throne, is it a wonder that the more intelligent and conscientious of +his subjects--like the Pilgrims and Puritans--sought a home on this side +the Atlantic, where wild beasts and savage men were their only +persecutors? + +We are told that "the face of the Court was much changed in the change +of the king" from James to Charles I; "that the grossness of the Court +of James grew out of fashion," but the people were slow to learn the +difference. Of the two evils, James was to be preferred. Charles ascends +the throne with flattering promises, attends prayers and listens to +sermons, pays his father's debts and promises to reform the Court. Let +us see what he does. The brilliant but profligate Buckingham is retained +as prime minister. Charles marries the beautiful Henrietta Maria, the +Roman Catholic princess of France. He fits out fleets against Spain and +other quarters, and demands heavy taxes to meet his heavy expenses. +Parliament is on its dignity, and demands its proper recognition. He +dissolves it, and calls another. That is more rebellious, and that he +summarily dissolves. Men of high and low degree go to prison at the +king's behest, and the disobedient were threatened with severer +penalties. + +The people of England are aroused, as the king of the earth sets himself +against their claims in behalf of the royal prerogative. The king and +the people are at war. Which will come off conquerer? There is only one +answer to that question, for the battle is one between the pigmy and the +giant. The contest grows sharper as the months go on, and the people are +in constant alarm. Murders are common, and even Buckingham, the favorite +minister, dies at the point of the assassin's knife, and the murderer +goes to the Tower and the scaffold accompanied by the tumultuous cheers +of London. Soon comes the Parliament of 1629, in which the popular +leaders make their great remonstrance against the regal tyranny. In that +House sat a plain young man, with ordinary cloth apparel, as if made by +an old-country tailor, "his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice +sharp and untonable," with "an eloquence full of fervor." That young man +is yet to be heard from. His name is Cromwell, known in history as +Oliver Cromwell. His briefly-reported speech of six lines is destined to +be weightier than the edicts of a king. The session was brief. Popery +and Arminianism, unjust taxation and voluntary payment of taxes not +ordered by Parliament, were declared treasonable and hostile principles +in Church and State,--so said Parliament. "You are a Parliament of +vipers,"--so said the king; and, on the tenth of March, Parliament was +dissolved, not to meet again in the old historic hall for eleven long +years; until, in 1640, the majesty of an outraged people rises superior +to the majesty of an outraging ruler. Now follow the attempted riveting +of the chains of a despotic and unscrupulous power, which does not +understand the temper of the common people, nor the methods of +counteracting a great popular upheaval in society. + +It is not easy to resist the iron pressure of a tyrant; but, to our +ancestors, it was far better than to accept the peace and profit which +might follow abject submission. To borrow the words of De Tocqueville: +"They cling to freedom for its native charms independent of its +gifts,--the pleasure of speaking, acting, and breathing without +restraint, under no master but God and the Law." The Englishmen of the +first half of the seventeenth century were the fathers of the men who +fired shots at Lexington and Concord, "heard round the world." + +But how do the royal prerogatives affect our ancestors in England? Our +fathers were of common mould, and feel the unjust demand of the +tax-gatherer and the insolent demeanor of the Crown officers, who +threaten fines and imprisonment for a refusal to obey. The people are +aroused and are united; some are hopeless, some hopeful. The Crown seems +to have its sway, but the far-sighted see the people on the coming +throne of righteous judgement. What troubles our ancestors most is the +interference with their religious life. Archbishop Laud is now supreme, +and the Pope never had a more willing vassal. Ministers are examined as +to their loyalty to the government, their sermons are read to private +judges of their orthodoxy, the confessional is established, and the +alter-service is restored. It is a time when earnest men and women +cannot be trifled with on soul concerns. Their property may perish or be +confiscated, but the right to unmolested worship is older than Magna +Charta, and as inalienable as life itself. What is to be done? +Resistance or emigration--which? Resist and die, say Cromwell and +Wentworth, Eliot and Hampden. Emigrate and live, say the men and women +who came by thousands from all parts of England during the reign of this +monarch, and made possible the permanent establishment of a new society, +on the basis of social order and family life. + + * * * * * + + + +AN INCIDENT OF SIXTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX. + +BY THE HON. MELLEN CHAMBERLAIN. + + +On the afternoon of the twenty-sixth of May, 1686, two horsemen were +riding from Boston to Cambridge. By which route they left the town is +now known; but most probably over the Roxbury Neck, following the path +taken by Lord Percy when he went to the relief of Lieutenant-Colonel +Smith's ill-starred expedition to seize the military stores at Concord, +on the nineteenth of April, 1775. Of the nature of their errand--whether +peaceful or hostile,--of the subject of their conversation, as they rode +along the King's highway, neither history nor tradition has left any +account. But when they had reached Muddy River, now the beautiful suburb +of Brookline, about two miles from Cambridge, they were met by a young +man riding in the opposite direction, who, as he came against them, +abruptly and without other salutation, said: "God save King James the +Second!" and then rode on. But soon turning his horse towards the +travelers he most inconsequentially completed his sentence by adding, +"But I say, God curse King James!" and this malediction he repeated so +many times and with such vehemence, that the two horsemen at last turned +their horses and riding up to him, told him plainly that he was a rogue. +This expression of their opinion produced, however, only a slight +modification of the young man's sentiments, to this form: "God curse +King James and God bless Duke James!" But a few strokes of their whips +effected his complete conversion, and then, as a loyal subject, he +exclaimed: "God curse Duke James, and God bless King James!" + +Such is the unadorned statement of facts as sworn to the next day in the +Council by these riders, and their oath was attested by Edward Randolph, +the "evil genius of New England." I present it in its legal baldness of +detail. The two horsemen are no reminiscence of Mr. James's celebrated +opening, but two substantial citizens of Boston, Captain Peter Bowden +and Dr. Thomas Clarke; and the young man with somewhat original +objurgatory tendencies was one Wiswell, as they called him--presumably +not a son of the excellent Duxbury parson of the same name; and for the +same reason, even less probably, a student of Cambridge University, as +it was at that early day sometimes called. + +The original paper in which the foregoing facts are recorded has long +been in my possession; and as often as my eye has rested on it, I have +wondered what made that young man swear so; and by what nicety of moral +discrimination he found his justification in blessing the Duke and +cursing the King--"unus et idem"--in the same breath. Who and what was +he? and of what nature were his grievances? Was there any political +significance in that strange mingling of curses and blessings? That his +temper was not of martyr firmness was evident enough from the sudden +change in the current of his thoughts brought about by the tingling of +the horsewhip. All else was mystery. But the commonest knowledge of the +English and colonial history of those days was sufficient to stimulate +conjecture on these points. At the date of the incident recorded James +II had been on the throne more than a year, and for a long time both as +duke and king had been hated and feared on both sides of the ocean. The +Duke of Monmouth's ill-fated adventure for the Crown had failed at +Sedgemoor, and his young life ended on the block, denied expected mercy +by his uncle, the king: ended on the block: but not so believed the +common people of England. They believed him to be still living, and the +legitimate heir to the British crown, and that his unnatural uncle was +only Duke James of England. In those days English affairs were more +closely followed by the colonists than at present, and for obvious +reasons; and it is quite open to conjecture at least that the feelings +of English yeomen and artisans were known to, and shared by, their +cousins in Massachusetts Bay, and that Master Wiswell only gave +expression to a sentiment common to people of his class on both sides +the water. + +This, however, is mere conjecture. But there are important facts. On the +preceding day, in the Town House, which stood at the head of State +Street, where the old State House now stands, events culminated, in +comparison with which the causes which led to the war of the Revolution +sink into utter insignificance. On the twenty-third of October, 1684, in +the High Court of Chancery of England, judgment was entered on the writ +of _scire facias_, by which the charter of Massachusetts Bay was +vacated; and as a consequence, the title to the soil, with all +improvements, reverted to the Crown, to the ruin of those who had +wrested it from the wilderness, and guarded it from the savage foe. The +old government, so endeared to the people, and defended against kingly +assault with the truest courage, was swept away by arbitrary power, and +in its place a new one established, under the presidency of Joseph +Dudley, and he a recreant son of the colony. It was the inauguration of +this government which had taken place on the day before Captain Bowden +and Dr. Clarke encountered John Wiswell, Jr., on their ride to +Cambridge. There ceremonies of the inauguration were not without +circumstances of pomp, and are set forth in the Council records at the +State House, from which I transcribe the following incidents: When the +new government, the president, and Council were assembled, the +exemplification of the judgment against the charter of the late governor +and company of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, publicly (in the +court where were present divers of the eminent ministers, gentlemen, and +inhabitants of the town and country) was read with an audible voice. The +commission was read and the oaths administered, and the new president +made his speech, after which, proclamation was openly read in court, and +commanded to be published by beat of drum and trumpet, which was +accordingly done. + +The people in the Forum heard these drum and trumpets--young Wiswell, +doubtless, with the rest--and knew what they signified: the confiscation +of houses and lands; the abrogation of existing laws; taxes exacted +without consent or legislation; the enforced support of a religion not +of the people's choice; and navigation laws ruinous to their foreign +commerce, then beginning to assume importance; and from these +consequences they were saved only by the revolution, which two years +later drove James II from his throne. It is difficult to credit these +sober facts of history, and still more to fully realize their +destructive import; but they should always be borne in mind; for if any +one reflecting on the causes assigned by the leaders of the great +Revolution, as justifying the violent partition of an empire, is led for +a moment to question their sufficiency, let him then consider that they +were assigned by a people full of the traditions of the long struggle +against kingly injustice, in the days of the second Charles and the +second James. + +A few words--the result of later investigation--as to the actors in the +events of this ride to Cambridge. When Bowden and Clarke had attested +their loyalty by horsewhipping young Wiswell, they took him in charge to +Cambridge, and vainly tried to persuade Nathaniel Hancock, the +constable, to carry him before a magistrate. This refusal brought +_him_ into difficulty with Council; but his humble submission was +finally accepted and he was discharged on payment of costs, on the plea +that upon the change of the government there was no magistrate +authorized to commit him to prison. Not quite so fortunate was John +Wiswell, Jr., for on the third of August the grand jury found a true +bill against him for uttering "these devilish, unnatural, and wicked +words following, namely, _God curse King James_." That he was +brought to trial on this complaint I cannot find. And so the actors in +these scenes pass away. Of Bowden and Clarke I know nothing more; and +the little which appears of John Wiswell's subsequent life is not wholly +to his credit, I am sorry to say, and the more so, as I have recently +discovered that he was once a townsman of mine, and doubtless a playmate +of my kindred at Rumney Marsh. + +These actors have all gone, and so has gone the old Town House; not so, +as yet, let us heartily thank God, has gone the old State House which +stands where that stood; on the one spot--if there is but one--which +ought to be dear to the heart of every Bostonian, and sacred from his +violating hand. For here, on the spot of that eastern balcony, looking +down into the old Puritan Forum, what epochs in our history have been +announced: the abrogation of the First Charter--the deposition of +Andros--the inauguration of the Second Charter--the death and accession +of English sovereigns--the Declaration of Independence, and the adoption +of the Constitution of the United States; and here still stands the +grandest historic edifice in America, and within it?--why add to the +hallowing words of old John Adams?--"Within its walls Liberty was born!" + + * * * * * + + + + +ONE SUMMER. A REMINISCENCE. + +BY ANNIE WENTWORTH BAER. + + +It was a beautiful morning in June. The sun was just peeping through the +pines fringing the eastern horizon; fleecy mists were rising, like +"ghosts of the valley," from every brook and low place in field and +pasture, betokening a warm, fair day. As I opened the heavy front door +of Mr. Wetherell's old gambrel-roofed house, and stepped out onto the +large flat stone at the door-sill, every blade of grass was glistening +with dew-drops; such a sweetness pervaded the air as one only realizes +when the dew is on the grass and bushes. At my right, close to the +door-stone, a large bush of southern-wood, or man's-first-love, was +growing; just beyond it and under the "middle-room" windows two large, +white-rose bushes were bending beneath the weight of a multitude of +roses and buds. A large yellow-rose bush claimed the left, and spread +itself over the ground. Single red roses were standing guard at the +corner of the house. A rod or more below the front door the garden fence +stood and looked as if it had been standing for many a year. It was made +of palings, pointed; I should think it was five feet high. The posts had +begun to lean into the garden and the palings were covered with a short +green moss, which seemed soft and growing in the dew. The old gate swung +itself to after me with a bang, and I noticed that a string with a brick +fastened to it and tied to the gate at one end, and twisted around a +stake driven into the ground a few feet from the gate, was the cause of +its closing so quickly. Red-cherry trees loaded with small green +cherries were growing on one side of the garden; purple-plum trees +skirted the other side; and I knew full well how two months later those +creased, mouldy-looking plums would be found hiding in the short, green +grass beneath the trees. + +Peach-trees were leaning over the fence in the southeast corner; a long +row of red-currant bushes ran through the middle of the garden; English +gooseberry bushes threw out their prickly branches laden with round, +woolly fruit at the north end. Rows of hyssop, rue, saffron, and sage, +and beds of lettuce, pepper-grass, and cives, all had their place in +this old-fashioned garden. In the southwest corner an immense +black-currant bush was growing on both sides of the fence. Out in the +field below the garden two Bell-pear trees, as large as elms, were +bending their branches, loaded with fruit, a luscious promise for the +autumn-time. A button-pear tree, just beyond, was making up in quantity +what its fruit lacked in quality. + +While I was exploring this well-cultivated spot, Mrs. Wetherell called +me to breakfast. The kitchen was a large room, running across one end of +the house; it had four windows in it, two east and two west. All this +space was filled with the fragrance of coffee and cornmeal bannocks. + +Mrs. Wetherell said: "I don't know as you will like your coffee +sweetened in the pot, but I always make ours so." + +I assured her I should. + +During breakfast Mr. Wetherell passed me some cheese, and I asked Mrs. +Wetherell if she made cheese. + +"Not this month," she replied, "in July and August I shall. I am packing +butter now." + +"Do you think you are going to be contented back here?--you won't see as +much going on as you do at home," Mr. Wetherell asked me. + +"O, yes," I answered; "I expect to enjoy myself very much." + +Samanthy, the daughter, now well advanced in life, seemed very solemn +and said very little. I wondered if she were sick, or unhappy. A little +later in the day, while I was watching Mrs. Wetherell salt a churning of +butter in the back porch, she said to me: "You mustn't mind Samanthy, +she isn't quite right in her head: a good many years ago she had a sad +blow." She hesitated; I disliked to ask her what it was, so I said "Poor +woman!" "Yes," said her mother, "she is a poor soul. She was expecting +to be married to Eben Johnson, a young man who worked on our new barn. +She got acquainted with him then, and after a year or so they were +promised. Eben was a good fellow, a j'iner by trade. He lived in the +village. In the fall before they would have been married, in the spring, +he had typhoid fever, and they sent for Samanthy. She went and took care +of him three weeks, and then he died. She came home, and seemed like one +in a maze. After a little while she was took with the fever, and liked +to died, and my two girls, Margaret and Frances, both had it and died +with it. Samanthy has never been the same since she got well. Her health +has been good, but her mind is weak." I had noticed that Mrs. Wetherell +seemed very much broken in health and spirits, and after hearing this +story I did not wonder that the blows of Providence had weakened her +hold on life. + +Samanthy was very shy of me at first, but after a few days she would +talk in her disjointed way with me. + +One morning I was out in the well-house. The well was very deep, and by +leaning over the curb, and by putting one's arms around one's head, one +could see the stars mirrored in the bottom of the dark old well. +Samanthy came out for some water, while I was star-gazing in this way. +She said: "What you lost?" + +"O, nothing. I am only looking at the stars." + +Samanthy looked as if she thought I might be more profitably engaged. I +took hold of the handle of the windlass, swung off the great oaken +bucket, and watched it descend its often-traveled course, bumping +against the wet, slippery rocks with which the well was stoned. + +Samanthy said: "You can't pull that up; it's heavy." + +"Let me try," I said. "I never drew water with a windlass." + +I had a much harder task than I supposed, but succeeded in swinging the +bucket onto the platform of the curb, and turned the water into +Samanthy's pail. I never asked permission to draw another bucketful. + +I noticed below the well a large mound, grass-grown, with an apple-tree +growing on its very top. I wondered how it came there, and one day asked +Mr. Wetherell. + +He said: "That's where we threw the rocks and gravel out of the well +fifty years ago; we never moved it. It grassed over, and the apple-tree +came up there; it bears a striped apple, crisp and sour." + +I thought, What a freak of Nature! and I wished that many more piles of +rubbish might be transformed into such a pretty spot as this. + +Below the mound stood the old hollow tree; its trunk was low and very +large, one side had rotted away, leaving it nearly hollow. Still there +was trunk enough left for the sap to run up; and every year it was +loaded with fruit. + +Close by the path across the field to the road stood the Pang +apple-tree. This tree was named Pang because a dog by that name was +sleeping his last sleep beneath the tree. He was much beloved by the +family. I thought, What a pretty place to be buried in! and a living +monument to mark his grave. From the stories I heard of Pang, I know he +must have been a fine dog, and I should have liked to have known him. + +Just back of the house stood the cider-house. At this season of the year +the wood for summer use was stored there, but in autumn all the +neighbors brought their apples, and ground them into cider. Samanthy +told me how she used to clean the cider nuts with a shingle; this was +when she was small. + +She said: "A cousin of mine, living at Beech Ridge, got his arm caught +while cleaning the pummy out, and ground it all up. After that father +was afraid for we children to do it." + +Back of the building I saw thousands of little apple-trees, growing from +the pomace which was shoveled out there year after year. + +The loft, over the part where the cider-mill was, was the corn-house. I +went up over the wide plank stairs and looked around. + +Traces of snapping-corn and of white-pudding corn were hanging over a +pole at one end. A large chest, filled with different kinds of beans, +stood at one side. On the plates which supported the rafters, marks made +in this wise--[Symbol: Tally mark of 5]--told of the bushels of corn +carried up there and spread on the clean, white floor. + +These marks had been made by many hands, and I wondered where they were +now. Some undoubtedly were sleeping the + + "Sleep that knows not breaking: + Morn of toil, nor night of waking." + + +Others, perhaps, were making their mark somewhere else. + +"Independence Day," as Mr. Wetherell called it, was observed in a very +liberal manner on the farm. A lamb was slaughtered, green peas were +picked, and a plum-pudding made. + +Lemonade, made of sparkling spring water, was a common drink. Mr. +Wetherell told me how his father always kept the day. He brought out the +large blue punchbowl and square cut-glass decanters, which his father +used on such occasions. + +The next morning after the Fourth, I started out through the field for +the pasture. The grass was tall, and it waved gently in the morning +breeze. The whiteweed and clover sent forth an agreeable perfume. In the +low ground buttercups were shining like gold dollars, sprinkled through +the tall herdsgrass. Yellow-weed, the farmer's scourge, held up its +brown and yellow head in defiance. + +On a knoll, a little before I reached the graveyard, I passed over a +piece of ground where the winter had killed the grass roots. Here I +found sorrel, cinque-foil, and a few bunches of blue-eyed grass growing. +Nature seemed to try to conceal the barrenness of the spot with beauty. +It was a grave, decorated. + +Off to my right, in a piece of rank grass, where branches of dock had +sprung up, bobolinks were swinging the pale, green sprays, filling the +air with melody. "Bobolink, bobolink, spirk, spank, spink, chee, chee, +chee!" + +I knew that "Mrs. Robert of Lincoln" was sitting contentedly on her +little round nest, under a tuft of grass, very near the sweet singer. I +paused at the graveyard, and looked over the wall. I read: "Margaret and +Frances Wetherell, daughters of John and Hannah Wetherell, aged 18 and +20 years." I knew these were the girls who had died of the fever; a twin +gravestone had been put up to their graves. Another stone told of a +little girl, two and a half years old--Catherine. I reckoned up the +date, and had she been living, she would have been over forty years old. +Many other stones stood there, but I left them without reading the +inscriptions, and hastened on to the pines. + +I stepped over the low wall between the field and pasture and walked +down by the brook until I came to the Stony Bridge. This I crossed and +followed up on the broad wheelpath. The pines smelled so sweet: the +grass was short and green: everything seemed calm and cool. I sat down +by a large Norway pine and watched the birds. Right below me I saw a +fox-hole, with the entrance so barricaded with sticks and stones, that I +felt very sure poor Reynard must have been captured unless he dug out +somewhere else. I began to walk around. Six or seven feet to the south +of the besieged door, I discovered another entrance. I don't know +whether some animal was still living in the old house, or no: but this +hole looked as if it were used. A little pine grew in front, a juniper +made its roof and spread its fine branches over the door, squaw vines +and checkerberry leaves grew on either side. + +I walked on in the wheelpath. On the north side many tall Norway pines +were growing, with white pines scattered here and there. Crimson +polygalas were carpeting the ground in open spaces; pale anemones and +delicate star-flowers were still blooming under the protection of small +pines; wild strawberries were blossoming in cold places; and I wondered +when they would fruit. + +Finally I came to an open field, or what looked like land that had been +cultivated. Hosts of bluets and plots of mouse-ear everlasting, had +taken possession of the land. Small pines were scattered here and there, +like settlers in a new country. Junipers were creeping stealthily in, as +if expecting the axe. There were traces of where a fence had run along. +I concluded that this was years ago a field, but now the cows roamed +over it at will. + +Going around in the edge of the woods I came to four pines growing from +one root; two grew on each side close together, and left a fine seat +between the pairs. I sat down there, and felt thankful that I was +living, and that my abiding-place was among the granite hills of New +England. + +Soon I saw something move a few rods beyond me in the woods. I looked +again and saw the finest woodchuck I ever saw. He stood in a listening +attitude. I suppose he had heard me, but had not seen me. His fur was +yellow and brown mixed; his nose and feet were black; his countenance +was expressive of lively concern. He disappeared and I left my sylvan +seat, and walked up where the woodchuck had been standing. I found his +home and numerous little tracks around the door. I hastened off, because +I feared my presence would worry him. + +I knew it must be near noontime, so I began to retrace my way. I walked +up through the pasture and passed the "Great Ledge." This ledge was on +the side of a steep hill. One side of it was perpendicular thirty feet. +It was covered with crisp, gray moss. In the chinks and crannies on the +top, short grass was growing in little bunches. + +As I followed down in the lane which led from the pasture to the +cow-yard, striped squirrels were playfully skipping through the +dilapidated wall, coming out, and disappearing; sitting down and putting +their forefeet up to their faces as if they were convulsed with laughter +to think how the old black-and-white cat had gone to sleep lying on the +wall in the sun, only a few rods below them. + +Dinner was ready, as I expected. I told Mrs. Wetherell of my walk over +the Stony Bridge. + +"Yes," she said. "Years ago, when I kept geese, one night I went out to +feed them and I found that they hadn't come. I knew something must be +the matter. I started for the brook. When I got out on the hill by the +graveyard, I heard the gander making an awful noise. I hurried on, and, +when I got to the corner of the field, I found a fox jumping at the old +gander as he was walking back and forth in front of the geese and +goslings. I screeched and the fox run. The geese came right up to me. I +was pretty pleased to save them. I had two geese and thirteen goslings +beside the gander." + +I said: "Is that a ledge out in the field where sumachs and birches are +growing?" + +Mrs. Wetherell said: "Yes; and that piece of ground is where Father +Wetherell raised the last piece of flax. I don't suppose you ever saw +any growing?" + +"No," I said. "Only in gardens. A field must be very handsome." + +"Yes, the flower is a bluish purple, with a little yellow dot in the +middle." + +I asked her when they cut it. + +"O, they never cut it; they pulled it after the seeds got ripe; then +they would beat the seeds out of the pods. These pods look like little +varnished balls. When the seed was out, the flax was laid in a wet place +in the field for weeks; occasionally the men would turn it over. When it +was well rotted they dried it and put it up in the barn until March. +Then Father Wetherell would take it down and brake it in the brake. +After that he would swingle it over a swingling-board, with a long +knife; then he made it into hands of flax. The women used to take it +next and comb it through a flax-comb; this got out all the shives and +tow. There was a tow which came out when it was swingled, called swingle +tow. Mother Wetherell said that, years before, when she was young she +used to use this to make meal-bags and under-bedticks of. But I never +used any of it." + +I asked her how they used the flax after it was combed. + +"Then it was wound onto the distaff." + +"What was that?" Mrs. Wetherell smiled at my ignorance, but proceeded +kindly to explain. + +"A distaff was made of a small pine top. They peeled off the bark, and +when it was dry, tied down the ends, and put the other end onto the +standard of the wheel. Then they would commence and wind on the flax. A +hand of flax would fill it. I used to be a pretty good hand to spin tow +on a big wheel, but I never could spin linen very even. Old Aunt Joanna +used to spin linen thread; and Mother Wetherell used to buy great skeins +of her. She said it was cheaper to buy than to spend so much time +spinning." + +Mrs. Wetherell told me that I should go up in the garret and see the +wheels and all the old machinery used so long ago. + +That evening I asked Mr. Wetherell: "Has there ever been a field beyond +the pines?" + +"Yes," he said: "Father cleared that piece nigh onto eighty year ago. We +always called it 'the field back of the pines.' When father got old, and +I kinder took the lead, I said we better turn that field out into the +paster. He felt bad about it at first, but when I told him how much work +it was to haul the manure over there, and the crops back, he gave in. +Them Norrerway pines are marster old; I s'pose they'd stood there a +hundred and fifty year." + +I felt a thrill of pity for the old man, now at rest. He must have been +nearly at the base of life's western slope, when he rescued those few +acres from the forest. The little field was his pride, I think it ought +to have been left, while he lived. + +One morning when Lucy, as Mrs. Wetherell called her, was washing at the +farm, she said to me: "Did you ever have your fortin told?" I answered, +"No." + +"Well," she said, "I dunno as I b'lieve all they say, but some can tell +pretty well. Did you ever try any projects?" + +"No. How is that done?" I asked. + +"O! there's ever so many! One is, you pick two of them big thistles +'fore they are bloomed out, then you name 'em and put 'em under your +piller; the one that blooms out fust will be the one you will marry. +'Nuther one is to walk down cellar at twelve o'clock at night, +backwards, with a looking-glass in your hand. You will see your man's +face in the glass. But there! I don't know as its best to act so. You +know how Foster got sarved?" + +"No. How was it?" + +"Why! Didn't you never hear? Well, Foster told the Devil if he would let +him do and have all he wanted for so many year, when the time was out, +he would give himself, soul and body, to the Devil. He signed the +writing with his blood; Foster carried on a putty high hand, folks was +afear'd of him. When the time was up, the Devil came: I guess they had a +tough battle. Folks said they never heard such screams, and in the +morning his legs and arms was found scattered all over the cowyard." + +I recognized in this tragic story, Marlowe's Faustus. I was much amused +at Lucy's rendering. + +A few weeks afterwards she told me how the house where she lived was +haunted. I asked her, "Who haunts it?" + +"Why!" she said, "it's a woman. She walks up and down them old stairs, +dressed in white, looking so sorrowfullike, I know there must have been +foul play. And then such noises as we hear overhead! My man says that +it's rats. Rats! I know better!" + +I thought that Lucy wanted to believe in ghosts, so I didn't try to +reason with her,-- + + "For a man convinced against his will + Is of the same opinion still." + + +Lucy was quite an old woman; and I used to think that washing was too +hard work for her; but she seemed very happy. All the while she was +rubbing the clothes over the wooden washboard, or wringing them out with +her hands, she would be singing old-fashioned songs, such as Jimmy and +Nancy, Auld Robin Gray, and another one beginning "In Springfield +mountain there did dwell." It was very sad! + +These songs were chanted, all in one tune. If the words had not been +quaint, and suggestive of a century or more ago, I think the +entertainment would have been monotonous, + +Lucy brought the news of the neighborhood. One morning she came in, and +said: "John King's folks thinks an awful sight of themselves, sence +Calline has been off. She has sot herself up marsterly. They have gone +to work now and painted all the trays and paint-kags they can find red, +and filled them with one thing another, and set them round the house. No +good will come of that! When you see every thing painted red, look out +for war; it's a sure sign." + +One evening late in summer, when I came in from a walk through the +fields, I found in the back porch all the implements for cheese-making. +Mrs. Wetherell said: "It's too warm to make butter, now dog-days have +come in, so I am going to make cheese." + +That night all the milk was strained into the large tub. The next +morning this milk was stirred and the morning's milk strained into it. +Then Mrs. Wetherell warmed a kettleful and poured into the tub, and +tried it with her finger to see if it was warm enough. She said: "My +rennet is rather weak, so I have to use considerable." + +After she had turned the rennet in, she laid the cheese-tongs across the +tub, and spread a homespun tablecloth over it, and looking up to me, she +said: "In an hour or so that will come." + +I made it my business, when the hour was out, to be back in the porch. +Mrs. Wetherell was stirring up the thick white curd, and dipping out the +pale green whey, with a little wooden dish. After she had "weighed it," +she mixed in salt thoroughly. She asked me to hand her her cheese-hoop +and cloth, which were lying on the table behind me. She put one end of +the cloth into the hoop and commenced filling it with curd, pressing it +down with her hand. When it was nearly full she slipped up the hoop a +little: "to give it a chance to press," she said. After this, she put +the cheese between two cheese-boards, in the press, and began to turn +the windlass-like machine, to bring the weights down. + +"Now," said she, "I shall let this stay in press all day, then I shall +put it in pickle for twenty-four hours. The next night I shall rub it +dry with a towel, and put it up in the cheese-room. Now comes the +tug-o'-war! I have to watch them close to keep the flies out." + +The forerunners of autumn had already touched the hillsides, and my +thoughts were turning homeward, when one Saturday morning Mr. Wetherell +came in and said: "Miss Douglass, don't you want to ride up to the +paster? I'm going up to salt the steers." + +Mrs. Wetherell hastened to add: "Yes, you go; you hain't had a ride +since you been here. Old Darby ain't fast, but he's good." + +Eagerly I accepted the invitation, and in a few minutes we set off. + +Darby was a great strong white horse, with minute brown spots all over +him. Mr. Wetherell told me stories of all the people, as Darby shuffled +by their houses, raising a big cloud of dust. + +When we came to a sandy stretch of road, Mr. Wetherell said: "This is +what we call the Plains. Here is where we used to have May trainings, +years and years ago. Once they had a sham-fight, and I thought I should +have died a-laughing. I was nothing but a boy. We always thought so much +of the gingerbread we got at training; I used to save my money to spend +on that day. Once, when I was about thirteen year old, a _passel_ +of us boys got together to talk over training. Jim Barrows said that old +Miss Hammet (she lived over behind the hill there) had got a cake baked, +with plums in it, for training, and was going to have five cents a slice +for it. He said: 'Now, if the rest of you will go into the house and +talk with her, I will climb into the foreroom window, and hook the cake +out of the three-cornered cupboard.' We all agreed. I went in, and +commenced to talk with the old woman; some of the boys leaned up against +the door that opened into the foreroom. After a little while we went out +and met Jim, down by the spring, and we ate the cake. Some way a-nother +it didn't taste so good as we expected. There was an awful outscreech +when she found it out. Jim was a mighty smart fellar. He married a girl +from Cranberry Medder, and they went down East. I have heard that they +were doing fust-rate." + +After riding for some time through low, woody places, where the grass +grew on each side of the horse's track, we came to the main traveled +road. Thistles were blooming and going to seed, all on one stock. +Flax-birds were flying among them filling the air with their sweet +notes. Soon we turned into a lane, and came to the pasture-bars, Mr. +Wetherell said: "You stay here with Darby, and I will drive the steers +up to the bars, and salt them." + +I got out of the wagon, and unchecked Darby's head, and led him up to a +plot of white clover, to get a lunch. Nature seemed to have made an +uneven distribution of foretop and fetlock in Darby's case, his foretop +was so scanty and his fetlocks so heavy. A fringe of long hairs stood +out on his forelegs from his body to his feet, giving him quite a savage +look. As I looked down at his large flat feet, I felt glad that he +didn't have to travel over macadamized roads. + +I sat down on some logs which were lying at one side, and listened to +the worms sawing away, under the bark. + +Soon Mr. Wetherell came back with the steers, and dropped the salt down +in spots. We watched them lick it up. + +I asked Mr. Wetherell why those logs were left there. + +"O, Bascom is a poor, shiftless kind of a critter. I s'pose the snow +went off before he got ready to haul them to the mill; but if he had +peeled them in June or July, they would have been all right; but now +they will be about sp'iled by the worms." + +Mr. Wetherell got Darby turned around after much backing and getting up, +for the lane was narrow, and we started homeward. + +As we rode slowly along, Mr. Wetherell asked me: "Have you ever been to +the beach?" + +I told him, "Yes, and I enjoyed it." + +He said: "I always liked to go, but Mis' Wetherell has a dread of the +water, ever since her brother Judson was drowned." + +"Was he a sailor?" I asked. + +"Yes, he was a sea-capt'n. He married a Philadelphy woman, and they +sailed in the brig Florilla. She was wrecked on the coast of Ireland. +She run on a rock, and broke her in two amidships. Her cargo was cotton, +the bales floated in ashore, and formed a bridge for a second or so. The +first mate and one of the sailors ran in on this bridge, but the next +wave took them out and scattered them, and there was no way to save the +rest. Judson and his wife, and all the crew, except the mate and one +sailor, were all drowned. The mate stayed there for some time, and +buried the bodies which washed ashore. He found Judson's body first, and +had most given up finding his wife's, when one day she washed into a +little cove, and he buried them side by side. He came here to our house, +and told us all about it. It was awful. It completely upsot Mis' +Wetherell. Her health has been poor for a good many year. She has bad +neuralgy spells." + +"Come, Darby, get up! you are slower than a growth of white oaks." + +After several vigorous jerks, Darby started off at a long, swinging +gait, and we soon reached home. + +Only once more did I watch the sun go down behind the western hills, +lighting them up with a flood of crimson light; while a tender, subdued +gleam rested for a moment on the eastern summits, like the gentle kiss a +mother gives her babe, when she slips him off her arm to have his nap. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE BELLS OF BETHLEHEM. + +[On hearing them in the hill country of New Hampshire, September, 1880.] + + "The far-off sound of holy bells." + + How the sweet chimes this Sunday morn, + 'Mid autumn's requiem, + Across the mountain valleys borne,-- + The bells of Bethlehem! + "Come join with us," they seem to say, + "And celebrate this hallowed day!" + + Our hearts leap up with glad accord-- + Judea's Bethlehem strain, + That once ascended to the Lord, + Floats back to earth again, + As round _our_ hills the echoes swell + To "God with us, Emanuel!" + + O Power Divine, that led the star + To Mary's sinless Child! + O ray from heaven that beamed afar + And o'er his cradle smiled! + Help us to worship now with them + Who hailed the Christ at Bethlehem! + +_James T. Fields, in The Granite Monthly._ + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: Boston and Vicinity. _Compiled and Drawn by +Col. Carrington_] + + +THE SIEGE OF BOSTON DEVELOPED. + +BY HENRY B. CARRINGTON, U.S.A., LL.D. + +[Author of The Battles of the American Revolution, etc.] + + +By order of the President of the United States, a national salute was +fired, at meridian, on the twenty-fourth day of December, 1883, as a +memorial recognition of the one hundreth anniversary of the surrender by +George Washington, on the twenty-third day of December, 1783, at +Annapolis, of his commission as commander-in-chief of the patriotic +forces of America. This official order declares "the fitness of +observing that memorable act, which not only signalized the termination +of the heroic struggle of seven years for independence, but also +manifested Washington's devotion to the great principle, that ours is a +civil government, of and by the people." + +The closing sentence of Washington's order, dated April 18, 1783, may +well be associated with this latest centennial observance. As he +directed a cessation of hostilities, his joyous faith, jubilant and +prophetic, thus forecast the future: "Happy, thrice happy! shall they be +pronounced, hereafter, who have contributed anything, who have performed +the meanest office, in erecting this stupendous fabric of freedom and +empire, on the broad basis of independence,--who have assisted in +protecting the rights of human nature, and establishing an asylum for +the poor and oppressed of all nations and religions." + +The two acts of Washington, thus associated, were but the fruition of +deliberate plans which were formulated in the trenches about Boston. The +"centennial week of years," which has so signally brought into bold +relief the details of single battles and has imparted fresh interest to +many localities which retain no visible trace of the scenes which endear +them to the American heart, has inclined the careless observer to regard +the battles of the War for Independence as largely accidental, and the +result of happy, or even of Providential, circumstances, rather than as +the fruit of well-considered plans which were shaped with full +confidence in success. + +Battles and campaigns have been separated from their true relation to +the war, as a systematic conflict, in which the strategic issue was +sharply defined; and too little notice has been taken of the fact that +Washington took the aggressive from his first assumption of command. The +title "Fabius of America" was freely conferred upon him after his +success at Trenton; but there was a subtle sentiment embodied in that +very tribute, which credited him with the political sagacity of the +patriot and statesman, more than with the genius of a great soldier. All +contemporaries admitted that he was judicious in the use of the +resources placed at his command, that he was keen to use raw troops to +the best possible disposal, and took quick advantage of every +opportunity which afforded relief to his poorly-fed and poorly-equipped +troops, in meeting the British and Hessian regulars; but there were few +who penetrated his real character and rightly estimated the scope of his +strategy and the sublime grandeur of his faith. + +The battles of that war (each is its place) have had their immediate +results well defined. To see, as clearly their exact place in relation +to the entire struggle, and that they were the legitimate sequence of +antecedent preparation, requires that the preparation itself shall be +understood. + +The camps, redoubts, and trenches, which engirdled Boston during its +siege, were so many appliances in the practical training-school of war, +which Washington promptly seized, appropriated, and developed. The +capture of Boston was not the chief aim of Washington, when, on the +third day of July, 1775, he established his headquarters at Cambridge. +Boston was, indeed, the immediate objective point of active operations, +and the issue, at arms, had been boldly made at Lexington and Concord. +Bunker Hill had practically emancipated the American yeomanry from the +dread of British arms, and foreshadowed the finality of National +Independence. However the American Congress might temporize, there was +not alternative with Washington, but a steady purpose to achieve +complete freedom. From his arrival at Cambridge, until his departure for +New York, he worked with a clear and serene confidence in the final +result of the struggle. A mass of earnest men had come together, with +the stern resolve to drive the British out of Boston; but the patriotism +and zeal of those who first begirt the city were not directed to a +protracted and universal colonial resistance. To the people of +Massachusetts there came an instant demand, imperative as the question +of life or death, to fight out the issue, even if alone and +single-handed, against the oppressor. Without waiting for reports from +distant colonies as to the effect of the skirmish at Lexington and the +more instructive and stimulating experience at Breed's Hill, the penned +the British in Boston and determined to drive them from the land. Dr. +Dwight said of Lexington: "The expedition became the preface to the +history of a nation, the beginning of an empire, and a theme of +disquisition and astonishment to the civilized world." + +The battle of Bunker Hill equalized the opposing forces. The issue +changed from that of a struggle of legitimate authority to suppress +rebellion, and became a context, between Englishmen, for the +suppression, or the perpetuation, of the rights of Magna Charta. + +The siege of Boston assumed a new character as soon as it became a part +of the national undertaking to emancipate the Colonies, on and all, and +thereby establish one great Republic. + +From the third of July, 1775, until the seventeenth of March, 1776, +there was gradually developed a military policy with an army system, +which shaped the whole war. + +Many battles have been styled "decisive." many slow tortures of the +oppressed have prepared the way for heroic defiance of the oppressor. +Many elaborate preparations have been made for war, when at last some +sudden outrage or event has precipitated and unlooked-for conflict, and +all preparations, however wisely adjusted, have been made in vain. "I +strike to-night!" was the laconic declaration of Napoleon III, as he +informed his proud and beautiful empress, that "the battalions of France +were moving on the Rhine." The march of Lord Percy to Concord was +designed to clip off, short, the seriously impending resistance of the +people to British authority. With full recognition of all that had been +done, before the arrival of Washington to assume command of the +besieging militia, _as the "Continental Army" of America_, there +are facts which mark the months of that siege, as months of that wise +preparation which ensured the success of the war. Washington at once +took the offensive. He was eminently aggressive; but neither hasty nor +rash. Baron Jomini said that "Napoleon discounted time." So did +Washington. Baron Jomini said, also, that "Napoleon was his own best +chief-of-staff." So, pre-eminently, was Washington. + +The outlook at Cambridge, on the third of July, 1775, revealed the +presence of a host of hastily-gathered and rudely-armed, earnest men, +well panoplied, indeed, in the invulnerable armor of loyalty to country +and to God; fearless, self-sacrificing, daring death to secure liberty; +but lacking that discipline, cohesion, and organized assignment to place +and duty, which convert a mass of men into an army of soldiers. +Washington stated the case, fairly, in the terse expression: "They have +been accustomed, officers and men alike, to have their own way too long +already." + +The rapidly succeeding methods through which that mass of fiery patriots +became a well-ordered army, obedient to authority, and accepting the +delays and disappointments of war with cheerful submission, will stand +as the permanent record of a policy which cleared the way for an assured +liberty. + +As early as 1775, Lord Dartmouth had asserted, with vigor, that Boston +was worthless as a base, if the authority of the Crown was to be +seriously defied by the colonies, acting in concert. He advocated the +evacuation of Boston, and the consolidation of the royal forces at New +York. Washington, early after his arrival at Cambridge, saw that the +British commander had made a mistake. His letters to Congress are full +of suggestions which citizens could only slightly value, so long as they +saw Boston still under British control. It is difficult to see how the +war could have been a success, if New York had been occupied, in force, +by Lord Howe in 1775, and the rashness of Gates had not precipitated the +skirmish at Lexington and the battle of Bunker Hill. It is no less hard +to see where and how Washington could have found time, place, and +suitable conditions for that practical campaign experience which the +siege of Boston afforded. + +The mention of some of these incidents will suggest others, and +illustrate that experience. + +A practical siege was undertaken, under the most favorable +circumstances. The whole country, near by, was in sympathy with the +army. The adjacent islands, inlets, and bays swarmed with scouting +parties, which cut off supplies from the city. The army had its redoubts +and trenches, and the heights of Bunker Hill were in sight as a pledge +of full ability to resist assault. As a fact, no successful sortie was +made out of Boston during the siege; but constant activity and +watchfulness were vital to each day's security. Provisions were abundant +and the numerical strength was sufficient. System and discipline alone +were to be added. + +The details of camp life in the immediate presence of skilled enemies +compelled officers and men, alike, to learn the minutest details of +field engineering. Gabions, fasces, abattis, and other appliances for +assault or defence were quickly made, and all this practical schooling +in the work of war went on, under the watchful cooperation of the very +officers who afterward became conspicuous in the field, from Long Island +to Yorktown. THE CAMP ABOUT BOSTON MADE OFFICERS, Its discipline +dissipated many colonial jealousies; and there was developed that +confidence in their commander, which, in after years, became the source +of untold strength and solace to him in the darkest hours of the war. + +The details of the personal work of the commander-in-chief read more +like some magician's tale. Every staff department was organized under +his personal care, so that he was able to retain even until the end of +the war his chief assistants. Powder, arms, provisions, clothing, +firewood, medicines, horses, carts, tools, and all supplies, however +incidental, depended upon minute instructions of Washington himself. + +A few orders are cited, as an illustration of the system which marked +his life in camp, and indicate the value of those months, as preparatory +to the ordeal through which he had yet to pass. + +To withhold commissions, until some proof was given of individual +fitness, involved grave responsibility. He did it. To punish swearing, +gambling, theft, and lewdness, evinced a high sense of the solemnity of +the hour. He did it. To rebuke Protestants for mocking Catholics was to +recognize the dependence of all alike upon the God of battles. He did +it. To repress gossip in camp, because the reputation of the humblest +was sacred; to brand with his displeasure all conflicts between those in +authority, as fatal to discipline and unity of action, and to forbid the +settlement of private wrongs except through established legal methods, +showed a clear conception of the conditions which would make an army +obedient, united, and invincible. These, and corresponding acts in the +line of military police regulations, and touching every social, moral, +and physical habit which assails or enfeebles a soldier's life and +imperils a campaign, run through his papers. + +It is in the light of such omnipresent pressure and constraint that we +begin to form some just estimate of the relations which the siege of +Boston sustained to the subsequent operations of the war, and to the +work of Lee, Putnam, Sullivan, Greene, Mifflin, Knox, and others, who +were thus fitted for immediate service at Long Island and elsewhere, as +soon as Boston was evacuated. + +It is also through these orders that the careful student can pass that +veil of formal propriety, reticence, and dignity which so often obscured +the inner, the tentative, elements of Washington's military character. + +While the slow progress of the siege afforded opportunity to study the +contingencies of other possible fields of conflict, a double campaign +was made into Canada: namely, by Arnold through Maine, and by Montgomery +toward Montreal. This was based upon the idea that the conquest of +Canada would not only protect New England on the north, but compel the +British commanders to draw all supplies from England. The fact is noted, +as evidence of the constant regard which the American commander had for +every exposed position of the enemy which could be threatened, without +neglecting the demands of the siege itself. Frequent attempts were made +to force the siege to an early conclusion. The purpose was to expel or +capture the garrison before Great Britain could send another army, and +open active operations in other colonies, and not, merely in the +indolence of the mere watchdog, to starve the enemy into terms. "Give me +powder or ice, and I will take Boston," was the form in which Washington +demanded the means of bombardment or assault, and gave the assurance +that, if the river would freeze, he would force a decisive issue with +the means already at command. + +Meanwhile, he sent forth privateers to scour the coast and search for +vessels conveying powder to the garrison; and soon no British transport +or supply-vessel was secure, unless under convoy of a ship-of-war. + +At last, Congress increased the army to twenty-four thousand men and +ordered a navy to be built. Washington redoubled his efforts, confident +that Boston was substantially at his mercy; but seeing as clearly that +the capture or the evacuation of the city would introduce a more general +and desperate struggle, and one that would try his army to the most. + +At this juncture, General Howe was strongly reinforced. When he +succeeded Gates, on the tenth of October, 1775, he "assumed command of +all his Britannic Majesty's forces, from Nova Scotia to Florida," and +thus indicated his appreciation of the possible extent of the American +resistance. It was a fair response to the claim of Washington to +represent "_The Colonies, in arms_." Howe's reinforcements had +reported for duty by the thirty-first of December. During the preceding +months, and, in fact, from his arrival at Cambridge, Washington had +freely conferred with General Greene. That young officer had studied +Caesar's Commentaries, Marshal Turenne's Works, Sharp's Military Guide, +and many legal and standard works upon government and history, while +drilling a militia company, the Kentish Guards, and following the humble +labor of a blacksmith's apprentice. He fully appreciated the value of +the hours spent before Boston. Together with General Sullivan, who, as +well as himself, commanded a brigade in Lee's division, he looked beyond +the lines of the camp rear-guard, and spent extra hours in discipline +and drill, to bring his own command up to the highest state of +proficiency. + +The following is the theory which he entertained, in common with +Washington, as to the proper method for prosecution of the war; and he +so expressed himself, when he first encamped before Boston and united +his destinies with those of America. + +His words are worthy of double recognition by the citizens of the United +States, because they not only furnish a key to the embarrassments which +attended the uncertain policy of Congress during the Revolution, but +they illustrate some of the embarrassments which attended the +prosecution of the war of 1861-65. + +First. "One general-in-chief." + +Second. "Enlistments for the war." + +Third. "Bounties for families of soldiers in the field." + +Fourth. "Service: to be general, regardless of place of enlistment." + +Fifth. "Money loans to be effected equal to the demands of the war." + +Sixth. "A Declaration of INDEPENDENCE, with the pledge of all the +resources of each Colony to its support." + +Such was the spirit with which the American army hastened its operations +before Boston. Every week of delay was increasing the probability that +Great Britain would occupy New York, in force. The struggle for that +city would be the practical beginning of the war anew, and upon a +scientific basis. + +Lord Dartmouth alone had the military sagacity to give sound advice to +the British cabinet. He maintained that by the occupation of New York, +and the presence of a strong naval force at Newport, Rhode Island +(within striking distance of Boston), and the control of the Hudson +River, the New England Colonies would be so isolated, as neither to be +able to protect themselves, nor to furnish aid to the central Colonies +beyond the Hudson River. + +For the same reason, an adequate garrison at New York might detach +troops to seize the region lying on the waters of the Delaware and +Chesapeake, and thereby separate the South from the centre. When General +Howe, in 1775, formally urged the evacuation of Boston and the +occupation of New York and Newport, he also advised the seizure of "some +respectable seaport at the southward, from which to attack seacoast +towns, in the winter." + +Washington never lost sight of the fact, that, while an important issue +had been joined at Boston, its solution must be so worked out as to +conserve the general interests of the Colonies as a Nation, and that the +delay which was incident to scarcity of powder, and the resulting +inability to assault the city, was to be employed, to the utmost, in +preparing the troops for an ultimate march to New York, there to face +the British in the field. + +The reinforcement of General Howe, at midwinter, when an attack upon the +American lines would be without hope of success, quickened Washington's +preparations for crowding the siege, while constantly on the watch for +some manifestation of British activity in other directions. + +Within a week after the garrison of the city had been thus strengthened, +Washington learned that Clinton had been detached, to make some +expedition by sea. General Lee, then in Connecticut on recruiting +service, was ordered to New York to put the city in a condition for +defence, and arrived on the very day that Clinton anchored at Sandy +Hook. Clinton, however, neglected his opportunity, and sailed southward +to attack Charleston. Lee also went South, to co-operate with Governor +Rutledge, in the defense of that city. The repulse of that expedition at +Fort Sullivan (afterwards called Fort Moultrie) could not be known to +Washington; but the knowledge that the British had enlarged their +theatre of active war was a new stimulus to exertion. + +The strain upon the American Commander-in-Chief, in view of this rapid +development of hostilities beyond the reach of his army, was intense. +Clinton had been authorized to burn all cities that refused submission. +In a letter to Congress, Washington wrote: "There has been one single +freeze, and some pretty good ice," but a council of war opposed an +assault. At last he conceived an alternative plan, in the event that he +would not have sufficient powder to risk a direct assault, and the two +plans were balanced and matured in his own mind with the determination +to act promptly, and solely, at his own independent will. + +Few facts testify more significantly of the value to the army and the +American cause of that long course of training, in the presence of the +enemy, than the preparations thus made by Washington, without the +knowledge of most of the officers of his command. He collected +forty-five batteaux, each capable of transporting eighty men, and built +two floating batteries of great strength and light draught of water. +Fascines, gabions, carts, bales of hay, intrenching-tools, and two +thousand bandages, with all other contingent supplies, were gathered, +and placed under a guard of picked men. + +Three nights of _mock bombardment_ kept the garrison on the alert, +awaiting an assault. "On the night of the fourth of March, and through +all its hours, from candle-lighting time to the clear light of another +day, the same incessant thunder rolled along over camps and city; the +same quick flashes showed that fire was all along the line, and still, +both camps and city dragged through the night, waiting for the daylight +to test the work of the night, as daylight had done before." + +When daylight came,-- + + "Two strong redoubts capped Dorchester Heights." + + +By the tenth of March, the Americans had fortified Nook's Hill, and this +drove the British from Boston Neck. Eight hundred shot and shell were +thrown into the city during that night. On the morning of March 17, the +British embarked for Halifax. + +Five thousand American troops entered the city, under General Ward (the +venerable predecessor of Washington) as the last boats left. + +On the eighteenth of March, and before the main army had entered Boston, +General Heath was ordered to New York with five regiments of infantry +and a part of the field artillery. + +On the twenty-seventh, the whole army, excepting a garrison of five +regiments, was ordered forward, General Sullivan leading the column. + +On the evening of April fourteenth, after the last brigade marched, +Washington started for his new field of duty. + +The siege of Boston is indeed memorable for that patient, persistent +pressure by which the Colonists grasped, and held fast, all approaches +to the city, until a sufficient force could be organized for a +systematic siege; but, as the eye rests upon an outline map of the +principal works of the besieging force, and we try to associate Ploughed +Hill, Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, and other memorable strongholds, with +the surroundings of to-day, we are glad to find an abounding source of +comfort in the assurance, that the whole struggle for our National +Independence is indelibly associated with the names, the vigils, and the +experiences which belong to those long months of education in the art +and appliances of war. + +Swiftly as that well-instructed army moved to New York, they had only +time to gain position, before they realized the value of their training +in the trenches and redoubts around Boston; and no battle or siege, +including the capture of Yorktown, is without its tribute to the +far-reaching influence which that training assured. + +The echoes of the national salute which have so recently commemorated +the one hundredth anniversary of the close of the official career of +Washington as commander-in-chief of the army of the Revolution, may well +be associated with those midnight salvos of artillery which crowned his +first campaign with an enduring success, and, once for all, rescued the +soil of the Bay State from the tread of a hostile foot. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. + +[Footnote: Illustrated by pen and ink sketches furnished by the author.] + +BY COLONEL THOMAS P. CHENEY. + +[Superintendent New England Division United States Railway Mail +Service.] + +[Illustration: YE FASTE MAILE OF YE OLDEN TYME.] + +It is not the purpose of this paper to give a history of the growth of +this important branch of the government service, so much as to impart, +perhaps to an indifferent degree, the methods of its intricate workings, +and the care and study employed to expedite the vast correspondence of +the country. A system as colossal as the Railway Mail Service of this +country is, could not be organized but through a process of development +meeting needs as they arise. This development is best shown by a +comparative illustration from an early date to the present time. + +In 1811, there were 2,403 post-offices, and during the year the mail was +carried 46,380 miles in stages, and 61,171 miles in sulkies and on +horseback. In Postmaster-General Barry's report for the fiscal year +ending November 1, 1834, it is said, that, "The multiplication of +railroads in different parts of the country promises within a few years +to give great rapidity to the movements of travelers, and it is a +subject worthy of inquiry whether measures may now be taken to secure +the transportation of the mail upon them. Already have the railroads +between Frenchtown in Maryland and New Castle in Delaware, and between +Camden and South Amboy in New Jersey, afforded great and important +facilities to the transmission of the great Eastern mail." The lines of +railway at that time, 1834, amounted to seventy-eight miles. + +In 1838, the Railway Mail Service began with 1,913 miles of railroad +throughout the country. In 1846, mails were carried over 4,092 miles of +railway, which increased in 1882 to 100,563 miles. + +The miles of annual transportation of mail by railroad in 1852 amounted +to 11,082,768, which increased to 113,995,318 in 1882, with an increase +in the number of Railway Mail Service employees from 43 in 1846 to 3,072 +in 1882. This wonderful expansion was but proportional with the +development of the country at large. At the close of the war of the +Rebellion, business was at its height. Industry and intelligence were +seeking together new channels for their diffusion. The Pacific Railway +was the grand conception that met this demand, and by its means were +united the borders of the continent, and communication thus made more +frequent and rapid between our interior, the West, and Europe: the most +ancient civilization of the world in the Orient greeted the youngest in +the Occident, and completed the girdle about the earth. + +The lumbering stage and caravan laboring across the plains, and the +swift mustang flying from post to post, frequently intercepted by the +wily savage, were but things of yesterday, though fast becoming +legendary. When those slower methods by which correspondence was +conveyed at a great expense and delay, and current literature was to a +great extent debarred, were supplanted by a continuous line of stages, +it was considered a revolution in the wheel of progress, and the +consummation. The possible accomplishments of the present day, if +entertained at all at that time, were in general considered Munchausen, +and not difficulties to be surmounted by practical engineering and +undaunted perseverance. The civilization of the world has kept pace with +its channels of communication and has accordingly rendered invaluable +aid to it. In our country the field in this direction is exceedingly +broad. + +There is no branch of the government service that reaches so near and +supplies the wants of the people as the Post-Office Department, and +whose ramification may not be inaptly compared to the human system with +its arteries filled with the life-current coursing through the veins and +diffusing health and vigor to the various parts; in the same manner the +people in the different sections of the country interchange their +information. The centres of art and literature, conveying to the vast +producing region in the West the products of their refined taste, +scientific research, and mechanical achievements, keep alive and +propagate the spirit of inquiry, making remote parts of the nation +homogeneous in tastes, knowledge, and a common interest in all matters +of national advancement. + +If a map of the United States with every railway that crosses and +recrosses its broad surface were laid before us, it would appear that a +regulated system for an expeditious transmission of the mails in such an +intricate confusion of lines, apparently going nowhere yet everywhere, +would be an impossibility; but by study and untiring energy this has +been accomplished. + +The machinery of the Post-Office Department is a system of cog-fitting +wheels, in all its component parts; and were it not so, in the +necessarily limited period and space allotted, the work in postal-cars +could not be successfully accomplished. + +The interior dimensions of postal-cars vary, from whole cars sixty feet +in length, to apartments five feet five inches in length by two feet six +inches in width. The most comprehensive conception of the practical +working of the postal-car system, can be formed in a railway post-office +from forty to sixty feet in length; with this in view, we will make a +trip in one. A permit to ride in the car, signed by the superintendent +of the division of the service, is necessary to allow us the privilege; +and it is also required of clerks belonging to other lines. This rule is +necessary, in order that the clerks may perform their work +uninterruptedly and correctly; and also to exclude unauthorized persons +from mail apartments. After a hasty exchange of salutations with the +four clerks, the "clerk in charge" notes our names on his "trip report," +and we are assigned a spot in the contracted space, where, we are +assured, we will be undisturbed, at least for a while. The trip report +mentioned is used in noting connections missed, and other irregularities +that may occur. The interior of the car is fitted up with a +carefully-studied economy of space, upon plans made under the +supervision of the superintendent of the division, or chief clerk of the +line. Occupying one end of the car are cases of pigeon-holes, or boxes, +numbering from six hundred to one thousand, arranged in the shape of a +horse-shoe, for the distribution of letters. These boxes are labeled +with the names of the post-offices on the line of road, connecting +lines, States, and prominent cities and towns throughout the country. A +long, narrow aisle passes through the centre of the car, on both sides +of which are racks for open sacks and pouches, into which packages of +letters and pieces of other mail matter are thrown; on the sides above +are rows of suspended pouches, with their hungry mouths open. By this +plan, in this contracted space, upwards of two hundred different pouches +and sacks can be distributed into between the termini. On one side of +the aisle is a narrow counter, upon which the mail matter is emptied +from the pouches and sacks; this is hinged to the pouch-rack, and can be +swung back, to enable the clerks to get at the pouches more easily. The +space beyond, divided by stanchions, is for the stowage of mails, and +for their separation into piles. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A RAILWAY POST-OFFICE.] + +In order that a minute may not be lost, when passing through tunnels or +standing in dark railway-stations, the lamps are kept burning from the +start to the finish. The last wagon, gorgeously suggestive of a circus, +has arrived with its load of mail, and the busy work receives at once a +new impetus. Several loads, however, have already arrived, and have been +disposed of as much as possible; for the work begins, in some cases, +several hours before the starting of the train. Transfer clerks and +porters deliver the pouches and sacks into the car, the label of each +being scanned and checked by the clerks, to detect if all connections +due are received, and that no mail may be delayed by being carried out +on the road with the other mail and returned. The last pouch is scarcely +received, when a sudden, but not violent, shock announces that the +locomotive is attached to the train, and the start about to be made. The +sound of the gong, seconded by the electrifying and resonant "Aboard!" +of the conductor, and the post-office on wheels is under way. Now, all +is a scene of bustle, but not confusion. The two clerks, to whom are +assigned the duty of distributing direct packages of letters and +newspaper mail, including merchandise, deftly empty the pouches, out of +which pour packages of letters and circulars, to be distributed unbroken +into pouches, and others labeled to this route and different States, +which are in turn to be separated into packages by routes, States, and +large towns, at the letter-case. To the clerk in charge is assigned the +sorting of such letters as are destined to distant routes or terminal +connecting lines; and his associate, or second clerk, is busy +distributing letter mail for local delivery, and into separations for +intermediate connections. + +In addition to sorting letters, the clerk in charge has charge of the +registered mail, which requires special care in its reception and +delivery, booking and receipting therefor. Large pouches of registered +mail are also placed in his charge, _en transit_ between large +cities, and represent great value. The peculiar tooting of the whistle, +or a peculiar movement of the train around a curve, warns the fourth +clerk, who is on the alert, of a "catch" station; the letter mail for +that post-office is quickly deposited by the local clerk in the pouch, +the lock is snapped, and he is standing at the door not a minute too +soon or too late; the pouch is thrown out at a designated spot and one +deftly caught an instant after without a slackening of the speed of the +train. The pouch thus caught is taken to the counter, opened and emptied +by the fourth clerk, and the letters immediately placed in the hands of +the second clerk, who assorts the local mail; the through letters, or +those destined to go over distant lines beyond the terminus, are sorted +by the clerk in charge; the local, or second, clerk distributes his mail +as rapidly as possible, with a watchful eye for letters, etc., to be put +into the pouch to be delivered at the next station; the pouch is locked +and everything is ready for the next delivery and "catch." When the +stations at which pouches are caught are within a mile or two of each +other, the greatest activity is needed to assort the mail between +stations, to avoid carrying mail by destination and subjecting it to +considerable delay before its delivery by a railway post-office on the +train to be met at a point perhaps many miles ahead. + +[Illustration: "CATCHING" AT FULL SPEED.] + +The manner of taking or "catching" the mail from the trackside by some +invisible power on a railroad train plunging through space has seemed to +many a feat of almost legerdemanic skill, when all that is required is a +simple mechanical apparatus and a quick, firm movement of the arm in +using it at the right moment. A crane similar in appearance to the +oldtime gibbet is erected near the track, and may have served as a +warning by its suggestive appearance to some would-be train-wrecker. Its +base is a platform two feet and a half square, with two short steps on +top to assist the person hanging the pouch; a post ten feet in height +passes up through this platform near the edge; a stout joist about five +feet in length is fixed across the top of the post and so balanced that +when relieved of the weight of the pouch it flies up perpendicularly +against the post. The pouch used for this purpose is made of canvas and +is somewhat narrower than the ordinary leathern pouch. It is lightly +suspended by a slender iron rod projecting from the horizontal joist, +passed through a ring at the top and lightly held at the bottom in the +same manner as at the top. + +[Illustration: POUCH HUNG ON "CRANE."] + +When the pouch is snatched from the crane, the top piece flies up as +described, and a parallel short joist at the bottom of the pouch drops. +The pouch is strapped small in the middle, resembling an hour-glass, +where the catcher-iron on the car is to strike it. This "catcher" +consists of a round iron bar across the door of the car, and placed in a +socket on each side about shoulder high; a strong handle, similar to a +chisel-handle, projects perpendicularly from this bar; on the under side +of the bar projects, at an angle of about forty-five degrees, a slender +and strong iron rod, slightly turned at the end to prevent its tearing +the pouch, of about three feet in length. As the train approaches the +crane, the operating clerk with a quick, steady throw delivers the mail +at a given point, usually near the crane; he then grasps the handle with +his right hand, swinging the handle over inward; the arm when thrown +outward, the horizontal bar turning in the sockets, comes in contact +with the pouch, striking that part of it narrowed by the strap and +striking the arm near the vertex of the angle into which it is driven by +the momentum of the train; the greater the speed the more securely it is +held there; but the clerk is on the _qui vive_, and as soon as it +strikes the catcher-iron, grasps the pouch to make sure of getting it, +as sometimes if the pouch is not hung properly, the arm will strike it +at such a part as to require the most agile movement on the part of the +clerk to secure it and to prevent its falling to the ground or under the +wheels of the train and being torn to pieces; these cases, however, are +rare, but pouches have lodged on the trucks and have been carried many +miles. + +To return to the clerks and their work. In the meantime, the "through" +work continues, when the distance between stations and junctions will +allow of it; letters in packages are distributed into boxes with a +celerity and economy of motion which could be acquired only by continued +practice and training of the eye to decipher an ever-varying +chirography, and of mental activity to almost instantly locate a +post-office on its proper route, its earliest point of supply, or +connecting line. + +The emptying of pouches continues; package after package of letters roll +out on the counter as though they were potatoes rather than the dumb +expression of every human emotion, or the innocent touchspring of their +awakening. The pouches are labeled to indicate those requiring the +earliest attention, as are also the packages of letters they contain; +this plan prevents, to a great extent, the carrying of mail past its +destination. + +The packages of letters to be distributed by routes, post-offices, and +States, are taken to the letter-case; those not to be so separated, that +is, unbroken packages, _en transit_, are placed at once into their +proper pouches. + +The emptying of sacks of paper mail follows that of the pouches; the +papers and packages of merchandise are faced in a manner to be readily +picked up, their addresses read, and deftly thrown into the mouths of +the pouches and sacks in the racks; this is very skilfully done, as the +want of space requires that they shall be crowded closely together. + +The swaying of the train around a curve makes little difference, as the +clerks in a short time learn to follow every motion of the train. A +quick decision, ready eye, and economy of movement as a superstructure +to a good knowledge of his duties, are the invaluable qualities of a +successful railway postal-clerk; and one so equipped soon outstrips his +lagging seniors and associates in grade. As the train approaches a +junction, preparations are made to "close out" that part of the mail to +be delivered at that point, the sacks are tied, the tags or labels +having been attached before starting. The clerks at the letter-case are +rapidly taking the letters from the boxes tying them into packages, and +separating them into piles, which are dropped into their proper pouches +and locked, and so on until all is ready. Let us examine these packages +of letters and at the same time describe the slip system. On the outside +of each package for redistribution, and also inside each direct package, +that is, containing mail for a single post-office, is placed a brown +paper slip, or label, about the size of an ordinary envelope, bearing +its address or destination, which may be that of a post-office, a group +of post-offices supplied therefrom, and labelled "dis." (the +abbreviation of distribution), or for a railway post-office; this slip +also bears the imprint of the name of the clerk who sorted into the +package and is responsible for its correctness, the postmark with date, +and a letter, as "N." for north, or "W." for west, indicating the +direction the train is moving at the time. A similar slip is also placed +loose in each pouch and sack. + +The errors discovered in the packages of letters, or among the loose +pieces in the pouches and sacks, are endorsed on the proper slip, signed +and postmarked by the clerk in the railway post-office receiving it. +These errors may be the result of carelessness, ignorance, or +misinformation; in the latter case, had the clerk been properly +informed, perhaps a delay of half an hour or less might have been +avoided if sent by some other route. These error-slips are sent each day +enclosed in a trip report to the division superintendent; if approved, +the record is made, and the clerk in receiving the error-slip at the end +of the month is informed of his mistake, and it is needless to add that +the error, if one of ignorance or misinformation, will not be repeated. +This forms a part of the record of the clerk upon which to a degree his +future advancement depends. The beneficial effect of this system as an +incentive to study, care in distribution, and a commendable rivalry, is +indisputable. + +The postmarks on the letters in the package in our hands show that they +joined the current at a junction but a few miles past, and if the +location of one of them is sought on the map, it is found to be an +obscure hamlet on a remote stage route, by which it reaches the +railroad, over which a single clerk in an office seven feet square, or +less, performs local service, and which line makes connection with the +through mail-train on the main road. The letters described are tied in a +package with others, and a label slip placed thereon addressed to some +railway post-office, perhaps hundreds of miles distant, which is reached +unbroken through a many-linked chain of connections; with this package +are others for large cities which will be passed along intact to +destination, and also letters labeled to railway post-office lines +making connections in their turn. The pouches and sacks into which the +packages of letters and papers are deposited will be received at the +next junction into a railway post-office car, sorted and forwarded in +the manner described. In many cases a mail is sent across by a stage +route to connect a parallel line, and thereby feeding a new section. + +Mail matter is frequently received, through error, for post-offices on +the line of road but just passed, or for post-offices supplied only by +one railway post-office train moving in the opposite direction; to +provide for such mail a pouch is left at the meeting-point of this +train; and so the train plunges on with its busy workers, its +pleasure-seekers, and its composite humanity, The clerks have long since +become grim with the smut of the train, paling all others but the +fireman, and the long-nursed illusion that all government positions are +sinecures is rudely dispelled by their appearance, and an insight into +their arduous duties. As the train lazily rolls into the terminal +station, pouches and sacks are ready for delivery and the clerks make +ready to leave the car. + +The instant the train stops, a portion of the mail, large or small as +the case may be, is delivered into a wagon for rapid transfer to a +railway post-office train about to start from another station. If the +incoming train is late, it may be necessary to exact the utmost speed to +reach the outgoing train, and in many cases it is always necessary to +effect it rapidly. After the transfer mail is disposed of, the labels of +the remaining pouches and sacks are examined, and as the mail is passed +out of the car we are surprised at its quantity, filling a number of +large wagons; this, however, does not constitute the entire mail +distributed _en route_, as the quantities delivered at junctions +and stations aggregate, in many cases, more by far than that delivered +at the terminal station, There are many details of work that our space +forbids us to describe, that are technical and of little interest to the +reader, but are of relative importance. These we must leave, and prepare +for the return journey on the night-train, feeling grateful that our +busy fellow-travelers are to have an opportunity to refresh themselves. + +The work performed in a railway post-office on a night-train differs +somewhat from that on a day-train, yet maintaining the same general +principle of distribution. The methods differ, governed by the +connections, and a clerk suddenly transferred from a day-train to a +night-train on the same route, unless thoroughly informed of the train +schedules, of close and remote connections, the time of the dispatch of +direct closed pouches from many post-offices, stage route schedules, +etc.,--which knowledge, even approximating correctness, would be +extraordinary,--would be almost as much at a loss as if transferred to +another route, excepting his knowledge of the location of the +post-offices on his own line. In all cases if a delay occurs, causing a +connection to be missed, it is the duty of the clerk to know at once the +next most expeditious route by which the mail can be forwarded. + +The hardship incurred by a night-clerk is greater in many respects than +that of the day-clerk; while in the latter case a continual active +strain is required in the performance of local work and its multiplicity +of detail, yet this is more than offset by the handling of bulky and +heavy through mail and the unnatural necessity of sleeping in the +daytime, which at most affords but a partial rest. On many night-lines +the clerks commence work in mid-afternoon, accomplishing considerable +before the train starts, and as the train plunges through darkness into +the gray dawn and early morning, they sturdily empty pouches and sacks, +and the incessant flow of letters and papers is only interrupted when +approaching some important junction where mail is delivered and received +from connecting lines or post-offices. Everything presents a weird +aspect in a railway-station at midnight,--men flit about in a dazed way +with satchels, the bright light bursting through the doorway of the car +gives a ghastly look to the face of the man who throws in the pouches +and sacks, and all appear like ghosts that will vanish with the approach +of dawn; but we realize the substance of our surroundings when we again +turn our attention to the busy scene in the car. The city distribution +of letters--a feature of the service on night-trains which has greatly +facilitated the early delivery of mails in a few of the larger +cities--has been extended to other cities, and others are still to +receive its benefit. For instance, clerks from the Boston post-office +detailed to do this duty enter the mail-car at the Boston and Albany +Railway at Springfield, Massachusetts, and sort the city letters by +carriers' routes, post-office box sections, banks, insurance offices, +etc. The corresponding train moving in the opposite direction is boarded +by New York post-office clerks making similar separations. + +The packages of letters thus made up go direct to their respective +divisions in the post-office, thereby avoiding the delay that would be +caused in passing through other preliminary distributing departments. +This work has been taken up recently by the Railway Mail Service, the +plan enlarged and extended, and added to the other duties of the clerks. +Additional clerks, however, have been employed to perform this work, yet +the others are required to know it, and on lines where additional clerks +were not appointed, to make it their regular duty. + +A glance has been given at one of the many links in the continuous +chains of connections that cross and recross the face of the country. A +comparison of the oldtime method and of the railway post-office service +will show the superior advantage of the latter. At some remote hamlet in +Nova Scotia, a letter is started for San Francisco, California. It +crosses the boundary line into the United States and enters at once the +swelling current at Vanceborough, Maine. Leaving that place at 1.35 +A.M., Monday, without delay it reaches Boston at 5.10 P.M., is +transferred across the city, leaves at 6.00 P.M., connecting with the +fast mail train from New York City at Albany, through Syracuse, +Rochester, and Buffalo, reaches Cleveland at 6.00 P.M., Tuesday, and +Chicago at 6.00 A.M., Wednesday, where an intermission of six hours +makes the longest delay in the line of connection. The next morning, +Thursday, at 11. A.M., Omaha is reached; Friday, at 6.00 P.M., Laramie, +Wyoming; Saturday, at 6.00 P.M., Ogden, Utah; Sunday, Humboldt, Nevada; +and Monday, at 11.00 A.M., San Francisco. This illustration has been +made to show the far-reaching continuity of connecting lines across the +country, passing through many of the principal cities but not entering a +post-office for distribution, rather than a complexity of connections +almost innumerable in a thickly-settled country, and over which study +and patient inquiry to simplify are ever at work. + +Lyons, Wayne County, New York, is located on the New York Central +Railway; a letter is started from that place for Leeds, Franklin County, +Massachusetts; it is received into the New York and Chicago railway +post-office at 8.17 A.M., then it is given to the Boston and Albany +railway post-office at Albany, the latter line connecting at Westfield, +Massachusetts, with the Williamsburgh and New Haven railway post-office, +arriving at destination at 9.37 that night. + +Again at 6.08 P.M., from Lyons, another New York and Chicago railway +post-office train passes, but, owing to different connections, disposes +of it differently: from this railway post-office a pouch containing a +similarly addressed letter, with other mail, is delivered at Albany for +the Boston and Albany railway post-office, due to leave Springfield, +Massachusetts, at 7.15 A.M.; this pouch is conveyed from Albany in the +baggage-car attached to an express-train, which train, passing +Westfield, connects at Springfield with the 7.15 A.M. railway +post-office train East. At Palmer a short distance east of Springfield a +return mail is left for the railway post-office that left Boston at five +o'clock that morning; into this mail the letter for Leeds is placed, as +the clerks in the latter-named railway post-office deliver at Westfield +a pouch for Leeds, which place is reached 10.07 that morning, on train +in charge of baggage-master. This illustration is comparatively a simple +one. Many instances could be given where a detour of many miles is made +to gain a few minutes in time. By the old system the letter would, in +all probability, have gone to Albany post-office for distribution, +thence either to New Haven, Connecticut, or Westfield, Massachusetts, +for the same purpose, losing trains at each place waiting to be +distributed, and consuming fully, or more, than sixty-four instead of +sixteen hours. By the old method delays became almost interminable as +the connections became intricate, more so than on a continuous line. The +advantage of the "catcher" system described elsewhere, which enabled +towns to communicate with one another in a few minutes, instead of by +the direct closed pouch system through a distributing office miles away, +consuming hours, is not inconsiderable. + +The gain by the present method is incomparable. Intersecting at Albany, +New York, with the line from Vanceborough, Maine, to San Francisco, just +described, or perhaps what may be called the vertebral column of the +system, is the New York and Chicago railway post-office line, known also +as the "Fast Mail" or the "White Mail," as the mail-cars on this line +were originally painted white. A mail-train consisting of four mail-cars +and express-cars leaves New York City at 8.50 P.M., making the through +connection to Chicago. There are two similar trains, leaving New York at +4.35 A.M., and at 10.30 A.M., with a less number of cars; and three +moving in the opposite direction. There are twenty mail-cars on this +line, each interior is sixty feet in length, and the exterior, as +already mentioned, painted white, and bearing the coat-of-arms of some +State and the name of its past or present governor. Each car is devoted +to a special purpose: the distribution of letters and local, or "way," +work; the distribution of paper mail; and others for storage. The +distributing cars are built upon a different plan from the one +hereinbefore described; the packages, etc., are distributed into large +compartments or boxes slightly pitching back one over the other in a +large case, and the clerk wishing to empty one of them passes into the +narrow aisle to the rear of the case; the pouch or sack is hooked to the +case under the door of the box, and the mail drops into it. Pouches and +sacks are also hung in racks to be distributed into. These cars are +post-offices of no mean pretensions when the amount of work performed is +considered. When it is considered how densely populated the country is +through which this line passes many times each day, and its numerous and +swelling tributaries, the volume of mail conveyed is enormous, yet not +disproportionate. + +The average amount conveyed during thirty days, in the sixty days in +January and February of 1881, that the weights of mails were taken +between New York City and Buffalo, a distance of four hundred and +forty-two miles, amounted to 4,416,451 lbs.; between Buffalo and +Chicago, a distance of five hundred and forty-two miles, 2,874,918 lbs. +Over the first section 73,607 lbs. per day, the second section 47,848 +per day; while either of these amounts does not equal those carried +during the same period between New York and West Philadelphia, on the +route to Washington, a distance of ninety miles, amounting to 6,202,370 +lbs. for the thirty days, and 103,372 lbs. per day, the great +discrepancy in miles must be borne in mind and the fact that government +supplies and public documents to the East and North contribute no small +proportion of the amount. The mail between New York and Chicago is +altogether a working mail. It requires more than two hundred and sixty +clerks to handle this mail, who travel annually 2,030,687 miles. + +The clerks on the westerly bound trains are assigned the distributing of +mails by route, for all Middle, Western, Southwestern, and Northwestern +States, and on the easterly bound trains for the Middle and Eastern +States. + +When such States as New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, with +respectively 3,070, 3,681, 2,603, and 2,568 post-offices, are taken into +consideration, some idea may be formed of the work required in preparing +a system of distribution, the vigilance required to keep pace with the +frequently changing schedules, and the study of the clerks to properly +carry its requirements into effect. Beyond Chicago, in the new country, +the work of distribution grows less intricate, but the powers of +endurance of the clerks are severely tested. On the line between Kansas +City, Missouri, and Deming, New Mexico, a distance of 1,147 miles, the +clerks ship for a long voyage--five days on the outward trip and the +same on the inward, sleeping and eating on the train. + +There are a number of lines in the far West, on which the clerks do not +leave the train for a number of days. Throughout the country the total +number of pieces of ordinary mail handled by 3,855 railway postal clerks +on the lines, during the year ending June 30, 1883, amounted to +3,981,516,280; the number of errors made in their distribution was +958,478 pieces, or a per centage of correct distribution of 99.97. This +minutia of detail is applied to the distribution of a vast bulk of mail. +It is estimated that in Boston, Massachusetts, between eighty and one +hundred tons of mail matter are daily dispatched, and between forty and +sixty tons are daily received; while at New York City this quantity is +more than doubled. Even figures become interesting when they represent +the standard of intelligence and progress, as shown by an increased +correspondence and literature. In no branch of the government service, +it can be safely said, have the tenets advanced by the advocates of the +civil-service reform been so nearly realized as in this bureau of the +Post-Office Department even at that period when the initiatory steps now +being applied to other departmental machinery were considered all but +Utopian,--a system consisting of a probationary period preceding +appointment, and promotion from grade to grade, based upon a practical +and thorough system of examination, had long since been developed up +through an experimental stage to a well-grounded success. The complexity +of the postal system, continually varying in detail, demanded a uniform +system of giving information, and a corresponding test of its operation. +The system of distribution for each State is compiled in tabulated form +in a book or sheet, known as a "scheme," for ready reference when on +duty, or study when off the road. In thickly-settled States, where +numerous railroads cross and re-cross each other in the same county, it +is necessary to have the names of the post-offices arranged +alphabetically; opposite the name of each office is given all its +methods of supply and also the hour the mail reaches that office. In +more sparsely-settled States the schemes are arranged by counties; this +is done where the majority of the offices in a county are supplied by +one or two lines, and the exceptions, which are only specified in detail +in the scheme, by other lines or a number of post-offices. In this case +the clerk memorizes the supply of the excepted post-offices +particularly, the disposition of the remaining post-offices in the +county being the same; it is of the first importance to be properly +informed in which county an office is located, and the line supplying +the principal part of that county. A name prefixed with "north" in one +county may have the prefix of "south" in another, or a similar name in a +remote county. These schemes are compiled at division headquarters, and +the general orders are revised almost daily, informing the clerks of +changes affecting the distribution, and also instructions as to other +duties. From the schemes mentioned, lists of distribution are made and +time computed applicable to each line or train of the States for which +mail is selected. + +To return from this preliminary digression to the examinations. These +examinations are of the most practical character and serve to develop +the mental abilities and intelligent understanding of the clerks. To +clearly understand the method, the clerk should be followed step by step +from the time of his probationary appointment into the service, through +the probationary period and his examinations as a full-fledged clerk. +After a month's service on a line, the clerk is assigned a day and hour +for his examination; here is laid the foundation for future usefulness, +the intelligent understanding of a service, acquired by continual study +and inquiry, that gives to all occupations that peculiar zest when +understandingly rather than mechanically followed. A single State, with +the least number of offices, that in the course of duty he will be +required to assort, is selected at the first; it is not expected that it +will be memorized understandingly, or the location of each office fully +known at once, but it forms the basis of inquiry, and develops either +future excellence or mediocrity, or total incapacity. The room in which +these examinations are usually conducted (excepting when a clerk on a +route in a remote part of the division is the subject, in which case he +is visited by the examining clerk) is kept quiet, and nothing that will +distract the attention allowed. He is placed before a case containing +one hundred pigeon-holes, or more, each the width of an ordinary +visiting-card, and sufficiently high to contain a large pack of them. +Cards are then produced, upon each one of which is printed the name of a +post-office, comprising a whole State. The cards are distributed into +the case by the clerk being examined and the number of separations made +as required when on actual duty in the railway post-office. The number +of separations varies according to the connections due to be made; when +the line is through a thickly-settled country, the separations are made +in fine detail. In the State of Massachusetts there are seven hundred +and seventy-two post-offices; and the number of separations made by one +line is upwards of eighty. On the train it is necessary to make many +(what are known as) direct packages that the examination does not call +for. Account is taken of the time consumed in "sticking" the cards, and +questions asked to test the knowledge of connections. A large number of +questions are asked relating to the Postal Laws and Regulations, as +affecting the Railway Mail Service; these latter questions vary in +number from fifty to one hundred. When practicable, during the +probationary period of six months, one examination is held each month, +taking a different State each time. + +The results of these examinations are placed on record, and at the +expiration of the probationary term, this record, together with the list +of errors in sending mail, are forwarded to the Honorable William B. +Thompson, General Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, in +Washington, District of Columbia, with a recommendation that the clerk +be permanently appointed or dropped out of the service. These +examinations are held at intervals among all the clerks to test their +efficiency, and as an incentive to study, to keep fresh in their minds +the proper disposition of the important mails passing through their +hands. In these examinations a good-natured rivalry exists, and a +vigilant eye is kept by the clerks that their line shall make as high an +average per centage, or, if possible, higher than any other. The per +centage of correctness rarely falls below seventy-five; an average is +generally made of ninety-five per cent. The list of errors made is +closely scanned by better-informed clerks, and no stone left unturned by +them to clear their record, and to satisfactorily settle disputed +points. These discussions and inquiries are invited, not only that all +may feel satisfied with the result, but also that much valuable +information is frequently elicited from the clerks, who in many cases +are situated advantageously to see where practical benefits may be +attained. + +During the fiscal year which ended June 30, 1882, there were 2,898 +examinations of permanent clerks held, and 3,140,630 cards handled; of +this number 208,736 were incorrect, 512,460 not known, making a correct +average per centage of 77.05. This record does not include that of +probationary clerks. This constant watchfulness, it can readily be seen, +redounds to the benefit of the public and results in the most +expeditious methods of forwarding the mails attainable. In some cases a +test of reading addresses of irregular or difficult legibility as +rapidly as possible is given, but this idea has not been generally +adopted. The query naturally arises, Is there no incentive to study +other than to make a good record? There is; for upon this basis, +together with a knowledge of a ready working capacity and +application--both great considerations--are the promotions and +reductions made. Those in charge of lines are fully cognizant of the +status of the men, bearing on all points. The clerks in the service are +classified, those on the small or less important routes according to the +distance. Our attention, however, is drawn particularly to the trunk +lines. The probationary appointee is of class 1, receiving pay at the +rate of eight hundred dollars per annum; but at the expiration of his +six months' probation, if he is retained, he is paid nine hundred +dollars per annum, and placed in class 2. The number of men in a crew on +a trunk line making through connections is governed by the quantity of +work performed, and generally consists of four men, excepting the fast +lines, New York to Chicago and Pittsburgh, where more than one mail-car +on a train is required. With four men in a crew the clerk in charge is +classed 5, and others successively 4, 3, and 2, and paid at the rate of +thirteen hundred dollars, eleven hundred and fifty dollars, one thousand +dollars, and nine hundred dollars per annum. In the event of a vacancy +in class 5, the records of examinations and errors made in the +performance of work are scanned, the relative working capacity of the +eligible men in class 4 considered, and a copy of the records, with +recommendations, forwarded to the General Superintendent. The gap caused +by the retirement of one of class 5, and filled by one of class 4, +necessitates promotions from classes 2 and 3, and also a new appointment +into class 1, probationary, and after that period is passed into class +2, thus preserving a uniform organization. + +The selections for promotion are made from the clerks on the entire +line. Thus it will be seen that a graduated system of promotion exists, +based upon merit and competitive examination, and which to the fullest +extent is practical and theoretically satisfactory to the most exacting +civil-service reform doctrinaire. The general supervision of the Railway +Mail Service is under a General Superintendent, the Honorable William B. +Thompson, located in Washington, District of Columbia. It is divided +into nine sections, with offices in Boston, New York City, Washington, +Atlanta, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Cleveland, +and is respectively under the superintendence Messrs. Thomas P. Cheney, +R.C. Jackson, C.W. Vickery, L.M. Terrell, C.J. French, J.E. White, E.W. +Warfield, H.J. McKusick, and W.G. Lovell,--men who have risen from +humble positions in the service, step by step, to their present +positions of responsibility. + +It is an erroneous impression that prevails in certain quarters that the +forwarding of mails over the various railroads is arranged by +postmasters; the especial charge and control of the reception and +dispatch of mails is under the Superintendents of the Railway Mail +Service, who, in their turn, are responsible to the General +Superintendent, who, in his turn is responsible to the Honorable Second +Assistant Postmaster-General. + +It will readily be seen by the foregoing sketch that a clerkship in the +Railway Mail Service is far from being a sinecure, either mentally or +physically. As the country increases in population and the system +becomes more complex, it is found to be important to the public that the +clerks should be insured against removal except for the following +reasons: "Intemperance, inattention to or neglect of duty, incapacity +for the duties of the office, disobedience of official instructions, +intentional disrespect to officers of this or other departments of the +government, indecency in speech, intentional rudeness of language or +behavior towards persons having official business with them or towards +associates, and conduct unbecoming a gentleman." In several annual +reports the General Superintendent has urged upon Congress that some +provision be made for pensioning disabled clerks. This would seem to be +only fitting justice to the clerks, who hourly incur a risk of either +limb or life. + + * * * * * + + + + +REUBEN TRACY'S VACATION TRIPS. + +By Elizabeth Porter Gould. + + +"Mamma, where is the old Witch House? I met on the street this morning +Johnnie Evans and his mother, who came way down from Boston just to see +that, and Witch Hill, and some other places here in Salem that they had +been reading about together this vacation. Why, I haven't seen these +things, and I have lived here all my life. And they said, too, that they +were going to find the house where Hawthorne was born. Who was he, +mamma? I think Johnnie said that the house was on Union Street. Can't I +go there, too? I am tired of playing out in the street all the time. I +want to go somewhere and see something." + +So said Reuben Tracy to his mother, as he came into the house from his +play one day about the middle of his long summer vacation. His little +eyes had just been opened to the fact that there was something in old +Salem which made her an object of interest to outsiders; and, if so, he +wanted to see it. As his mother listened to him, her eyes were opened, +too, to her want of interest, through which her boy should have been +obliged to ask this of her, rather than that she should have guided him +into this pleasant path to historic knowledge. But she determined that +this should not happen again. The vacation was only half through, and +there was yet time to do much in this direction. Her boy should not +spend so much time in idle play in the streets. She would begin that +very afternoon and read to him some stories of local history, and +impress upon his little mind, as Mrs. Evans was doing with her boy, by +visiting with him all that she could of the places mentioned. She +herself had not seen Hawthorne's birthplace; she would learn more about +him and his work, so as to tell Reuben, and then they would visit the +place together; after which they would take a trip to Concord and see +where he was buried, and also the places where he had lived, which, she +had heard, were so charming. She could then tell her boy of Emerson and +Thoreau; and, through a sight of the place where the first battle of the +Revolution was fought, she could lead him willingly into the study of +history. + +Thus Mrs. Tracy planned with herself. She had suddenly become converted +to a knowledge of her larger duty in the training of her child--her only +child now; for, nearly two years before, death had claimed, in one week, +her two other children, one older and one younger than Reuben; and since +then she had fallen into a sad, listless state of mind which she found +hard to get out of. She was an unusually good mother in the ordinary +sense of the word, since she was careful to have her boy well-fed, +well-clothed, and well-behaved; but now she saw more than that was +required of her. + +The good resolution of Mrs. Tracy became so fruitful, that another +week's time found Reuben and herself acquainted with the points of +interest which Johnnie Evans had mentioned, and several more beside. +Mrs. Tracy had accompanied these visits with much interesting +information, which Reuben had enjoyed greatly. Such success led her to +provide something new for the following week. Now, she herself had never +seen the old town of Marblehead,--only four miles from Salem,--although +of late she had been to Marblehead Neck to see a sister who was boarding +there for the summer. So with an eye to visiting the old town, she spent +an hour each day, for several days, reading and talking with Reuben on +the history and legends of Marblehead; and, through the guidance of +Drake's New England Coast, learning what now remained there as mementos +of the past. Then, after having invited two of Reuben's little +playfellows to accompany them, they started, one bright morning, to +drive over by themselves. As they passed up Washington Street in the old +town, Reuben's eyes were looking for the Lee mansion, which he said was +now used for a bank, and which, with its furniture, cost its builder, +Colonel Lee, fifty thousand dollars. They found it, with its date of +1768 over the door, and soon were in the main hall, where was hanging +the same panel paper which was put on when the house was built. They +noticed the curious carving of the balusters, as well as of a front +room, which was wainscoted from floor to ceiling; they wished that it +had never been used for a bank, but that it was still the old mansion as +it used to be; for then they could see, among other things, the +paintings hanging on the walls, of Colonel Lee and his wife, which +Reuben said were eight feet long and five feet wide, and painted by a +man named Copley. His mother smiled when she heard him add, with all the +spirit of Young America: "And he painted them both for one hundred and +twenty-five dollars. Why, just my head alone cost my papa one hundred +dollars; and just think of those two big ones for only one hundred and +twenty-five dollars!" + +As all three of the boys sat in the large recessed window-seat, Reuben +declared that he did not see how the window-panes could have been the +wonder of the town, for they were not near as large as his Uncle +Edward's, and nobody wondered at them! + +They then imagined, walking in the same room where they then were, +General Washington, as he came there in 1789 to be entertained by the +Lees; and also Monroe, Jackson, and even Lafayette, who had been there, +too. When one of the boys asked if the street in which he lived, in +Salem, was named for that Lafayette, Mrs. Tracy noted the question as a +good sign. + +Soon they were in search of the old St. Michael's Episcopal Church, near +there, which they had learned was the third oldest in Massachusetts, and +the fourth in New England, those in Boston, Newbury, and Newport being +the three older. As Mrs. Tracy approached it, she became indignant that +the outer frame had ever been put over the original church with its +seven gables and its towers; she wondered if it could not now be taken +off and leave the old church, as it was meant to be, pretty and unique. +When from the inside she saw the peculiar ceiling, she thought more than +ever that it ought to be and could be done. While she was thus +speculating, the boys were observing the quaint old brass chandelier, +with its candles, a gift from England, also the pillars of the church, +stained to imitate marble. Then they all examined the Decalogue over the +altar, written in the ancient letters, and done in England in 1714. Mrs. +Tracy wished that the old high pulpit and sounding-board had never been +replaced by the desk which she now saw there. The sexton showed them the +old English Bible, which he said had been in use there about one hundred +and twenty-five years. They noticed the little organ, which was very +old, and also sent over from England. As they came out of the church, +they saw, by its side, a graveyard containing some old inscriptions, and +then went on to see the old Town House in the square, which Reuben said +was in its prime in the days of George III. He told the boys to wait +until they should study history, and then they would know more about +this king. That was what he was going to do. Mrs. Tracy noted this +remark as another good sign. + +She treated them to some soda-water in Goodwin's apothecary-store, +nearly opposite, so that they could the more easily remember the house, +of which this was the parlor, where Chief-Justice Story was born. + +They were still driving up Washington Street, through one of the oldest +parts of the town, when, all of a sudden, Reuben asked his mother to +stop and let him and his friends get out and run up some stone steps, +which he said he knew would lead them up through backyards into another +street. So out they jumped, and soon were up in High Street, following +its winding way over the rocky soil, and amidst old houses, until they +came out to Washington Street again, where Mrs. Tracy had driven on to +meet them. They then drove along Front Street, where they had a fine +view of the ocean, and also of the Neck, so prettily decked with its +unique jewels. Reuben was anxious to go in Lee and State Streets because +they were old and quaint, which they soon found. The boys, much to their +delight, spied some more steps leading to another street, and also +noticed, on much of the way, the want of sidewalks. They touched upon +other streets which they were inclined to call lanes. + +So they spent a day in this old town, with its Fort Sewall; its Powder +House, built in 1755; its Ireson's house on Oakum Bay, where Mrs. Tracy +reread to them Whittier's poem on Ireson; its cemeteries, where in one +they found a gravestone bearing the date of 1690. They visited the new +Abbott Hall, which Mrs. Tracy told them to consider as a historical +connecting link between the old and the new. She now felt that they had +seen enough for one day: so, with a promise to drive over again, some +time, to visit more especially the newer part of the town, and also to +drive around the Neck, they left for home. The next day, indeed for +several days, the boys were in high spirits talking over their trip. All +of the boys in the neighborhood were interested to hear of it, and +doubtless some mother was stimulated to do as much for her children. As +for Mrs. Tracy, her sorrow was still keen, but her interest in her +living child's growth was becoming the means of softening its sharpest +edge. She had discovered an elixir which should renew her life to larger +ends. + +By another week's time Marblehead was pretty well talked over, and Mrs. +Tracy was interested to find another subject for the rest of the +vacation, A few days before, Reuben had asked her what an island was. +She felt then, as she answered him, that a visit to such a place would +give him a much better idea of its capabilities than any description +which she could give. So, now, in thinking over an interesting island +within easy distance, for a day's trip, she recalled the pleasure which, +some years before, she had found in a short stay upon Star Island, among +the Isles of Shoals. When she had decided that this should be the place, +she talked the matter over with Reuben, telling him that he might invite +his cousin Frank, a boy of fifteen years, to come from a neighboring +town and spend the rest of the vacation with him; for he would enjoy +studying with them about the Isles of Shoals before they should all go +to see them. Reuben was delighted with the proposition; he secretly +wondered what had made his mother so _extra_ good lately; he +determined that he would love her more and more, and do all that he +could for her; he did wish that his brother Albert was alive to go with +them, but he was so glad to have his cousin Frank, who was certainly +coming to him the next day. + +The following morning brought him, after which the days flew quickly by. +Reuben not only showed to him the antiquities of Salem, but told him +much of Marblehead town. They played together their vacation plays, and +had, each day, their hour's talk and reading with Mrs. Tracy on the +geography and history of the Isles of Shoals. At last they were ready to +go, and the day was set. Mrs. Tracy had invited Reuben's school-teacher, +Miss De Severn, a lovely young lady, whom sad reverses had sent to hard +work, and denied much pleasure in travel, to join her in their trip. +Reuben teased his papa to go with them, but business engagements +prevented his so doing. But he encouraged his son in his pleasure, and +told him that whenever he could tell all that he wanted to see in Europe +he should go there on a tour, but not before. Frank, particularly, +caught his uncle's idea, and determined then to read all the good books +of travel that he could find. + +On the pleasant morning of the appointed time they were all on hand in +the Salem station to take the train for Portsmouth; they arrived there +in time to take the steamer Appledore, as it started at eleven o'clock, +for its ten-mile trip to the Shoals. The boys were delighted with the +novelty of sailing between New Hampshire on one side and Maine on the +other. As they passed on the right the quaint old town of Newcastle, +Miss De Severn told them of the old Wentworth house, built in 1750, +which was still standing there, and which still contained the old +portraits of Dorothy Quincy and others. She promised to read to them, on +their return home, the story of Dorothy Quincy, as told by Dr. Holmes, +and also the story of Martha Hilton, the Lady Wentworth of the Hall, as +told by Longfellow. While she was telling them of the old Fort +Constitution, which they soon passed, and other tales of Great Island, +or Newcastle, Mrs. Tracy was enjoying the Kittery side, which also had +its suggestive history. They soon passed the twin lighthouses of Whale's +Back. Reuben was still wondering why that name was given to it, when his +quick ear heard the ringing of a bell afar off in the distance. What +could that be? Then Mrs. Tracy told the boys of the valuable bell-buoys, +of which they had never heard. The sea was just rough enough to cause +the bell stationed there to ring most of the time; and as they passed +it, they declared that they never heard anything more dismal. Frank said +that he should always think of that in a stormy night ringing out to +warn the sailors. After a sail of an hour and a half, they landed at +Appledore Island, the largest of the seven which comprise the Isles of +Shoals, and which altogether make a little over six hundred acres. +Reuben said that they were now in Maine, for Appledore, Smutty Nose, +Duck, and Cedar belonged to Maine; while Star, White, and Londoner +belonged to New Hampshire. His mother was pleased to hear him apply his +geographical knowledge of the place so soon. She was sure now that he +never would forget that fact. They spent a short time in looking around +the island, with its attractive hotel, so finely situated, and its half +dozen pretty cottages. One of them Mrs. Tracy pointed out as the home of +Celia Thaster, who, she told them, was a poetess who had written so +feelingly of the sea, and who had told, in a pretty poem, how in the +years gone by she had often lighted with her own hands the light in the +lighthouse which they could see on White Island, a short distance from +them. The boys wished to go there, as they had never been near a +lighthouse; but as Mrs. Tracy felt that in their limited time Star +Island would, on the whole, afford them more pleasure and profit, they +took the little miniature steamer Pinafore, which constantly plied +between the two islands, and in a few minutes' time were landed on its +historic ground. + +After they had dined at the Oceanic, a hotel kept by the same +proprietors as the Appledore House, on the island which they had just +left, they found that they had an hour and a half in which to look +around before the steamer should return to Portsmouth. As they sauntered +along over the rocks back of the hotel, they came near enough to the +little meeting-house, which was standing there, to read on its side the +following inscription:-- + + GOSPORT CHURCH. + + ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED OF THE TIMBERS + FROM THE WRECK OF A SPANISH SHIP, A.D. + 1685; WAS REBUILT IN 1720, AND BURNED BY + THE ISLANDERS IN 1790. THIS BUILDING OF + STONE WAS ERECTED A.D. 1800. + + +Through the kindness of a gentleman who had brought the key to gain +entrance into the interior, they all went in through the little side +door to see a comparatively small room, with about twenty-five pews, and +a quaint desk with a large chair each side of it. Mrs. Tracy said that +when this church was built, in 1800, that island had only fifteen +families and ninety-two persons, while Smutty Nose had three families +and twenty persons, and Appledore had not an inhabitant upon it. Reuben +said that there was a time, more than a hundred years before the +Revolutionary War, when the town of Gosport, which included all the +islands, contained from three hundred to six hundred inhabitants. Miss +De Severn wished that they had time to read some old preserved records +of that place, which were now to be seen at the hotel. + +As they came out of the church, Reuben spied the weather-vane, in the +form of a fish, which crowned the little wooden tower, in which was the +bell, still used, although rather dismal in sound. + +As they wandered on, Mrs. Tracy noticed that the march of improvement +had torn down most of the old fishing-houses, as well as the little old +school-house, which she knew had once been there. They soon came upon +the old burial-ground among the rocks, where they found inscribed on two +horizontal slabs the only two inscriptions which were there. On one they +saw this tribute:-- + + IN MEMORY OF + THE REV. JOSIAH STEPHENS, + A FAITHFUL INSTRUCTOR OF YOUTH, AND PIOUS + MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, + SUPPORTED ON THIS ISLAND BY THE SOCIETY + FOR PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL, + WHO DIED JULY 2, 1804. AGED 64 YEARS. + ----------- + LIKEWISE OF + MRS. SUSANNAH STEPHENS, + HIS BELOVED WIFE, + WHO DIED DEC. 7, 1810. AGED 64 YEARS. + + +and, on the other, this high eulogy:-- + + UNDERNEATH ARE THE REMAINS OF + THE REV. JOHN TUCKE, A.M., + HE GRADUATED AT HARVARD COLLEGE, A.D. 1723; WAS + ORDAINED HERE JULY 26, 1732. + AND DIED AUG. 12, 1773. AET 72. + + HE WAS AFFABLE AND POLITE IN HIS MANNER, + AMIABLE IN HIS DISPOSITION, + OF GREAT PIETY AND INTEGRITY, GIVEN TO HOSPITALITY, + DILIGENT AND FAITHFUL IN HIS PASTORAL OFFICE, + WELL LEARNED IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY, AS WELL + AS GENERAL SCIENCE, + AND A CAREFUL PHYSICIAN BOTH TO THE BODIES AND + THE SOULS OF HIS PEOPLE. + ERECTED 1800. IN MEMORY OF THE JUST. + + +Miss De Severn bowed reverently in honor of such lives having been lived +in the midst of the ignorance and corruption which she knew to have then +pervaded the islands. + +From this rocky burial-ground they wended their way to the three-sided +monument, enclosed within a railing, which was on one of the highest +rocks on the island. Frank remembered that it was erected in 1864, in +honor of Captain John Smith, one of the first explorers of the islands; +but as he was ignorant of the meaning of the Turk's head on its top--the +one left of the three which were once there--Mrs. Tracy told him and +Reuben about Smith's successful encounter with the three Turks, as well +as some other tales pertaining to his brave exploits, after which they +read on the sides of the monument the words inscribed in his honor. + +As they stopped to gaze around them for a moment, they saw, a little +more than half a mile off, Haley's (or Smutty Nose) Island, with its few +black houses, prominent among which was the one stained by an awful +tragedy. Mrs. Tracy hoped that it would soon be taken down, for it was +too suggestive of terror and wickedness to be always in sight of those +seeking rest and peace on the islands. Reuben said that Smutty Nose was +the most verdant of all the islands, and the one the earliest settled; +while Duck Island, three miles away, was noted for its game. He also +remembered, much to his mother's surprise, that Cedar Island was only +three eighths of a mile distant, and Londoner not a quarter of a mile +away. When Frank added that Appledore was seven eighths of a mile off, +and White Island nearly two miles distant, Reuben, not to be outdone by +him, said that Star Island was three quarters of a mile long, and half a +mile wide, while Appledore was a mile long. They would have gone on till +all their knowledge had been told, if Mrs. Tracy had not suggested that +they continue their walk over the rocks which gave Star Island its +natural grandeur. They would have liked to have remained there all of +the afternoon, to have enjoyed the waves as they dashed up over the +rocks; but they only stopped long enough to find Miss Underhill's Chair, +the name of a large rock, on which Frank read aloud an inscription +stating the fact, that, in 1848, on that spot, Miss Underhill, a loved +missionary teacher, was sitting, when a great wave came and washed her +away. Miss De Severn said that her body was found a week later at York +Beach, where the tide had left it. + +On their way back to the hotel they noticed some willows and wild roses, +enclosed in a wooden fence, wherein Mrs. Tracy said would be found the +graves of three little children of a missionary who once lived upon the +island; whereupon the boys searched until they found the three following +inscriptions: "Jessie," two years, "Millie," four years, and "Mittie," +seven years old. Under the name of Mittie they said was inscribed: +"I don't want to die, but I'll do just as Jesus wants me to." + +Mrs. Tracy found herself looking back tenderly to this sacred spot, as +she followed the boys to the other side of the Oceanic to see the ruins +of the old Fort, which Reuben said had been useful before the +Revolutionary War. + +On their way to the steamer, which was to leave in a few minutes, they +stepped into a small graveyard of dark stones, of which Mrs. Tracy said +all but one were inscribed with the name of Caswell. + +Soon they were on the steamer, bound for Portsmouth, then on the cars +for Salem, where they arrived home in time for supper. They had seen +what they went to see, and Reuben now very well knew what an island was. +Hereafter, geography and history would be more real to him. On the +following Monday, Frank was telling in his home all that he had seen, +thus inspiring a larger circle with a desire to see and to know, and +Rueben was in his schoolroom ready to begin another year's school work. +His teacher was glad to see that he certainly would be a more +interesting pupil for his intelligent vacation rambles, and silently +wished that more mothers would do what his mother has done. + +As for Mrs. Tracy, she not only decided to interest herself in the +studies of her boy more than she had done in the past, but she +determined to prepare the way for some little historic excursion for +every vacation which her son should have. Another summer should bring +Concord, surely, and perhaps Plymouth too. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Alex H. Rice.] + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Bay State Monthly, Vol. 1, Issue 1., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BAY STATE MONTHLY, VOL 1, ISSUE 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 9174.txt or 9174.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/1/7/9174/ + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Balfour_ + +Boston Tea-Party, The + +Boston, The First Schoolmaster of _Elizabeth Porter Gould_ + +Boston, The Siege of, Developed _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., +LL.D._ + +Boston Young Men's Christian Association, The _Russell Sturgis, +Jr._ + +Boundary Lines of Old Groton, The _Samuel Abbott Green, M.D._ + +British Force and the Leading Losses in the Revolution + +British Losses in the Revolution + +Bunker Hill _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D._ + +Butler, Benjamin Franklin + +Chelsea _William E. McClintock, C.E._ + +Defence of New York, 1776, The _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D._ + +Dungeon Rock, Lynn _Frank P. Harriman_ + +Early Harvard _Josiah Layfayette Seward, A.M._ + +Esoteric Buddhism.--A Review _Lucius H. Buckingham, Ph.D._ + +Fac-Simile Reprint of Daniel Webster's Fourth-of-July Oration, Delivered +in 1800. + +Family Immigration to New England, The _Thomas W. Bicknell, LL.D._ + +First Baptist Church in Massachusetts, The _Thomas W. Bicknell, +LL.D._ + +First Schoolmaster of Boston, The _Elizabeth Porter Gould_ + +From the White Horse to Little Rhody _Charles M. Barrows_ + +Fuller, George _Sidney Dickinson_ + +Gifts to Colleges and Universities _Charles F. Thwing_ + +Groton, The Boundary Lines of Old _Samuel Abbott Green, M.D._ + +Groton, The Old Stores and the Post-Offices of _Samuel Abbott Green, +M.D._ + +Groton, The Old Taverns and Stage-Coaches of _Samuel Abbott Green, +M.D._ + +Harvard, Early _Josiah Lafayette Seward, A.M._ + +Historical Notes + +Historic Trees: The Washington Elm; The Eliot Oak _L.L. Dame_ + +Lancaster in Acadie and the Acadiens in Lancaster _Henry S. Nourse_ + +Lovewell's War _John N. McClintock, A.M._ + +Lowell + +Loyalists of Lancaster, The _Henry S. Nourse_ + +Massachusetts, The First Baptist Church in _Thomas W. Bicknell, +LL.D._ + +Massachusetts, Young Men's Christian Associations of _Russell Sturgis, +Jr._ + +New England, The Family Immigration to _Thomas W. Bicknell, LL.D._ + +New England Town-House, The _J.B. Sewall_ + +New York, 1776, The Defence of _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D._ + +Ohio Floods, The _George E. Fencks_ + +Old Stores and the Post-Office of Groton, The _Samuel Abbott Green, +M.D._ + +Old Taverns and Stage-Coaches of Groton, The _Samuel Abbott Green, +M.D._ + +One Summer.--A Reminiscence _Annie Wentworth Baer_ + +Perkins, Captain George Hamilton _George E. Belknap, U.S.N._ + +Poet of the Bells, The _E.H. Goss_ + +Railway Mail Service, The _Thomas P. Cheney_ + +Reuben Tracy's Vacation Trips _Elizabeth Porter Gould_ + +Revolution, British Force and Leading Losses in the + +Revolution, British Losses in the + +Rice, Alexander Hamilton _Daniel B. Hagar, Ph.D._ + +Siege of Boston Developed, The _Henry B. Carrington, U.S.A., LL.D._ + +Town and City Histories _Robert Luce_ + +Webster, Colonel Fletcher _Charles Cowley, LL.D._ + +Webster, Daniel, Fourth-of-July Oration of + +Wilder, Marshall P. _John Ward Dean, A.M._ + +Young Men's Christian Associations _Russell Sturgis, Jr._ + +Young Men's Christian Associations of Massachusetts _Russell Sturgis, +Jr._ + + +POETRY. + +Bells of Bethlehem, The _James T. Fields_ + +His Greatest Triumph _Henrietta E. Page_ + +Rent Veil, The _Henry B. Carrington_ + +Song of the Winds _Henry B. Carrington_ + +Tuberoses _Laura Garland Carr_ + +Yesterday _Kate L. Brown_ + + + +[Illustration: Marshall P. Wilder] + + + +THE BAY STATE MONTHLY. + + +_A Massachusetts Magazine_ + + +VOL. I. JANUARY, 1884. No. 1. + + * * * * * + +Hon. MARSHALL P. WILDER, Ph.D. + +BY JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M. + +[Librarian of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.] + + +The editors of THE BAY STATE MONTHLY, having decided to begin in its +pages a series of articles devoted to the material advancement and +prosperity of Massachusetts, and the record of her past greatness, have +selected the Honorable Marshall Pinckney Wilder as a representative man, +and have decided that his memoir shall be the initial article in the +series, and also in this periodical. He has as a merchant won for +himself a high position, and by his enterprise has essentially advanced +the business of the city and the State. He has also been active in +developing our manufacturing industries, while his name is first on all +lips when those who have increased the products of the soil are named. +His life affords a striking example of what can be achieved by +concentration of power and unconquerable perseverance. The bare +enumeration of the important positions he has held and still holds, and +the self-sacrificing labors he has performed, is abundant evidence of +the extraordinary talent and ability, and the personal power and +influence, which have enabled him to take a front rank as a benefactor +to mankind. + +MARSHALL PINCKNEY WILDER, whose Christian names were given in honor of +Chief-Justice Marshall and General Pinckney, eminent statesmen at the +time he was born, was the eldest son of Samuel Locke Wilder, Esq., of +Rindge, New Hampshire, and was born in that town, September 22, 1798. +His father, a nephew of the Reverend Samuel Locke, D.D., president of +Harvard College, for whom he was named, was thirteen years a +representative in the New Hampshire legislature, a member of the +Congregational church in Rindge, and held important town offices there. +His mother, Anna, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Crombie) Sherwin +(married May 2, 1797), a lady of great moral worth, was, as her son is, +a warm admirer of the beauties of nature. + +The Wilders are an ancient English family, which The Book of the +Wilders, published a few years ago, traces to Nicholas Wilder, a +military chieftain in the army of the Earl of Richmond at the battle of +Bosworth, 1485. There is strong presumptive evidence that the American +family is an offshoot from this. President Chadbourne, the author of The +Book of the Wilders, in his life of Colonel Wilder gives reasons for +this opinion. The paternal ancestors of Colonel Wilder in this country +performed meritorious services in the Indian wars, in the American +Revolution, and in Shays' Rebellion. His grandfather was one of the +seven delegates from the county of Worcester, in the Massachusetts +convention of 1788, for ratifying the Constitution of the United States, +who voted in favor of it. Isaac Goodwin, Esq., in The Worcester +Magazine, vol. ii, page 45, bears this testimony: "Of all the ancient +Lancaster families, there is no one that has sustained so many important +offices as that of Wilder," + +At the age of four, Marshall was sent to school, and at twelve he +entered New Ipswich Academy, his father desiring to give him a +collegiate education, with reference to a profession. When he reached +the age of sixteen, his father gave him the choice, either to qualify +himself for a farmer, or for a merchant, or to fit for college. He chose +to be a farmer; and to this choice may we attribute in no small degree +the mental and physical energy which has distinguished so many years of +his life. But the business of his father increased so much that he was +taken into the the store. He there acquired such habits of industry that +at the age of twenty-one he became a partner, and was appointed +postmaster of Rindge. + +In 1825, he sought a wider field of action and removed to Boston. Here +be began business under the firm-name of Wilder and Payson, in Union +Street; then as Wilder and Smith, in North Market Street; and next in +his own name at No. 3 Central Wharf. In 1837, he became a partner in the +commission house of Parker, Blanchard, and Wilder, Water Street; next +Parker, Wilder, and Parker, Pearl Street; and since Parker, Wilder, and +Company, Winthrop Square, having continued until this time in the same +house for forty-seven years. Mr. Wilder has lived to be the oldest +commission merchant in domestic fabrics in active business in Boston. He +has passed through various crises of commercial embarrassments, and yet +he has never failed to meet his obligations. He was an original director +in the Hamilton (now Hamilton National) Bank and in the National +Insurance Company. The former trust he has held for fifty-two years, and +the latter for forty years. He has been a director in the New England +Mutual Life Insurance Company for nearly forty years, and also a +director in other similar institutions. + +But trade and the acquisition of wealth have not been the all-engrossing +pursuits of his life. His inherent love of rural pursuits led him, in +1832, to purchase his present estate in Dorchester, originally that of +Governor Increase Sumner, where, after devoting a proper time to +business, he has given his leisure to horticulture and agriculture He +has spared no expense, he has rested from no efforts, to instil into the +public mind a love of an employment so honorable and useful. He has +cultivated his own grounds, imported seeds, plants, and trees, and +endeavored by his example to encourage labor and elevate the rank of the +husbandman. His garden, greenhouses, and a forest of fruit-trees have +occupied the time he could spare from business, and here he has +prosecuted his favorite investigations, year after year, for half a +century, to the present day. + +Soon after the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was formed, Mr. +Wilder was associated with the late General Henry A.S. Dearborn, its +first president, and from that time till now has been one of its most +efficient members, constantly attending its meetings, taking part in its +business and discussions, and contributing largely to its exhibitions. +Four years since, he delivered the oration on the occasion of its +semi-centennial. One of the most important acts of this society was the +purchase of Mount Auburn for a cemetery and an ornamental garden. On the +separation of the cemetery from the society, in 1835, through Mr. +Wilder's influence committees were appointed by the two corporations, +Judge Story being chairman of the cemetery committee, and Mr. Wilder of +the society committee. The situation was fraught with great +difficulties; but Mr. Wilder's conservative course, everywhere +acknowledged, overcame them all and enabled the society to erect an +elegant hall in School Street, and afterward the splendid building it +now occupies in Tremont Street, the most magnificent horticultural hall +in the world. It has a library which is everywhere acknowledged to be +the best horticultural library anywhere. In 1840, he was chosen +president, and held the office for eight successive years. During his +presidency the hall in School Street was erected, and two triennial +festivals were held in Faneuil Hall, which are particularly worthy of +notice. The first was opened September 11, 1845, and the second on the +fiftieth anniversary of his birth, September 22, 1848, when he retired +from the office of president, and the society voted him a silver pitcher +valued at one hundred and fifty dollars, and caused his portrait to be +placed in its hall. As president of this association he headed a +circular for a convention of fruit-growers, which was held in New York, +October 10. 1848, when the American Pomological Society was formed. He +was chosen its first president, and he still holds that office, being in +his thirty-third year of service. Its biennial meetings have been held +in New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Boston, Rochester, St. Louis, +Richmond, Chicago, and Baltimore; and it will hold its next meeting in +Detroit. On these occasions President Wilder has made appropriate +addresses. The last meeting was held, September, 1883, in Philadelphia, +when his last address was delivered. In this address, with his usual +foresight, he proposed a grand reform in the nomenclature of fruits for +our country, and asked the co-operation of other nations in this reform. + +In February, 1849, the Norfolk Agricultural Society was formed. Mr. +Wilder was chosen president, and the Honorable Charles Francis Adams, +vice-president. Before this society his first address on agricultural +education was delivered. This was a memorable occasion. There were then +present, George N. Briggs, the governor, and John Reed, the +lieutenant-governor, of the State, Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, +Horace Mann, Levi Lincoln, Josiah Quincy, president of Harvard +University, General Henry A.S. Dearborn, Governor Isaac Hill, of New +Hampshire, the Reverend John Pierpont, Josiah Quincy, Jr., Charles +Francis Adams, and Robert C. Winthrop,--of which galaxy of eminent men, +the last two only are now living. It was the first general effort in +that cause in this country. He was president twenty years, and on his +retirement he was constituted honorary president, and a resolution was +passed recognizing his eminent ability and usefulness in promoting the +arts of horticulture and agriculture, and his personal excellence in +every department of life. He next directed his efforts to establishing +the Massachusetts board of agriculture, organized as the Massachusetts +Central Board of Agriculture, at a meeting of delegates of agricultural +societies in the State, held at the State House, September, 1851, in +response to a circular issued by him as president of the Norfolk +Agricultural Society. He was elected president, and held the office till +1852, when it became a department of the State, and he is now the senior +member of that board. In 1858, the Massachusetts School of Agriculture +was incorporated, and he was chosen president; but before the school was +opened Congress granted land to the several States for agricultural +colleges, and in 1865 the Legislature incorporated the Massachusetts +Agricultural College. He was named the first trustee. In 1871, the first +class was graduated, and in 1878 he had the honor of conferring the +degree of Bachelor of Science on twenty young gentlemen graduates. He +delivered addresses on both occasions. In 1852, he issued a circular in +behalf of several States for a national meeting at Washington, which was +fully attended, and where the United States Agricultural Society was +organized. Daniel Webster and a host of distinguished men assisted in +its formation. This society, of which he was president for the first six +years, exercised a beneficial influence till the breaking out of the +late Civil War. On Mr. Wilder's retirement he received the gold medal of +honor and a service of silver plate. He is a member of many other +horticultural and agricultural societies in this and foreign lands. + +Colonel Wilder, at an early age, took an interest in military affairs. +At sixteen he was enrolled in the New Hampshire militia, and at +twenty-one he was commissioned adjutant. He organized and equipped the +Rindge Light Infantry, and was chosen its captain. At twenty-five five +he was elected lieutenant-colonel, and at twenty-six was commissioned as +colonel of the Twelfth Regiment. + +Soon after his removal to Boston he joined the Ancient and Honorable +Artillery Company. In 1856, he was chosen commander of the corps, being +the one hundred and fifty-fifth in command. He had four times previously +declined nominations. He entered into correspondence with Prince Albert, +commander of the Royal Artillery Company of London, founded in 1537, of +which this corps, chartered in 1638, is the only offspring. This +correspondence established a friendly intercourse between the two +companies. In June, 1857, Prince Albert was chosen a special honorary +member of our company, and twenty-one years later, in 1878, Colonel +Wilder, who then celebrated the fiftieth or golden anniversary of his +own membership, nominated the Prince of Wales, the present commander of +the London company, as an honorary member. Both were commanders of the +Honorable Artillery Company of London when chosen. The late elegantly +illustrated history of the London company contains a portrait of Colonel +Wilder as he appeared in full uniform on that occasion. + +In 1839, he was induced to serve for a single term in the Massachusetts +Legislature, as a representative for the town of Dorchester. In 1849, he +was elected a member of Governor Briggs's Council, and the year +following a member of the senate and its president, and he is the the +oldest ex-president of the senate living. In 1860, he was the member for +New England of the national committee of the "Constitutional Union +Party," and attended, as chairman of the Massachusetts delegation, the +national convention in Baltimore, where John Bell and Edward Everett +were nominated for President and Vice-President of the United States. + +He was initiated in Charity Lodge, No. 18, in Troy, New Hampshire, at +the age of twenty-five, exalted to the Royal Arch Chapter, Cheshire No. +4, and knighted in the Boston Encampment. He was deputy grand master of +the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and was one of the six thousand Masons +who signed, December 31, 1831, the celebrated "Declaration of the +Freemasons of Boston and Vicinity"; and at the fiftieth anniversary of +that event, which was celebrated in Boston two years ago, Mr. Wilder +responded for the survivors, six of the signers being present. He has +received all the Masonic degrees, including the 33d, or highest and last +honor of the fraternity. At the World's Masonic Convention, in 1867, at +Paris, he was the only delegate from the United States who spoke at the +banquet. + +On the seventh of November, 1849, a festival of the Sons of New +Hampshire was celebrated in Boston. The Honorable Daniel Webster +presided, and Mr. Wilder was the first vice-president. Fifteen hundred +sons of the Granite State were present. The association again met on the +twenty-ninth of October, 1852, to participate in the obsequies of Mr. +Webster at Faneuil Hall. On this occasion the legislature, and other +citizens, of New Hampshire were received at the Lowell railway-station, +and were addressed by Mr. Wilder in behalf of sons of that State +resident in Boston. + +The Sons celebrated their second festival, November 2, 1853, at which +Mr. Wilder occupied the chair as president, and delivered one of his +most eloquent speeches. They assembled again, on June 20, 1861, to +receive and welcome a New Hampshire regiment of volunteers, and escort +them to the Music Hall, where Mr. Wilder addressed them in a patriotic +speech on their departure for the field of battle. + +The two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of +Dorchester was celebrated on the Fourth of July, 1855. The oration was +by Edward Everett; Mr. Wilder presided, and delivered an able address. +On the central tablet of the great pavilion was this inscription: +"Marshall P. Wilder, president of the day. Blessed is he that turneth +the waste places into a garden, and maketh the wilderness to blossom as +a rose." + +In January, 1868, he was solicited to take the office of president of +the New England Historic Genealogical Society, vacated by the death of +Governor Andrew. He was unanimously elected, and is now serving the +seventeenth year of his presidency. At every annual meeting he has +delivered an appropriate address. In his first address he urged the +importance of procuring a suitable building for the society. In 1870, he +said: "The time has now arrived when absolute necessity, public +sentiment, and personal obligations, demand that this work be done, and +done quickly." Feeling himself pledged by this address, he, as chairman +of the committee then appointed, devoted three months entirely to the +object of soliciting funds, during which time more than forty thousand +dollars was generously contributed by friends of the association; and +thus the handsome edifice at No. 18 Somerset Street was procured. This +building was dedicated to the use of the society, March 18, 1871. He has +since obtained donations, amounting to upward of twelve thousand +dollars, as a fund for paying the salary of the librarian. + +In 1859, he presided at the first public meeting called in Boston, in +regard to the collocation of institutions on the Back Bay lands, where +the splendid edifices of the Boston Society of Natural History and the +Massachusetts Institute of Technology now stand. Of the latter +institution he has been a vice-president, and the chairman of its +Society of Arts, and a director from the beginning. General Francis A. +Walker, the present president of the Institute, bore this testimony to +his efforts in its behalf at the in banquet to Mr. Wilder on his +eighty-fifth anniversary: "Through all the early efforts to attract the +attention of the legislature and the people to the importance of +industrial and art education, and through the severe struggles which so +painfully tried the courage and the faith even of those who most +strongly and ardently believed in the mission of the Institute, as well +as through the happier years of fruition, while the efforts put forth in +the days of darkness and despondency were bearing their harvest of +success and fame, Colonel Wilder was through all one of the most +constant of the members of the government in his attendance; one of the +most hopeful in his views of the future of the school; ever a wise +counsellor and a steadfast ally." + +He was one of the twelve representative men appointed to receive the +Prince of Wales in 1860, at the banquet given him in Boston, Edward +Everett being chairman of the committee; also one of the commissioners +in behalf of the Universal Exposition in Paris, 1867, when he was placed +at the head of the committee on horticulture and the cultivation and +products of the vine, the report of which was published by act of +Congress. + +In 1869, he made a trip to the South, for the purpose of examining its +resources; and in 1870, with a large party, he visited California. The +result of Mr. Wilder's observations has been given to the public in a +lecture before the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, which was +repeated before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, Amherst +College, the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Dartmouth College, the +Horticultural Society, the merchants of Philadelphia, and bodies in +other places. + +His published speeches and writings now amount to nearly one hundred in +number. A list to the year 1873 is printed in the Cyclopaedia of +American Literature. Dartmouth College, as a testimonial to his services +in science and literature, conferred upon him, in the year 1877, the +degree of Doctor of Philosophy. + +The Honorable Paul A. Chadbourne, LL.D., late president of Williams +College in a recent Memoir of Mr. Wilder remarks: "The interest which +Colonel Wilder has always manifested in the progress of education, as +well as the value and felicitous style of his numerous writings, would +lead one to infer at once that his varied knowledge and culture are the +results of college education. But he is only another illustrious example +of the men who, with only small indebtedness to schools, have proved to +the world that real men can make themselves known as such without the +aid of the college, as we have abundantly learned that the college can +never make a man of one who has not in him the elements of noble manhood +before he enters its halls." + +In 1820, Mr. Wilder married Miss Tryphosa Jewett, daughter of Dr. +Stephen Jewett, of Rindge, a lady of great personal attractions. She +died on a visit to that town, July 21, 1831, leaving four children. On +the twenty-ninth of August, 1833, Mr. Wilder was united to Miss Abigail, +daughter of Captain David Baker of Franklin, Massachusetts, a lady of +education, accomplishments, and piety, who died of consumption, April 4, +1854, leaving five children. He was married a third time on the eighth +of September, 1855, to her sister, Miss Julia Baker, who was admirably +qualified to console him and make his dwelling cheerful, and who has two +sons, both living. No man has been more blessed in domestic life. We +know not where there would be a more pleasing picture of peace and +contentment exhibited than is found in this happy family. In all his +pursuits and avocations, Mr. Wilder seems to have realized and practised +that grand principle, which has such a bearing and influence on the +whole course of life--the philosophy of habit, a power almost omnipotent +for good or evil. His leisure hours he devotes to his pen, which already +has filled several large volumes with descriptions and delineations of +fruits and flowers, proved under his own inspection, and other matters +pertaining to his various relations in life. + +Colonel Wilder has shown us by his life what an individual may +accomplish by industry, perseverance, and the concentration of the +intellectual powers on grand objects. Without these, no talent, no mere +good fortune could have placed him in the high position he has attained +as a public benefactor. He has been pre-eminent in the establishment and +development of institutions. Few gentlemen have been called upon so +often, and upon such various occasions, to take the chair at public +meetings or preside over constituted societies. Few have acquitted +themselves so happily, whether dignity of presence, amenity of address, +fluency of speech, or dispatch of business, be taken into consideration. +As a presiding officer he seems "to the manner born." His personal +influence has been able to magnetize a half-dying body into new and +active life. This strong personal characteristic is especially remarked +among his friends. No one can approach him in doubt, in despondency, or +in embarrassment, and leave him without a higher hope, a stronger +courage, and a manlier faith in himself. The energy which has impelled +him to labor still exists. + +Mr. Wilder is now president of the New England Historic Genealogical and +Society, the American Pomological Society, and the Massachusetts +Agricultural Club. He is senior trustee of the Massachusetts +Agricultural College, and senior member of the State Board of +Agriculture, and of the executive committee of the Massachusetts +Horticultural Society. He is senior director in the Massachusetts +Institute of Technology, the Hamilton National Bank, the New England +Mutual Life Insurance Company, and the Home Savings Bank. He is an +honorary member of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain; a +corresponding member of the Royal Horticultural Society of London, and +the Societe Centrale d' Horticulture of France; and a fellow of the +Reale Accademia Araldica Italiana of Pisa. + +Well did Governor Bullock on a public occasion speak of Mr. Wilder as +"one who has applied the results of his well-earned commercial earnings +so liberally that in every household and at every fireside in America, +when the golden fruits of summer and autumn gladden the sideboard and +the hearthstone, his name, his generosity, and his labors are known and +honored." He is also known and honored abroad. The London Gardener's +Chronicle, the leading agricultural paper in Europe, in April, 1872, +gave his portrait and a sketch of his life, in which is introduced the +following merited compliment:-- + +"We are glad to have the opportunity of laying before our readers the +portrait of one of the most distinguished of transatlantic +horticulturists, and one who, by his zeal, industry, and determination, +has not only conferred lasting benefits on his native country, but has +by his careful experiments in hybridization and fruit-culture laid the +horticulturists of all nations under heavy obligations to him. The name +and reputation of Marshall P. Wilder is as highly esteemed in Great +Britain as they are in America." + +In closing this sketch, we may remark that complimentary banquets were +given him on the eightieth and the eighty-fifth anniversaries of his +birth. On the former occasion, September 22, 1878, the Reverend James H. +Means, D.D., his pastor for nearly thirty years, the Honorable Charles +L. Flint, secretary of the Board of Agriculture, the Honorable John +Phelps Putnam, judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court, and others, +paid tributes to the high moral character, the benevolent disposition, +and the eminent services, of the honored guest of the evening. + +The last banquet, September 22, 1883, on his completing the ripe age of +eighty-five, was a much more important occasion. The banquet was held, +as the former was, at the Parker House, in Boston, and over one hundred +gentlemen participated, among whom were some of the most distinguished +persons in this and other States. Charles H.B. Breck, Esq., +vice-president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society presided, and +the venerable Reverend Dr. George W. Blagden invoked a blessing. Mr. +Breck addressed Mr. Wilder, who responded. Addresses were then made by a +number of Mr. Wilder's friends, among them the Honorable Alexander H. +Rice and the Honorable Nathaniel P. Banks, ex-governors of +Massachusetts, his Honor Oliver Ames, lieutenant-governor of the State, +his Honor Albert Palmer, mayor of Boston, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, +ex-governor of Maine, the Honorable Frederick Smyth, ex-governor of New +Hampshire, Professor J.C. Greenough, president of the Massachusetts +Agricultural College, General Francis A. Walker, president of the +Institute of Technology, the Honorable Francis B. Hayes, president of +the Horticultural Society, the Reverend Edmund F. Slafter, corresponding +secretary of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, John E. +Russell, secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, and Major Ben: +Perley Poore, secretary of the United States Agricultural Society, and +ex-commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. Other +societies with which Mr. Wilder is connected were also represented, as +the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, the New +England Agricultural Society, the New England Life Insurance Company, +the Hamilton Bank, the Home Savings Bank, the Grand Lodge of Masons, and +the Second Church of Dorchester. Letters were received from the +Honorable Robert C. Winthrop, president of the Massachusetts Historical +Society, his Excellency Benjamin F. Butler, governor, and the Honorables +John D. Long, William Claflin, and Thomas Talbot, ex-governors of the +State, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the Honorable Dr. George B. Loring, +United States Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Honorable Francis W. +Bird, president of the Bird Club, The addresses and letters are to be +printed in full. A few extracts follow: + +Dr. Holmes referred to Mr. Wilder as: "The venerable and venerated +friend who has outlived the fruits of fourscore seasons, and is still +ripening as if his life were all summer." + +Mr. Winthrop wrote: "No other man has done so much for our fields and +gardens and orchards. He has distinguished himself in many other lines +of life, and his relations to the Legislature of Massachusetts and to +the Historic Genealogical Society will not soon be forgotten. But his +name will have its most enduring and most enviable association with the +flowers and fruits for whose culture he was foremost in striving, both +by precept and example. He deserves a grateful remembrance as long as a +fine pear is relished or a brilliant bouquet admired." + +Governor Rice said: "There is hardly a public enterprise of the last +three generations, scarcely a pursuit in life, or an institution of +patriotism, discipline, or charity, that does not bear the signet of his +touch and feel the vigor of his co-operation. Why, sir, it may be said, +almost with literal truth, that the trees which this great arborist has +planted and cultivated and loved are not more numerous than the +evidences of his handiwork in all the useful and beneficent departments +of life; and all the flowers that shall grow to the end of time ought to +bear fragrance to his memory." + +Mayor Palmer said: "Time would fail me to recount his great and +honorable services to society and the State. It must suffice to say that +no name of this century is written more imperishably in the affection +and esteem of Boston and Massachusetts than the name of him, our honored +guest." + +Dr. Loring wrote: "It is with pride and satisfaction that the business +associations of the city of Boston can point to him as a representative +of that mercantile integrity which gives that city its distinguished +position among the great commercial centres of the world." + +Governor Banks said: "I can scarcely enumerate, much less analyze, the +numerous and important social and national enterprises which make the +character and career of our distinguished guest illustrious." + +Governor Chamberlain said: "We rejoice in this honored old age,--this +youth, rounded, beautified, and sweetened into supreme manhood; and we +rejoice also that it shall remain for after times an example and +inspiration for all who would live true lives, and win the honor that +comes here and hereafter to noble character." + +President Greenough thus spoke:--"The line of buildings which to-day at +Amherst graces one of the fairest landscapes in New England, and the +sound and practical education which they were built to secure, are to be +a lasting monument to his foresight, his patriotism, and his eloquent +persuasion." + +Mr. Russell said: "To him the agriculture of the Commonwealth owes a +debt that can never be paid; the records of our board are a monument of +his good works more enduring than brass. And, sir, in view of his +venerable years, so lightly borne, his interest in all the active +affairs of men, and his continued powers of social enjoyment, I may well +repeat the wish of the poet Horace, expressed in one of his invocations +to the Emperor Augustus: 'Serus in coelum redeas.'" + +Major Poore said: "Mr. President, I am confident that the distinguished +gentlemen around these tables will long remember to-night, and recall +with pleasure its varied homages to Colonel Wilder, thankful that we +have so pure a shrine, so bright an oracle, as the common property of +all who reverence virtue, admire manhood, or aspire to noble deeds. +Succeeding years will not dim the freshness of Colonel Wilder's fame; +and the more frequently we drink at this fountain, the sweeter we shall +find its waters. + + 'You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will, + But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.'" + + * * * * * + + + + +THE OLD TAVERNS AND STAGE-COACHES OF GROTON. + +BY THE HON. SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN, M.D. + + +It has been said that there is nothing contrived by man which has +produced so much happiness as a good tavern. Without granting or denying +the statement, all will agree that many good times have been passed +around the cheerful hearth of the old-fashioned inn. + +The earliest tavern in Groton, of which there is any record or +tradition, was kept by Samuel Bowers, Jr., in the house lately and for a +long time occupied by the Champney family. Mr. Bowers was born in Groton +on December 21, 1711, and, according to his tombstone, died on "the +Sixteenth Day of December Anno Domini 1768. Half a hour after Three of +the Clock in ye Afternoon, and in the Fifty Eight year of his age." He +kept the house during many years, and was known in the neighborhood as +"land'urd Bowers,"--the innkeeper of that period being generally +addressed by the title of landlord. I do not know who succeeded him in +his useful and important functions. + +The next tavern of which I have any knowledge was the one kept by +Captain Jonathan Keep, during the latter part of the Revolution. In The +Independent Chronicle (Boston), February 15, 1781, the Committee of the +General Court for the sale of confiscated property in Middlesex County, +advertise the estate of Dr. Joseph Adams, of Townsend, to be sold "at +Mr. Keep's, innholder in Groton." This tavern has now been kept as an +inn during more than a century. It was originally built for a +dwelling-house, and, before the Revolution, occupied by the Reverend +Samuel Dana; though since that time it has been lengthened in front and +otherwise considerably enlarged. Captain Keep was followed by the +brothers Isaiah and Joseph Hall, who were the landlords as early as the +year 1798. They were succeeded in 1825 by Joseph Hoar, who had just sold +the Emerson tavern, at the other end of the village street. He kept it +for nearly twenty years,--excepting the year 1836, when Moses Gill and +his brother-in-law, Henry Lewis Lawrence, were the landlords,--and sold +out about 1842 to Thomas Treadwell Farnsworth. It was then conducted as +a temperance house, at that time considered a great innovation on former +customs. After a short period it was sold to Daniel Hunt, who kept it +until 1852, and he was followed by James M. Colburn, who had it for two +years. It then came into the possession of J. Nelson Hoar, a son of the +former landlord, who took it in 1854, and in whose family it has since +remained. Latterly it has been managed by three of his daughters, and +now is known as the Central House. It is the only tavern in the village, +and for neatness and comfort can not easily be surpassed. + +In the list of innholders, near the end of Isaiah Thomas's Almanack, for +1785, appears the name of Richardson, whose tavern stood on the present +site of the Baptist church. It was originally the house owned and +occupied by the Reverend Gershom Hobart, which had been considerably +enlarged by additions on the north and east sides, in order to make it +more suitable for its new purposes. Mine host was Captain Jephthah +Richardson, who died on October 9, 1806. His father was Converse +Richardson, who had previously kept a small inn, on the present Elm +Street, near the corner of Pleasant. It was in this Elm Street house +that Timothy Bigelow, the rising young lawyer, lived, when he first came +to Groton. Within a few years this building has been moved away. Soon +after the death of Captain Jephthah Richardson, the tavern was sold to +Timothy Spaulding, who carried on the business until his death, which +occurred on February 19, 1808. Spaulding's widow subsequently married +John Spalter, who was the landlord for a short time. About 1812 the +house was rented to Dearborn Emerson, who had been possession of it for +a few years. + +During the War of 1812 it was an inn of local renown; and a Lieutenant +Chase had his headquarters here for a while, when recruiting for the +army. He raised a company in the neighborhood, which was ordered to +Sackett's Harbor, near the foot of Lake Ontario. The men were put into +uniforms as they enlisted, and drilled daily. They were in the habit of +marching through the village streets to the music of the spirit-stirring +drum and the ear-piercing fife; and occasionally they were invited into +the yard of some hospitable citizen, who would treat them to "the cups +that cheer but not inebriate," when taken in moderation. William Kemp +was the drummer, and Wilder Shepley the fifer, both noted musicians in +their day. Sometimes his brother, Moses Kemp, would act as fifer. +William is still alive, at the advanced age of nearly ninety-five years, +and gives many reminiscences of that period. He was born at Groton on +May 8, 1789, and began to drum in early boyhood. His first appearance in +the public service was during the year 1805, as drummer of the South +Company of Groton, commanded by Luther Lawrence, afterward the mayor of +Lowell. He has been the father of nine children, and has had thirty +grandchildren, thirty-three great-grandchildren, and one +great-great-grandchild. Mr. Kemp can even now handle the drumsticks with +a dexterity rarely equaled; and within a short time I have seen him give +an exhibition of his skill which would reflect credit on a much younger +person. Among the men enlisted here during that campaign were Marquis D. +Farnsworth, Aaron Lewis, William Shepley, and John Woodward, of this +town; and James Adams, and his son, James, Jr., of Pepperell. + +It was about the year 1815 that and Dearborn Emerson left the Richardson +tavern, and moved down the street, perhaps thirty rods, where he opened +another public house on the present site of Milo H. Shattuck's store. +The old tavern, in the meantime, passed into the hands of Daniel +Shattuck, who kept it until his death, which occurred on April 8, 1831. +The business was then carried on during a short time by Clark Tenny, who +was followed by Lemuel Lakin, and afterward by Francis Shattuck, a son +of Daniel, for another brief period. About the year 1833 it was given up +entirely as a public house, and thus passed away an old landmark widely +known in those times. It stood well out on the present road, the front +door facing down what is now Main Street, the upper end of which then +had no existence. In approaching the tavern from the south, the road +went up Hollis Street and turned to the left somewhere south of the +Burying-Ground. The house afterward was cut up and moved off, just +before the Baptist meeting-house was built. My earliest recollections +carry me back faintly to the time when it was last used as a tavern, +though I remember distinctly the building as it looked before it was +taken away. + +Dearborn Emerson married a sister of Daniel Brooks, a large owner in the +line of stage-coaches running through Groton from Boston to the +northward; and this family connection was of great service to him. Jonas +Parker, commonly known as "Tecumseh" Parker, was now associated with +Emerson in keeping the new hotel. The stage business was taken away from +the Richardson tavern, and transferred to this one. The house was +enlarged, spacious barns and stables were erected, and better +accommodations given to man and beast,--on too large a scale for profit, +it seems, as Parker and Emerson failed shortly afterward, This was in +the spring of 1818, during which year the tavern was purchased by Joseph +Hoar, who kept it a little more than six years, when he sold it to Amos +Alexander. This landlord, after a long time, was succeeded in turn by +Isaac J. Fox, Horace Brown, William Childs, Artemas Brown, John +McGilson, Abijah Wright, and Moses Gill. It was given up as a hotel in +1856, and made into a shoe factory; and finally it was burned. Mr. Gill +had the house for eight years, and was the last landlord. He then opened +a public house directly opposite to the Orthodox church, and called it +The Globe, which he kept for two years. He was succeeded by Stephen +Woods, who remained only one year, after which time this also was given +up as a public house. + +Another hostelry was the Ridge Hill tavern, situated at the Ridges, +three miles from the village, on the Great Road to Boston. This was +built about the year 1805, and much frequented by travelers and +teamsters. At this point the roads diverge and come together again in +Lexington, making two routes to Boston. It was claimed by interested +persons that one was considerably shorter than the other,--though the +actual difference was less than a mile. In the year 1824 a guide-board +was set up at the crotch of the roads, proclaiming the fact that the +distance to Lexington through Concord was two miles longer than through +Carlisle. Straightway the storekeepers and innholders along the Concord +road published a counter-statement, that it had been measured by sworn +surveyors, and the distance found to be only two hundred and thirty-six +rods further than by the other way. + +The first landlord of the Ridge Hill tavern was Levi Parker, noted for +his hospitality. He was afterward deputy-sheriff of Middlesex County, +and lived in Westford. He was followed, for a short time, by John +Stevens, and then by John H. Loring, who conducted the house during many +years, and was succeeded by his son Jefferson. After him came Henry L. +Lawrence, who kept it during one year; he was followed by his +brother-in-law, Moses Gill, who took the tavern in April, 1837, and kept +it just five years. When Mr. Gill gave up the house, he was followed by +one Langdon for a short time, and he in turn by Kimball Farr as the +landlord, who had bought it the year previously, and who remained in +charge until 1868. During a part of the time when the place was managed +by Mr. Farr; his son Augustus was associated with him. Mr. Farr sold the +tavern to John Fuzzard, who kept it for a while, and is still the owner +of the property. He was followed by Newell M. Jewett; the present +landlord is Stephen Perkins, a native of York, Maine, who took it in +1880. The house had been vacant for some years before this time. A fair +is held here regularly on the first Tuesday of every month, for the sale +of horses, and buyers are attracted from a long distance. At one time +this property was owned by Judge Samuel Dana, who sold it to John H. +Loring. + +As early as the year 1798 there was a tavern about a mile from the +Ridges, toward Groton. It was kept by Stephen Farrar, in the house now +standing near where the brook crosses the Great Road. Afterward one +Green was the landlord. The house known as the Levi Tufts place in this +neighborhood was an inn during the early part of this century, conducted +by Tilly Buttrick. Also about this time, or previously, the house +situated south of Indian Hill, and occupied by Charles Prescott,--when +the map in Mr. Butler's History was made,--was an inn. There was a +tavern kept from the year 1812 to 1818 by a Mr. Page, in Mr. Gerrish's +house, near the Unitarian church in the village. There was also a +tavern, near the present paper-mills of Tileston and Hollingsworth, kept +for many years (1825-55) by Aaron Lewis, and after him for a short time +by one Veazie. It was originally the house of John Capell, who owned the +sawmill and gristmill in the immediate neighborhood. Amos Adams had an +inn near Squannacook, a hundred years ago, in a house now owned by James +Kemp. + +Just before and during the Revolution a tavern was kept by George +Peirce, in the south part of the town, within the present limits of +Ayer. This landlord was probably the inn-holder of Littleton, whose name +appears in The Massachusetts Gazette, of August 8, 1765. The house was +the one formerly owned by the late Calvin Fletcher, and burned March 25, +1880. It was advertised for sale, as appears from the following +advertisement in The Boston Gazette, September 27, 1773:-- + + To be Sold at PUBLIC VENDUE, to the highest Bidder, on + Wednesday the 3d Day of November next, at four o'Clock in the + Afternoon (if not Sold before at Private Sale) by me the + Subscriber, A valuable FARM in Groton, in the County of + Middlesex, pleasantly situated on the great County Road, + leading from Crown Point and No. 4 to Boston: Said Farm + contains 172 Acres of Upland and Meadow, with the bigger Part + under improvement, with a large Dwelling House and Barn, and + Out Houses, together with a good Grist Mill and Saw Mill, the + latter new last Year, both in good Repair, and on a good + Stream, and within a few Rods of the House. Said Farm would + make two good Livings, and would sell it in two Divisions, or + together, as it would best suit the Purchaser. Said House is + situated very conveniently for a Tavern, and has been improved + as such for Ten Years past, with a Number of other + Conveniences, too many to enumerate. And the Purchaser may + depend upon having a good warrantee Deed of the same, and the + bigger Part of the Pay made very easy, on good Security. The + whole of the Farming Tools, and Part of the Stock, will be sold + as above-mentioned, at the Subscriber's House on said Farm. + + GEORGE PEIRCE. + + Groton, Aug. 30, 1773. + + +The gristmill and sawmill, mentioned in the advertisement, were on +Nonacoicus Brook. In the Gazette, of November 15, 1773, another notice +appears, which shows that the tavern was not sold at the time originally +appointed. It is as follows:-- + + The Publick are hereby Notified that the Sale of the FARM in + Groton, which was to have been sold the 3d Instant on the + Premisses, at the House of Mr. George Peirce, is adjourn'd to + the house of Mr. Joseph Moulton, Innholder in Boston, where it + will certainly be Sold to the highest Bidder, on Wednesday the + 1st Day of December next, at 4 o'Clock, P.M. + + +The following advertisement appears in The Independent Chronicle +(Boston), September 19, 1808; the site of the farm was near that of +Peirce's inn, just mentioned. Stone's tavern was afterward kept by one +Day, and subsequently burned. + + A FARM--for Sale, + + Containing 140 acres of Land, situated in the South part of + _Groton, (Mass.)_ with a new and well-finished House, Barn, & + Out-houses, and Aqueduct, pleasantly situated, where a Tavern + has been kept for the last seven years;--a part of the whole + will be sold, as best suits the purchaser. For further + particulars, inquire of THO's B. RAND, of _Charlestown_, or the + Subscriber, living on the Premises. + + Sept. 12. JESSE STONE. + + +About a generation ago an attempt was made to organize a company for the +purpose of carrying on a hotel in the village, and a charter was +obtained from the Legislature. The stock, however, was not fully taken +up, and the project fell through. Of the corporators, Mr. Potter and Mr. +Smith still survive. Below is a copy of the act:-- + + An Act to incorporate the Groton Hotel Company. + + _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, + in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, + as follows:--_ + + SECT. 1. Luther F. Potter, Nathaniel P. Smith, Simeon Ames, + their associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, + by the name of the Groton Hotel Company, for the purpose of + erecting, in the town of Groton, buildings necessary and + convenient for a public house, with all the powers and + privileges, and subject to all the liabilities, duties, and + restrictions, set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the + Revised Statutes. + + SECT. 2. Said corporation may hold such real and personal + property, as may be necessary and convenient for the purposes + aforesaid, not exceeding in amount twenty thousand dollars: + _provided_, that no shares in the capital stock of said + corporation shall be issued for a less sum or amount, to be + actually paid in on each, than the par value of the shared + which shall be first issued. And if any ardent spirits, or + intoxicating drinks of any kind whatever, shall be sold by said + company, or by their agents, lessees, or persons in their + employ, contrary to law, in any of said buildings, then this + act shall be void. [_Approved by the Governor, May 2, 1850._] + + +In the spring of 1852, a charter was given to Benjamin Webb, Daniel D.R. +Bowker, and their associates, for the purpose of forming a corporation +to carry on a hotel at the Massapoag Springs, in the eastern part of +this town, but the project fell through. It was to be called the +Massapoag Spring Hotel, and its capital stock was limited to $30,000. +The act was approved by the Governor, May 18, 1852, and it contained +similar conditions to those mentioned above in regard to the sale of +liquors. These enterprises are now nearly forgotten, though the mention +of them may revive the recollections of elderly people. + +During the first half of the present century Groton had one +characteristic mark, closely connected with the old taverns, which it no +longer possesses. It was a radiating centre for different lines of +stage-coaches, until this mode of travel was superseded by the swifter +one of the railroad. During many years the stage-coaches were a +distinctive feature of the place; and their coming and going was watched +with great interest, and created the excitement of the day. In early +times the drivers, as they approached the village, would blow a bugle in +order to give notice of their arrival; and this blast was the signal at +the taverns to put the food on the table. More than a generation has now +passed away since these coaches were wont to be seen in the village +streets. They were drawn usually by four horses, and in bad going by +six. Here a change of coaches, horses, and drivers was made. + +The stage-driver of former times belonged to a class of men that has +entirely disappeared from this community. His position was one of +considerable responsibility. This important personage was well known +along his route, and his opinions were always quoted with respect. I can +easily recall the familiar face of Aaron Corey, who drove the +accommodation stage to Boston for so many years. He was a careful and +skilful driver, and a man of most obliging disposition. He would go out +of his way to bear a message or leave a newspaper; but his specialty was +to look after women and children committed to his charge. He carried, +also, packages and parcels, and largely what is to-day entrusted to the +express. I recall, too, with pleasure, Horace George, another driver, +popular with all the boys, because in sleighing-time he would let us +ride on the rack behind, and even slacken the speed of his horses so as +to allow us to catch hold of the straps. + +Some people now remember the scenes of life and activity that used to be +witnessed in the town on the arrival and departure of the stages. Some +remember, too, the loud snap of the whip which gave increased speed to +the horses, as they dashed up in approved style to the stopping-place, +where the loungers were collected to see the travelers and listen to the +gossip which fell from their lips. There were no telegraphs then, and +but few railroads in the country. The papers did not gather the news so +eagerly, nor spread it abroad so promptly, as they do now, and items of +intelligence were carried largely by word of mouth. + +The earliest line of stage-coaches between Boston and Groton was the one +mentioned in The Columbian Centinel, April 6, 1793. The advertisement is +headed "New Line of Stages," and gives notice that-- + + A Stage-Carriage drives from _Robbins'_ Tavern, at Charles-River + Bridge, on Monday and Friday, in each week, and passing through + Concord and Groton, arrives at _Wyman's_ tavern in _Ashley_ + [Ashby?] in the evening of the same days; and after exchanging + passengers there, with the Stage-Carriage from _Walpole_, it + returns on Tuesdays and Saturdays, by the same route to _Robbins's_. + + * * * * * + + The _Charlestown_ Carriage drives also from _Robbins'_ on + Wednesday in each week, and passing through _Concord_, arrives + at _Richardson's_ tavern, in _Groton_, on the evening of the + same day, and from thence returns on Thursday to _Robbins'_. + + * * * * * + +Another Carriage drives from _Richardson's_ tavern in +_Groton_, on Monday in each week, at six o'clock in the morning, +and passing by _Richardson's_ tavern in _Concord_ at ten o'clock +in the forenoon, arrives at _Charlestown_ at three o'clock in the +afternoon. From _Charlestown_ it drives on Tuesday and Thursday in +each week, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and returns back as far as +_Richardson's_ tavern in _Concord_--and from that place it starts +at 8 o'clock in the mornings, of Wednesday and Friday, and runs again to +_Charlestown_. From there it moves at six o'clock on Saturday morning, +and returns to _Richardson's_ tavern in _Groton_, in the evening +of the same day. + +It was probably one of these "Carriages" to which allusion is made in +Mr. Winthrop's Memoir of the Honorable Nathan Appleton,[Footnote: +Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, v, 249, 250.] as +follows:-- + + At early dusk on some October or November evening, in the year + 1794, a fresh, vigorous, bright-eyed lad, just turned of + fifteen, might have been seen alighting from a stage-coach near + Quaker Lane,[Footnote: Now Congress Street.] as it was then + called, in the old town of Boston. He had been two days on the + road from his home in the town of New Ipswich, in the State of + New Hampshire. On the last of the two days, the stage-coach had + brought him all the way from Groton in Massachusetts; starting + for that purpose early in the morning, stopping at Concord for + the passengers to dine, trundling them through Charlestown + about the time the evening lamps were lighted, and finishing + the whole distance of rather more than thirty miles in season + for supper. For his first day's journey, there had been no such + eligible and expeditious conveyance. The Boston stage-coach, in + those days, went no farther than Groton in that direction. His + father's farm-horse, or perhaps that of one of the neighbors, + had served his turn for the first six or seven miles; his + little brother of ten years old having followed him as far as + Townsend, to ride the horse home again. But from there he had + trudged along to Groton on foot, with a bundle-handkerchief in + his hand, which contained all the wearing apparel he had, + except what was on his back. + +It has been said that the first public conveyance between Boston and +Groton was a covered wagon, hung on chains for thoroughbraces: perhaps +it was the "Charlestown Carriage," mentioned in the advertisement. It +was owned and driven by Lemuel Lakin, but after a few years the owner +sold out to Dearborn Emerson. + +The following advertisement from The Columbian Centinel, June 25, 1800, +will give a notion of what an undertaking a trip to Boston was, at the +beginning of the century:-- + + GROTON STAGE. + + The subscriber respectfully informs the public that he drives + the Stage from _Boston_ to _Groton_, running through + _Lexington, Concord_, and _Littleton_, to _Groton_: Starts from + _Boston_ every _Wednesday_ morning, at 5 o'clock, and arrives + at _Groton_ the same day; Starts from _Groton_ every _Monday_ + morning, at 7 o'clock, and arrives at _Boston_ the same day at + 4 o'clock. Passage through, 2 dols. per mile, 4_d_. + + DANBORN EMERSON. + + Seats taken at Mr. SILAS DUTTON'S in _Royal Exchange Lane_. + Newspapers supplied on the road, and every attention paid to + conveyances. + +The given name of Emerson was Dearborn, and not "Danborn," which is a +misprint. Two years later he was running a stage-coach from Groton to +New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and on the first return trip he brought +three passengers,--according to the History of New Ipswich (page 129). +Emerson was a noted driver in his day; and he is mentioned, with +pleasant recollections, by the Honorable Abbott Lawrence, in an +after-dinner speech at the jubilee of Lawrence Academy, on July 12, +1854. Subsequently he was the landlord of one of the local taverns. + +It is advertised in The Massachusetts Register, for the year 1802, that +the + + GROTON Stage sets off from J. and S. Wheelock's [Indian Queen + Inn], No. 37 Marlboro-Street [now a part of Washington Street, + Boston], every Wednesday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and + arrives at Groton at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, same day; + leaves Groton every Monday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and + arrives in Boston at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, same day. + (Pages 19, 20.) + +It seems from this notice that it took three hours longer to make the +trip down to Boston than up to Groton,--of which the explanation is not +clear. In the Register for 1803 a semi-weekly line is advertised, and +the same length of time is given for making the trip each way. + +About the year 1807 there was a tri-weekly line of coaches to Boston, +and as early as 1820 a daily line, which connected at Groton with others +extending into New Hampshire and Vermont. Soon after this time there +were two lines to Boston, running in opposition to each other,--one +known as the Union and Accommodation Line, and the other as the +Telegraph and Despatch. + +One of the drivers for the Telegraph and Despatch line was Phineas +Harrington, known along the road as "Phin" Harrington. He had orders to +take but eight passengers in his coach, and the trip was made with +remarkable speed for that period. "Phin" was a man of small size, and +the story used to be told of him that, on cold and stormy nights, he +would get inside of one of the lamps fixed to his box in order to warm +his feet by the lighted wick! He passed almost his whole life as a +stage-man, and it is said that he drove for nearly forty years, He could +handle the reins of six horses with more skill than any other driver in +town. + +William Shephard and Company advertise in The Groton Herald, April 10, +1830, their accommodation stage. "Good Teams and Coaches, with careful +and obliging drivers, will be provided by the subscribers." Books were +kept in Boston at A.M. Brigham's, No. 42 Hanover Street, and in Groton +at the taverns of Amos Alexander and Joseph Hoar. The fare was one +dollar, and the coach went three times a week. + +About this time George Flint had a line to Nashua, and John Holt another +to Fitchburg. They advertise together in the Herald, May 1, 1830, that +"no pains shall be spared to accommodate those who shall favor them with +their custom, and all business intrusted to their care will be +faithfully attended to." The first stage-coach from this town to Lowell +began to run about the year 1829, and John Austin was the driver. An +opposition line was established soon afterward, and kept up during a +short time, until a compromise was made between them, Later, John Russ +was the owner and driver of the line to Lowell, and still later, John M. +Maynard the owner. Near this period there was a coach running to +Worcester, and previously one to Amherst, New Hampshire. + +The following is a list of some of the old drivers, who were well known +along their respective routes. It is arranged in no particular order and +by no means complete; and the dates against a few of the names are only +approximations to the time when each one sat on the box:-- + +Lemuel Lakin was among the earliest; and he was followed by Dearborn +Emerson. Daniel Brooks drove to Boston during the period of the last war +with England, and probably later. + +Aaron Corey drove the accommodation stage to Boston, through Carlisle, +Bedford, and Lexington, for a long time, and he had previously driven +the mail-coach. He was succeeded by his son, Calvin, the driver for a +few years, until the line was given up in 1850. Mr. Corey, the father, +was one of the veterans, having held the reins during thirty-two years; +he died March 15, 1857, at the age of seventy-three. + +Isaac Bullard, 1817-30; William Smart, 1825-30; George Hunt, Jonathan +Buttrick, Thomas A. Staples, Obediah Kendall, Albert Hayden, Charles +Briggs, Levi Robbins, James Lord, Frank Brown, Silas Burgess, Augustus +Adams, William Dana, Horace Brown, Levi Wheeler, Timothy Underwood, ---- +Bacon, Horace George, 1838-45; Lyman W. Gushing, 1842-45, and Joseph +Stewart. These drove to Boston. After the stages were taken off, "Joe" +Stewart drove the passenger-coach from the village to the station on the +Fitchburg Railroad, which ran to connect with the three daily trains for +Boston. The station was three miles away, and now within the limits of +Ayer. + +Among the drivers to Keene, New Hampshire, were Kimball Danforth, +1817-40; Ira Brown, Oliver Scales, Amos Nicholas, Otis Bardwell, Abel +Marshall, the brothers Ira and Hiram Hodgkins, George Brown, Houghton +Lawrence, Palmer Thomas, Ira Green, Barney Pike, William Johnson, Walter +Carleton, and John Carleton. There were two stage routes to Keene, both +going as far as West Townsend in common, and then separating, one +passing through Ashby, Rindge, and Fitzwilliam, while the other went +through New Ipswich and Jaffrey. + +Anson Johnson and Beriah Curtis drove to Worcester; Addison Parker, +Henry L. Lawrence, Stephen Corbin, John Webber, and his son, Ward, drove +to Lowell; the brothers Abiel and Nathan Fawcett, Wilder Proctor, and +Abel H. Fuller, to Nashua; Micah Ball, who came from Leominster about +the year 1824, drove to Amherst, New Hampshire, and after him Benjamin +Lewis, who continued to drive as long as he lived, and at his death the +line was given up. The route to Amherst lay through Pepperell, Hollis, +and Milford. + +Other drivers were John Chase, Joel Shattuck, William Shattuck, Moses +Titus, Frank Shattuck, David Coburn, ---- Chickering, Thomas Emory, and +William Kemp, Jr. + +The sad recollection of an accident at Littleton, resulting in the death +of Silas Bullard, is occasionally revived by some of the older people. +It occurred about the year 1825, and was caused by the upsetting of the +Groton coach, driven by Samuel Stone, and at the time just descending +the hill between Littleton Common and Nagog Pond, then known as +Kimball's Hill. Mr. Bullard was one of the owners of the line, and a +brother of Isaac, the veteran driver. + +Besides the stage-coaches the carrier wagons added to the business of +Groton, and helped largely to support the taverns. The town was situated +on one of the main thoroughfares leading from Boston to the northern +country, comprising an important part of New Hampshire and Vermont, and +extending into Canada. This road was traversed by a great number of +wagons, drawn by four or six horses, carrying to the city the various +products of the country, such as grain, pork, butter, cheese, eggs, +venison, hides; and returning with goods found in the city, such as +molasses, sugar, New-England rum, coffee, tea, nails, iron, cloths, and +the innumerable articles found in the country stores, to be distributed +among the towns above here. In some seasons, it was no uncommon sight to +see forty such wagons passing through the village in one day. + +In addition to these were many smaller vehicles, drawn by one or two +horses, to say nothing of the private carriages of individuals who were +traveling for business or pleasure. + +For many of the facts mentioned in this paper I am indebted to Mr. Moses +Gill, an octogenarian of Groton, whose mind is clear and body active for +a man of his years. Mr. Gill is a grandson of Lieutenant-Governor Moses +Gill, and was born at Princeton, on March 6, 1800. He has kept several +public houses in Groton, already mentioned, besides the old brick tavern +situated on the Lowell road, near Long-sought-for Pond, and formerly +known as the Half-way. House. This hotel came within the limits of +Westford, and was kept by Mr. Gill from the year 1842 to 1847. In his +day he has known personally seventy-five landlords doing business +between Davenport's (opposite to the celebrated Porter's tavern in +Cambridge) and Keene, New Hampshire; and of this number, only seven are +thought to be living at the present time. + + + + +THE FAMILY IMMIGRATION TO NEW ENGLAND. + +BY THOMAS W. BICKNELL, LL.D. + + +The unit of society is the individual. The unit of civilization is the +family. Prior to December 20, 1620, New-England life had never seen a +civilized family or felt its influences. It is true that the Icelandic +Chronicles tell us that Lief, the son of Eric the Red, 1001, sailed with +a crew of thirty-five men, in a Norwegian vessel, and driven southward +in a storm, from Greenland along the coasts of Labrador, wintered in +Vineland on the shores of Mount Hope Bay. Longfellow's Skeleton in Armor +has revealed their temporary settlement. Thither sailed Eric's son, +Thorstein, with his young and beautiful wife, Gudrida, and their +twenty-five companions, the following year. His death occurred, and put +an end to the expedition, which Thorfinn took up with his marriage to +the young widow, Gudrida; with his bride and one hundred and sixty-five +persons (five of them young married women), they spent three years on +the shores of the Narragansett Bay, where Snorre, the _first_ white +child, was born,--the progenitor of the great Danish sculptor, +Thorwaldsen. But this is tradition, not history. Later still, came other +adventurers to seek fortunes in the New World, but they came as +individuals,--young, adventurous men, with all to gain and nothing to +lose, and, if successful, to return with gold or fame, as the reward of +their sacrifice and daring. + +Six hundred years pass, and a colony of one hundred and five men, not a +woman in the company, sailed from England for America, and landed at +Jamestown, Virginia. Within six months half of the immigrants had +perished, and only for the courage and bravery of John Smith, the whole +would have met a sad fate. The first European woman seen on the banks of +the James was the wife of one of the seventy Virginia colonists who came +later, and her maid, Anne Burroughs, who helped to give permanency and +character to a fugitive settlement in a colony, which waited two hundred +and fifty years to learn the value of a New-England home, and to +appreciate the civilization which sprang up in a New-England town, +through the agency of a New-England family. + +An experience similar to that of the Virginia settlers--disappointment, +hardship, death--attended the immigrants who, under George Popham, +Raleigh, and Gilbert, attempted to make a permanent home on the coast of +Maine, but their house was a log camp, with not a solitary woman to +light its gloom or cheer its occupants. Failure, defeat, and death were +the inevitable consequences. There was no family, and there could be no +permanency of civilization. + +The planting of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies was of another +sort. Whole families embarked on board the Mayflower, the Fortune, the +Ann, the Mary and John, and other ships that brought their precious +freight in safety to a New World. Of the one hundred and one persons who +came in the Mayflower, in 1620, twenty-eight were females, and eighteen +were wives and mothers. They did not leave their homes, in the truest +sense,--they brought them with them. Their household goods and +hearthstone gods were all snugly stowed beneath the decks of the +historic ship, and the multitude of Mayflower relics, now held in +precious regard in public and private collections, but testify to the +immense inventory of that one little ship of almost fabulous carrying +capacity. To the compact signed in Plymouth harbor, in 1620, John Carver +signs eight persons, whom he represents; Edward Winslow, five; William +Brewster, six; William Mullins, five; William White, five; Stephen +Hopkins, Edward Fuller, and John Turner, each, eight; John Chilton, +three,--one of whom, his daughter Mary, was the first woman, as +tradition says, to jump from the boat upon Plymouth Rock. In the +Weymouth Company, under the leadership of the Reverend Joseph Hull, who +set sail from Old Weymouth, England, on the twentieth of March, 1635, +and landed at Wessaguscus,--now Weymouth, Massachusetts,--there were one +hundred and five persons, divided into twenty-one families. Among these +were John Whitmarsh, his wife Alice, and four children; Robert Lovell, +husbandman, with his good wife Elizabeth and children, two of whom, +Ellen and James, were year-old twins; Edward Poole and family; Henry +Kingman, Thomas Holbrook, Richard Porter, and not least of all, Zachary +Bicknell, his wife Agnes, their son John, and servant John Kitchen. + +Families these,--all on board,--households, treasures, all worldly +estates, and best of all the rich sympathies and supports of united, +trusting hearts, daring to face the perils of an ocean-passage of +forty-six days' duration, and the new, strange life in the wilds of +America, that they might prove their faith in each other, in their +principles, and in God. "He setteth the solitary in families," says the +Psalmist; and the truth was never better illustrated than in the +isolated and weary life of our ancestry, two and a half centuries ago. + +To the Pilgrim and the Puritan, wife, children, house, home, family, +church, were the most precious possessions. Nothing human could divorce +ties which nature had so strongly woven. And whenever we think of our +honored ancestry, it is not as individual adventurers; but we see the +good-man, the good-wife, and their children, as the representatives of +the great body of those, who with them planted homes, families, society, +civilization, in the Western World. They came together, or if alone, to +pioneer the way for wife and children or sweetheart by the next ship, +and they came to stay, as witness the names of the old families of +Plymouth, Weymouth, Salem, Boston, Dorchester, in the leading circles of +wealth and social position in all of these old towns. "Behold," says Dr. +Bushnell, "the Mayflower, rounding now the southern cape of England, +filled with husbands and wives and children; families of righteous men, +under covenant with God and each other to lay some good foundation for +religion, engaged both to make and keep their own laws, expecting to +supply their own wants and bear their own burdens, assisted by none but +the God in whom they trust! Here are the hands of industry! the germs of +liberty! the dear pledges of order! and the sacred beginnings of a +home!" Of such, only, could Mrs. Hemans's inspired hymn have been +written:-- + + "There were men with hoary hair + Amidst that pilgrim band; + Why had they come to wither there, + Away from their childhood's land? + + "There was woman's fearless eye, + Lit by her deep love's truth; + There was manhood's brow, serenely high, + And the fiery heart of youth." + + +REASONS FOR FAMILY REMOVALS. + +To understand the reasons why thirty-five thousand loyal and respectable +subjects of Charles I should leave Old England for the New, in family +relations, between 1620 and 1625, let us look, if we can, through a +chink in the wall, into the state of affairs, civil, social, and +religious, as they existed in the best land, and under the best +government, the sun then shone upon. + +Charles I succeeded his father, James I of Scotland, in 1624. The great, +good act of James was the translation of our English Bible, known as +King James's Version, a work which, for the exercise of learning, +scholarship, and a zealous religious faith, has not been surpassed in +any age. Take him all in all, James was a bigot, a tyrant, a conceited +fool. He professed to be the most ardent devotee of piety, and at the +same time issued a proclamation that all lawful recreations, such as +dancing, archery, leaping, May-games, etc., might be used after divine +service, on Sundays. An advocate of religious freedom, he attempted to +enforce the most abject conformity in his own Scottish home, against the +well-known independence of that section of his realm, and drove the +Puritans to seek an asylum in Holland, where they might find liberty to +worship God. + +In the county of Somerset, the old king consented to an act of tyranny +which would grace the age of Henry VIII. One Reverend Edmund Peacham, a +clergyman in Somersetshire, had his study broken open, and a manuscript +sermon being there found in which there was strong censure of the +extravagance of the king and the oppression of his officers, the +preacher was put to the rack and interrogated, "before torture, in +torture, between torture, and after torture," in order to draw from him +evidence of treason; but this horrible severity could wring no +confession from him. His sermon was not found treasonable by the judges +of the King's Bench and by Lord Coke; but the unhappy man was tried and +condemned, dying in jail before the time set for his execution. Just +about this time was the State murder of Overbury, and the execution of +Sir Walter Raleigh, one of England's noblest sons, brave and chivalric, +who, at the executioner's block, took the axe in his hand, kissed the +blade, and said to the sheriff: "'Tis a sharp medicine, but a sound cure +for all diseases." These and kindred acts serve to illustrate the +history of a king whose personal and selfish interests overruled all +sentiments of honor and regard for his subjects, and who publicly +declared that "he would govern according to the good of the commonweal, +but not according to the common will." With such a king as James on the +throne, is it a wonder that the more intelligent and conscientious of +his subjects--like the Pilgrims and Puritans--sought a home on this side +the Atlantic, where wild beasts and savage men were their only +persecutors? + +We are told that "the face of the Court was much changed in the change +of the king" from James to Charles I; "that the grossness of the Court +of James grew out of fashion," but the people were slow to learn the +difference. Of the two evils, James was to be preferred. Charles ascends +the throne with flattering promises, attends prayers and listens to +sermons, pays his father's debts and promises to reform the Court. Let +us see what he does. The brilliant but profligate Buckingham is retained +as prime minister. Charles marries the beautiful Henrietta Maria, the +Roman Catholic princess of France. He fits out fleets against Spain and +other quarters, and demands heavy taxes to meet his heavy expenses. +Parliament is on its dignity, and demands its proper recognition. He +dissolves it, and calls another. That is more rebellious, and that he +summarily dissolves. Men of high and low degree go to prison at the +king's behest, and the disobedient were threatened with severer +penalties. + +The people of England are aroused, as the king of the earth sets himself +against their claims in behalf of the royal prerogative. The king and +the people are at war. Which will come off conquerer? There is only one +answer to that question, for the battle is one between the pigmy and the +giant. The contest grows sharper as the months go on, and the people are +in constant alarm. Murders are common, and even Buckingham, the favorite +minister, dies at the point of the assassin's knife, and the murderer +goes to the Tower and the scaffold accompanied by the tumultuous cheers +of London. Soon comes the Parliament of 1629, in which the popular +leaders make their great remonstrance against the regal tyranny. In that +House sat a plain young man, with ordinary cloth apparel, as if made by +an old-country tailor, "his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice +sharp and untonable," with "an eloquence full of fervor." That young man +is yet to be heard from. His name is Cromwell, known in history as +Oliver Cromwell. His briefly-reported speech of six lines is destined to +be weightier than the edicts of a king. The session was brief. Popery +and Arminianism, unjust taxation and voluntary payment of taxes not +ordered by Parliament, were declared treasonable and hostile principles +in Church and State,--so said Parliament. "You are a Parliament of +vipers,"--so said the king; and, on the tenth of March, Parliament was +dissolved, not to meet again in the old historic hall for eleven long +years; until, in 1640, the majesty of an outraged people rises superior +to the majesty of an outraging ruler. Now follow the attempted riveting +of the chains of a despotic and unscrupulous power, which does not +understand the temper of the common people, nor the methods of +counteracting a great popular upheaval in society. + +It is not easy to resist the iron pressure of a tyrant; but, to our +ancestors, it was far better than to accept the peace and profit which +might follow abject submission. To borrow the words of De Tocqueville: +"They cling to freedom for its native charms independent of its +gifts,--the pleasure of speaking, acting, and breathing without +restraint, under no master but God and the Law." The Englishmen of the +first half of the seventeenth century were the fathers of the men who +fired shots at Lexington and Concord, "heard round the world." + +But how do the royal prerogatives affect our ancestors in England? Our +fathers were of common mould, and feel the unjust demand of the +tax-gatherer and the insolent demeanor of the Crown officers, who +threaten fines and imprisonment for a refusal to obey. The people are +aroused and are united; some are hopeless, some hopeful. The Crown seems +to have its sway, but the far-sighted see the people on the coming +throne of righteous judgement. What troubles our ancestors most is the +interference with their religious life. Archbishop Laud is now supreme, +and the Pope never had a more willing vassal. Ministers are examined as +to their loyalty to the government, their sermons are read to private +judges of their orthodoxy, the confessional is established, and the +alter-service is restored. It is a time when earnest men and women +cannot be trifled with on soul concerns. Their property may perish or be +confiscated, but the right to unmolested worship is older than Magna +Charta, and as inalienable as life itself. What is to be done? +Resistance or emigration--which? Resist and die, say Cromwell and +Wentworth, Eliot and Hampden. Emigrate and live, say the men and women +who came by thousands from all parts of England during the reign of this +monarch, and made possible the permanent establishment of a new society, +on the basis of social order and family life. + + * * * * * + + + +AN INCIDENT OF SIXTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX. + +BY THE HON. MELLEN CHAMBERLAIN. + + +On the afternoon of the twenty-sixth of May, 1686, two horsemen were +riding from Boston to Cambridge. By which route they left the town is +now known; but most probably over the Roxbury Neck, following the path +taken by Lord Percy when he went to the relief of Lieutenant-Colonel +Smith's ill-starred expedition to seize the military stores at Concord, +on the nineteenth of April, 1775. Of the nature of their errand--whether +peaceful or hostile,--of the subject of their conversation, as they rode +along the King's highway, neither history nor tradition has left any +account. But when they had reached Muddy River, now the beautiful suburb +of Brookline, about two miles from Cambridge, they were met by a young +man riding in the opposite direction, who, as he came against them, +abruptly and without other salutation, said: "God save King James the +Second!" and then rode on. But soon turning his horse towards the +travelers he most inconsequentially completed his sentence by adding, +"But I say, God curse King James!" and this malediction he repeated so +many times and with such vehemence, that the two horsemen at last turned +their horses and riding up to him, told him plainly that he was a rogue. +This expression of their opinion produced, however, only a slight +modification of the young man's sentiments, to this form: "God curse +King James and God bless Duke James!" But a few strokes of their whips +effected his complete conversion, and then, as a loyal subject, he +exclaimed: "God curse Duke James, and God bless King James!" + +Such is the unadorned statement of facts as sworn to the next day in the +Council by these riders, and their oath was attested by Edward Randolph, +the "evil genius of New England." I present it in its legal baldness of +detail. The two horsemen are no reminiscence of Mr. James's celebrated +opening, but two substantial citizens of Boston, Captain Peter Bowden +and Dr. Thomas Clarke; and the young man with somewhat original +objurgatory tendencies was one Wiswell, as they called him--presumably +not a son of the excellent Duxbury parson of the same name; and for the +same reason, even less probably, a student of Cambridge University, as +it was at that early day sometimes called. + +The original paper in which the foregoing facts are recorded has long +been in my possession; and as often as my eye has rested on it, I have +wondered what made that young man swear so; and by what nicety of moral +discrimination he found his justification in blessing the Duke and +cursing the King--"unus et idem"--in the same breath. Who and what was +he? and of what nature were his grievances? Was there any political +significance in that strange mingling of curses and blessings? That his +temper was not of martyr firmness was evident enough from the sudden +change in the current of his thoughts brought about by the tingling of +the horsewhip. All else was mystery. But the commonest knowledge of the +English and colonial history of those days was sufficient to stimulate +conjecture on these points. At the date of the incident recorded James +II had been on the throne more than a year, and for a long time both as +duke and king had been hated and feared on both sides of the ocean. The +Duke of Monmouth's ill-fated adventure for the Crown had failed at +Sedgemoor, and his young life ended on the block, denied expected mercy +by his uncle, the king: ended on the block: but not so believed the +common people of England. They believed him to be still living, and the +legitimate heir to the British crown, and that his unnatural uncle was +only Duke James of England. In those days English affairs were more +closely followed by the colonists than at present, and for obvious +reasons; and it is quite open to conjecture at least that the feelings +of English yeomen and artisans were known to, and shared by, their +cousins in Massachusetts Bay, and that Master Wiswell only gave +expression to a sentiment common to people of his class on both sides +the water. + +This, however, is mere conjecture. But there are important facts. On the +preceding day, in the Town House, which stood at the head of State +Street, where the old State House now stands, events culminated, in +comparison with which the causes which led to the war of the Revolution +sink into utter insignificance. On the twenty-third of October, 1684, in +the High Court of Chancery of England, judgment was entered on the writ +of _scire facias_, by which the charter of Massachusetts Bay was +vacated; and as a consequence, the title to the soil, with all +improvements, reverted to the Crown, to the ruin of those who had +wrested it from the wilderness, and guarded it from the savage foe. The +old government, so endeared to the people, and defended against kingly +assault with the truest courage, was swept away by arbitrary power, and +in its place a new one established, under the presidency of Joseph +Dudley, and he a recreant son of the colony. It was the inauguration of +this government which had taken place on the day before Captain Bowden +and Dr. Clarke encountered John Wiswell, Jr., on their ride to +Cambridge. There ceremonies of the inauguration were not without +circumstances of pomp, and are set forth in the Council records at the +State House, from which I transcribe the following incidents: When the +new government, the president, and Council were assembled, the +exemplification of the judgment against the charter of the late governor +and company of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, publicly (in the +court where were present divers of the eminent ministers, gentlemen, and +inhabitants of the town and country) was read with an audible voice. The +commission was read and the oaths administered, and the new president +made his speech, after which, proclamation was openly read in court, and +commanded to be published by beat of drum and trumpet, which was +accordingly done. + +The people in the Forum heard these drum and trumpets--young Wiswell, +doubtless, with the rest--and knew what they signified: the confiscation +of houses and lands; the abrogation of existing laws; taxes exacted +without consent or legislation; the enforced support of a religion not +of the people's choice; and navigation laws ruinous to their foreign +commerce, then beginning to assume importance; and from these +consequences they were saved only by the revolution, which two years +later drove James II from his throne. It is difficult to credit these +sober facts of history, and still more to fully realize their +destructive import; but they should always be borne in mind; for if any +one reflecting on the causes assigned by the leaders of the great +Revolution, as justifying the violent partition of an empire, is led for +a moment to question their sufficiency, let him then consider that they +were assigned by a people full of the traditions of the long struggle +against kingly injustice, in the days of the second Charles and the +second James. + +A few words--the result of later investigation--as to the actors in the +events of this ride to Cambridge. When Bowden and Clarke had attested +their loyalty by horsewhipping young Wiswell, they took him in charge to +Cambridge, and vainly tried to persuade Nathaniel Hancock, the +constable, to carry him before a magistrate. This refusal brought +_him_ into difficulty with Council; but his humble submission was +finally accepted and he was discharged on payment of costs, on the plea +that upon the change of the government there was no magistrate +authorized to commit him to prison. Not quite so fortunate was John +Wiswell, Jr., for on the third of August the grand jury found a true +bill against him for uttering "these devilish, unnatural, and wicked +words following, namely, _God curse King James_." That he was +brought to trial on this complaint I cannot find. And so the actors in +these scenes pass away. Of Bowden and Clarke I know nothing more; and +the little which appears of John Wiswell's subsequent life is not wholly +to his credit, I am sorry to say, and the more so, as I have recently +discovered that he was once a townsman of mine, and doubtless a playmate +of my kindred at Rumney Marsh. + +These actors have all gone, and so has gone the old Town House; not so, +as yet, let us heartily thank God, has gone the old State House which +stands where that stood; on the one spot--if there is but one--which +ought to be dear to the heart of every Bostonian, and sacred from his +violating hand. For here, on the spot of that eastern balcony, looking +down into the old Puritan Forum, what epochs in our history have been +announced: the abrogation of the First Charter--the deposition of +Andros--the inauguration of the Second Charter--the death and accession +of English sovereigns--the Declaration of Independence, and the adoption +of the Constitution of the United States; and here still stands the +grandest historic edifice in America, and within it?--why add to the +hallowing words of old John Adams?--"Within its walls Liberty was born!" + + * * * * * + + + + +ONE SUMMER. A REMINISCENCE. + +BY ANNIE WENTWORTH BAER. + + +It was a beautiful morning in June. The sun was just peeping through the +pines fringing the eastern horizon; fleecy mists were rising, like +"ghosts of the valley," from every brook and low place in field and +pasture, betokening a warm, fair day. As I opened the heavy front door +of Mr. Wetherell's old gambrel-roofed house, and stepped out onto the +large flat stone at the door-sill, every blade of grass was glistening +with dew-drops; such a sweetness pervaded the air as one only realizes +when the dew is on the grass and bushes. At my right, close to the +door-stone, a large bush of southern-wood, or man's-first-love, was +growing; just beyond it and under the "middle-room" windows two large, +white-rose bushes were bending beneath the weight of a multitude of +roses and buds. A large yellow-rose bush claimed the left, and spread +itself over the ground. Single red roses were standing guard at the +corner of the house. A rod or more below the front door the garden fence +stood and looked as if it had been standing for many a year. It was made +of palings, pointed; I should think it was five feet high. The posts had +begun to lean into the garden and the palings were covered with a short +green moss, which seemed soft and growing in the dew. The old gate swung +itself to after me with a bang, and I noticed that a string with a brick +fastened to it and tied to the gate at one end, and twisted around a +stake driven into the ground a few feet from the gate, was the cause of +its closing so quickly. Red-cherry trees loaded with small green +cherries were growing on one side of the garden; purple-plum trees +skirted the other side; and I knew full well how two months later those +creased, mouldy-looking plums would be found hiding in the short, green +grass beneath the trees. + +Peach-trees were leaning over the fence in the southeast corner; a long +row of red-currant bushes ran through the middle of the garden; English +gooseberry bushes threw out their prickly branches laden with round, +woolly fruit at the north end. Rows of hyssop, rue, saffron, and sage, +and beds of lettuce, pepper-grass, and cives, all had their place in +this old-fashioned garden. In the southwest corner an immense +black-currant bush was growing on both sides of the fence. Out in the +field below the garden two Bell-pear trees, as large as elms, were +bending their branches, loaded with fruit, a luscious promise for the +autumn-time. A button-pear tree, just beyond, was making up in quantity +what its fruit lacked in quality. + +While I was exploring this well-cultivated spot, Mrs. Wetherell called +me to breakfast. The kitchen was a large room, running across one end of +the house; it had four windows in it, two east and two west. All this +space was filled with the fragrance of coffee and cornmeal bannocks. + +Mrs. Wetherell said: "I don't know as you will like your coffee +sweetened in the pot, but I always make ours so." + +I assured her I should. + +During breakfast Mr. Wetherell passed me some cheese, and I asked Mrs. +Wetherell if she made cheese. + +"Not this month," she replied, "in July and August I shall. I am packing +butter now." + +"Do you think you are going to be contented back here?--you won't see as +much going on as you do at home," Mr. Wetherell asked me. + +"O, yes," I answered; "I expect to enjoy myself very much." + +Samanthy, the daughter, now well advanced in life, seemed very solemn +and said very little. I wondered if she were sick, or unhappy. A little +later in the day, while I was watching Mrs. Wetherell salt a churning of +butter in the back porch, she said to me: "You mustn't mind Samanthy, +she isn't quite right in her head: a good many years ago she had a sad +blow." She hesitated; I disliked to ask her what it was, so I said "Poor +woman!" "Yes," said her mother, "she is a poor soul. She was expecting +to be married to Eben Johnson, a young man who worked on our new barn. +She got acquainted with him then, and after a year or so they were +promised. Eben was a good fellow, a j'iner by trade. He lived in the +village. In the fall before they would have been married, in the spring, +he had typhoid fever, and they sent for Samanthy. She went and took care +of him three weeks, and then he died. She came home, and seemed like one +in a maze. After a little while she was took with the fever, and liked +to died, and my two girls, Margaret and Frances, both had it and died +with it. Samanthy has never been the same since she got well. Her health +has been good, but her mind is weak." I had noticed that Mrs. Wetherell +seemed very much broken in health and spirits, and after hearing this +story I did not wonder that the blows of Providence had weakened her +hold on life. + +Samanthy was very shy of me at first, but after a few days she would +talk in her disjointed way with me. + +One morning I was out in the well-house. The well was very deep, and by +leaning over the curb, and by putting one's arms around one's head, one +could see the stars mirrored in the bottom of the dark old well. +Samanthy came out for some water, while I was star-gazing in this way. +She said: "What you lost?" + +"O, nothing. I am only looking at the stars." + +Samanthy looked as if she thought I might be more profitably engaged. I +took hold of the handle of the windlass, swung off the great oaken +bucket, and watched it descend its often-traveled course, bumping +against the wet, slippery rocks with which the well was stoned. + +Samanthy said: "You can't pull that up; it's heavy." + +"Let me try," I said. "I never drew water with a windlass." + +I had a much harder task than I supposed, but succeeded in swinging the +bucket onto the platform of the curb, and turned the water into +Samanthy's pail. I never asked permission to draw another bucketful. + +I noticed below the well a large mound, grass-grown, with an apple-tree +growing on its very top. I wondered how it came there, and one day asked +Mr. Wetherell. + +He said: "That's where we threw the rocks and gravel out of the well +fifty years ago; we never moved it. It grassed over, and the apple-tree +came up there; it bears a striped apple, crisp and sour." + +I thought, What a freak of Nature! and I wished that many more piles of +rubbish might be transformed into such a pretty spot as this. + +Below the mound stood the old hollow tree; its trunk was low and very +large, one side had rotted away, leaving it nearly hollow. Still there +was trunk enough left for the sap to run up; and every year it was +loaded with fruit. + +Close by the path across the field to the road stood the Pang +apple-tree. This tree was named Pang because a dog by that name was +sleeping his last sleep beneath the tree. He was much beloved by the +family. I thought, What a pretty place to be buried in! and a living +monument to mark his grave. From the stories I heard of Pang, I know he +must have been a fine dog, and I should have liked to have known him. + +Just back of the house stood the cider-house. At this season of the year +the wood for summer use was stored there, but in autumn all the +neighbors brought their apples, and ground them into cider. Samanthy +told me how she used to clean the cider nuts with a shingle; this was +when she was small. + +She said: "A cousin of mine, living at Beech Ridge, got his arm caught +while cleaning the pummy out, and ground it all up. After that father +was afraid for we children to do it." + +Back of the building I saw thousands of little apple-trees, growing from +the pomace which was shoveled out there year after year. + +The loft, over the part where the cider-mill was, was the corn-house. I +went up over the wide plank stairs and looked around. + +Traces of snapping-corn and of white-pudding corn were hanging over a +pole at one end. A large chest, filled with different kinds of beans, +stood at one side. On the plates which supported the rafters, marks made +in this wise--[Symbol: Tally mark of 5]--told of the bushels of corn +carried up there and spread on the clean, white floor. + +These marks had been made by many hands, and I wondered where they were +now. Some undoubtedly were sleeping the + + "Sleep that knows not breaking: + Morn of toil, nor night of waking." + + +Others, perhaps, were making their mark somewhere else. + +"Independence Day," as Mr. Wetherell called it, was observed in a very +liberal manner on the farm. A lamb was slaughtered, green peas were +picked, and a plum-pudding made. + +Lemonade, made of sparkling spring water, was a common drink. Mr. +Wetherell told me how his father always kept the day. He brought out the +large blue punchbowl and square cut-glass decanters, which his father +used on such occasions. + +The next morning after the Fourth, I started out through the field for +the pasture. The grass was tall, and it waved gently in the morning +breeze. The whiteweed and clover sent forth an agreeable perfume. In the +low ground buttercups were shining like gold dollars, sprinkled through +the tall herdsgrass. Yellow-weed, the farmer's scourge, held up its +brown and yellow head in defiance. + +On a knoll, a little before I reached the graveyard, I passed over a +piece of ground where the winter had killed the grass roots. Here I +found sorrel, cinque-foil, and a few bunches of blue-eyed grass growing. +Nature seemed to try to conceal the barrenness of the spot with beauty. +It was a grave, decorated. + +Off to my right, in a piece of rank grass, where branches of dock had +sprung up, bobolinks were swinging the pale, green sprays, filling the +air with melody. "Bobolink, bobolink, spirk, spank, spink, chee, chee, +chee!" + +I knew that "Mrs. Robert of Lincoln" was sitting contentedly on her +little round nest, under a tuft of grass, very near the sweet singer. I +paused at the graveyard, and looked over the wall. I read: "Margaret and +Frances Wetherell, daughters of John and Hannah Wetherell, aged 18 and +20 years." I knew these were the girls who had died of the fever; a twin +gravestone had been put up to their graves. Another stone told of a +little girl, two and a half years old--Catherine. I reckoned up the +date, and had she been living, she would have been over forty years old. +Many other stones stood there, but I left them without reading the +inscriptions, and hastened on to the pines. + +I stepped over the low wall between the field and pasture and walked +down by the brook until I came to the Stony Bridge. This I crossed and +followed up on the broad wheelpath. The pines smelled so sweet: the +grass was short and green: everything seemed calm and cool. I sat down +by a large Norway pine and watched the birds. Right below me I saw a +fox-hole, with the entrance so barricaded with sticks and stones, that I +felt very sure poor Reynard must have been captured unless he dug out +somewhere else. I began to walk around. Six or seven feet to the south +of the besieged door, I discovered another entrance. I don't know +whether some animal was still living in the old house, or no: but this +hole looked as if it were used. A little pine grew in front, a juniper +made its roof and spread its fine branches over the door, squaw vines +and checkerberry leaves grew on either side. + +I walked on in the wheelpath. On the north side many tall Norway pines +were growing, with white pines scattered here and there. Crimson +polygalas were carpeting the ground in open spaces; pale anemones and +delicate star-flowers were still blooming under the protection of small +pines; wild strawberries were blossoming in cold places; and I wondered +when they would fruit. + +Finally I came to an open field, or what looked like land that had been +cultivated. Hosts of bluets and plots of mouse-ear everlasting, had +taken possession of the land. Small pines were scattered here and there, +like settlers in a new country. Junipers were creeping stealthily in, as +if expecting the axe. There were traces of where a fence had run along. +I concluded that this was years ago a field, but now the cows roamed +over it at will. + +Going around in the edge of the woods I came to four pines growing from +one root; two grew on each side close together, and left a fine seat +between the pairs. I sat down there, and felt thankful that I was +living, and that my abiding-place was among the granite hills of New +England. + +Soon I saw something move a few rods beyond me in the woods. I looked +again and saw the finest woodchuck I ever saw. He stood in a listening +attitude. I suppose he had heard me, but had not seen me. His fur was +yellow and brown mixed; his nose and feet were black; his countenance +was expressive of lively concern. He disappeared and I left my sylvan +seat, and walked up where the woodchuck had been standing. I found his +home and numerous little tracks around the door. I hastened off, because +I feared my presence would worry him. + +I knew it must be near noontime, so I began to retrace my way. I walked +up through the pasture and passed the "Great Ledge." This ledge was on +the side of a steep hill. One side of it was perpendicular thirty feet. +It was covered with crisp, gray moss. In the chinks and crannies on the +top, short grass was growing in little bunches. + +As I followed down in the lane which led from the pasture to the +cow-yard, striped squirrels were playfully skipping through the +dilapidated wall, coming out, and disappearing; sitting down and putting +their forefeet up to their faces as if they were convulsed with laughter +to think how the old black-and-white cat had gone to sleep lying on the +wall in the sun, only a few rods below them. + +Dinner was ready, as I expected. I told Mrs. Wetherell of my walk over +the Stony Bridge. + +"Yes," she said. "Years ago, when I kept geese, one night I went out to +feed them and I found that they hadn't come. I knew something must be +the matter. I started for the brook. When I got out on the hill by the +graveyard, I heard the gander making an awful noise. I hurried on, and, +when I got to the corner of the field, I found a fox jumping at the old +gander as he was walking back and forth in front of the geese and +goslings. I screeched and the fox run. The geese came right up to me. I +was pretty pleased to save them. I had two geese and thirteen goslings +beside the gander." + +I said: "Is that a ledge out in the field where sumachs and birches are +growing?" + +Mrs. Wetherell said: "Yes; and that piece of ground is where Father +Wetherell raised the last piece of flax. I don't suppose you ever saw +any growing?" + +"No," I said. "Only in gardens. A field must be very handsome." + +"Yes, the flower is a bluish purple, with a little yellow dot in the +middle." + +I asked her when they cut it. + +"O, they never cut it; they pulled it after the seeds got ripe; then +they would beat the seeds out of the pods. These pods look like little +varnished balls. When the seed was out, the flax was laid in a wet place +in the field for weeks; occasionally the men would turn it over. When it +was well rotted they dried it and put it up in the barn until March. +Then Father Wetherell would take it down and brake it in the brake. +After that he would swingle it over a swingling-board, with a long +knife; then he made it into hands of flax. The women used to take it +next and comb it through a flax-comb; this got out all the shives and +tow. There was a tow which came out when it was swingled, called swingle +tow. Mother Wetherell said that, years before, when she was young she +used to use this to make meal-bags and under-bedticks of. But I never +used any of it." + +I asked her how they used the flax after it was combed. + +"Then it was wound onto the distaff." + +"What was that?" Mrs. Wetherell smiled at my ignorance, but proceeded +kindly to explain. + +"A distaff was made of a small pine top. They peeled off the bark, and +when it was dry, tied down the ends, and put the other end onto the +standard of the wheel. Then they would commence and wind on the flax. A +hand of flax would fill it. I used to be a pretty good hand to spin tow +on a big wheel, but I never could spin linen very even. Old Aunt Joanna +used to spin linen thread; and Mother Wetherell used to buy great skeins +of her. She said it was cheaper to buy than to spend so much time +spinning." + +Mrs. Wetherell told me that I should go up in the garret and see the +wheels and all the old machinery used so long ago. + +That evening I asked Mr. Wetherell: "Has there ever been a field beyond +the pines?" + +"Yes," he said: "Father cleared that piece nigh onto eighty year ago. We +always called it 'the field back of the pines.' When father got old, and +I kinder took the lead, I said we better turn that field out into the +paster. He felt bad about it at first, but when I told him how much work +it was to haul the manure over there, and the crops back, he gave in. +Them Norrerway pines are marster old; I s'pose they'd stood there a +hundred and fifty year." + +I felt a thrill of pity for the old man, now at rest. He must have been +nearly at the base of life's western slope, when he rescued those few +acres from the forest. The little field was his pride, I think it ought +to have been left, while he lived. + +One morning when Lucy, as Mrs. Wetherell called her, was washing at the +farm, she said to me: "Did you ever have your fortin told?" I answered, +"No." + +"Well," she said, "I dunno as I b'lieve all they say, but some can tell +pretty well. Did you ever try any projects?" + +"No. How is that done?" I asked. + +"O! there's ever so many! One is, you pick two of them big thistles +'fore they are bloomed out, then you name 'em and put 'em under your +piller; the one that blooms out fust will be the one you will marry. +'Nuther one is to walk down cellar at twelve o'clock at night, +backwards, with a looking-glass in your hand. You will see your man's +face in the glass. But there! I don't know as its best to act so. You +know how Foster got sarved?" + +"No. How was it?" + +"Why! Didn't you never hear? Well, Foster told the Devil if he would let +him do and have all he wanted for so many year, when the time was out, +he would give himself, soul and body, to the Devil. He signed the +writing with his blood; Foster carried on a putty high hand, folks was +afear'd of him. When the time was up, the Devil came: I guess they had a +tough battle. Folks said they never heard such screams, and in the +morning his legs and arms was found scattered all over the cowyard." + +I recognized in this tragic story, Marlowe's Faustus. I was much amused +at Lucy's rendering. + +A few weeks afterwards she told me how the house where she lived was +haunted. I asked her, "Who haunts it?" + +"Why!" she said, "it's a woman. She walks up and down them old stairs, +dressed in white, looking so sorrowfullike, I know there must have been +foul play. And then such noises as we hear overhead! My man says that +it's rats. Rats! I know better!" + +I thought that Lucy wanted to believe in ghosts, so I didn't try to +reason with her,-- + + "For a man convinced against his will + Is of the same opinion still." + + +Lucy was quite an old woman; and I used to think that washing was too +hard work for her; but she seemed very happy. All the while she was +rubbing the clothes over the wooden washboard, or wringing them out with +her hands, she would be singing old-fashioned songs, such as Jimmy and +Nancy, Auld Robin Gray, and another one beginning "In Springfield +mountain there did dwell." It was very sad! + +These songs were chanted, all in one tune. If the words had not been +quaint, and suggestive of a century or more ago, I think the +entertainment would have been monotonous, + +Lucy brought the news of the neighborhood. One morning she came in, and +said: "John King's folks thinks an awful sight of themselves, sence +Calline has been off. She has sot herself up marsterly. They have gone +to work now and painted all the trays and paint-kags they can find red, +and filled them with one thing another, and set them round the house. No +good will come of that! When you see every thing painted red, look out +for war; it's a sure sign." + +One evening late in summer, when I came in from a walk through the +fields, I found in the back porch all the implements for cheese-making. +Mrs. Wetherell said: "It's too warm to make butter, now dog-days have +come in, so I am going to make cheese." + +That night all the milk was strained into the large tub. The next +morning this milk was stirred and the morning's milk strained into it. +Then Mrs. Wetherell warmed a kettleful and poured into the tub, and +tried it with her finger to see if it was warm enough. She said: "My +rennet is rather weak, so I have to use considerable." + +After she had turned the rennet in, she laid the cheese-tongs across the +tub, and spread a homespun tablecloth over it, and looking up to me, she +said: "In an hour or so that will come." + +I made it my business, when the hour was out, to be back in the porch. +Mrs. Wetherell was stirring up the thick white curd, and dipping out the +pale green whey, with a little wooden dish. After she had "weighed it," +she mixed in salt thoroughly. She asked me to hand her her cheese-hoop +and cloth, which were lying on the table behind me. She put one end of +the cloth into the hoop and commenced filling it with curd, pressing it +down with her hand. When it was nearly full she slipped up the hoop a +little: "to give it a chance to press," she said. After this, she put +the cheese between two cheese-boards, in the press, and began to turn +the windlass-like machine, to bring the weights down. + +"Now," said she, "I shall let this stay in press all day, then I shall +put it in pickle for twenty-four hours. The next night I shall rub it +dry with a towel, and put it up in the cheese-room. Now comes the +tug-o'-war! I have to watch them close to keep the flies out." + +The forerunners of autumn had already touched the hillsides, and my +thoughts were turning homeward, when one Saturday morning Mr. Wetherell +came in and said: "Miss Douglass, don't you want to ride up to the +paster? I'm going up to salt the steers." + +Mrs. Wetherell hastened to add: "Yes, you go; you hain't had a ride +since you been here. Old Darby ain't fast, but he's good." + +Eagerly I accepted the invitation, and in a few minutes we set off. + +Darby was a great strong white horse, with minute brown spots all over +him. Mr. Wetherell told me stories of all the people, as Darby shuffled +by their houses, raising a big cloud of dust. + +When we came to a sandy stretch of road, Mr. Wetherell said: "This is +what we call the Plains. Here is where we used to have May trainings, +years and years ago. Once they had a sham-fight, and I thought I should +have died a-laughing. I was nothing but a boy. We always thought so much +of the gingerbread we got at training; I used to save my money to spend +on that day. Once, when I was about thirteen year old, a _passel_ +of us boys got together to talk over training. Jim Barrows said that old +Miss Hammet (she lived over behind the hill there) had got a cake baked, +with plums in it, for training, and was going to have five cents a slice +for it. He said: 'Now, if the rest of you will go into the house and +talk with her, I will climb into the foreroom window, and hook the cake +out of the three-cornered cupboard.' We all agreed. I went in, and +commenced to talk with the old woman; some of the boys leaned up against +the door that opened into the foreroom. After a little while we went out +and met Jim, down by the spring, and we ate the cake. Some way a-nother +it didn't taste so good as we expected. There was an awful outscreech +when she found it out. Jim was a mighty smart fellar. He married a girl +from Cranberry Medder, and they went down East. I have heard that they +were doing fust-rate." + +After riding for some time through low, woody places, where the grass +grew on each side of the horse's track, we came to the main traveled +road. Thistles were blooming and going to seed, all on one stock. +Flax-birds were flying among them filling the air with their sweet +notes. Soon we turned into a lane, and came to the pasture-bars, Mr. +Wetherell said: "You stay here with Darby, and I will drive the steers +up to the bars, and salt them." + +I got out of the wagon, and unchecked Darby's head, and led him up to a +plot of white clover, to get a lunch. Nature seemed to have made an +uneven distribution of foretop and fetlock in Darby's case, his foretop +was so scanty and his fetlocks so heavy. A fringe of long hairs stood +out on his forelegs from his body to his feet, giving him quite a savage +look. As I looked down at his large flat feet, I felt glad that he +didn't have to travel over macadamized roads. + +I sat down on some logs which were lying at one side, and listened to +the worms sawing away, under the bark. + +Soon Mr. Wetherell came back with the steers, and dropped the salt down +in spots. We watched them lick it up. + +I asked Mr. Wetherell why those logs were left there. + +"O, Bascom is a poor, shiftless kind of a critter. I s'pose the snow +went off before he got ready to haul them to the mill; but if he had +peeled them in June or July, they would have been all right; but now +they will be about sp'iled by the worms." + +Mr. Wetherell got Darby turned around after much backing and getting up, +for the lane was narrow, and we started homeward. + +As we rode slowly along, Mr. Wetherell asked me: "Have you ever been to +the beach?" + +I told him, "Yes, and I enjoyed it." + +He said: "I always liked to go, but Mis' Wetherell has a dread of the +water, ever since her brother Judson was drowned." + +"Was he a sailor?" I asked. + +"Yes, he was a sea-capt'n. He married a Philadelphy woman, and they +sailed in the brig Florilla. She was wrecked on the coast of Ireland. +She run on a rock, and broke her in two amidships. Her cargo was cotton, +the bales floated in ashore, and formed a bridge for a second or so. The +first mate and one of the sailors ran in on this bridge, but the next +wave took them out and scattered them, and there was no way to save the +rest. Judson and his wife, and all the crew, except the mate and one +sailor, were all drowned. The mate stayed there for some time, and +buried the bodies which washed ashore. He found Judson's body first, and +had most given up finding his wife's, when one day she washed into a +little cove, and he buried them side by side. He came here to our house, +and told us all about it. It was awful. It completely upsot Mis' +Wetherell. Her health has been poor for a good many year. She has bad +neuralgy spells." + +"Come, Darby, get up! you are slower than a growth of white oaks." + +After several vigorous jerks, Darby started off at a long, swinging +gait, and we soon reached home. + +Only once more did I watch the sun go down behind the western hills, +lighting them up with a flood of crimson light; while a tender, subdued +gleam rested for a moment on the eastern summits, like the gentle kiss a +mother gives her babe, when she slips him off her arm to have his nap. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE BELLS OF BETHLEHEM. + +[On hearing them in the hill country of New Hampshire, September, 1880.] + + "The far-off sound of holy bells." + + How the sweet chimes this Sunday morn, + 'Mid autumn's requiem, + Across the mountain valleys borne,-- + The bells of Bethlehem! + "Come join with us," they seem to say, + "And celebrate this hallowed day!" + + Our hearts leap up with glad accord-- + Judea's Bethlehem strain, + That once ascended to the Lord, + Floats back to earth again, + As round _our_ hills the echoes swell + To "God with us, Emanuel!" + + O Power Divine, that led the star + To Mary's sinless Child! + O ray from heaven that beamed afar + And o'er his cradle smiled! + Help us to worship now with them + Who hailed the Christ at Bethlehem! + +_James T. Fields, in The Granite Monthly._ + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: Boston and Vicinity. _Compiled and Drawn by +Col. Carrington_] + + +THE SIEGE OF BOSTON DEVELOPED. + +BY HENRY B. CARRINGTON, U.S.A., LL.D. + +[Author of The Battles of the American Revolution, etc.] + + +By order of the President of the United States, a national salute was +fired, at meridian, on the twenty-fourth day of December, 1883, as a +memorial recognition of the one hundreth anniversary of the surrender by +George Washington, on the twenty-third day of December, 1783, at +Annapolis, of his commission as commander-in-chief of the patriotic +forces of America. This official order declares "the fitness of +observing that memorable act, which not only signalized the termination +of the heroic struggle of seven years for independence, but also +manifested Washington's devotion to the great principle, that ours is a +civil government, of and by the people." + +The closing sentence of Washington's order, dated April 18, 1783, may +well be associated with this latest centennial observance. As he +directed a cessation of hostilities, his joyous faith, jubilant and +prophetic, thus forecast the future: "Happy, thrice happy! shall they be +pronounced, hereafter, who have contributed anything, who have performed +the meanest office, in erecting this stupendous fabric of freedom and +empire, on the broad basis of independence,--who have assisted in +protecting the rights of human nature, and establishing an asylum for +the poor and oppressed of all nations and religions." + +The two acts of Washington, thus associated, were but the fruition of +deliberate plans which were formulated in the trenches about Boston. The +"centennial week of years," which has so signally brought into bold +relief the details of single battles and has imparted fresh interest to +many localities which retain no visible trace of the scenes which endear +them to the American heart, has inclined the careless observer to regard +the battles of the War for Independence as largely accidental, and the +result of happy, or even of Providential, circumstances, rather than as +the fruit of well-considered plans which were shaped with full +confidence in success. + +Battles and campaigns have been separated from their true relation to +the war, as a systematic conflict, in which the strategic issue was +sharply defined; and too little notice has been taken of the fact that +Washington took the aggressive from his first assumption of command. The +title "Fabius of America" was freely conferred upon him after his +success at Trenton; but there was a subtle sentiment embodied in that +very tribute, which credited him with the political sagacity of the +patriot and statesman, more than with the genius of a great soldier. All +contemporaries admitted that he was judicious in the use of the +resources placed at his command, that he was keen to use raw troops to +the best possible disposal, and took quick advantage of every +opportunity which afforded relief to his poorly-fed and poorly-equipped +troops, in meeting the British and Hessian regulars; but there were few +who penetrated his real character and rightly estimated the scope of his +strategy and the sublime grandeur of his faith. + +The battles of that war (each is its place) have had their immediate +results well defined. To see, as clearly their exact place in relation +to the entire struggle, and that they were the legitimate sequence of +antecedent preparation, requires that the preparation itself shall be +understood. + +The camps, redoubts, and trenches, which engirdled Boston during its +siege, were so many appliances in the practical training-school of war, +which Washington promptly seized, appropriated, and developed. The +capture of Boston was not the chief aim of Washington, when, on the +third day of July, 1775, he established his headquarters at Cambridge. +Boston was, indeed, the immediate objective point of active operations, +and the issue, at arms, had been boldly made at Lexington and Concord. +Bunker Hill had practically emancipated the American yeomanry from the +dread of British arms, and foreshadowed the finality of National +Independence. However the American Congress might temporize, there was +not alternative with Washington, but a steady purpose to achieve +complete freedom. From his arrival at Cambridge, until his departure for +New York, he worked with a clear and serene confidence in the final +result of the struggle. A mass of earnest men had come together, with +the stern resolve to drive the British out of Boston; but the patriotism +and zeal of those who first begirt the city were not directed to a +protracted and universal colonial resistance. To the people of +Massachusetts there came an instant demand, imperative as the question +of life or death, to fight out the issue, even if alone and +single-handed, against the oppressor. Without waiting for reports from +distant colonies as to the effect of the skirmish at Lexington and the +more instructive and stimulating experience at Breed's Hill, the penned +the British in Boston and determined to drive them from the land. Dr. +Dwight said of Lexington: "The expedition became the preface to the +history of a nation, the beginning of an empire, and a theme of +disquisition and astonishment to the civilized world." + +The battle of Bunker Hill equalized the opposing forces. The issue +changed from that of a struggle of legitimate authority to suppress +rebellion, and became a context, between Englishmen, for the +suppression, or the perpetuation, of the rights of Magna Charta. + +The siege of Boston assumed a new character as soon as it became a part +of the national undertaking to emancipate the Colonies, on and all, and +thereby establish one great Republic. + +From the third of July, 1775, until the seventeenth of March, 1776, +there was gradually developed a military policy with an army system, +which shaped the whole war. + +Many battles have been styled "decisive." many slow tortures of the +oppressed have prepared the way for heroic defiance of the oppressor. +Many elaborate preparations have been made for war, when at last some +sudden outrage or event has precipitated and unlooked-for conflict, and +all preparations, however wisely adjusted, have been made in vain. "I +strike to-night!" was the laconic declaration of Napoleon III, as he +informed his proud and beautiful empress, that "the battalions of France +were moving on the Rhine." The march of Lord Percy to Concord was +designed to clip off, short, the seriously impending resistance of the +people to British authority. With full recognition of all that had been +done, before the arrival of Washington to assume command of the +besieging militia, _as the "Continental Army" of America_, there +are facts which mark the months of that siege, as months of that wise +preparation which ensured the success of the war. Washington at once +took the offensive. He was eminently aggressive; but neither hasty nor +rash. Baron Jomini said that "Napoleon discounted time." So did +Washington. Baron Jomini said, also, that "Napoleon was his own best +chief-of-staff." So, pre-eminently, was Washington. + +The outlook at Cambridge, on the third of July, 1775, revealed the +presence of a host of hastily-gathered and rudely-armed, earnest men, +well panoplied, indeed, in the invulnerable armor of loyalty to country +and to God; fearless, self-sacrificing, daring death to secure liberty; +but lacking that discipline, cohesion, and organized assignment to place +and duty, which convert a mass of men into an army of soldiers. +Washington stated the case, fairly, in the terse expression: "They have +been accustomed, officers and men alike, to have their own way too long +already." + +The rapidly succeeding methods through which that mass of fiery patriots +became a well-ordered army, obedient to authority, and accepting the +delays and disappointments of war with cheerful submission, will stand +as the permanent record of a policy which cleared the way for an assured +liberty. + +As early as 1775, Lord Dartmouth had asserted, with vigor, that Boston +was worthless as a base, if the authority of the Crown was to be +seriously defied by the colonies, acting in concert. He advocated the +evacuation of Boston, and the consolidation of the royal forces at New +York. Washington, early after his arrival at Cambridge, saw that the +British commander had made a mistake. His letters to Congress are full +of suggestions which citizens could only slightly value, so long as they +saw Boston still under British control. It is difficult to see how the +war could have been a success, if New York had been occupied, in force, +by Lord Howe in 1775, and the rashness of Gates had not precipitated the +skirmish at Lexington and the battle of Bunker Hill. It is no less hard +to see where and how Washington could have found time, place, and +suitable conditions for that practical campaign experience which the +siege of Boston afforded. + +The mention of some of these incidents will suggest others, and +illustrate that experience. + +A practical siege was undertaken, under the most favorable +circumstances. The whole country, near by, was in sympathy with the +army. The adjacent islands, inlets, and bays swarmed with scouting +parties, which cut off supplies from the city. The army had its redoubts +and trenches, and the heights of Bunker Hill were in sight as a pledge +of full ability to resist assault. As a fact, no successful sortie was +made out of Boston during the siege; but constant activity and +watchfulness were vital to each day's security. Provisions were abundant +and the numerical strength was sufficient. System and discipline alone +were to be added. + +The details of camp life in the immediate presence of skilled enemies +compelled officers and men, alike, to learn the minutest details of +field engineering. Gabions, fasces, abattis, and other appliances for +assault or defence were quickly made, and all this practical schooling +in the work of war went on, under the watchful cooperation of the very +officers who afterward became conspicuous in the field, from Long Island +to Yorktown. THE CAMP ABOUT BOSTON MADE OFFICERS, Its discipline +dissipated many colonial jealousies; and there was developed that +confidence in their commander, which, in after years, became the source +of untold strength and solace to him in the darkest hours of the war. + +The details of the personal work of the commander-in-chief read more +like some magician's tale. Every staff department was organized under +his personal care, so that he was able to retain even until the end of +the war his chief assistants. Powder, arms, provisions, clothing, +firewood, medicines, horses, carts, tools, and all supplies, however +incidental, depended upon minute instructions of Washington himself. + +A few orders are cited, as an illustration of the system which marked +his life in camp, and indicate the value of those months, as preparatory +to the ordeal through which he had yet to pass. + +To withhold commissions, until some proof was given of individual +fitness, involved grave responsibility. He did it. To punish swearing, +gambling, theft, and lewdness, evinced a high sense of the solemnity of +the hour. He did it. To rebuke Protestants for mocking Catholics was to +recognize the dependence of all alike upon the God of battles. He did +it. To repress gossip in camp, because the reputation of the humblest +was sacred; to brand with his displeasure all conflicts between those in +authority, as fatal to discipline and unity of action, and to forbid the +settlement of private wrongs except through established legal methods, +showed a clear conception of the conditions which would make an army +obedient, united, and invincible. These, and corresponding acts in the +line of military police regulations, and touching every social, moral, +and physical habit which assails or enfeebles a soldier's life and +imperils a campaign, run through his papers. + +It is in the light of such omnipresent pressure and constraint that we +begin to form some just estimate of the relations which the siege of +Boston sustained to the subsequent operations of the war, and to the +work of Lee, Putnam, Sullivan, Greene, Mifflin, Knox, and others, who +were thus fitted for immediate service at Long Island and elsewhere, as +soon as Boston was evacuated. + +It is also through these orders that the careful student can pass that +veil of formal propriety, reticence, and dignity which so often obscured +the inner, the tentative, elements of Washington's military character. + +While the slow progress of the siege afforded opportunity to study the +contingencies of other possible fields of conflict, a double campaign +was made into Canada: namely, by Arnold through Maine, and by Montgomery +toward Montreal. This was based upon the idea that the conquest of +Canada would not only protect New England on the north, but compel the +British commanders to draw all supplies from England. The fact is noted, +as evidence of the constant regard which the American commander had for +every exposed position of the enemy which could be threatened, without +neglecting the demands of the siege itself. Frequent attempts were made +to force the siege to an early conclusion. The purpose was to expel or +capture the garrison before Great Britain could send another army, and +open active operations in other colonies, and not, merely in the +indolence of the mere watchdog, to starve the enemy into terms. "Give me +powder or ice, and I will take Boston," was the form in which Washington +demanded the means of bombardment or assault, and gave the assurance +that, if the river would freeze, he would force a decisive issue with +the means already at command. + +Meanwhile, he sent forth privateers to scour the coast and search for +vessels conveying powder to the garrison; and soon no British transport +or supply-vessel was secure, unless under convoy of a ship-of-war. + +At last, Congress increased the army to twenty-four thousand men and +ordered a navy to be built. Washington redoubled his efforts, confident +that Boston was substantially at his mercy; but seeing as clearly that +the capture or the evacuation of the city would introduce a more general +and desperate struggle, and one that would try his army to the most. + +At this juncture, General Howe was strongly reinforced. When he +succeeded Gates, on the tenth of October, 1775, he "assumed command of +all his Britannic Majesty's forces, from Nova Scotia to Florida," and +thus indicated his appreciation of the possible extent of the American +resistance. It was a fair response to the claim of Washington to +represent "_The Colonies, in arms_." Howe's reinforcements had +reported for duty by the thirty-first of December. During the preceding +months, and, in fact, from his arrival at Cambridge, Washington had +freely conferred with General Greene. That young officer had studied +Caesar's Commentaries, Marshal Turenne's Works, Sharp's Military Guide, +and many legal and standard works upon government and history, while +drilling a militia company, the Kentish Guards, and following the humble +labor of a blacksmith's apprentice. He fully appreciated the value of +the hours spent before Boston. Together with General Sullivan, who, as +well as himself, commanded a brigade in Lee's division, he looked beyond +the lines of the camp rear-guard, and spent extra hours in discipline +and drill, to bring his own command up to the highest state of +proficiency. + +The following is the theory which he entertained, in common with +Washington, as to the proper method for prosecution of the war; and he +so expressed himself, when he first encamped before Boston and united +his destinies with those of America. + +His words are worthy of double recognition by the citizens of the United +States, because they not only furnish a key to the embarrassments which +attended the uncertain policy of Congress during the Revolution, but +they illustrate some of the embarrassments which attended the +prosecution of the war of 1861-65. + +First. "One general-in-chief." + +Second. "Enlistments for the war." + +Third. "Bounties for families of soldiers in the field." + +Fourth. "Service: to be general, regardless of place of enlistment." + +Fifth. "Money loans to be effected equal to the demands of the war." + +Sixth. "A Declaration of INDEPENDENCE, with the pledge of all the +resources of each Colony to its support." + +Such was the spirit with which the American army hastened its operations +before Boston. Every week of delay was increasing the probability that +Great Britain would occupy New York, in force. The struggle for that +city would be the practical beginning of the war anew, and upon a +scientific basis. + +Lord Dartmouth alone had the military sagacity to give sound advice to +the British cabinet. He maintained that by the occupation of New York, +and the presence of a strong naval force at Newport, Rhode Island +(within striking distance of Boston), and the control of the Hudson +River, the New England Colonies would be so isolated, as neither to be +able to protect themselves, nor to furnish aid to the central Colonies +beyond the Hudson River. + +For the same reason, an adequate garrison at New York might detach +troops to seize the region lying on the waters of the Delaware and +Chesapeake, and thereby separate the South from the centre. When General +Howe, in 1775, formally urged the evacuation of Boston and the +occupation of New York and Newport, he also advised the seizure of "some +respectable seaport at the southward, from which to attack seacoast +towns, in the winter." + +Washington never lost sight of the fact, that, while an important issue +had been joined at Boston, its solution must be so worked out as to +conserve the general interests of the Colonies as a Nation, and that the +delay which was incident to scarcity of powder, and the resulting +inability to assault the city, was to be employed, to the utmost, in +preparing the troops for an ultimate march to New York, there to face +the British in the field. + +The reinforcement of General Howe, at midwinter, when an attack upon the +American lines would be without hope of success, quickened Washington's +preparations for crowding the siege, while constantly on the watch for +some manifestation of British activity in other directions. + +Within a week after the garrison of the city had been thus strengthened, +Washington learned that Clinton had been detached, to make some +expedition by sea. General Lee, then in Connecticut on recruiting +service, was ordered to New York to put the city in a condition for +defence, and arrived on the very day that Clinton anchored at Sandy +Hook. Clinton, however, neglected his opportunity, and sailed southward +to attack Charleston. Lee also went South, to co-operate with Governor +Rutledge, in the defense of that city. The repulse of that expedition at +Fort Sullivan (afterwards called Fort Moultrie) could not be known to +Washington; but the knowledge that the British had enlarged their +theatre of active war was a new stimulus to exertion. + +The strain upon the American Commander-in-Chief, in view of this rapid +development of hostilities beyond the reach of his army, was intense. +Clinton had been authorized to burn all cities that refused submission. +In a letter to Congress, Washington wrote: "There has been one single +freeze, and some pretty good ice," but a council of war opposed an +assault. At last he conceived an alternative plan, in the event that he +would not have sufficient powder to risk a direct assault, and the two +plans were balanced and matured in his own mind with the determination +to act promptly, and solely, at his own independent will. + +Few facts testify more significantly of the value to the army and the +American cause of that long course of training, in the presence of the +enemy, than the preparations thus made by Washington, without the +knowledge of most of the officers of his command. He collected +forty-five batteaux, each capable of transporting eighty men, and built +two floating batteries of great strength and light draught of water. +Fascines, gabions, carts, bales of hay, intrenching-tools, and two +thousand bandages, with all other contingent supplies, were gathered, +and placed under a guard of picked men. + +Three nights of _mock bombardment_ kept the garrison on the alert, +awaiting an assault. "On the night of the fourth of March, and through +all its hours, from candle-lighting time to the clear light of another +day, the same incessant thunder rolled along over camps and city; the +same quick flashes showed that fire was all along the line, and still, +both camps and city dragged through the night, waiting for the daylight +to test the work of the night, as daylight had done before." + +When daylight came,-- + + "Two strong redoubts capped Dorchester Heights." + + +By the tenth of March, the Americans had fortified Nook's Hill, and this +drove the British from Boston Neck. Eight hundred shot and shell were +thrown into the city during that night. On the morning of March 17, the +British embarked for Halifax. + +Five thousand American troops entered the city, under General Ward (the +venerable predecessor of Washington) as the last boats left. + +On the eighteenth of March, and before the main army had entered Boston, +General Heath was ordered to New York with five regiments of infantry +and a part of the field artillery. + +On the twenty-seventh, the whole army, excepting a garrison of five +regiments, was ordered forward, General Sullivan leading the column. + +On the evening of April fourteenth, after the last brigade marched, +Washington started for his new field of duty. + +The siege of Boston is indeed memorable for that patient, persistent +pressure by which the Colonists grasped, and held fast, all approaches +to the city, until a sufficient force could be organized for a +systematic siege; but, as the eye rests upon an outline map of the +principal works of the besieging force, and we try to associate Ploughed +Hill, Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, and other memorable strongholds, with +the surroundings of to-day, we are glad to find an abounding source of +comfort in the assurance, that the whole struggle for our National +Independence is indelibly associated with the names, the vigils, and the +experiences which belong to those long months of education in the art +and appliances of war. + +Swiftly as that well-instructed army moved to New York, they had only +time to gain position, before they realized the value of their training +in the trenches and redoubts around Boston; and no battle or siege, +including the capture of Yorktown, is without its tribute to the +far-reaching influence which that training assured. + +The echoes of the national salute which have so recently commemorated +the one hundredth anniversary of the close of the official career of +Washington as commander-in-chief of the army of the Revolution, may well +be associated with those midnight salvos of artillery which crowned his +first campaign with an enduring success, and, once for all, rescued the +soil of the Bay State from the tread of a hostile foot. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. + +[Footnote: Illustrated by pen and ink sketches furnished by the author.] + +BY COLONEL THOMAS P. CHENEY. + +[Superintendent New England Division United States Railway Mail +Service.] + +[Illustration: YE FASTE MAILE OF YE OLDEN TYME.] + +It is not the purpose of this paper to give a history of the growth of +this important branch of the government service, so much as to impart, +perhaps to an indifferent degree, the methods of its intricate workings, +and the care and study employed to expedite the vast correspondence of +the country. A system as colossal as the Railway Mail Service of this +country is, could not be organized but through a process of development +meeting needs as they arise. This development is best shown by a +comparative illustration from an early date to the present time. + +In 1811, there were 2,403 post-offices, and during the year the mail was +carried 46,380 miles in stages, and 61,171 miles in sulkies and on +horseback. In Postmaster-General Barry's report for the fiscal year +ending November 1, 1834, it is said, that, "The multiplication of +railroads in different parts of the country promises within a few years +to give great rapidity to the movements of travelers, and it is a +subject worthy of inquiry whether measures may now be taken to secure +the transportation of the mail upon them. Already have the railroads +between Frenchtown in Maryland and New Castle in Delaware, and between +Camden and South Amboy in New Jersey, afforded great and important +facilities to the transmission of the great Eastern mail." The lines of +railway at that time, 1834, amounted to seventy-eight miles. + +In 1838, the Railway Mail Service began with 1,913 miles of railroad +throughout the country. In 1846, mails were carried over 4,092 miles of +railway, which increased in 1882 to 100,563 miles. + +The miles of annual transportation of mail by railroad in 1852 amounted +to 11,082,768, which increased to 113,995,318 in 1882, with an increase +in the number of Railway Mail Service employees from 43 in 1846 to 3,072 +in 1882. This wonderful expansion was but proportional with the +development of the country at large. At the close of the war of the +Rebellion, business was at its height. Industry and intelligence were +seeking together new channels for their diffusion. The Pacific Railway +was the grand conception that met this demand, and by its means were +united the borders of the continent, and communication thus made more +frequent and rapid between our interior, the West, and Europe: the most +ancient civilization of the world in the Orient greeted the youngest in +the Occident, and completed the girdle about the earth. + +The lumbering stage and caravan laboring across the plains, and the +swift mustang flying from post to post, frequently intercepted by the +wily savage, were but things of yesterday, though fast becoming +legendary. When those slower methods by which correspondence was +conveyed at a great expense and delay, and current literature was to a +great extent debarred, were supplanted by a continuous line of stages, +it was considered a revolution in the wheel of progress, and the +consummation. The possible accomplishments of the present day, if +entertained at all at that time, were in general considered Munchausen, +and not difficulties to be surmounted by practical engineering and +undaunted perseverance. The civilization of the world has kept pace with +its channels of communication and has accordingly rendered invaluable +aid to it. In our country the field in this direction is exceedingly +broad. + +There is no branch of the government service that reaches so near and +supplies the wants of the people as the Post-Office Department, and +whose ramification may not be inaptly compared to the human system with +its arteries filled with the life-current coursing through the veins and +diffusing health and vigor to the various parts; in the same manner the +people in the different sections of the country interchange their +information. The centres of art and literature, conveying to the vast +producing region in the West the products of their refined taste, +scientific research, and mechanical achievements, keep alive and +propagate the spirit of inquiry, making remote parts of the nation +homogeneous in tastes, knowledge, and a common interest in all matters +of national advancement. + +If a map of the United States with every railway that crosses and +recrosses its broad surface were laid before us, it would appear that a +regulated system for an expeditious transmission of the mails in such an +intricate confusion of lines, apparently going nowhere yet everywhere, +would be an impossibility; but by study and untiring energy this has +been accomplished. + +The machinery of the Post-Office Department is a system of cog-fitting +wheels, in all its component parts; and were it not so, in the +necessarily limited period and space allotted, the work in postal-cars +could not be successfully accomplished. + +The interior dimensions of postal-cars vary, from whole cars sixty feet +in length, to apartments five feet five inches in length by two feet six +inches in width. The most comprehensive conception of the practical +working of the postal-car system, can be formed in a railway post-office +from forty to sixty feet in length; with this in view, we will make a +trip in one. A permit to ride in the car, signed by the superintendent +of the division of the service, is necessary to allow us the privilege; +and it is also required of clerks belonging to other lines. This rule is +necessary, in order that the clerks may perform their work +uninterruptedly and correctly; and also to exclude unauthorized persons +from mail apartments. After a hasty exchange of salutations with the +four clerks, the "clerk in charge" notes our names on his "trip report," +and we are assigned a spot in the contracted space, where, we are +assured, we will be undisturbed, at least for a while. The trip report +mentioned is used in noting connections missed, and other irregularities +that may occur. The interior of the car is fitted up with a +carefully-studied economy of space, upon plans made under the +supervision of the superintendent of the division, or chief clerk of the +line. Occupying one end of the car are cases of pigeon-holes, or boxes, +numbering from six hundred to one thousand, arranged in the shape of a +horse-shoe, for the distribution of letters. These boxes are labeled +with the names of the post-offices on the line of road, connecting +lines, States, and prominent cities and towns throughout the country. A +long, narrow aisle passes through the centre of the car, on both sides +of which are racks for open sacks and pouches, into which packages of +letters and pieces of other mail matter are thrown; on the sides above +are rows of suspended pouches, with their hungry mouths open. By this +plan, in this contracted space, upwards of two hundred different pouches +and sacks can be distributed into between the termini. On one side of +the aisle is a narrow counter, upon which the mail matter is emptied +from the pouches and sacks; this is hinged to the pouch-rack, and can be +swung back, to enable the clerks to get at the pouches more easily. The +space beyond, divided by stanchions, is for the stowage of mails, and +for their separation into piles. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A RAILWAY POST-OFFICE.] + +In order that a minute may not be lost, when passing through tunnels or +standing in dark railway-stations, the lamps are kept burning from the +start to the finish. The last wagon, gorgeously suggestive of a circus, +has arrived with its load of mail, and the busy work receives at once a +new impetus. Several loads, however, have already arrived, and have been +disposed of as much as possible; for the work begins, in some cases, +several hours before the starting of the train. Transfer clerks and +porters deliver the pouches and sacks into the car, the label of each +being scanned and checked by the clerks, to detect if all connections +due are received, and that no mail may be delayed by being carried out +on the road with the other mail and returned. The last pouch is scarcely +received, when a sudden, but not violent, shock announces that the +locomotive is attached to the train, and the start about to be made. The +sound of the gong, seconded by the electrifying and resonant "Aboard!" +of the conductor, and the post-office on wheels is under way. Now, all +is a scene of bustle, but not confusion. The two clerks, to whom are +assigned the duty of distributing direct packages of letters and +newspaper mail, including merchandise, deftly empty the pouches, out of +which pour packages of letters and circulars, to be distributed unbroken +into pouches, and others labeled to this route and different States, +which are in turn to be separated into packages by routes, States, and +large towns, at the letter-case. To the clerk in charge is assigned the +sorting of such letters as are destined to distant routes or terminal +connecting lines; and his associate, or second clerk, is busy +distributing letter mail for local delivery, and into separations for +intermediate connections. + +In addition to sorting letters, the clerk in charge has charge of the +registered mail, which requires special care in its reception and +delivery, booking and receipting therefor. Large pouches of registered +mail are also placed in his charge, _en transit_ between large +cities, and represent great value. The peculiar tooting of the whistle, +or a peculiar movement of the train around a curve, warns the fourth +clerk, who is on the alert, of a "catch" station; the letter mail for +that post-office is quickly deposited by the local clerk in the pouch, +the lock is snapped, and he is standing at the door not a minute too +soon or too late; the pouch is thrown out at a designated spot and one +deftly caught an instant after without a slackening of the speed of the +train. The pouch thus caught is taken to the counter, opened and emptied +by the fourth clerk, and the letters immediately placed in the hands of +the second clerk, who assorts the local mail; the through letters, or +those destined to go over distant lines beyond the terminus, are sorted +by the clerk in charge; the local, or second, clerk distributes his mail +as rapidly as possible, with a watchful eye for letters, etc., to be put +into the pouch to be delivered at the next station; the pouch is locked +and everything is ready for the next delivery and "catch." When the +stations at which pouches are caught are within a mile or two of each +other, the greatest activity is needed to assort the mail between +stations, to avoid carrying mail by destination and subjecting it to +considerable delay before its delivery by a railway post-office on the +train to be met at a point perhaps many miles ahead. + +[Illustration: "CATCHING" AT FULL SPEED.] + +The manner of taking or "catching" the mail from the trackside by some +invisible power on a railroad train plunging through space has seemed to +many a feat of almost legerdemanic skill, when all that is required is a +simple mechanical apparatus and a quick, firm movement of the arm in +using it at the right moment. A crane similar in appearance to the +oldtime gibbet is erected near the track, and may have served as a +warning by its suggestive appearance to some would-be train-wrecker. Its +base is a platform two feet and a half square, with two short steps on +top to assist the person hanging the pouch; a post ten feet in height +passes up through this platform near the edge; a stout joist about five +feet in length is fixed across the top of the post and so balanced that +when relieved of the weight of the pouch it flies up perpendicularly +against the post. The pouch used for this purpose is made of canvas and +is somewhat narrower than the ordinary leathern pouch. It is lightly +suspended by a slender iron rod projecting from the horizontal joist, +passed through a ring at the top and lightly held at the bottom in the +same manner as at the top. + +[Illustration: POUCH HUNG ON "CRANE."] + +When the pouch is snatched from the crane, the top piece flies up as +described, and a parallel short joist at the bottom of the pouch drops. +The pouch is strapped small in the middle, resembling an hour-glass, +where the catcher-iron on the car is to strike it. This "catcher" +consists of a round iron bar across the door of the car, and placed in a +socket on each side about shoulder high; a strong handle, similar to a +chisel-handle, projects perpendicularly from this bar; on the under side +of the bar projects, at an angle of about forty-five degrees, a slender +and strong iron rod, slightly turned at the end to prevent its tearing +the pouch, of about three feet in length. As the train approaches the +crane, the operating clerk with a quick, steady throw delivers the mail +at a given point, usually near the crane; he then grasps the handle with +his right hand, swinging the handle over inward; the arm when thrown +outward, the horizontal bar turning in the sockets, comes in contact +with the pouch, striking that part of it narrowed by the strap and +striking the arm near the vertex of the angle into which it is driven by +the momentum of the train; the greater the speed the more securely it is +held there; but the clerk is on the _qui vive_, and as soon as it +strikes the catcher-iron, grasps the pouch to make sure of getting it, +as sometimes if the pouch is not hung properly, the arm will strike it +at such a part as to require the most agile movement on the part of the +clerk to secure it and to prevent its falling to the ground or under the +wheels of the train and being torn to pieces; these cases, however, are +rare, but pouches have lodged on the trucks and have been carried many +miles. + +To return to the clerks and their work. In the meantime, the "through" +work continues, when the distance between stations and junctions will +allow of it; letters in packages are distributed into boxes with a +celerity and economy of motion which could be acquired only by continued +practice and training of the eye to decipher an ever-varying +chirography, and of mental activity to almost instantly locate a +post-office on its proper route, its earliest point of supply, or +connecting line. + +The emptying of pouches continues; package after package of letters roll +out on the counter as though they were potatoes rather than the dumb +expression of every human emotion, or the innocent touchspring of their +awakening. The pouches are labeled to indicate those requiring the +earliest attention, as are also the packages of letters they contain; +this plan prevents, to a great extent, the carrying of mail past its +destination. + +The packages of letters to be distributed by routes, post-offices, and +States, are taken to the letter-case; those not to be so separated, that +is, unbroken packages, _en transit_, are placed at once into their +proper pouches. + +The emptying of sacks of paper mail follows that of the pouches; the +papers and packages of merchandise are faced in a manner to be readily +picked up, their addresses read, and deftly thrown into the mouths of +the pouches and sacks in the racks; this is very skilfully done, as the +want of space requires that they shall be crowded closely together. + +The swaying of the train around a curve makes little difference, as the +clerks in a short time learn to follow every motion of the train. A +quick decision, ready eye, and economy of movement as a superstructure +to a good knowledge of his duties, are the invaluable qualities of a +successful railway postal-clerk; and one so equipped soon outstrips his +lagging seniors and associates in grade. As the train approaches a +junction, preparations are made to "close out" that part of the mail to +be delivered at that point, the sacks are tied, the tags or labels +having been attached before starting. The clerks at the letter-case are +rapidly taking the letters from the boxes tying them into packages, and +separating them into piles, which are dropped into their proper pouches +and locked, and so on until all is ready. Let us examine these packages +of letters and at the same time describe the slip system. On the outside +of each package for redistribution, and also inside each direct package, +that is, containing mail for a single post-office, is placed a brown +paper slip, or label, about the size of an ordinary envelope, bearing +its address or destination, which may be that of a post-office, a group +of post-offices supplied therefrom, and labelled "dis." (the +abbreviation of distribution), or for a railway post-office; this slip +also bears the imprint of the name of the clerk who sorted into the +package and is responsible for its correctness, the postmark with date, +and a letter, as "N." for north, or "W." for west, indicating the +direction the train is moving at the time. A similar slip is also placed +loose in each pouch and sack. + +The errors discovered in the packages of letters, or among the loose +pieces in the pouches and sacks, are endorsed on the proper slip, signed +and postmarked by the clerk in the railway post-office receiving it. +These errors may be the result of carelessness, ignorance, or +misinformation; in the latter case, had the clerk been properly +informed, perhaps a delay of half an hour or less might have been +avoided if sent by some other route. These error-slips are sent each day +enclosed in a trip report to the division superintendent; if approved, +the record is made, and the clerk in receiving the error-slip at the end +of the month is informed of his mistake, and it is needless to add that +the error, if one of ignorance or misinformation, will not be repeated. +This forms a part of the record of the clerk upon which to a degree his +future advancement depends. The beneficial effect of this system as an +incentive to study, care in distribution, and a commendable rivalry, is +indisputable. + +The postmarks on the letters in the package in our hands show that they +joined the current at a junction but a few miles past, and if the +location of one of them is sought on the map, it is found to be an +obscure hamlet on a remote stage route, by which it reaches the +railroad, over which a single clerk in an office seven feet square, or +less, performs local service, and which line makes connection with the +through mail-train on the main road. The letters described are tied in a +package with others, and a label slip placed thereon addressed to some +railway post-office, perhaps hundreds of miles distant, which is reached +unbroken through a many-linked chain of connections; with this package +are others for large cities which will be passed along intact to +destination, and also letters labeled to railway post-office lines +making connections in their turn. The pouches and sacks into which the +packages of letters and papers are deposited will be received at the +next junction into a railway post-office car, sorted and forwarded in +the manner described. In many cases a mail is sent across by a stage +route to connect a parallel line, and thereby feeding a new section. + +Mail matter is frequently received, through error, for post-offices on +the line of road but just passed, or for post-offices supplied only by +one railway post-office train moving in the opposite direction; to +provide for such mail a pouch is left at the meeting-point of this +train; and so the train plunges on with its busy workers, its +pleasure-seekers, and its composite humanity, The clerks have long since +become grim with the smut of the train, paling all others but the +fireman, and the long-nursed illusion that all government positions are +sinecures is rudely dispelled by their appearance, and an insight into +their arduous duties. As the train lazily rolls into the terminal +station, pouches and sacks are ready for delivery and the clerks make +ready to leave the car. + +The instant the train stops, a portion of the mail, large or small as +the case may be, is delivered into a wagon for rapid transfer to a +railway post-office train about to start from another station. If the +incoming train is late, it may be necessary to exact the utmost speed to +reach the outgoing train, and in many cases it is always necessary to +effect it rapidly. After the transfer mail is disposed of, the labels of +the remaining pouches and sacks are examined, and as the mail is passed +out of the car we are surprised at its quantity, filling a number of +large wagons; this, however, does not constitute the entire mail +distributed _en route_, as the quantities delivered at junctions +and stations aggregate, in many cases, more by far than that delivered +at the terminal station, There are many details of work that our space +forbids us to describe, that are technical and of little interest to the +reader, but are of relative importance. These we must leave, and prepare +for the return journey on the night-train, feeling grateful that our +busy fellow-travelers are to have an opportunity to refresh themselves. + +The work performed in a railway post-office on a night-train differs +somewhat from that on a day-train, yet maintaining the same general +principle of distribution. The methods differ, governed by the +connections, and a clerk suddenly transferred from a day-train to a +night-train on the same route, unless thoroughly informed of the train +schedules, of close and remote connections, the time of the dispatch of +direct closed pouches from many post-offices, stage route schedules, +etc.,--which knowledge, even approximating correctness, would be +extraordinary,--would be almost as much at a loss as if transferred to +another route, excepting his knowledge of the location of the +post-offices on his own line. In all cases if a delay occurs, causing a +connection to be missed, it is the duty of the clerk to know at once the +next most expeditious route by which the mail can be forwarded. + +The hardship incurred by a night-clerk is greater in many respects than +that of the day-clerk; while in the latter case a continual active +strain is required in the performance of local work and its multiplicity +of detail, yet this is more than offset by the handling of bulky and +heavy through mail and the unnatural necessity of sleeping in the +daytime, which at most affords but a partial rest. On many night-lines +the clerks commence work in mid-afternoon, accomplishing considerable +before the train starts, and as the train plunges through darkness into +the gray dawn and early morning, they sturdily empty pouches and sacks, +and the incessant flow of letters and papers is only interrupted when +approaching some important junction where mail is delivered and received +from connecting lines or post-offices. Everything presents a weird +aspect in a railway-station at midnight,--men flit about in a dazed way +with satchels, the bright light bursting through the doorway of the car +gives a ghastly look to the face of the man who throws in the pouches +and sacks, and all appear like ghosts that will vanish with the approach +of dawn; but we realize the substance of our surroundings when we again +turn our attention to the busy scene in the car. The city distribution +of letters--a feature of the service on night-trains which has greatly +facilitated the early delivery of mails in a few of the larger +cities--has been extended to other cities, and others are still to +receive its benefit. For instance, clerks from the Boston post-office +detailed to do this duty enter the mail-car at the Boston and Albany +Railway at Springfield, Massachusetts, and sort the city letters by +carriers' routes, post-office box sections, banks, insurance offices, +etc. The corresponding train moving in the opposite direction is boarded +by New York post-office clerks making similar separations. + +The packages of letters thus made up go direct to their respective +divisions in the post-office, thereby avoiding the delay that would be +caused in passing through other preliminary distributing departments. +This work has been taken up recently by the Railway Mail Service, the +plan enlarged and extended, and added to the other duties of the clerks. +Additional clerks, however, have been employed to perform this work, yet +the others are required to know it, and on lines where additional clerks +were not appointed, to make it their regular duty. + +A glance has been given at one of the many links in the continuous +chains of connections that cross and recross the face of the country. A +comparison of the oldtime method and of the railway post-office service +will show the superior advantage of the latter. At some remote hamlet in +Nova Scotia, a letter is started for San Francisco, California. It +crosses the boundary line into the United States and enters at once the +swelling current at Vanceborough, Maine. Leaving that place at 1.35 +A.M., Monday, without delay it reaches Boston at 5.10 P.M., is +transferred across the city, leaves at 6.00 P.M., connecting with the +fast mail train from New York City at Albany, through Syracuse, +Rochester, and Buffalo, reaches Cleveland at 6.00 P.M., Tuesday, and +Chicago at 6.00 A.M., Wednesday, where an intermission of six hours +makes the longest delay in the line of connection. The next morning, +Thursday, at 11. A.M., Omaha is reached; Friday, at 6.00 P.M., Laramie, +Wyoming; Saturday, at 6.00 P.M., Ogden, Utah; Sunday, Humboldt, Nevada; +and Monday, at 11.00 A.M., San Francisco. This illustration has been +made to show the far-reaching continuity of connecting lines across the +country, passing through many of the principal cities but not entering a +post-office for distribution, rather than a complexity of connections +almost innumerable in a thickly-settled country, and over which study +and patient inquiry to simplify are ever at work. + +Lyons, Wayne County, New York, is located on the New York Central +Railway; a letter is started from that place for Leeds, Franklin County, +Massachusetts; it is received into the New York and Chicago railway +post-office at 8.17 A.M., then it is given to the Boston and Albany +railway post-office at Albany, the latter line connecting at Westfield, +Massachusetts, with the Williamsburgh and New Haven railway post-office, +arriving at destination at 9.37 that night. + +Again at 6.08 P.M., from Lyons, another New York and Chicago railway +post-office train passes, but, owing to different connections, disposes +of it differently: from this railway post-office a pouch containing a +similarly addressed letter, with other mail, is delivered at Albany for +the Boston and Albany railway post-office, due to leave Springfield, +Massachusetts, at 7.15 A.M.; this pouch is conveyed from Albany in the +baggage-car attached to an express-train, which train, passing +Westfield, connects at Springfield with the 7.15 A.M. railway +post-office train East. At Palmer a short distance east of Springfield a +return mail is left for the railway post-office that left Boston at five +o'clock that morning; into this mail the letter for Leeds is placed, as +the clerks in the latter-named railway post-office deliver at Westfield +a pouch for Leeds, which place is reached 10.07 that morning, on train +in charge of baggage-master. This illustration is comparatively a simple +one. Many instances could be given where a detour of many miles is made +to gain a few minutes in time. By the old system the letter would, in +all probability, have gone to Albany post-office for distribution, +thence either to New Haven, Connecticut, or Westfield, Massachusetts, +for the same purpose, losing trains at each place waiting to be +distributed, and consuming fully, or more, than sixty-four instead of +sixteen hours. By the old method delays became almost interminable as +the connections became intricate, more so than on a continuous line. The +advantage of the "catcher" system described elsewhere, which enabled +towns to communicate with one another in a few minutes, instead of by +the direct closed pouch system through a distributing office miles away, +consuming hours, is not inconsiderable. + +The gain by the present method is incomparable. Intersecting at Albany, +New York, with the line from Vanceborough, Maine, to San Francisco, just +described, or perhaps what may be called the vertebral column of the +system, is the New York and Chicago railway post-office line, known also +as the "Fast Mail" or the "White Mail," as the mail-cars on this line +were originally painted white. A mail-train consisting of four mail-cars +and express-cars leaves New York City at 8.50 P.M., making the through +connection to Chicago. There are two similar trains, leaving New York at +4.35 A.M., and at 10.30 A.M., with a less number of cars; and three +moving in the opposite direction. There are twenty mail-cars on this +line, each interior is sixty feet in length, and the exterior, as +already mentioned, painted white, and bearing the coat-of-arms of some +State and the name of its past or present governor. Each car is devoted +to a special purpose: the distribution of letters and local, or "way," +work; the distribution of paper mail; and others for storage. The +distributing cars are built upon a different plan from the one +hereinbefore described; the packages, etc., are distributed into large +compartments or boxes slightly pitching back one over the other in a +large case, and the clerk wishing to empty one of them passes into the +narrow aisle to the rear of the case; the pouch or sack is hooked to the +case under the door of the box, and the mail drops into it. Pouches and +sacks are also hung in racks to be distributed into. These cars are +post-offices of no mean pretensions when the amount of work performed is +considered. When it is considered how densely populated the country is +through which this line passes many times each day, and its numerous and +swelling tributaries, the volume of mail conveyed is enormous, yet not +disproportionate. + +The average amount conveyed during thirty days, in the sixty days in +January and February of 1881, that the weights of mails were taken +between New York City and Buffalo, a distance of four hundred and +forty-two miles, amounted to 4,416,451 lbs.; between Buffalo and +Chicago, a distance of five hundred and forty-two miles, 2,874,918 lbs. +Over the first section 73,607 lbs. per day, the second section 47,848 +per day; while either of these amounts does not equal those carried +during the same period between New York and West Philadelphia, on the +route to Washington, a distance of ninety miles, amounting to 6,202,370 +lbs. for the thirty days, and 103,372 lbs. per day, the great +discrepancy in miles must be borne in mind and the fact that government +supplies and public documents to the East and North contribute no small +proportion of the amount. The mail between New York and Chicago is +altogether a working mail. It requires more than two hundred and sixty +clerks to handle this mail, who travel annually 2,030,687 miles. + +The clerks on the westerly bound trains are assigned the distributing of +mails by route, for all Middle, Western, Southwestern, and Northwestern +States, and on the easterly bound trains for the Middle and Eastern +States. + +When such States as New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, with +respectively 3,070, 3,681, 2,603, and 2,568 post-offices, are taken into +consideration, some idea may be formed of the work required in preparing +a system of distribution, the vigilance required to keep pace with the +frequently changing schedules, and the study of the clerks to properly +carry its requirements into effect. Beyond Chicago, in the new country, +the work of distribution grows less intricate, but the powers of +endurance of the clerks are severely tested. On the line between Kansas +City, Missouri, and Deming, New Mexico, a distance of 1,147 miles, the +clerks ship for a long voyage--five days on the outward trip and the +same on the inward, sleeping and eating on the train. + +There are a number of lines in the far West, on which the clerks do not +leave the train for a number of days. Throughout the country the total +number of pieces of ordinary mail handled by 3,855 railway postal clerks +on the lines, during the year ending June 30, 1883, amounted to +3,981,516,280; the number of errors made in their distribution was +958,478 pieces, or a per centage of correct distribution of 99.97. This +minutia of detail is applied to the distribution of a vast bulk of mail. +It is estimated that in Boston, Massachusetts, between eighty and one +hundred tons of mail matter are daily dispatched, and between forty and +sixty tons are daily received; while at New York City this quantity is +more than doubled. Even figures become interesting when they represent +the standard of intelligence and progress, as shown by an increased +correspondence and literature. In no branch of the government service, +it can be safely said, have the tenets advanced by the advocates of the +civil-service reform been so nearly realized as in this bureau of the +Post-Office Department even at that period when the initiatory steps now +being applied to other departmental machinery were considered all but +Utopian,--a system consisting of a probationary period preceding +appointment, and promotion from grade to grade, based upon a practical +and thorough system of examination, had long since been developed up +through an experimental stage to a well-grounded success. The complexity +of the postal system, continually varying in detail, demanded a uniform +system of giving information, and a corresponding test of its operation. +The system of distribution for each State is compiled in tabulated form +in a book or sheet, known as a "scheme," for ready reference when on +duty, or study when off the road. In thickly-settled States, where +numerous railroads cross and re-cross each other in the same county, it +is necessary to have the names of the post-offices arranged +alphabetically; opposite the name of each office is given all its +methods of supply and also the hour the mail reaches that office. In +more sparsely-settled States the schemes are arranged by counties; this +is done where the majority of the offices in a county are supplied by +one or two lines, and the exceptions, which are only specified in detail +in the scheme, by other lines or a number of post-offices. In this case +the clerk memorizes the supply of the excepted post-offices +particularly, the disposition of the remaining post-offices in the +county being the same; it is of the first importance to be properly +informed in which county an office is located, and the line supplying +the principal part of that county. A name prefixed with "north" in one +county may have the prefix of "south" in another, or a similar name in a +remote county. These schemes are compiled at division headquarters, and +the general orders are revised almost daily, informing the clerks of +changes affecting the distribution, and also instructions as to other +duties. From the schemes mentioned, lists of distribution are made and +time computed applicable to each line or train of the States for which +mail is selected. + +To return from this preliminary digression to the examinations. These +examinations are of the most practical character and serve to develop +the mental abilities and intelligent understanding of the clerks. To +clearly understand the method, the clerk should be followed step by step +from the time of his probationary appointment into the service, through +the probationary period and his examinations as a full-fledged clerk. +After a month's service on a line, the clerk is assigned a day and hour +for his examination; here is laid the foundation for future usefulness, +the intelligent understanding of a service, acquired by continual study +and inquiry, that gives to all occupations that peculiar zest when +understandingly rather than mechanically followed. A single State, with +the least number of offices, that in the course of duty he will be +required to assort, is selected at the first; it is not expected that it +will be memorized understandingly, or the location of each office fully +known at once, but it forms the basis of inquiry, and develops either +future excellence or mediocrity, or total incapacity. The room in which +these examinations are usually conducted (excepting when a clerk on a +route in a remote part of the division is the subject, in which case he +is visited by the examining clerk) is kept quiet, and nothing that will +distract the attention allowed. He is placed before a case containing +one hundred pigeon-holes, or more, each the width of an ordinary +visiting-card, and sufficiently high to contain a large pack of them. +Cards are then produced, upon each one of which is printed the name of a +post-office, comprising a whole State. The cards are distributed into +the case by the clerk being examined and the number of separations made +as required when on actual duty in the railway post-office. The number +of separations varies according to the connections due to be made; when +the line is through a thickly-settled country, the separations are made +in fine detail. In the State of Massachusetts there are seven hundred +and seventy-two post-offices; and the number of separations made by one +line is upwards of eighty. On the train it is necessary to make many +(what are known as) direct packages that the examination does not call +for. Account is taken of the time consumed in "sticking" the cards, and +questions asked to test the knowledge of connections. A large number of +questions are asked relating to the Postal Laws and Regulations, as +affecting the Railway Mail Service; these latter questions vary in +number from fifty to one hundred. When practicable, during the +probationary period of six months, one examination is held each month, +taking a different State each time. + +The results of these examinations are placed on record, and at the +expiration of the probationary term, this record, together with the list +of errors in sending mail, are forwarded to the Honorable William B. +Thompson, General Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, in +Washington, District of Columbia, with a recommendation that the clerk +be permanently appointed or dropped out of the service. These +examinations are held at intervals among all the clerks to test their +efficiency, and as an incentive to study, to keep fresh in their minds +the proper disposition of the important mails passing through their +hands. In these examinations a good-natured rivalry exists, and a +vigilant eye is kept by the clerks that their line shall make as high an +average per centage, or, if possible, higher than any other. The per +centage of correctness rarely falls below seventy-five; an average is +generally made of ninety-five per cent. The list of errors made is +closely scanned by better-informed clerks, and no stone left unturned by +them to clear their record, and to satisfactorily settle disputed +points. These discussions and inquiries are invited, not only that all +may feel satisfied with the result, but also that much valuable +information is frequently elicited from the clerks, who in many cases +are situated advantageously to see where practical benefits may be +attained. + +During the fiscal year which ended June 30, 1882, there were 2,898 +examinations of permanent clerks held, and 3,140,630 cards handled; of +this number 208,736 were incorrect, 512,460 not known, making a correct +average per centage of 77.05. This record does not include that of +probationary clerks. This constant watchfulness, it can readily be seen, +redounds to the benefit of the public and results in the most +expeditious methods of forwarding the mails attainable. In some cases a +test of reading addresses of irregular or difficult legibility as +rapidly as possible is given, but this idea has not been generally +adopted. The query naturally arises, Is there no incentive to study +other than to make a good record? There is; for upon this basis, +together with a knowledge of a ready working capacity and +application--both great considerations--are the promotions and +reductions made. Those in charge of lines are fully cognizant of the +status of the men, bearing on all points. The clerks in the service are +classified, those on the small or less important routes according to the +distance. Our attention, however, is drawn particularly to the trunk +lines. The probationary appointee is of class 1, receiving pay at the +rate of eight hundred dollars per annum; but at the expiration of his +six months' probation, if he is retained, he is paid nine hundred +dollars per annum, and placed in class 2. The number of men in a crew on +a trunk line making through connections is governed by the quantity of +work performed, and generally consists of four men, excepting the fast +lines, New York to Chicago and Pittsburgh, where more than one mail-car +on a train is required. With four men in a crew the clerk in charge is +classed 5, and others successively 4, 3, and 2, and paid at the rate of +thirteen hundred dollars, eleven hundred and fifty dollars, one thousand +dollars, and nine hundred dollars per annum. In the event of a vacancy +in class 5, the records of examinations and errors made in the +performance of work are scanned, the relative working capacity of the +eligible men in class 4 considered, and a copy of the records, with +recommendations, forwarded to the General Superintendent. The gap caused +by the retirement of one of class 5, and filled by one of class 4, +necessitates promotions from classes 2 and 3, and also a new appointment +into class 1, probationary, and after that period is passed into class +2, thus preserving a uniform organization. + +The selections for promotion are made from the clerks on the entire +line. Thus it will be seen that a graduated system of promotion exists, +based upon merit and competitive examination, and which to the fullest +extent is practical and theoretically satisfactory to the most exacting +civil-service reform doctrinaire. The general supervision of the Railway +Mail Service is under a General Superintendent, the Honorable William B. +Thompson, located in Washington, District of Columbia. It is divided +into nine sections, with offices in Boston, New York City, Washington, +Atlanta, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Cleveland, +and is respectively under the superintendence Messrs. Thomas P. Cheney, +R.C. Jackson, C.W. Vickery, L.M. Terrell, C.J. French, J.E. White, E.W. +Warfield, H.J. McKusick, and W.G. Lovell,--men who have risen from +humble positions in the service, step by step, to their present +positions of responsibility. + +It is an erroneous impression that prevails in certain quarters that the +forwarding of mails over the various railroads is arranged by +postmasters; the especial charge and control of the reception and +dispatch of mails is under the Superintendents of the Railway Mail +Service, who, in their turn, are responsible to the General +Superintendent, who, in his turn is responsible to the Honorable Second +Assistant Postmaster-General. + +It will readily be seen by the foregoing sketch that a clerkship in the +Railway Mail Service is far from being a sinecure, either mentally or +physically. As the country increases in population and the system +becomes more complex, it is found to be important to the public that the +clerks should be insured against removal except for the following +reasons: "Intemperance, inattention to or neglect of duty, incapacity +for the duties of the office, disobedience of official instructions, +intentional disrespect to officers of this or other departments of the +government, indecency in speech, intentional rudeness of language or +behavior towards persons having official business with them or towards +associates, and conduct unbecoming a gentleman." In several annual +reports the General Superintendent has urged upon Congress that some +provision be made for pensioning disabled clerks. This would seem to be +only fitting justice to the clerks, who hourly incur a risk of either +limb or life. + + * * * * * + + + + +REUBEN TRACY'S VACATION TRIPS. + +By Elizabeth Porter Gould. + + +"Mamma, where is the old Witch House? I met on the street this morning +Johnnie Evans and his mother, who came way down from Boston just to see +that, and Witch Hill, and some other places here in Salem that they had +been reading about together this vacation. Why, I haven't seen these +things, and I have lived here all my life. And they said, too, that they +were going to find the house where Hawthorne was born. Who was he, +mamma? I think Johnnie said that the house was on Union Street. Can't I +go there, too? I am tired of playing out in the street all the time. I +want to go somewhere and see something." + +So said Reuben Tracy to his mother, as he came into the house from his +play one day about the middle of his long summer vacation. His little +eyes had just been opened to the fact that there was something in old +Salem which made her an object of interest to outsiders; and, if so, he +wanted to see it. As his mother listened to him, her eyes were opened, +too, to her want of interest, through which her boy should have been +obliged to ask this of her, rather than that she should have guided him +into this pleasant path to historic knowledge. But she determined that +this should not happen again. The vacation was only half through, and +there was yet time to do much in this direction. Her boy should not +spend so much time in idle play in the streets. She would begin that +very afternoon and read to him some stories of local history, and +impress upon his little mind, as Mrs. Evans was doing with her boy, by +visiting with him all that she could of the places mentioned. She +herself had not seen Hawthorne's birthplace; she would learn more about +him and his work, so as to tell Reuben, and then they would visit the +place together; after which they would take a trip to Concord and see +where he was buried, and also the places where he had lived, which, she +had heard, were so charming. She could then tell her boy of Emerson and +Thoreau; and, through a sight of the place where the first battle of the +Revolution was fought, she could lead him willingly into the study of +history. + +Thus Mrs. Tracy planned with herself. She had suddenly become converted +to a knowledge of her larger duty in the training of her child--her only +child now; for, nearly two years before, death had claimed, in one week, +her two other children, one older and one younger than Reuben; and since +then she had fallen into a sad, listless state of mind which she found +hard to get out of. She was an unusually good mother in the ordinary +sense of the word, since she was careful to have her boy well-fed, +well-clothed, and well-behaved; but now she saw more than that was +required of her. + +The good resolution of Mrs. Tracy became so fruitful, that another +week's time found Reuben and herself acquainted with the points of +interest which Johnnie Evans had mentioned, and several more beside. +Mrs. Tracy had accompanied these visits with much interesting +information, which Reuben had enjoyed greatly. Such success led her to +provide something new for the following week. Now, she herself had never +seen the old town of Marblehead,--only four miles from Salem,--although +of late she had been to Marblehead Neck to see a sister who was boarding +there for the summer. So with an eye to visiting the old town, she spent +an hour each day, for several days, reading and talking with Reuben on +the history and legends of Marblehead; and, through the guidance of +Drake's New England Coast, learning what now remained there as mementos +of the past. Then, after having invited two of Reuben's little +playfellows to accompany them, they started, one bright morning, to +drive over by themselves. As they passed up Washington Street in the old +town, Reuben's eyes were looking for the Lee mansion, which he said was +now used for a bank, and which, with its furniture, cost its builder, +Colonel Lee, fifty thousand dollars. They found it, with its date of +1768 over the door, and soon were in the main hall, where was hanging +the same panel paper which was put on when the house was built. They +noticed the curious carving of the balusters, as well as of a front +room, which was wainscoted from floor to ceiling; they wished that it +had never been used for a bank, but that it was still the old mansion as +it used to be; for then they could see, among other things, the +paintings hanging on the walls, of Colonel Lee and his wife, which +Reuben said were eight feet long and five feet wide, and painted by a +man named Copley. His mother smiled when she heard him add, with all the +spirit of Young America: "And he painted them both for one hundred and +twenty-five dollars. Why, just my head alone cost my papa one hundred +dollars; and just think of those two big ones for only one hundred and +twenty-five dollars!" + +As all three of the boys sat in the large recessed window-seat, Reuben +declared that he did not see how the window-panes could have been the +wonder of the town, for they were not near as large as his Uncle +Edward's, and nobody wondered at them! + +They then imagined, walking in the same room where they then were, +General Washington, as he came there in 1789 to be entertained by the +Lees; and also Monroe, Jackson, and even Lafayette, who had been there, +too. When one of the boys asked if the street in which he lived, in +Salem, was named for that Lafayette, Mrs. Tracy noted the question as a +good sign. + +Soon they were in search of the old St. Michael's Episcopal Church, near +there, which they had learned was the third oldest in Massachusetts, and +the fourth in New England, those in Boston, Newbury, and Newport being +the three older. As Mrs. Tracy approached it, she became indignant that +the outer frame had ever been put over the original church with its +seven gables and its towers; she wondered if it could not now be taken +off and leave the old church, as it was meant to be, pretty and unique. +When from the inside she saw the peculiar ceiling, she thought more than +ever that it ought to be and could be done. While she was thus +speculating, the boys were observing the quaint old brass chandelier, +with its candles, a gift from England, also the pillars of the church, +stained to imitate marble. Then they all examined the Decalogue over the +altar, written in the ancient letters, and done in England in 1714. Mrs. +Tracy wished that the old high pulpit and sounding-board had never been +replaced by the desk which she now saw there. The sexton showed them the +old English Bible, which he said had been in use there about one hundred +and twenty-five years. They noticed the little organ, which was very +old, and also sent over from England. As they came out of the church, +they saw, by its side, a graveyard containing some old inscriptions, and +then went on to see the old Town House in the square, which Reuben said +was in its prime in the days of George III. He told the boys to wait +until they should study history, and then they would know more about +this king. That was what he was going to do. Mrs. Tracy noted this +remark as another good sign. + +She treated them to some soda-water in Goodwin's apothecary-store, +nearly opposite, so that they could the more easily remember the house, +of which this was the parlor, where Chief-Justice Story was born. + +They were still driving up Washington Street, through one of the oldest +parts of the town, when, all of a sudden, Reuben asked his mother to +stop and let him and his friends get out and run up some stone steps, +which he said he knew would lead them up through backyards into another +street. So out they jumped, and soon were up in High Street, following +its winding way over the rocky soil, and amidst old houses, until they +came out to Washington Street again, where Mrs. Tracy had driven on to +meet them. They then drove along Front Street, where they had a fine +view of the ocean, and also of the Neck, so prettily decked with its +unique jewels. Reuben was anxious to go in Lee and State Streets because +they were old and quaint, which they soon found. The boys, much to their +delight, spied some more steps leading to another street, and also +noticed, on much of the way, the want of sidewalks. They touched upon +other streets which they were inclined to call lanes. + +So they spent a day in this old town, with its Fort Sewall; its Powder +House, built in 1755; its Ireson's house on Oakum Bay, where Mrs. Tracy +reread to them Whittier's poem on Ireson; its cemeteries, where in one +they found a gravestone bearing the date of 1690. They visited the new +Abbott Hall, which Mrs. Tracy told them to consider as a historical +connecting link between the old and the new. She now felt that they had +seen enough for one day: so, with a promise to drive over again, some +time, to visit more especially the newer part of the town, and also to +drive around the Neck, they left for home. The next day, indeed for +several days, the boys were in high spirits talking over their trip. All +of the boys in the neighborhood were interested to hear of it, and +doubtless some mother was stimulated to do as much for her children. As +for Mrs. Tracy, her sorrow was still keen, but her interest in her +living child's growth was becoming the means of softening its sharpest +edge. She had discovered an elixir which should renew her life to larger +ends. + +By another week's time Marblehead was pretty well talked over, and Mrs. +Tracy was interested to find another subject for the rest of the +vacation, A few days before, Reuben had asked her what an island was. +She felt then, as she answered him, that a visit to such a place would +give him a much better idea of its capabilities than any description +which she could give. So, now, in thinking over an interesting island +within easy distance, for a day's trip, she recalled the pleasure which, +some years before, she had found in a short stay upon Star Island, among +the Isles of Shoals. When she had decided that this should be the place, +she talked the matter over with Reuben, telling him that he might invite +his cousin Frank, a boy of fifteen years, to come from a neighboring +town and spend the rest of the vacation with him; for he would enjoy +studying with them about the Isles of Shoals before they should all go +to see them. Reuben was delighted with the proposition; he secretly +wondered what had made his mother so _extra_ good lately; he +determined that he would love her more and more, and do all that he +could for her; he did wish that his brother Albert was alive to go with +them, but he was so glad to have his cousin Frank, who was certainly +coming to him the next day. + +The following morning brought him, after which the days flew quickly by. +Reuben not only showed to him the antiquities of Salem, but told him +much of Marblehead town. They played together their vacation plays, and +had, each day, their hour's talk and reading with Mrs. Tracy on the +geography and history of the Isles of Shoals. At last they were ready to +go, and the day was set. Mrs. Tracy had invited Reuben's school-teacher, +Miss De Severn, a lovely young lady, whom sad reverses had sent to hard +work, and denied much pleasure in travel, to join her in their trip. +Reuben teased his papa to go with them, but business engagements +prevented his so doing. But he encouraged his son in his pleasure, and +told him that whenever he could tell all that he wanted to see in Europe +he should go there on a tour, but not before. Frank, particularly, +caught his uncle's idea, and determined then to read all the good books +of travel that he could find. + +On the pleasant morning of the appointed time they were all on hand in +the Salem station to take the train for Portsmouth; they arrived there +in time to take the steamer Appledore, as it started at eleven o'clock, +for its ten-mile trip to the Shoals. The boys were delighted with the +novelty of sailing between New Hampshire on one side and Maine on the +other. As they passed on the right the quaint old town of Newcastle, +Miss De Severn told them of the old Wentworth house, built in 1750, +which was still standing there, and which still contained the old +portraits of Dorothy Quincy and others. She promised to read to them, on +their return home, the story of Dorothy Quincy, as told by Dr. Holmes, +and also the story of Martha Hilton, the Lady Wentworth of the Hall, as +told by Longfellow. While she was telling them of the old Fort +Constitution, which they soon passed, and other tales of Great Island, +or Newcastle, Mrs. Tracy was enjoying the Kittery side, which also had +its suggestive history. They soon passed the twin lighthouses of Whale's +Back. Reuben was still wondering why that name was given to it, when his +quick ear heard the ringing of a bell afar off in the distance. What +could that be? Then Mrs. Tracy told the boys of the valuable bell-buoys, +of which they had never heard. The sea was just rough enough to cause +the bell stationed there to ring most of the time; and as they passed +it, they declared that they never heard anything more dismal. Frank said +that he should always think of that in a stormy night ringing out to +warn the sailors. After a sail of an hour and a half, they landed at +Appledore Island, the largest of the seven which comprise the Isles of +Shoals, and which altogether make a little over six hundred acres. +Reuben said that they were now in Maine, for Appledore, Smutty Nose, +Duck, and Cedar belonged to Maine; while Star, White, and Londoner +belonged to New Hampshire. His mother was pleased to hear him apply his +geographical knowledge of the place so soon. She was sure now that he +never would forget that fact. They spent a short time in looking around +the island, with its attractive hotel, so finely situated, and its half +dozen pretty cottages. One of them Mrs. Tracy pointed out as the home of +Celia Thaster, who, she told them, was a poetess who had written so +feelingly of the sea, and who had told, in a pretty poem, how in the +years gone by she had often lighted with her own hands the light in the +lighthouse which they could see on White Island, a short distance from +them. The boys wished to go there, as they had never been near a +lighthouse; but as Mrs. Tracy felt that in their limited time Star +Island would, on the whole, afford them more pleasure and profit, they +took the little miniature steamer Pinafore, which constantly plied +between the two islands, and in a few minutes' time were landed on its +historic ground. + +After they had dined at the Oceanic, a hotel kept by the same +proprietors as the Appledore House, on the island which they had just +left, they found that they had an hour and a half in which to look +around before the steamer should return to Portsmouth. As they sauntered +along over the rocks back of the hotel, they came near enough to the +little meeting-house, which was standing there, to read on its side the +following inscription:-- + + GOSPORT CHURCH. + + ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED OF THE TIMBERS + FROM THE WRECK OF A SPANISH SHIP, A.D. + 1685; WAS REBUILT IN 1720, AND BURNED BY + THE ISLANDERS IN 1790. THIS BUILDING OF + STONE WAS ERECTED A.D. 1800. + + +Through the kindness of a gentleman who had brought the key to gain +entrance into the interior, they all went in through the little side +door to see a comparatively small room, with about twenty-five pews, and +a quaint desk with a large chair each side of it. Mrs. Tracy said that +when this church was built, in 1800, that island had only fifteen +families and ninety-two persons, while Smutty Nose had three families +and twenty persons, and Appledore had not an inhabitant upon it. Reuben +said that there was a time, more than a hundred years before the +Revolutionary War, when the town of Gosport, which included all the +islands, contained from three hundred to six hundred inhabitants. Miss +De Severn wished that they had time to read some old preserved records +of that place, which were now to be seen at the hotel. + +As they came out of the church, Reuben spied the weather-vane, in the +form of a fish, which crowned the little wooden tower, in which was the +bell, still used, although rather dismal in sound. + +As they wandered on, Mrs. Tracy noticed that the march of improvement +had torn down most of the old fishing-houses, as well as the little old +school-house, which she knew had once been there. They soon came upon +the old burial-ground among the rocks, where they found inscribed on two +horizontal slabs the only two inscriptions which were there. On one they +saw this tribute:-- + + IN MEMORY OF + THE REV. JOSIAH STEPHENS, + A FAITHFUL INSTRUCTOR OF YOUTH, AND PIOUS + MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, + SUPPORTED ON THIS ISLAND BY THE SOCIETY + FOR PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL, + WHO DIED JULY 2, 1804. AGED 64 YEARS. + ----------- + LIKEWISE OF + MRS. SUSANNAH STEPHENS, + HIS BELOVED WIFE, + WHO DIED DEC. 7, 1810. AGED 64 YEARS. + + +and, on the other, this high eulogy:-- + + UNDERNEATH ARE THE REMAINS OF + THE REV. JOHN TUCKE, A.M., + HE GRADUATED AT HARVARD COLLEGE, A.D. 1723; WAS + ORDAINED HERE JULY 26, 1732. + AND DIED AUG. 12, 1773. AET 72. + + HE WAS AFFABLE AND POLITE IN HIS MANNER, + AMIABLE IN HIS DISPOSITION, + OF GREAT PIETY AND INTEGRITY, GIVEN TO HOSPITALITY, + DILIGENT AND FAITHFUL IN HIS PASTORAL OFFICE, + WELL LEARNED IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY, AS WELL + AS GENERAL SCIENCE, + AND A CAREFUL PHYSICIAN BOTH TO THE BODIES AND + THE SOULS OF HIS PEOPLE. + ERECTED 1800. IN MEMORY OF THE JUST. + + +Miss De Severn bowed reverently in honor of such lives having been lived +in the midst of the ignorance and corruption which she knew to have then +pervaded the islands. + +From this rocky burial-ground they wended their way to the three-sided +monument, enclosed within a railing, which was on one of the highest +rocks on the island. Frank remembered that it was erected in 1864, in +honor of Captain John Smith, one of the first explorers of the islands; +but as he was ignorant of the meaning of the Turk's head on its top--the +one left of the three which were once there--Mrs. Tracy told him and +Reuben about Smith's successful encounter with the three Turks, as well +as some other tales pertaining to his brave exploits, after which they +read on the sides of the monument the words inscribed in his honor. + +As they stopped to gaze around them for a moment, they saw, a little +more than half a mile off, Haley's (or Smutty Nose) Island, with its few +black houses, prominent among which was the one stained by an awful +tragedy. Mrs. Tracy hoped that it would soon be taken down, for it was +too suggestive of terror and wickedness to be always in sight of those +seeking rest and peace on the islands. Reuben said that Smutty Nose was +the most verdant of all the islands, and the one the earliest settled; +while Duck Island, three miles away, was noted for its game. He also +remembered, much to his mother's surprise, that Cedar Island was only +three eighths of a mile distant, and Londoner not a quarter of a mile +away. When Frank added that Appledore was seven eighths of a mile off, +and White Island nearly two miles distant, Reuben, not to be outdone by +him, said that Star Island was three quarters of a mile long, and half a +mile wide, while Appledore was a mile long. They would have gone on till +all their knowledge had been told, if Mrs. Tracy had not suggested that +they continue their walk over the rocks which gave Star Island its +natural grandeur. They would have liked to have remained there all of +the afternoon, to have enjoyed the waves as they dashed up over the +rocks; but they only stopped long enough to find Miss Underhill's Chair, +the name of a large rock, on which Frank read aloud an inscription +stating the fact, that, in 1848, on that spot, Miss Underhill, a loved +missionary teacher, was sitting, when a great wave came and washed her +away. Miss De Severn said that her body was found a week later at York +Beach, where the tide had left it. + +On their way back to the hotel they noticed some willows and wild roses, +enclosed in a wooden fence, wherein Mrs. Tracy said would be found the +graves of three little children of a missionary who once lived upon the +island; whereupon the boys searched until they found the three following +inscriptions: "Jessie," two years, "Millie," four years, and "Mittie," +seven years old. Under the name of Mittie they said was inscribed: +"I don't want to die, but I'll do just as Jesus wants me to." + +Mrs. Tracy found herself looking back tenderly to this sacred spot, as +she followed the boys to the other side of the Oceanic to see the ruins +of the old Fort, which Reuben said had been useful before the +Revolutionary War. + +On their way to the steamer, which was to leave in a few minutes, they +stepped into a small graveyard of dark stones, of which Mrs. Tracy said +all but one were inscribed with the name of Caswell. + +Soon they were on the steamer, bound for Portsmouth, then on the cars +for Salem, where they arrived home in time for supper. They had seen +what they went to see, and Reuben now very well knew what an island was. +Hereafter, geography and history would be more real to him. On the +following Monday, Frank was telling in his home all that he had seen, +thus inspiring a larger circle with a desire to see and to know, and +Rueben was in his schoolroom ready to begin another year's school work. +His teacher was glad to see that he certainly would be a more +interesting pupil for his intelligent vacation rambles, and silently +wished that more mothers would do what his mother has done. + +As for Mrs. Tracy, she not only decided to interest herself in the +studies of her boy more than she had done in the past, but she +determined to prepare the way for some little historic excursion for +every vacation which her son should have. Another summer should bring +Concord, surely, and perhaps Plymouth too. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Alex H. Rice.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Bay State Monthly, Vol. 1, Issue 1., by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BAY STATE MONTHLY, V 1, ISSUE 1 *** + +This file should be named b010110.txt or b010110.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, b010111.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, b010110a.txt + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, David Garcia and Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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