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Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent la m6thode. srrata to pelure, m & U 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 6 « ^ misfo is the .•;^i. JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF THE li A T E SAMUEL CURWEN, JUDGE OF ADMIRALTY, ETC., A LOYALIST-REFUGEE IN ENGLAND, DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS AND BIOGKAPHIC NOTICES i!f ■•■■1% PROMINENT LOYALISTS AND OTHER EMINENT MEN. w^iva mmtion. BY GEORGE ATKINSON AVARD, A. M., HEMBEB OF THB MEW-TORK HIBTOHICAL SOCIETY, AND CORRCaPONDINe MEUREIl OF THI MAalACHlTIETTS HKTOHICAL SOCIETT, " l''or iiiy native country I foel a filial fo'.idnea.s ; her foUio.s I lament, har misfortunes I pity ; her good I ardently wish, and to be restored Loher ennbraooa is the warmest ofniy desires." S. Cubwkn, Jan. Ki, 1780. Paok 821. NEW- YORK : LEAVITT, TROW & CO., 194 BROADWAY. LONDON : WILEY AND PUTNAM, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1845. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by GEORGE A. WARD, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New- Yorlc. J. r. TROW & CO., Pbihterii, 33 Ann-Btroet, New-York. M ffl 1 j MiHi W "iraW' iJh Mm V< ll 'B' H 1 T H Whoce rami opiniooa, TH mado in supp is, by pormia! and talcnti w •re aa welt aji Naw-YoM AOED 57. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE LORD LYNDHURST, LORD HIGH CHANCBLLOE,, &;o., &,a, &o., WhMO family held a diitinguiihod rank among the American Loyaliata proacribod for their opiniona, THIS WORK, tending to ahow the atrength of their principlea, and the aacrificea they made in eupport of what they conaidered law and order and the beat intoreata of thoir native land, ia, by permiasion, MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED j in the conviction that the merit artd talcnta which have raiaod hia Lordahip to ao exalted a atation in the BRITISH EMPIRE, •re as well appreciated by hia NATIVE COUNTRYMEN aa by thoao of the land of hia adoption. By hii Lordahip'a must obedient and moat humble aervant, OEOSGE ATKINSON WARDi Nbw-Yomi, AuauaT 1^ 1844. .1; m- 'M m '■H''f^; i work hafi spected ^^l Linily \\ followirif •' The! ly with a Disposer anil resto prove an requesting they bein| friendship many fau applied tc ficant trifl purpose V Theei only as ii relative, I purity of native lai back upo by the in in exile, ( descendai in a seas jected, wl civil post cial wars selves in the most banished at the hj r 11 E F A C E . The ori{Tinal manuscripts from which the body of tho following work has been compiled, were sent in detached parts by the re- spected writer to his niece, a grand-parent of the editor, (in whose f.iinily they have remained for more than sixty years,) with the following injunction, viz. : '* These papers were written partly by way of pastime, and part- ly with a view to future amusement, should it please the Sovereign !!^isposer of life to lengthen mine beyond the period of banishment and restore me ai^ain to my native country ; otherwise may they prove an entertainment to my friends, to whom I commend them, requesting their care to keep them from the inspection of all others, they being negligently written and but for the eye of candor and friendship, without method or order, as memory served, whereby many faults and anachronisms happened (if a technical expression applied to more important events may be used about such insigni- ficant trifles) ; if they shall afford thera the least amusement, my purpose will be answered." The editor considers the present publication of these papers not only as in no wise a violation of the injunction of his venerated relative, but as due to his memory, to exhibit to his countrymen the purity of his motives, and the ardent affection he bore towards his native land, even when constrained by a sense of duty to turn his back upon it. Another inducement for the publication is furnished by the incidental lisht thrown upon the character of his brethren in exile, of whom scarcely any now survive, but whose numerous descendants feel a deep sense of the injustice to which most of them, in a season of great popular excitement, were unfortunately sub- jected, who, under less adverse circumstances, had filled with honor civil posts of high trust, and led to victory our arms in the provin- cial wars. As the just fame of such as have distinguished them- selves in important public concerns has ever been esteemed among the most valued treasures of civilized nations, that of these loyalists, banished for opinion's sake, seems to call for a proper vindication at the hands of an impartial posterity, while the contrast of their It ^fk m m m n \ f IV I' R K K A C E. ( later with llicir earlier fortunes presents strong claims to the sym- pathy of iniiiikitid. The siu'i'i'ss of rcfcnt publications in the department of histori- cal writinj.^ Imviiig iiuliiccd the belief that the ])erioil has arrived when a sealed book may be opened, and a dispassionate examina- tion had of the circumstances eonneete*! with that portion of our history in which the character of this proscribed class of our coun- trymen is involved, this work is offered with the hope of removing to some extent, if not fully, whatever obloquy has been unjustly cast upon their names, and to show that they were, in many in- stances, not the less actuated by lofty principle than those who embraced the popular opinions of the day, and adopted measures which resulted in such transcendant success. The editor has endeavored to present in the Supplement, if not a full, at least a brief account of every prominent loyalist, as well as of other persons of note, mentioned in the work ; and he regrets that want o{ information, notwithstanding every elFort to obtain it, has in some cases rendered his notices extremely imperfect, and in others left no alternative but to omit them altogether. Before the publication was decided upon, the editor submitted the work to Dr. Sparks, the distinguished American historian, and to George Folsom, Esq., of the publishing committee of the New York Historical Society, and editor of the society's recent excellent volume of Collections ; whose favorable opinion of the historical value of the journal and correspondence of Judge Curwen, ex- pressed in their respective letters already laid before the public, confirmed him in the design of giving to the light these interesting relics of a former generation, to which he feared his private re- gard for the memory of the venerated author might have attached undue importance. He presents his sincere thanks to those gentle- men for their encouraging letters, and the kind interest they have taken in the matter. The work is now submitted to the public by the Editor, without endorsing principles at variance with the spirit of the age ; and shou d it prove successful and draw into this new field more com- petent laborers, the chief end of the publication will be attained. G. A. Waud. J^exo-York, JVovember, 1842. CHAPTEI Saljsbul letter fr| bury— ( Penn— I net of P| !sy .•m- usloii- iirrivcd amina- of our ir coun- imoving unjustly nany in- ose who measures !nt, if not ,t, as well be regrets obtain it, !ct, and in submitted torian, and )f the New t excellent historical jrwcn, ex- the public, interesting private re- ve attached wse gentle- st they have itor, without he age ; and d more cora- )e attained. A. Wakd. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR OP THE AUTHOR. His ancestry, birth, and education — visits Europe — returns and engages in commerce at Salem — ^joins the expedition against Louinburg — extracts from his journal during the campaign — an account of the expedition — appointed impoNt otRccr for Essex county — literary clubs at Salem — atfairs in Massachusetts before the Revolution— difBcuItics with the governors Bernard, Hutchinson, and Gnge — commencement of the Revolution — departure of ttio author to Phila- delphia, and thence to England— his return and death— numb . of exiles from Massachusetts, .... pp. 9-24. JOURNAL AND LETTERS. CHAPTER I. A. D. 1775-1776.— Causes of the author's departure— his arrival in Philadelphia — state of tiffairs in that city — perplexities of the author — he meets Col. Washinoton — reception of Hancock and Adams— the author sails for England— arrives at Dover— pro- ceeds to London — dines in company with Mrs. Copley, mother of Lord Lyndhurst— Samuel Quincy, Jonathan Sewall, Benjamin Pick- man— letters to Rev. Thomas Barnard, William Pynchon, &c.— dines with Gov. Hutchinson— visits Bow-street, Hampton Court, Windsor, Twickenham, Newington, Ac- destruction of Falmouth (now Port- land), Maine— New England Club in London— meets Sir Francis Bernard— attends oratorio of Messiah at Covent Garden— lecture at Salters' Hall by Dr. Price— visits Chapter House— doomsday book — Portuguese synagogue— West's pictures— Tylney House— Lord Mansfield's seat of Caen Wood— great bed of Ware- Rye House —Westminster Hall— Maddock's garden— Pinchbeck's— Boar's-head tavern— Bfitish museum— Duke of Bedford's seat at Croydon— Rev. Dr. Apthorp— Rev. Mr. Peters, ... pp. 25-64. CHAPTER II. A. D. 1776.— Leaves London for the country— visits Salisbury— Stonehenge— Exeter— Sidmouth— Rev. Isaac Smith- letter from Thomas Danforth— visits Bristol— Birmingham— Tewks- bury— Gloucester— returns to Bristol— Ratcliff church— Admiral Penn— Clifton grotto— Shepton Mallet— Lord Arundel's seat— cabi- net of Pope Sixtue V.— Alfred's tower— spinning-jennies, pp. 64-81. 1 .r. i VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER 111. A. D. 1776.— Visits Bath-Meets Col. Saltonstall and Mr. Boylston— Longlcat, scat of Lord Weymouth— Glastonbury Ab- bey ruins — Bridgewatcr— Enmore Castle, seat of Earl Egmont— Taunton— Sidmouth—Slade — Dr. Shcbbeare— supposed Danish en- campment at Ilcmbury— Admiral Graves— Exeter— news from New York in Bristol Gazette— election of member of parliament at Exe- ter, candidates Baring and Cholwich— visits Lord Courtenay'e Bel- videre — birth-place of Sir Francis Drake— news from America — ru- mors of war between England and France— electioneering in Eng- land-remarks on election at Exeter— Baring elected— advices from Gen. Burgoyne- report of Washington's defeat at Kingsbridge- re- marks on the tone of Englishmen towards America, and vindication of the latter— letters to George Russell, William Pynchon, and Judge Sevvali, pp. 81-95. CHAPTER IV. A. D. 1777.— Author completes his sixty-first year- remarks on the commencement of the new year— letters— Dr. Dodd'e case— visits Plymouth— Exeter— Bristol— journey to London— en- gages lodgings at Brompton Row, near London— dines with Gov. Hutchinson— meets B. Hallowell— Thomas Russell— visits Christ Church Hospital — the institution described— visits Cromwell's gar- den, in company with Judge Sewall and Abel Willard— attends New England club at Mr. Blowers'— dines with Harrison Gray — letter to Rev. Isaac Smith on American affairs, . pp. 95-108. CHAPTER V. A. D. 1777. Journey from London to Ipswich, in com- pany with Judge Sewall and Abe! Willard — passes through Rum- ford, Ingatestone, Witham, Colchester — description of Colchester — Roman antiquities — arrival at Ipswich — an unpleasing town— leaves itforCambridge— Newmarket races— description of Trinity College- river Cam — University library — returns to London— journey to Ox- ford — visits dueen's College — Jesus' College — Merton College — Christ Church College— library — AUsouls — meets Sir F. Bernard — leaves Oxford — visits Blenheim Ho"pe at Woodstock — Bicester — Buckingham — Stow Gardens — Lord George Germaine — Earl Tem- ple—Coventry — Birmingham — Leasowes of Shenstone — Hagley, Lord Lyttelton's estate — Hales Owen— fair — returns to Birming- ham, ...... pp. 108-124. CHAPTER VI. A. D. 1777.— Fair at Birmingham— Soho Gardens— Ashton Park — the author leaves Birmingham lor Sheffield — first Btage Lichfield— cathedral described — Burton— the great Stafibrd- shire canal — Derby silk mills — porcelain manufactory— Kiddlestone, Beat of Lord Scarsdale — Ashburn — residence of Chaucer— Castle- ton— remarkable cave described— arrival at Sheffield— colliery— Wakefie soil — Le ing towi St. John ter— joui tories — S lories— S ed-Tew CHAPTER into Bri! tower — I to Waif diff-Ne ture of C ter— Sidi borough- Ottery— close of CHAPTER tion of tr sage fror in the Sp Sir Hen tween F France, CHAPTER — remarl lie credi honor of America author r Taunton — ordina makers s CHAPTER Lympsto — Bridgt beach a1 mouth ai — Romai Sidmout CONTENTS. Vll Wakefield— original of Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield named John- sea— Leeds— Armley—Huddersfield— Halifax— a great manufactur- ing town— Rochdale-Manchester— Duke of Bridgewater's canal— St. John's church- coal mines at Worsley— description of Manches- ter— journey to Bristol— Stockport— Macclesfield— Leek— manufac- tories— Sandon— Stafford— Penkridge— Wolverhampton — manufac- tories— Stourbridge— Bromesgrove— Worcester— Cathedral describ- ed— Tewksbury— Gloucester— Newport— Bristol, pp. 124-142. CHAPTER VIL A. D. 1777.— Entry of member of parliament elect into Bristol— the author visits the cathedral— Stapleton—Dundry tower — Bath — American privateers in St. George's Channel — visit to Wales — Swansea — Welsh customs — Neath — Cowbridge— Car- diff— Newport — return to Bristol — advices I'rom New- York — adven- ture of Charles II. — Dean Tucker — John Wesley — ^journey to Exe- ter — Sidmouth — Axminster — birth-place of the great Duke of Marl- borough — carpet mantiactories — Thorncombe — Cullilbrd — Slade — Ottery — return to Exeter — news of Gen. Burgoyne's surrender — close of the year, .... pp. 142-162. CHAPTER VIII. A. D. 1778.— Letter on American affairs— enumera- tion of troops to be sent to America — Lord Abington's motion — pas- sage from Dr. Robertson — ceremony of installing a bishop — writers in the Spectator — amount of captures by American privateers — Rev. Sir Henry Trelawney — political letters — report of a treaty be- tween France and the United States — war between England and France, ...... pp. 162-181. CHAPTER IX. A. D. 1778.— Letter to Judge Sewall on public affairs —remarks on ability of England to sustain a war with Fran' — pub- lic credit — number of troops sent to America — French medal in honor of Washington — commissioners to settle the dispute with America — Massachusetts exclusion bill — excursion to Tiverton — the author removes his lodgings from Exeter to Sidmouth — ride to Taunton — Colyton — Woodbury castle, the remains of a Danish fort — ordination of Rev. Isaac Smith at Sidmouth— procession of lace- makers at Honiton, .... pp. 181-198. ill' i Llii t!':;i . 1 f vi \ '<■ I' ill CHAPTER X. A. D. 1778.— Excursion to the west— Otterton— Lympstone- Teignmouth — Newton Bushel — Dartmouth— Torbay — Bridgtown — Chudleigh — Exeter — returns to Sidmouth — visits beach at Axminster — letters on public affairs — excursion to Wey- mouth and Portland— Melcomb Regis — island of Portland described — Roman remains — Dorchester — advices from New- York — quits Sidmoutli for Exeter— Arden's course of lectures on experimental VIU CONTENTS. philosophy — ^letter from Judge Sewall — numher of ships taken by the French — votes of the bishops on the American war — the author completes his sixty-third year, ... pp. 198-212. CHAPTER XI. A. D. 1779.— Origin of custom of making presents on New Year's day — letters on public affairs — British fleet at Torbay — Lord North announces departure of Spanish minister— ordination at Lympstone — combined fleet of France and Spain off Plymouth — author suspected of being an American spy — leaves Exeter for Bris- tol — dines with Mr. Vassall — Dr. Gardiner — Captain Carpenter arrives with letters, etc., from Salem — Mrs. Erving — William Ca- bot, ...... pp. 212-229. CHAPTER XII. A. D. 1780.— Manilla ship described— visit to Bath — letters — Mr. Washington, a Moravian preacher— celebration of Admiral Rodney's victory over Don Langara — death of William Hutchinson — number of Americans at Bristol, and their names — remarks on the theatre — on public affairs — advices from General Clinton in South Carolina — his success — tour to the north in com- pany with the Sewalls — Newport — Newton — Honiton — Kiddermin- ster — Brosely — Shrewsbury — residence of Samuel Porter — Elles- mere — Wrexham — Chester — Warrington — canal locks at Runcorn — Liverpool — Peak of Derbyshire — Derby — Wolverhampton — iron bridge at Brosely — curious celebration of Gen. Clinton's success at Charleston by S. Sewall — passage on the Severn from Bridge- north to Worcestei' — adventure with a footpad — return to Bristol — riots described in letter to W. Pynchon — leaves Bristol for London — amusing sign at Devizes — arrival in London, . pp. 229-262. CHAPTER XIII. A. D. 1780.— Letter to Judge Sewall giving an ac- count of the reported dark day in America — reply of Sewall — visit to ruins of King's Bench prison and Surrey Bridewell, destroyed by mob — remarks on the evil of French troops in America — opening of Bartholemew fair by the Lord Mayor at Smithfield — Richmond gar- dens — elections in London — Saddler's Wells — Plowden's funeral monument at the Temple — Roman coins — disputing club — excursion to Hcmpsted, . , . . . pp. 262-285. CHAPTER XIV. A. D. 1780.— Visit to Parliament-house— Ladies' disputing society — Guildhall meeting — Lord Mayor's day — chancery court — Essex House chapel — Rev. Mr. Lindsay — Carlisle House — Montague House — British Museum— lottery drawing at Guildhall —disputing club — affair of Major Andre — Mr. Copley's picture-room — painting of death of Lord Chatham, etc. . . pp. 285-298. CM APT Gun foiin( Prioi — Ct Burk Brili Run Win legc- mira Lord bail, CHAPT dome vice ofLf Engl dole Com detl'.; — am ment Sir ^ jnibli Unit CHAPT peril Ur. ( Jl-sc: atU loll Friu Gan CIIAPT rect bulv letlc Iron Ann Trc Uni on cias CONTENTS IX CHAPTER XV. A. D. 1781.— Description of cntcrlainmontat Covcnt Garden theatre — letters — American Academy of Arts and Sciences founded in Massaclmseits — trial of Lord George Gordon — vit;it to Priory, Clerkcnvvell — Greenwich Hospital — Mrs. Cowley's new play — Col. now Governor Browne — House of Commons— debate — Mr. Burke — visit to Westminster Abbey — Mary-le-bonc — Dr. Priestley — British Museum — curiosities seen there — Bcnj. Thompson, (Count Rumford,) — intercepted letter of General Washington — excursion to W^indsor — personal description of the King and Queen — F. n Col- lege — Chiswick House — news of the burning of New Lonci'jn — Ad- miral Rodney's fleet at Torbay — consequences of surrender of Lord Cornwallis — Henry Laurens discharged from the tower on bail, pp. 298-330. CHAPTER XVI. A. D. 1782.— Letter!?— visit to the Queen's house- domestic habits of the King — letter from Judge Oliver — secret ser- vice list for 1781 — General Burgoyne — Welsh procession — disgrace of Lord George Germaine — defeat of ministers — general rejoicing in England — Lord Surrey and Benedict Arnold — new ministry — anec- dote of the Prince of Wales — Lord North — excursion to Hampton Court — division in the cabinet — Admiral Barrington — news of the defciit of the French fleet by Admiral Rodney — Maddocks the florist — anecdote of the Shakspeare mug — Parson Wiswall — new arrange- ment of the ministry — visit to House of Commons — Parson Peters — Sir William Pepperell — Lord IIowc — Sterne's private character — public notice of a provisional trealy between England and the United States— state of parties- Sir William Draper, pp. 330-362. CHAPTER XVII. A. D. 1783.— Meeting of refugees at Sir Wm. Pep- perill's — death of Mr. Fluckcr — uncertain prospects of the loyalists — Dr. Graham's lecture on health — meeting of the Royal Society described — public affairs — procession in honor of Fox — Mrs. Siddons at Drury-laiie — visit to the House of Lords — Mr. de Berdt — excursion to Herts — Hoddesdon — letters — St. Giles's — peace proclaimed with F'nuicC; Spain, and Holland — Nathaniel Gorliam — Mucklin at Covcnt Garden, pp. 362-396. CHAPTER XVIII. A. D. 1784.— Pitt's East India bill lost— the author receives letters from Salem encouraging his return— riots in London between Ibllowers of Pitt and Fox — Dr. Watson, bishop of Llandaff — letters from William Pynchon — iuneral of Sheriif Turner — letter from Judge Sewall — the author's petitio' *" r leave to return to America, aiid to appoint an agent to receive liis pension — visit to the Treasury — preparations for leaving England — embarks in ship Union — lellow-paesengers — land at Cowes, Isle of Wight — excursion on the island — arrival at Boston — Captain Coombs — the author's classmates — letter from Noah Clap, . . pp. 396-419. Hi In -li ^ :f'. CONTENTS, SUPPLEMENT. Il.l.i;STnATIVE DOCUMENTS. PAGE Address of the merclianls and others of Boeton to Governor Hutch- inson, May 10, 1774, 423 Address of tlie inhabitants of Marblehead to the same, May 25, 1774, 426 Address of the barristers and attornies of Massachusetts to the same. May 30, 1774, 427 Recantations of several of the Salem " addressers," May 30, 1774, 429 Address of the merchants and others of Sak-in to Governor Gage, June 21, 1774, 431 Names of the gentlemen and principal inhabitants of Boston who signed an address to the same, Oct. 16, 1775, . . 432 Names of gentlemen driven into Boston, who signed a loyal address to the same, October 14, 1775, .... 434 (Conspirators act of Massachusetts, Sept. 30, 1779, . . 434 Confiscation act of do., April 30, 1779, . . 436 Banishment act of do., Sept. 1778, . . 443 Counsellors of do., appointed by writ of mandamus, August 9, 1774, ...... 438 Worcester (Massachusetts), Resolutions respecting refugees and ab- sentees, May 19, 1783, (referred to in page 382,) . . 444 List of inhabitants who left Boston with the British troops in 1776, 444 \ List of such as died in exile from Massachusetts from 1776 to 1783, 444 d Confiscation act of New- York, 1779 .... 580 Coffin, Coffin, Colden, Cooper, I Copley, Cornwall Curwen'l Curtis, CuBhingl Adams, John . 460 Adams, Samuel . . 459 Allen, Judge William . 486 Apthorp, Rev. Dr. East . 533 Auchmuty, Rev. Dr. Samuel 511 Auchmuly, Judge Robert . 511 B. Badger, Rev. Moses . 551 Barclays of New-York . 596 Baring, Sir Francis . 511 Bernard, Sir Francis . 453 Bernard, Sir Thomas . 524 Bliss, Daniel . . 518 Bliss, Jonathan . 508 Blowers, Judge S. S. . 480 Borland, John L. . . 500 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. Boulineau, James . . . 492 Boylston, Ward Nicholas . 466 Brattle, Major Thomas . 510 Brinley, Thomas . . . 484 Browne, Colonel William . 500 Burgoyne, General John . 469 Byles, Rev. Mather . . 494 C. Carloton, General Sir Guy . 468 Caswell, Richard . . . 484 Chandler, Nathaniel . . 550 Chandler, Rufus . . .522 Chandler, William . . 551 Chipinan, Judge Ward . . 492 Clarke, Rev. William . . 499 Clarke, Richard . . . 505 Clinton, Gen. Sir Henry . 473 CONTENTS. XI PAGE Coffin, Nathaniel . . .484 Coffin, Thomas Aston . . 552 Colden, Gov. Cadwallader . 537 Cooper, Rev. Dr. Myles 538, 579 Copley, John S. . . . 503 Cornwailis, General Lord . 473 Curwen's, ancestors . . 445 Curtis, Charles . . .531 Cushing, Governor Thomas . 460 D. Dana, Judge Francis Danforth, Thomas De Grasse, Count Joseph Dorchester, Lord Draper, Sir William E. Edson, Colonel Josiah . Erving George Erving, Colonel John, Jr. Faneuil, Benjamin Fenton, Captain John . Fisher, John . Fhicker, Thomas . Franklin, Gov. William Frye, Colonel Peter G. Galloway, Joseph . Gardiner, Dr. Sylvester Gates, General Horatio . Germaine, Lord George Goodhue, Hon. Benjamin Gorham, Hon. Nathaniel Gray, Hon. Harrison . Green, Joseph Green. P'rancis Greenleaf, Stephen Gridley, Benjamin Gridley, Colonel Richard 476 515 543 468 525 H. Hallowcll, Benjamin Hancock, John Haradcn, Captain J. Harrison, Gov. Benjamin Havvley, Major Joseph . Hewes, Joseph Holyoke, Dr. E. A. Hooper, Joseph Hovey, Ivory Howe, Admiral Lord . Howe, General Sir William . Hutchinson, Elisha Hutchinson, Judge Foster . Hutchinson, Gov. Thomas . Hutchinson, Thomas, Jr. Hutchinson, William I. 547 Ingereoll, Hon. Jared 524 Jeffries, Dr. John . 493 Jackson, Hon, Jonathan 492 Lee, Judge Joseph ^93 Leonard, Daniel . 607 Lloyd, Dr. James . 506 Loring, Com. Joshua . 552 Lovcll, Rev. Benjiiniin . 513 Lynde, Judge Benjamin M. 527 Marston, Benjamin 535 Mauduit, Jasper 475 Mauduit, Israel 524 Mifflin, Governor Tiionias 488 Moulton, Colonel Jeremiah 532 Murray, Colonel John , 506 465 O. 499 Oliver, Brindlcy S. 497 Oliver, Daniel 528 Oliver, Dr. Peter . 452 Oliver, Governor Andrew PAGE 518 457 592 462 504 485 489 467 560 473 474 502 547 454 499 503 502 537 528 487 548 517 523 552 490 543 466 466 485 451 492 550 510 511 462 ^- '11 VVi 'W' .:i' iff" M fill i' t: Xll CONTENTS. i PA OB Oliver, Governor Thomas 515 Oliver, Judge Andrew . 48S Oliver, Judge Peter 516 Oliver, Peter, Jr. . 551 Orne, Timoiliy 504 Otis, Hon. S. Allyne . 535 Oxnard, Edward . 508 P. Paine, Judge Robert T. 461 Paine, Dr. William 551 Pnxton, Charles . 537 Pepperell, Gen. Sir William 449 Peppereil, Sir William . 526 Pcpperclls ofKittery 581 Phips, Colonel David . 527 Porter, Sanuiel 510 Peters, Rev. Dr. Samuel A. . 504 Pickering, Hon. Timothy 477 Pickman, (Jolonel Benjamin . 512 Poynton, Captain Thomas . 515 Prince, Dr. John . 467 Putnam, Judge James . 514 Putnam, James, Jr. 552 Pynchon, William 487 a. Quincy, Hon. Samuel . 463, 561 S. PA OK Sackville, Lord . . .525 SaKontitall, Col. Richard . 548 Sargent, John . . . 492 Sewall, Judge Jonathan . 463 Sewall, Samuel . • . 506 Shippen, Dr. William . . 485 Shirley, Gov. William . . 450 Simpson, .Tonatlian . . 493 Smith, Judge William . . 501 Smith, Rev. Isaac . . . 465 Sparhawk, Samuel H. . . 497 T. Temple, Robert . . .497 Thompson, Benjamin . . 497 Troutbcck, Rev. J. . .611 U. Upham, Judge Joshua . . 519 Vassal!, John . . . 515 Vassall, William . . . 547 Vuughan, Col. William . 452 W. • Waldo, Francis 518 R. Ward, Richard 533 Reed, CJencral Joseph . 486 WatorluHise, Samuel . . 513 Robie, Thomas 191 Wilkins, Rev. Dr. Isaac 555 Robinsons of Now- York 593 Willurd, Abel 521 Ropes, Judge .\athaniel 493 Willard, Colonel Abijah 520 Routli, Ricliard . 493 Wentworth, Gov. Sir John 501 Rogers, Samuel . 513 Williams, Elijah . 528 Rogers, JiTcniiah D. 552 Williams, Selli 543 Royal, Gciit'i'al Isaac 523 Winslow, Edward, Jr. . 543 Ruggles, Gi-neral Timothy 503 Winslow, Pelham . 548 Rumlbrd, Count . 197 Winthrop, Admiral Robert 528 Russell; JuJgi; Cliambcrs 516 Winthrop, Gov. Thos. L. 531 Russell, Dr. (.'harlcs 513 Wiswall, Rev. John 511 TIlEl Stricture^ Vindicatil charged List of 0| when o| tionistsJ List of thq Browne, C Bull, Gov. Cunningha i( (( Drayton, I; Fairfax, Bi « G " H Hopton, Jo Hume, Ho Jones, Adn Leigh, Sir Pickens, G( Powell, Cc Stokes, He Stuart, Ho Tcnnent, I Wragg, H Wright, S Zubly, Job CONTENTS, XIU THE PRESENT EDITION CONTAINS THE FOLLOWINO ADDITIONAL Strictures on the received History of the Revolution in the South, Vindication of Col. Browne, a Georgian Loyalist, againct atrocities charged upon him in our history, List of Officers who declined signing the Articles of Association when offered them by the General Committee of the Revolu- tionists, ...••..•.. List of the Loyalists proscribed by the General Assembly of South Carolina, " " Citizens who congratulated Sir Henry Clinton on the fall of Charleston, ....... Citizens who served as volunteers in the Royal Militia. Citizens who congratulated Gen. Earl Cornwallis, Those who held Commissions under the Royal Gov- ernment, . " " Those who avowed their allegiance to His Britannic Majesty and manifested themselves inveterate ene- mies to the State, ....... BIOGRAPHIC NOTICES. Browne, Col. Thomas of Georg'ia, . Bull, Gov. William, of South Carolina, . Cunningham, Col. Patrick, of South Carolina, K (( U (C t( (( Gen. Robert, do. do. do. " Major William, Drayton, Hon. William Henry, Fairfax, Bryan (Lord) of Virginia, " George William, do. " Hon. Col. William, do. " Thomas, (Lord) do. Hopton, John, Esq. of South Carolina, Hume, Hon. John of Georgia, Jones, Admiral John Paul, of Virginia, . Leigh, Sir Egerton Bart, of South Carolina, Pickens, General, .... Powell, Col. Robert William, of South Carolina, Stokes, Hon. Anthony, of Georgia, . Stuart, Hon. John, of South Carolina, Tennent, Rev. Wm. do. Wragg, Hon. Wm. do. Wright, Sir James, Bart., Governor of Georgia, Zubly, John J., D. D. of Georgia, . PAGE 618 649 668 670 671 671 672 672 672 648 657 618 637 638 661 603 602 601 605 663 664 611 659 662 662 664 659 660 665 658 664 i I t u • I !# 'I The f tion of an It is g tion, and " tooth of portion of The fo Esq., in t\ liberal spi in a promi ticular refc . " It is 1 we should upon our n did not par ful struggli only for t'x is too close Revolution, and charact which som( their descen as natives o — and as n whose virtu( they have u any injury t( PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The favorable reception of this work has induced the publica- tion of an enlarged edition. It is gratifying to the editor that his labors have attracted atten- tion, and drawn others into this fruitful field to rescue from the " tooth of time " documents and letters illustrative of this neglected portion of our history, and embody them in a less ephemeral form. The following extract from a notice of this work byW. Smith, Esq., in the Southern Review of July, 1843, is introduced for its liberal spirit and the contrast it bears to the sentiments expressed in a prominent Eastern Review, to which hereinafter a more par- ticular reference will be had. • " It is not to be expected," says Mr. Smith, " that as a nation we should cherish with any popular fondness or pride, and blazon upon our republican escutcheons, the memories of those men who did not participate with the heroes of our Revolution in the success- ful struggle which achieved our independence, but were notable only for tVeir opposition to its measures. At the same time there is too close a tie existing between us and the native loyalists of the Revolution, for us not to feel a portion of sympathy in their histories and character. We do not allude so much to the private interest which some among us might more especially have, who may be their descendants, but more particularly to the public claim, which, as natives of the same land — professing the same attachment to it — and as men, many of them eminent in our provincial annals,, whose virtues reflected honor upon their country and humanity, they have upon us generally. We may very well, without doing any injury to our patriotic sentiments, reserve a share of generous d^ 'it' Iw II PREFACE TO THE SECOND F. DITION, I I and manly sympathy for the misguided and imfortunalc * in the times that tried inen^s souls ;^ whom wc believe to have hcen ac- tuated by pure and high motives, by their best judgment of their country's good, and by a fearless devotion to their principles. " A more trying situation cannot be imagined than that in which the recusant loyalist was placed, who found himself, amid an opposing current of popular opinion, subjected to the fierce violence or harsh decrees of party rage or necessity, and forced to the alter- native of either recanting and abandoning his principles or becoming a martyr. And if, on the one hand, we admire and are proud of recalling to recollection the noble chivalry which graced our fathers and bore them triumphantly through a contest in which the odds appeared so greatly against them ; we may, on the other, pay a just tribute of respect and honor to the cliarincter of those who acted also from lofty impulses, whose only transgression was a difference of political opinion, and whose hearts as patriots, in their view of things, must have deeply bled at the dangers with which Iheir country was threatened, and at their cruel exile from it and all that it contained which they held most dear." " The loyalist who honestly believed that America would be happier under the government of the mother country, or who saw in the disaffection of his countrymen only the rebellious overthrow of law and order, — a weak attempt at resistance, without the pros- pect of success, the consequence of which would be, in all proba- bility, a disgraceful submission to British authority, under terms more onerous than those which were in disputation, would be doing but his duty to oppose, in the first instance, measures in his opinion fraught only with evil and wrong ; but such a course was no doubt a source of secret chagrin and bitter discontent afterwaulsto many, who, in their unfortunate banishment, humiliated by the reverses of fortune, insulted by the taunts and revilings cast upon Ameri- cans, perplexed by their own mistakes of judgment, and brooding with feelings of wounded pride over the injuries sustained at the hands of their countrymen, must have been harassed by opposite anxieties and conflicting sentiments — at one lime flattering them- selves that their wisdom would be manifest, and America, subdued and repentant, return to her allegiance, to a just sense of her real interest an at another ability of anticipate Thefo otic Carol may nobly and fastidi can Revie by Charles States. The re Massachus officers all the gradui most of th at the com vered in tl cation of t the objects lion relati' Efforts of 1 and all wi known, it planted aft of their pr remedy. Britain, Ih lonial vassi accorded t of their pr at last unp Araonr there were Upham, S( either Go\ PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Ill interest and security — a close connexion with the mother country ; — at another, cherishing in secret ami with pride the belief of the in- ability of England to overcome America, and appearing even to anticipate the actual issue of the contest." The foregoing sentiments, worthy of a warm-hearted and patri- otic Carolinian, whose home was a battlefield of the revolution, may nobly be contrasted with the following extracts from a frigid ^ and fastidious criticism of this work, contained in the North Ameri- \j can Review of January, 1843, understood to have been contributed by Charles F. Adams, Esq., a son of the ex-president of the United States. The reviewer states that " Nearly all of the judicial bench (of Massachusetts), most of the leading members of the bar, all the officers attached to the custom-house, a considerable number* of the graduates of Harvard College, many leading merchants, and most of the fashionable gentry, must be ranked upon the tory side at the commencement of the struggle. Comparatively few perse- vered in their principles at the cost of banishment and the confis- cation of their property. But some did so, and it has been one of the objects of the editor of this book to gather in it such informa- tion relative to their fate as might still be of general interest. Efforts of the same kind have lately been made in other quarters, and all with indifferent success. Probably if their history were known, it would be comprised in few words. Like trees trans- planted after they have attained maturity, they experienced a blight of their prosperity and vigor which no length of time could entirely remedy. The most fortunate repaired to other possessions of Great Britain, there to contribute to the formation of new systems of co- lonial vassalage, in return for the royal bounty not very graciously accorded to them ; while the remainder struggled on, in the home of their preference, with insult and neglect while living, and died at last unpitied and unknown." Among those styled by the reviewer as " the most fortunate" there were from his own neighborhood Leonard, Blowers, Bliss, Upham, Sewall, Putnam, Browne, Wentworth, and Chipman, all either Governors or Chief Justices of British provinces, besides I** <••'; ln*i ' U'k Upwards of sixty of these were banished. — Ed. IV PRKFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION, many Judges, all of whose'naincs arc emblazoned in capitals on the catalogue of Mr. Adams's alma mater, and who have, in sev- eral instances, been succeeded in their high stations by their pos- terity : — and as for the remainder, to which he refers as having " struggled on with insult and negled^^'' many were ennobled ; and we are as much at loss to understand how their place of banish- ment could have been " the home of their preference" as that such loyalists as Sir Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford), Isaac lloyall, and William Erving (of whose generous bequests to Har- vard College our reviewer has availed himself), could have " died unpitied and unknown .T^* Mr. Adams goes on to say that " much allowance :;hould be made for the influence which iny fa- vorite pursuit will have in vitiating the judgment of the purton engaged in it. But to excuse such cases, that judgment should at least be seen to be always sound where the peculiar bias is not strong enough to prevent its action. We do not perceive that this is the fact with Mr. Ward. The error which he commits in the preface (in stating that the loyalists were in many instances not the less actuated by lofty principles than those who embraced the popu- lar opinions of the day), re-appears in almost every page of his composition in the volume; and it is for that reason we feel that we must do our best Lu expose it. He surely need not be told that his doctrine, if adopted, would destroy the standard of right and wrong in public conduct completely." whigs- X " If the editor had only claimed for the refugees honesty in the maintenance of their opinions, we should have had no disposition whatever, in many instances, to dispute it. But when Mr. Ward goes farther, and says that the loyalists were actuated by principles not less lofty than those w no embraced the popular opinions of the day, &c., we must demur to the use of th- wom < hfty,' so ap- plied, as well as to any omparison being r^ailc t .'■ '/otween .u classes thus brought together." Mr. Adams admits that " some of the loyalists persevered in * For an account of those noble foundations, the " Rumford,''^ ^^ Roy- all," and " Erving" profossorsliips, see Quincy's History of the Univer- Hity, PREFACE T(^ THE HKCOND EDITION, their principles at the o I nf hanishmf»f and the confiscation of their property,^* aiul we would ask if the molivt'S to such sacrifice* could have been ignobli ? Mr. Adams says, " Of Gov. Hutchinson, a& a man, we cannot entertain the exalted opinion wlii( !i the editor exprt'sst>. We be- lieve that he was respectable in private life, but selfish, grasping, and profligate, as a politician. Above all, we know that he was Ijorn an American, had been cradled in the nursery of repi; jlican l-r-nciples, had raised himself to general consideration among his Jellows by the support of them, and that he sacrificed them for a mess of pottage." Surely Mr. Adams never read his grandfather's Novanglus in reply to his antagonist, wherein he says, " What does Massachuset- tensis mean by independence ? Does he mean independent of Great Britain, and an independent government in America'? No doubt he intended the undistinguishing should understan him so. If he did, nothing can be more wicked, or a greater slan!d( ' on the whigs — because he knows there is not a man in the province unong the whigs, or ever was, who harbors a wish of that sort." Mr. Adams well knows that Mr. Hutchinson relinquishei with great reluctance the oflice of Chief Justice (which he had filled to universal acceptance), and assumed the executive governmeii t, at the certain sacrifice of his popularity, and also that he afterwards refused a Baronetcy, which satisfied the world generally of the sincerity of his principles. And as we look in vain through lis history for proof " that he was a selfish, grasping, profligate politi- cian," we are constrained to impute the harshness of Mr. Adams's observations to obdurate and unyielding prejudice, imbibed from those by whom his political principles and habits of thought have probabh been moulded. It is too painful to comment upon all the narrow views taken by the reviewer in his elaborate article, and it is unnecessary, as they are without doubt exclusively his own ; since we notice with pride, among others, the following remarks on an analogous sub- ject, in a subsequent number of the distinguished journal which contained his critique:* " Look, then, at the conduct, the speeches, and the writings of ♦ North Am. Review, April, 1844. f VI PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. the earlier patriots, the proper * fatliers of the revolution,' — of such men as James Otis, John Dickinson, and Dr. Franklin. They all boasted of the connexion of the country with England, and gloried in the title of British subjects ; they were strongly attached to the land which they still called their 'home;' they acknowledged the duty of allegiance to the crown, and spoke with the gloomiest apprehensions of measures for a separation that might be forced upon them, if the ministry persisted in their schemes. The General Court of Massachusetts, in a memorial against the ' Sugar Act,' which they transmitted to their agent in England in the summer of 1764, declared, that ' the connexion between Great Britain and her Colonies is so natural and strong, as to make their mutual hap- piness depend upon their mutual support. Nothing can tend more to the destruction of both, and to forward the measures of their enemies, than sowing the seeds of jealousy, animosity, and dissen- sion between the mother country and the Colonies.' James Otis, in his ' Rights of the British Colonies,' published the same year, writes thus : ' We all think ourselves happy under Great Britain. We love, esteem, and reverence our mother country, and adore our king.' As late as July, 1774, John Dickinson, * the Pennsylvania Farmer,' wrote the ' instructions ' presented by the deputies of sev- eral counties in Pennsylvania to their representatives in the General Assembly, from which we make the following extract : — " ' We well know that the Colonists are charged by many per- sons in Great Britain, with attempting to obtain such an exclusion [of any power of parliament over these Colonies], and a total inde- pendence of her. As well we know the accusation to be utterly false. We can safely appeal to that Being from whom no thought can be concealed, that our warmest wish and utmost ambition is, that we and our posterity may ever remain subordinate to and depend- ent upon our parent state. This submission our reason approves, our affection dictates, our duty commands, and our interest enforces.' " Mr. Adams seems to coincide in opinion with " the sons of lib- erty," referred to in the Life of Hamilton, 2d vol., p. 260, " through whose proceedings intolerance sought to conceal its deformity un- der the mask of the demagogue." The editor of that valuable work goes on to say, that " The proscribed loyalists from New York petitioned for permission to return — this was a moment mag- PBI nanimity woi Governor in into the popu General loyalist, upon « The friends no diminutior the rectitude of yours, Ian of the creed General a proclamati( and signify t triot, John Jj York Confisc George Clint tains what tl fiscation Act too palpable pher of Mr. unfortunately ■with strong i one in which while he wa the loyalists of ptmishwi should be cc been either | attainted wh lives of ava purchasing On refer find that the ion's sake, Morris. We tak is probably could not 71 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. VII 14 i nanimity would have embraced to shield the defenceless, but the Governor in his opening speech threw the weight of his influence into the popular scale, and they were rejected." General Washington thus addressed his friend Bryan Fairfax, a loyalist, upon obtaining for him permission to retreat to England : " The friendship which I ever professed and felt for you met with no diminution from the difference in our political opinions. I knew the rectitude of my own sentiments, and believing in the sincerity of yours, lamented, although I did not condemn, your renunciation of the creed I had adopted." General Washington also recommended Congress to authorize a proclamation of pardon to such of the refugees as would return and signify their allegiance to their native country. That pure pa- triot, John Jay, was American Minister to Madrid when the New- York Confiscation Act of 1779 was passed. In a letter to Gov. George Clinton, dated May, 1780, he says, " An English paper con- tains what they call, but which I can hardly believe to be, your Con- fiscation Act. If truly printed, New-York is disgraced by injustice too palpable to admit even of palliation." Upon this the biogra- pher of Mr. Jay remarks — " The Confiscation Act referred to, was unfortunately authentic. Mr. Jay, in after life, often spoke of it •with strong indignation. He regarded the dispute with Britain as one in which men might conscientiously take opposite sides ; and while he was ever ready to take all proper measures for preventing the loyalists from injuring the American cause, he abhorred the idea of punishing them for their opinions. His wish was that no estate should be confiscated except such as belonged to those who had been either perfidious or cruel. By the act alluded to, many were attainted who had been perfectly inoffensive, and he believed mo tives of avarice had led to their proscription. He always declined purchasing any property that had been confiscated by this law." On reference to this confiscation act, page 580 of this work, we find that the estates of the following ladies were forfeited for opin- ion's sake, viz,, Margaret Inglis, Susannah Robinson, and Mary Morris. We take leave of Mr. Adams with the single remark that he is probably almost the only person conversant with our history that could not now join Mr. Gallatin in the noble sentiment he uttered vni PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION, in the Legislative Halls of Pennsylvania more than three score years ago, when advocating a bill which permitted the loyalist refugees to return, viz., " If patriotism be a virtue, loyalty is no less so." We close our preface by stating that the extent of the trans- gression of these loyalists was their retreat from troubles which, to their foreboding minds, were fast approaching. This was con- strued into high treason, and for it they were attainted, pro- scribed as conspirators, their property confiscated, and themselves banished. They maintained their allegiance to the government de facto and de jure, and obeyed the only laws then in force; and were absentees long before a government to which treason could apply had been created. No men were more sensible than these refugees of the nature and extent of the grievances of which the colonists had cause to complain, but were of opinion that redress might have been ob- tained without an appeal to arms. G. A. WARD Niw-York, August 1, 1844 fl The ver South has c al matter re lutionary m^ The pro surpassed th ular prejudi nowhere has North Amer last entirely this work of ing remarks « And b doubt that I and hundrer of country, i and sound-h themselves J pectations o private worl peeled and s ther, ' thoug tiles upon tl holy as this perils as ak great refori V ■fl > I •.. i'-'A PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. The very flattering encouragement given by friends at the South has called forth this edition, which comprises much addition- al matter relating exclusively to Southern Loyalists and the revo- lutionary movements in that quarter. The progress of liberal opinions towards the Loyalists has far surpassed the anticipations of the Editor when he first braved pop- ular prejudice by pressing their claims upon the public. And nowhere has this been more apparent than in the pages of the North American Review. This distinguished journal for October last entirely recants the sentiments expressed in the first review of this work of January 1843, and contains amongst others the follow- ing remarks : " And be the popular sentiment now what it may, we cannot doubt that Harrison Gray, Peter Van Schaick, Richard Salstontall, and hundreds of others, were actuated by a purer and stronger love of country, than were many who will go down to posterity as true and sound-hearted patriots. Men who give up home, who separate themselves from kindred, who surrender all the happiness and ex- pectations of life in order to become exiles, — if of distinguished private worth, — are never to be stigmatized, but always to be res- pected and sometimes venerated. ' I will go to Worms,' said Lu- ther, ' though I were certain to meet as many devils as there are tiles upon the houses.' Impelled by a sense of duty as high and as holy as this, some of the Loyalists abandoned their firesides to brave perils as alarming to them as any which beset the path of that great reformer. Why did you come here, when you and your i'i^lu^^i '■^i n ■ i- '> ■• r'. s A V: •*'{ i 'i X PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. associates were almost certain to endure the sulTerings and absolute want of shelter and food which you have narrated ? asked an American gentleman of one of the first settlers of St. Johns, New Brunswick, a man whose life, which has just ended, was without a stain. ' Why did we come here /' replied he, with emotion which brought tears — * For our loyalty ! Think you that our principles were not as dear to us as yours to you V Will not even the prejudiced own that faithfulness to conscience is always a great virtue — never a sin ? " Those who have not been at the pains to investigate will be surprised to learn that (he opponents of the revolution were power- ful in all the thirteen colonies ; and that in some of them they were nearly if not quite equal in number to its friends. * * * * * * Of Massachusetts it may be remarked, that a large proportion of her people who opposed the revolution were persons of consideration, and many of them were eminent for virtue, were blessed with fine talents, and afterwards obtained distinguished pla- ces in the annals of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The divi- sion of parties in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, was much the same as Massachusetts. New- York was the strong hold of the loyalists, and contained more of them than any other colony. In some of the southern colonies, the loyalists were al- most as numerous as in New-York, while in all they comprised a most formidable body. " That there were occasions when the royal generals obtained twelve or fifteen hundred recruits among the inhabitants, merely by issuing a call upon them to stand to their allegiance" — that " all who calmly examine the events which led to General Lincoln's surrender of Charleston, must be satisfied that the inhabitants of the city and vicinity, as a body, preferred that both the American army and the city should fall into British hands ;" — that "few of the Carolinians would enlist under the American banner; but after the capitulation they flocked to the royal standard by hundreds. " It may be asked ' why, when the oppressions of the mother country were so flagrant and apparent, there was no greater unanimity than from what wc have now said appears to have* ex- isted ; and why a party so large in numlers, which in many colo- nies included persons so respectable and hitherto so universally esteemed, British dor " It ha quarrel va^ the name ( resisting a Vance of t sides at th nounced b; compelled "Agaii pendence 1: in many ca were drive terminated replies, th< enough to « The to be won bars of a ( doings of * sons of in er,' upon \ the soverei the Whigs was ' to be tarring, bu dom' gam Sheriff Ty back who an excited furniture, fi promoted 1 Berkshire, drove awa Because in in another were requii I PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. XI esteemed, was seemingly, or in fact, averse to breaking away from British dominion V " It has been answered, that few foresaw the issue to which the quarrel must come. It has been said also, that those who received the name of Tories were not at first, nor indeed for some years, resisting a revolution, but striving to preserve order, and an obser- vance of the rights of person and property ; that many who took sides at the outset as mere conservators of the peace, were de- nounced by those whose purposes they thwarted, and were finally compelled in pure self-defence to accept royal protection. "Again, it has been stated that had the naked question of inde- pendence been discussed at the beginning, and before minor and in many cases local events had shaped their course, many who were driven forth to live and die as aliens and outcasts, would have terminated their career far differently. That there is force in these replies, the unprejudiced minds of this generation should be frank enough to admit. " The wise man of Israel said, * A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.' That many were needlessly * offended' by the doings of persons who took to themselves the sacred names of ' sons of liberty,' we shall not hesitate to declare. What * broth- er,' upon whose vision the breaking up of the colonial system, and the sovereignty of America had not dawned, and ".ho saw, as even the Whigs professed to see, with the eyes only of a British subject, was * to be won' over to the right by the arguments of mobbing^ tarring, burning, and smoking ? Did the cause of human ' free- dom' gain strength by the deeds of the five hundred who mobbed Sheriff Tyng, or by the speed of the hundred and sixty on horse- back who pursued Commissioner Hallowell 1 Were the shouts of an excited multitude, and the crash of broken glass and demolished furniture, fit requiems for the dying Ropes ? W^ere Whig interests promoted because one thousand men shut up the courts of law in Berkshire, and five thousand did the same in Worcester, and mobs drove away the judges at Springfield, Taunton and Plymouth 1 Because in one place a judge was stopped, insulted and threatened ; in another the whole bench were hissed and hooted, and in a third were required to do penance, hat in hand, in a procession of attor- IS,'. • (,; ! j II t H <»•»■ rM I. " i- -i na. xu PREFACE TO THE TH5RD EDITION. !l !• neys and sheriffs? Did the driving of Ingersoll from his estate, of Edson from his house, aiid the assault upon the house of Gilbert, and the shiverinsf of Sewall's windows, serve to wean them or their friends from their allegiance ? Did Ruggles, when subsequent events threw his countrymen into his power, forget that the crea- tures which grazed his pastures had been painted, shorn, maimed and poisoned — (hat he had been pursued on the highway day and night — that his house had been broken open, and his family had been driven from it ? What Tory turned Whig because Saltonstall was mobbed, and Oliver plundered, and Leonard shot in his own bouse ? Was the kingly arm actually weakened or strengthened for harm, because thousands surrounded the mansions of high func- tionaries, and forced them into resignation ; or because sheriffs were told that they would perform their duties ai the risk of their lives ? Which party gained by waylaying and insulting at every corner the * Rescinders," ' Protesters,' and the ' Addressers V Which by burning the mills of Putnam ? Had the widows and orphans no additional griefs because the Probate courts were closed by the Multitude, and their officers were driven under British guns ? Did it serve a good end to endeavor to hinder Tories from getting ten- ants, or to prevent persons who owed them from paying honest debts ? On whose cheek should have been the blush of shame when the habitation of the aged and feeble Foster was sacked, and he had no shelter but the woods — when Williams, as infirm as he, was seized at night, dragged away for miles and smoked in a room with fastened doors and a closed ehimnoy top ? What father who doubled, wavered and doubted still, whether to join or fly, deter- mined to abide the issue in the land of his birth, because foul words were spoken to his daughters, or because they were pelted when riding or moving in the innocent dance ? " It may be well to remark that these outrages were committed before the shedding of blood, and while both parties occupied, os- tensibly at least, common ground ! We have seen enough of the operations and tendencies of the colonial system, modified even as it now is, to entertain for it the heartiest abhorrence. But the mobs, and the warfare waged against persons at their own homes, about their lawful avocations, in order to overthrow it, are to be severely and unconditionally condemned. ♦ ♦ # # ■:' and unjustl; ery others, Washingto We repeat every act v opinion's s£ * * "How hitherto ne{ had been w France ant poured out have been s them wouU things and ( would have The Ed and the ever full justice t from ignorai the loyalists his labors ir PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. xm I A ***** The whigs not only dealt harshly with many and unjustly with some of their opponents, but they doomed to mis- ery others, whose hearts and hopes had been as true as those of Washington himself. •»•»*•**** We repeat, that we cannot condemn too often, or too severely, every act which punished men in any form, or to any extent, for opinion's sake — which denied to all the right of conscience. "How ill-judged were the steps that drove the loyalists to the hitherto neglected possessions of the British crown ! Nova Scotia had been won and lost, and lost and won, in the struggles between France and England; and the blood of New England had been poured out upon its soil like water. * * * The loyalists should have been suffered to remain in the land of their birth. Most of them would have easily fallen into respect for the new state of things and obedience to the new laws, and long before this time all would have mingled with the mass." The Editor is convinced that a true history of the revolution and the events immediately preceding it, only are wanting to render full justice to the losing party in that great political contest ; that from ignorance alone have proceeded most of the prejudices against the loyalists — ^and to him it is a great source of satisfaction that his labors in their behalf have not been in vain. G. A. WARD. Mw-York, May 1, 1845. •n. • \i H IN The pate Journal and ' many centur'n berland, in t Workington ancestor, was his residence chusetts Bay, long life. H active and ei his adopted t( of the colon; Indian wars t ments of Nev savage foe. years, leaving the provincial by William i of the provi George Cur\\ author : he g institution in pastor of a cl of thirty-five * The otthoi varied at dili'ei his visit to En{! INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR n The paternal ancestry of Samuel Curwen, the author of the Journal and Correspondence now submitted to the public, were for many centuries amongst the leading families in the county of Cum- berland, in the north of England, where the family seat, named Workington Hall, still remains. George Curwin, his immediate ancestor, was an early emigrant to New England, having established his residence in 1638 at Salem, in the then recent colony of Massa- chusetts Bay, where he continued to reside during the residue of a long life. He was highly esteemed by his contemporaries, for his active and energetic character, and for several years represented his adopted town in the " General Court," or legislative assembly of the colony. He also commanded a squadron of horse in the Indian wars that spread desolation throughout the frontier settle- ments of New England, and assisted in checking the inroads of the savage foe. He died at Salem in 1685, at the age of seventy-four years, leaving a large estate. His son, Jonathan Corwin,* was of the provincial council named in the Massachusetts charter granted by William and Mary in 1691, and a judge of the superior court of the province; he married a daughter of Sir Htnry Gibbs. George Curwin, a fruit of this connection, was the father of our author : he graduated at Harvard College, (then the only collegiate institution in British America,) in 1701, and was for a short period pastor of a church at Salem. He died in 1717, at the early age of thirty-five years. * The orthography of this name, like '.hat of inanv others, seems to have varied at dilforent periods, both in England and America; our author after his visit to Enghmd wrote it Ctirwfti. I \ i H ' \ ■ J j ,1 H \^ ■iL M' r-.,i' s^ f" ■m 1.' \i u •'!li 10 INTK onUCTOK Y M IC M O I R The. subject of this momoir was horn in 1715, ;inil gradtialod at Harvard Collr^o in IT.'Jf) ; ho suhscqiicntly pursued the usual course of preparatory studies for the churcl), hut his health prov- ing inadequate to the labours of the profession, he was obliged to reliiuiuish the design. Disapjiointrnent in an afTair of the heart induced hiin to travel in England and on the Continent, and the following letter to his only brother, then temporarily absent, shows the melancholy state of his mind at that time. TO (;k()R(;i'. cuuvvin. Salnn, UUli July, 1738. Sunday evening. Dkar (iKOKoi': : It will no doubt be somewhat surprising and unexpected to hear of my being gone, especially at such a time as (hiS, the reason of which may not perhaps be so proper to tell you by litter j but if I could have had the happiness of informing you mo:e fully in person, I should have done so. Besides the extreme hurry and other con- curring circumstances forbid it. Had I not engagttl too far to retreat, I know not whether the various rumours spread abroad had not stopped me. Yet extremities, you know, often dispose one to that which otherwise would not hivt been undertaken. To say no more, I am gone, and God alone, ihr sovereign disposer of all things, knows the issue ; no human prudence is equal to the uncer- tainty of events. I have to recpiest you never to credit the least report or give ear to what people say concerning me, (censure now-a-days being the delight as well as the chiefcst quality of the generality of mankind,) as my affairs arc not understood by any one. Show Madam Lynde and Mr. Benjamin Lynde all imaginable respect ; they have expressed much greater good will than any one else, therefore omit no opportunity of thanks to them and Mr. William liynde, who has undertaken a great service for me. Let not any former misunderstandings hinder your freely conversing togc^ther ; it will, I can assure you, be your fault alone if it doth ; the business be has undertaken will necessarily lead to it, and I hope I have not chosen a person disagreeable to you. My will is in the hands of Mr. Benjamin Lynde, which I have ■made to f them in serve you ever conf dishonest and bono fitable pr breach o there is sons, whi in their fi The t tain, (altl curiosity 1 much Ion I On hit uprightne by the dc] the island her comm resolved ii hazards, romantic 1744-5 ; raissary, some four Pepperell French c outfit. The 1 reflected ! ♦ SeeS other consi Wl lias ave INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR 11 made lo secure Iho honor of the fiiniily, ami if possible to maintain thorn in some repute in case of your death ; — may (i(n\ long pre- serve you. My dealings with sundry persons have more fully than ever eonfirmcd me in the maxim to treat all persons as if they were dishonest; I mean no more than not to rely too much on their faith and honor ; too much good nature in common dealings is no pro- fitable principle now-a-days. Nor do I know whether it be a broach of Christian charity to suppose our New I'^nglanders such; there is most certainly a contracted selfish temper in most per- sons, which almost inclines one to think that justice and honor in their full latitude arc little understood. The time of my stay abroad, if there happens no war, is uncer- tain, (although I am not resolved at all hazards to gratify my curiosity by travelling ;) it may in that case be eight months, perhaps much longer ; otherwise I shall return in the same vessel. I am, dear George, in all respects, Your most aflfectionate brother, S. CuRWEiN. On his return, Mr. Curwen engaged in commercial pursuits with uprightness and success. His business was subsequently interrupted by the depredations of I'rcnch cruisers, fitted out from Louisburg in the island of Cape Kreton. New England sufTered immensely in her commerce from the same cause, and her enterprising people resolved upon the reduction of that stronghold of the enemy at all hazards. Accordingly, we find what was generally considered a romantic expedition set on foot for this purpose in the winter of 1744-5 ; and Mr. Curwen as a captain, and his brother as a com- missary, joined it. The command of this expedition, comprising some four thousand New England militia, was given to General Pepperell,* who having suffered largely from the depredations of French cruisers, advanced several thousand pounds towards the outfit. The result of the expedition was completely successful, and reflected great credit on the participators in it. The General was ♦ See Supplement for bio^raphicHl notices of Sir Willinm Pepperell ami other conspicuous persons whose names occur in lliis work. 19 INTRODUCTORY MKMOIR H » h I r '] created a baronet of Great Krilain, an honor never before conferred on a native of the North American provinces. The following are extracts from Mr. Curwen's journal kept during the campaign. " Boston, March 23, 1745. The General is embarking, and we shall sail this afternoon. Commoilorc Warren is coming to our assistance, which with the blessing of God will be of great advantage. There will go down in the first embarkation at least twenty-five hundred soldiers. Shccpscot, March 27. We have in our mess Mr. Walter,* our chaplain, who is a very pleasant companion. — I dined to-day on board of Capt. Grant, who to-morrow with Capt. King will breakfast with me.— -Our troops were landed at Chapcaurouge on the 29th March. Canso, Jlpril 17. Wrote home for provisions and stores to be sent in case the goods I expect shall arrive safe from England. — We are almost reduced to pork and pease. Our men-of-war and privateers are stationed all round the Island to prevent vessels going in or coming out. This evening an- other prize arrived, taken by Capt. Donahue, in the Swan of Mar- blehead, who behaved very bravely. The prize had captured the packet sent from Boston to Cansof to notify us that Commodore Warren was coming to our assistance, which heightens our spirits. Canso, Jlpril 22. Capt. Durell is come in this afternoon to our assistance ; as yet we have no news of Commodore W^arren ; hope it will not be long before he arrives with an account of the French men-of-war expected. Our last transport arrived this af- ternoon ; we had almost given her up. I believe our campaign will be short, and expect the place will surrender without bloodshed. Last night our chaplain and doctor went with two companies * Son of Rev. Nath. Walter of Roxbury ; his son Rev. Dr. William Walter, a proscribed refugee, became Dean of Sliolburne, Nova Scotia, re- turned to Boston in 1792 as rector of Christ Cliiircij, and died IbOO, M. 64. He married a daughter of Ch. Justice Lynde. t Canso or Canseau was taken by the French and Indians, the bouses were burnt and fisheries destroyed, the garrisun and inhabitants made pris- oners, and sent to Louisburg. to attack St. I long to I strangest cou Canso, liathrop haiK burg is altei Commod prove succt's; against our c harbour and I Camp b{ the Grand they spiked five of them are all in go the town. Commod he and all o selves. Yesterda ol our men. This mo St. Peter's, man. Prov paign will any thing f( Camp b ren has had past in ord( has always ordered the satisfied. Camp taken the ^ munition fi men, had thirty mer Captain T NTRODirCTOKY MEMOIB. 13 to nttack St. Peter's, and wo arc iiioinoiifly lookiriff for th« ir rtttirn. I long to be once within tlio vviills of Lmiisburg. This is thi* .stranj>cst coiintry I ever knew ; not two fair days to^clhtT. Canso, .Ijiiil 27. The Connecticut fleet ariived, and Col. liiithrop hatidi'd me my letter. Tiie scheme of attacking Louis- burg is altered every day. Cotntnodore Warren has arrived. I trust the expedition will prove successful, and that our friends will remember we are going against our common enemy. May 1st, a small party went to the harbour and burned a small (piaiitity of wine, l)ratidy, and naval stores. Camp before Louisbiirff, May G. We have got possession of the Grand liatlery; the French depai ted from it three days ago; they spikeil all the guns, but we have got seven of them clear, and five of them are continually playing upon the town. Our soldiers are all in good heart, and I doubt not in a few days we shall have the town. W^e have taken a gicat number of prisoners. Commodore Warren this day came ashore to visit the General ; he and all our officers have a good understanding among them- selves. Yesterday a gun at the Grand IJattery split and wounded five of our men. They now and then throw a bomb, but do no damage. This morning came in Col. Moulton with his detachment from St. Peter's, which they have demolished with the loss of but one man. Providence has signally smiled, and I doubt not the cam- paign will be crowned with success. I am willing to undergo any thing for the good of our cause. Camp before Louisbnrg, May 12, 1745. Commodore W^ar- ren has had two hundred marines and sailors ashore for three days past in order to attack the Island battery, but something or other has always prevented its accomplishment, so the Commodore has ordered therj all aboard and gone on board himself not a little dis- satisfied. Camp before Louisburg, May 26. Commodore W^arren has taken the Vigilante, a 64 gun ship from France, coming with am- munition for this garrison. She was manned with five hundred men, had five hundred barrels gunpowder on board: she lost thirty men before she struck. The command of her is given to Captain Douglass, who before had the Mermaid, and Capt Mon- !J 1^ } '1 1";i i t I' ' h ill 14 INTRODUCTORY H K M O 1 R ■|» fl ta"-uc is to havo llic Moiuiaid. This has (riven new life to nil our officers and soldiers. Capt. Gayton is safely arrived at last, whieh afTords great joy, for we almost despaired of him, being out so long after all the transports had arrived that left under his convoy. Capt. Fleteher has had the misfortune to lose ten men by the Indians; seven killed, and three taken prisoners. They went ashore ten miles above where we lay to get wood, and keeping no guard, were beset by the Indians and out ofF. Camp h^for:'. Jjmishurg, June 2ri. We have made an attempt upon the Island battery, and failed. Abbot, a townsman of mine, was wounded in the leg, and I fear he will lose his life. — An hun- dred men are missing, and we are in hopes they are taken, as two boats laden with men were seen going into the town after the attack, when the French gave three hurrahs. Young Gray is dead, and three of Capt. Grant's men are missing, all of vSalem. Our scouts have had an engagement with a number of French and Indians which we routed ; killed thirty and wounded forty; we lost but six killed ; among them is the brave Capt. Dimmock, of Barnstable, nd twenty wounded, some very dangerously. Our men got under the very walls before the French fired a gun. Louishurg, June Yllh, 1745. The Governor, aware of our preparations for a general assault, thought it best to capitulate, and has just surrendered the city to our arms. Louishurg, July 2bth, 1745. An East India ship, worth at least .£2(10,000 sterling, came off the harbour, and fired a gun for a pilot. The Commodore sent out two sixty gun ships, which came up with, and took her in three hours ; we had the pleasure from the walls to see her strike to them. Two others, sent out three weeks before her, bound hither, are hourly expected to heave in sight. Col. Graham goes to-morrow in a sloop as a flag of truce for Canada, with about thirty French prisoners; he is the only Englishman that goes in her. I am going on board Capt. Lovett to St. Peter's, with a number of my soldiers, to guard the wood-vessels going there : our affairs will soon be settled, and 1 shall, to my great joy, return home." Dkar Sir : I enclos hope will a idea of the before. I 1 tinned succt ramparts, a Mary^* and 23d, about i by the Islaii bor, by the placed oppc morning, th( sign, which mistake; fo received a I out firing a It is judged cost. She ! eighty-five 1 but no tea ( On the tial order, tl been buried began by sc five file, the which was went two d butt-ends ol eran sound, irregular ra sixty or sev Peter's for the militarj JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 14 A TO HENRY GIBBS, ESQ., SALEM Louishurgh, July 25, 1745. Dear Sir : I enclose you a rough draught of the Island-Battery, which I hope will afford you some pleasure. It may perhp.is give you some idea of the place which the day before yesterday I saw, and not before. I have the great pleasure to congratulate you on our con- tinued success, in taking a rich East India Ship, which, upon the ramparts, about three thousand of us saw strike to the " Princess Mary" and " Canterbury." She appeared in sight on Monday, the 23d, about middle P. M. She fired for a pilot, and was answered by the Island-Battery with French colors, as the ships in the har- bor, by the commodore's order, laid to, until the " Vigil," which is placed opposite the mouth, came up as a decoy. Early the next morning, the two ships above-mentioned went out with the white en- sign, which the Frenchman laid to for, and too late discovered her mistake ; for, being surrounded by the English ships, after having received a broadside from the "Princess Mary," she yielded with- out firing a gun ; her cargo cost in India about je75,000 sterling. It is judged to be worth one hundred and fifty per cent, above the cost. She has on board thirty tons of pepper, eight hundred and eighty-five bales of muslin, and other very valuable commodities, but no tea or porcelain. On the 23d, Mr. Rolleau, an engineer, was buried in mar- tial order, the second of the sort since my arrival, a marine having been buried in this manner about a week since. The procession began by soldiery, with arms reversed, two and two, about twenty- five file, then the corpse, with a standard on the coffm, on top of which was placed a drawn sword. Three files before the corpse went two drummers, with drums unbraced, and beating with the butt-ends of their sticks, at proper pauses, whcih made a most sol- emn sound. Then went the general and suite, in a most confused, irregular manner. I am this day going out with a detachment of sixty or seventy of our regiment, as a guard to twelve sloops to St. Peter's for wood for the garrison, being the third piece of duty of the military sort. I have no more news. :f ' fill f , i*jt •■.,( ■ ■ ' *'. .' I i "i- ! i ml hH ^.imi, f ■■' ' ' ''^ 'II' li^ i )i mill ■m I' i. (I 14 b JOURNAL AND LETTERS. Heartily wishing you success in business, health of body and tranquillity of mind, I remain your friend, and most obedient humble servant, Samuel Curwen. ■1 I M M M I I M I n III 1 IN A '^>)(*V®' Tlio emhrnsiiros on tlie front nre not more tlinn tlircc feet above the ground 1. Fronting inuutli of tlic liarbor, 22 embrasures, 21 guns, 36 and 48 pounders. 2. Barracks. W. Sally-ports. 4. Wall framed of timl)or, and covered with plank, and filled with stone and lime, in which is an embrasure with a 48 pounder. .'"). Wall, defended with two small swivels. 6. The place at which whale-boats might easily land 500 men. 7. One entire rock, perpendicular on the face, and absolutely impossible to be climbed. 8 Piquet of largo timber, fasiened by iron cinmps, drilled into the solid rock !( Coynmandants' aj)artnients, five feet high, 10, The gate under the wall, about four feet wide, formed like a common sally-port, i ot straight, but made an angle of 160 degrees. Ten men can prevent ten hundred making their way ; this wall has but four guns and two swivels. I paced th' island, and judged it to be about 56 yards wide and 150 lung, lit the widest :rt, uearl) Capt. CuinvE I have hac left us. — If no occasion will event of thcs( coming will or any particu fishery, settlen I hope Ne expedition, w enemy — how tors for the 1 good designs write on this our country ai of the expedit val and gooc assume their f larity ashore ; perhaps they tion on land, though don't As to occi losses ; — if thi We hear froi men-of-war, Indiamen. Ui they say Gen New-York tl doubted here, long war ; bi eminent has ( broke in on ( eastern Indiai New Englan hopeful and I INTRODUCTORY MKMOIR. 15 FROM WILLIAM LVNDE. Salem, July 27, 1745. Capt. Cukwen: I have had the pleasure of but one letter from you since you left us. — If no more East Indiamen, &c. drop in, yet a line on any occasion will be very agreeable. I should be glad to hour of the event of these ships being at Louisburg, and what effect their coming will have on the fleet, army, New England, the nation, or any particulars of them, or concerning Louisburg ; the French fishery, settlements on the island, &c., if not too troublesome to you. I hope New England will be the happier for the event of the expedition, which is known to have been too bold a stroke for your enemy — how it will turn out is doubtful, since many are competi- tors for the honor. We here assure ourselves of the Governor's good designs and influence on our part. I could say more than write on this article, and cannot but be sanguine for the honor of our country and friends, whose all was involved in the happy issue of the expedition. We hope daily to hear of the Governor's arri- val and good measures for the general advantage. The fleet assume their full share, from all accounts, and have much popu- larity ashore ; doubt not of the influence of omnipotent gold, which perhaps they have a greater share of, than of honor or jurisdic- tion on land. How you stand inclined yourself, I know not, though don't doubt your zeal for our country and friends. As to occurrences at Salem ; trade has been successful, and no losses ; — if the Dutch break this year, you know how "t will affect. We hear from New-York and via Lisbon of some five French men-of-war, designing for Cape Breton ; perhaps to convoy the Indiamen. Undoubtedly you may expect some via Lisl • advices ; they say Genoa has declared for the French and Spaniaru From New-York they say the Duke of Tuscany is Emperor, but it is doubted here. I believe there is matter enough in Europe for a long war ; but perhaps you have later news than we. Our gov- ernment has declared war against the Penobscot Indians, who have broke in on our new settlements ; so that we are at war with all eastern Indians ; they are doubtless put on by the French of Canada. New England has enough on her hands, though the season is hopeful and trade brisk. Some particulars I could give verbatim, iii I 16 INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR. It t 'V which I cannot write ; hope lo see you soon here, and spend sonne pleasant hours with you, as we have spent many past. Give ray hearty service to your brother and Capt. Grant. My brother* de- sires you would excuse his not writing by this opportunity. Capt. Ilillyer is now going to sail, having given but short notice. Believe me, dear Sir, your real i'riend, William Lynde. A late'writer thus describes'this expedition, which is among the most remarkable in our history—" The French had built a city and fortress on the island of Cape Breton, at immense cost, and of immense strength, which in honor of the King was called " Louis- burg." Their fisheries in the seas in its vicinity (as was ascer- tained by Mr. Kilby, as agent of Governor Shirley, of Massachu- setts), produced one million and four hundred thousand quintals annually, and they annoyed the colonial fishermen so much, that the fishing interest of Massachusetts and New Hampshire resolved on the destruction of Louisburg, and the expulsion of the French from the fishing grounds. Application was made to Gov. Shirley ac- cordingly, by Vaughan, a son of the Lt. Governor of New Hamp- shire, who was largely interested in the fisheries, and whose fisher- men had imparted to him valuable information as to the weak parts of its defences. The subject was considered in secret session, the first ever held in the Colonies. After much difficulty, and after having been negatived once, it was resolved to undertake the des- truction of this wonderful city. But the Colonies south of New England declined to aid in so mad an enterprise, though urged to do so ; and Dr. Franklin, as if forgetting that he * was Boston born,' ridiculed the project, in one of the wittiest letters that he ever wrote. The spirit of New England was up. A feeling something like that which caused the Crusades, prevailed among her people, high and low. Religion shouted " Popery" — and even White- field made a recruiting house of the sanctuary ; and he not only preached delenda est Carthago, but one of his followers actually joined the troop as chaplain, and carried an axe at the shoulder, with which to hew down the Catholic images in the churches of the fated city. On sailing, the troops were furnished with line and other gear to catch fish on the passage. The original plan of * Benjamin Lyndu, aCtcrwardd Cliief Justice Sup. Court. attack was n Pepperell w claimed to much to effe traordinary f though he v peace of 174 displeasure preceded the a second tim walls to rub self much, head of 800( the plains wl desolate. Its Twenty-five building it. six cannon w Six thousand the line and all called it 1 strength, it fi existed. Its after they b( cargoes wort visit it, and < existed at so city yielded most incredib which contai ' truth is som « The inf since. Whe embroiled wi to it were stil inspired wa Boston neck watch the pr INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR. 17 attack was not observed, but to the surprise of all, the city fell, and Pcpperell was rewarded most magnificently, while Vaughan, who claimed to have conceived its destruction, and who certainly did much to effect it, and was second in command and performed ex- traordinary feats of valor before it, was suffered to die neglected, though he went to London in person to press his claims. At the peace of 1749, Louisburg was restored to France, much to the displeasure of New England. In the war with France, which preceded the Revolution by about twenty years, it was captured a se^^ond time, and miners were sent from England to reduce its walls to rubbish. In its second capture, Wolfe distinguished him- self much. He sailed from this doomed city for Quebec, at the head of 8000 men, to rise from a sick bed, and ' die satisfied* on the plains which his name has made immortal. Louisburg is now desolate. Its walls were built of bricks brought from France. Twenty-five years and thirty millions of livres were spent in building it. It had nunneries, and palaces, and two hundred and six cannon were mounted to perpetuate French dominion over it. Six thousand troops garrisoned its fortress, and a fleet of ships of the line and frigates were moored in its waters. But yet. though all called it the " Dunkirk" of America, because of its exceeding strength, it fell — and now '.'. is almost unknown that such a place existed. Its captors, by keeping the flag of France in its place, after they became its masters, decoyed and captured ships and cargoes worth some millions of dollars, but now, none but fishermen visit it, and they for shelter and not for traffick. — That such a city existed at so early a period in our history, is a marvel ; that such a city yielded to the farmers and fishermen of New England, is al- most incredible. The lovers of the wonderful may read the works which contain accounts of its rise and ruin, and be satisfied that * truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.' " The influence of the expedition to Louisburg has been felt ever since. When, thirty years after it, the northern colonies became embroiled with the mother country, many of those who belonged to it were still alive. The confidence which their skill and success inspired was incalculable. — When Gen. Gage was fortifying Boston neck, the American people, whose curiosity led them to watch the progress of the works, used to say that ' Gage's mud 3 M f S •>!'■ 18 INTKOnUCTOKY MEMOIR !' walls are nothing to old Louisburg's.' ' The drum that beat along the road to Lexington,' said Edward Everett, ' had been at Louisburg.' This is literally true. Gridloy, who had laid out the works on Breed's or Bunker Ilill, on the night previous to the memorable 17lh of June, was the engineer of the colonial forces at the siege of Louisburg, — and many who rose to distinction in the Revolution, were associated with him in the same perilous enter- prise. In truth, the biographers and letters of the men of the Revolution, teem with incidents and allusions to this, — the great event of colonial history." Sonn after Mr. Cur wen's return from the reduction of Louisburg he resumed his mercantile pursuits, which were continued for many years with various success, yet he never failed in meeting all his engagements. — In 1759 he was appointed Impost Officer for Essex county, which office he fdled for fifteen years, his commission being renewed at intervals of three years during that period. He was a member of a club instituted for improvement in phi- losophy and literature in his native town, in which originated the Social Library in 1760, and the Philosophical Library, which were afterwards united, and became the foundation of the Athenaeum, in IS 10. The meetings of this club were interrupted by the Revolution, but were resumed and continued many years afterwards. Among | the members were Dr. Ilolyoke, who was president of several lite- | rary and scientific societies, and died at the age of a hundred years ' | and six months, in 1829 ; and who with the lion. Samson S. Blowers, 1 1 Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, now living, are the only alumni i | of Harvard University out of thirty-six hundred graduates, that ■'. i have arrived at that great age ; Hon. Benjamin Lynde and Hon. Nathaniel Ropes, judges of the superior court; Hon. Andrew Oliver, Judge of the Common Pleas ; William Pynchon, Esq., an eminent lawyer ; Rev. Wm. McGilchrist and Rev. Thomas Barnard ; Stephen Higginson, Esq., an eminent merchant, who af- terwards removed to Boston ; Hon. Wm. Browne, judge of the superior court, afterwards Governor of Bermuda ; Col. Benjamin Pickrnan, Col. Peter Frye, and Thomas Robie, Esq. These gentle- men possessed literary attainments of a high order, and though ar- dently attached to their country, took different views of its interests. The four la spirit of pera ing that the their countr A brief acca setts at the p as an appro in the follow We fin( tration in ^' causing a gt nists had on these being i now sit uniU or to make t less than any was a comm civil and reli their postcrit great leader dress, as mo peace, remai had yet appt vation of th Great Britaii acts of Parlii privileges of colonies are no man dare There d( tion in the c the inva-sioi ernments. America, ai echoed in B Account Massachuse! mons, impos M INTRODOCTOKV MEMOIR. 19 The four last, together with Mr. Curwen, in consequence of the spirit of persecution which succeeded the battle of Lexington, fear- ing that the high-toned conduct of the people would bring ruin on their country, became loyalist refugees, and retreated to England. A brief account of the state of affairs in the colonv of Massachu- setts at the period immediately preceding the Revolution, may serve as an appropriate introduction to the parties and events referred to in the following pages. We find at the commencement of Governor Bernard's adminis- tration in Massachusetts, in 1760, the final reduction of the Canadas causing a general jubilee throughout the continent; for the colo- nists had only suffered from their French and Indian neighbors, and these being at length completely subdued, they felt that they could now sit under their own vines and fig-trees, having none to molest or to make them afraid. They had felt the burden of government less than any people who had received such benefits from it ; and it was a common aspiration in the public prayers of the day, that the civil and religious privileges they enjoyed might be transmitted to their posterity forever. In 1763, Mr. James Otis, (afterwards the great leader of opposition to Gov. Bernard's measures,) in his ad- dress, as moderator of the first town-meeting at Boston after the peace, remarked, that " no other constitution of civil government had yet appeared in the world so admirably adapted to the preser- vation of the great purposes of liberty and knowledge as that of Great Britain. Every person in America is of common right, by acts of Parliament, and the laws of GoJ, entitled to all the essential privileges of Britons. The true interests of Great Britain and her colonies are mutual, and what God in his providence has united, let no man dare attempt to pull asunder." There does not appear to have been any cause for dissatisfac- tion in the colonies at that period, and there was no complaint of the invasion of the rights of the people by any of the gov- ernments. Soon, however, the disturbances in England reached America, and the cry of " Wil/ces and liberty'''' in London was echoed in Boston, and resounded through the colonies. Accounts were received before the session of the legislature of Massachusetts in 1764, that a bill had passed the House of Com- mons, imposing duties on articles heretofore exempted, which af- ».« mm "li'i I « iiiiil' 20 INTRODUCTORY MKMOIR. i f ■ ! I i ■ < forded a good opportunity to bring the officers of the crown into disrepute, should they attempt to carry the law into effect. All who were desirous of keeping up the authority of law, were branded with the name of tories ; their characters were assailed in the news- papers, and thoy were charged with promoting measures to restrict the natural and chartered rights and liberties of the people. The law was attacked by Mr. Otis in a pamphlet, in which he asks this question : " If taxes are laid in any shape without our having a legal representative where they arc? made, are we not reduced from the character of subjects to the miserable state of tributary slaves V He allows the right of parliament to tax the colonies, provided they are represented ; and had not the colonists soon after declared against it, this privilege would probably have been conceded ; for Mr. Grenville and many influential members of the government, acknowledged themselves in favor of the measure. On the passage of the stamp-act, there appeared a general determination to oppose it throughout the colonies, and Mr. Andrew Oliver, afterwards Lieutenant Governor, having been appointed distributor of the stamps for Massachusetts, a mob attacked and destrojed a building lately erected by him, as wsis supposed for a stamp-office ; on which he gave notice of his intention to resign, and never to act in that capacity. Lieut. Governor Hutchinson's house was the next eve- ning attacked, with little damage ; but on the 26th August, 1765, his windows and doors were burst in, and every article of furniture and property that it contained, destroyed, to the amount of twenty- four hundred pounds sterling, besides a great mass of public and private papers of inestimable value. From this time governmental power ceased in Boston. Smuggling had been extensively carried on at that port for years. In 1766 exertions were made on the part of government to prevent this illegal traffick by prose- cuting the parties concerned, which induced the most abusive and licentious attacks on the governor and all the officers of the crown. False and groundless as these charges were, they gained too ready a credence with the people, as they were diiected against their rulers. At length, however, Mr. Sewall (afterwards attorney- general), in a series of papers signed PkilarUhropos, refuted the charges, and silenced the calumniators. The stamp-act was repealed, and the duty on molasses reduced from 3d. to close of the calm was, ho Assembly of making prov Governor laic Lord Hillsbor same unless a scinded ; and were ever aftc Governor Be on his arrival, ministration, 1 with great bit certain of his of the king's • the people, ar sede all comn; affected) perse tea at Boston the body of th course of oppo The leadir right of taxati admiralty cour are committed basis of their i tained in Eng Governor Oli\ to the best inti almost unboi and circumsta circulated, anc were permitte antidote to th^ ever, was mui Philolcthes, fi craft and falla INTRODUCTORY MKMOIR, 21 from 3d. to one penny per gal. on; iind for a short time, at the close of the year 1766, the colonies reposed in tranquillity. This calm was, however, interrupted the next year by the refusal of the Assembly of New York to submit to parliamentary authority, by making provision for quartering the king's troops. In 1768, the Governor laid before the assembly of Massachusetts a letter from Lord Hillsborough, secretary of state, directing him to dissolve the same unless an obnoxious vote, passed in February, should be re- scinded ; and this being refused by a vote of 92 to 17, the minority were ever after reproachfully termed " resduders.^^ In April, 1769, (lovernor Bernard received orders to embark for England; and on his arrival, his conduct having met the approbation of the ad- ministration, he was created a baronet. He had been treated with great bitterness heie, which however was owing in part to certain of his letters to England, in which he infers the necessity of the king's appointing a royal council instead of that elected by the people, and recommends an act to authorize the king to super- sede all commissions which had been issued to improper (i. e. dis- affected) persons. The destruction of the East India Company's tea at Boston in 1773, only was wanting by their leaders to involve the body of the people in the same circumstances in which their course of opposition measures had placed them. The leading principles of the Revolution, viz., a denial of the right of taxation by Parliament, a claim of the privilege of juries in admiralty courts, and the light of trial only in places where offences are committed, should have been allowed to rest upon the broad basis of their respective merits. Private letters, surreptitiously ob- tained in England, written by Governor Hutchinson and Lieut, Governor Oliver, (whose spotless lives, devoted, as they believed, to the best interests of their fellow men, had acquired for them an almost unbounded influence,) were announced with great pomp and circumstance by legislative resolves ; and garbled extracts were circulated, and unjust inferences drawn, before the letters themselves were permitted to be printed, which would have proved a sufficient antidote to the poison so invidiously diffused. — The distemper, how- ever, was much arrested by a series of papers under the signature Philolcthes, from the pen of Mr. Sewall, developing the disguised craft and fallacies which pervaded this deep contrivance, and written T ' 22 I N T K O n t) (3 T r) R V MEMOIR. with such inodoration and canilour that the cahimniafois thought it best to leave these j)ieces iiiianswered, and sufler the flarno to die away, intending to kcepllie einhers in reserve for raising a new flame at a more propitious time lor their purposes. — (Jovcrnor Hutchinson* had represented th(! transaction of the 5th of March 1770 (eoniinonl)' called the Boston massacre), in his letters to the secretary of state, far more favourably for the town than the evi- dence at the trial afterwards warranted, yet the Assembly consider- ed him as inimical to the province for conforming to iiis instructions, and willistandiiig their attempts to compel him to yield the prerog- ative of the crown ; and the council instead of supporting him sided with the House. The designs of particular persons to bring about a revolution and attain independency, were apparent to the Governor, but ho did not think it possible that the people would be induced to declare for it. Under the discouragements of the times Governor Hutchinson determined to visit England, and have at least a temporary relief; but before he received an answer (o his request, his able and tistimable coadjutor, Lieut. Governor Oliver,* succumbed to the unwarranted attacks upon him, and fell a victim to wounded sensi- bility on the 3d of March, 1774, In a letter from the Earl of Dartmouth, granting Gov. Hutchin- son's wislied-for permission to visit England, dated April 9, 1774, he says: " It is impossible you can have any doubt of the light in which your conduct on the late trying occasion is seen by the king and his servants. I cannot however content myself without repeat- ing to you what cannot fail to give you the strongest consolation and satisfaction, that it is his majesty's intention to testify his appro- bation of your services to all mankind by an early mark of his favor.f This expectation will contribute nmch to alleviate the anxiety of your mind, and to support you under any difliculties you may yet have to encounter; but you will allow me to say, that to a mind like yours there are secret sources of tranquillity that are superior to such great and encouraging considerations. The con- scious sense which you possess of an upright and uniform regard to * Sec SnppliMiicnt. t A bnrciKJtcy \v;i^ ofFnrcd Gov. Hntchinson ami ttcr.lincd, wliicli uiigbl to sutisl'y his couniryincii oi'tlic upriijiitneas of hia puliticul motives. the duty of yo cern for the w( equally appeal with you, do al you, supply yo themselves in j such support it judice, or even i General G government, Vi for England, a hundred and men of the hv Middlesex and and Marblehea conduct and tl addresses gave inunity, and m? tizcd as " ^ Iddt public recantat subscribed the I saying that the science he couh reproach which painful a reflet to withdraw fro for Philadelphif on the 13th of t Mr. Curwer years, and at th in which office ing, the patriot, in the array, in country. Judg( the satisfaction i tical course. Mr. Curwen 5 INTROnunTOUY MKMOrR, 23 the iliify of your situation, joined to a dispassionate and real con- cern for the welfare of the people over whom you preside, which equally appear throughout the correspondence that 1 have had with you, do at this moment, if I am not deeei\e(l in my opinion of you, supply you with that steadiness and fortitude which discover themselves in your firm and temperali; conduct, and which under such support it is not in the power of the most unreasonable pre- judice, or even of the most inveterate malice to shake or intimidate." General Gage having arrived with power to administer the government, (Governor Hutchinson sailed on the 1st of June, 1774, for England. Before his departure he had received addresses from a hundred and twenty merchants of Boston ; from all the gentle- men of the law, with few exceptions; from the magistrates of Middlesex and Plymouth, and the principal gentlemen of Salem and Marlilehead, all expressing entire approbation of his public conduct and their affectionate wishes for his prosperity. These addresses gave great oflence to the disaflected pottion of the com- munity, and many of those who signed them, afterwards stigma- tized as " . .Wn'.v.ver,?," were compelled by the people to make public recantations in the newspapers. Mr. Curwen, who had subscribed the Salem address, declined to obey the popular voice, saying that the prescribed recantation contained more than in con- science he could own j and that as to live under the character of reproach which the fury of party might throw upon him, was too painful a reflection to suffer for a moment, he therefore resolved to withdraw from the impending storm. He accordingly embarked for Philadelphia, on the 23d of April, 1775, and thence for London on the 13th of the following month. Mr. Curwen had been in the commission of the peace for thirty years, and at the time of his departure was a Judge of Admiralty, in which office he was immediately succeeded by Timothy Picker- ing, the patriot, who afterwards so ably filled distinguished offices in the army, in the cabinet of Washington, and the councils of our country. Judge Curwen returned in the autumn of 1784, much to the satisfaction of his friends, and was never molested for his poli- tical course. Mr. Curwen was in early life married to a daughter of Hod. rt 1- 1 ■ ' 1 1| : , ! ,1; 84 INTKOIIUCTOKY MEMOIR. I i < Daniel Russell, of (/hurlestown, uiul a sister uf Hon. Chambers Rus- sell, whom he survived many years. He (lied in his native town, in April, 1802, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. He possessed a fine literary taste, was a suholar and a Christian. He left no lineal descendants; but in order that the name might not become extinct in New England, at hii request just before his death, a collateral relative since deceased assumed it, who has left three sons residing i t Salem, who bear the name. Of the families of the exiled loyalists, scattered as they have been over the world, it is no small matter to obtain information ; while some grace the peerage and baronetage of England, of many of the exiled Refugees scarce a descendant, even in a collateral branch, is to be found. Of the loyalists that remained to run the risk of the spirit of the people, the task has been less difficult. Of nearly two hundred that were banished by the government of Massachusetts, upwards of sixty were graduates of Harvard Col- lege. And of the five judges of the supreme court of that pro- vince at the commencement of the difficulties, the Hon. William Cushing alone was of patriot principles, who was afterwards on the bench of the supreme court of the United States. JOU Philaddphl Concord and 1 every fresh ala pers to get mo crate men, wl country by the (although unju deserved rcpr( myself and otht a while from tl ing. Having I pany rac, her i a people licenti all the restraint short passage c her, I left my 1 personal secur ought to have t on board the s Sunday the 23( asylum amon^ former experiei sacrifice either an unknown g( My fellow- and Andrew I ♦ Merchan l« ; JOURNAL AND LETTERS CHAPTER 1. Philadelphia, May 4, 1775. Since tho late unhappy affairs at Concord and Lexington, finding the spirit of the people to rise on every fresh alarm, (which has been almost hourly,) and their tem- pers to get more and more soured and malevolent against all mod- erate men, whom they see fit to reproach as enemies of their country by the name of tories, among whom I am unhappily (although unjustly) ranked ; and unable longer to bear their un- deserved reproaches and menaces hourly denounced against myself and others, I think it a duty I owe myself to withdraw for a while from the storm which to ray foreboding mind is approach- ing. Having in vain endeavoured to persuade ray wife to accom- pany me, her apprehensions of danger from an incensed soldiery, a people licentious and entbnsia.^'it ally mad and broken loose from all the restraints of law i eligion, being less terrible to her than a short passage on the "ct-an ; and being moreover encouraged by her, I left my late \>eacej;ul home (in ray sixtieth year) in search of personal security ,. nd those rights which by the laws of God I ought to have enjoyed undisturbed there, and embarked at Beverly on board the schooner Lively, Captain Johnson, bound hither, on Sunday the 23d ultimo, and have just arrived. Hoping to find an asylum amongst quakers and Dutchmen, who I presume from former experience have too great a regard for ease ai.vl property to sacrifice either at this time of doubtful disputation on the altar of an unknown goddess, or rather doubtful divinity. My fellow-passengers were Andrew Cabot,* his wife and child, and Andrew Dodge.* My townsman, Benjamin Goodhue,! was Merchants of Beverly. t See Supplement. ^1- w s»l! 26 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1775. kind enough to come on board, and having made my kinsman and correspondent, Samuel Smith, acquainted with my arrival, he was pleased to come on board also, and his first salutation, " We wilt protect you though a tori/," embarrassed me not a little ; but soon recovering ray surprise, we fell into a friendly conversation, and he taking me to his house, I dined with his family and their minister, Mr. Sproat, suffering some mortification in the cause of truth. After an invitation to make his house my home during my stay here, which I did not accept, I took leave, and went in pursuit of lodgings, and on enquiring at several houses, ascertained they were full, or for particular reasons would not take me ; and so many refused as made it fearful W'hether, like Cain, I had not a discour- aging mark upon me, or a strong feature of toryism. The whole city appears to be deep in congressional principles, and inveterate against " Hutchmsonian Jlddressers." Happily we at length arrived at one Mrs. Swords', a widow lady, in Chestnut-street, with whom I found quarters, rendered more agreeable by S. Waterhouse's com- pany, who also lodges here. May 5, 1775. I find the drums beating, colours flying, and de- tachments of newly raised militia parading the streets ; — the whole country appears determined to assume a military character, and this city, throwing off her pacific aspect, is forming military compa- nies, a plan being laid for thirty -three ; composed of all ranks and nations, uniting shoulder to shoulder, they form so many patriotic bands to oppose like the invincible Macedonian phalanx, the pro- gress and increase of parliamentary authority. The Quakers, not to be behind in manifesting their aversion, have obtained permis- sion of the city committee to make up two companies of Friends exclusively, and they are to be commanded by Samuel Marshall and Thomas Mifflin,* both of that persuasion. So powerful is the love of liberty, and so great the dread of ministerial designs, that the strong-est prejudices and habits have given way and are controlled by the former. The House this day having received a message from the gover- nor with Lord North's conciliatory plan, has on a full debate re- jected it, being resolved to adhere to the union. ♦ See Supplement. 1775.] Joseph Lee* h advised my going May 6, 1775 of Mr Goodhue tions that my resic when it shall be \ besides, solicited than in conscienc tainty whether it live and die unde the outrageous fui painful for a mon few friends I thin am determined to here. On the credit sistance procured May 7, lilt street meeting h American patriot are suffering fror manfully to oppo At 2 o'clock waiting news fro The only news m land, and the otl Dr. Franklin ing of bells to \ myselfsome goo( fluence in the ap to his judgment. at Lord Chathar at the opening c May 9, 17' evening at Jose] * See Snpploii t In July, 177' pay £10 to the coi f 1775.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS, 27 Joseph Lee* hearing I was in the city, carae to sec me, and advised my going to London. May 6, 1775. Saw Pelatiah Webster,f who at the instance of Mr Goodhue treats me civilly. Having had several intima- tions that my residence here would be unpleasant, if allowed at all, when it shall be known that I am what is called "an addresser j" besides, solicited to sign " a recantation" which may contain more than in conscience I can subscribe ; and after all with the uncer- tainty whether it will answer the purpose, or should it barely, to live and die under the character of reproach and ignominy, which the outrageous fury of party may throw upon me, is a reflection too painful for a moment to support. I have, therefore, consulted the few friends I think it worth while to advise with, and on the result, am determined to proceed to London in the vessel in which I came here. On the credit of Samuel Smith and Sons, I have with their as- sistance procured flour to freight a vessel. May 7, 1175.— Sunday. Went with Mr. Smith to Arch- street meeting house ; Mr. Sproat entertained us with a truly American patriotic sermon, pathetically lamenting the evils we are suffering from wicked and tyrannical ministers ; exhorting us manfully to oppose them. At 2 o'clock at the wharf, a !arge collection of people were waiting news from London, Capt. Robinson having just anchored. The only news was, that the restraining bill respecting New-Eng- land, and the other respecting the southern colonies, were passed. Dr. Franklin arrived last night, which was announced by ring- ing of bells to the great joy of the city. I cannot but promise myself some good, as his knowledge and experience must have in- fluence in the approaching Congress, which will I doubt not listen to his judgment. He is, it is said, to return to England again soon, at Lord Chatham's instance, who tells him he must be on the spot at the opening of Parliament. May 9, 1775. Dined with Stephen Collins; passed the evening at Joseph Reed's,* in company with Col. Washington, (a * See Supplement. t In July, 177'1, this gentleman directed his correspondent at Boston, to pay JEIO to the conimitee fur the relief of anfferere by the BaEto.i Port Bill, ■A iii n 1. m^ 28 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1775. fine figure and of a most easy and agreeable address,) Richard Henry Lee, and Col. Harrison, three of the Virginia delegates. — Besides Mr. and Mrs. Reed, were Mrs. Deberdt,* Dr. Shippen, and Thomas Smith. I staid till twelve o'clock, the conversation being chiefly on the most ieasible and prudent method of stopping up the channel of the Delaware to prevent the coming up of any large ships to the city ; I could not perceive the least disposition to accommodate matters. Col. Caswell and Mr. Hewes, the North Carolina delegates, arrived this day, and are at our lodgings. May 10, 1775. Early in the morning a great number of per- sons rode out several miles, hearing that the eastern delegates were approaching, when about 11 o'clock the cavalcade appeared, (I being near the upper end of Fore street;) first two or three hundred gentlemen on horseback, preceded, however, by the newly- chosen city military officers, two and two, with drawn swords, followed by John Hancock and Samuel Adams in a phaeton and pair, the former looking as if his journey and high living, or so- licitude to support the dignity of the first man in Massachusetts, had impaired his health. Next came John Adams and Thomas Gushing in a single horse chaise ; behind followed Robert Treat Paine, and after him the New York delegation, and some from the province of Connecticut, etc., etc. The rear was brought up by a hundred carriages, the streets crowded with people of all ages, sexes and ranks. The procession marched with a slow, solemn pace ; on its entrance into the city all the bells were set to ringing and chiming, and every mark of respect that could be, was ex- pressed : — not much I presume to the secret liking of their fellow delegates from the other colonies, who doubtless had to digest the distinction as easily as they could. May 11, 1775. Col. Caswell was innoculated for the small pox. Mr. Lee again repeated his advice of my going to London. Dined with J. B. Smith ; rode with him to his farm six miles out. Drank tea with Mr. Lee and Startin. May 12, 1775. Sent my baggage on board the Lively — re- • The niotlier of Mrs. Reed aiul wiiifiw cf llif: Massacliusetlsf A-^sonibly agent to the British governn-.en;. 1775,] ceived a letter '.iVj respects to ? ceived ray inv< Startin presentc Birmingham, ar Dennis Deberd last newspaper week's Philade and with my fel on board the Li May 16, 1' Nantucket, whc that his family, to which I repli Dear :; You can sea suflfering in the profess a friendf all means, safe Philadelphii ional measures doubt cf the fej recluse life the Englanders ma post (instead ot letters to pass 1 known to one June 1, 177 brought us to i she left. The men, were wail 1775.] JOT'RNAL AND LETTERS. 29 ceived a letter from Stephen Collins to Mr. Neat of London — paid Tii}' respects to M'-s. Deberdt, and received a letter to her son. Re- ceived ray invoice of flour from Samuel Smith and Sons. Mr. Startin presented me with an open letter on Wilkinson and Co. Birmingham, and Mr. Reed and lady gave me letters to their brother, Dennis Deberdt, London. From post office took Rivington's two last newspapers, and received from the publishers all the present week's Philadelphia papers. Messrs. Lee and Webster took leave, and with my fellow passenger, Mr. Webster's son Pelatiah, I went on board the Lively. May 16, 1775. Spoke Capt. Waterman in a schooner from Nantucket, who brought me a letter from Nathan Goodale, stating that his family, Mr. Pynchon's, and Mr. Orne's, had arrived there, to which I replied. TO NATHAN GOODALE, ESQ. In the Delaware, May 16, 1775. Dear You can scarce conceive my joy at hearing that my neighbours, suffering in the same cause as myself, and for whom I sincerely profess a friendship, were in a secure retreat. Continue there by all means, safe from the alarms and dangers you have fled from. Philadelphia is wholly American, strong friends to congress- ional measures ; at least, no man is hardy enough to express a doubt cf the feasibility of their projects. Mr. Joseph Lee leads a recluse life there. The inhabitants are displeased that the New Englanders make it their city of refuge. The new established post (instead of the old eastern one which is stopped,) admits no letters to pass but those franked ; the contents of which must be known to one of the committee to be entitled to that benefit. Yours truly, Saml. Curwen. June 1, 1775. At Sea. The Otter sloop-of-war, from Boston, brought us to at 9 o'clock, and informed us all was quiet when she left. The provincial forces, amounting to fifteen thousand men, were waiting thedeterminationof the Congress j that forty -five J,. ', 1 *■ I s h. 30 JOURNAL AND I, KTTERS. [1775. !:! : 5* I i\iys ,:^! transports with the three generals, had arrived there eight ago ; and that a great fire happened there, beginning at the bar- rack stores on the docks, and coi uming all from thence to King- street. She detained us two hours in order to send letters to Mngland. July 3, 1775. Arrived at Dover, England, at 11 o'clock, A. M. Mr. Webster and myself concluded to take coach for London after visiting the Castle. We first ascended to one of the square towers, in height 134 steps, from which in a clear day the French shore is to be seen, and a most agreeable view into the country. The town of Dover seems under foot, and even the steeples scarce as high as the foot of tne hill. We next visited Julius Cajsar's tower, (said to have been built by him,) old and in ruins ; on the plains of it is a battery of twenty four pounders, — one of brass, 24 feet long, called Queen Elizabeth's pocket-piece, given her by Holland at the time of its emancipation from Spain. It is curious- ly ornamented with the arms of England and Holland ; was cast in 1544 ; weighs six tons, and carries a twelve pound shot seven miles. The well is 375 feet deep. The original key supposed to be eighteen hundred years old, is 21 inches long, and weighs three or four pounds. We also saw a sword of state five feet long, the handle twelve inches. At the coffee-house met James Teal, a son of the widow of the late Gov. Belcher of Massachusetts by her first husband. He wished to convey intelligence of his residence here to his m^other in New England ; his letters have miscarried for some time past. London, July 4. Arrived at the New England coffee-house, Threadneedle-strcct, at 7 o'clock P. M. — July 5. Met my towns- man and friend Benjamin Pickman, which rejoiced me ; we walk- ed to Westminster Hall, — in Clhancery saw Sir Thomas Sewell, master of the rolls, sitting with his hat on, — at Common Pleas saw Judge Blackstone and Sergeant Gly. .; and the King's Bench, Lord Mansfield and Mr. Sergeant Wedderburne. Lord Mansfield's manner is like the late Judge Dudley's of Massachusetts. His peer- ing eyes denote a penetration and comprehension peculiarly his own. Mr. Wedderburne spoke, but at no great length. Jvly 9, 1775. Went to old Jewry meeting-house, where I met Gov. Hutchinson, his son and daughter, — a cordial reception and ic 1775.1 invitation to vii the pew next n TO Dear Sir : I am glad f( safe on the sam home, I would fear cannot last ministration thir for saying the fear will cause ofNewEnglan married io a lac pany with my fi Let Mr. and with whom I di: and expects her July 11, 17^ pany with B. Pi invited to dinne July 18, 17' led walks, shri rendered a most for entertainmei piece of statuar July 20, 17 the evening tV Sewall, and Da July 21, 17 numerous comp Duke of Glouci 1775.1 JOUFNAL AND LETTERS. 31 invitation to visit him. Mr. Isaac Smith and Mr. Deberdt sat in the pew next me. TO WILLIAM PYNCHON, ESQ., SALEM. London, July 7, 1775. Dear Sir : I am glad for the calm season at Salem ; — could I have been safe on the same conditions I find my friends permitted to reside at home, I would joyfully have accepted them. However, this calm I fear cannot last long ; for if Congress does not offer terms that ad- ministration think they can in honour accept, I have good grounds for saying the most vigorous measures will be pursued, which 1 fear will cause the destruction of my country. There is an army ofNewEnglanders here. My old friend Mr. Sayre, a city banker, married to a lady of fortune, invited me to dine with him in com- pany with my friend Mr. Deberdt. Let Mr. and Mrs. Cabot know that her niece Mrs. Copley,* with whom I dined yesterday at Mr. Bromfield's, Islington, is well, and expects her husband on his passage from Italy. Yours truly, S. CURWEN. July 11, 1775. Waited upon Governor Hutchinson, (in com- pany with B. Pickman,) for the first time ; were well received, and invited to dinner for Saturday. July 18, 1775. Evening to Vauxhall Gardens ; fine gravel- led walks, shrubbery, and covered alcoves lighted by lamps, and rendered a most enchanting spot. Tables spread under the trees for entertainment. In one of the open retreats is a most finished piece of statuary of Handel, sitting on a harp in a loose dress. July 20, 1775. To J. Lane's house with B. Pickman, passed the evening there in company with Samuel Quincy, Jonathan Sewall, and David Green. July 21, 1775. By boat from Temple stairs to Ranelagh ; a numerous company of well dressed people there, among them the Duke of Gloucester and French ambassador. ♦ Lady of the great artist. ■, nil ' ■ : J f. j. :■ % I I! i! ■■•. 'H; 1 ,) J 3' P I I n I fl 2:i' Isi; f 32 J O U K N A I. AND LETTERS. [1775. Jvly 22, 1775. Spent the tlay at Ilempst^d, in company with Isaac Smith, Samuel Quincy, David Green, and P. Wcbstei. TO REV. THOMAS BARXARD, SALEM. London, 22d July, 1775. Dear Sir : The dissipation, self-forgetfulness, and vicious indulgences of every kind, which characterize this metropolis, are not to be won- dered at. The temptations are too great for that degree of philo- sophy and religion ordinarily possessed by the bulk of mankind. The unbounded riches of many afford the means of every species of luxury, which, (thank God,) our part of America is ignorant of, and the example of the wealthy and great is contagious. Ten miles round is filled with pleasant villas, and Sunday is allotted to visiting them. The congregation at old Jewry meeting-house, re- spectable for its appearance, did not exceed a hundred. The preacher is called a Presbyterian, and all of that denomination here are on a broader and more liberal plan of divinity than those who go by the name of Independents, such as the " Pinner's Hall Di- vines" and their associates. The style of the preachers in London (of our way) is more just and correct than ours in New England. To my surprise I saw an auditor taking notes. Notes for prayer or thanksgivings are never read, and the mention of such cases is deferred to the last prayer. Admission to the pews is by a female, who unlocks the doors, (ail having locks ;) strangers are conducted to the table pew in the centre, where the sacrament is adminis- tered. ***** TO WILLIAM PYXCHON, ESQ., SALEM. London, 25th July, 1775. Dear Sir : I dropped in at Guild-hall, where Judge Nares was sitting at the City Common Pleas ; on his cushion were worked the city arms, — and also on the Recorder's, I presume to remind them of the city rights. I was fortunate in procuring a seat just behind Sergeant Davy, and heard as far as my imperfect organs (and the noise and confusion) would admit. While he was opening the case, he was obliged to rise out of his seat, step forward and lean down to hear. i ■1 1775.] in a manner importance d well as couns lowed in our I have se< more like a r common gooc or three wee House, a tru tions of natur on vellum, ai « Thou shall following : " There are ma to examine m I am just i Charlestown i in; the other nock says tin arras, which i My distress ai every hour, either side th of Great Brits hitherto. July 27. men and Lac of Harboroug July 28. their hall in tl (band playinj master, when officer held a delivered it; of the compai made warden! SS 1775.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 3.3 in a rafinner unbecoming the dignity of a judge. Every fact of importance delivered by a witness was noted down by the judge as well as counsel. The noise was much greater than would be al- lowed in our American courts. I have seen the Lord Mayor in his court ; but this court seems more like a reference business than any thing else. Through un- common good fortune, I have, without the customary delay of two or three weeks, been admitted into ihe British Museum, Montague House, a truly royal institution for the preservation of the produc- tions of nature and art. Saw the first Bible printed by authority, on vellum, and turning to the 91st Psalm, 5th verse, instead of " Thou shall not be afraid of the terrors by night," etc., I saw the following : " Thou shall not fear the bugs and vermin by night,'" etc. There are many other as remarkable differences, but had not time- to examine many texts. I am just informed of a most melancholy event, the destruction ot Charlestown in Massachusetts by the king's troops, which all agree in ; the other parts of the story are told differently. Mr. Breck- nock says the king's troops would not fight, but laid down their arras, which is the reason of the great carnage among the officers. My distress and anxiety for my friends and countrymen embitter every hour. May it please God to inspire men of influence on either side the Atlantic, with juster sentiments of the real interest of Great Britain and the colonies than they seem to have possessed hitherto. Yours truly, S. CURWEN. My 27. Dined at Mr. Sayre's, in company with four gentle- men and Lady Francis Sherard, only daughter of the late Earl of Harborough ; returned home in Mr. Sayre's coach. July 28. By invitation dined at Grocers' Company feast at their hall in the Poultry. A procession was formed after dinner (band playing,) and halted behind the chair of the new elected master, when the secretary put a tiara on his head ; while another officer held a large golden cup filled with wine, drank to him, and delivered it ; and the master on taking it drank to tlie prosperity of the company. The ceremony was also had towards the newly made wardens. 5 'i* ';■'': 'lift y vi^ip'lp 'I f %i lM^':T'i'^l a'. r:h.M'{ M 'H 34 .1 U K N A L A N n I- E T T E R S . [1775. fh I! ■ »i I ( ( _* 1 Jw/y 29. Dined with Governor Ilutrhinson, in company with Mr. Joseph Green, Mr. Mauduit, and Mr. Ward Nicholas Boyl- ston ; the latter gave us an entertaining narrative of his travels through Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. July 30. Sunday attended worship at Dr. Fordyce's meeting- house, Monk well- street. He discoursed with great energy and pathos, abounding with flowers of rhetoric, metaphor, and with uncommon theatric gesture, equal if not beyond Mr. Whitcfield. In the vestry room is hanging the original license from Charles II. to Mr. Doolittle for this present house of worship. Took tea with Dr. Fordyc'^ at Mr. Kennedy's, and passed an agreeable hour in conversation. Jiugust 3. Walked along Hyde Park wall till arrived at the turnpike between that and the Green Park ; at the gate of the former stands a noble house, built by the present Lord Chancellor Apsloy,* on ground taken out of the park, and given him by the king for that purpose. Saw their majesties returning from the drawing room, the king in a sedan chair surmounted by a crown, dressed in very light cloth with silver buttons ; the queen carried by two porters in a chair, dressed in lemon-colored flowered silk, on a light cream-colored ground. They passed between two lines, observed, smiled, and bowed as they passed. TO DR JOHN riUNCK, HALIFAX. London, Jlngust 4, 1775. Deak Sir : I presume you little expected to hear from a fellow sufferer in the cause of loyalty, a whole army of whom are here lamenting their own and their country's unhappy fate. I heard of your escape, and a circumstance connected with it that must render youi existence more tolerable, viz., that you were accompanied by your wife and children, and I cordially rejoice in your and their deliver- ance from the evils which attend our common friends in Salem. and elsewhere in New England. What melancholy scenes they and we are to go through before this unnatural controversy is ended, God only knows! — May you and I be prepared for the worst events. If any of our common friends are in Halifax, be ♦ Afterwards Earl Balhurst 1775.] pleased to reti friend Ben. P Jiugust 4. from Egypt, pods, the sup August .Joseph Iloopt Mr. Silsbec, a Jiugust 6. in which servi laan, aid mys and repeated Scripture, wai TO Dear Sir: It really af extremities as colonies. It ii insurrections I. The manufacti the friends o) expressed joy there must hf may follow in received, I car which will afl on contingenc a tenderness i who disappro' British legisl; accommodate in the spring ; 1775.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 35 pleased to remember rae to them in the kindest manner. Our old friend Ben. Pickman desires to be remembered to you. With much regard, etc., S. COKWKN. Jiugust 4. At Mr. Boylston's saw many curiosities he brought from Egypt, the Holy Land, etc. Amongst others the locust in pods, the supposed food of John the Baptist. Jiugust 5. Dined at Gov. Hutchinson's, in company with Joseph Hooper, Benjamin Pickman, Joseph Taylor, Isaac Smith, Mr. Silsbec, and the governor's family. jiugust 6. At Old Jewry meeting-house — communion day — in which service Governor Hutchinson, his son Elisha, Mr. Pick- man, and myself participated. The minister brought the elements, and repeated to each communicant some pertinent expression of Scripture, waiting till each had received. TO NATHAN GOODALE, ESQ., NANTUCKET. London, August 8, 1775. Dear Sir : It really appears to me that administration will proceed to such extremities as will terminate in the ruin of England and the colonics. It is a capital mistake of our American friends to expect insurrections here ; there is not a shadow of hope for such an event. The manufactories are in full employ, and one of the warmest of the friends of America told me that letters from Manchester expressed joy that no American orders had been sent, otherwise there must have been disappointment somewhere. What effects may follow in the spring if orders from Russia and Spain are not received, I cannot foresee : — some foretell discontent in the country which will affect the stocks ; whether these will happen depends on contingencies of which I am not a judge. There appears to be a tenderness in the minds of many here for America, even of those who disapprove of the principles of an entire independence of the British legislature, and ardently wish an effort may be taken to accommodate. It is said most vigorous measures will take place in the spring if no ofTer be made on the part of the colonists. With much regard, etc. S. Curwen. 1 ,( ■I' ^!" I' m . mm I > m 1..; ^u ■''U' ill iir' JStll r i- t i -If iih 36 JOCRNAI. A\D LKTTEKS. [1775. Jugust 23, 1775. Went to Sir John Fielding's office, Bow- street - examination of prisoners for robberies, assaults, etc. Ho is a venerable frentlemari and blind (as justice is represented); his queries manifested a mild deportment, ready apprehension and great penetration. Visited Hampton Court and gardens, which are exceedingly beautiful, although deserted by the royal family. Here are chairs of state with rich canopies, tapestry in gold and silver grounds, containing Scripture and ancient stories of Greece and Rome — adorned also with reigning beautiesof the court of Charles II. — of the founders of the difTertnt orders of monks, friars, nuns, etc., of former kings, queens, etc. ; Madonnas, the Supper, etc. The ceilings in high colouring and fine preservation, by Verrio, were as pleasing to me as any part of the ornaments, as they referred to incidents in Charles Il.d's story. This palace consists of several squares mostly old, and in same state (decay of time excepted) as in Henry VIII th's time, when by the envy of the courtiers Cardinal Wolsey (who built it for his own use) was obliged to present it to the king. The front on the garden facing the river is magnifi- cent and in good rep.iir. Thence to Windsor — St. George's chapel in excellent repair. Here are deposited the bodies of Henry VIII. and one of his queens, and Charles I. in the midst of the choir. In the side aisles are fu- neral monuments of former kings, of which I recollect Edward IV. and VI. ; some ancient nobility, and many canons of the Roman church, with their images in sacerdotal garments cut in brass, let into flat grave-stones on the floor; stalls for the knights of the garter ; the choir decorated with carvings, and the windows filled with oil paintings of Scripture stories. We then ascended the royal apartments in the castle, consisting as at Hampton Court of an ar- mory, the walls being covered with pikes, halberds, matchlocks, small arms, etc., disposed in a variety of figures. Over the mantel- piece a fine full length of George Prince of Denmark (husband of Queen Anne) on horseback ; the horse seemed alive. The other rooms hung in rich tapestry on gold and other grounds, with paint- ings, originals and copies of the best masters. In Queen Anne's china-closet were wooden sconces gilt, on which are set china por- celain jars of various shapes up to the ceiling. In a small apart- ment is to be seen a table fastened to the wall, whereon is a little { a 1775.] flag of white sj toned by silver silver, which tl lay on that spot at midday, on f belonging to it agreeably to a( under feet Etoi tecture. In a founder in roya Visited Wei the grotto, bein j raitting a prosp feet wide, in th other kinds in two or three nic is also in a en (made by Mr. S a niche filled w ing lines : "Th( III Bu An Mr. Stanhoj are many foreif willows, etc. ; i fruits. In a re eighteen feet hi lowing inscripti • " Alaa ' Edi well!" 1775.] JOURNAL. AND LRTTER8. 37 flag of white satin, with the banner of France worked into it, fas- tened by silver clasps to a slender reed of black ebony capped with silver, which the Duke of Marlborough is obliged to present, and lay on that spot on the 'jd of August annually, before twelve o'clock at midday, on forfeiture of his palace of Blenheim and the manor ' belonging to it ; this being the tenure by which he holds them, agreeably to act of parliament. From the terrace we saw almost under feet Eton college, another noble monument of Gothic archi- tecture. In a square stands a brazen statue of Henry VI., the founder in royal robes. Visited Welbore Ellis's seat at Twickenham, formerly Pope's; the grotto, being arches under the house about a man's height, (ad- mitting a prospect into the longest ^hady contemplative walk, five feet wide, in the garden,) filled with small flint-stones, Bristol and other kinds in mortar, a few pieces of glass on the top and sides : two or three niches filled with the busts of Pope and others ; — there is also in a cross alley a statue of Terence, and in an addition (made by Mr. Stanhope, late owner,) over the centre of an arch, is a niche filled with a bust of Pope, and underneath are the follow- ing Hues : " The humble roof; the garden's sciinty lino, III spoke the genius of a brird divine ; But fancy now displays a fairer scope, And Stanhope's pliins unfold the soul of Pope." Mr. Stanhope's addition is by far th.^ most elegant part, wherein are many foreign trees, such as the cedar of Lebanon, weeping willows, etc. ; also a green-house filled with flowers, plants and fruits. In a retired part of the grounds stands a plain obelisk, eighteen feet high, dedicated by Pope to his mother, with the fol- lowing inscription : — « Ah EDITHA ! MATRUM OPTIMA, mulierum amantissima, Vale!"* • " Alas ! Editha, best of Mothers, most affectijnato of Women, Fare- well!" 38 JOURNAL AND I. KTTKRS. [1775. ,,.'i 'i! A i)!r! rO HON. WILLIAlVf BIIOWNK, BOSTON. Lmdon, .31.v/ Jlvg. 1775. Drar SfR: As far as my experience reaches, I have observed that the upper ranks, most of the capital stockholders, and I am told the principal nobility, are for forcing supremacy of parliament over the colonies ; and from the middle ranks down are opposed to it. America fur- nishes matter for disputes in colFee-houses, sometimes warm, but without abuse or ill nature, and there it ends. It is unfashionable and even disreputable to look askew on one another for difTerence of opinion in political matters ; the doctrine of toleration, if not belter understood, is, thank God, better practised here than in America ; otherwise there would not be such numbers of unhappy exiles suffering every disadvantage. L credible (piantities of ammunition and stores shipped and shipping from Tower-wharf for America, manifests the intention of administration to prosecute the plan of subjection of the colonies to the authority of parliament; for that is the only dispute, as it is understood here. Administration would gladly have met the colo- nies half way or more, had there appeared any in( Tmation to accept terms in any degree consistent with the honor and dignity of the mother country. Now, no alternative; an absolute independence of the colonies on (Jreat IJritain, or an explicit acknowledgment of the British legislature over all the dominions of the empire. The proclamation which you will receive by this conveyance was published the day before yesterday at the Royal J2xchange, with all the circumstances of indignity the lord mayor could throw on it. Instead of the languid measures hitherto pursued, more active ones will succeed, and then wo to poor Massachusetts, which, like the scape-goat, must bear the sins of many. Do urge our remaining friends to flee from the destruction that will speedily overtake that devoted colony. You will not wonder at the luxury, dissipation and profligacy of manners said to reign in this capital, when you consider that the temptation to indulgence, from the lowest haunts to the most elegant and expensive rende/vous of the noble and polished world, are almost beyond the power of numbers to reckon up. I77r).] ' Please mnk friends and ac reracndier me t( Sept. 17. Assembly," Es^ philus Lindsey, Yorkshire, (wo petition to parli prayer. Preac! Sept. 20. ton, Es(|., at a forty boys, and are to receive y at meals, nor w cash, house-rent (enclosed by a at the entrance of the size of ac Sept. 21. debated, " 7* it svres at the cost nation ?" — whic few dissentients. Oct. 11. G Copley from M to his house, wh N. 13oylston, Mi JVov. 18. J and Gov. Cam] governments on at the provincia to attempt the li Mr. Dickinson i JVov. 29. my eye more ] 1775.] JOUKNAI. AND I, RTTERS. 39 Ploasc' make my compliments to Judge Scwall anrl all other I'ricnds and ac(|uainfan(cs with you ; and in the kindest manner remember mc to Mrs. Hrowne. Very truly your friend, S. CuilWKN. Sept. 17. Attended puhlu; worship at the " Reformed Liturj^y Asseml)Iy," Essex House, Essex-street, Strand ; heard Rev. Theo- philus Tiindsey, the Unitarian reformist, who gave up a living in Yorkshire, (worth three hundred a year,) on the rejection of the petition to parliament for a revisal and amendment of the common prayer. Preacher serious, style good, discourse useful. Sept. 20. At the Charter House, a foundation by Thomas Sut- ton, Es(|., at a cost of jt'12,00() sterling, for classically educating forty hoys, and supporting eighty old bachelors and widowt , s, who are to receive yearly a black cloak, without which never to appear at meals, nor with it without the walks ; — besides ten pounds in cash, house-rent, food, and firing. They have about forty acres (enclosed by a brick wall twenty feet high,) laid out in gardens , at the entrance are the arms of the donor, formed by small pebbles of the size of acorns. Sept. 21. At the Disputation-club, Queen's arms ; question debated, " /* it not injustice in the administration to pursue mea- sures at the cost of the price of blood, without any hcnofit to the nation?''^ — which was voted in the affirmative, but not without a few dissentients. Oct. 11. Governor Hutchinson came in his coach with Mr. Copley from Mr. Bromfield's, and took Mr. Pickman and myself to his house, where we dined in company with Mr. Bliss, Mr. W . N. Boylston, Mrs. Copley, and the family. JVov. 18. News by a packet from New-York, that liov. Tryon and Gov. Campbell are obliged to retreat from their respective governments on shipboard ; and thai Dr. Frabklin had arrived at the provincial camp at Cambridge to advise Gen. Washington to attempt the lines on the neck; — and that Samuel Adams and Mr. Dickinson were at cdds. JSTov. 29. Saw Mr. Garrick in Hamlet at Drury Lane; in my eye more perfect in the expression of his face than in the hir i 1 I f .. 1 '\ '^ 1 ' i-^i:l ^' • i J. iCM 1 .(■ If n ^i 40 JOURNAL AND T. K T T E R S . [1775. accent and pronunciation of his voice, which, however, was much beyond the standard of his fellow actors. Dec. 1. At great St. Helen's, Bishopgate-street, where I saw a monument to Sir Thomas Bancroft, a lord mayor's officer, and an oppressive knave, who had heaped up much wealth, which he left with trustees to be improved till his rising from the dead ; which he imagined would take place after a certain period, when his wealth was to be returned to him. In the meantime, he ordered that his corpse should be laid and kept in a coffin, (with a lock Avhich he could draw back,) and deposited in a tomb with a glass window and a glass door, to be opened once a year on a given day, to be shown to any spectator ; all which has been complied with hitherto. But his trustees have with these ill-gotten gains erected an alms-house at Mile-end, for the support of poor women and children. Made another unsuccessful attempt to enter the gallery of the House of Commons, to hear the third and last reading of the bill prohibiting all connnerce with America ; learned at the door that it is to remain shut to strangers, for the pretended reason that the floor of the house is too small and the gallery necessary for the use of members ; confirmed by Mr. George Ilayley, a city member, whom I met in the Strand. Thence to Herald's office, where Parson Peters, with his friend Mr. Punderson, lodges; the latter has lately arrived from Boston, having escaped by rowing himself in a cockboat eighteen miles into the sound from his native place, Norwich, Connecticut, and being taken up by a vessel and put on board the Rose man-of-war, Capt. Wallace, and conveyed to Boston. It seems he was harshly dealt with by the " sons of liberty" being obliged to make two con- fessions to save his life ; notwithstanding which he was hunted, pur- sued, and threatened, and narrowly escaped death, (or the Sinisbury mines, to which he was finally adjudged, and he thinks with the loss of his eyes,) which would have been his fate but for his sea- sonable and providential retieat. TO HON. WILLI \M HROWXE. BOST' N. London, Dec. Ath, 1775. Dear Sir ; Yours of 7th Oct. affords me a pleasingly sensible proof of the 1775.] truth of King is as refreshing Uncertain writing what i fall short of it provincials, thi of America, ev of any individi party prejudice one's intention ever so much ( such connectio the determinat may be assurei in the Gazette I will just the oppositior weight and m their plans res dence in the ki idea of compe of the British '. preparations fi troops, to be season. The ( thought doubt! America had 1: of anarchy, — r future measure one may, with rible destructiv country. " Dec. 12. Dr. Watts' fri Virtue" now Gunston. 1775.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 41 truth of King Solomon's observation ; " News from a far country is as refreshing as cold water to a thirsty soul." Uncertain what may be the fate of this, I am restrained from writing what might prote amusing, perhaps informing ; should it fall short of its inter ded destination, and get into the hands of the provincials, though containing nothing prejudicial to the interests of America, even in their own view, nor reflecting on the character of any individual, the most innocent expressions, by the force of party prejudice, might be construed into a sense entirely foreign to one's intention, and render one obnoxious or ridiculous. Were I ever so much of a mind to write on politics, I profess not to have such connections as to justify any positive declarations concerning the determination of the cabinet council, and whoever does, you may be assured, if he writes more than the court pleases to publish in the Gazette, arrogates pretensions, to which he has no claim. I will just hint what appears to be a matter of notoriety here : the opposition in parliament is too inconsiderable in numbers, weight and measures to hinder the progress of administration in their plans respecting America. Both houses repose entire confi- dence in the king and his ministers' resolution not to relinquish the idea of compelling the submission of all subjects within the limits of the British Empire to the authority of the supreme legislature : preparations for which are making for increasing the number of troops, to be sent over time enough for a vigorous push next season. The events of war are uncertain, and victory is by many thought doubtful, — yet it is more than whispered by some that America had better be dispeopled than remain in its present state of anarchy, — much more independent. Should this idea regulate future measures, and should government despair of subduing them, one may, without the spirit of prophecy, see beforehand what ter- rible destructive evils will then befall our poor, devoted, once happy country. " fortunatus," etc. Very truly yours, S. CURWEN, !'• '■ U -f f m I y I 'V, Dec. 12. To Newington to view the house and grounds of Dr. Watts' friend Gunston, celebrated in his poem " Sacred to Virtue,^' now owned by a daughter of Lady Abney, a niece of Gunston. 6 M ■! in ,i| 42 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1775. In the hall is a half length of Caryl, the commentator on Job, and by his side his wife, mother of Mr. Gunston and Lady Abney ; also Sir Thomas Abney and his lady. To Dr. Watts' study, being occupied by the lady, we could not gain admittance. From the balcony we had extensive views of the town and country, and through and over the whole, as well a^ the house, are spread a neatness and arrangement superior lo any spot I ever beheld. Dec. 15. At Covent Garden, to see Mrs, Barry as Constance in king John — a fine person, and esfeeraed the best actress now on the stage. Dec. 17. At Foundling Hospital chapel; Mr. Bromley preached. Compared the example of Jesus with that of the most perfect of heathen antiquity, Zcno, founder of the Stoic sect, in whose honor Athens declared by public edict, that he had exemplified in his life the precepts he taught, but of whose inconsistency the preacher enumerated several gross instances, not much to the credit of mere human reason, in compa jon with the most eminent and brightest of mere men recorded in the Scriptures, in whom great infirmities and even follies are to be perceived ; his example only, pure and spotless, being fit to be proposed to mankind for their practice and imitation. Dec. 18. At New England coffee-hon'^r, where I read in the New-York paper that forts St. John and Cii.iu-ble had surrendered to the provincials commanded by Col. Montgomery, formerly a captain in the regular service, and well esteemed. The garrison was commanded by Major Preston, with six hundred regulars and Canadians. The provincials immediately investing the fort were only two hundred in number. The officers are to be sent home or down to General Gage, the commander-in-chief in America, in order to be transported. The provincials are supposed to be de- signed for Montreal, Gen. Carleton retiring there after a defeat. — News oi a contrary kind is, thai Falmouth* in Casco Bay, con- sisting of 139 dwelling houses and 278 stores, warehouses, etc., to- gether with many vessels, was burnt by Captain Mowalt of the Canseau sloop-of-vvar, after two hours notice to remove, for joining, as the captain was pleased in his letter to the inhabitants to term it, with the rebels; the particular crime or crimes not mentioned. • Now Portland, Maine. 1775.] Dec. 22. with Judge St appointed this tended Mrs. S king robe anc throne. Aftei Judge Sewall, I Dec. 23. I where dined ir I limner and lad Clerkenwell C together, goin[ news of the ta firmed by an a Dec. 25. queen, who joi of London pre Mr. R. Cla days passage, ship with five stores de guerr ishing. My Dear Sir : I last ever afforded me gr club was like extreme coldn labored under day. Be plea; Yesterday I rec all was well ar expression saic gave offence t( by force took 1 designing to in 1775.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 43 Dec. 22. Walked to Brompton-Row with B. Pickman, to dine with Judge Sewall, who meeting us in the Strand two days ago, appointed this day. The family, besides Samuel Quincy, who at- tended Mrs. Sewall and Mrs. Green home, having been to see the king robe and assent to the American prohibitory bill from the throne. After dinner Governor Hutchinson entered and invited Judge Sewall, B. Pickman and myself to dine with him to-morrow. Dec. 23. At Temple Bar took coach to Governor Hutchinson's, where dined in company with Mr. Joseph Green, Mr. Copley, the limner and lady v/ith family, and his children. In our way through Clorkenwell Green we saw five couple of young persons chained together, going under care of tip-staves to Bridewell prison. The news of the taking of St. John and Chamblc on Sorel-river con- firmed by an arrival from Quebec which left 14th November. Dec. 25. At Chapel Royal, St. James's ; saw the king and queen, who joined in the services with becoming devotion. Bishop of London preached. Mr. R. Clarke arrived from Boston yesterday, only twenty-one days passage. All safe at Salem. The provincials have seized a ship with five hundred casks gunpowder, cannon, mortars, and stores de guerre et de bouche ; their activity and success is aston- ishing. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, IN LONDON. Islington, December 27, 1775. My Dear Sir : I last evening received your favor of the 24th Inst., and it afforded me great pleasure to observe that a weekly New England club was likely to be made up; and I am mortified that the extreme coldness of the weather, and the indisposition I have labored under for several weeks, prevent my being in town this day. Be pleased to make my compliments to my brother exiles. Yesterday I received letters from Salem of 18th and 20th November ; all was well and quiet there, except a small fracas on account of an expression said to have been uttered by Mr. Timothy Orne, which gave offence to the ruling powers of the town, who assembled and by force took him out of his house into School-street in the evening, designing to inflict the modern punishment of tarring and feathering i \ ii 1 It }.■■ ' 1 1 #!'^: frl "^ it .ft' 1 , , i * M • \ ' 1 44 JOURNAL AND LETTERS [1776. 1776.] !*li, jl •/ 14^11' on hira ; but by the influence of the Committee of Safety and his promise to appear before the Committee next morninf;, he was suf- fered to depart ; accordingly, the next morning he appeared in person ; and he to whom it was reported he had used the expres- sion appearing and denying it, promising to submit to the present government, pay the taxes required for support of it, and demean himself quietly and submissively, and take care to avoid for the future making use of unadvised expressions, his present offence should be forgiven. Mr. Lowell of Newburyport is an acting justice, the only one of the " addressers" commissioned. The inferior coui t bench in Essex is filled by Caleb Gushing, B. Greenleaf, Timothy Pickering, Jr., and Dr. Samuel Holton ; the last but one is the only acting justice in our part of the county. Joyhua Ward and John Gardner are in commission of the peace. On the supreme bench, John Adams, William Cashing, William Ileed and Peasely Sargent, all of whom 'tis said accept. Major Ha-Aley refuses all employment, saying what he did was purely to serve his country. Very truly yours, S. CUKWKN. Dec. 31. Went to Holloway mount, passing t'urough King John's paloce-spot; nothing standing but the original front gate- way, under an a.ch and two pieces of old stone wall, man-height, making part of the wall of stable. P'vening at Silvei -street meet- ing-house lecture ; Mr. Smith pathetically addressed the young, middle-aged and old on the close of the year : May the afflictions I have suffered the past year, in an unhappy banishment from my family, friends and country, be the means of increasing my reliance on, and submission to the all-disposing hand of the wise and righteous Governor of the universe. January 1, 1776. May the events of the following ycai, bow- ever unfavorable to the pride of my heart, be productive of more moral improvement than the last. Jan. 5. Visited Joseph Green — afterwards to Samuel Quinr.y's, where I met Mr. Flucker, Judge Sewall and lady, Samuel Sc-wall, and riiirrison Gray, who are bound to the theatre to see the Jubilee, which is to be exquisitely decorated in the scenery. ] I Jan. 20. A( to Pnnton-strcet, America ; he hai we went to Go through the pari Parliament-stree all, Mr. Flucker aiul Jonathan CI time since their Ja7i. 26. R( a dinner at the A New England cl Jan. 28. A .Ian. 29. O ever be known a passed over on tl The gains of th furthest; foresigl known among th large American ( would that I was February 1. met twenty-one ( dinner here, viz. Messrs. Rich a Scwall, Joseph \ Hutchinson, Sam Gray, David Gn Taylor, Daniel S Copley, and Nai Benj. Pickman, t Urqiihart, absent also Gov. Hutch Ijcmdon, Feb. for a small sp..-je at the former we ciates, one of wh of the well knov ll J "I . ^ 1776.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 45 Jan. 20. Accompanied by B. Pickman and Wm. Cabot, went to PRnton-strcet, Haymarket, to see Mr. Fisher, lately arrived from America ; he had gone out as well as Mr. Flucker. From thence we went to Gov. Hutchinson's, and after a short stay departed through the park to Samuel Quincy's and David Green's lodgings, Parliament-street, where we met Judge Sewall, Mr. Samuel Sew- all, Mr. Flucker, Mr. Harrison Gray, and Mr. Oxnard ; R. Clark and Jonathan Clark going out of the door, whom I saw for the first time since their arrival. Jan. 2G. Received a line from Mr. Isaac Smith, inviting me to a dinner at the Adelphi tavern, designed as an introduction to a New England club, which I have been long desirous of establishing. Jan. 28. Almost as cold as ever I felt in New England. .Jan. 29. Cold without abatement from yesterday, which will ever be known as the cold Sunday, 8^ by Farenheit. The Thames passed over on the ice : generous collections for the suffering poor. The gains of the laborer are almost always spent on Sunday at furthest; foresight and provision for a future day, is not a virtue known among them. The fires here not to be compared to our large American ones of oak and walnut, nor near so comfortable ; would that I was away ! Fchniary 1. To the Adelphi, Strand, where by appointment met twenty-one of my countrymen, who have agreed on a weekly dinner here, viz. : Messrs. Richard Clark, Joseph Green, Jonathan Bliss, Jonathan Scwall, Joseph Waldo, S. S. Blowers, Elisha Hutchinson, William Hutchinson, Samuel Sewall, Samuel Quincy, Isaac Smith, Harrison Gray, David Greene, Jonathan Clark, Thomas Flucker, Joseph Taylor, Daniel Silsbee, Thomas Brinley, William Cabot, J. 'ai S. Copley, and Na-Lhaniel Coifin Samuel Porter, Edward Oxnard, Benj. Pickman, Jno. Amory, Judge Robert Auchmuty and Major Urqiihart, absent, are members of this New England club, as is also Gov. Hutchinson. Ixindon, Feb. 9. Passing through Westminster IL ,!, I stopped for a small sp...;e ai 'lie courts of common pleas and king's bench ; at the former were sitting the Cliief Justice De Grey and his asso- ciates, one of whom was the famous Sir William Blackstone, author of the well known commentaries on the laws of England ; but no ::','■ ■ t. , \ M. m ( I n 'i "f ilM 46 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1776. ,1 ». ' «!! '■ ■i- l: ' It- ' t , hi ■III] ;|! ^1 cause of importance, or lawyer of note speaking, I proeeeflcd to the la! (cr, whore wa-' sitting tliat excellent useful ju(!gf, but misohievduj politician, Lonl Mansfield. For the same reason as ' lu; formei 1 quit- ted my stand ht-re, and retreated to the House of Comiuons' coraiiiil tee-chamber, where for an hour or two I w us entf:,!ra majorihus con- sonant." They are the inventions of Dr. F.;i, n. Wht wrote to you in October I 'o; ,. ,o send you the fol- io wiiiir officers in part of the re ' ari -y, found in the pocket 1776.] of one of their heights of Char Col. Gerrish, Lt. Col. Park Major Bigelo Lt. Col. Heni Maj. Brooks. Lt. Col. Hold Adjt. Green Coi. Whitnej Col. Woodbri Major Buttric Col. Porter. Major Miller. Col. Doolittle Adjt. B. Moo Col. Frye. Gen. Whitcor Col. William Gen. Ward, S Col.Peirce. Gen. Pomero^ Col. Patterson Adjt. Guager. Col. Nixon, F Col. Ward, S( Maj. Sawyer. Adjt. Warner. Maj. Wra. M( Maj. Cady. Adjt. Hunt. Adjt. Holman Adjt. Har«. Col. M: i :,jield Adj;, rutnam. Maj. Jackson. Lt. Col. Hudsi Adjt. Hardy. 177G.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 47 of one of their sergeants, who was heights of Charlestown, viz. : Col. Gerrish, Newbury. Lt. Col. Parker, Chelmsford. Major Bigelow, Worcester. Lt. Col. Henshaw, Leicester. Maj. Brooks. Lt. Col. Holden. Adjt. Green Col. Whitney. Col. Woodbridge. Major Buttrick. Col. Porter. Major Miller. Col. Doolittle, Petersham. Adjt. B. Moore. Col. Frye. Gen. Whitcomb, Bolton. Col. W^illiam Prescott. Gen. Ward, Shrewsbury. Col. Peircc. Gen. Pomeroy, Northampton. Col. Patterson, Richmond. Adjt. Guager. Col. Nixon, Framinghara. Col. Ward, Southborough. Maj. Sawyer. Adjt. Warner. Maj. Wra. Moore, Paxton. Maj. Cady. Adjt. Hunt. Adjt. Holman. Adjt. ^^.ar\. Col. M' . .lield. Adji. i-utnara. M.ij. Jackson. Lt. Col. Hudson or Hutehins. Adjt. Hardy. killed on the 17th June, on the Col, Gardner, Cambridge. Col. Bridge, Chelmsford. Lt. Col. Brickett, Haverhill. Lt. Col. Clark. Major Stacey. Major Wood, Peppercll. Lt. Col. Powell. Adjt. Holden. Adjt. Gen. Js. Keith, Easlon. Col. Green. Maj. Baldwin. Adjt. Woodbridge. Secretary J. Ward. Adjt. Montague. Adjt. Fox. Lt. Col. Robinson, Dorchester. Adjt. Febiger. Adj. Stevens. Col. Bond, Watcrtown. Col. Simmons. Lt. Col. Whitney, Harvard. Lt. Col. J. Reld, near Manad- nock. Adjt. Marston. Maj. Brigade, Samuel Osgood. Lt. Col Moulton. Maj. Putnam. Lt. Col. Putnam. Maj. Poor. Maj. Durkee, Norwich. Capt. Butler, Peterborough. Joseph Trumbull, Judge Advo- cate, Norwich. Adjt. Handy. Lt. Col S« )rcr. 11 I h\ i;; '. 1 I ! \1 '■•■!' , 1 ■i M ,1 \ 1 \ ■' ^'*!: 1' ' .1 1' t i r ; !«). t ;j:i h' I 'i ' fN; 1^ f^f: 48 JOURNAL AND LETTKKS. [1776. Those who have obtained leavo to exchange the town for a country residence the hist two months, are taken on board an armed ship at Hancock's wharf and are handed at Point Shirley, where they are cleansed and aired for the benefit of their brethren who have not had the small pox. I sent a verbal message to Mrs. Curwen by Bella McLeroy, in- forming her of your safe arrival and health ; but was discouraged by Mrs, Gardiner from trusting her with your letter, which I still have in my desk with those lately received, and know not if I can ever send them until you will sufler them to be inspected at head- quarters on both sides the lines. Mrs. Browne and William desire their best regards. Pray present mine to all friends with you, and if you ever desire to hear from me again, give me reason to think so by sending me a circumstantial account of yourself and of what what passes on your side of the water. I am your affectionate friend, Wm. Buowne. London, Feb. 15. Diiied with New England Club at Adelphi Tavern; was introduced to Sir Francis Bernard, and saw there, for the first time since his arrival, Mr. Fisher, who promises to spend a day with me soon. Received a letter from Col, Browne, at Boston, acquainting me of the sad destruction of wooden houses for want of fuel, till of late thirteen vessels arrived with coals, &c., raising the despondency of the people. Feb. 27. Tlie city polled for a chamberlain; candidates, aldermen Wilkes and lf(jpklns. The latter succeeded, to the no small mortification of the Wilkites, who exceed in numbers, among the lower classes, the friends of Hopkins. Mr. Wilkes must look upon him.self as one of the people, and lost henceforth to all importance. Fib. 29. Dined with Mr. Gilbert Harrison, and delivered my letter of credit from Mr. Timmins to Messrs. Harrison and Ansley. Mtirili 2. At Parson Peters' saw Mr. Troutbeck, lately ar- rived from Halifax, and Mr. Wiswall ; mutually invited each other to visit, and gave cards. Miinli 4. James Russell and his friend Mr. Newman dined with me; received a card from Messrs. Clarke excusing them- selves, being pre-engaged. 1776.] March 1( ver's lady; March 1 place in th called the M( in the centre surrounded heiuls of the jorrnances b(. of devotion phitheatrical crs, who sat Wrighton, M formers in all Mr. Florio. fully majestic which swellec exalted it be view of that throne of God March 14 thence to sec to the gardens down, and the hut think witJ good repair, bridle of the n March 15 gave an excel our debtor s.^^ the Lord's pra was designed religion, univ( very condition As forgivenesi amiable of all and ought the can recommer 1776.] JOURNAI, AND LETTERS. 49 March 10. To Tichfield-strcet to pay my respects to Gov. Oli- ver's lady ; thence to Judi^e Scwall's, Ikompton-Row, where dined. March 13. At Covent Garden, obtained a very convenient place in tlie first front seat h^wer gallery, when the oratorio called the Messiah was performed — the whole stage an orchestra ; in the centre a spacious organ embellished by a portrait of Handel surrounded with a glory, or such rays as are placed round the heads of the saints of the Romish calendar -our musical saint's per- jormances being as much read and studied here as their manuals of devotion are by their admirers. The form of the orchestra am- phitheatrical and the seats concentric, except of the vocal perform- ers, who sat in chairs in front. The leading singers were Mrs. Wrighton, Mrs. Weischell, Mr. Leoni, etc. -nearly eighty per- formers in all. The first violin, professor La Motte ; the first flute, Mr. Florio. The music was noble, grand, full, sonorous, and aw- fully majesti? ; the whole assembly as one, rising, added a solemnity which swelled and filled my soul with an — I know not what, that exalted it beyond itself, bringing to my raised imagination a full view of that sacred assembly of blessed spirits which surround the throne of God. March 14. Surveyed the New River works at Spafields — thence to sec the ravages of the late fire at the Savoy, and through to the gardens belonging to Somerset House, no v about to be pulled down, and the ground between it and the river filled up. I cannot but think with regret on so many noble and royal apartments in good repair, to be destroyed to build offices for the army, that bridle of the nation, its scourge, and will be its future ruin. March 19. Attended lecture at Saltfrs' Hall. Dr. Price gave an excellent sermon from " Forgive its our debts is we forgive our debtors." He observed that this was the only original part of the Lord's prayer, (the rest being found in the Jewish liturgy,) and was designed to inculcate the distinguishing characteristic of his religion, universal love and good will to all mankind, making it the very condition on which our hopes of forgiveness are suspended. As forgiveness of injuries and love of all mankind are the most amiable of all virtues, so are they the most difficult to be practised, and ought iheretbre to be the more endeavored after ; and nothing can recommend us better to divine favor and acceptance. 7 '^if. irl^ IIP ■m^-:^ i 1. 1'' M■a^'^^;'^ !'■ i' .^ AT , ^ ^c*>nc 50 J O U R N A I, AND I, K T T K H S. [1776. I i| .i'^ March 21. Mr. Heard, Nonoy kirig-of-arms, having given mc a letter to A. Farlty, Es(j., Cliapter House, I went, accompanied by William Cabot, Samuel Porter, Judge Sevvall and liis kinsman Samuel Si wall, and 1. Bliss, and presenting my letter, we were ad- mitted to a sig." oi" Doomsday Books. One, in tlie fold of a folio contained a valii,.!. n or estimate made for an c(|ual tax of all Ine counties c(l Mr. Pickman hi affairs, but thei| Jlpril 15. street to see tl| attend the trial robes. The qui esses and ladies liant appearant ./Ipril 17. with Mr. l^oyls Lord Mansfield noble portico, t with paper of In (having a fine through a wood contains the lar| high by three a of jet-black mai field and lady, ^ ./Ipril 22. tlon, Herts ; th( Jlpril 23. houses, besides which is twelv size, are carvei union of the 1 painted on the wood in the sfi with roses. 1 repose comfort Jlpril 24. famous as the name ; — the re the whole ap[ I 1776,] JOUKNAl. AND i: T T E K H 63 a Mr. Rourrio, lately arrived frnin Halifax; he appears a ^^rave, solid man, whose ac(|uaititatiee I think I shall esteem. Jlpril 14. Attended pnhlie w()rshi[) at Dr. Price's in the after- noon, and in company with Benjamin Pickinan took lea with him. Mr. Picktnan had a long conversation with Dr. Price on American affairs, but their sentiments were widely diderent. Jlpril 15. Mr. Hoylston called, and we went to Parliament- street to see the procession of the Peers to Westminster Hall to attend the trial of the l)u(;hess of Kingston ; the lords wore their robes. The queen, two princes and two princesses, and the peer- esses and ladies in great multitudes attended, and made a most bril- liant appearance. ./Ipril 17. Went with li. Pickman to Highgate, where dined with Mr. Hoylston, and after dinner to Caen Wood, the seat of Lord Mansfield. The house elegant, not large : — the centre is a noble portico, the walls of the hall, saloon, chambers, etc. covered with paper of India or Chinese figures — the library a beautiful room, (having a fine prospect of St. Paul's, distant about seven miles, through a wood, over a lawn, and ending in a fine piece of water,) contains the largest •"•r.o.r' I ever saw, being seven and a half feet high by three and a half in breadth. In the hall are two tables of jet-black marble. The walls hung with portraits of Lord Mans- field and lady, who was a daughter of Finch, Earl of Nottingham. ./Ipril 22. Visited Mr. Hughes seventeen miles out, at Hoddes- don, Herts ; the grounds laid out with great taste. April 23. Walked to Ware, which contains five hundred houses, besides a great curiosity called "the great bed of Ware," which is twelve feet square — the posts, which are of uncommon size, are carved with white and red roses, built, it is said, at the union of the houses of York and Lancaster ; the date, 14G3, is painted on the centre of the headboard, which with the tester is of wood in the same style, laid out in compartments and surrounded with roses. The whole weighs half a ton : twenty persons can repose comfortably on it. April 24. Walked through the Rye-field to the Rye House, famous as the rendezvous of those who concerted the plot of that name : — the room in which they mi>t was once a chapel ; indeed, the whole appears as the remains of a famous seat. The walls !1! 54 JOURNAL AND I, K T T E K S . [1776. I! li^ ■ ' ' '' i H >|: 1" 'I brick, and moulded roun(l, forming two high round towers, joined together by a line of defence; holes in the walls for arrows, etc. On returning home, passed a tarni called Nether Hall, belong- ing to a Mr. Archer; here are the remains of a palace, said to have been King Harold's before the conquest. The house, which was very large, has been pulled down ; two lofty brick towers remain, with a wall of equal height, crowned with battlements, and within a moat surrounding an acre of land covered with ruins. In one of the angles is a watch-tower, now converted into a hen- roost. Arriving at home, found John Tnman, brother of Ralph, our countryman, who dined with us ; he is of a blunt humor, easy and jolly ; with him and a Mr. Musgrave we set oil' to Mr. Daute- ville's, at Brocksburn, by invitation ; p.assed an agreeable evening at Mr. Hughes'. May 1. The young chimney-sweepers with their sooty and chalked faces aie dressed out with ribbons and gilt paper, a gro- tesque and raerry-andrew appearance. With their brushes and scrapers they made a kind of musical sound, raising contributions on their employers and others. The milk- maids appeared in fine and fantastic attire, and carried on their heads pyramitis of three or four feet in height, finely decorated. In Ave-Mary lane saw the milkmen and maids again with a f!;tirland so called ; being a pyra- mid consisting of seven or eight stories, in the four angles of which stood a silver tankard, and on the sides, between each, lessening in height as the stories rose, stoo pi 'Hi', ik 56 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1776. Mmj 13. Walked to Walworth, the gardens cf a Mr. Mad- docks, a noted florist, wherein I saw the greatest variety of finely variegated tulips I believe in England. May 14. Went to the exhibition-room in the Strand, where were more than fifty people viewing the pictures, models, etc., as contained in a book delivered to each at entering. There were many performances and some very excellent in tlieir kind, of which the view of the eruption of Vesuvius and a few night pieces struck me most. May 15. Visited Pinchbeck's to view stained glass ; most elegant figures, finest tints, in the new revived art, by a Mr. Jervais; among which were two full lengths of Christ and Moses, bought at seventy guineas by a clergyman, and presented to Westminster Abbey. From thence to the exhibition-room of the Royal Academy, in Pall-mall, where were to be seen a most curious col- ection of elegant and capital performances in oil, crayons, enamel, sculpture, etc., a great number present. Meeting Colonels Browne and Saltonstall at the door of their lodginss, agreed to meet them at the Exchange and dine tocether at three o'clock. jMay 17. Took tea at Mr. J. Green's; Harrison Gray and other company there ; having dined with eleven New Englandens at St. Clement's coffee-house. May 20. Took lodgings with a Mr. Palmer at the Herald's office. May 21. Visited the Boar's-hcad tavern. Cannon-street, to view the very room or rather spot in wliich Prince Harry with Falstaff used to assemble with their friends Nym, Bardolph, etc., to hold their nocturnal frolicks. Agreed to make a company, (if feasible,) to dine next Thursday. Returned home, where found Richard Routh, who came with V>. Pickman. June 2. Called at Mr. Copley's, Leicester-square; afterwards at No. 11 Haymarket, the lodgings of Col. Browne and Col. Sal- tonstall. June 5. Walked to Mr. Green's ; Major Brattle entered, and we three took coach to Drury Lane, to see for the last time Gar- rick in Richard IIL by command of their majesties, but were too late — house filled. June 6. To Westminster Hall to hear the sentence of Gen- 1776.] Smith and Mr. soned six month Dear Sir: We have rei cated enough to believed ; there Gi v. Try on loft 2d May, wr made a second take it by storm retreated ; in th board two trans diately joined tl march, and des ported that eig defeat from the garrison and b( reirulars entered when hard pus' liCe is said to Clinton's, as h story is told in t Hahfaxhasarri' plaints. Gen. all rapine and f here. There i.s buve been left ; false ac( ount. London, m^ sad liclcpmny,'' great expense, Americans whf the most distan unjustifiable pi asking a favor 1776.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. OT Smith and Mr. Hollis for bribing a borough, who are to be impri- soned six months, and pay one thousand marks. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, EXETER. London, June 6, 1776. Dear Sir : We have received advices from America, though not authenti- cated enough to find a [dace in the Court Gazette, still generally believed ; there are some who doubt the whole. Grv. Tr) on in his letters by the packet from New- York, which left 2d May, writes that " Arnold having received a reinforcement, made a second attack on Quebec, but finding it impracticable to take it by storm, he, on the 19th April, after five days' attempt, retreated ; in thr meantime, the Isis, with eight hundred men on board two transports which arrived with her, having landed, imme- diately joined the garrison and issued out, disturbing them on their march, and destroying seven hundred and fifty men." It is re- ported that eighty men taken last February on Montgomery's defeat from the New England regiments, incorporated with the garrison and behaved bravely ; on the contrary, seventy of the regulars entered among the provincials, and turning against them when hard pushed, occasioned the carnage stated above. Gen. liCC is said to be taken with seventy men by a party of Gen. Clinton's, as he was reconnoitering, without firing a gun ; the story is told in three different ways, but finds credit. A vessel from Halifaxhas arrived, bringing their Governor Legge to .nswer com- plaints. Gen. Washington has issued a proclamation, forbidding all rapine and plunder in Boston, a source of comfort to our friends here. There is a long list of military stores in the papers, said to hiive been left at Boston by Gen. Howe, but 'd is thought to be a false a( ( ount. London, my favorite place of abode, is, as the peasant said, " a sad lickpmny,^'' and truly one cannot breathe the vital air without great expense. The numerous applications to the treasury by Americans who:^^' pretensions are so mach beyond mine, exclude the most distant ho;.e of relief for me, should inadvertence or more unjustifiable principles of conduct reduce me to the necessity of asking a favor, which I am determined at all events to defer to the 8 n ] ^^ i r 1, f • . 'J '1 " ■ i' 1- ; 1 ' ">;! ■Km!.: t 1>, l-ili. 1 . ' I .1 i 58 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1776. j I j77g-| ; : W 1 it' i :f ^E' longest period, if it please llie great Disposer of events to prolong my uneasy abode in this country of aliens for many days yet to come. To communicate with a friend is almost the only relief from dis- tracting thoughts ; for the harmless amusements in which I was engaged last summer and fall, and which served to dissipate uneasy reflections, now having lost their novelty, delight no more. Yours truly, S. CURWEN. June 8. Pined with Judge Sewall at Bronipton-Row ; and with him, his wife and sister, Mr. Blowers and wife, SaiD«jel Sewall and William Browne, was admitted to the queen's paliice in St. James's Park. The rooms are large, lofty, and extremely well filled with pictures ; mimy of them said to bo originals of the best masters; amongst them are seven Cartoons of Raphael, and a large collection of miniatures in gilt frames and under glass. From thence to tea at Col. Browne's, afterwards to the opera housf , entertained with the opera of Antigono, the Signors Rousini and Gabrieli, principal performers, interludes of exquisitely fine dancing. June 10. Read " Common iS't/Jw," published in America, .ind republished here, in favor of American in,iepen(h'rice; and al.so "Plain Truth" an answer to ii ; and Provost Sihith's oration on the Quebec heroes, Montgomery, etc. TO 1)R CHARLES RUSSELL, ANTIGUA. London, June 10, 1776. Dear Sir : I congratulate you on your retreat from the land of oppression and tyranny ; for surely, greater never appeared since the days of Nimrod. I sincerely wish well to my native country, and am of opinion that the happiness of it depends on restraining the violences and outrages of profligate and unprincipled men, who run riot against all the laws of justice, truth and religion. Sad and deplo- rable is the condition of those few that like Abdiel, amidst hostile bands of fallen spirits, retain their primitive loyalty. So stf uigely unprosperous hitherto have been the measures of administration in America, that tl complished wha impo.ssible. Ge Canada with foi ments ; Lord II ..ion of Ile.ssians night before bin at Halifax the h^ will sail this wc the whole nnml armv on the coi IS surprising wh iu.s on th( mai m^'.c. the disputf in »meral little ensfw" all rank culty on that see tion of that foil; aims at, miakes By letters fr quiet state there irovernment ha( (!rice. Six ve.ss amongst whom urer Gray, etc. enough, but fo*- supply ibr preae very cold ; the llieir hopes are nofhmg, for fie t trutb was ever \ I find my fir move ' >m this old as t *m, wou consist*r»«!y wit serve- The i*sf be the lj#*ter ft» to »jch rigid er 1776.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 59 \niorica, that the active provincials have talccn courage, and ac- complished what in contemplation would have appeared morally impossible. Gen. Burgoyne sailed from hence ten weeks ago for Canada with four thousand IJrunswickers and seven or eight regi- ments ; Lord Ilowe in the Eagle about a month, and the first divi- ion of Hessians, consisting of eight or ten thousand, about a fort- night before him. Gen. Howe, his brother, with nine thousand was at Halifax the beginning of April. The second division, ('tis said,) will sail this week, consisting of four thousand, which completes the whole number of foreign troops. The whole of the regular army on the continent will not be short of forty thousand men. It l^ surprising what little seeming effect the loss of American orders iws on tht manufactories ; they have been in full employ ever ^mifi the dispute arose ; stocks are not one jot lessened, the people in w»neral little moved by it; business and amusements so totally engrfMw all ranks and orders here that administration finds no diffi- culty on that score to purs-ue their plans. The general disapproba- tion of that folly of independence which America now evidently aims at, iroakes it a drItScult part for her friends to act. By letters from Savetn to the 16th April I find they were in a quiet state there, and hugging themselves in the I'atal error that government had abandoned the design of reducing th<'m to obedi- t^iice. Six vessels laden with refugees are arrived from Halifax, amongst whom are R. Lechmere, I. Vassal, Col. Oliver, Treas- urer Oay, etc. Those who bring property here may do well enough, but for those who expect reimhucsement for losses, or a supply lor presee^ wp{>M't, will find to their cost the hand of charity very cold ; the latter mevy be kept from starving, and beyond that llieir hopes are Ta^i^l^. * Hicssed is he (vaitlb Pop*") that expecteth I'Ajthing.for he shcttf rfw-jr i^ dviappmuted ;" nor a more interesting trutfc was ever uttered. I find my finances so visiW^ lesseniwjy, that I wish I could re- move ' im this expeosive coi»#*fy, (being heartily tired of it,) and old as i iwn, would gla^y enter m^t a business connection anywhere wmxtH aAy iKJth dccer*^y and Hi<;«grj*y, which I would fain pre- serve. The ase of the p^erty I \v^ t>ehin(i me I fear I shall never be the ljr»ter fof ; ii'ttl*' did I expect frorr, ifBuence to lie reduced to 8«ich rigid ecommy as pru4ci^e now #xucts. To beg is a mean- ill' '" * lii I J I ! I.' Il !l: I !• !t' ! t i ''I II I r i ^i; .1 ■ ■.j't 'k rm i -iCi Hi,-;.!,. '^i ;'!,« 'i' 60 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1776. ness I wish never to be reduced to, and to starve is stupid ; one comfort, as I am fast declining into the vale of life, my miseries cannot probably be of long continuance. With great esteem, etc. S. CUR'VEN. June 13. Went early to oall on my townsmen Messrs, Dal- glish and Hastie;* met Capt. Poynton ; Mr. Hastie delivered me a letter from Mr. Pynchon. Mr. Thomas Danforth, late from Boston by the way of Halifax, and Mr. R. Russell, called and staid with me till eleven o'clock at night. June 15. Accompanied Mr. Danforth to Gov. Hutchinson's and Judge Sewall's. June 18. Called on Mr. Hughes, who invited »ne to a second visit to his seat at Hoddesdon; showed me a Massachusetts libel for a transport from London, signed by the new judge of admiralty, Timothy Pickering, jun. Dr. Sylvester Gardner bitterly laments his urihappy situation at Halifax, with a deplorable account of his losses at leaving Boston, etc. June 19. To the British Museum, accompanied by Mr. Dan- forth. In the library I saw King John's original charter called Magna Charta ; a book of prayers of Queen Elizabeth, executed finely by herself, the writing very plain, letters fair and well pre- served, the covering of red velvet worked in flowers by her own hand. The Alexandrian manuscript copy of the Bible, said to have been written in the fourth century, containing the gospel of Nicoderaus, a forgery composed in that age; all written on parch- ment, in capitals, without distinction of words, or verse, or sen- tences. Also many of the letters of Charles I., amongst which the original of his to Glamorgan, a papist, in Ireland, promising to make good his engagement to him in establishing the Roman Catholic religion there, and toleration of it in England. Thursday, June 20. Accompanied Mr. Danforth to Judge Oliver's lodgings, in Jfrmyn-sfreel, and with him and his son pro- ceeded through the Park to Westminster Hall, expecting to hear Lord Rochfort and Mr. Sayre's case, but it did not come on. Just • ItnpoTtera of Salem. 1776.] looking into Ch out of King's B{ Justice Lord M< Justice of Comm a trial between Met my tow him since his arr June 21. C where I saw Col for the first time Mr. Bourne, came by a Cape was well. My number of the j the American n.i sivo fancy: civil the immense ine( fore they will ha ruined, perhaps ( moderation and confusions; and the wicked with( June 23. A and Coventry, p Clark, E. Hutch son, accorapanie Dk«.r Sir : I have recei' filled with Amei prowess, by lar gress in the usel the attacks of tj (too soon, alas! ish as the raorni delusions. 1776.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 61 looking into Chancery, I observed the judges as they were going out of King's Bench turned about and saluted with a bow. Chief Justice Lord Mansfield's train borne up by a gentleman. Chief Justice of Common Pleas, Sir William De Grey, made a speech on a trial between a Mr. Popham, etc., on an election affair. Met my townsman, Samuel Grant; the first time I have seen him since his arrival from Mississippi. June 21. Called at Messrs. Browne and Saltonstall's lodgings, where I saw Col. Morrow and Mr. Johonnot, of Boston, refugees, for the first time since their arrival. Mr. Bourne, one of my countrymen, brought me a letter Avhich came by a Cape Ann schooner, dated Salem, 21st April — when all was well. My friend's advices concerning the discipline and number of the provincial troops, and the number and strength of the American navy, will prove, when put to the test, to be a delu- sive fancy : civil wars in time make good generals and soldiers, but the immense inequality will, I suppose, put an end to this war be- fore they will have time to qualify ; in any case, America must be ruined, perhaps desolated. I pray God inspire all with a spirit of moderation and wishes for a reconcilement and oblivion of past confusions; and may the righteous flourish as the palm-tree, and the wicked wither and their root consume away. June 23. At Rolls' Chapel. Dr. llurd, bishop of Litchfield and Coventry, preached an ingenious discourse. Mr. Browne, R. Chirk, E. Hutchinson, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Johonnot, Judge Oliver and son, accompanied me. i'.t 1i k m »!'■ I \ ^,ii' !!il i TO MR. ISAAC SMITH, EXETER. London, June 26, 1776. Dk'.k Sir : I have received a letter from Rev. Thomas Barnard, of Salem, filled with American fancies; their power, strength, grandeur, and prowess, by land and sea ; their policy, patriotism, industry, pro- gress in the useful arts, and their fixed determination to withstand the attacks of tyranny, etc., etc. All these fanciful notions will, (too soon, alas! to their sorrow,) like Ephraim's goodness, " van- ish as the morning cloud and early dew," and prove to be fatal delusions. ■f !(('■ ;» 7 II r P |li ''*!? ;! t.-^' iJ^P" 4 ■ if 62 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1776. Two or Ihrcc companies of Bosfonians are lately arrived from Halifax. I am (loterinirud to take a journey westward, and shall stop as near you as possible. I shall, however, dcipart hence as Abraham did from the land of the Clialdecs, not knowintj whither I go; fain would I trust in the same kind protecting hand that guided that good old patriarch ; would to God I had his faith, but fear my future allotiuciits will be poveriy and pilgrimage. Your friend, etc, S. CURWEN. London, June 27. At Westminster Ilall to hear Lord Roch- fort, secretary of stale, and Mr. Sayre'scase, for false imprisonment and seizing the latter's papers. Verdict, one thousand pounds for the latter. Tried before Chief Justice De Grey. July 1. Breakfasted with Col. Saltonslall ; afterwards to Judge Oliver's to have a sight of Dr. Elliott's letters, conceived in the whig strain. July 3. With Mr. Browne visited Bunhill Fields burying- ground to view Judge Chambers Russell's grave — passed John Bunyan's tomb, 1688. July 5. At Croydon, where the Duke of Bedford has a hunt- ing seat. In this place he and the Marquis of Blandford,* youths of twelve and thirteen, are at a boarding-school. I arrived at Mrs. Grosvcnor's, the lodgings of the two Ingersolls, D. and J., and to the latter I had a letter from D. DeoerdI, recommending me to the house, which I found full, and am therefore disappointed. Thence to the church ; the vicar is Dr. Apthorp, my countryman; it is in excellent repair; in a separate corner are the tombs of six archbishops, viz. Grindall, Whitgift, and Sheldon, with statues over them and placed against the wall, and in decumbent postures, in episcopal habits and crowns, ttie latter of white marble polished, and on the entablature the emblems of mortality in middle relief, executed in a masterly manner in Italy ; the three others are Wake, Potter, and Herring, in flf»t tombs, and their names, &c. inscribed. Dined with the Ingersolls at Mrs. Grosvenor's. July 8. Paid visits to Mr. Fisher and Col. Saltonstall ; left a ♦ Afterwnrda duke of Marlborough. I i 1776.] card at Gov. Iluf Mr. Blowers' in c July 10. At Chief Justice De field — the former floreeable mannei Speaking of 1 books relative tc could get no satij about it to no pu curiosities, etc., tl city history. July 13 Bi A.sked a man nov true Nevv-Engla This I note as the have met with on Had a free coi not commonly to prou Jud^o Sewall and I'amlly. July 10. At (Jnihlhall- • • oiirt Common Pli'ns, in which sat Chief Justice De (irey — Kini^.j .Jcnch, Lord Chief Justice Mans- field— the former addressed the jury in a case of slander in a most aoreealile manner. Speakintj of the Standard in Cornhill sometimes referred to in books rehUive to (hstances, I called on an inliabitant there, but could get no satisfaction, he telling me he had 1^ uiself inquired about it to no purpose. But very few are acquainted with the curiosities, etc., the knowledge being confined to those skilled in city history. Jvly 13 Breakfasted with Mr. Oxnar(' and Mr. Silsbee. Asked a man now far it was to Chelsea, and was answered, in the true New-England style, " / don't know — about half a milcy This 1 note ay the first instance, to my remembrance, of the like I liave met with on this side the water. Had a free conversation with a couple of conversible gentlemen, not commonly to be met with ; the better sort or gentry being too proud or reserved to mix with those they don't kn')W, or to indulge a promiscuous chat. July 14. Worshipped at Allhallows, Lombard-street ; the of- ficiating priest was Mr. Peters, the refugee from Ilebrop, Connecti- cut;* his text 2 Peter chap. iii. verses 1 am; < " But grow in grace, etc. Mr. Peters dined with me. w ! 1 i|lr i < ' I t . ■ ■ f. 1 r If I \ % ' "t I'. t 1 'i h' i ( ' ; it T"* J p' * Author of a travestied history of Connecticut. ■"■■'I'l.! PM^ ;^ u ir 1 ion I f )!i h -J .1'; ',.VA\ i III 64 JOURNAL AND I. KTTRRS. [177^> > ■-3 1 ^i*! CHAPTER II London,. My 15. Walked out with the intention of paying my respects to (iov. Hutchinson before leavinj; London — met him in the Park with Mr. Klucker, and took leiive; reoeivinj^ copies of two letters with leave to show them to Mr. Isaac Smith, one bein<:^ to himself and the other to Mr. Hollis, both from Or. Elliott, and intercepted by Gen. Howe. Tuesday, July 16. Left home at an early hour in the Salisbury coach. On Hniinslow heath, throu!j;h which we passed, three monuments of human folly and divine justice — as many gibbets with the remains of so many wretches, hanging in chains; a little beyond, a high obelisk crowned with a large gilt ball, erected by the late duke of Cumberland at his lodge in Windsor Park. On the other hand, at a distance of twenty rods from the road, another obelisk, ending in a blunt point ; two miles further stands a more loft;; one, scarcely finished, of four stories, illuminated by square w•a!d^^v^, the design of the present duke. The road from Wallop t!> Siiisbury is delightfully pleasant, and hard as a garden gravel- vv;)!k ; at four miles' ilistance is to be seen the spire of the cathe- dral, ' iipposed to be the highest in Kngland. The land rising gradually from the plain till the sight is bounded by a ridge of high hills, from the rising filled with enclosures, rows and clumps ot trees, and many larm-houses ; alighted at Salisbury at seven o'clock in the evening. Salisbvry, July 1". Started for Stonehenge, a distance of eleven miles, the first tjve through highly cultivated groimds. At the distaiice of three miles from the city, on the right, is to he seen an eminence apparently of an oval figure, lying beyond the improved grounds, enclosed with hedges, etc., which seems to be raised by art, or formed into its present shape or figure, at least, by the hands and industry of man ; the ascent to the plain on which its base stands is above the level of the improvements on the hither )( 1776.] side ; it is an mile ; on th« of the same in a phiii» <"' former days \1 acres, unless tied to send t bordering on supplying the The view un and variegated Turning o stones, and as of the object sembled a coi different sha in a circular 1 rows or tumul is globular, fro to forty in diar and not very d bering that th( the task with eighty, second convinced of t imagining thai and confounds The outside ro' those upright wide. Eight wise on the t( within ; fourte tions or lines ground — two bed. Two co stand upright the size and si met. In the ( i •]■ op •I. ()( ■n be le er 1776.] J O U K N A AND I. K T T E R 8 . 66 sitfc ; it is an easy slope at an an\i}o of 45", and measures round one mile ; on the rim of the first slope are cornfields ; within is a slope of the siiinc figure as the lower, risin- i^ 1 i f i il ■ IB jli n II P m 68 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1776. a range of naked hills on one side, and on the other by enclosures beyond which the road runs, and on which we met and overtook multitudes of each sex, every rank and condition, dressed in their best attire, to partake of the diversions of the race ; being too early, we missed a sight I would gladly have enjoyed. At a dis- tance of three miles we descended into the town of Andover, which like the situations of most towns in England, is in a bottom, con- taining two hundred houses, a church and town hall, with open market under it, and adorned with a spire on the top, and a modern structure, as manj of the houses are. At the distance of eight miles from Salisbury, we passed through iive or six villages of houses with mud walls and thatched roofs, such only being seen for many miles in the west. Alighted at last at the Red Lion in Salisbury, having rode eighty-three miles in fifteen hours. The houses in Salisbury are in ancient style of building, and contain five thousand inhabitants. I peeped into the cathedra! during service ; the worshippers were the dean, five or six ecclesiastics, eight singing boys, and eight as miserable looking wretches as ever entered the doors of a hospital ; they were literally, as the gospel says of those who are called, " the blind, the halt," &c., and are hired to attend : and without this ex- pedient I fancy the lay hearers would be as few as Dr. Swift's con- gregation. The ceiling in as gaudy as gold and paint can make it, and in the taste of Henry Vllth's chapel, but not open \ and by its appearance has been neglected for some centuri. .ii short, it looks like an old neglected military officer out of r-ervice, with his regimentals worn threadbare and soiled. Indeed the whole church is so slovenly and dirtily kept, that a stranger would judge that these stewards of the Lord's inheritance regarded the revenues more than the repairs of the mansion house. The pews or seats are in a declining, and if not soon propped up, will be in a decum- bent state ; — the pulpit of stone, perhaps to denote the blockish quality of its possessors. A curious statue of St. Osmond is here, said to have been brought from old Sarum, and supposed of the eleventh or twelfth century ; but where he lived or died is not within the compass of my reading.* * Chancellor of England anilBishopof Salisbury under William the Conqueror. Hav Alighted 1776.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 69 Having performed a ride of ninety miles in seventeen hours, alighted in this city of Exeter, my distance from London being one hundred and seventy-two miles. The number of inhabitants is scarcely seven-eighths as numerous as at Boston in New England ; standing on much less ground, and on an eminence in the centre of a bottom encompassed by distant high hills ; on one side runs the river Exe, over it a bridge some centuries old. The streets narrow and dirty — houses of ancient style. The city is encom- passed with a wall, in some places almost entire, very high, and crowned with battlements ; — perhaps more gates, gateways and arches here than in any other place in England. I was told that forty years ago there was not a coach to be seen in the city. Here are nineteen parish churches, not one with a spire, but having large towers and battlements ; and eleven meeting-houses for Presbyte- rians, Quakers, Methodists, Catholics, and Jews. The castle lately demolished to make room for a court-house. The cathedral front is adorned with sixty mutilated statues, having the appearance of a thousand years. Among the various monuments within, is one erected many ages since, to perpetuate the remembrance of an enthusiast, who died a martyr to his folly in presuming to fast in imitation of our Saviour ; being a just resemblance of a body wasted by hunger to a skeleton. I am, with great regard, S. CURWEN. Exeter, .August 1. Attended the assizes at the castle ; the cause before Baron Eyre was a suit of Lord Clifford, a Roman Catholic peer, against a Mr. Prode, for encroaching on the rights of his manor of Ringmoor, within which is part of the town of Teign- mouth, lying on the river Tyne. Lord Clifford claimed up to high water mark, below which for 178 feet he had built and enclosed ; but on the trial Lord Clifford made an offer to compromise the claim, allowing Mr. Prode to enjoy one half his encroachment for three lives or ninety-nine years, paying yearly ten shillings, and surren- dering the other half, which terms were acceded to, and the trial was quashed. August 5. Removed to Sidmouth, a watering place, where I propose to reside some time with my friend, Rev. Isaac Smith, .til 'M M »f I m '4 1 1 , % f ': .|l ; *nlMter m 70 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1776. who officiates as minister to the dissenting congregation, partly raade up of the company resorting hither for the benefit of sea- bathing and drinking the waters. I am now at Mr. Follet's. August 12. Sidmouth consists of about a hundred houses, built of mud walls and thatched roofs, except a very few with Cornish tile and with shingles, very low, situated in a bottom or vale^; the lands about are under good improvement. On each side stand two ridges of hills, ending in cliffs, the foot washed by the tide. In the town is an old church with a clock and a meeting house. The inhabitants chiefly hired out *u the Newfoundland traders, and for the most part in low circumstances. The town is within the manor of Sir Wilmot Prideaux, whose ancestor having mortgaged the estate to the ancestor of a person now insane, the leases cannot be renewed, and therefore the houses are going to decay, none in- clining to repair more than necessary at an uncertainty. TO DR. CHARLES RUSSELL, ANTIGUA, Sidmouth, Augnst 14, 1776. Dear Sir : Your letter has given me great pain ; people in similar circum- stances of distress must be brutal not to feel for one another. Let us endeavor to fortify our minds against despondency; perhaps our prospects will brighten ; if not, reason and a submissive dispo- sition may greatly alleviate, though they cannot wholly remove the weight of trouble. I sincerely wish you and your connections a removal of the sufferings you are at present under. You are candid enough to place my demand to the right ac- count. I would sooner have endured hunger than needlessly add to any one's distresses, much less those for whom I am bound by many ties to promote their happiness and interest. Do not re- member the demand, consult your convenience ; I have not wanted, although am reduced to a rigid economy, which you know was not my case in New England. This watering place, the resort of much genteel company for sea bathing, iS the most frugal place in England ; it is in Devonshire, in the neighborhood of Exeter, and about two hundred miles from London. Your favors, ever esteemed, I ask a continuance of, and re- main, etc. S. CURWEN. 1776.] JOURNAL AND LETTEBS. FROM THOMAS DANFORTH. 71 Knightsbridge, August 18, 1776. My dear Sir ; Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were. I have received your two epistles, though the last but two or three days ago, it having lain some time at Palmer's, from whence I re- moved a fortnight this day to Mr. Peraberlhy's in Queen's Row, six or eight houses north of Judge Sewall's, where I have very agreeable lodgings. I neglected answering particularly your first letter, expecting every day a second, and having nothing particu- lar by way of news. I have now determined to write, news or no news, and as you know it is not against my conscience to affirm that I saw the same velvet in the loom, for the same reason I think it very innocent to make a small budget of news. You will there- fore be pleased to understand and be informed, that a few days ago the Commissioners with Nathaniel Coffin, Mr. Porter, the Comp- troller, the Inspector General, Col. Leonard, Mr. Barack, Mr. Mather, Mr. Faneuil, etc., etc., arrived from Halifax ; what recep- tion they will meet with is uncertain. You see without doubt in the papers the news from the army at Staten Island. Sheriff Loring writes Col. Hatch, that he expects to spend the winter in Roxbury, and shall clean up his house there for his place of resi- dence. Col. Tyng writes to Judge Sewall, that when he is settled in his house, which he proposes to take at Amboy, he shall be more particular. It seems that the accounts they have from the de- serters are very encouraging ; that they are much divided upon the matter of independency. I think that the enemies of opposition to Parliament may regard the matter in that light, and appear openly ; that this will be a lucky handle, and will finally be the means of oversetting the combination. It is said that there is a large party in South Carolina, Maryland, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, in opposition ; these will assist the king's troops when they are well warmed in dispute with their brethren. It would not be strange if the rebel interest should melt like snow in a hot sun, when once it begins to fail. All but the congress have an excuse for revolting, and think that they save their honor. Thousands will ' ' «: if I ' r''-.^ 72 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1776. revolt from them upon a specious pretence, who never would if such could not be found. You have seen in the papers an account of the Yankee privateer broight into the river ; one Johnston of Boston, is master, and Downer of Roxbury, surgeon. The prisoners are now on board of a 74 gun shi' ■ it Sheerness. They give a more favorable account of the situation of the friends of government than we have before had, but some allowances must be made. Daniel Bliss writes from Quebec, that they have reason to think that above a thousand men about Albany are ready to join Gen. Burgoyne ; he makes the loss of the rebels in that expedition to be 2000 men, killed, prisoners, and by sickness, upon a moderate computation. The 400 men, inhabitants of Staten Island, with others as they come in, are put under command of Gen. Ruggles, who is to keep possession of the island. I am much obliged by your agreeable account of your journey, but an account of your journey to London again will be more agreeable, 'vhich I hope will be soon. Our friend Bourne is gone into the country, so that I am at some loss to give you so particular an account of the lottery as I could wish. There is much about Molesworth's Plan in the Ledger of this day. I shall examine it, and if it does not contain the whole matter, will insert the remainder before I close this letter. Bourne said that he discouraged him from purchasing chances. Brattle, Boylston, etc., have returned from France. I have heard nothing farther of Porter. Treasurer Gray, Abel Willard of Lancaster, and I, have just come from Salters' Hall meeting-house, where we heard a Mr. Pickard of Carter-street, near St. Paul's. Being down in the city, I took up Molesworth's publication, and found it to be the same with what is contained in the Ledger. I see that there is an order in the papers for all the militia of New-York to be in readiness to march. There will probably be warm work. I find that you give no account of your situation in your letter. I sup- pose you have found the diamond mine, and choose to engross the whole profits. I have paid Col. Pickman as you desired, — he made no observations. Mrs. Bray did not know how to direct me to pay for the wine and ale, so that remains as it was. I should copy all your excuses for your letter, were it not that I suppose they are fresh in your memory. I hate both writing fairly and copying my own letters particularly. I think I have covered the 1 1776.] JOURNAL AND LRTTRR8. 73 same quantity of paper, and have therefore a right to close. To conclude therefore, please remember me to the Doctor. Salute Priscilla and Aquila, and all the pretty girls who are in Exon. Your very humble servant, Thos. Danforth. I •■:■:: TO IlEV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. Bristol, August 24, 1776. Dear Sir: The regret with which I leil Sidmouth was in some measure balanced by the agreeableness of the day. To pass by our first stage, the least amusing, our second to moisten our driver and horses, for both often want watering, was on the borders of Black- down at a place called Southhast, and at "the sine of George Inn, heer all sorts ofleckers are sold ;" besides the peculiar taste of the painter in spelling, the letters were of so doubtful a form that my fellow traveller, Mr. Davis, chose to read "leckys" which word, (if to be found in the Devonshire nomenclature I am ignorant of its meaning,) he, being skilled in provincial dialects, may be ac- quainted with. Our third stage was at the Castle inn, Taunton ; on our way hither we saw a hill called Quantook, so like our Indian names I could not help remarking it. After a small delay we proceeded to Hillbishop, and dined at the hospitable table of Mr. Jirrald ;* his good husbandry is fully repaid by a plentiful harvest of apricots, nectarines and apples ; nor is his table without the best cider England affords, which is scarcely equalhd by the most sparkling champagne. Our next stage was at Bridgewater ; from the inn we walked to Miss Sealy's garden, planned to pro- mote the wise purposes of thought and meditation. Here we re- galed ourselves with green gages and gooseberries, the boughs being loaded. At the bottom of the garden is a small piece of water, filled with large carp, brought to the surface by pieces of bread thrown in, which they rose to catch, a pleasing sight I never before had. Our next stage was eighteen miles to Cross, where we were told the beds were full, and they had no horses ; so we I' m * A dissenting minister. 10 w> r ■ » it n IHPIIIp^' 74 JOUBNAL AND LBTTER8. [1776. could not pass the night nor be carried further : — however, we met a friendly stranger in Mr. Cornelius Frye, of Bristol, who gave up his room. Here we supped all together and passed our time so- ciably, talking treason and justifying Ameiican independence. Next morning we left at seven, and passing Clifton on the left covered with excellent improvements, arrived at Bristol, the Bush inn opposite the Exchange. Yours truly, S. CUUWEN. Bristol, Jlvgust 24. Called at Mr. Waldo's ; he being absent, I lef\ a card. Soon after he came and carried me to his house to dinner, in company with John Boylston and Mr. Browne ; — after dinner walked over Kingsdown Hill to the Hot Wells on the banks of the Avoii), where I took a glass of the water and returned to the inn. Soon after left for Birmingham, through Newport, Gloucester, and Upton, which latter reminded me of the incident of the amiable Sophia Western's muff, which Tom Jones picked up in his own bed. There are many originals of Squire Western, but I am told Mr. Allen, late of Bath, wns the character from which Mr. All worthy was drawn. Hence to Worcester, a handsome town, wide streets, a fine cathedral in good repair, but not abounding in funeral monuments. At last we arrived at Birmingham, which, in its general appearance, looks more like Boston than any place in England. Birmingham, August 26. Hearing that Judge Oliver and Mr. Lloyd were in town, I repaired to the inn, but they had departed. I met them soon after as I hey were leaving town for London via Woodstock, and gave a letter to Mr. Danforth. August 28. Walked out and met a Quaker at the door of his house, near the outskirts of the town, on the Litchfield road, com- manding an agreeable prospect bounded by distant hills in an am- phithealric line ; engaged him in conversation, and by invitation went in for half an hour ; found him a sensible man and a warm American, as most of the middling classes are through the king- dom, as far as my experience reaches. Beyond the Tweed, I know not ; however, the Scotch within, to my knowledge are antiministe- rialists. Passed an agreeable day at Mr. Russell's, two miles out of 1776] JOURNAL. AND LBTTERR. 76 (own ; he is of the house of Smith, Son & Russell, who ship largely to New-York and Boston. He has been in America, and is her steady nnd ardent advocate. August 31. Stepped to a gun-maker*s to see a rifle, (the first I ever saw,) and many other pieces of peculiar construction I was a stranger to ; the master is to make six hundred rifles for govern- ment, but is in principle an antiministerialist, as is the whole town. Sept. 6. Sir William Moredith the other day declared at Mat- lock, that he looked on the violent measures against America to be very impolitic, and that Lord North was of the same mind, and only joined out of respect for the kipg, who was warm and deter- mined to pursue such at all events, even though with the loss of a hundred thousand men. It will be well if a pertinacious adherence to a certain plan of conduct respecting that unhappy country be not productive of evil fruits to the interests of the king and empire. May it please God to infuse wisdom, prudence, and moderation into the breasts of those on whose counsels the fate of both depend. Sept. 9. A letter in the London Chronicle, said to have been brought by the Isabella, an advice-boat from Quebec, relates a defeat of the provincials before Crown Point, with the loss of eight hundred killed, eight hundred wounded, and four hundred taken prisoners; and that the garrison is in Gen. Carleton's hands, said to have been obtained July 23d ; a story well told, but which wants proof. Se^pt. 10. Was told as we passed Castle inn, that Lord North was momently expected there from Sand well, the Earl of Dart- mouth's seat. Sept. 11. Took coach for Bristol by the v/ay of Tewksbury ; met an officer who gave himself great liberties respecting America, to which I took the freedom of giving several severe checks, and my companion spared not till he was thoroughly silenced and humbled ; he said many ungenerous, foolish and false things, and I did not forbear telling him so. Sept. 16. At 11 o'clock P. M. departed from Birmingham for Bristol; at Worcester took a relay of horses, and arrived at Tewksbury at breakfast ; went to the church, almost the magnitude of a cathedral, which contains many curiosities ; in a flat grave just before the choir is buried Prince Henry, son of Margaret of ill Si I', R ' 1 ■! tt 76 JOURNAL AND LBTTBRfl. [1776. Anjou, widow of the unfortunate King Henry VI., who was slain by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, after the defeat of the Queen at " the battle of the bloody meadow," so called from the tradition that it overflowed with the blood of the slain on that occasion. Here is, also, in a kneeling posture, a statue of George, Duke of Clarence, who is said to have been drowned in a butt of malmsey • — Richard, Earl of Warwick, the king-maker : — Osrick, a king of Northumberland, who founded a church on the spot where this church stands. In two hours after leaving this place we arrived at Gloucester, and in the cathedral saw among many monuments that of the unfortunate King Edward II., who was murdered at Berkeley Castle. Here also lies another unfortunate prince, Robert, Duke of Normandy, whose younger brother, William Rufus, seized the crown of England during his absence on a visit to the Holy Land j he was imprisoned many years in the Castle of Cardiff. — Over his grave is a statue in a decumbent posture, made of Irish oak, which, when struck, sounds as if of metal. This cathedral is kept in fine order; has a vaulted choir, and the most elegant cloisters of any in England. Arrived at Bristol at 8 o'clock evening. Bristol, Sept. 18. To Ratcliff church, supposed to be the first in point of elegance and magnitude of all the parish churches in England. It has not in its construction one nail or piece of iron, being built and supported by stone and marble only. It consists of three aisles, besides two projections which give it the form of a cross; — in one stands a great font, and in the other several funeral monuments. Over the altar are placed three masterly paintings by Hogarth, on the subject of the burial, resurrection, and ascension ; for which he received a thousand pounds. In this church lies buried Admiral Penn, with an inscription recounting his exploits on a pillar ; and suspended on the same pilla^ below are his military garb, sword, cuirass, helmet, gloves, etc. This gentleman's services were rewarded by the royal grant of Penn- sylvania to his son William Penn, the founder of that province. Took tea and passed the evening with Mr. E\ eleigh, a native of Charleston, South Carolina ; educated at Harvard College, three or four years after me, who on hearing my name recollected it, having been schooled at Cambridge under Master Coolidge and vf 1776.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 77 boarded at the President's house. He and his family are hearty in the cause of America. Sept. 19. Accompanied Mr. Bourne, one of my countrymen, to the crown-glass manufactory, where the whole process was shown. — On 'change met my countryman Mr. Joseph Waldo, who procured tickets for our admission to Mr. Gouldney's grotto at Clifton, with whom, Francis Waldo, and Capt. Aldredge, (brother of the late Col. Bradstreet's lady^ and born in Nova Scotia,) we proceeded over Brandon hill, the summit whereof yields the most ravishing view that imagination can form, having a large portion of the city under foot ; and a finely cultivated country for an amazing extent has the appearance of a continued village, inter- spersed with towns and seats; the prospect enlivened with live hedges, lofty trees, Dumday tower, Kingwood, and the river Avon, running through the city and joined with another called the Frome, over both which are bridges; on the latter are the larger ships, and on the former only smaller craft. Just as we arrived at the gates, there passed by in his solitary walk, whom accident threw in our way, a countryman, Mr. Harrison Gray, son of our late (Massachusetts) treasurer, who, with his wife, had for a season left London and retired to this place, and whom I was glad to see. Parting at the gate, we were soon admitted, and, attended by the gardener, were conducted through the gravel-walks, kept in the nicest order, the whole bearing the appearance of care and indus- try ; it is on a moderate scale, but well filled with orange and lemon trees, etc., and a small piece of water abounding in gold and silver fish, supplied from a natural fountain so lofty that a fire- engine is erected at one end of the terrace ; the stream runs under ground for a distance and discharges itself through an urn, on which a Neptune rests with his trident. The ground between it and the engine is made rough, scraggy, and woody, to resemble a wilder- ness, which I passed going through the main walk. We arrived at the door of the grotto, situated under the terrace ; the object that presented itself to our view was a lion in a sitting posture, and behind, in a dark cave, a lioness, the latter so like life that I could hardly persuade myself to the contrary. The form of the grotto is octangular, its roof a semicircle, having a dome with a round window in the centre ; the diameter about twenty feet oo each t'"!'. 78 JOUUNAL AND LETTKRS. [1:76. 'It " H % side, from the door in front to the mouth of the cave in which the lioness is silting ; to the right and left of the entrance the roof is supported by pillars; covered as its.roof and sides are with a vari- ety of shells, stones, spars, petrifactions, etc., the mountains, even the bowels of the earth and the bottom of the sea, seem to have been pillaged to furnish materials to adorn this curious subterrane- ous recess. On the left hand, beyond the dome and under a rough, cragged stone arch, is a small quadi angular stone basin of water supplied by small streams, issuing through almost imperceptible channels, over which, in a lying posture, is a female deity. On the other hand .>>tan«ls a door, the light anine'i nm^ .hi w 104 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. which I accepted, and receiving his address ( 147 New Bond-street) arrived at it ; company beside myself, his son Elisha and daugh- ter, was Mr. B. Hallowell. After dinner repaired to Haymarket theatre, where was entertained in a very full house by the humor- ous George Alexander Stevens' lecture on heads. March 12. Spent the evening with the Club, consisting of twelve American exiles, at the Treasurer's house, Mr. Harrison Gray's. March 31. Rode to Hackney with Judge Sewall to see his son Jonathan at school ; returned to his house to dinner, where I passed the evening. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. M. 23 Bromptm-Row, March 19, 1777. Dear Sir : I am at length at my moorings in this port, not much to my content except in this one circumstance, the early receipt of the unum necessarium ; this, though it chases away all apprehensions of future want, does not in every situation yield positive happiness; perhaps I am enigmatical, — the solution must be deferred to a per- sonal interview hereafter. The only article of political news is that Gen. Washington was, about the beginning of the present year, declared Lord Protector of the thirteen United States of America. Mr. Timmins is arrived from Boston via Cork ; he left Plymouth about the first of Febru- ary ; says the affair of the Hessians was brought to Boston in four days and put them in high spirits ; that the harbor of Boston is strongly fortified from the lighthouse and Point Alderton to Fort Nell ; the people sanguine in their expectations of a French war, encouraged in their errors by the Danish, French and Spanish traders, who are numerous in the port. King-street (Boston) almost as much thronged with people of all nations, etc., as the Strand or Cornhill ; two hundred and eighty-three prizes carried in by the 23d December; four vessels with goods from France, with powder, small arms, clothing and other articles ; one with twenty thousand suits of military clothing, an article not a little wanted among them. Young R***s*** has made twenty thou- sand pounds sterling by privateering, and S. A. Otis the most im- portant, busy man, as well as one of the richest there, etc. 1777.] JOURNAL A N l» L R T T K R S . 106 I fancy I shall take my flight northward, as hi ids of passage you know do, on the approach of spring. There are twenty Americans going out with goods U> \ew-York and Rhode Island in the spring; I think the adventuies rash. Mr. Arnory is ih-layed by his wife's illness, which it is judged will soon end in mortality- I have received a letter from Thomas Russell* of Boston, and Russell Wycr of Salem, written in the heginning of Fchruary, all well. Yours truly, S. CUHWKN. Kensington, March 20. Evening at club at Mr. Harrison Gray's. Sunday, March 23. To Christ Church Hospital to sec the children, to the number of eight hundred, sup; admitted by a ticket signed John Lane, one of the governors. The hall is a hundred feet in length, and twenty feet in height, — on one side of which are three pictures, the middle one sixty feet long and fifteen high ; in the centre King William ; on the same range courtiers, life-guardsmen, etc. In the foreground on one hand, hospital children of the males, and on the other females, and all in their proper garbs : — on the left, or the first from the door, of the same length is a painting of King Ed- ward surrounded by his court with a roll, by me supposed to represent the first charter of this institution, he being the founder thereof ; and on the other, a piece of the same size as the last, with a full length of Charles II., with astronomical and mathematical apparatus, perhaps to denote him to be the founder of the mathematical school here. — Three tables were spread, on each side of which benches; on a raised platform are circular seats for the spectators, in the centre front a two armed chair for the governor, or treasurer, whose name is Burford. Prayers are read by one of the upper boys in a pulpit erected against the wall ; then singing by the boys accompanied by an organ ; afterwards supper, consisting only of bread and butter ; grace before and after, by one of the boys in the pulpit, and service concludes with an anthem. The boys ♦ An opulent and distinguished merchant of Boston, whose widow mar- ried Sir Grenville, son oi" Sir John Temple, first Consul General from Great Britain to the- United States. 14 1r ■^^f\\ ^ ., rl m-- ,1 li k 4 106 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. "'! m come up in pairs to the platform to make their bow, and retire, some with large pitchers, others with small wooden bowls, others with table-cloths folded up under their arms, others with large bas- kets in which the bread was brought, and others with lighted candles. March 27. Walked out with Judge Sewall and Mr. A. Wil- lard to Cromwell's garden, which is in ill repair ; drank tea at the house of the former, and passed the evening with the New Eng- land Club, say " Brompton-Row Tory Clvb," at Mr. Blowers'. March 31. Evening with the club at H. Gray's. ^pril 3. Dined at Treasurer Gray's with Col. Browne and John Sargent. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. 23 Brompton-Row, Kensington, April 6, 1777. Dear Sir : I have nothing to communicate worth a minute's attention. The various news that each morning produces, the following day contradicts ; however, in general, perhaps it may be new to you to know that the tories here believe the American game of inde- pendency is nearly up ; not so your doubting friend. Nay, so very sure are some, that there is no small talk of going off in August. You will scarce meet one that entertains the least shadow of a doubt that government must succeed in the utmost extent of its views before the fall ; the reasons and probability of which I have not discernment enough to see. I wish the old Latin proverb may not with too much propriety be applied to these implicit be- lievers, " Canunt triumphum arde victoriam."* I wrote you in my last that several, to the number of twenty, were going off to New- York. I now add that another cargo of twelve or fifteen, among whom is young Chipman, is to depart in a vessel of 250 tons, laden with goods to the amount of je80,000 sterling, defended by a force of 17 guns and 17 men, in ten days. It is reported that the new levies, British and German, going to General Howe, are in number eight thousand, and that General Burgoyne is already gone, and is to take with him from * " They celebrate the triumph before the victory is gained." 1776.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 107 Canada by way of St. Lawrence river, the greater part of the troops at present stationed there ; no further attempts being to be made on the lakes this season. Our head-quarter folks say that Lord George Germaine declared to Col. Phips, who is going this (lay to Halifax with Admiral Montague vid Newfoundland, that the first advices from America, he doubts not, will be joyful. All here are expecting to hear that General Howe is in possession of Philadelphia. On the contrary, the Philadelphia papers are full of the great exploits of the American troops against the royal army, and the promising appearances of affairs on their side ; and if Gen. Washington and Gen. Gates' letters are genuine. Gen. Howe and his forces are not in so fair a way to possess themselves of that capital as our folks seem to fancy. Mr. Dickinson's de- fection has proved a false alarm, he being only retired to his estate seventy miles from Philadelphia, for what reasons politicians disa- gree. His brother Dickinson and his brother-in-law Cadwallader, are both commanders in the American army. Last night I heard read the following, from a letter dated Portsmouth, April 10, viz., " Two thousand Anspachers sailed for New-York under convoy of the Somerset and Mercury : three thousand more Germans are expected here to sail directly, under the St. Albans." Yesterday morn the late right reverend the Bishop of London's corpse was carried by our door on a hearse to its place of inter- ment at Fulham — successor unknown ; probably the bench of bishops will take care that the sec of London do not stand long vacant, under the modest pretence of Molo Episcopari. Yours truly, S. CURWEN. ^pril 11. Drank tea and passed the evening at Mr. and Mrs. Savage's, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter* and Judge Sewall. ♦ Of Salem. 1:^1 j ; 'ill' "I'' i.'^'' IHH'^ i-fl' ■I 108 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. 1 ■ r 1- < 1? 'i\i: ^' .ji i 1 , • 1 J-ii ' ■ iri CHAPTER V. April 17, 1777. At seven A. M. departed in company with Judge Sewall and Mr. A. Willard, on our intended journey to Ips- wich ; our first stage at Rumford, a distance of sixteen miles ; this town consists of about two hundred houses, some few modern. The next stage at a town called Ingatestone, not unlike the former for size and style, distance twelve miles ; Witham was our third stage, our fourth Colchester, famous for the manufacture of baizes, and here oysters are taken from the sea and put into pits, in order to give them that coppery taste so grateful to an Englishman's palate, and so disgustful to a New Englander's. The streets are ill paved with smallish pebbles, to ray feet so harsh and hurtful as to occasion frequent complaints. In our progress came to the cas- tle, built in form of one of the old barons, not improbable to have been one ; it is a square ; the angles defended by round towers, pierced like the body of the castle with narrow and long holes, through which the inmates were wont to defend themselves by arrows ; the whole crowned with battlements formerly, the remains being still to be seen. The parade contains a quarter of an acre, and is now cleared of the barracks it was once encumbered with ; in a rocra up one flight of stairs, is the library, belonging to a Mr. Grey, minister for the town, consisting of about two thousand old books. Here a weekly society meet ; its institution, orders and purposes, my curiosity did not prompt me to make any inquiry into :— hence to the chapel so called, an empty room, containing only a reading desk, with a large folio Bible and a large w-ooden chair. This castle was in the time of the civil wars defended by Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle for the royal cause, who were, after its surrender, shot on the parade and burled under a small church in the road ; the precise spot on which they stood is carefully preserved in memory, and told the curious visitant. The only inhabitants are a family in one of the round towers, and the rooks who occupy the holes on the outside in great numbers. Th" ! 'r \lt 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 109 site of the castle is somewhat high, has pleasant walks round, planted with trees, and commands the neighboring grounds that lie below it, except or the town side. On the same plain from this spot we passed through the streets to another quarter of the town, in which lie the St. John's Abbey gardens, now known by the name of the pinnacle gardens, for reasons unknown to us, and are surrounded by a lofty brick wall, and strengthened by but- tresses in good repair. These I suppose are the walls of the an- cient monastery grounds, embracing twenty acres. Hence we proceeded home, and attended by our complaisant landlord, were admitted to a sight of a tesselated Roman pavement lately discov- ered in a gentleman's garden, supposed by antiquarians to have been the pretorium of an old Roman encampment, it being a known fact that Julius Cesar landed in his second invasion of Britain in the neighborhood of this place. It is probable herea- bouts was a Roman station, and the discovery of this piece of Ro- man work renders the conjecture not improbable. From hence we proceeded over to a Mr. Great's, to see the portraits of Sir John Jacquey and his lady, some of the first estab- lishers of the baize manufactories here. These pieces are executed on wood, by Vandyke, in 1623 ; we were told they are judged to be capital paintings, and it is highly probable they are, if our in- formation be true that the possessors' descendants of this couple have been offered a thousand guineas for them. Colchester, Jlpril 18. Departed at nine o'clock hence for Mist- ley, a village in the lands of Richard Rigby, Esq., who is lord of this manor. In two hours we alighted at his gardens, in extent four acres within the walls ; his hot and green-houses are in fine order, and supplied with common trees and shrubs, plants and vines, but no exotics that are not fructiferous and of the useful kinds. Thence through the pleasure grounds to the house, where, being conducted through a more than Cretan labyrinth, at length arrived ; it is new and elegant, but its extent does not rise above mediocrity ; its or- naments are silk hangings of cream color, with faint shades of blue, red, etc. ; chairs the same with three very large looking- glasses, a beautiful chimney-piece, of polished marble ; other chimney furniture, and a pyrometer I had never seen before. VVe arrived at Ipswich, distant from Colchester twenty-two "li-'llrnirF .If' Jj.i n> \-m''i r f t •' 110 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. ' i|' tm ,;'#*' ,^> I . fit ' -ih miles, where we dined. From the inn, accompanied by the maste we walked along the old wall of the town to Mr. John Fonne- rau's park ; the house wherein he dwells belonging to it is called Christ Church, and was formerly a monastery of friars. The town consists of old-built, ill- fashioned structures, and contains about ten thousand souls. Its only tr^de is coals, imported from the north ; but few people stirring in the streets, a visible decay. It lies on the river Orwell, and is the chief county town. The corn market has a small octagonal building, about twenty feet in diameter ; in the centre on top stands a female statue as large as life, with a fil- let round her eyes ; in her right hand a sword, and in her left a pair of scales, loose hung, moving up and down with every puff of wind, perhaps to denote the instability of modern justice, or how apt it is to swerve from the right line when urged by force or interest, or moved by flattery. Ipswich, April 19. After breakfast departed from this solitary unpleasing town, very like its namesake in New England in its general complexion, and in two hours arrived at Stowmarket; and soon after at St. Edmundsbury at two o'clock. Accompanied by the landlord we went to view the ruins of the Abbey of St. Ed- mund of Saxon time, scattered over near twenty acres now owned by Sir Charles Dacres and his maiden sister. The remains of this stupendous building are astonishing, many foundations of walls and pillars being yet to be seen ; the casings almost entirely taken away, scarce any part of the front or sides being left except here and there a stone which serve to show the materials. Some of the walls were thirty feet thick. The pillars appear to have been from eight to twelve feet ; and an arch, of which the foundation yet remains, was said to have been seventy feet high, and is near forty in width. The foundation also of the Abbot's hall remains ; its area forty-five feet each side. In a spot, perhaps the dormitory, a few years since was digged up the body of the Duke of Beaufort, brother to the Duke of Bedford, Regent of France during the mi- nority of Henry VI., and was entire j a hand taken from it is pre- served in spirits, and in the keeping of a physician here. The grand cnt-ance is preserved entire, and is a square lofty tower ; its angles, like all the ancient fortified structures, covered with round towers rising up to the top. The passage way through is under a 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. HI lofty arch defended by great gates that are kept shut. Many par- ticulars were told us respecting the various parts of the house, ap- purtenances and avenues, but not being noted at the time, are forgotten. Among the notitia of this place by desire I insert, that the steeple of St. James's church stands at fifty feet distance from the body of the church. A house containing four windows in front being between ; and on the steeple on the same side are two hour plates of clocks, to answer what purpose was beyond my reach. At three o'clock we departed from this pleasant, handsome and agreeable town. On the right, about ten miles distant, Ely Minster or Cathedral appeared in view. At twelve miles from last stage is Newmarket, an indifferent inn, however frequented by dukes and lords. We passed through the race grounds; — the races were instituted to keep and preserve a race of good horses in honor of the nation ; but as the institution is debased, it is not the best horse that wins the race, but that which is destined for it by combination ; indeed, some descend so low as to circumvent one another. The diversion becoming a public nuisance by spreading itself, the legislature took cognizance of it, and by the 13th George II. a law was passed in relation to it. Departed for Cambridge over a plain champaign uninclosed country, which all this quarter of the country seems to consist of; at this place we arrived at seven o'clock, at the White Bear inn, where we were indifferently treated at our first alighting, through the driver's foolish neglect or mistake in not denoting that dignity and importance each gentle- man should assume on the road in order to be respectfully treated ; however, he seemed afterwards to be sensible of his own false judgment, and partly made amends. Cambridge, JiprU 20. At ten o'clock, taking a servant of the inn along with us, we walked out in order to have a sight of the inside of King's College chapel, that, by delay at Trinity College, we lost. This latter is by far the most magnificent in the University ; has two spacious quadrangles, the front and one of the squares are of Portland freestone, having a beautiful reservoir of water in the midst ; the cht^mbers occupy two sides, the hall and * * * * room another side, and the fourth by the chapel, which contained nothing remarkable but a full length statue of Sir Isaac il-li :i .|- n 'r 4 112 JOURNAL AND I-ETTERS [1777. Newton in the porch. The other square contains chambers on all sides except the north or west, and is wholly improved by the college library, ti noble room of two hundred feet in length by about seventy wide, filled with forty thousand volumes ; the alcoves having on top the busts of the most famous ancient philosophers on one side, and the most famous of the modern English authors, etc. on the other. Here we were shown a perfect Egyptian mummy, the flesh like a smoked tongue. In the same apartment was a curious inscription in Greek capitals, without distinction of senten- ces or words, on a marble about eighteen inches vsquare, having a plain pediment on the top ; it is called ^Karmor Sandavicensis, being presented by Lord Sandwich. There are also to be seen some mutilated antique pillars and capitals with inscriptions in Greek ch'^'-acters, placed on the grand staircases leading to the library, given by Mr. Wortley Montague or his sister Lady Bute, since her death, but which I forget ; and among them his bust in marble. From hence we departed through the college walks on the banks of the river Cam, running on the back of King's College, Trinity College, Caius, Trinity Hall, Clare Hall and St. John's College ; over the river are three handsome stone bridges for foot walking, and between them a wooden bridge called the bridle- way, for horses and carriages ; the banks of the river within the college grounds are faced with stone, the lawn carried down to its very edge, with many slips for the advantage of the company who shall please to divert themselves in boats on the water, flowing in a very gentle stream about two rods wide. The pleasure grounds are laid out in most agreeable gravel-walks kept in the nicest order, shaded with lofty trees; they are extensive, all on a level, and agreeable. Leaving these delightful walks we proceeded to the chapel ; it being shut, we turned our walk to take a view of the other buildings. A Mr. Pearce, a fellow of St. John's College, whom I met in the walks, invited us to his chamber, where we abode a few minutes to look in a book for an answer to a question I put them concerning the age of an ancient manuscript in the University library, and for the key of the library, to which he con- ducted us. It is not a handsome room, nor contains a large col- lection of books ; it was scarcely larger than our old Harvard 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 113 College library, and like it consisting of old books chiefly. Mr. Prior was of this college, and left it a noble folio volume of all his works, bound in morocco, finely gilt. Here we also saw a most elegant folio edition of Dr. Samuel Clarke's Julius Caesar's Cora- nientaries. Having returned to our inn, we dined, and soon departed in a post-chaise through a very level road to our designed stage, Bark- way, distant sixteen miles, where we lodged and breakfasted. This \ery indifferent collection of old fashioned buildings we soon left, and entered on the fine improvements of Herts. The agreeable uiievenness of the earth, the verdure of the fields and corn grounds, and excellent improvements for which this county is noted, rendered our travelling for many miles delightfully pleasant. At Ware alighted in two hours from our departure from the last stage, stop- ping at the Saracen's Head, to gratify my companions, whose curi- osity urged them to take a view of the great bed, which I before described, and made, as our informant told us, for the use of King Edward IV. in 1463. From hence we took the course to Hart- ford, lying three miles out of our direct road to London, and in two hours from hence were set down at Judge Sewall's door, after a ramble of one hundred and eighty miles ; and so good-by, Essex, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. Passed the afternoon and evening at Judge Sewall's. Jpril 25. With Mr. Savage attended Longford's sales under Covent Garden piazza — viewed and examined his medals and coins; Roman, Grecian, Egyptian, Saxon, and English. Saw a brass farthing of the time of the Commonwealth that sold for three pounds four. April 29. Attended the exhibition in Piccadilly of Society of Artists of Great Britain ; was really surprised at the meanness of the portraits ; nothing appeared to ray eye well executed but some fruit-pieces and a few miniatures in crayons and water colors. From hence Mr. Silsbee and myself adjourned to Mr. Joseph Green's ; we drank tea and passed a pleasant hour. Stopped by the way at Ely Palace, so called, on Holborn hill, now sold and pulling down to build two rows of houses. There are yet standing the chapel and hall in the old Gothic taste. 16 'i'^: .!.' ' ' '^f ^' "' ! JR^'••lHW^- 114 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. ■f Ji lifii' ; if*' |,|jr I ■i: I .■.;:i TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH, DEVON. Brompton'Row, Aprd 30, 1777. Dear Sir : Your favor of the 25th I received last night, and am obliged to you Tor the intelligence it contains ; all of Avhich respecting our own country was new to me, having not heard a syllable of it before ; the daily news inserted in the public papers proves for the most part to be manufactured here, and what is not, in event turns out to be premature and void of truth. Nothing can be depended on but what comes to us prepared by court cookery in the Gazette, nor do I think administration to blame for withholding part, the whole truth not being fit to be divulged in these captious, licentious times. I have wholly laid aside all regard to what is said to be brought by expresses from America, but what comes immediately from General or Lord Howe, or is contained in the American news- papers, of which we have now and then a sight in the New Eng* land Coffee-house. Nothing very important has of late come from that quarter, except the death of General Washington and the taking of Ticonderoga, both of these yet being matters of doubt and dispute, as people wish, fear, or hope. Since my last I have rambled through Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertford for five days, in company with Judge Sewall and Mr. Abel Willard, and am now about departing, say next Monday, for Oxford, and from thence quo fata irahant ; designing never to make London or its environs my future abode ; — the inhabitants, however, I hold in much higher estimation than those of almost every other place. ******** God bless your reverence, and succeed your pious endeavors to reform your flock, and I hope for and depend on your prayers, and remain. Very truly your friend, S. CURVEN. Brompton-Row, Keiisington, May 1, 1777. Dined at Gilbert Harrison's with my friend John Timmins, the two Debloises,* Benjamin Faneuil, and two ladies. • Late of Salem. 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 115 May 3. Dined at Judge Sewall's ; from thence walked to London to engage a seat in the diligence to Oxford, designing to lake that city in my way to the country, where fo- .^me months I propose to abide, but in what quarter chance must determine. I go hence like Abraham of old ; may the same kind and almighty Protector be my guide and defence. May 5. Departed in the diligence, in which we found a late Ox- ford scholar, who proved a pleasant, chatty, well-bred companion ; the road fur the first eight miles as far as Acton, clear, level and pleasant as a garden gravel- walk : from thence it assumed a differ** ent face, and from Uxbridge to Oxford, especially through Bucking- hamshire, generally a rich soil and well improved lands. The other towns lying in the road were Beaconsfield and High Wycombe ; in the latter lies Lord Shelbume's S3at, pleasure grounds and park all in view ; a little beyond is Lord Despenser's, much more cultivated and in better order. On the right and on an eminence, stands an edifice styled " the Mausoleum," of a peculiar construction ; but the inclination of my fellow travellers permitted me not to take a nearer view than the transient sight as we passed the road. From hence through a parish called Stoken-Church, and on bad roadsj we arrived at the Star inn, Oxford, not having stopped to refresh ; here we called for dinner and engaged lodgings. Oxford, May 6. After breakfast walked out to deliver Dr» Chandler's letter to a fellow of Queen's College, named Monkhouse, who received us respectfully enough, detained us in his room an hour, and from thence conducted us through the hall, chapel, libra- ry of his own college, and after settling the route went to the the- atre, Radcliffe library, Clarendon press, and the schools. After re- peated invitations to dine in their hall, we declined for the purpose of examining the Oxford Guide in our retirement. In the hall of Jesus College were admitted to a sight of the plate ; among others is a bowl and ladle of silver double gilt, and holding ten gallons, the gift of Sir Watkins William Wynne ; here is also a book of the college statutes written on vellum, and kept in a glass case, having the characters as perfect and just as if struck on cop- perplate. From hence to our lodgings ; soon after our compani(m Mr. Monkhouse came and conducted us through the Radcliffe In- firmary, open to all the nation, and filled with every conceivable ■11 'i Pi* •'.ill 116 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. h ^i*'! ■,i!* r I m r St H^ accommodation and supply, and kept in the neatest order. From thence to the observatory, and from thence to the park, being a long circular laid gravel walk round the improved fields, part of which is bordered by lofty elms ; its high situation affords a fine extended prospect of the country under high cultivation ; part of the city on the other side adds to the pleasure of the walk. The grounds belong to Merton College, but the walks are maintained at the University expense and common to it ; on our re- turn back we met two gownsmen both of our college, (Harvard,) •one of whom was Dr. Nicholson mentioned in the superscription of our letter, with whom and a Mr. Hamilton, (a partner in the print- ing of the Oxford Bibles and Prayer Book, the sole liberty of which .is confined to the two Universities and the king's press,) and a few gentlemen besides in the common room which all the colleges are furnished with. 7th. Breakfasted at Mr. Deblois's by invitation, and after returned to our lodgings, to which Mr. Monkhouse soon caroe and conducted us to the Divinity school, having a curious roof of stone, and in as bold a style as King's College Chapel, Cambridge ; from thence returned back into the convocation room ; and here we spent some time in looking into the statute book and libra nigro ; in the anteroom I saw the vice chancellor in his robes and the two proctors, waiting for the completing a convocation, (consisting of twelve at least.) We were in hopes to see a baccalaureate degree ^iven to one of the students of Queen's College, but the difficulty of making a convocation delayed the ceremony too long for our leisure ; by this delay was deprived of a sight I should have been griiatly pleased with. Hence we ascended to the picture gallery, and from thence to the Bodleian library, which did not come up to my idea ; 'tis an old room, its form an H ; there are many re- cesses surrounded with lattice work in which the students retire to read, transcribe, etc.; saw but few employed in that business. From hence we passed over to the Ashmolean museum j here we were entertained but indifferently. In the staircase are a dead Christ of Carrachi, and the Tradescant family, by what hands I know not ; in the room a small miniature of St. Cuthbert in a gold gorget, said to have been worn by Alfred the Great ; some very nice frivolous carvings in peach and cherry stones ; the hat Brad- shaw is said to have had on when he sat in judgment and condemn- field's, over the cases ; a fund for the increasir 1 I : 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 117 cJ kin"" Charles ; the skull of Cromwell, said to be known by a small excrescence on the bone just above the eye, etc. Retreated to the inn, dined, and being attended by G. Deblois's lather, I walked to Christ Church College, the roost noble of any in the University ; entered the picture rooms, crowded by paintings of the most celebrated masters, being the gift of the late General Guise, for the reception of which these rooms were fitted. Above is the library of very fine bound books, placed in a room of about two hundred feet long, sixty wide, and twenty-five high ; the ceil- in*' finely stuccoed as well as the walls in each kind of relief, in oval and other figured compartments. The books are in cases of oak, handsomely carved, and many seats in the same style. The hall into which I entered whilst some of the students were at din- ner, is a noble room of the length apparently of the library, and wider ; the ceiling is of oak, supported from above, and in the centre of each square compartment into which it is laid, is a gilt rose; the walls in a line on each side filled with portraits, on the ends with full lengths. I remember none of them but Lord Mans- field's, over the door in his ju. icial robes. Here I was accosted by a well bred sensible young student, with whom I held conversa- tion. Leaving him I departed, passing through the walk belong- ing to this college, of a mile in length, bordered on each side for part of the way by lofty trees, rendering it most delightful. Our next delay was at Corpus Christi, into the chapel of which I just peeped, and from thence into Oriel ; both of these are small foun- dations. Arriving at the inn, dismissed my attendant, and soon after being called upon according to promise by Mr. Monkhouse, with whom I went to the schools. In two apartments the Arun- delian marbles (and collection of statues presented to the Univer- sity by the Countess of Pembroke) are kept ; the statues are larger and smaller than the life. From hence we adjourned to Allsouls College ; the house for the reception of the books was built by Col. Codrington, formerly a member of this house, whose statue in white marble stands in the centre of the room, a noble one indeed ; — the ceiling and walls elegantly stuccoed, the books, very numerous, stand in beautiful cases ; a fund producing two thousand pounds a year is allotted for the increasing of it ; by this provision i will in time become '3 ' 1 ' >W '1 ,1 ' Ifi^ Mi -It' ^^ ^'■i ^ X 1' i;| 1 ■<' ' ;.^!iir r .."■ u\ I'ii' i\,:i >- It:, I', ii 118 JOURNAL AND LKTTER6. [1777. Mr < t m ■ the largest and best in the University. From thence we adjourned to the chapel, a beautiful room ; over the altar stands a masterly performance of a Mr. Minkes, the Spanish king's painter, of Christ making himself known to Mary Magdalene in the garden, just at the point of time when she having said to him, " If thou be the gardener, and have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him ;" he replied, " Mary," and she turning about discovered it was the Lord ; this filling her with surprise, admiration, love, a mixture of all these various passions is finely expressed in her countenance ; and in his, self-composure, dignity, meekness. Over this, in a semi-circular compartment, are many full lengths, being the assumption of the founder Henry Chichely ; he is dressed in rich robes, his eyes raised upwards, attended by angels. From this pleasing spot we proceeded to Christ Church Col- lege, in Peckwater-square ; meeting Sir Francis Bernard* with a son now educating here, was introduced to Doctor Leigh of Baliol College, who was elected in 1727, and is now a sprightly and active little old gentleman of eighty-six. We reached the church, said to be almost the only remains of a public building in the Norman style, supposed to have been standing eight or nine hun- dred years. It was anciently an Abbey church, dedicated to St. Frideswide, whose tomb is yet standing ; here we were shown several pieces of richly embossed double gilt plate, some of which were dug from the ruins of Oshey Abbey, where it had been lying for ages. The old abbey, distant from hence about eight miles, has been removed to this spot. Passed this evening as the last, in the same common room, and with the same company, with the addition of one or two more, hearing many sarcastic speeches concerning our New England follies and absurdities ; but every country has its characteristic ones, and that comforts me under the but too just ridicule we are loaded with. May 8. Took our farewell of G. Deblois's father and family- walking out in order to take our last leave of Mr. Monkhouse, whom we met, and were conducted by him through New College and its pleasant grounds, and back to the inn ; making our ac- knowledgments, we took leave, and soon entering the post-chaise, • Governor cf Massachusetts from 1760 to 1769. 1777.] JOURNAL AND LBTTBR8. 119 departed for Woodstock, distant six miles, through dirty roads ; were set down at the Bear inn. We loitered through the town, and at three o'clock, the hour appointed for viewing Blenheim House, we proceeded to the park gate, an enormous portal, in the triumphal style, with an inscription cut in the list, importing by Wtxom and when it was erected ; from this we have an oblique v'ew of that enormous load of building called Blenheim House, the first sight of which reminded me of that sarcastic couplet on the architect : " Lie hpavy on him, earth, for he Hath laid a ouinbmus pile on thee." i' - i* i ■ilLl \ ^ -;! The near approach did not fail to add to the disgust I first re- ceived : — the huge piles that sustain the arcades, the almost un- spannible pillars, and the inordinate size and clumsiness of its outside appearance, were fully recompensed by the elegance and grandeur of the rooms, the beauty of the tapestry, and the capital paintings with which the apartments are filled. The saloon is a noble room ; the library possesses a grandeur and elegance inex- pressible. From this famed edifice we returned the same way by which we entered, took a post-chaise and rode across the country to Bicester, through fields and private grounds, passins; gates, etc., the soil light and barren ; few fields of grairi it chiefly uninclosed heaths for sheep walks. This town ha^: no manufactures, wood scarce and coals dear: it abounds in hous»es let the sale of spirituous liquors ; we met in our ramble not le! '"• ' t ' I iib i I' * 122 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. ^Mj i'lii mm the mansion house, a large oblong edifice of two stories and an attic, with a low four-square tower on each angle, and a flat roof. The exterior of the house is plain and void of ornament ; over the lawns are planted clumps of trees by which the views are di- versified. From the heights in narrow channels run many small streams, one discharging itself into a pool filled with trout, etc. ; over this is thrown a bridge with an alcove. The grounds contain in extent four hundred acres ; and trees are planted so artificially as to yield an appearance hardly to be distinguished from nature a little improved ; here are to be seen pillars, urns, rotundas, alcoves and field seats judiciously disposed : amongst them an urn dedi- cated to the memory of Alexander Pope, on which is an inscription savoring of flattery. Returning by the way we went, we alighted at the Golden Cross, Hales Owen, where we were furnished with a room by our- selves and dinner. On this day was held a fair in this town; seeing a large multitude collected I would fain have mixed with the people, but the curiosity of my companion not prompting him, and my fatigue by an execrable hard trotter rendering me indisposed to needless exercise, prevented our seeing the humors of this part of the country. In passing the ioad a few furlongs before, we arrived at this town j about an inn were collected two companies of tradesmen with black rods tipped with brass. They assemble at certain times and are under certain rules ; have a public box, sup- plying a fund to be employed in maintaining the sick, blind, wounded and disabled, and finally burying members and their wives. Their regulations have a happy tendency to promote among the laboring handicraftsmen cleanliness, good manners, order and sociability. The road to Hagley in general is though level but tolerably good ; the views pleasing ; at two o'clock we arrived at the Lea- sowes, now in possession of a Squire Home. Attended by the gardener we entered through what is called the priory gate, a gateway and arch formed by old stumps and moss, communicating with a serpentine walk on a shady bank of a stream running through a craggy wild bottom to the pool now emptied of its waters. It is supplied also by another meandering stream, on the banks of which are judiciously placed statues, urns, and resting seats, from each of 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS, 193 which appear most agreeable and diverting objects, varied from each other in every remove, consisting of hills, dales, streams, houses, and clumps, rows, and forests of trees on lands in high culti- vation. The closing scene was a natural perspective view of a charming cascade running in various directions, the whole, almost, the eye could trace through bending oaks and osiers, from a spot whereon is placed an urn inscribed to Virgil and called his grotto or recess. Hence to the mossy bower or grotto, where after resting I reluctantly mounted my horse, and arrived at my new lodgings No. 20 Moor-street, at eight o'clock, much fatigued. 'i.S mm^ % % - ^> -< 'Mi I'ff'lhilj m 124 JOURNAL *ND LETTLRS. [1777. JfJ'" ' M- ■ lilH \\ ! * CHAPTER VI. Birmingham, May 20, 1777. Breakfasted with Mr. G. Rus- sell, and with him proceeded to a Mr. Onion's, in order to have a sight of his auriculas and polyanthuses, of which he has a great variety, and of the finest hues and stripes. Mr. Russell having invited company to meet us, we returned to his house to dinner, and passed the day agreeably. Arrived at our lodgings before nine o'clock. May 22. A fair begins here to day, proclaimed by the bailiffs, constables, wardens, etc., in procession, beginning at eleven o'clock. Streets crowded, many people coming in from the country ; a day of jollity rather than business, and the evening ends in riot, drunk- enness, etc. The low bailiff is the first officer in dignity, and by custom is chosen from the dissenters. He nominates the jury, who appoints the constables ; he also presides in the courts leet, gives a yearly feast, and has no further concern in town affairs. His service continues a year. The high constable inspects the markets, and is appointed for life by the lord lieutenant of the county. May 24. Walked to Soho Gardens ; the grounds naturally capable of improvements in a high degree ; they already consist of gravel walks in the serpentine form, shrubbery, flower borders, an occasional cascade running down a narrow pebbled canal, and emerging into a pond below, containing two islands. Took an afternoon ramble with my companion to Ashton Park, now in pos- session of Lady Holt, about two miles distant ; the ri ness of the soil and high cultivation they are in, almost ravished my companion. It is almost surrounded with a lofty brick wall, and is agreeably diversified by rows of trees, clumps and single trees, with many large spots of clean lands. The house is of brick in the old Gothic style, very large, having battlements on its top and round turrets. The church standing on the lands and adjoining the avenues of the mansion house of the estate of Sir Charles Holt, is remarkable 1777.] JOURNA'i. AND LETTERS. 125 for the smallness of the building, and the loftiness of the tower and spire. Returned home net a little fatigued. May 26. Left Birmingham for Sheffield, our first intended stage being the city of Litchfield, sixteen miles ; roads level and sandy, the lands in sight barren and uninclosed. Just without the city, and in a field adjoining, we saw for the first time the English militia; the men were as likely and well accoutred as the king's troops, and as clean and well dressed. Arrived at the George inn, where we bespoke dinner, and while it was preparing, walked forth to view the city and cathedral ; the former of about eight thousand inhabitants, houses mostly in the old style, few shops and little appearance of business. The cathedral is a venerable pile ; round the western part of the building stand in mutilated condition many statues, being defaced, as some of its inside ornaments were by the zealots of Cromwell's party in the unhappy times of Charles 1. There is nothing remarkable within except a curiously wrought screen of stone, separating the altar from the chapel of the Ten Virgins, to whom it was dedicated, and where prayers at six in the morning are daily said. The niches in which the Virgins stood have remained unfilled ever since the pious purgators of those times of confusion before mentioned ; and as another instance of their enthusiastic madness, they broke to pieces all the stained glass belonging to this church. Over the western door is an in- scription, stating that this church was erected in the 657th year of the Christian era, was endowed by Oflfa in the Saxon times, and by Henry IL and Richard L since. In a flat tomb against the fourth wall lies a Dean Haywood, who, many years since, fantastically attempting to imitate our Saviour in fasting forty days, died in four- teen, a martyr to his folly ; two statues, one resembling him in his full bulk, and the other in his emaciated state, remain as monu- ments to perpetuate his impious folly. Fron this survey we returned to dinner. Arrived at Burton at four o'clock, over roads almost an entire level, as soft as a carpet, and in a straight direction as far as the eye could reach. At the distance of eight miles from our last stage we passed the Trent, near to where the great Staffordshire canal (joining the Trent and Severn) begins ; crossing and recrossing it, and travelling on its banks and within sight for many miles. This canal is carried ever •■■■'III! i ^ villi ' 126 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777, :il! the small river Dove and many streams. Took our departure for Derby ; the roads as pleasing as last stage till near the town, when the face of the country became hilly and uneven, yielding a new picture to the eye. Stopped at the George-and-Dragon inn, Derby; took tea, and accoinpanied by rny fellow traveller, rambled through the town, which appears to be of considerable extent, having four Episcopal churches. The streets are paved with small pebbles ; some of them of a convenient width, the rest narrow, having a gutter in the middle, common to most of the paved towns, Here is a square, paved, serving as a parade for the military, par- ties of which are posted in every great town. One side is built on arches, forming a shelter for the inhabitants from inclement weather. There is great appearance of trade, and, indeed, the silk mills, flatting and rolling mills, and lead works, employ many hands. Here are also many shops, which for size and arrange- ment resemble those of London. Derby, May 27. We visited the famous silk mills, and were told by the master workman that ninety-seven thousand movements were set to work by a single large water wheel. The house is two hundred feet long and thirty-six feet wide, and has five floors, each filled by machines. From thence made a visit to the porcelain manufactory ; — the principal ingredient is common flint stones reduced to an impalpa- ble powder after being broken in a water mill. All the images are cast in very small parts at first, joined together by hand, as the head, the hands, etc. ; the moulds are made of plaster of Paris, and not bigger than the outside shell of a large walnut, which they resemble, aud like them consist of four parts. The fancy pieces, as flowers, images, etc., are formed a clear liquor poured into the moulds ; in less than two minutes, by absorbing the liquor, leaves a solid figure, which after it is dried is painted, gilded, etc., and passes the fire four several times, and if gilt undergoes polishing to bring it to its lustre. From this cursory survey we returned to our inn, and departed for Lord Scarsdale's scat, called Kiddlestone, four miles distant. Arrived at the portal and lodge in the form of a triumphal arch built of stone ; through this we were admitted into the park, ob- servable for the greatest quantity of large white oaks and '^Ims. 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS, 127 About a mile from the entrance over a straight, clean carpet road, we came to the lawn terminated by the house, making a noble ap- pearance J passing a large handsome stone bridge thrown over a fine stream made by art. On the lawn, on every side of the house, are large single oaks, also many clumps and rows, which with the great herds of horned cattle make a most picturesque view. The entrance to the house is by a double flight of r^pps under a grand portico, being formed of noble columns supporting a pediment, having in front my lord's arms, and crowned on the top with three female figures, erect, representing plenty, peace, and wisdom. The centre contains the great hall, and on the back front the sa- loon ; the ceiling of the former is supported by fourteen red veined alabaster fluted pillars of the Corinthian order on each side ; its height 40 feet, length 67, and width 42 ; the pannels of the doors light airy papier machb manufacture ; the designs are from Greek and Roman mythology ; the flooring the most beautiful clear oak, taken from my lord's forests, as the pillars are from his own quarry, and bear an excellent polish. The wings are connected by circular corridors, and in each wing twenty-one rooms on a floor elegantly finished and furnished. The state bed has very curiously carved posts, its furniture and hangings blue damask ; my lady's dressing plate the greatest in quantity of any I have seen except the queen's, and is silver embossed double gilt. My lady was at home, and remained to indulge us with a sight of every part of the house. The living of my lord and lady when in the country is quite in the family way. Their eldest daughter, going in a loose country dress to take a ramble over the lawn, on discovering us retreated back and disappeared. This house for situation, elegance and grandeur united, need not yield to any. From this pleasing spot we departed for Ashburn, the first town on the peak ; 'tis a country town, has a market and an Epis- copal church, but is remarkable for nothing that I could learn ex- cept its being a station for those whose curiosity brings them rather to view Dovedale and Islam gardens, the residence of old Chaucer, where strangers are shown the very spot in which he wrote many of his pieces. May 28. Rising early we departed in a post-chaise for Cas- tleton, situated near the mouth of the Devil's Peak ; the road is over bare and dreary hills ; the whole country that is inclosed is by i i:% 1 ' . i^m *i ■■% \\ :J!' r« t t t 1 1 ! ■ : ; .,0" ^ Mii'i \ iift I i r ft' \ i ■ft 128 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. stone walls, being extremely barren of trees, shrubs, and bushes, many hundred acres together not having the appearance of either. The divisions of land much larger than to be met with elsewhere, and scarce a house to be seen, being situated, I presume, in bottoms laid from the road ; the sheep are small, and distinguished from all others by a kind of rufFor ridge of long hair round the neck ; from the plain we descended into the town, lying in the bottom, in a road encompassing half the ridge of mountains, extending to a great length from hence ; this road in many places is very steep, and at almost every step hazardous, and the accident of the horses stum. bling, the reins breaking, or wheels coming off, would throw one down a precipice, when nothing short of a miracle could preserve him from destruction. The tower of the church, of an ordinary height, when first discovered seemed to be many hundred feet be- neath us. Arrived at the George inn, and took the guide, viho seasonably arrived with some gentlemen whom he had just at- tended through the cavern. Set off from the inn to visit this remarkable subterraneous frightful pit, etc., distance from hence about five hundred yards ; the entrance is between two lofty eminences, almost perpendicular, or rather overhanging, of a height eighty-seven yards ; its appearance awfully great and terrifying ; part is craggy and clothed in trees and shrubs. The passage into this natural cave is under an arch fourteen yards high and forty wide, rising somewhat higher; within the first cave resides a woman of thirty-seven years of age, who was born in a hut here, and has inhabited it ever since ;— besides her, here are dwelling two more families, and several of the town's people who daily resort here to labor in the twine spin- ning, in which business more than a score are daily employed. Light enough is admitted to do that and any common work ; from the mouth to the further end of post cavern is eighty yards, and from thence to the first water is seventy yards, making in all one hundred and fifty yards. Over this water, fourteen yards in length, I was conveyed in a small boat, for the greater part of the distance lying on my back ; the arch being too low to sit upright. The depth of the water is two and a half feet, which the guide, Robert Dakin, waded through, pushing the boat before him. My companion choosing me to explore the unknown regions, I first entered, and he took the second passage, and I waited for him before 1 pro- 1777.] JOUBNAr, AND LETTEKS. 129 cecdcd. At the further end of the first cave, a good woman with a dozen candles attended to furnish each of us with one, Avhich, having lighted, each took in his hand and proceeded from the first water, one by one, in a narrow path to another cavern distant ninety yards, the width of which was seventy yards, and height forty ; from hence at a small distance is the second water, over which I was carried first on our guide's back ten yards ; its depth is perhaps a foot. My companion next followed at the right of the attendants, and forded it on foot. Our next stage was in a cave called Roger Rains, from a continual dropping through the rocks and earth. The entrance to the grand cavern is under an arch fifteen rods high ; this forms a kind of hanging gallery, on the top of which stood seven singers, each holding a lighted candle in his hand. They entertained us with " Fill, fill (he glasses ,-" the splendor of the lights reflected from the vaulted roof, and the grand echo, pleased us beyond expression. On our return we were saluted by this same company with " God save the king.^' From hence we went forward to the Devil's collar ; of the origin of this name we could not be informed ; there is nothing in its appear- ance hideous, nor from whence we could conjecture its name. Here we descended fifty yards on a road of firm sand, and from hence the path leads to the cascade, which is heard at con- siderable distance ; the discharge is by a stream dividing itself into two channels, crossing the cavern and continued under the hill, at the bottom of which, at its opposite foot, it forms a small river. From hence to a place called " the top," and thence to the four regular arches, as regular as if formed by design ; and from hence to Tom of Lincoln, (so called from its resemblance to the top of a bell and its enormous magnitude,) and from thence to the ex- tremity of the cavern, distant from its mouth seven hundred and fifty yards. The level at the further end of the cavern was taken by Doctor Solander and Mr. Banks, and is two hundred and fifty yards ; — the char.ming appearance of the external light on our ap- proach towards the first cave, on our return back, excited a most pleasing sensation. Over the cavern is an ancient fortification in the Roman manner. After discharging the customary dues for candles, singers, etc., through a crowd of beggars who always attend strangers at the mouth on their return, which we were cau- 17 1 !| r'l{fi,;|iJ lff!,5| J ' y: 130 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1777 ^1* ^k li; : It tioncd to neglect, passed on to our inn, where we dined, and soon departed for Sheffield, where we arrived about six o'clock, and alighted at the George inn. Sheffield, May 29. Presented an introductory letter from Mr. George Russell of Birmingham to his correspondent, a Mr. Broom- head, whose reception of us at first wjis cool, but his after de- meanor and hospitality much more than counterbalanced the former ; I rather imputed it to an honest bluntness and ignorance of forms. He is a wealthy cutler, whose principal business lay in the American line. Attended by him we walked round the town to several branches, as rolling mills, grinding cutlery, white lead mill, etc. After dinner strolled amongst the multitude to the race ground called " Crooke's Moor ;" the number supposed to be full twenty thousand. From a lofty stand opposite the ground I had a full view of the race ; four heats were run, the first by seven horses ; the plate, a silver gilt cup, worth seventy pounds, was gained by a horse called " Why not," who, on the two first heats wrs almost distanced. The humors of the race I had an opportunity of seeing in perfection ; the different passions wherewith they were agitated afforded me no small diversion. The horses were called by the names of their riders, who were differently clothed, as pink, orange, scarlet, striped, etc. etc. The plate procured by subscrip- tion of the town, was carried by the constable attended by the town officers in their habits, preceded by a flag. On the ground were erected many stands, and all filled ; the last heat was scarcely over till nine o'clock in the evening. May 30. Called on Mr. J. Broomhead, and with him walked through the town to the colliery, so called, being a road-way from the Duke of Norfolk's pits to the yard, in which the coal is taken up into carts and conveyed to town ; the descent easy, and by means of a spring, the carts, M'ithout horses, under the guid- ance of a man, being conveyed by a sort of self-motion for more than a mile. At the end of the way the carts are run on stages, through which, by tilting them, the contents are discharged. After a view of this curious contrivance, we retired homewards, but meeting Mr. Aspden of Philadelphia, a gentleman with whom we dined at Mr. Smith's in Birmingham a few days before, agreed to join company, and immediately departed in a stage coach from 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 131 Sheffield, and arrived at Black Barnsley through a delightful though uneven road ; distance fourteen miles. Here we took post-chaises, and in two hours alighted at Wakefield, a clothing town, wherein appear evident tokens of taste in building and of wealth ; the av- enues to it delightful, the roads like a carpet walk, on one side a raised terrace walk for foot passengers, llaggt-d for more than two miles ; the lands hereabouts excellent, and under the m ist improved cultivation. The Westgate-street has the noblest appearance of any I ever saw, out of London ; its pavements in the best order ; its length near half a mile, and width ten rods. Were it not for some old, low buildings, London could not boast a more magnifi- cent street. It has a very large Episcopal church, with a remark- ably lofty tower and spire. The principal character in the novel -called " The Vicar of Wakefield" was taken from the late vicar uf tiiis church, named Johnson, whose peculiarly odd and singular hu- mor has exposed his memory to the ridicule of that satire. We soon after departed for Leeds in a post-chaise, through good roads and fertile lands : from Sheffield to Leeds the face of the country is more pleasing, the lands in better improvement and more peo- pled, than in more than twenty counties 1 have passed through in England ; alighted at the " Old King's Arms" at nine o'clock, where we supped and lodged. Leeds, May 31. Sent our names to S. Elam and waited break- fast; he soon came, but having taken his, declined partak'-ig with us. We walked forth under his guidance, and took dii. ner with him afterwards ; rambled to a village called Armley, to see a scrib- bling mill, by which more wool is discharged than ten hands can do in the same time. It is performed by a horse, but its construc- tion cannot be described, not being exposed to open view, it being a favor shown to Mr. Elam, on whose account we were favored with a sight of it. Too nice an inspection would have excited sus- picion, which we wished to avoid. The manufacturers of every kind through England are not pleased to admit strangers to a sight of the machines and process of their business. From thence we returned back on the sides of the canal, which for the first time is to be opened with ceremony next Wednesday ; no part of it has hitherto been used. June 2. This town is said to contain ten thousand people, m i:i ^lii i' If,' 1 , ', )| 'iJlH 133 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. '*^' .:! many wi'll-filkd shops, aiul various trades; its iirincipal husinossin narrow ami coarse; woolli ii clotlis, consigned to fort'i<5ii orders, hut little to TiOndon or inland trade ; many of its merchants are wealthy. It has a lar^jo cloth market of brick, of three ranges, each range having two walks, and the walks are called King-street Queen-street, Cheapside, etc. Set ofl' for Iluddersfield, distant six- teen miles, and is the town to which the merchants of Leeds, Tlali- (.; . and Wakefield resort to buy cloths from the clothiers abounding in this neighborhood. The town of Iluddeisfield is very old-built, and has a wretched appearance. 'The butchery was built by Sir John Ramsey, proprietor of the land, whose rent is seventy pounds. After dinner we entered u post-chaise for Halifax, where we arrived at six o'clock. This town is supposed to be larger than Leeds; its streets, if it can be said to have any, are excellently paved, and have a conve- nient flagged walk on each side raised ; lying uneven they are always clean; but in general they are narrow and .short, each end bounded by a triangular house ; many large and well-built ones in, but more just without the town. The situation of the town is on an uneven, low eminence, surrounded by lofty hills on all sides in the most improved condition, laid out in lots bounded by live hedges, rows of trees, and stone wall.s, almost as even as the walls of a house. The whole country for many miles within view abounds in manufactories and farm houses ; the people here arc numerous and industriou.s, their houses very cleanly. Amongst other kinds of good conduct, we in our rnmbles saw fifteen chil- dren employed in bending wires and preparing them in the various branches of card making, and were told their earnings were from two and sixpence to five shillings a week ; which 'employment not only keeps their little minds from vice, but renders them early capable of providing for their own support, and takes a heavy bur- den from their poor parents. We entered a nap-raising mill ; the process is performed by laying a cloth under an instrument divided into little squares of the diameter of the nap designed to be raised, or rather larger, carried by water. This instrument is about eight feet long and two feet wide, and is jostled backwards and for- wards by means of a little gage filled with teeth suited to a cog- wheel, which receives its motion from another communicating 1777.] JOUKNAI, AND I. KTTER8. 133 wilh Ific groat wliccl. Hy Mr. Aspdcn's dcsirp, wo nrrompnnlod him iiniiiL'diatily on our arrival (o a Mr. Hawson's sent, a little nut of Halifax, called "Stony-ride " incariinj^ Slonij-nmil, the road to it being stony, (llic Yorkshire people often using an i for nn o.) This was a friend to whom he had a letter ; neither Mr. Rawson nor liis sons were at liotnej but soon after our return to the inn one of his sons came, and would have engaged us to accompany him back, hut it being late, we declined it lor this evening, which he passed and supped with us. Ilallfdx, June 3. Rambled with my companions to the lofty surrounding hills, from whence we had an ample view of the town; only one parish church, the mother of twelve of the neigh- boring ones ; sectaries of various kinds abound here. By the man- ufacturers living hereabouts there is building of stone, a large and commodious market house, containing a s(iuare of one hundred and ten yards by ninety ; its lower story is fronted by short square pil- lars, forming arcades, on the back jiart of which are rooms for each separate manufiicturer, of twelve feet by eight, and before (he rooms a covered walk of four feet wide ; the second story is supported by square pillars cut into rustic, wilh a walk before as bt'low, but more open and spacious, the pillars not being so large. The floor of the third story is surrounded by Doric pillars support- in" the roof, containing; the same accommodations as below : the height of each story twelve feet. 'I'he town is all built of stone, very irregular, but its streets the best paved of any town in Eng- land, London not excepted, and from the unevcnncss of the ground always clean. By the hospitality of Mr. Rawson we were de- layed here for two days, whose importunity would not suffer us to depart till Thursday the fifth. We passed our time pleasantly enough in visiting among other things his copperas works ; the copperas made from that part of common pit coal called slate, charged with sulphur; its process easy and short, being collected and thrown into a large heap, perhaps of two or three hundred tons; — water poured on it, which, filtering through, parscj by pipes into an underground cistern or large receiver, is boiled, and from thence carried into a smaller cistern like the distillers'; there remaining until it cools and crystallizes. Thursday, June 5. Departed from Halifax in a post-chaise. '' '"'pj'' 1 ■M ' : 1 ll; M V i i in Hi ' ■■■' ■; ' 11 % if, , i: i ii ;!r in ■if'.' f I -II -A 134 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777, taking leave of our late companion Aspden, who left us at the inn for Preston, on horseback. Pursuing the road we ascended ? long hill of more than a mile, and soon arrived at a very lofty ridge of the most desolate and forlorn appearance, called Blackstone Edge, continuing for several miles. The road level, hard and straight, and on that score pleasant ; the land waste and of a russet hue, covered with furze ; not a tree, shrub, bush or plant, hedge or wall to be seen. From hence we descended into low grounds, well in- habited and improved ; in one respect this part of Engl and is more pleasing than the others ; the grounds are covered with houses, each manufacturer having a small farm or parcel of land besides his trade to depend on, there being more freeholders or owners of small farms and plantations here than in any county of the king- dom. We arrived at Rochdale about two o'clock, engaged din- ner, and took a ramble. The church stands on a hill, to which the ascent is by a hundred stone steps. This town is remarkable for many wealthy merchants ; it has a large woollen market, the merchants from Halifax, etc., repairing hither weekly ; the neigh- borhood abounds in clothiers. From hence the road to Manches- ter, distant about thirteen miles, is level and sandy, the soil light, the general nature of the land in this county, where the people speak an uncouth, peculiar dialect, unintelligible to the ears of strangers. About six o'clock we alighted at the " Spread-eagle inn," and procured private lodgings at Mrs. Barlow's, next door to the inn. Manchester, June 6. Walked out to the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, and on its banks met Mr. Nelson, who for some time lodged at Mrs. Leavitt's in Salem, New England j he is from Ireland, passing through the manufacturing towns to London. We stepped into St. John's church, a small but elegant edifice in Gcthic style ; over the altar is a fine stained-glass window, executed at York ; three erect images of St. Peter, Christ, and St. James, the colors quite lively, which the meridian lustre of the sun's rays not a httle assisted. In the vestry is another window by the same hand ; on this is stained the founder's name, a Squire Byrom. This church was finished in 1769 j its tower is crowned with battlements and high pinnacles ; the body of the church having such also all around its roof. From hence we adjourned to the Castleficld, tc in ' ; i' M\Ai\ 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 135 see the exercise of the militia, making as good appearance as the kinfr's troops in discipline and dress. This field is an eminence of oval form, and here are supposed to be the remains of an old Ro- man encampment, the outside wall and cement yet to be seen. From this place we adjourned to the " Royal Oak" ordinary. June 7. With Mr. Nelson set off for the canal, intending to take a passage to Worsley to visit the Duke of Bridgewater's coal mines. After some delay we entered the passage boat, drawn by a horse in the manner of the Trek-schuits in Holland. Arrived at Worsley in two hours, passing athwart the river Irwell, over which the canal runs, being raised on arches not less than fifty feet in height above that stream. In many places the bottom of the canal is considerably higher than the level of the neighboring grounds. Sent compliments to Mr. Gilbert, the steward, asking the favor of seeing the duke's under-ground works, which was granted, and we stepped into the boat, passing into an arch- way partly of brick and partly cut through the stone, of about three and a half feet high ; we received at entering six lighted candles. This arch-way, called a funnel, runs into the body of the mountain almost in a direct line three thousand feet, its medium depth beneath the surface about eighty feet ; we were half an hour passing that distance. Here begins the first under-ground road to the pits, ascending into the wagon road, so called, about four feet above the water, being a highway for the wagons, containing about a ton weight of the form of a mill-hopper, running on wheels, to convey the coals to the barges or boats. Under the guidance of a miner, with each a lighted candle in his hand, we proceeded through an arched-way about five feet high, walking with our bodies at an angle of less than sixty degrees, through a road of three feet in width, a length of eight hundred yards, arrived at the coal mine, which appearing about five feet through the roof, was supported by many posts, the area being about twenty feet square and height scarce four. From this dismal abode, which my com- panion, whose name was Chandler, would fain have dissuaded me from proceeding to visit, after remaining a few minutes, I hastened back to our boat. One may go six miles by water in various directions, the wagon ways to the pits lying below the level of the water ; it is said the distance from the mouth is six miles in the 136 JOUENAI. AND LETTERS. [1777, r ! mi > 1^1:. ! C ■ ; 1 1 vl|''!;'ij: ^ ill 13' i ?»» , funnel. A hundred men are daily employed, and each turns out a ton a day ; the miners' wages two shillings, and the laborers' about one shilling. Price of coal at the pit twopence per hundred weight; at the key threepence halfpenny, and at the door four- pence halfpenny. The boat having left, we returned to town on foot, five miles through fields and vacant lands. The centre of this town of Manchester consists principally of old buildings; its streets narrow, irregularly built, with many capi- tal houses interspersed. By act of parliament old buildings are taken down to enlarge the streets. It has a few good ones; King- street is the best built, is long and sufficiently wide ; most of its houses noble. Great additions of buildings and streets are daily making, and of a larger size than at Birmingham, nor have all the new ones so dusky a face as in that town, and in that respect arc fairer and belter ; for extent of ground whereon it stands, nor num- ber of inhabitants, does the latter exceed or in my opinion come up to it. The disposition and manners of this people, as given by themselves, are inhospitable and boorish. I have seen nothing to contradict this assertion, though my slender acquaintance will not justify me in giving that character. In all the manufacturing towns there is a jealousy and suspicion of strangers ; an acquaint- ance with one manufacturer effectually debars one from connection with a second in the same business. It is withdifficultj c:;:r is ad- mitted to see their works, and in many cases it is impracticable, express problbitions being given by the masters. The dissenters are some of the most wealthy merchants and manufacturers here, but mortally abhorred by the Jacobites. The dress of the people here savors not much of the London mode In general ; the people are remarkable for coarseness of feature, and the language is unin- telligible. Manchester, June 8. Attended public worship at a dissenters' meeting house, both ' rvices. Walked to the end of Danesgate, and drank tea at our companion Nelson's lodgings ; and were amused by the free and unrestrained chat of his landlady, named Hudson, a quaker in religion, and jacoblle in political principle. The number of the latter description since the English prince mounted the throne is somewhat lessened here, as I am told by our landlady, who is in the -lidicatcd family's interest, which is here 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 137 openly professed ; all of that party putting up large oak boughs over their doors on the 29th May to express joy at the glorious event of the restoration of the Stuart family to the English throne ; many such I saw. The ladies, who, if they take a part, are ever violent, scruple not openly and without restraint to drink Prince Charles's health, and express their wishes for his restoration to his paternal kingdoms. I saw the house wherein the prince, as he is called, dwelt whilst here, (at the time of his invasion ;) the trcntleman and his family still remain in it, and steady to their prin- ciples, which, however, did not hurry them into lengths that ex- posed them to the resentment of government. His name is Dixon, and his house is in Market-street lane, on the left as one goes from the market; and our host, a Mr. Bower, with whom we pass- ed a very social evening at his house in Leigh-street, told us Lord' John Murray and his secretary lodged at his house at that time. One of those executed here in the last rebellion was a son of a woman who had borne twenty-nine chi^'ken. June 9. Passed the day in rambling about town with our new-found companion, Nelson. June 11. Having agreed to join Mr. Nelson in a post-chaise to York, in the neighborhood of which we propose to cease from our labors, and hoping the rewards of a cheap plentiful country to reside in for some time, for this purpose we went to engage a chaise at the old " White Swan Inn," where we saw three young country- men, a Capt. Gore, Mr. Joy and son, at the end of their ramble northward from London, designing to return to Bristol by way of Wolverhampton. My fellow traveller on this discovery, tired of his expensive ramble, immediately took fire f nd determined to abandon me, and accompany them on their intended route ; loth to part in this quarter and in the situation I was then in, for certain prudential reasons, agreed to his fantastic plan, though entirely contrary to my wish and views ; and having disengaged ourselves from Mr. Nelson, to his mortification, engaged a post-chaise to Macclesfield. On the 12th June we proceeded on through a road of seven miles paved with pebbles to Stockport, a considerable town, having some reputable buildings ; its streets are narrow and paved. From hence to Macclesfield lying in Cheshire about twelve miles, being our first stage from Manchester. At five miles from 18 jijf j^y i ^"•■Mi ,*• » ^•f S fr' i3:> JOURNAL AND LETTEE8. [1777. this is the seat of Sir George Warren, surrounded by finely im- proved lands and pleasure grounds, lying on ray left. A little beyond on the right is the seat of Charles Leigh, Esq., possessed of four thousand a year, and of a considerable tract adjoining to Manchester, which he has laid out in streets to be let on building leases. At Macclesfield we alighted, breakfasted, etc., departed for Leek, a distance of thirteen miles ; the former town has a silk mill or mills, and a manufactory which appears not to have much business. The town in general is ill built, the houses, es in most manufacturing places, of most credit in its environs. From the George inn we departed not greatly pleased with the host's attend- ance, nor I with my companion's behavior here. Leek, at which I now am, has a manufactory of silk and rib- bons, and one for hair-buttons ; the former chiefly for the great dealers at Coventry, though very largely for foreign orders and the London supply, as well as the inland towns. From hence to Sandon, called in this country language Sand, is a distance of eighteen miles, which we were four hours in passing. Here we alighted at " the Dog and Duck," supped and lodged ; the former as quietly served up, and as genteelly, as could be in London ; the town is small, houses scattering, and of an indifferent aspect. June 13. Departed without breakfast for Stafford, the coun- ty town ; the roads in general are sandy, but on our approaching the town, the lands assumed a better face. The main street through which we passed is paved, the houses well built, full shops, and an appearance of business and of wealth. On our right, at the dis- tance of a mile, stands on the summit of an insulated hill, cut, as should seem, by art into a cone about one third down, a stone edifice, like a lofty tower, which is the only remains of Stafford Castle, making an agreeable object to a traveller. From hence the lands and roads are greatly altered for the better ; fine pastures, excel- lent live hedge fences, and rows of trees in great abundance. Our next stage was a distance of ten miles, at a place called Penkridge ; here again we took another driver, carriage and horses, and through a most excellent turnpike road and a delightfully improved country, arrived at the old " Angel Inn," Wolverhampton, where we dined, and having despatched a messenger for my old friend Timmins, he soon arrived ; by his invitation accompanied him and i m.^ n 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 139 our companion to see the great manufactory of Taylor and Jones, (^vho are also exporting merchants,) for japanning tin, paper snuff boxes, iron tools, etc. Thistovm is large, has a capital manufacto- ry in the lock and hinge way, and most other branches of the iron business, and is supposed to contain twenty thousand inhabitants. Like all the old towns it is ill built, and like Birmingham has a dusky look. Once for all, its numbers I judge are overrated ; every town and borough is so. After repeated invitations to re- main we departed before six o'clock for Stourbridge, distant ten miles, to which we arrived at half past seven, being driven Jehu like through roads as level, hard and pleasant as a garden gravel walk ; the country yielding a pleasant view from good husbandry* fruitful soil, lofty trees and live hedges. "We were agreeably dis- appointed, for instead of a pitiful, mean town, as its avenues seemed to threaten, we found a well built, large, lively and rich town, having a noble, wide and convenient street a mile long, with cross streets well paved. It is famous for glass, nails, heavy iron work, as anvils, etc., and some cloth manufactories. After rambling for an hour over the town, we supped and retired to rest. Stourbridge, June 14. Set off at eight o'clock and arrived at the" Crown" inn, Bromesrrove, twelve miles, at ten ; a respectable town, but it contains no large manufactories ; the only one of any consideration is for linen cloth. The lands about here in an excellent state of husbandry and fertile ; farm-houses and gentlemen's seats more numerous in this and the following stage than on any road we had passed in this route, except the west riding of Yorkshire, to which it bears a comparison. Were set down at the Bell inn. Broad-street, Worcester, at twelve o'clock ; a very handsome, well built city, having spacious, airy streets, a noble cathedral and elegant modern houses ; its shops large and well filled, the town lively and full of business ; its inhabitants have the character of being polite and genteel, and indeed they have more the air of Lon- duiiers than at any place I have seen. The Severn vnv" on one ide of the city, by which conveyance is easy to Gloucester, the Histancc being twenty-eight miles, performed in seven hours in small vessels. Here is a manufaoturo of porcelain, said to be the best made in England. While rambling through the streets we fell by accident into the cathedral green, and meeting a boy with i i| rUr ii^ |: . : i 1 ^''- w ' rm 140 JOURNAL AST) LETTERS. [1777, i' 'I'll ti' , M «>. I ;!■ i';'^ I- # W '''Hi. ^m 1., j a prayer book in one hand and the church key in the other, he accosted us with," Gentlemen, are ye a mind to gointothe church!" and on our answering in the afllrraative, the doorkeeper aclijiitted us. It has many old monuments, (as well as modern,) particiliulv that of King John, whoK« body by his desire was buried in the choir just before the high alt.sr, over which spot is a flat sii.tue of iiim. Here also lies in a little chapel the body of Prince Arthur, elJi -,* son of Henry VII., and likewise an Oswa!»i, a bishop if tliis .see before the Norman conquest ; ihe only modo) n 1 thought worthy to reniember, is the worthy Dr. Hough, about fovty yrars sin-je a bishop of this see. The chapter house, dso used as a Jibraiy, is of an (>\:i\ form, and its wall;:, to a considerable height coverfd M-ilh cases faced wila glass, and very well filled with books. In this city is a n,agniii'ceut town hall, having below many full length portraits. This Lejng luurkei day the streets were so thronged that our chaisf^ cou.'d ticant ^lake its wa) through to the inn. Having spent .'bvif hours in thif- beautiiul and pleasant place, we departed for Tewk.bu'y, a considerable town ; here the apple orchards began to a{)pear of uncommon height and bigness. From the western quarter of Staflordshire to the very houses of Bristol, through tilt delightful counties of Worcester and Gloucester, ihe fields, pastures and enclosures have an uncommon richness and verdure ; fruit and forest trees in greater abundance and larfier giith and greater height than are to be seen elsewhere in England, 'i'fiv, ksbury has no capital manufacture except for white cotton stockings, for which it is noted, it is remarkable, however, for a parie^h church one hundred and seven yards long, and more than twenty-five broad ; its roof supported by round shafted pillars seven yards in girth, contaiiiS several old monuments. The first I observed was Richard Nevil, the great Earl of Warwick, called the king- maker, raised on a lofty monument scarce as big as the life, in a kneeling posture with uplifted closed hands; in a chapel arc decumbent his daughter and her husband George, Duke of Clarence; .'nd in a flat grave just before the door of the choir, is the tomb of ilenry, son of the unfortunate Henry VI. June 15. From the Sun inn, Tewksbury, we departad b '■r '■ breakfast, and through rough and dirty roads arrived at the " .(l<. '. inn, Gloucester, at nine u' ock; notwithstanding the fou ; . < li- 1777.] JOURNAL AND LET TEES. 141 ful harvests of corn, cider, and pasturage, for which this county is noted, for miles around the city the houses are small, dirty, and in ilf repair, the avenues slovenly, fences and walls in a ruinous state, 'he ba*T!S 'generally of wood, all tottering to their fall ; the bridges tb" meanc, t "^nd in the worst condition anywhere to be passed. After breakfit i lid dressing, we all attended worship in the cathedral, bcino' decently and respectfully provided with seats in the choir ; the service vvas chanted. The dean and sub-dean performed the communion service. From church I repaired to our inn, leaving !i)Y f( ilow Iravellers to pursue their ramble till dinner time. Dirty nan ow streets, and mean, ill repaired houses, constitute too great a i it of this city to render it an agreeable residence. After dinner, young Joy and I rambled into the cathedral ; the cloisters are reck- oned the finest in England ; after viewing them we retreated into the church, and meeting one of the vergers, were conducted by him to the old monuments. Thence back to the inn, when we took coach and left the city, part of our company being already gone. The next stage was at Newport, consisting only of four inns and a dissenting meeting house, distant from our last stage fifteen miles, and from Bristol eighteen ; the roads are dirty and rough, the slovenliness of the farmers' houses and the richness of soil, were as before ; here we lodged. Mewport, June 16. After breakfast departed alone, our fellow travellers being already gone, and at twelve o'clock alighted at the "White Lion" inn. Broad-street, Bristol ; dined and afterwards visited Radcliffe church : drank tea at Mr. Waldo's. Bristol, June 17. Breakfasted at Mr. Waldo's ; walked to Hot Wells, and Mr. Gci'Miiey's grotto ; after dinner accompanied ray fellow travellers to Taylor's glass works : in our way through " Long-row," were attacked by the virulent tongue of a vixen, who saluted us by the names of " damned American rebels," etc. In our return from Hot Wells, we passed a person dressed in green, with a small round hat flapped before, very like an English coun- try gentleman, who is .l.e ."ppostJ Count Falkcnstein, under which character the Emp<"^ of Germany ira.e'iS incog. Remov- ed our trunks to a Mr. Siade^'s in Queen's square. mim w^ f 142 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. ; ■■Hi I i ) ■ '•'5 •4- CHAPTER VII. Bristol, June 18, 1777. This being the day in which Mr. Chester, the county member elect, is to make his triumphal entry into the city, it was ushered in by ringing of bells and discharging of cannon, the noise of which early disturbed my rest. On the towers of all the churches were displayed colors and jacks ; en- signs and pendants on most of the vessels at the quays. On Bran- don hill were placed twenty-two cannon, discharging several rounds in the day, answered by the vessels. After dinner I strolled through the streets that were lined with people, reaching from the extent of the city on the farther side quite through and up to the rising grounds on the Down, beyond Park-street, the windows on each side filled to behold the great man. My stand was on the open space on the hither side of the bridge over the Frome ; the pro- cession began at seven o'clock ; footmen two and two, then follow- ed others on horseback, two and two in the centre. Mr. Chester pre- ceded, and was followed by more than a thousand persons, of whom one hundred and fifty were mounted and clad in new blue coats and breeches, with buff waistcoats, the Duke of Beaufort's hunting garb. These were headed by the champion dressed in blue silk, armed cap-a-pie, and at all points, bearing in his.hand a mace that he waved every hundred steps j stopping his horse at the same time, on which arose three loud huzzas. The rear was brought up by nearly a hundred carriages ; the day was devoted to mirth and festivity, nor was the following night without its share. The Dukf of Beaufort, whos*^ man Mr. Chester was, privately left the procession just before its arrival in town, and took a stand in a friend's house with his duchess to see the parade through the town, and enjoy the triumph over his rival without observation. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SfDMOUTH, DEVON. Bristol, June 19, 1777. Dfar Sir : After a long, expensive, ?nd not very pleasing tour, f am at I 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 143 length set down, for some weeks' abode at least, in this city. My experience, dearly enough bought, teaches me that manufacturing towns are not proper places of residence for idle people, either on account of pleasure or profit ; — the expenses of living being as high almost as at St. James's in every such town, how far distant soever from the capital. The spirit of bargaining and taking advantage runs through every line of life there, but in the north it is cruelly predominant. I know not but I may ramble before cold weather again to the west, for Exeter with all its faults is paradise itself to Manchester or any town in the north I have seen. Having by accident met Mr. John Boylston in the American Coffee-house, who informs me he is going off to-morrow for Exeter, I would not fail to embrace so fair an opportunity to let you hear from me, though I had nothing but that simple article to acquaint vou with. Nothing will yield me more satisfaction than to hear of your and my other friends' welfare in the west. I had the pleasure to see Counsellor White, now on a tour through North Wales, &c. ; be pleased to make my compliments to his family and my acquaint- ance in your neighborhood. God bless your reverence, and suc- ceed your pious endeavors to reform your flock. You have minf and I hope for your prayers, and remain. Your assured friend, S. CURWEN. June 22. Walked to the cathedral, entering just as service was about to be begun. Mr. Haynes, a canon, preached ; a likely figure, but a dull heavy writer and speaker : — the church is kept in nice order. One half of this building was demolished by Crom- well when he bombarded it, and forced Prince Rupert to retire, who for some time kept him out, but was at last forced to abandon it. From hence adjourned to the mayor's chapel, in which I saw several monuments erected A. D. 1268-9, it haviag been I pre- sume the chapel of a knight templar's house. Here we heard the conclusion of an excellent sei iion by the chaplain, Mr. Ireland. In the afternoon, attended worship at St. Stephens. Evening, at Mr. J. Waldo's, in Brunswick sqi) :. June 25. Passed the aften -w ..ud evening at Mr. Barnes' at ■n 144 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1777 n ' ;? 'fit' i ' I' ^} V "i : . 'i 1 quadrille with Mr. Waldo and Mr. Oxnard ; also met S. Porter there, on his return from Walt.i. June 26. In the evrnino r npp, d in our rambles at Lady Hunt- ingdon's chapel, wh'iu heard a sensible preacher on the doctrine of love. June 27. Walked out with Mr. Sewall and Mr. Oxnard through Stapleton to the; late Lord Bottetourt's seat and pleasure grounds, now the duchess dowager of Beaufort's; th is situated on the brow of a hill, standing on a lofty foundation of stone ; its front, as approached from Stapleton, has each angle covered with six square towers, and between an open piazza below; the whole house crowned with battlements. It is built of white stone, and possesses va extensive view of the pleasure grounds, and a finely improved country all before it. After tea took a second ramble to Bedminster church-yard. June 29. Attended worship at the mayor's chapel, met Mr. Boutineau, with v aom we took a few rounds in the college green amidst genteel company, and received invitations to tea. In the afternoon, meeting Mr. Barnes and F. Waldo, we joined them going to St. Nicholas' church j a Dr. Buck preached an excellent sermon, and delivered it with great propriety and fervency. TO WILLIAM BROWNE, ESQ., LONDON. Queen's Square^ Bristol, July 8, 1777. Dear Sir : After a long and expensive ramble to mo good purpose, I am at length in this city, proposing to make it ray abode for a month or longer; — to what place I shall retreat from hence I am unde- termined, though somewhere to the west, us that is a quarter nf great plenty and of the least expense. The report of the cheap- ness of living in Yorkshire is a mere fable, esj^ecially in or near the neighborhood of the manufacturing tow is, in the west riding, or even in Lancashire as fiir as Manches't vhi' h last place nothing but interest or superior motives could ccniine i,.o to. The distance I am from London, (and probably shall be for many months,) will deprive me of hearing or reading the current news, but few papers falling into ray hands; and coffee-houses, the 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 146 resort of newsmongers and political dabblers, I rarely enter ; so if you will now and then employ a few of your leisure moments to let rac hear ''rora you, I shall esteem it a favor. I am, dear sir, very truly yours, S. CURWEN. July 9. Walked five miles out to see Dundry tower, the steeple so called of a church situated on a lofty ridge commanding an ex- tensive prospect over the Severn into Wales, far into the St. George's Ch' nnel, into Somerset, Gloucestershire, and far beyond. Strolling along the quay, met a Swansea coaster, and partly agreed to make a tour through the southern and western parts of Wales. July 11. Went to the theatre ; saw the West Indian and the Misers, the former entertaining ; Major O'Flaherty well taken off ,iy Mr. Moody, tne best imitation of an Irishman I ever saw ; -the latter an unnatural plot, and but illy performed to a very full house. July 17. Set off on horseback for Bath ; fine roads, sun ex- cessively hot anc' scorching, .almost choked by the dust which arose in clouds by the carriages aiui horses we overtook in great num- bers. Alighted cit the [Shakspeare inn. High-street; visited the public places of resort ; rambled about the city, dined, and at four o'clock departed by the way of Keynsham for Bristol. July 18. Drank tea wit' Mr. Francis Waldo at his lodgings; afterwards adjourned to the theatre, where I was agreeably enter- tained. July 23. This day news arrived of the capture of the Fox, man-of-war, of twenty-eight guns, by some American privateers. Unless more spirited measures take place, or others are employed to plan or execute, I know not whether this island itself will not be surrounded by ships from the western continent and their allies. Two ships, just sailed from Bristol, were taken in St. George's channel ; and several to and from Ireland, etc., within a month. The nation is in a lethargy, and for aught that appears is like to continue so ; treachery, venality, or inability, will, it is to be feared, destroy this devoted people. July 24. News via Liverpool ; Gen. Howe burnt Brunswick about 20th June, broke qp his camp, going to abandon the Jerseys, 19 146 JOURNAL ANn LETTERS [1777 r'i-i j'i to Jitrengthfn his lines at Kingsbridge, apprehending an attack tlicre; and with the remainder of his forces and the .ships to go up the North river on a secret expedition. The Boston fleet of » igli. teen privateers sailed with orders to keep together for twenty-five days, and afterwards each to repair to their several destinations. The Newfoundland fishery disturbed, the ships on Grand Bank scattered ; some sunk, the whole almost dispersed and ruined. London and the trading parts, even those attached to the government, I am told, begin to grow very uneasy and talk loud. If it should continue, a change in administration must succeed. Alas ! to what a low ebb is this nation fallen, that lately gave law to the potent states of France and Spain, in a contest confessedly unequal on the side of its own subjects ; but such is the state of human affairs. Go- liath was humbled and slain by little David, and those provinces that lately sued to Great Britain for protection and aid, now boldly defy and enter the lists against that very power. July 26. Took passage to Swansea with Capt. Hawkins, and at eleven o'clock, with two pilot boats ahead, cast off from the quay. In four hours discharged our pilot boat in King Road, five miles from Bristol; we soon grounded, and there remained all night. The return of the ebb served instead of a favorable wind, to carry us to our port of destination. Indeed, it was, as the sailors say, right in our teeth ; the strength however of the current is such as to overpower a light gale, in which case vessels coining in or going out drop anchor during the ebb or flood, when unfa- vorable. This night proved dark and misty ; just after midnight ■we dropped anchor; day-'ight discovered the master's judgment in selecting his ground to anchor on. We arrived without harm to a stony beach called the ferry place, below the quay about a quarter of a mile. Swamea, July 29. Attended a court-baron, instituted for de- termining pecuniary cases under forty shillings, and is equivalent to our justice's court in New England ; it is, I presume, appendant to every manor, the lords of which have the nominating, if not the appointing of the officers to this trust. The manor in which this town lies is called Gower, and belongs to the Duke of Beaufort, who choo.ses its chief magistrate, called Portreve ; the present is Mr. Gabriel Powel, justice also in the former court, and whom I saw on rv.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 147 the benrh. This town is the first in Glamorganshire for comnrjerce and rn.'uuifncturcs, twelve hundred vessels being yearly employed; its staples are coals, copper-plates, and white iron. The ore for the former, and blocks for the latter, are brought hither in (heir own vessels from Cornwall, and when manufactured, transported to Hristol chiefly. The town consists of twenty-five hundred in- habitants, who occupy about three hundred and fifty hoiises, few elegant or large ; a market-house, erected at Cromwell's expense, the inhabitants being in his inter<'st. Here are several Episcopal ami Dissenting churches, a synagogue and Quaker meeting-house. Service is said and sermons preached in the Welsh tongue once in three weeks. A custom prevails here of raising the earth on the summit of the grave in the form and size of the coffin beneath, and sticking iu herbs and flowers, and during the season of roses, of spreading the leaves thereon. The country inhabitants almost uni- versally use the Welsh as their mother tongue, scarcely understand- ing a word of the English, which they call Sasnic, meaning Saxon, to distinguish it from the true British, 'vhlch was on the invasion narrowed to the small districts of Wales and Cornwall ; English in this principality is taught as the dead languages by the grammar. In a place called Gower the inhabitants speak no Welsh, but be- yond they talk in no other tongue ; in the midland counties scarce any thing but Welsh is spoken or known. Pembrokeshire wa.s settled some ages since by Yorkshire and west country folks, whose descendants retain their native tongue, and are ignorant of the country speech. In general the inhabitants affect to speak of Eng- land as a foreign country, and as we on the west of the Atlantic, saying from England, to England, etc. The Welsh appear a hardy race, short, clumsy, and strongly built. The extensive white iron or tin plate works, and copper also, which abound, I fancy is prejudicial to the products of the earth ; and the appearance of the land justifies the opinion. I am told the land is good, but I confess it has a dreary look ; the lofty hills are, however, enlivened, though bare of trees, (their natural vesture.) by the great number of small huts, so prettily and agreeably scattered over the sides of the hills, being painted white, with the fences or stone walls encompassing them, or forming the courts or yards. July 30. A stranger sent in his name, Calvert, desiring an in- f «i .•■fi if ' !'!itl; m if m '<' i -ts "%'% Iji.i: 1, 150 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777, ■^i';'!! ''i ,,., I ili!., ^|i s,,>i 'M: '' .1: , I.. i i', ! '4 J #"■» , I, I IP biother Henry, he languished here twenty-six years, till death kindly released him, at once, from captivity and suffering. This castle is almost entire, and seems less ruined than any of the an- cient ones not in possession of the crown. The dungeon where the prince was kept is shown ; it lies under the outward tower, the descent by six steps, secured by two doors, one within another • the apartment about eighteen feet high and the same in diameter' of an octagon form, having an arched roof, admitting no light but through a wicket just under the covering, jutting out from the body of the tower. The extent of the castle within the walls is about twelve acres. From hence repaired to the inn, and took carriage for Newport, After my departure learned that a daughter of the late Parson Pigot of Marblehead, was an inhabitant of this place. Arrived at Newport at twelve, and remained an hour, rambling through the town, which, like Cowbridge, is long and straggling, and the houses of a mean appearance. On the bank of the river Uskc, near the foot of the bridge on the town side, are the remains of an old castle in ruins, reduced by Cromwell to its present state, as, 1 am told, were all the castles in this country, where they abounded, scarce a town being without one ; passed by several in sight of the road, and all in a like decaying condition. At the inn we dined, and loitered till five o'clock, waiting for the flow of the tide, and then with a fair but faint breeze, entered the boat and loosed from (he Welsh shore. In forty minutes arrived at the Gloucester side, and waited no longer than while the horses were putting to; and taking our seats, were conveyed across a pleasant, extensive country, filled with herds of black cattle and large flocks of sheep, bordered by a circular range of finely improved hills. In an hour arrived at the city end of Durdhamdown, and soon alighted at our late lodgings in Queen's square, having finished a tour of two hun- dred miles in seven days. From henceforth determined to consult the genius, turn, and temper of my future companions ; my late fellow traveller's want of curiosity, etc. etc., renders him a very unfit companion, and frustrates every purpose of rambling. Bristol, Augusl 3. Attended worship at St. Stephen's j Dean Tucker preached. Returned home oid Hot Wells. 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH, DEVON. 151 Bristol, August 4, 1777. Dkar Sir : The (lark aspect of affairs in America on the side of govern- ment, renders it likely that England or some foreign country will, for many months to come, be the residence of the wretched Amer- ican fugitives. Our head-quaiter folks have, I learn, lowered their topsails, and talk in a less positive strain ; fear and appre- hensions seem to have .ucceeded assurance. Of late I made a short ramble into Wales, and over many emi- nences, to which the hills in Devon are not to be compared ; the middling £.nd poor inhabitants are not unlike our Indians, though inferior in size ; their manners as coarse and language as uncouth, differing from the English as much as their customs, many of which are peculiar. The outside of all their houses and walls is kept white-washed, at a distance giving (hem a lively and pleasant look ; the inside is filthy enough. The women, like our Indian squaws, carry their young slung round them, some before and some behind their backs. Cardiff, the chief town of the county, is near the bank of the river Taaffe, and in a pleasant vale of fine improve- ments, surrounded by high mountains, cultivated to their summits. Within two miles, and in sight, is the town of Llandaff, having a cathedral of a respectable appearance : — the churches in this coun- try, however, make but an indifferent appearance, being of dimin- utive size. About twelve miles from this toward the mountains, my curiosity carried me to view a most astonishing piece of archi- tecture in a bridge, called bojit-y-pridd, consisting of one arch, in span one hundred and forty-two feet, and rising from the spring of the arch thirty-four ; pl«i»ned and executed by a common mason, who is now employed at a similar work in Radnor. This natural architect is also to execute another uridge at Swansea, over the river Tawy, the middle arch of it to rise one hundred and eight feet above the surface of the water at full sea, and of a width suf- ficient for a large vessel to pass through. Yours, S. CURWEN. B :.;v t ■ ■ $ l;S- • Mi 152 JOURNAL AND LETTEBS. [1T77, August 7. Attended worship at the college ; Bishop Newton well known in the learned world by his writings, confirmed about nine score persons, chiefly females, from fourteen to thirty years of age. August 10. Attended v/orship at Mayor's Chapel, Baron Ho- tham, the nisi prius judge, present, accompanied by the major, in their formalities. Ill # % :»:.(! ;'"? ^11 H;: -ft \b I! H: ! TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, DEVON. Bristol, August 1 5, 1777. Deak Sir : A late rumor from the south that had exhilarated our sinking b sp'rits, is now momently abating of its credibility, though it was told in a way and with circumstances that induced a universal be- lief The report I refer to you must undoubtedly have heard. Mj faith in a speedy return to our native country is, as it. ever has been, faint; those, on the contrary, with whom it is my fate to bear company, have cherished, and still please themselves with the fond, delusive hope that the disturbances on the western continent will subside upon the least success of the British arras, and hourly expect to hear of Gen. Burgoyne's arrival at Albany ; from whence they date the end of troubles there. But supposing that to take place, I foresee a great deal to be done before the fierce spirit" of the people in America will settle down in*^o a submission to . power they dread, and have been taught to detest. Besides, 1 cannot help thinking France will interpose and prevent a future connection between Great Britain and the colonies ; perhaps, not thinking it prudent to declare whilst the recovery of them remains doubtful. This you may call a suggestion of fear, and it may be the effect of a sickly disturbed imagination ; I presume, however, I am not a singular instance. With real regard, yours, etc. S. CURWEN. August 19. By the ship Lady Gage, from New-York, July 15th, advices that General Heister is returning to Europe; that the troops are withdrawn from the Jerseys ; that Lord Howe and General Howe are embarking, destination unknown ;— 1777.1 JOURNAL AND LETTEKS. 153 discouraging news for government, and is a convincing proof I should think that an insurrection excited by an enthusiastic ardor for liberty, rightly or wrongly understood, and in such distant pro- vinces, is not to be easily quelled. A contemptuous idea of the weakness of the colonies, and their inability to withstand the pow- r of this opulent state, is the chief if not the only source of the prrsent discouraging conditif)n of their affairs in North America. Aiisast 20. Advices from New-York are that General Pres- cott was surprised and carried off at midnight from a detached huuse a little Lt;yond his line, by a few during sailors who landed on the island. This was done in revenge for General Prescott's setting a price on General Arnold's head, dead or alive, to be brought in. Gea«ia;l Pigot succeeds the former in command. That Lonl Howe and G««rBerai Howe were soon to leave New-York with ,3venteen th' firt tf'^jops, destination not known, supposed north- ward, to ar '-oncert with General St. Leger, who is coming ('own thro'i it»»r Moha-wk country. That General Burgoyne has taken Ticonderoga, and a confirmation of the capture of the " Fox^'' man-of-war by the Hancock and Boston privattiTS. 'Tis also stated that the Massachusetts people begMi to be discontented, and accuse each other of folly in engaging in an opposition that seems to promise such bitter fruits. Should Great Britain be able to establish a line of communication between Canada and New-York, and thereby separate the northern colonies from the southern, wo to the promoters and abettors of these disputes, ai>d good-by to Con- l?re.ssional authority. 1 he Indians will naturally iiall into the hea- ucst scale, especially wlien ^-nforc*^ ii*5' s*»ch powerful nrotives as Gr-nit Britain can offer. Should that evf!«t take plaf^, God pre- serve my poor coiwrtry from the desoJarfkig /n^gpoent-s — from a vam- ciless savage war. ,'higusi 2€. Intenfftftg for a long walk, tfinoik my course for Rownha/// passage, procb«ding over Leighdown tlnr-'iugh a Mrs. Gor- don's grounds, late Lady Trenchard, which she ♦■*f;hanged for a husband. This house shfy^^jred King Cb-t^-les IT. 4^^ his defeat and flight from Worcester , tt^ -^as in the k'1 for the purpose. 21 ;;.|i| i' '^1 Wfyn^ ;i ■I i I M ;*<• !'('. Ji' ' j«' ,1 i ••1 'i^-: • ?! ■ "!:. 154 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1777. The house is a large, noble, old-fashioned structure. In the court yard is a piece of water filled with carp. Dined at King's Weston, and returned to lodgings much fatigued. King's Weston is an estate belonging to Lord Clifford, family name Southwell. At the inn I heard that Lord and liady Cliflbrd had that morning set olT for France, on account of the ill health of the latter, leaving a dead child in the house to be buried when convenient. August 28. The annual Gloucestershire feast this day ; the procession, headed by the Duke of Beaufort, walked from Concert Hall to the inn. Sept. 2. ITad a passing view of the half yearly fair held in St. James's church-yard. Saw exposed in huts, sheds, etc , along the si reet called Horse-fair, cloths, linen, hose, and every article in the grocery and bauble way ; — besides the buyers, there were numer- ous flocks of such characters as compose our Cambridge Common gentry on commencement days, and for the like purposes, festivity <; :d fuddling. Sept. .3. Evening at Judge Sewall's, who introduced me to Dean Tucker, a famous political divine and anti-colonist, who judges them a burden to Great Britain, and presses administration to cast them off. Sept. 6. Had an hour's conversation with a stranger on 'change; a rare event, people in England being greatly indisposed to join with unknown persons. The Bristolians are, however, re- markable for early inquiries into the character of all strangers, from commercial motives, and soon fasten on all worth making a pro- perty of, if practicable ; all others, of how great estimation soever, are in general neglected. This city is remarkable for sharp deal- ings ; there runs a proverb, " one Jew is equal to two Genoese, ou Bristolian to two Jews." Sept. 7. At the college, the cathedral so called. Dr. Stone- house preached ; he was a practitioner of medicine, and has now turned his attention to spiritual maladies. His discourse serious and sensible, and his delivery with becoming energy, very unlike the in. ipid coldness prevalent among the preferment-seeking, amusement-hunting, "macaroni parsons," who, to the shame ami dishonor of this age and nation, constitute the bulk of those of the established clergy that possess valuable livings. 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 155 In the afternoon, walked to a street iuljoining King's square to attend John Wesley's preachment ; he being seated on a decent ^cafTold, addressed about two thousand people, consisting of the raiddle and lower ranks. The preacher's language was plain and intelligible, without descending to vulgarisms. Sept. 14, In the afternoon I attended once more John Wesley, laving the heavens for his canopy ; he began with an extempore prayer, followed by a hymn of his own composing, and adapted to the subject of his discourse. He wears his own gray hair, or a wig so very like that my eye could not distinguish. He is not a grace- ful speaker, his voice being weak and harsh ; he is attended by great numbers of the middling and lower classes ; is said to have humanized the almost savage colliers of Kingswood, who, before his time, were almost as fierce and unn anageable as the wild beasts of the wilderness. He wears an Oxford master's gown ; his atten- tion seemingly not directed to manner and behavior, — not rude, but negligent, dress cleanly, not neat. He is always visiting the numerous societies of his own forming in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland ; though near eighty years old, he reads without spec- tacles the smallest print. He rises at four, preaches every day at five, and once besides ; an uncommon instance of physical ability. Sept. 26. It is reported that General Howe is gone to Boston, and if he makes a successful landing, and is powerful enough to penetrate into the country, wo betide my poor native land. A few days will undeceive us with regard to the object of Gen. Howe's expedition. Sept. 29. Mr. Timmins and Judge Sewall visited me. Even- ing at Mr. Barnes's, where took tea ^>ith thirteen Americans. The Temple church is so denominated from its having belonged to the knights templars, which powerful and dangerous body of men was dissolved about A. D. 1270. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. Bridol, October 6, 1777. Deau Sn? : It is my intention to pass a fortnight with you, and could wish, if convenient, to meet you at Exeter. I long expected the pleasure ofseeing you here, but now despair of it, having seen Mr. John I ( 166 JOUUNAI- AND LETTERS. [1777. ■:l' i . 1'' •• ll *«»* 1777.] JOURNAL AND I. ETTKR8. 157 at White Heart Cross, dined at BridGjewafcr, and at half past eight aliirhtcd at Exeter, eighty-two miles in sixtefo hours. Exeter, Mivember 1. Departed on horxiiick, attended by a servant with my portmanteau, and in three h u s alighted at ray friend Isaac Smith's lodgings at Sidiiouth. Sidmotith, .IVov. 7. Rode to Beer, a fishing town, containing perhaps a hundred houses, mud walls and thatched roofs; the in- habitants in looks and dress resembling Marblehead folks. Stop- ped on our return at a farm called Bald ash ; met here Mr. Cornish, dissenting minister of Collylon, wlio is a cordial advocate for America and its independence; he is for retiring to woods and caves to avoiil religious persecution. jVov. 10. Started on ho; jback for Axminster, through K I- mington ; from an eminence t ; the road is a delightful prospect of the vale through which the Axe flows in a serpentine direction, under fine improvement, bordered by hills of a moderate height ; pastures and fields to the summit, from which saw Seaton at the mouth of the river, supposed to have been a Roman port, no trace of which remains. In this road lies a stately old house, called Ashe, wht'rein John Churchill, the great Duke of Marlborough, was born ; a village of no account called Musbury, and at the extremity Ax- minster, where we dined at the Green Dragon, and were introduced to the carpet manufactory, named from the town ; invented and still carried on by an ingenious and obliging person of the dissent ing profession. Here is also wrought, besides his own, of a pecu- liar construction, Turkey carpet, so very like in figure, color, an(i thickness, as not to be di.stingui.shed from the genuine article. They are wrought in perpendicular looms, by females, whose fingers move with a velocity beyond the power of the eye to follow. The shiite, consisting of as many colors as the shades of the figures, i' placed aloft on a bar, through rings running thereon, each ring passing a distinct color through. There was making a beautiful one of thirty-six feet square, (amounting to ninety-six pounds,) for the Countess of Salisbury. The knowledge of this manufacture he obtained thus : an old ragged fellow, in military garb, called and said he had wrought all over Europe in the Turkey carpet way ; he was engaged immediately, and complete success has resulted, not only in this kind but also in the Wilton and Axminster. I)! v'. ; ■!■ i ■ -f ,... * 1 ^ ID jr'; %"f\ ,f *»■" ■»■■ I H' M . *<,.i 168 JOIT \AT, AND LETTERS. r- ' !•: '! ■ "li. ^M K: liffiilWillf |iiP' Ml 5 l;|r:i|!!Ms: [1777, We passed a dirty mad in the dark and alighted atThorncoii^lo. The late vicar was father of Commodore Samuel Hood, who !;.;tiy commanded a squadron at Boston. Supped and passed the night here, next morning left early ; at eleven o'clock arrived at Lyme Regis, lying in south channel in an exposed situation : it is a place of little trade, supplying the neigliborliood with coals inipoitej here from the north. It is also a watering place, being accomnio- dated with a few bathing machines, a terrace facing the beach, mu! near atljoining for walking; a long room for tea and cards, of a southern aspect, and a neat assembly room. About twelve hun. dred inhabitants, (chiefly dissenters,) and about two hundred hoiists. Here is now standing, the (leorge inn, wherein the Duke of Mon- mouth first slept on his invasion. For the security of vessels coniinir in here, there is a circular pier of several hundred running feet, built by the ever fomous Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, and from him denominated the Cob. The next stage, Culliford, at Mr. John Carsluck's seat of Wishcornbe, where we were kindly entertained and lodged. This place is called from its situation; "wish," in Devonshire dialec*^ means weary, and " combe" fo/e,— which well describes it. Abi'. 12. A*i meiidian took leave and departed through the country ♦o Slmie Young and Sir John Duntze. It is situated in a vale, the river Otter run- iiiiiiv through the midst, from which the town takes its name. The centre is modern, built of brick, covered with pantile, u fire some years ar;o having dtstroyed the old buildings, it lias a market, ii Episcopal cliurch in the cathedral style of building; by trad erected in lOGO, a few years before the Norman invasion; it look of anti(iuity, and is marked with decay within and with(' J\'ov. 20. At ten o'clock departed from Ottery, and at alighted in Exeter at my intended lodgings in Fore-street. Exeter, J\''ov. 22. Walked abroad, had a conversation with young Reed, just returned from Salem, having been carried in there in a prize ; from whom I learnt there was no business scarcely but privateering, which he represents as surprisingly successful. By the papers, I learn the king in his speech takes notice of ''the obstinacy of his rebellious subjects in ./?mer«Crt," and promises himself " all needful assistance from his faithful Commons." It will be well if additional supplies, and an increase of foreign troops, do not prove a source of intolerable evil. Would to God an expedient could be devised to terminate this unnatural quarrel, consistent with the honor of both parties ; but this I fear is a vain wish. The Dutch, from a sordid thirst of gain, the French, from their dread of the rising power of Great Britain united with the colonics, and Spain, from an attachment to the court of Versailles, are too deeply concerned to permit a re-union. Lord Chatham, on motion for an address in the king's speech, says, " Without an im- mediate restoration of tranquillity, this nation is ruined and undone. What has been the conduct of ministers? Have they endeavored to conciliate the afFection and obedience of their ancient brethren ? They have gone to Germany, sought the alliance of every pitiful, paltry prince, to cvit the throats of their loyal, brave, and injured brethren in America. They have entered into mercenary treaties with those human butchers for the purchase and sale of human blood. But, ray lords, this is not all ; they have let the savages of America loose upon their innocent and unoffending brethren, upon the aged, weak, and defenceless ; on old meji, women, and children ; upon babes at the breast, to be cut, mangled, sacrificed. ;rvii*.,| >fi '\ 1 iU, ■rt 1 ^I*fi"ft ' ^''fif y ^^^^jE^l^ :■■' .•I / i . |- m. nlV .^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 1.1 11.25 liilM 125 U' Uii |2.2 ^ 1^ 12.0 u IE U ■ 1.6 0% M V ^'^' ^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STRUT WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 (716) 873-4503 160 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1777. m ■ ...,,. .!,; 'iJ 5 11 1) '.I burnt, roasted ; nay, to be eaten. These are the allies Great Bri- tain now has: carnage, desolation and destruction, wherever her arms are carried, is her new adopted mode of making war. Our ministers have made alliances at German shambles, and with the barbarians of America, with merciless torturers of their species. Whom they will next apply to, I cannot tell." Such is Lord Chatham's tire, such his oratory, such his indignation against minis- terial measures. Dec. 14. This day General Burgoyne's mortifying capitulation arrived in town. Nothing could be more disgraceful and humilia- ting, unless a submission to the victor's power without terms. The loss of the military chest estimated at seventy-five thousand pounds, the finest train of artillery ever sent out of this kingdom before; all the boasted acquisitions of the year's campaign gone at a blow, and Canada on the point of joining the grand American alliance. In the House of Commons, on the 12th inst., after Lord Bar- rington's report of army estimates, Col. Barre rose and called on Lord George Germaine to inform the house whether the report of the surrender of General Burgoyne with his army and artillery was true or false ; which Lord George did in a short narrative, and said intelligence had been received of the capture by the way of Quebec, which struck the house with astonishment ; and after a short pause Col. Barrc rose, and with an averted look, said: "Great God! who can refrain from rage and indignation when the planner of so much misery relates with the utmost composure, the horrid tale of a British army destroyed ? We all know the General's bravery and skill ; he did not surrender whilst there was a possibility of defence ; but while justice demands a just eulogium, what must we say of the man who reduced so gallant an officer to so sad an alter- native without the smallest advantage to his country V Dec. 18. From a correspondent at the west of the town, I learn that the language about the court is nowise lowered by the last news from America ; " delenda est Carthago.^' The old poli- ticians, neither biassed by hatred to Americans, nor interested in the destruction of the colonies, shake their heads at this language. Dec. 25, Christinas. Service at cathedral. No shops opened entirely, nor business publicly or generally carried on : — though IS, severe as ' ( I 1777.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 161 the day is otherwise negligently enough observed, nor indeed can more be expected, considering the low ebb of religion here. Soon after the surrender of Burgoyne was announced by Lord George Germaine in parliancent, an adjournment took place till after the holidays, whereupon Sir George Young, Mr. Baring, the Exeter member, and Mr. Barre, hurried down, and it was sus- pected that this foreboded a new parliament, a new ministry, new measures, and that the most active opposition is coming into play ; a few days will undeceive the public, however. On confirmation of the American news, Manchester offered to raise a thousand men at their own expense, to be ready for service in America in two months, and was followed soon after by Liverpool. It is said there are to be proposals for raising two thousand men out of each parish through the kingdom; that the American secretary will resign, and Lord Hillsborough succeed him. Dec. 31. The lenity shown to General Burgoyne and his army is allowed on all hands to do more honor to America, than the lau- rels, reaped by the Howes, can bring to this distracted country. God knows what is for the best, but I fear our perpetual banishment from America is written in the book of fate ; nothing but the hopes of once more revisiting my native soil, enjoying my old friends within my own little domain, has hitherto supported my drooping courage ; but that prop taken away leaves me in a con- dition too distressing to think of; however, amidst the increasing evils of old age I have this consolation, that, mortifying as my lot is, severe as my sufferings may be, their continuance cannot be lasting. Accompanied by Mr. Smith, drank tea with Mr. Towgood, and they passed the evening and supped with me ; and thus ends the old year. Mr. Pope observes : " With added years, if life bring nothing new, But like a sieve let every blessing through, Some joys still lost, as each vain year runs o'er. And all we gain some Sad reflection more ; Is that a birth-day 1 'tis, alas ! too clear, 'Tis but the funeral of the former year." 21 1' irl 1 HI 5 ' Wm 1 pi ^•,M li'"' % l*w rl i Vj ^i;i^ ' '■ ; ..r'^'lil II . .fr-^ k- \m fcf rV'/r' 1 : 4 ji •'ii ' ' ■>', mM'i m ; '"'I I I M 162 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. CHAPTER VIII. TO DR. DAUBENY, LONDON. Exeter, Jan. 3, 1778. ]!)ear Sir : By my friend Col. Browne's letter, received yesterday, I am in- formed of Col. Frye's arrival at Halifax, and of your quitting Salem and arrival in London. Pray inform me whether his and your de- parture from your settled abode arose from the requirements of the new established governments j if there be any in our province of sufficient authority to restrain the lower classes from their insolence and outrageous behavior, who, when the bands of society are un- happily loosened and the laws are forced into silence, do not neg- lect to avail themselves of those times to run riot against peace, order and security, the most valuable blessings of social civil life ; — whether there be any civil government established in our province — what it is — who the administrators — who are our Salem magistrates — its condition with respect to order, trac 'igion — the state of our society and the situation of our frien , I could fill a sheet with questions, but, loth to tax your good nature too heavily, forbear. With congratulations on your safe arrival in a land of plenty, and freedom from persecution, either on the score of religion or politics, I remain your friend, S. CURWEN. Jan. 6. Evening at Mr. N.'s, with Mrs. N. and Mrs. Tremlet, sisters, of excellent understanding, great reading and refined taste. Jan. 12. Bishop Ross installed arch-deacon in the chapter house, as on Saturday he was prebend, and on the following days this week is to be successively canon, treasurer, and bishop ; eacli ceremony being ushered, accompanied, or announced by tolling the 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 163 great bell, and afterwards the chimes play. On the demise of a bishop, the king in effect chooses under the fallacious compliment of recommendation to the chapter, consisting of dean, prebends, canons, etc., with a conge (Telire, or liberty to choose for that pur- pose ; the choice falls of course on the person recommended, and is so understood. He is then presented, kisses the king's hand on his preferment, and is installed by proxy in the distant see. He is personally enthroned when his new lordship pleases ; how long it may be before we are to be favored with his personal presence, it is not said. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. Exetery Jan. 17, 1778. Dear Sir : The account of General Burgoyne's surrender is confirmed, and what think you of the Congress now 1 Of American independ- ence 1 Of laying the colonies at the ministers' feet 1 Of Lord S.'s boast of passing through the continent from one end to the other with five thousand British troops ; and with a handful of men keeping that extensive continent in subjection ? Of the invinci- bility of the said troops'? Of the iaw, undisciplined, beggarly rabble of the northern colonies ? Of the humiliating surrender of a British general, five thousand troops, seven thousand small arms, and thirty-six pieces of brass artillery, to the aforesaid rabble ? What think you of the pompous proclamation of the said general 1 Of the figure he is now making in the streets of Boston, compared to his late parading there, accompanied by his vainly fancied in- vincible cohorts, now, alas ! rendered as harmless and inoffensive animals as you and I ? Of the condition General Howe is now or soon may be in, should the combined army of Washington anid Gates, numerous as it may be, perhaps exceeding his own in the proportion of two to one, elated with success, inflamed with an en- thusiastic ardor, invest Philadelphia, defended by an army almost worn out by incessant labor, having, as the papers say, the shovel and firelock always in their hands, and greatly weakened by losses 1 What think you of the twenty thousand men voted in parliament a few days since, in addition to the army now in America ? Where are they to be raised 1 Is not Russia on the verge of ^ war with iiK-' I'ls ir q'if 'f*- jk ' f MT^lff ■ ■*~'-' li's 1 f I 'i.l^ ;!):, ■! ( ;. f "■":i i?''i 164 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. the Turks ? Have not the two great potentates of Germany re- fused to suffer their country to be further drained of its inhabitants? Is not Denmark too feeble, thinly peopled, and jealous of its potent neighbors, to furnish men 1 Have we any alliance with Sweden? Is not Holland in the same predicament with the former, and does not its commercial system forbid lending us aid 1 Is not Portugal too poor, dependent, and unable if disposed ? Is not Spain unwil- ling and unable, and too much inclined to follow French politics ? Nay, does not the impolicy of hiring troops from her, if willing and able, appear too glaring even in the most desperate case ? And is not France too insidious and insincere, too much interested both in regard to politics and commerce, to apply to her for assistance ; nay, would it not be too dangerous, considering her former state and connections there ? Have not the Switzers too strong a sense^of liberty themselves to engage against a cause wherein civil liberty is pretended to be invaded 1 Pray what resources, then, has Great Britain, without allies able or willing to afford the needed help ? Can her own country furnish the requisite numbers ? Can the manufacturers spare, with- out essential injury to its commerce, a supply from thence 1 Does she abound in laborers 1 Are there not, rather, complaints that men of the lower classes are wanting? Have not the recruiting parties found great difficulty in raising men ? And is it not well known that business goes on slowly and heavily at this day 1 Would not an act of parliament to press men for the American service, (and without it, it cannot be done,) raise disturbances and insurrections think you ? Would not raising new regiments from among the Catholics of Ireland disaffect the bulk of the nation ? In this sad dilemma, which way can administration turn to extricate them- selves ? How can they escape out of this labyrinth wherein they are intricated ? What measures can be adopted consistent with the honor and dignity of this late mighty empire — alas, how fallen ! — that gave law but a few years ago to two of the most powerful, politic, and wealthy states in Europe, and thereby peace to almost all the world ? Common sense and prudence, in the case of a private person, suggests, that when convinced his measures of conduct are inadequate and incompetent to answer his wishes and designs, to retrace his mistaken steps, pursue other measures, and undo what 1778.] JOURNAL AND LBTTERS. 166 has been done wrong ; for it most surely is less dishonorable to correct errors than pertinaciously continue in a track confessedly wron«' and fatal. Does not the American secretary, Lord George Germaine, seem to be of this mind, when he announced General Burgoyne's surrender in the house, declaring, at the same time, the impracticability of carrying on this war any longer ? Has this an appearance of a pacific intention, or does it seem designed, as has been suggested, to lull the opposition? (which, however, I don't consider but as the effect of party misrepresentation ; for you know party views every thing in false lights.) Think you this an indi- vidual opinion, uncommunicated to his brethren in administration, and unknown in the privy council, delivered without their privity, connivance or consent ? Is it probable he will long hold a post in which he must take so active a part as his duty requires, in promo- ting measures, in his judgment ineffectual, and which cannot long be supported ? If a difference in the higher departments begins, and a derangement in administration should take place, where will it end 1 I shall tremble for the conseqi'ences at this period, as it will weaken government when most it stands in need of support from a general concurrence. Did not Lord North seem to yield to the idea of conciliatory measures ? The designs of a court are deep and hidden ; who, by searching, can find them out, till time, the great revealer of secret things, exposes to view the wisdom or folly, the policy or impolicy of cabinet councils 1 The language of the court, the papers say, is, as it ever has been, " delenda est Car' thago ; if this be not slander, wo betide my poor country. I con- fess I feel too strongly the amor patria not to wish it may be slander ; its enemies will never, I hope, exult over its ruins ; but its inhabitants be timely brought to a just sense and sight of their real interest and security, which in my view consists only in a close connection with this country. Vigorous measures are talked of there ; but in parliament the language held by the ministers seems mild, leaning toward an adjustment of matters otherwise than by the ultima ratio regum; the out-door talk is just the reverse : unhappy the state of society and government that renders such conduct in any regard expedient. Should government seriously wish and intend to settle this quarrel amicably, what can be the first step 1 The present situation of y I'll III ■»•' • '•' ''^ id m ', mi li liii mMm i.i,' :i: 166 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [m. «lll » .. Aih\' I ■ . I' administration puts me in mind of a story relative to Sir Christopher Wren, who went year .y to visit King's College Chapel, Cambridge, remarkable for its rooi ; on being asked whether he could construct such another, replied, " Tell me where to place the first stone, and I will engage to execute i.. ' Are not our state architects as much perplexed and embarrassed where to lay the first foundation stone whereon to erect a temple to peace and concord ? Could they ever devise a plan of accommodation dictated by wisdom itself short of American independence ? Would the United States condescend to enter into a treaty with this kingdom after so many proofs of their ability to defeat their designs and resist their most vigorous efforts, and from whom they have received so many supposed indignities, severities, and oppressions ? I quit ray theme and lay down my pen to read the news just brought in ; but before 1 record it, let me premise that not a syllable of it finds credit with me; it is as fol- lows: — " General Vaughan, who burnt Esopus and made such cruel havoc up Hudson river, is defeated by General Putnam ; he and his army prisoners ; that the former has got between General Clinton and New-York with a separate army ; that General Washington had forced General Howe's lines, destroyed and taken seven thousand men." Should this, or half of it be true, I warrant (without gift of prophecy) the game is up. I forgot to add, Arnold is not killed, only wounded in the leg, and with General Gieen gone forward to Quebec; the American works on the Delaware not yet forced, so that the two brothers Howe can as yet have communit-'ation together till that event takes place. General Howe's situation must be very disagreeable, not to say dangerous. I will add a few- lines to fill the sheet. Newspapers are crowded with articles of the offers of towns and counties to enable his majesty's government to carry on the war against America, which by some means is now become to be considered as less a ministerial aflfair than some time ago; should the proposed numbers, however, be taken out of the manufactories, I dare engage trade will sensibly feel it. W^ould to God, that moderate and just views of the real interests of both countries might possess the minds of those who direct the public measures here and there. That peace may again take place, and trade and agriculture and commerce be established on a lasting basis, is the most ardent wish of your friend, S. Cukwkn. 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 167 Jan. 26. I am told the officers lately arrived from America, generally declare the conquest of it is a vain expectation, even with a very great additional force. Notwithstanding this, the ardor of the nation for subduing what is called the " American Re- bellion'* seems to spread like a flame from north to south ; the new troops talked of as proposed to be raised immediately, are as follows : — Battalion of Highlanders under Lord M'Leod, 1000 ; Manchester volunteers, 1000 ; Duke of Argyle's Highlanders, 2000 ; Duke of Athol's Highlanders, 1000 ; Colonel Gordon's do., 1000 ; Duke of Hamilton's regiment of Arran, 1000 ; Colonel Dalrymple's loyal Lowlanders, 1000 ; midland Highlanders, 1000 ; Sutherland's and Mackay's Highlanders, 1000 ; Earl of Seaforth's Highlanders, 1000 ; Dutch brigades to be augmented, 5000 ; Irish Roman Catholics, 5000 ; ten English battalions, 10,000 :— 31,000. Lord Abington's motion to be considered in parliament, against the constitutionality of persons, corporations, towns, cities or coim- ties to raise men, and arm and equip them ; and if he defends his position, it will put a stop to the loyalty of Manchester, Liverpool, Norfolk county, and some Scotch lords, who have made offers of money and men for carrying on the American war. Lord Abing- ton's motion was for summoning the judges to attend the house, that their opinions on this matter may be known ; he considered it not only repugnant to the principles of the constitution, but ex- pressly against the letter of the law. The attempt to raise men in Warwickshire and Norfolk has failed, from the opposition of the gentry and others. Dr. Robertson, in his history of Scotland, says : " When men have been accustomed to break through the common boundaries of subjects, and their minds are influenced with the passions which civil war inspires, it is mere pedantry and ignorance to measure their conduct by those rules which can be applied only when government is in a state of order and tranquillity. A nation, when obliged to employ such extraordinary eflTorts in defence of its liber- ties, avails itself of every thing to promote its great end, and the necessity of the case and importance of the object, justify a depar- ture from the common and established forms of the constitution." This is precisely what a sensible American, whose mind is strongly impressed with the right of resistance to the authority and arms of it it ■ m fcii: lUi'M M 4k 'A •.mp\ m\ m I M. # J Mi 168 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. the mother country, would offer in defence of the many hardships and violences imposed on his fellow-countrymen at the present momentous crisis. Jan. 30. This being in Church of England language, " King Charleses martyrdom," it is farcically observed as a fast day; churches open and service suitable to the solemn occasion read. To complete the absurdity here, the pulpit of the cathedral vias covered with black cloth ; the tip-staves, sword, and mace, carried before the mayor in the same grim garb. TO WILLIAM BROWNE, ESQ , LONDON. Exeter, January 30, 1778. Dear Sir : General Burgoyne's defeat will, I think, prove a prelude to a succession of fatal events. The rapid increase of military skill and courage that enthusiasm produces, and the great numbers of Euro- pean commanders and engineers of experience now incorporated amongst the Americans, are considerations that extinguish my expectation of the success of the following campaign, even should Great Britain send over in season the number of troops ordered by parliament, (and which do not amount to what all who have lately arrived from America agree to be necessary to insure success, or rather, in any good degree, render it probable.) May those evils my gloomy mind forebodes, exist only in imagination ; but I must confess I see, perhaps through a false vista, the expedition already ended in the disgrace of this powerful and wealthy kingdom, and in the ruin of that once singularly happy, but now, alas ! deluded, wretched America ; for, disconnected from this country, wretched it must necessarily be, if anarchy and the most grievous oppressions and taxes can make a people so. How weak, inconsistent, and dangerous is human conduct, y. hen guided by lawless ambition, or any false or wrong motives ! Into what dreadful evils are commu- nities often plunged by hearkening to the declamations of pretended patriots, of crafty, selfish, unprincipled demagogues of this and many other countries; history furnishes us a present mortifying proof and example. You may console yourself in the late disgrace of the British arms, with the hope that it may revive the ardor and bravery hitb- 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 169 erto so peculiarly characteristic of British troops, but similar causes do not always produce similar effects. At the time you refer to, Rome was in the meridian of her glory, war the profession of her citizens ; her inhabitants, through all her ranks, were at that period actuated by the amor patria, a principle publicly derided in this age. Do not think me a cynic, when I say, I fear this nation has sunk into too selfish, degenerate, luxurious a sloth, to rise into such manly, noble exertions as her critical situation seems to demand : for which this people have in times past been famed, as the disaster you mention formerly produced among the Romans, and as hereto- fore within my own memory, has been the case with this very peo- ple. But the breast of every Roman was warmed with the amor palrits at that period, and with this principle he could brave dan- geis, and even death, to bring honor to his country ;— when riches poured in upon them from all quarters of the world, when manners degenerated, and selfish regards succeeded to the love of country ;, when luxurious tables and efTeminacy among the higher ranks took the place of frugal meals, and manly fortitude, with the sense of honor sunk into venality and court dependence, they then became abject, desponding, cowardly, and were exposed to every invader, and instead of bravely defending, abandoned even their lands and wealth to be possessed by their courageous army ; and such will always be the condition of every people in similar periods of its state. But away with politics. You ask when I intend to come to London ; to take a long, expensive journey that road, I have not at present in contempla- tion. Abstract Col. Browne, and a few acquaintances, and London,, in the present state of my finances, has not charms strong enough to attract me thither. With no relish for the amusements and dissipations of that unavoidably chargeable residence, I should ill exchange my frugal and comfortable board, in a decent family, at eight shillings, for twenty, and a long train of e^ ceteras, amounting to thirty-five more under strictest economy. It would add much to my enjoyment, to have the company of my friend Col. Browne, with or without a friend or two ; but to encourage his taking so long and tedious a journey, I dare not, having nothing to offer him by way of equivalent for his trouble, ignorant as I am of his taste and views of living : however, should a plan of frugality, inclination to 22 i»'!i^' . " > ! 1 1' : 1 ■■ I ' 1' i .:i. ( r! mv\ '!iii'': , , ^r 170 JOURNAL AND LETTERB. [1778. ramble, or curiosity, push you out of the metropolis, as the season grows milder, and chance or design direct your steps to this plen- tiful and cheap quarter, take the following short imperfect sketch. Exeter, for its numbers, is somewhat less than Boston ; in buildings as unlike as the wrinkled age of fourscore differs from the healthy, florid complexion of thirty. To your or any eye familiar to modern structures, this place will appear as uncouth as a female tricked out in a ruff and fardingale, or in the court dress of old Queen Bess. I am led to this comparison, from having often heard that the houses, especially in Fore-street, are of her age, and in- deed they no more resemble the modern than the dress of that day does the present. The streets are narrow, ill-paved, and (I wonder ■why not to a proverb) dirty. There is a row of buildings in the form of the crescent at Bath, in the so called modern style ; but it is crowded in a corner, out of sight ; built on land belonging to the Duke of Bedford, and goes by the name of his title, on the site of a late noble palace, wherein Henrietta, the youngest daughter of Charles I., was born during his troubles. Within the walls are three walks for taking the air ; on the north, a circular one, lying back of the castle, encompassed with trees, through which, on the outer side, over a vale filled with houses and improved fields, are cut vistas ; much frequented here is also the church-yard, or the inclosure within walls and gates ; round St. Peter's, the cathedral, another hard gravel walk called the Friars, commanding a fine field view, besides many others without the city. And for in-door amusements, a theatre, concerts, a coffee-house, called Moll's, and a hotel, both in the church-yard, where the London papers are brought four days in the week. Having filled my sheet, I conclude abruptly, like Hudibras breaking off in the middle. Very sincerely yours, S. CURWEN. Feb. 3. This was the day appointed for the enthronization or installation of Bishop Ross in the episcopal seat. The ceremony was performed by Archdeacon Hull of Barnstaple, the proxy, and one of the canons of St. Peter's. The chapter, consisting of the dean, canons, prebendaries, &c. &c., a set of well-fed priests, all 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 171 of the largest dimensions, (except the first, who was in London,) walked in procession to the cathedral, preceded by the officers properly habited, and whose coming was announced by the sound of the great bell. Having arrived into the church, the chapter proceeded to the throne, where they all sat down; aAer being seated a short space, the proxy arose, and advancing to the front, read an oration in praise of the late bishop ; concluding with an encomium on the present one, in which he declared he took red, actual, and corporal possession of the episcopal chair j these words being the same he used, and I fancy an essential part of the form. The seat, or throne, as it is called, is of a singular construction, and the most magnificent of any ; it is a square of sixteen feet, lined with crimson silk, the cushions velvet of the same color, edged with a broad gold fringe ; the canopy thirty feet high, sup- ported by four wrought posts, carved up to the ceiling in Gothic open work, decreasing till it ends in pinnacles; opposite stands the pulpit ; both at the upper end of the choir. Henry Grove, a dissenting minister of Taunton, well known by his writings among those of the same profession, wrote Nos. 588» 601, 626 and 635, in the 8th volume of the Spectator ; and Mr. Parr, lately deceased in this city of Exeter, in his eighty-eighth year, wrote those signed A. B. in the 6th and 7th volumes, and some others, the signature of which his son, Surgeon Parr, told me he had forgotten. Feb. 10. Received a letter from William Cabot, London, in- forming me that by a letter from Nathan Goodale, Salem, all friends are well. Feb. 14. Received a friendly letter from Mr. Timmins. His wife at Boston, seeing no end to the disturbances, is going to pluck up stakes, and remove with flocks, herds, and children. Lord Camden said the other day in the house of peers, on the Duke of Richmond's motion to consider the state of the nation, with liberty to refer to such papers as were before them, " the origin of the mistake of our ministers in commencing the American war, was this: they ignorantly supposed the Americans to be cowards, and foolishly imagined the French to be idiots." Mr. Woodbridge's answer to the Duke of Richmond (on the 9th inst.) was, that by Lloyd's coffee-house books, the number of ffT' i s 'Irftfl- 172 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. British vessels taken from May, 1776, to the present time by Ame- rican privateers, was seven hundred and thirty-three, containing upwards of thirteen thousand men. That the aggregate value of the ships and cargoes, after deducting one hundred and seventy, four retaken and restored, amounted to je4,823,000 sterling. The number of American privateers one hundred and seventy-three. That American products had greatly advanced in price ; tobacco from sevenpence to two-and-tenpence, — pitch, from eight shillings -to thirty-six ; tar, turpentine, oil, and pig iron, in the same pro- jportion. Feb. 15. At the George dissenting meeting-house Sir Henry Tre- lawney, of fifteen hundred a year, an Oxford-bred scholar, preached from " worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Taking a religious turn, he had fallen into Methodism, and set out a flaming preacher of their notions, to episcopal orders superadding dissent- ing admonition of the lowest kind. He has charge of a small flock in the neighborhood of his own estate ; his natural good sense has cooled his first heat, and he now addresses with fervor, but candor and affection, a crowded assembly. Just as he entered, before service began, an elderly lady in the pew adjoining to the one I sat in, sunk down in a fainting fit, and breathed her last without a groan or struggle. 'i!'i TO WILLIAM BROWNE, ESQ., LONDON. Exeter, February 17, 1778. Dear Sir : I would fain persuade myself my good friend does not enter- tain unfavorable sentiments of the rectitude of my principles, what- ever doubts he may have of the justness of my opinion respecting the appearance of things at this juncture, and the probable issue of this destructive quarrel between Great Britain and the colonies. I presume it needs no proof to convince him of my leaving America under a strong conviction of the almost physical impossibility of her waging a successful war with this powerful state, and therefore of the unjustifiableness, imprudence, impolicy, and even madness of the undertaking. Nothing short of such a state of mind could ab- solve me from the imputation of the extremest folly to abandon my country, friends, and estate, and all ray hopes in this world, at my 1778.] JOURNAL ANU LETTERS. 173 time of life, with but little money, few connections here, and no expectations. The pernicious system of politics adopted by France, ever since she raised her views to universal empire under Louis XIV., has justly brought on her the detested character of unfaithful, false, crafty, and perfidious ; so that French faith now, like Punic of old, you are sensible, goes current in Europe for the four preceding characters ; nor has the late behavior of the court of Versailles failed to verify the disgraceful imputation : even at the very time the ministers of France, upon some spirited remonstrances from our i,ourt, were pouring forth a profusion of seemingly fair promises and specious declarations of amity into the lap of Lord Stormont, ordering a few vessels with, and a few witho -t cargoes, to be restored to their right owners, and even shutting up their ports, on paper, against American privateers ; even at that very time, they were not only conniving at, but carrying on a contraband trade to the revolted colonies. In the port of Nantz there lay, ready to sail for America, three or four large ships, laden with all kinds of mer- chandise, cannon, and artillery stores, and waiting for a fair wind. Is it not a well known fact that the most successful depredations on the trade of this island, that have ever taken place in Europe or the West Indies, are now making on the latter by French pirates, under congressional colors, and that prizes are daily selling at open market, and all pretences to reclaim denied ; now and then, indeed, to save appearances, in imitation of ministers on this side the water, a few feeble, unregarded prohibitions are issued, but none executed to effect. Spain, whose political and commercial interests so naturally ally it to England, that it is even a proverb, " Paz con Inglaterra y guerra con todo el mundo"* celebrated from time immemorial for honor, true magnanimity, and fidelity to its promises, has ever since the Bourbon idiot that now fills its throne,* * * and ever since the days of his pusillanimous father^ adopted French manners, friv- olity, levity, dress, politics, and faith, to the expulsion of true Cas- tilian gravity, dress, honor, and regard to the real interest of the * " Peace with England, if war with the rest of the world." M0M I; ■ ..> !■' , i, ':' I ^ . ■■Tv; !; i. l'. ,. .1 =5 i^ :|,! - 1 1 lillil <.. ^ 'lUff i i > 174 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. country. Witness the shuffling and chicanery of the court of Ma- drill just before the ill-judged declaration of the last war ; review the authentic accounts of the friendly reception of the American and French privateers, and the open trade of the colonies at Bilboa, Cadiz, and all the ports of Spain during these troubles, though royal orders, edicts, and mandates, tagged with an " Y el Rey,^* have been successively transmitted down to the seaports. So well are the court purposes understood, that within four weeks, two or three English prizes were publicly sold in one of the southern ports, in open day, and the privateers refreshed and furnished with all needed stores, and unmolested suffered to depart, laden with the substance and property of the subjects of England. King Solomon says, " where the word ot a king is, there is power ;" this he said from his own experience. Who in his wits can believe that the Spaniards, or that abject Turkey-race of pirates inhabiting on the opposite shore, durst have acted thus in defiance of their sovereign, if they had not well known the artful distinction between his secret and revealed will ? With regard to the article of Nantz and a Spanish port, they are facts that stand, for aught I know, on the same footing of credibility with the other articles of foreign intelli- gence that pass uncontradicted ; and if these be facts, and facts are of a stubborn nature, and bend not to our wishes, they carry con- viction, what must we not infer, loth as we may be ? The natural inference is, that both these two courts do invariably adhere to the line of conduct marked out by them from the commencement of this trouble, to distress the government as much as it is in their power, and to steal away our trade. The officers that throughout the winter arrived at the western ports, passing through this city in their journey to London, have one and all declared, as some re- ports are, that thirty thousand men, at least, in addition to those already in America, are necessary to efTectuate the reduction of the continent. Probably these persons speak the sentiments of the army ; there is not, that I know, reason to think them disaffected to the service, nor partial to America. The foregoing convictions are the grounds of my fears, apprehensions, and as you ask me whence I fetch my facts, my reply is, from the common spring-head of pop- ular intelligence. My practice is not to hunt after newspapers, as I seldom go to the coffee-houses j but when they fall by accident 1778.] JOURNAL A"^ STTERS. 176 into my hands, I indiscriminately read all, from the Court Gazette, published by authority, to the Sherburne Mercury. The public papers, I well know, are justly stigmatized vehicles of falsehood and sedition : I rarely attend to political essays or remarks, scarce ever give them even a cursory glance ; articles of foreign intelli- gence I credit as far as they are free from self-evident inconsisten- cies, in respect of time and other circumstances. As to country, my principal view in the choice has ever been the instructive and en- tertaining ; nor am I unhappy in my few acquaintances here ; my chief companion is a philosopher of ray old friend the Rev. Mr. Gilchrist's stamp, and too deeply'engaged in moral and philosophi- cal researches to trouble one with politics, for that is rarely a topic of conversation. My friend, in reading this tedious letter, will see the high value set upon his good opinion, and trust his candor will make due al- lowance for our difference in small matters, while in essentials we ki^ep " the faith whole and undejiled." Wishing you increasing felicity, I remain Your affectionate friend, S. CURWEN. Feb. 25. The ministry on the 23d inst. received advices from Lord Stormont that five ships of the line and three frigates had sailed from Brest to Nantz, in order to convey eighteen transports to America, laden with all kinds of military stores, agreeably to the commercial treaty subsisting between the French and Ameri- cans; the transports to return laden with tobacco from Virginia. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. Exeter, Feb. 25, 1778. Dear Sir : I presume you have seen Lord North's answer to Charles James Fox and Mr. Grenville in the house ;* 'tis possible^ nay, too proba- ble, but 'tis not authenticated by the ambassador." This fatal treaty is at length executed ; the coup de grace is given to British glory * To the inquiry whether it was true that a treaty had been made be- tween France and America. ifil1*iiJ "HM •it' ,i I t ilt' l.1 P i! 5 '? :,i \W^ ili^ '/!■* Mill '!|i**»^- ' ? in !t|; : i III 1 *{f! 1 In 1 2 i II m 176 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. — its sun is set — alas, how fallen ! How short-sighted is human wisdom, how weak is human power at best ! The roar of the Brit- ish lion will no more be heard ; the French cock may now crow and strut undisturbed. Americans that lately were humble supplicants to Great Britain for aid against a few French troops and Indian savages, disturbing her frontier settlements, have dared — what have they dared ?-— to renounce her authority ; have set her power at defiance ; reduced her commerce ; defeated her armies ; sunk her national credit, nay, in- suited her coasts, established their independence in spite of all ef- forts, and, tell it not in Gath, allied itself to her natural, professed, and most dangerous enemy. Your friend, S. CURWEN. Feb. 28. Received Lord North's two acts respecting the right of taxation confined to commerce, and appointing commissioners to adjust all matters in dispute. These offers are, I fear, too late ; the fatal treaty with France is already signed. March 2. By the mayor's zeal for a strict observance of the fast, an order to prohibit hair-dressers and bakers exercising their callings was published. In Canon Barlow's sermon in St. Petei's were these remarkable expressions, which for a dignitary of the established church wishing to rise, are singularly and dangerously bold. He said, " the war with America was unjust ; that they are a religious people and may expect a blessing, and we the re- verse." March 6. The court hurried away the Andromeda with Lord North's conciliatory propositions to the Howes in America. March 8. Yesterday the French ambassador declared to Lord Weymouth, that France had signed a treaty of amity and alliance, or of friendship and commerce, with the United States of America, who, said he, are in full possession of independence, as pronounced by them on the fourth of July, 1776, without stipulating any ex- clusive advantages in favor of the French nation, and that the Uni- ted States have reserved to themselves liberty of treating with every nation whatever, upon the same footing of especiality and reciprocity. 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 177 Being in the country, our advices from London are that a war with France is dreaded ; there is fear of a general bankruptcy. — It is further said the present administration is almost universally reprobated — 'tis in my mind a doubt whether in the dregs of the state less interested ministers can be found, though perhaps of more salutary politics, but the problem time only can solve. All men here love money and power too ardently to sacrifice either to interest or peace of state. 'Tis therefore, I fancy, equally indiffer- ent who are or shall be our political cooks ; the pottage, I fear, will be spoiled. Stocks have fallen to 59 1-2, which has pro- duced an almost universal panic. March 15. Despatches for the Howes passed through this city ; contents a secret. TO DR. JOHN PRINCE, HALIFAX. Exeter, March 15, 1778. Dear Sir : Your favor of the 20th Jan. came to my hands a few days since from London ; the advice of your retreat to Halifax I received in a letter from my friend Col. Browne. The spirit of intolerance among our New England brethren I vainly wished might have abated, they having, at the period of your departure, nothing to> dread from the few individuals who could not, toto corde, embrace the political orthodoxy of the multitude and their directors. I doubt not that prudence would have screened and secured you from the rage and insult of the lower classes, and rendered life tolera- ble, if prudence could have had its due influence ; but, such is the popular violence when once it unhappily takes place, and may be exercised without restraint and fear of punishment, that like an irresistible torrent it bears down all before it ; laws, justice, truth, religion, the rights of humanity, civility, conscience, are made to rush impetuous down the mighty stream. I ardently wish once more to visit my natale solum, and impa- tiently wait for the day of my redemption ; would I could say it draweth nigh, but I see no end of the baneful ill-omened war, for news has arrived of a declaration by France against us. Should it prove true, Great Britain has the worst to fear j even her inde- 23 i'lmt'i iii M'*'l <\ I II ' ' ■"■ <^i . 178 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. fji 4*'. I ..■s ■ " if J', If I : jii- [1778. pendency is at stake ; for aught I can see, France has drawn down from the interior almost all her troops to the English channel. She has forty-four capital ships ready for sea ; not a vessel is al- lowed to go to Newfoundland from France, in order to man the fleet. La Motte Piquet with five capital ships and eighteen large transports sailed about a fortnight since, avowedly bound to America, laden with military stores. Spain has forty capital ships ready for sea, which are waiting only for the arrival of the Vera Cruz fleet ; should then these united fleets of more than fourscore ships attempt invasion. Great Britain has only thirty-seven ships of the line and eleven frigates to oppose them. Lord North has proposed terms of reconciliation, but nothing !:I;ort of independency will go down with the colonies. France will support them ; all thoughts of conquest, of unconditional sub- mission, be assured, are given up ; and I fear much more, that the colonies have, contrary to their real interest and safety, entered into a league offensive and defensive against the parent state.— But it is a melancholy truth, which almost every day's experience verifies, that passion and resentment often urge men and states to actions and courses destructive of their manifest interest and safety, and such will America find in the end this alliance will prove, should Great Britain in the event become thereby oppressed. I could wish (but wishes, alas, are vain) America had seen her in- terest in another point of light ; far, very far am I from wishing her oppressed, or her liberties restrained; I am fully convinced the colonies will never find any good purpose answered by inde- pendence. God only knows what is before us, and may we be prepared for his allotments with submissive resignation. I find myself fast declining into the vale of life, therefore less able to struggle with the unavoidable evils of this inconstant state, than in the days of more strength and vigor. Believe me, with real regard, yours, S. CURWEN. TO GEORGE RUSSELL, ESQ., BIRMINGHAM. Exeter, March 16, 1778. Dear Sir : The dark and threatening cloud hanging over this island calls 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 179 aloud for a more serious turn of mind than seems to characterize the present period ; but how sadly true is tho reverse of such a state of mind amongst us at this day ; thoughtlessness, levity, frivolous manners, mirth and music, seem to have seized, and en- gross the upper ranks ; attention to business and a supine disregard to national danger and honor, do they not too justly characterize the middle ranks 1 As for the canaille, they are here, as they ever have been, and will be in all states and times, stupidly indifferent and unconcerned in the midst of impending destruction. If the features of this ill-favored portrait are in your opinion too harsh, believe me, it was not drawn by a pencil dipped in gall, nor dic- tated by envious misanthropy ; I am no cynic, nor cursed with the spirit of a cloistered monk. The warmest regards to the country which by long residence has become an altera palria, and holds the second place in my affection, few and faint as ray connections With individuals are, — the most earnest wishes of my heart for its safety, and foreboding apprehensions of its danger and dishonor, occasion the painful reflections that cease not hourly to distress ray mind. When I contemplate the decline and final period of states great and powerful, and their causes, which in the history of the world are found to be uniformly the same ; that often in the midst of thoughtless security and apparent safet)»they are on the brink of ruin, and often suddenly and unexpectedly plunged irretrievably therein ; that as divines say with regard to men, and experience confirms its truth in both respects, " in the midst of life we are in death ;" — I cannot review the state of Great Britain four years since, and regard the present alarming crisis without horror, with- out trembling. Perhaps to a mind by nature formed and turned as mine unhappily is, to doubt and despondency, danger may pre- sent a more ghastly, terrifying aspect than is natural ; be it so, may my apprehensions exist only in imagination. I had much rather have weakness of judgment, ignorance and error justly imputed to me, than that the event should verify my predictive fears : — I had rather be a mistaken man than a true prophet. France and Spain, to compare great things with small, like the heroes in romance, are armed cap-a-pie, at all points, ready to sally m ''M '■' :1, I i~*j ; ■, ^.•' ■ .t'\ m If wmmM h'- ill • ■'■ liJ t'l !■ < 1 ■:!»■■ ' ll ^ il • r Ml (> 1 llji ^il IB * . \ ^ 1. „l!,^ .!■. „,. t'" y- . ||; lit i'' !l| ll in ! ! ' H ■^\ \- 180 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. forth, not like those redoubted sons of Mars and Venus to relieve distress, but to cause it. Your friend, &c. S. CURWEN. March 17. This being assize week. Judges Perryn and Ho- tham were waited on by the sheriff and his officers, about two dozen in livery. Commission sat in Guildhall : — Baron Perryn on the bench ; great celerity in despatching business, and great inter- ruption by talking, which the court authorities could not remove. March 20. Heard the dreaded sound, war declared against France ! It is reported the house of lords is almost in a tumult, and that they implore the king to drive from his service his minis- ters, and take Lords Chatham, Camden, and Shelburne. March 21. The judges left the city, escorted out by the sheriff and his train, — trumpets preceding, etc. 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 181 CHAPTER IX. TO JUDGE SEWALL, LONDON. Exeter J March 23, 1778. Pear Sir : I was meditating an answer to your favor, when the alarming intelligence of the French court's perfidious dealings, and the hourly expectation of war against her, arrived here. The denouement of the plot, by the French ambassador's declaring in form to Lord Weymouth his court's interference and engagement to support the claims of Congress, seems at present to render all speculation on the subject of Great Britain's further attempts to reduce her late deluded subjects in America needless : presuming all thoughts in regard to vigorous efforts being to be laid aside, superseded, at least for the present, as the papers inform us no more troops are to be sent out. These events my fears have been long predictive of j not that I pretend to the spirit of prophecy, or the gift of second sight. States, like individuals, are liable to so many sudden and unlooked for vicissitudes, disappointments, untoward accidents, and evils that neither wisdom can foresee, nor power nor prudence prevent ; he whose mind, not however to the increase of his enjoyment, leans towards doubts, fears, and apprehensions of evils, generally finds more events corresponding to his forebodings, than he whose atten- tion is turned to the brighter and more pleasing views that hope presents. The plan Lord North has offered, is, it seems to me, founded in wisdom and sound policy, as you observe it contains nearly all that America can reasonably wish for, and as it is, thence she can de- rive more real happiness and safety than is fondly and vainly ex- pected from their favorite, long wished for, and perhaps short-^' . ed independence : — for should Great Britain in this expected war be oppressed, what will save some of the colonies from falling a prey to the insatiable ambition of those powerful crowns united, I know M ^\ ' '>! m liii'i •i ! ^& i,:a III !l . 1 ,■' I 'I 182 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. not ; it would be well if they should be satisfied with the recovery of their lale possessions there. The consideration of the burden necessary to maintain an independent state with dignity has never yet, I presume, during the feverish paroxysm of our new legislators and government-modellers, been a subject of calculation ; for how- ever fertile their brains have been of expedients, they are, I fear but indiflferently skilled in political arithmetic. Your sentiments on the operation of the two concihatory ads and answers to objectors, appear to me to be perfectly just, and I am happy to say mine are so completely coincident, that had I taken as many hours, as probably were employed in writing them down, I could not have expressed them in terras so clear, concise, and satisfactory to myself as in the letter I am now considering; I can therefore subscribe to them toto ex animo. The improbability of their acceptance of the terms offered on the other side of the Avater, and of Great Britain's ability to force them into a compliance at present, seems to be a matter out of dispute. I am not vain enough to wish myself in the king's councils, but I ardently wish that imaginary principle of national honor, the king's honor, might in this critical and dangerous condition the nation seems to be in, be dispensed with and given up to infinitely more important con- siderations, notwithstanding the clamors and reproaches to be ex- pected from discontented, interested party men. That the war, should it unfortunately soon commence, to vindicate the king's fionor or nation's, must produce disgrace and irreparable losses to the nation, a review of the present force Great Britain has, her foreign dominions, etc., and the force requisite to secure her right, may perhaps convince: — nor less so, Great Britain's inability at present to force a compliance or convince them by military exer- tions, that it is their interest to accept her reasonable offers. The lucky minute for such an offer is past, irretrievably past, and a series of surprising events, owing to ill concerted plans, interested views, a total disregard to the public weal, or, if you please, a cer- tain fatality, has taken place, by which colonies of inestimable value ar' lost to this country ; and I wish the loss may end there. The subject that at present most employs and oppresses my mind is the critical and dangerous situation that the kingdom seems to be in. The tottering condition of national credit, the weak state « -f '■<> U, JOURNAL AND LETTEUS. 183 my 1778.] of the navy, llie great power of the enemy, and the low price of stocks, as low as at the end of the last eight years' war, when the nation was almost drained of its specie, are the considerations on which I form my opinion. Lord North, on presenting the king's rescript to the house, uttered what was sufficiently alarming, that the reluctance to the present loan arose not so much from the pros- pect of war, as the largeness of the national dubt ; it is of little im- portance what is the cause, should a national bankruptcy happen. Should another panic like that of last Saturday again seize the iDonied men, and continue, and the loan be stopped, no one but may foresee the most dreadful consequences ; should the present loan be completed, a new war would require another of equal amount, and the low price of stocks continuing, it will be well, if instead of je450,000 premium paid more than in 1765, je900,000 would tempt the lenders to advance, unless new resources can be found, which my ignorance on this point makes me incompetent to jUGge, It is a fact of too much notoriety to be denied, if the con- tractors avail themselves of the immense debt by this artful, selfish management, the public is supplied at an extravagant, unreasona- ble profit to the lenders, founded I suppose on this principle, that a sponge, sooner or later, must wipe all out at a stroke. It is cer- tain the more government has occasion to borrow, proportionably are its disadvantages in procuring supplies ; and unless a new and reformed system of economy be adopted, the premiums may not unlikely rise to cent per cent, especially if Mr. Burke's assertions in the House of Commons be true, that the contractors made a profit of 57 1-2 per cent. Should America be lost to this country, with her will be lost a considerable revenue, and what can be sub- stituted in its room, financiers can best tell us. Should a war with the Bourbon family be attended with any possessions in the East or West Indies, and thereby other valuable branches of the revenue be cut ofT, I leave you to judge the distresses that must unavoida- bly befall this nation. The wealth of all nations is exhaustible. All things are called greater or less, stronger or weaker, by com- parison. The fleet of Great Britain is, in itself considered, great and formidable, but when compared to the united fleet of the two Bourbons, whether it does in its present comlition deserve that cha- racter, no Englishman will, I presume, affirm : — fifty-one English 184 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [177g line of battle ships, no one in liis senses will say are a match for eighty-six French anil Spanish ships of equal force. Confident as we may be of the superiority of our English sailors to all other nations in vigor, bravery and skill, we should be loth to put our liberties or independency on the success of a battle fought under such confessedly disadvantageous and unequal circumstances ; and the ability of Great Britain to build and fit for the sea such an ad- ditional number as will put us on an equal or superior footing, be. fore some fatal blow be struck, is a question on which the well- being if not existence of this kingdom as an independent state may depend. In my view I could wish national as well as royal honor might in this case be yielded up to the infinitely more important consideration of our self-preservation, and the gross affronts of. fered by France pocketed till they can be resented with a fair chance of coming off victors in the quarrel. Should a war speed- ily be entered into before we are better prepared for offence ami defence, I can't help fearing this late powerful and flourishing em- pire to be hastening by large strides to irrevocable ruin and indeli- ble disgrace, and but too likely to furnish a second instance in this period of a once great, rich and powerful state reduced to insignifi- cancy in the political scale of Europe, by a dismemberment of some of its mo.st valuable appendu';es, consigned over to its am- bitious and more powerful neighbors. I wish posterity may not quote Poland and Great Britnin as slates in the same predicament from the future annals of Europe. This ill-favored picture probably you may laugh at, but it is to be remembered you are supported by hopes, I oppressed by fears; you in the train of Ileraclitus, 1 of the weeping philosopher ; but nature has formed us of different materials in our original contex- ture, and on my part habit and accident have confirmed the unhappy bias. Whatever your sentiments may be of this reverie, dream, rhapsody, or whatever indignant epithet you may pe:l.!;'3 ji^tly enough think it deserving of j Ikno\» you will believe mo whci ' !' you they are the real sentiraentsof a mind oppressed witl. >';cn>-tm loi the safety, welfare and honor of a country, which by long residence has become my altera patria, and for aught I know will continue to 1)0 so till I take ray flight to the upper regions, or time shall cease to be no more with me here. Continue to think favorably, 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS 186 nnd believe me what is my highest ambition to ^e, an honest man, and your alTcctionate friend, S. CruwEN. Exeter, March 31. Witnessed a long dispute on AiiH'rican af- fairs between Mr. Bretland and Mr. Erving. 1 did not interfere; the opponents neither convinced nor conquered, as is usual in such cases. Jlpril 8. F( iinl i»f Rebecca Tyng's marriage to John Lowell of Newbu)' p( vliss Hicks; after tea passed half an hour in his f^r'ii'li; il garden; he presented me with a beautiful bouquet of a gre.it variety of odoriferous flowers, now adorning ray room. ^pril 9. Mr. Erving called me out to walk; our course Cowley bridge. He seems of a sensible, grave turn, not unac- quainted with moral science, and exceedingly communicative. Afterwards rode to Topsham on horseback; passed by an estate kept in the male branch of a family, without addition or diminu- tion ever since the conquest. Jpril 11. With Mr. and Miss Bretland rambled through Winiford lane to Heavitree ; in one of the buttresses of the church grows out a yew-tree, three feet high, cut into a fanciful form, and supposed to receive its nourishment from cement moistened by rain and dew. The church has marks of age and decay. Jjyril 13. Mr. Smith from Sidmouth breakfasted with me ; visited Mr. Morgan confined by illness ; there met Mr. Berry of Crediton. The land tax at four shillings in the pound produces two millions ; the real tax on a medium is two shillings nearly, which, being a tenth part of income, makes that to be twenty mil- lions. Should an expensive war or some unforeseen accident throw the na^'on into a convulsion, and discourage lending and' le; ' supplies, it woiild, of course, reduce the value of lands, per- haps to twenty-five years purchase ; their real value then would be five hundred millions. Court value of the kingdom supposed to be eighteen millions, for the following reasons, viz. : fifteen mil- lions were brought into the mint to be new coined on proclamation ; the remainder, coin of George II. and III., full weight, still con- 24 J ^Jm >^' -. fo i' i> U\ k! ■^ , . iki: * r J ■;l-'.» lif te !l .': i; lit* Hi n ri 186 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. tinuing current, amount to three millions. Amount of fabrics plate, etc. etc., on a modest computation, is worth one hundred millions ; making in all six hundred millions. A nation possessing more than twice as much as it owes, need not fear bankruptcy; — England's debt being one hundred and sixty millions. I pretend not to judge what would be the full issue of a shock to national credit, much less dare I determine; but I confess, I fear it would be followed by dreadful convulsions, and produce cruel ravages and carnage among the lower classes, who, being deprived of daily subsistence for want of daily employ, on stoppage of trade and manufactures, would not contentedly sit down and suffer themselves with their wives and little ones to perish with hunger ; nor even those whose large incomes, derived from national funds, being now stopped, are reduced to a level with the most indigent, and whose wants being supplied from their charity, are now their equal fellow-sufferers. List of men by last returns, for America 19,381 ; prisoners 5,336; sick 4,639; loss in navy 4,314; army in New-York, Philadelphia, Rhode Island and Canada 36,731 ; to recruit army to what it was last year 11,885 ; captures made by Americans amount to je2,600,000. ^pril 20. On horseback to Spencecomb, the seat of Mr. Rowe, near Crediton, in company with Mr. and Miss Bretland ; passed an agreeable day, with a numerous company ; this is a week of fes- tivity following Easter Sunday — hospitably lodged and entertained ; our host is of the rank called gentlemen-farmers, or landholders in fee of estates from JEIOO to jEBOO sterling per annum. A medal has lately been struck at Paris, by order of Monsieur Voltaire, in honor of General Washington ; on one side is the bust of the gen- eral, with this inscription : " G. Washington, Esq., commander of the continental army in America." The reverse is decorated with the emblems of war, and the following : " W^ashington reunit par une rare assemblage les talens du Guerrier et les vertus du Sage." Jlpril 26. Commissioners appointed to go over to America to settle the dispute, if practicable. Earl of Carlisle, Lord Howe, Sir Wm. Howe, Wm. Eden, Esq., and Governor Johnston, sailed from Spithead on the 22d, and I fear it will prove a re infccta business. i77r.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. TO HON. WILLIAM BROWNE, LONDON. ist Exeter, Jlpril 26, 1778. Dear Sir: By our common friend, Mr. Smith, just returned by way of Bristol, I am informed Mrs. Browne is with you ; 'tis with great sincerity I congratulate her and you on her safe arrival ; would to God it had been under more favorable circumstances ; such as they are, your religion and philosophy, I am well assured, can improve them to the best purposes. I presume London will not long con- tinue the place of your abode ; if you have no predilection for a particular quarter, and are deliberating what course to take, no- thing shall be wanting on my part to afford you all the information respecting these parts you may wish to have. It would yield me inexpressible satisfaction, could Exeter, or its neighborhood, be your choice ; I can assure you, that for cheapness, plenty and good provisions, especially fish, poultry, game, and garden stuff, noplace excels and few equal it. Late conversations with Col. Erving, from whom I had intimations of your desire to him last January to be informed relative to these parts, (who owns himself to blame in not attending to it,) induce the foregoing. If your views are fixed, I wish the pleasure of your abode may be equal to your highest wishes. A line from my worthy friend will never fail to be a most acceptable present. With the warmest wishes for your felicity, I am Yours and Mrs. Browne's affectionate friend, S. CURWEN. TO JOHN TIMMINS, ESQ., LONDON. Exeter, April 30, 1778. Dear Sir: I have this day received a letter from Eben. West, now on board the Medway, lying in the Downs, who is in want of neces- saries. He was with me in my business at the commencement of the troubles in New England, and by consent, left me to go to sea in his father's employ, till taken by the Enterprise frigate, on the 20th of last July, carried to Gibraltar, and from thence brought to England, where he has been ever since. I think it but charity to . Ill 1. 1' 11! • 188 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. i ' ' '■ 'f 1 r |! ■ ll! •''i . ,> ' ' advance a little for him, and therefore wish you to convey two guineas to him for me. I presume Mr. William Cabot would not refuse an old neighbor's son some small assistance, nor Col. Browne a young suffering townsman, to whom, as occasion may serve, you will do me a favor by mentioning his name, with the situation he is in ; nor would it be improper if they could procure a small sup- ply of money from his countrymen, who must have a fellow-feeling of others' sufferings, at the same time themselves experiencing the •evil of banishment from their country and the means of subsistence. I am your obliged friend and humble servant, S. CURWEN. May 1. Walked with Col. Erving to Mr. John Tremlet's 'house, David's hill, (the supposed site of an old Roman temple,) to see a lamp having Diana's emblem, a crescent ; the points crowned each with a ball, and thought to belong to a temple of the goddess there, judged of more than two thousand years' anti- quity. This being May-day, the milk maids walk in procession with their pyramid of plate, as usual on this day. May 5. Mr. Smith brought me a Massachusetts exclusion bill, whereby all who left New England after 19th April, 1775, are for- ever banished, and their estates forfeited. May 7. Took tea at Col. Erving's, with Mr. Smith ; agreed on a journey to Tiverton with them. May 8. At nine o'clock set out in a post-chaise with Mr. and Mrs. Erving, and my friend Mr. Smith on horseback, to Tiverton. Alighted at Three Tuns inn, at twelve o'clock, passing on a plea- sant turnpike fourteen miles. This town is supported by serge- making, for which it was formerly noted, now believed to be on the decline. Some houses in good taste ; it has two dissenting congregations and one Anabaptist ; the Episcopal church is a venerable pile, low, outside greatly ornamented ; tower lofty, the inside contains many funereal monuments, some of ancient date. Here is a noted school, called Blandell's, famous in the west ; sends off yearly some students to Oxford and Cambridge j its num- bers about fourscore. Besides here is an academy for dissenters' children, kept by a Mr. Kiddle, the minister, and one for young ladies. Has abundance of shops. Adjoining the church is a lofty 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 189 situation, commanding an extensive and pleasing view of the neigh- boring vale, through which the Exe runs, bounded by a long range of moderately high hills improved and inclosed to summit ; returned home by eight o'clock. May 9. Rode with Mr. Cross to Star Cross, at the mouth of the river Exe, opposite Exmouth. May 1 1. Removed roy lodgings to Sidmouth, and for which purpose I mounted my Rosinante, and departed in company with Mr. Smith, after dinner, having ordered the messenger on with my baggage. Taking the road through Topsham, we staged it at Ebford, the seat of the widow Lee, a wealthy, hospitable, dissent- ing lady ; here we alighted and took tea. The family having with- drawn to the house in the neighborhood, called the " Hermitage," to divert themselves at a game of quadrille, that our coming inter- rupted, notwithstanding repeated desires to the contrary. The family consists of an elderly lady, daughter and her husband, a Mr. Yates and young parson Jarvis, the dissenting ministers of Lime- stone. From thence we departed, passing through Woodbury, Ot- terton, and across Peak hill, and arrived at my former lodgings at Robert Follet's. Sidmouth, May 13. Rode to Wishcombe in company with William Carsluck and two young ladies named Upjohn of Exeter ; dined, drank tea, and returned before eight o'clock. May 21. Rode to Taunton ; passing through Honiton and Blackdown, I arrived at Whiteheart, visited Mr. Welman and Parson Ward ; drank tea with the latter. Evening and supper at Mr. Toulmin's, the Baptist minister ; lodged at the inn. Next morning departed for Poundisford, the seat of a Mr. Hawker, a dissenting worthy gentleman of fortune ; passed an agreeable day, and lodged there. Poundisford, May 23. At eleven o'clock, in company with Mr. Hawker we departed, shaping our course for Chard, where we arrived at two o'clock. Between our two stages, on a lofty ridge, are the remains of an old castle, in the country dialect Laratch; supposed, but I know not fnr what reason, to have been of Roman construction. Chard, where we arrived about two o'clock, is a manufacturing town j its lifeless appearance but too justly confirms the general opinion that its trade is in a consumptive ■I !' .: iii'iiif I I ,i \ I f 1U }-'. . -ijl 'ft ^ iliii i - |if.|jj!!..l: ! 190 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. state; its buildings hardly above the village style, one wide com- modious street, paved, having several reputable houses in it. One Episcopal church, and two or three dissenting meeting-houses ; the manufacturing towns generally abound in people of the latter per- suasion. At five o'clock left, and passing over an excellent turnpike road, entered Axrainster, distant seen miles, without alighting, and proceeded on to Seaton, where we in vain attempted to find the remains, if any, of the old Roman port said to have been estab- lished here, but it was hie labor, hoc opus. Turning our backs to the English channel, we proceeded to Mr. Slade's at Colyton, here taking up our rest for two nights ; the doctor supplying this pulpit in exchange with Mr. Cornish, the minister, who did Lis duty at Sidmouth. Colyton, May 24. Entertained by the conversation of Mr. Slade's youngest daughter, excelling the common standard in point of understanding, knowledge, and good breeding. Took a field walk with all the family, and to the top of a hill commanding a view of a finely improved country all arogund, including the whole vale from the mouth of the Axe to Axminster. May 25. We set off at meridian, proceeding to Baldash, the seat of a Mr. Hook, where we abode till I had bargained for a horse to be sent me at an agreed time ; from hence departed for Wishcombe ; dined and passed the evening at cards with Mr. John Carsluck, his sister Miss C, and a Miss Snell, very agreeably; pressed to lodge, but Mr. Smith withstood their entreaties, and carried me off reluctantly enough at nine o'clock. May 28. Walked on the beach and up Salcomb hill with Messrs. Erving and Smith ; an extensive prospect from Portland to the Start ; within these two headlands fifteen leagues ; the bay is called Carnarvon. TO HON. JUDGE SEWALL, BRISTOL. Sidmouth, May 31, 1778. Dear Sir : Your favors of the 1st ult. and 8th inst. were delivered to me yesterday afternoon, by the hands of a fair young lady in the alcove on the beach, in this place, being the second day of my removal hither from Exeter, which makes since my arrival in England just advise, or wis ;i I' I' 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 191 the number of mother Rowlandson's " removes." Having taken minutes of them, I fancy they cannot fail under the correct hand of a judicious friend to form a sensible appendix in the next edition of tliat curious performance, unless you prefer the following title : — « The perils and peregrinations of a tory or refugee, in quest of civil liberty, which the author fondly imagined was to be enjoyed in higher perfection in the land he travelled through, than in that he precipitately abandoned, without money to support, friends to advise, or wisdom to guide him." Having made a short ramble the other day to Taunton and its neighborhood, it came into my mind to point out to you the most agreeable route, should you continue of the mind to take a journey to these parts during the bathing season. As you will doubtless prefer a post-chaise, you may command your own time, and choose your road; in this case you will find the Wells road as pleasant as any. On your arrival there, you will not fail to take a view of the cathedral, which presents perhaps as fine, if not the finest front of any old Gothic church in England. Within, it is renowned that I knew of, for nothing; its size is one of the smallest, and its bishop's palace one of the largest, and has the appearance from the moat and battlements to have been the residence rather of a warlike baron, than of a peaceable minister of religion. From hence, at about four miles distant, is a natural cavern in the Mendip hills, called Okey or Wolkey Hole; it is well worth visiting, and is of the same kind, although not so deep, as that of the Peak of Derby. From hence to Bridgewater, the famous Glastonbury monastery lies right on your road, where you will probably stop at the inn. Your curiosity when there cannot fail of being highly gratified by a view of its remains, of which it is, however, almost pillaged. Between this last place and Bridgewater, the turnpike is delightful, and if your driver should be as complaisant as mine, he will run you a distance of fifteen miles in an hour and a half. In this stage you will pass over a ridge dividing the great Somerset moor, extending beyond the reach of the eye, and filled with innumerable herds of black cattle, from that called King's Sedgemore, lying on the left, celebrated you know in history for the defeat of the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth, in 1685. Far beyond, on that side, is seen ihe obelisk raised by the late Lord Chatham to the memory of his 11- I WW' ^ ■Ni' . * J' , lUW. i! VS H' i^ W'iU ...I, :•' i ^ ' 'f ^■' ^ irlii ^ , ^ 1 1- i '-' ( ii|f^r| M m i II' i'l:- 1 192 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. benefactor, Sir William Pynsent. From Bridgewater, at four or five miles distant, lying two miles out of the road to Taunton, lies Enmore Castle, a seat of Lord Egmont, built on the plan and in the style of the old baronial castles. Your next stage is the pretty town of Taunton, situated in a vale or bottom called Taunton-Deanvale, remarkable for length, breadth, and fertility ; of the former thirty miles, second ten or twelve, and for the latter exceeded by none. In this stands the tower of its principal church, called Mary Magdalen, which will at- tract your attention, being more crowded with Gothic decorations than any edifice of that size that has fallen under your view. Should you think it proper to take the road over Blackdown, and so through Honiton, rather than through Wellington and Col- lumpton road, you will on the ascent of Blackdon hill, about five miles this sidi; of Taunton, before you have reached the sum- mit, on a retrospection of the whole length and breadth of the vale, see cultivation in its highest state of improvement, and a luxuri- ancy, verdure and fruitage, no other region can boast of. You will, I doubt not, join with me in saying so pleasing a rural view is not to be seen but from this spot. From Taunton to Honiton is seven- teen miles, and from thence to this place is nine, or to Exeter six- teen. You will, T know, take this intimation in good part. Very affectionately your friend, S. CtlRWEN. June 1. Dr. Price, in his fast sermon on Feb. 10, speaking of the dependence of a nation's safety on righteous men, has the follow- ing : " There is a distant country, once united to this, where every inhabitant has in his house, as a part of his furniture, a book on law and government, to enable him to understand his colonial rights ; a musket to enable him to defend those rights ; and a Bible to understand and practise religion. What can hurt such a coun- try ? Is it any wonder we have not succeeded ? How secure must it be while it preserves its virtue against all attacks." June 12. Between five and six o'clock rode with my two fel- low boarders to Ottery beacon, commanding a prospect of Ottery vale as far as Sir George Young's seat, in the neighborhood of Honiton. Continued ride over the ridge till Honiton appeared in ]778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 193 view ; returned in a mist through Sidbury, Sidford, etc., and in a moist plight at eight o'clock dismounted. June 13. A large fleet appeared in the offing; near thirty capital ships, judged to be Keppel's. Invited by Mr. Skaddon to a sight of the cane King Charles I. had in his hand at his trial, from whence the gold head dropped off in court ; interpreted by the credulous as an ill omen. — It is a beautiful stick, and finely shaded, and I suppose as much revered by his infatuated admirers, as Aaron's rod that budded was by the devout Israelites. He also possesses the Duke of Northumberland's golden key as Lord Cham- berlain, which, when he acts in that capacity, is fastened to his pocket flaps. Also King Charles II. 's cabinet, and some fine old royal porcelain, as precious relics of infinite value. June 15. An early ride to Peak hill; a distant sight of Portland and about Abbotsbury. June 22. Rode with Mr. Ogburn to Woodbury Castle, so called, the remains of a Danish fort, standing on the edge of a lofty range of hills ; the ramparts of earth and ditches still remain. The place of arras contaii;s about five acres : on the highest point is a house built for hunting parties, etc., the roof projects in front, supported by four pillars in rustic order, the bark remaining unstripped. From hence to Exmouth to dinner ; a famous bathing town ; nearly four hundred strangers have been here at a time. More handsome houses than Sidmouth ; returned home before eight o'clock. June 24. This day my friend Mr. Isaac Smith was ordained to the pastoral office over the little congregation of dissenters here. A minister of the Episcopal church, whose curiosity prompted him to attend, continued through the whole service, expressed great delight at, and approbation of the performances, and a high opin- ion of the solemnity and propriety of the whole. Pity that the narrowness of party keeps asunder and divides in affection men en- gaged in the same worthy design, and servants of the same kind and benevolent master, whose chief command is mutual love and good- will. June 28. Mr. Berguyn, a North Carolina gentleman, called on his way to Falmouth to take passage in a packet for America ; encouraged by their assembly having' voted to admit all refugees who apply. 26 ^■'''']'*T- '■• !i *i! '! . I *.' i'ilt l!''^ti|' V U I I a ^ S:|j;f ;'-!i \H iH I 3 rlii: m i%m i:.M.h \t lit?, '■•'' ii ? 1 , ,f| ; ii •« 194 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778, June 30. Admiral Keppel's fleet has taken three French frigates. TO HON WILLIAM BROWNE, CARDIFF, SOUTH WALES, Sidmoutk, June 30, 1778. Dear Sir: I hope this will not be as long on the road as your favor of the 12th of May, that came to hand only a month after date. I de- layed an answer that I might be more explicit to your question about the houses I mentioned to you ; they are not furnished, but furniture is to be obtained at fifteen per cent., beds and such arti- cles at twelve. This I have from Col. Erving, who is now at Ex- eter, but does not propose to abide there longer than the 25th of September, when his lease will expire. Where to retreat he seems undetermined ; he wishes to reside among people hospitable, social, unceremonious and not dressy ; if such can be found. He requests you to inform him through me, whether you have received any information respecting Abergavenny in Monmouth. Is it pleasant, and has it a plentiful and cheap market ? Are furnished houses to be had cheap 1 Are the people hospitable, social, and disposed to form an unceremonious acquaintance, and are they expensive in dress and dinners ? The same is requested respecting Cowbridge and Cardiff. Do you intend remaining at your present abode for a long time, and who is with you in your neighborhood, and do they propose to remain ? My present companions are Dr. Smith, just ordained over his little flock here, and our countryman P»Ir. Ogburn, in the same house ; to which number I expect in ten days will be added Mr. and Mrs. Sewall from Bristol. This place is a watering place, re- sorted to by the neighboring gentry. Having bought a pony, I make frequent excursions into the country hereabouts, passing my time as agreeably as the untoward circumstances of my affairs al- low. Should I not be happy enough to enlarge my party, I in- tend to make a ten da; s' ramble through Cornwall with my friend Dr. Smith, who has become an inhabitant, and may continue to be for some years. Should that report induce Mr. Erving's retreating to your 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 196 quarters, and you continue where you are, I may pass a month with you before winter. Yours truly, S. CURWEN. My 1. With Messrs. Smith and Ogburn rode to Honiton, to see the annual procession of lace-raakers ; alighted at the Golden Lion, and was soon called over and invited to dine at a Mrs. Youat's, whose daughter is presidentess of this society, in num- ber exceeding a hundred. They have an afternoon sermon, and afterwards walk in procession, in the following order : — the presi- dentess with a wand adorned with flowerj; then four maidens, eight years old, with each a basket of flowers and large boquets, walking between two arches adorned with flowers j then follow the patronesses, each with a white wand ; then the standard-bearer, followed by two dozen couple, with a standard-bearer attending them. In this order they paraded through the principal streets, anc then adjourned to the Golden Lion inn to take tea and pass the evening in dancing and festivity. To this we were invited, but ray occasions calling me to Exeter, and a want of relish for such mirth, concurred to send me off* the ground before the street parade was over, leaving my companions to return home by moonlight. Lodged at the " Valiant Soldier," Exeter. Sidnwuth, Jtdy 8. Rode to Hull-down to see the Exeter races. The cup with two hundred guineas won by Mr. Wildman's horse Lubin; sport indifferent. The dust and heat were insufferable, the numbers present supposed to be ten thousand. July 10. Judge Sewall visited us ; in the afternoon walked with him to Peak hill. July 14. Received a letter from Peter Frye, Esq., without mention of time or place. TO MR. JOHN TIMMINS, LONDON. Sidmouth, My 12, 1778. Dear Sir : I should be glad to see you at this bathing town of mud walls and thatched roofs. Judge Sewall and lady, Samuel Sewall, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Ogburn are here ; and at Exeter, fourteen miles 196 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1778. » ' r k ■ i 1 i I off, are Col. Erving's family, Col. Vassal], Mr. Lechraere; and late Lieut. Governor Oliver is soon to be there. The advices from Boston discover a disposition I could scarce expect to hear. I presumed in this flourishing state of their affairs, none durst whisper a doubt of the omnipotency of the Congress, allied as they are to France. Very truly, S. CURWEN. TO MR. GEOKGE RUSSELL, B'RMINGHAM. Sidmouth, July 1.3, 1778. Dear Sir : Accept my warmest thanks for your kind solicitude about mv health, \i'hich is but in an ill state ; having a few days since re* ceived a shock of the kind which confined me last winter, and nearly translated me to another, or rather no state of existencp Don't let this expression hurt you ; I mean not a doubt of a future state, but whether the soul does not remain inactive during its separation from the body, and until roused by the last trumpet to life and activity, is a doctrine I cannot entirely disprove ; but no more of principles. My mind is as easy, submissive and resigned, as a conviction that the divine conduct is right can make it ; to aid which, I muster up all my religion and phiiosophy, some- times with success ; sometimes nature oppressed Enks under the burden. Having proposed in my answer to follow the order of your letter, I come to a tender point, the condition of the amiable and worthy partner of your soul, for whom I feel more than a common friend's affection and regard ; you have my earnest prayers that her life may be continued till it shall cease to be a blessing ; nor can our fondest wishes, guided by reason, extend further. The vicissitudes daily taking place should be daily lessons to teach us the vanity of too fondly expecting felicity from flattering, transitory circumstances here below. Should it please the sovereign disposer of life to deprive you of your dearest friend, may you experience all the advantages that religion and true philosophy afford ; as I doubt not you view the evils of life with too religious an eye not to consider every event, however irksome at present, as capable of yielding the most solid, pure, and lasting comfort in the final issue. 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 197 This (lay I received a letter from an old friend, now in banishment with his wife and children at Halifax, conceived in the common plaintive strain "with all letters from that quarter ; complaining of the spiritless measures of administration and their military servants. In truth, vigor and activity seem not the characteristic of this nation at this period ; the continued series of untoward events on the side of Great Britain, in this unnatural contest between her and the colonies, has, I fear, given the coup de grace to her glory. The sun of Britain is past the meridian and declining fast to the west, and America is for ever emancipated from the legislative authority of this once potent empire ; alas ! no more so. The pro- phetic falling off of the best jewel from our king's crown when on his head at coronation, is now accomplished by the loss of America, which I consider irrevocably gone ; whether to their advantage, is a point, I fancy, the Congress and I should not join issue in : — the burden oi" supporting an independency with dignity is too heavy for America to bear, especially the northern colonies, unless the patriots there will discharge the troublesome public trusts and offices without pecuniary emoluments ; requiring a much greater degree of virtue, self-denial, and public spirit, than I think now does or indeed ever did exist there, unless in profession. I fancy by this time I have tired my fritnd in reading, as I confess I have myself in writing, and conclude by wishing he may live long, and see many prosperous days. Your affectionate friend, S. CURWEN. July 15. Went off with Mr. Withers in his phaeton, accom- panied by Messrs. Smith, Jarvis and Meservale, to Beer ; dined at King's Head ; afternoon, were rowed a league out, and remained out two hours. * T m I' i M m .|. ; -ciii^'^' ft 111 i ■ I ,;'J^vri'' ■Hill .. f tf • ini hi III H.l;i 'm I; Mil I il rl mm 111! ' ii^i*' 'm'f '■■ irr"'^ f. ■ 1 198 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. ■I ' '!'!, "•' I CHAPTER X. Sidmmdh, July 17. Set off alone on an excursion to the west • at nine o'clock passing over Peak hill, through Otterton, and over Welbry common j my first stage at Mr. Withers', Lympston, inten- tionally to persuade him to accompany me toTeignmouth, agreeably to a vague promise from him the preceding day. He was gone to Exeter. I then proceeded through Star Cross and Dawlish Sands; on the other side of the beach is an extensive sea and land view; from hence is about four miles to Teignmouth, where arrived at six o'clock at Globe inn, facing the sands and beach. This is a bathing town, and resorted to by more, and company of higher rank than Sidmouth can boast. It is irregularly built, but the houses more in number and of incomparably better appearance. The beach for bathing lies at some distance from the town. Lodged here. July 18. Rose early, took the road to Newton Bushel, distant six miles, through Bishop Stanton, passing also through King's Stanton. Newton has three hundred houses, decently built ; shops of almost every kind of goods, streets paved, two Episcopal and one Presbyterian church. Breakfasted and soon set off, passing at half a mile distant an old fashioned seat called Ford, belonging to Lord Courtenay, in whose manor this town lies. From hence to Dartmouth, lying sixteen miles distant ; the land in the approaches thereto hilly and uneven, but all improved ; at three alighted at a Mrs. Quick's, in a place called Kingsware ; this is a cluster of houses on the hither side of the river Dart, where the harbor pilots dwell, and has an Episcopal church. Ferried over much the width of Charlestown ferry, about half a mile within the extreme points of the harbor. Dartmouth, Jtdy 20. At twelve A. M. departed for Torbay, five miles distant ; ai5 ugly town, houses low, and for the greater part slovenly in v»i/t»earance ; among them, however, a few decent ones. The lower point adjoining the quay occupied by those who 1778.] JOURNAL AND LKTTERS. 199 Jt'peml on the hook and line ; horc bifitig no fewer than fourscore boats daily employed in that service, all with a mast and sail, and four to two tons burthen. Thoy supply Exeter, Bath, Bristol, etc., quite across the country nearly a hundred miles north from them. Dined Jit George inn, and took K ave of Brixholm. Thence to Harry Poincroy, an estate of the Duke of Somerset, the house large, hut avenues in a neglected state ; magnificent edifices and expan- sive pleasure grounds seem not to be this duke's taste, or a scanty purse restrains it. Hence to Bridgtown, contained in the parish of Barry Pomeroy and part of the manor of the same name, within which I was told Totness stands. The duke derives from his estate here two thousand pounds yearly. Totness is a corporation and a parliamentary borough ; is remarkable for the singularity of its address to the first George of the Brunswick line at his accession to the throne of these kingdoms ; after the usual flattery, such as is always paid to a new race of princes, they offered his majesty sixteen shillings in the pound of their estates, and the other four if he should want it, as a proof of their loyalty. July 21. Arose at seven o'clock, mounted my horse, rode to Newton, before mentioned ; stopped there for a night. My 22. After breakfast departed for Chudleigh, but missing the road, passed over Hull-down, leading to Dawlish, and arrived at one o'clock at Exeter ; Mr. Erving happening in sight, urged my driving with him. Exeter, July 24. After visiting my old acquaintances, returned to Sidmourh by eight o'clock, evening. Sidmoidh, July 26. Met Mr. George Eveleigh, a gentleman of South Carolina, educated both at school and college at Cambridge, New England, whom I remember a school-boy when I was in col- lege ; now the father of five grown up children. TO MR. JOHN TIMMINS, LONDON. Sidmoxdh, Jvly 28, 1778. Dear Sir : Please let me know whether you "have received any late ad- vices from Boston or New England, by which you are informed of the situation of the country, respecting its political, civil, or religious condition ; the temper and disposition of its inhabitants respecting '■ ', 111 i I'm VJ. iiifr^' i{i •\ i "r ).\ ,M0 U i^'i •I .4 Mf i'! •^J ■;i ■':, "'^ -'Hip 200 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. those who have left the country ; their inclinations or ability to continue the war. Would that the execrable spirit of persecution might abate, they be restored to reason, and I to my native coun- try ; an event I ardently long for : indeed, I sometimes feel resolu- tion enough to attempt to go and throw myself on the mercy of those whom party rage has rendered almost insensible to the ten- der feelings of humanity ; but fear, and a settled aversion to their levelling principles and persecuting practices, disarms me. With truth, your friend, S. CURWEN. August 16. News received that Congress has rejected any treaty with the British commissioners ; as might easily have been, and was, I believe, fully imagined by all the world would be the case at this late period, without an express specific acknowledg- ment of their independency. -n, Jlxminster, August 18. Walked to beach ^ seven bathing machines standing there, dragged into the water by a horse each. The alcove and ball room larger and more respectable than at Sid- mouth. TO MR. JOHN TIMMINS, LONDON, Sidmouth, August 31, 1778. Dear Sir : The dangerous, distrustful situation the nation is in, makes me tremble for the next news from abroad, lest it shake the government to its centre. In the annals of this country, I know of no period in which England stood on a narrower point ; not in 1688, nor even when the Scotch rebels had penetrated as far as Derby, in 1745. The designs of Providence are inscrutable, not to be controlled by human policy, nor defeated by human strength. Although I have, all along, doubted that Congress would ac- cept terms short of independence, I confess myself not a little deranged at the confirmation of it. That Congress should be loth to quit their authority, is not to be wondered at, for it is the nature of power to endeavor to preserve itself; but I cannot help flatter- ing myself with hopes that America will soon see her interest in a different point of light from Congress, and disappoint the ambitious 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 201 views of men, however well qualified they may be to govern, evi- dently disposed to sacrifice that country's happiness to their lust of power. God only knows what will be the issue of the troubles ; may it please him to save her from ruin, and accomplish a happy re-union with this, and on a lasting basis. Your assured friend, S. CURWKN. Sept. 11. Keppel's and Byron's fleets are sources of incredible reports from street and tavern politicians ; should both these sea commanders be defeated, none knows the consequences — fatal ones may be justly apprehended ; this country was never in a more perilous situation. Sept. 21. The day of our half-yearly fair ; great numbers came in, passing on the beach to view the sea, going off in boats,, eating, drinking and buying, in the sheds and booths erected on the lower parts of the streets, and filled with confectionary, toys, hard- ware, ribbons, etc. Rode to Exeter in the evening. Sept. 28. Departed on horseback, accompanied by Mr. Smith, on an intended ramble to Weymouth and Portland. First stage to Colyton, nine miles, where we dined. Hence to Charmouth, a straggling town that extends from the top to the bottom of a long hill, and contains one street of perhaps a hundred houses ; passing through, we arrived at a villa, two miles distant, part of the man- or of the Earl of Arundel, a Roman Catholic peer, of which per- suasion most of the inhabitants on his lordship's estate here are. The next cluster of houses on the road was Morkam's lake, which with the former scarce make up a hundred houses. Our next and last stage for this day Bridport, at the Bull inn, where we supped and lodged. Sept. 29. Left for Abbotsbury, ten miles distant ; the land along the sea-shore a desert, not so much as a tree, shrub or bush was to be seen. Passed through Weymouth to Melcomb Regis, over bridge laid across the Wey, so called, being a small arm of the sea, dividing these two towns. The latter lying on the land side, is a neck formed by the bend, almost at right angles with the river Wey, and is the place whereon the beach lies and visitors reside. The market is large and better supplied than in the former. 26 -P (1^ lie: .;.,i.« Mi i ii \i K ii-ilf i I i i i.i; I ■■ jj 202 JOUKNAL AND LETTEKS. [1778. '" m f '- Hi if > If' mm M There is a range of brick buildings, twelve in number, tasty and commodious, facing the beach, and but a small distance above it- at the end is an elegant assembly-room, and at a small distance are shops of all kinds of articles, millinery, toys, etc. Coffee-houses circulating libraries, etc. The beach is furnished with twenty- two machines for bathing, in finer taste than any I have seen. This town, like Weymouth, is concerned in shipping ; its quay is long enough for sixty vessels ; not half that number then in port. It has two Episcopal churches and a Presbyterian meeting-house. Weymouth is on the ^uter or south side of the river, consisting principally of one street, well paved, but narrow. In front of the town is a quay, facing Melcomb, filled with vessels. After dining, we sallied forth ; finding nothing further to entertain us, soon re- turned, and ordering forth our horses, took our departure towards Portland, the last stage. The passage to it is over a water called the Fleet, between a beach seven miles in length and the main land ; by this beach Portland is joined to the main, but the way is scarce ever attempted, consisting of small loose stones or deep sand, so that a horse would sink down half-leg deep ; this approach, therefore, must be too tedious to be used. The road from Mel- comb to the island or peninsula is over a lofty plain of a mile in length ; from hence is a hard gravel beach of over a mile : and opposite the road stands an edifice in ruins, styled a castle, having however more the look of a mansion house deserted by its own- er, its solitary black site rendering it an uncomfortable residence. We soon measured the beach, and were wafted over the Fleet by a rope-ferry, as it is called in New England dialect. But the beach on the Portland side, of a mile and a half, required a more leisurely pace. The first village on the island of Portland is called Chesilton,of about a hundred houses of reputable aspect ; — situation low, on the plain of a beach ; from hence, being an easy ascent of half a mile, we came to two villages. In the morning (30th), climbed up the lofty plain to the spot the flag-staff is erected on, being the northernmost summit, having the castle situate at the northern exetremity, from which may be seen at one view as far into the English channel as eye can reach ; to Isle of Wight in the east, and to the north a vast extent of country. Portland island is about five miles in leneth, breadth two ; on the land 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 203 side it is defended by a castle before mentioned. On the southern cliffs arc two light-houses. Mounted our horses, and in our course lay, in the middle road, the first village, called Reffon, which contains the only church on the island, encompassed by stone wall, inclosing an acre of yard. Passed through Ishwell, Wike.ham, Eison, Wes- ton, and returned to the rope-ferry by which we came to the island, and at one o'clock arrived at Crown inn, Melcorab. Thence through Upway, situated in a fertile vale, abounding in trees and hedges. The next village, lying a little out of our way, is Winterborne Monkton ; the latter epithet I suppose denotes for what it was remarkable. Through this village we passed to Maiden Castle, a famous en- campment of Roman construction, supposed to have been built by them soon after their first invasion. In their times Dorchester two miles distant, was their winter, as this spot was their summer resi- dence. It is said to be the only remains of the kind in Great Britain — form oval ; contains within the inner intrenchment many acres, enough to hold three legions or eighteen thousand men. The intrenchments entire, four without the other at each end — two on each side or flank, encompassing the whole — depth thirty feet. It has a stupendous appearance, and looks like a work of a people capable of any undertaking, however difficult. Thence we jogged on to Dorchester. Dorchester, Oct. 1. Rambled over the town : here are assize and session- house, prison and bridewell ; about 2500 inhabitants ; houses decent, and streets paved. Avenues to the town nleasant at all quarters, being lined with a row of trees on each side for two miles ; from hence at ten o'clock we departed, shaping our course towards the remains of Roman antiquity, the occasion of our coming hither ; and in half an hour arrived at the amphitheatre, which is entirely of earth ; the forms whereon the benches were laid for spectators are yet entire. The outer line an oval, the earth thrown up in the manner of an encampment, and about twenty feet high, encompassing the whole; the area or space wherein spectacles were exhibited, measures forty or fifty yards longest diameter ; two rows of benches, judged spacious enough to hold two thousand spectators. Having satisfied curiosity, proceeded through fields for the castle, lying on a lofty ridge at about a mile and a half further. Having finished our survey, and amused our- 1 :rfP| p'. ' ^5- \l .fmw.. !' .ji ^ \: \x m im , i. Pi ■ -mfm 1 : WT ;^f m 204 JOURNAL AND I. ETTKRS. [1778, selves with fine prospects, we ascended by another quarter to the fields and inclosures adjoining hereto ; crossing which, at length reached turnpike at a village called Martinston, from hence to Winterburn-Stepleton and Clenston ; here we met the great London road to Plymouth and the west ; glad once again to salute it and forsake the cross-roads that are but indifferent at best, and some execrable ; in this we kept till arrival at first and last stage of this day, alighting in about two hours at Bull inn, Bridport, distant from Dorchester seventeen miles. The business for which this town is famed, and carried on to great extent, is in sail-cloth and white cordage ; in size little inferior to Dorset. Bridport, Oct. 2. To Axminster, Honiton, and Wishcombe, where lodged. Oct. 3. Alighted at Mrs. Godfrey's, my new lodging-house in Sidmouth. Sidmouth, Oct. 10. Spirit of privateering against France sur- prisingly raised ; success incredible : three East India ships home- ward bound taken, and thirty-six St. Domingo and Martinico ships, and a multitude of others. Oct. 26. Accompanied Mr. Smith to Mr. William Lloyd's, at Otterton, a substantial farmer. In conversation on different ranks of mankind, and different consequent mode of living, my companion told us the following tale from an Irish lady. A young country- woman of hers wished she might be queen for a month, for then, said she, I would have bacon with my broth. To which our hostess added one of the like kind: a young lad of Cornwall 'vished he might be king, for then, said he, I would ride on gates and eat fat bacon with my broth. The demands of nature are few and easily satisfied ; it is education and use that increase our appetites and render them troublesome. Oct. 27. Evening Mr. Smith visited me. Our sentiments on toleration differ ; he holds that every subject in a state has an absolute right to unlimited toleration, be his principles what they may. I think no man should be persecuted for opinion's sake, yet he has no right to complain of any disabilities he may be under, ■whose avowed persuasion is, that faith is not to be kept with those whose religious tenets differ from his own, whose religion absolves him from most solemn engagements, nay, who thinks himself in con- 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 205 science bound to violate promises, vows and oaths ; nay, further, thinks it highly meritorious to disturb the peace and overthrow the very government he has sworn to support, when his priest directs and opportunity presents. Opinions, merely such, the magistrate oiiffht by no means to concern himself with, nor be subject to his control ; and therefore every peaceable man has an equal claim to his protection in his person and property. By letters from Lord Cornwalhs at New-York, it appears Count D'Estaing had been obliged hastily to retreat with his squadron from Rhode Island by the arrival of Lord Howe, with twenty line- of-battle ships and twenty frigates ; that a severe storm parted the fleets ; that the Americans by a bridge of boats had landed twelve thousand men on the island, and that General Clinton had strengthened his garrison by several detachments he himself had brought from New-York ; that Gen. Lee, being accused of cow- ardice and bad conduct, was suspended by a court martial. Oct. 28. Lord Howe has arrived from Rhode Island in the Eagle. Four of our frigates have been sunk at Rhode Island, when invested by D'Estaing and the Provincials ; also twenty-three ships destroyed. The Bostonians are said to be out of humor with their new friends and allies, and no wonder ; French government, laws, religion, manners, and policy, are totally alien and unnatural to Americans, and will sit uneasy till custom and long use have fa- miliarized them. JVov. 17. Rode to Beer with Mr. Smith ; visited the vicar of Seaton and Beer, a character truly original ; a great humorist and punster, not unlike Rev. Mather Byles of Boston in that line. He is of enormous bulk, confined by gout, which he told us was his third attack, resembling, in his own language, a furnace heated seven times hotter than the former ; compared himself, in the midst of excruciating pains, to his holiness seated to receive adoration in his sanctified chair ; treated us hospitably, and was very facetious. JVov. 23. Took' my leave of Sidmouth, my residence for ap- proaching winter being to be at Exeter ; passed the road in two hours and a half, and sat down at new lodgings in Fore-street, near East-gate. Exeter, Mov. 26. With Mr. Smith road to Newton Abbot to ( ' ^ 'V ^t ill MM "^ y 206 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. visit a Capt. Hendley, returned from Newfoundland, taken by Capt. Babson and carried into Boston, where and at Cape Ann he resided six weeks. He reports that the country is in a distressed condition wanting almost every comfort ; no trade but privateering, by which some have been raised from nothir»g to affluence : says the inhabi- tants are embittered against the French, who have engrojsed all the trade, from whom they do not in return receive any advantage of labor or supplies, but their own goods at exorbitant prices. Wretched effects of civil discord ! How deplorable is the situation, how wretched the prospects of that once happy region, which se- curity, peace and plenty have of late abandoned. December 4. Visited my venerable and reverend friend, Mr. Towgood ; he is one of very few to whose respectful and undis- sembled welcome I am not a little indebted ; to whom my grateful acknowledgments are due. The river Exe, by late rains swelled beyond the memory of forty years, has caused great damage. The two islands lying within the banks of the river over against this city, overflown ; on them are tucks for drying woollen cloths that are dyed and pressed in the city. December 16. Attended for tVe first time Arden's course of lectures on experimental philosophy, being the second of the course, held in a chamber in the castle ; more than threescore present, and continued two hours : subject, electricity. December 21. Received a letter from Judge Sewall, full as usual of humor and hopes. FROM HON. J. SEWALL. Briitol, December 18, 1778. Dkar Sir : Till I had the pleasure of receiving your favor of the 1st inst., I was as much at a loss from what part of this or any other globe I should hear of you, as I was with respect to a certain com- mander-in-chief, when, to use the words of a friend in a late letter from New- York, " after having proceeded up the Delaware within twenty miles of Philadelphia, his place of destination, when a looker-on would say they must (from the reason and nature of things) land at Wilmington, instead of which he sees them tack about 1778.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 207 —away they come — down the river again — huzza — make a circle round Asspeak, up Chesapeake, and after travelling in the heat of the season, in a hell of a climate, over a monstrous extent of coun- try, they arrive at Philadelphia — ' the army in high spirits.* " Don't you think my friend's description is truly Shandean T How- ever, matters I hope are mending ; the account you give me from America, seems to be confirmed from all quarters. Judge Howard is lately airived here from New-York; he tells me that a number of gentlemen of influence and properly, who have been lying on their oars to see which way the game would finally go, as I sup- pose, have lately come in, among whom is the famous Mr. Smith, the lawyer ;* that they, together with Mr. Galloway, are unani- mously of opinion, that from the unexpected tyranny of the Congress and their sub-devils, the almost universal poverty and distress of the people, and the general aversion to French connections, the quondam union of the thirteen states is upon the point of dissolution, and that nothing is wanting but a single effort to crush the rebel- lion, root and branch. Judge Howard says he heard Smith say, " if Great Britain don't conquer the colonies, it can only be because she wont y" that these gentlemen have been much with the com- missioners, by whom they have been greatly attended to. With these favorable accounts from America, I can't help connecting the union that appears in parliament, respecting the grand point, the reduction of the colonies ; for though the opposition to ministry is still faintly kept up for form's sake, yet the language is so differ- ent from that held in former sessions, that I can't help thinking a sense of public danger, and a regard to national interest and honor, begin to prevail over private resentments. From all these appear- ances, I augur well ; and I am happy in finding the general opinion among my friends and acquaintances is, that the prospect of a speedy and happy suppression of the rebellion is fairer now than it ever has l;een. Come, ray dear friend, cheer up ; d'^n't think of going to that " country from whose bourne no traveller returns," though there be no sin or sorrow, before you have seen a happy end to the sorrows and sins of your country. It will be such glo- ♦ The historian of New-York, and chief jusiioe during the war (jucntly of Canada. siibse. 1 ;■(" 'M ■' II' ■/ . '' M m iLi ■I'. Ill Hi HI '■ 4 Ik H ill 208 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. rious news to carry with yon, that it is woll worth waiting patiently for many years ; but I hope you will have it in one year ; and then. I doubt not, you will find yourself more able to combat the unavoid- able evils of this state militant , and be less in a hurry to set out for that unknown country, which must be your next stage. The situation of American loyalists, I confess, is enough to have provoked Job's wife, if not Job himself; but still we must be men, philosophers, and Christians ; and bearing up with patience, resig- nation and fortitude, against unavoidable sufferings, is our duty in each of these characters. There, sir, is a Roland for your Oliver, in the serious way. My friends and family here are all well, and wish your health and happiness. If you see my good friend the doctor before he receives a letter Irom me, present him my best respects. Adieu, \ J. Sewall. TO HON. WILLIAM BROWNE, COWBRIDGE, WALES Exeter, Dec. 26, 1778. Dear Sir : I have often in fancy, whilst reading a letter from a friend, transported myself into his presence, and considered myself as at- tending to his personal conversation, thereby increasing my own enjoyment. This curious effect may perhaps be peculiar tome; however, I am pleasing myself that my friend Col. Browne, although not apt to be carried into the regions of fancy, may on occasion be capable of an innocent delusion of this kind. Without further preface, my chief intention in this scrawl is to amuse this drrk gloomy season with the recital of a few circum- stances relative to our own country that were told me by Capt. Hendley, who was taken into Boston by an American privateer, and passed six weeks there and at Cape Ann. The inhabitants, he said, seemed discontented, and would gladly exchange their un- happy condition for peace and a connection with their old friends, could a constitutional line be drawn, and America be thereby freed from the future attacks of administration. That they are dissatis- fied with their new allies, agaiost whom there are great heart- burnings ; that all commerce is in the hands of the French, and 1778.] JOURNAL- AND LETTERS. 209 commodities held at an unreas'' jle height ; not a store belonging to the inhabitants contains any European goods, all being in the hands of the French, for which they will receive nothing but money, taking in return no supplies from the Anglo-Americans, nor employing a laborer ; in short, that the French are not of the least advantage to thera in any respect ; that privateering, the only resource of the merchants, is almost annihilated by the great shock the adventurers that way have received ; — that the European arti- cles of import are extremely wanted, and at an enormous price ; that the French are hated, and in turn they despise and oppress the inhabitants, between whom and themselves there are frequent quar- rels ; and one that lately made a noise in our papers here, which happened at Boston a few months since, was occasioned solely by the opposition of the natives to the French, no English soldier or sailor being then in town; that those who now rule the roast there are like a certain class of men mentioned in Scripture, taken from the lowest of the people, and too tenacious of their ill-acquired power and honors to part with them, or to suffer the least intima- tion of reconcilement with Great Britain : honors did I say 1 — for a moment I forgot Addison's incontrovertible adage, " When vice prevails, The post of honor is a private station," I fear the measure of these men's folly is not yet quite full, but 1 am egregiously mistaken if they are not making hasty strides to their utter undoing. On advice of an order of the Congress for a valuation of estates, real and personal, through their extended do- mains, the Massachusetts Bay assembly incontestably, unanimously and promptly refused compliance, and despatched Mr. Hancock to Philadelphia with their determination and remonstrance. Their bills of credit, which at first emission passed at the rate of four and six- pence the dollar, had sunk to one and threepence, and passed current only by permission at one and sixpence. The houses in: Boston and all along the coast are stripped of every article of fur- niture and valuable effects, save what is absolutely necessary for constant use, the inhabitants being in continued dread of a descent on the coast, which, indeed, they have but too probable grounds ta apprehend. A passenger, lately fled from America on the score of sufferings there, declares the late menace in the commissioners* 27 Mm , m 1 M'; r' : -itej l\ '"'P I :,' i !|f 'If ' if, if ii {^telii 210 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1778. proclamation will assuredly effect what neither persuasions nor threats have yet had force enough to bring about, a solid and firm union of all ranks and classes, for want of which alone in the middle colonies, he says, the British army has not, long since, been driven into the sea. The manifesto, which I presume you have seen, issued by the Congress in consequence of that proclamation, renders it more than probable that should the dreadful expedient threatened take place, history will hardly furnish a parallel to the cruelty and carnage of the following campaign, which God in his infinite mercy prevent. I presume, before receipt of this, you vi'\\\ have seen the account ot Lords Cornwallis and Carlisle's return to Great Britain, and the shattered condition of Byron's fleet, on which was placed such confidence and dependence, having sustained a loss, it is to be feared, of several capital ships. The almost unin- terrupted series of untoward events and curious accidents which have befallen this people since the commencement of these mutual confusions and strifes, has not seldom reminded me of a passage in the song of Deborah and Barak ; I wish for form's sake I could recollect our New England version ; " They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera." This text is not quoted by way of comparison ; I would not have you suppose that I mean to compare the hosts of Sisera to the British army, for in truth I do not think the Americans to be the chosen people of God, or their armies the armies of the living God, though they have only and simply Deo auspice for their motto on their bills and standards. I should have finished the above by adding somewhat of a more cheerful strain, but having finished my sheet must con- clude with affectionate regards to Mrs. Browne, your son and self. S. Cur WEN. Dec. 25. There have been twenty-eight king's ships, priva- teers and letters of marque carried into Brest, from 20th ult. to 10th inst. ; a very respectable number, truly, considering the Eng- lish are lords of the ocean ! Of the twenty-eight bishops only four voted to adopt the new mode of carrying on the war by spreading carnage and desolation through America, as decreed in the com- missioners' proclamation. Whatever excuses or reasons politicians may assign for extending or securing temporal dominion by such 1779.] JOURNAL ANP LETTERS. 213 I thought health with virtue and a competency a happy condition ; now I think otherwise ; experience has taught me that more is ne- cessary to human happiness. Without something in pursuit, rightly or wrongly estimated worthy, life is insipid ; — a connection with my fellow men, constant employment, and a much less sura would render me more pleased with the world and myself, than the sup- plies I receive whilst I dream the blank of life along, unknowing and unknown. Did I know how to emancipate myself from this tediously uniform state of little more than mere animal life, not an hour should pass before I would fly to any quarter of the habitable earth to accomplish it. My past inactive state often reminds me of a Latin adage, "/ruges consumere natus" a reproach I can but ill brook. Man by the kind intention of his Creator was formed for useful action ; selfish ease, indulgence and repose injures both body and mind ; the former without exercise cannot maintain its health and strength, nor will the latter, if unemployed on laudable, wor- thy objects, refuse to stoop to base ones, or destroy its vigor for want of t fertion, or by sensual indulgence. Your mention of the proscription act in your letter I fancy I (lid not understand, never having seen any names inserted in any act ; if you mean that lately in our newspapers wherein the refu- gees are forbidden under penalty of transportation to return, and threatened with death in case of a second entrance within the Uni- ted States, that I have seen, but none other of the kind. Yours, S. CURWEN. Jan. 23. The last " Remembrancer" contains a list of refugees banished by act of the Massachusetts government, specifying only lour out of the thirteen from Salem, viz., William Browne, Benja- min Picknian, John Prince, and John Sargent. The omission of my name affords no comfort, fearing it may operate disadvantage- ousjy here, being dependent on the bounty of the court. Jan. 30. This day is, in Church of England language, ^^ Charles* IS martyrdom." Attended service ; Archdeacon Hull of Barnstaple, preached a furious, high-tory address to a thin audi- ence. 3 ii:r 1 "1, '!•! i 1 ' ■■■! 1 ■ ' ■ J 1 ' 314 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1779. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. Exeter, Feb. 1, 1779. Dear Sir : I hope your New England loryism will not end in English ja- cobinism, as your letter seem.s to indicate. Curiosity led nie last night to the cathedral, where, if you are a real believer that those sufferings of the pretended martyr were undeserved, jow ears would have been charmed with Archdeacon Hull's encomium on him, and your liberal breast fired with indignant rage at his cruel persecutors. But really, when I see the solemn mockery of a pul- pit clothed in black, the staves of the city officers covered with the same grim color, no music in the service of the day, which gener- ally constitutes so essential a part of Christian worship ; God most earnestly entreated not to lay this miscalled murder to the charge of the nation, or to require his blood at their hands, who, to com- pass his own tyrannous purposes, would have involved (and really did as far as in him lay) this island and Ireland in confusion, car- nage and de.solation ; and further that nothing less than the blood of the Son of God can expiate this (in the Church language) inhu- man and execrable (but I durst affirm justly deserved) murder, I cannot fail to wish government would lay aside a service which insults common sense, is a mere religious grimace, and which all liberal minds justly despise. Were you to have seen the pitiful and thin company, you would have wagered odds that they were har- dened wretches, and went merely lo save appearances. I thank you for the mention of ray name to your father, which, if I judge from former experience, will be productive of no very comfortable effects to me ; my friends having, I fear, adhered to the notion that my departure was an intentional and full adieu. The omission of my name in the banishment act I fear will prove inju- rious to me here. That your father makes no mention of govern- ment or the temper of the people, I presume arises from his prudence and the surveillance of the rulers there, which is, I fancy, strict enough. Very affectionately, S. CURWEN. Feb, 15. Evening walked with Mr. Eveleigh's family through i' ■ JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 211 cut-throat measures, these four servants of the meek and lowly Jesus have exhibited a spirit that shruld through the duration of time render them infamous, and their names and memory proverbi- ally detestable. In the papers received to-day appears a mani- festo of Congress in answer to the commissioners' proclamation, announcing a retaliation of like measures. Dec. 28. This day I am arrived at ray grand climacteric, hav- ing just completed my sixty-third year : with more propriety than old Jacob may I say, "few and evil have been the days of the yean of my lifeP For what I am reserved, is known to God only ; many have been my deliverances, many the deaths I have been rescued from. May my remaining days be employed to more valuable pur- poses, and to my own real honor and advantage, temporal and eternal. Visited by Mr. George Eveleigh, with whom and family I have an agreeable acquaintance. He was one of the first couple ray old friend Mr. McGilchrist married in South Carolina, the cere- mony performed at Wands in Christ Church parish. He was ed- ucated at Harvard College, and boarded with President Wads- worth ; at first sight of me at Bristol two years ago, he recognized ray name and person; having been at school in Cambridge while I was a student in college. ■ ■!? * iiV -M' •M f M tji /. \ !•;' I ":*'"ni;jf U i ll^^akid^ I . t!'^^ . > .,,. I l^:!' M llii m ii m 212 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1779. CHAPTER XI. Exeter, Jan. 1, 1779. A delightful clay ; visited Mr. Eveleigh, and by invitation passed the afternoon and evening there. Why fihould presents be made upon the first day of January more than at any other time? The original of this custom is attributed to the reign of Romulus, and Tatius king of the Sabines, who gov- erned jointly in Rome in the seventh year of the city. It is said that Tatius, having been presented on the first of January with some boughs out of the forest of the goddess Strenia in token of good luck, began this custom, and called the present strena. The Romans made this a holiday, and consecrated it to the honor of Janus, offering sacrifices to him ; and the people went in throngs to Mount Tarpeia, where Janus had an altar clothed anew, and chose to begin their respective employments on this day. They wished one another good luck, and were very careful not to speak any thing ill-natured or quarrelsome. The common presents among the meaner sort were dates, figs and honey, which were usually covered with leaf gold: and those who were under the protection of great men used to add a piece of money. In the reign of Au- gustus, the populace, gentry and senators used to send him new- year's gifts, and if he was not in town, they carried them to the capitol. From the Romans this custom went to the Greeks, and from the heathens to the Christians, who early came into the prac- tice of making presents to the magistrates. Some of the fathers ■write strenuously against this practice on account of the immorali- ties committed under the cover of protection : — but since the gov- ernments of the several nations of Europe have become Christian- ized, the custom is still retained as a token of friendship, love and respect. TO MR. JOHN TIMMINS, LONDON. Exeter, Jan. 17, 1779. Dear Sir : Inability to provide for one's own support is a mortifying con- sideration that embitters almost every circumstance of life. Once 1779.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 215 Fore-street to see illumination on occasion of Admiral Keppel's acquittal by court martial on a charge of Sir Hugh Palliser ; the result is the highest approbation of his conduct. London has voted thanks for his bravery and the freedom of the city, and all large cities and towns are following the example. Feb. 20. James Russell on his way to Dartmouth, came here to inform me that it was debated in Massachusetts Assembly whe- ther my name should be inserted in the exclusion bill, and carried by a small majority in my favor after a warm debate. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SiDMOUTH. Exeter, Feb. 19, 1779. Dear Sir: I presume I am to expect all that is worth hearing from Judge Sewall's letter to you. All well in Salem the last of December, so Mr. Russell informs me. Two or three persons, I am told, who had not money enough for shoes for their feet, are now riding in coaches of their own in Boston. Solomon says, " I have seen ser- vants on horseback and princes walking on foot;" I really think the royal preacher was a prophet, and pointed at the events of our day; at least the present state of English America verifies the remark. Though the general election be not for these two years, a can- vass for votes has begun already. Rolle against Baring and Chol- wich, who have combined with the church and chambers. I have seen one instance and heard of another of such gross condescen- sion, that it has given me a thorough dislike to parliamentary can- vassing, and manifests the pitiful notions of a nation's honor, virtue and regard to public interest, which do man of common sense and real integrity, and not poisoned by corrupt principles and practices of the times, can stoop to, and which nothing but sinister, selfish views can digest and submit to. Men of recluse lives only, such as monks and speculative system makers, vent their spleen on the raan- .ners, customs, principles and practices of their day, and call their times the dregs and refuse. I will therefore suppose it always was, and ever will be the case, with ambitious men, to use the same low arts and base flattering compliances to gain their selfish ends; be it so, it is still unworthy conduct. God forbid that i: r 1 >r I i 216 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1779. wealth, power and influence achieved by such means as reason condemns and honor despises, shall ever be in my possession. The nearer I approach the verge of life, the juster I fancy my notions are, and if indeed they shall prove so, I hope to be finally rid of all essential errors before I put off this mortal coil and become an as- sociate of pure, refined, unembodied intelligences. Yours, etc., S. CURWEN. 1^ '1 I l> 1.!li i''v • a- TO JONATHAN SEWALL, ESQ., BRISTOL. Exeter, March 6, 1779. Dear Sir : I delayed answering your last favor, in hopes to transmit you some little intelligence about our own country by means of a Salem captain, who was taken on his passage to Cadiz, and carried into Bristol, from whence he set off for London, and after a short abode passed over to France. His sudden flight from this land of toryism and tyranny has deprived me of wished and expected information respecting my family and friends, but instead of granting my re- quest signified in a letter I wrote, he did not think it consistent with the purity of his principles to correspond with a refugee, as he told Mr. Timmins. The banishment act, which party resentment dictated, will, like all overstrained penal measures, be its own destroyer, and the mali- cious designs of its promoters be frustrated by the very means era- ployed to manifest their venom and spite against the friends of law- ful government and the constitutional rights of their country ; nay, it was soon clamored against, and a noted brother counsellor of your honor's, whom you well know, of the doubtful or rather double gender, has publicly declared it to be a mad act, to which one may add, as ever disgraced tyranny itself. How unlike is the conduct of our countrymen, who, whilst contending or pretending to contend for civil liberty, are contriving and exciting, with the most rigorous severity, plans of oppression against many of their in- nocent fellow subjects, feeble and unarmed, merely for speculative opinions, to the disgrace of their pretensions — I say how unlike is this conduct to those generous Athenians who undertook the expul- sion of the thirty tyrants that had usurped the government of that 1779.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 217 city : themselves reinstated in the rank of citizens, their desires were gratified : they did not persecute with everlasting hatred their enemies, but, determined not to yield to that slavery to which those had basely submitted, they invited them to share the freedom which themselves had so gloriously acquired. The above quota- tion, my worthy friend will candidly suppose is only applied by way of illustration, not comparison, which, however, does not run on all fours, as the saying is. I was going to set down a few remarks on the present state of the nation as it appears to my view ; for the good of the nation, you know, in which each individual's happiness is involved, is of too much importance to be neglected by any who wish well to their country ; but having made so many false judgments, and remembering the substance in a former favor, my courage fails, and I think it more prudent to keep my ideas in my own breast. There have been circulating, among some, curious and amusing enough inconsistencies relating to General Campbell in C ■—'% from whose successful invasion multitudes augur the quic • tion of America, and have taken anticipatory possession of ti - .t.uains of D'Estaing's fleet that the flames and sea have not devoured, with Martinique and Guadaloupe. Unluckily the truth of one report dispels, in the minds of judicious people, the succeeding one, consigning it to forgetfulness, which I presume is pretty much the case with you, unless the privateering business engrosses the attention of your Bristol traders, which is not the case with us ; but little concern that way and a declining trade leave our commercial gentry time enough on their hands, now employed in the laudable purpose of talking and disputing for the honor of Keppel and the good of the nation. These political dabblers, to- gether with clergy and attornies, rendezvous at Mills' coffee- house, the mart of politics and scandal, and, I assure you, figure away as notably as Fielding's coflee-house politicians, and are not altogether unequal to them. Having taken some pains, I hope you will be able to read the foregoing, notwithstanding the abbreviations, which, for despatch, 1 have used. I am your affectionate friend, S. CURWEN. 28 iff u if'iiiiiiliii m,^ iMi i! :h 218 JOUBN/T. AND LETTEKS. [1779. Exeter, March 17. Attended a trial at Common Pleas in the castle, Judges Hotham and Perryn ; evening, returning home met a large crowd hallooing, hav.'^g blue cockades in their hats, with an old man at their head, and streamers flying at the end of long sticks ; it proved a triumph for victory gained over the parish priest in a tithe case : — I am told it is a customary practice. Mpril 2. Good Friday. Canon Moore preached at cathedral an excellent sermon, as his always are ; he is called Bishop Kep- pel's sermon- writer, as the latter is not considered a good writer. ^pril 12. Went to deliver a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Erving, for Judge Sewall at Bristol, they being about to depart. TO DR. CHARLES RUSSELL, ANTIGUA. Exeter, ^pril 2, 1779 Dear Sir : You are now very near the intended seat of war ; may your lit- tie island be protected from the ravages of the enemy. As the events of war are doubtful, I promise myself no certain advantages from the junction of Admirals Byron and Barrington ; — shall think it no unfavorable campaign if we can retain our present posses- sions, expecting no conquests besides St. Lucia, the surrender of which, in sight of a superior French army and navy to British troops, does immortal honor to the victors' bravery and skill. The newspapers that are the mints of falsehood, are daily deceiving us with relations of great distress in the French islands, great dissatis- faction and heart-burnings between Daville, the governor of Mar- tinico, and D'Estaing ; that the latter has, with a disabled fleet and a scanty stock of provisions, been blocked up in Port Royal har- bor, Martinico ; but our newspaper fabricators have so many pur- poses to serve quite distinct IVora truth and the good of society, that I rarely put into my list of facts what for amusement only I read there. Five or six thousand new levies are designed for Americ' ; our privateers have been successful against the East and West Indian French fleets, and the French have nearly balanced accounts by taking and destroying near twenty of our frigates, besides prizes, of which Lloyd's list presents us weekly with no contemptible numbers. 1779.] JOrRNAL AND LETTERS. 219 The king's troops are in possession of Georgia, from which some augur the reduction of all America, but from what reason I cannot perceive ; one, two, or three colonies are but part of the confederacy, and there must be some capital defeat, I presume, to cool the ardor of minds so united as the Americans are at present. I remain your friend, etc., S. CURWEN. (The above inclosed to William Cabot, London, to be deliv- ered into Samuel Quincy's hands, who is soon going off to Antigua as comptroller at Parkenbay.) May 10. Walked to Poltimore, the seat of the late Sir Rich- ard Barapfield, five miles out : — this miser for his penuriousness was called Tenpenny Dick, endeavoring to reduce laborers' day wages to that sura. It is an irregular old edifice, and its oflSce, deserted by its owner, foreshows approaching ruin. The heir, whose name is Sir Charles Warwick Bampfield, is of so different a humor from the late miser, that, in the space of eighteen months he has puffed off sixty thousand pounds in cash, and an income from lands of eight thousand a year, so far as to require many years' mortgages, which the estate is now under, with an allowance of three hundred a year only. It is said his expenses during his par- oxysms of folly was thirty pounds an hour ; a sad instance of folly, thoughtlessness, extravagance, and compliance with the luxuri- ous taste and dissipation of the present age. May 13, Ascension Day. The limits of each parish surveyed by committees, a great number of boys attendant, carrying long slender white rods in their hands ; at certain intervals stopping and making loud Jiuzzas. A British fleet of nearly five hundred sail remains wind-bound in Torbay under Admiral Arbuthnot, commanding over forty men- of-war. May 18. Byron's fleet, left in the West Indies, worsted by D'Estaing. By Lord Gower's (president of the council) own ac- knowledgrapnt in the House of Lords, the nation is in a woful plight, and justly alarmed lest Spain should take part against us, as Count Alrnadava, their ambassador, intimated when he should leave : — in which case it is my belief we have every thing to fear. !■?: M: tu" MM ^Hl; I III ' 'd'^ ■■ I '\imm lilt 111 " I, i^i i. M 4 - ,: * ! I^i ■4l»' 1 Mi I ,, :P 220 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1779. ':■ -0' , III «:■' \ lii^i|fc|«il l!! Id' ,![■'• ■h m ] \ i > the combined fleets greatly exceeding ours. Ireland discontented and seemingly ready to join an invader ; Scotland uneasy ; muti- nies and discontent in the fleet, — distraction, etc., in councils. May 19. Col. Erving and family removing to Exmouth, by which I have lost one source of much enjoyment; — repeatedly pressed to reside in summer with them, which I have hitherto with- stood Irom a dislike to watering places. A fleet of sixteen ships of the line and ninety transports, it is reported, were seen steering towards Ireland ; should they land a general defection is to be feared. June 5. This day informed by Lord ClifTord's priest, that I may have admittance to see his curiously wrought bed, presented by the old Duchess of Norfolk, said to be the richest in Europe, for which the queen has ofiered ten thousand pounds, and been refused. It is said there are four thousand Romish priests and fifteen hun- dred dissenting ministers of all persuasions in England and Wales. The former succeed in ma'" 'g converts. June 20. Yesterday xjord North announced in the House of Commons that the Spanish minister had left. June 23. It is said favorable news has arrived to govern- ment ; — what a pity that views and passions of mankind were not coincident with their real interest, enjoyment and felicity ; but, alas ! they are at odds too frequently, — in the future world all wrongs will be rectified. June 28. Mr. John Sargent, my townsman, brought a letter from Col. Browne, at Cowbridge ; he proposes to abide with me five or six days. July 8. At Lympston, ordination of Mr. .Jarvis's brother; met my friends Mr. Smith and John Sargent from Sidmouth. The actors were Sir H. Trelawney, Dr. Kippis, of London, and Dr. Priestley, who preached, and exhibited a picture of his own principles, deny- ing in express terms need of particular aids in all cases since Christ's appearance, being only necessary for the establishment of a religion ; — declaring man to be in a similar state respecting moral means as earth is in regard to seed put into it ; if it had been in a previous state of fitness for bringing forth, its product would be in proportion ; if otherwise, small or none at all. July 14. Spectators on cliffs aniazed with the sight of the grand fleet sailing out of Torbay. 1779.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 221 Exmouth, Jxdy 18. Attended worship at Lady Glenorchy's chapel ; principles inculcated not unlike those at Lady Hunting- ton's chapel. The preacher a Scotchman, (with a master of arts gown,) a missionary of Lady G., who, with Mr. Holmes of Exeter, fitted this chapel for the propagation of Scotch orthodoxy. After- noon, at Withy comb-Raleigh parish, lying at the mouth of the river Exe j the houses are chiefly low, with mud walls and thatched roofs; though there are a considerable number of brick, covered with slate, reputable and handsome, owned chiefly by Exeter people, who come down in shoals on Saturday afternoons for the purpose of pastime and festivity among themselves on Sundays ; — this being almost the only resort on that day, when the town is full of them, not, as I am told, to the emolument or wish of the inhabi- tants. July 22. Received a letter from Mr. Bretland, Exeter, inclosing a card left for me by Governor Hutchinson on his way to London from the west, whither he had been with C. Russell. Aug. 17. Visited by Mr. Smith and Samuel Sewall from Sid- mouth ; reported that the combined fleet of France and Spain are off Plymouth J people along the coast and through the country alarmed. Jiug. 23. A levelling spirit has unhappily taken place among the lower classes ; menacing expressions ; they more than whisper their wishes that the French may land, adding they had as lief have a Louis as a George to reign over them. Exeter, Sept. 6. Am informed that I am suspected to be an American spy, disaffected to government ; this was reported by one Calhier, a violent hater of the inhabitants of the American continent and of all its friends and well-wishers : his malice I despise, and his power to injure me with government I defy. Exeter has become the seat of scandal, pride, inhospitality, foppery ; an awkward imitation of London manners, to their folly, prevails. Sept. 23. Left in the coach for Bristol, passing through Wel- lington, Taunton, Bridgewater, and Cross, and arrived at W^hite Hart inn, Bristol, where lodged. Sept. 24. Took lodgings at Mrs. Froade's, York-street, Bruns- wick-square. li*'' ^ U^liMiii! v: i ^ '■■ys W r i ' ; '111 ■ «i'6 ' \ii> F frm^ 4 1 i i it *! 1 1 Nil ^ HI » 1 222 JOUnNAI, AND LETTERS. [1779. TO MR. GEORGE RUSSELL, BIRMINGHAM. Bristol, Sept. 28, 1779. Dear Sir : The alarmin;^ condition of public affairs of late has, I presume engaged your attention, and that of every thoughtful man ; what remains for Great Britain to hope, I know not ; the causes of fear are too many and too obvious to escape the observation of the most thoughtless and inconsiderate. It is to be wished she may save at least a part of her foreign dominions ; which, if not secured by treaty before the following campaign, will, I fear, fall a sacrifice to the ambition of Fran e and Spain, and the resentment of America ; notwithstanding the late successes of Sir George Collier, who has wounded the latter in the naval way, though not I believe essentially. To counterweigh this, I fear Sir James Wright, the late governor, despatched from hence to reassume the government of Georgia, whose sudden departure from thence to New-York, and General Provost's abandoning his troops at Beaufort, prove beyond a doubt the pitiful condition they were in, and the great probability of their falling a prey to Hopkins' squadron by sea, and the provincial arms by land. What a wretched conclusion of so hopeful a beginning, as it seems the royal army had at least in expectation when they first set forward in their expedition against Charleston ; which seems as if destined by Providence to bring disiTi'fvce on the British arms. I have just returned to this place with Colonel Erving's family, to whom I am indebted for most of my happiness for more than a year at Sidmouth, Exeter, and last at Exmouth. The latter dis- agreeable by too great a mixture of Exeter folks, " who view with eye malign and looks askance," as Milton describes Satan to have done ; all strangers seeming to them as intruders on their property, as they consider Exmouth, and appropriated only to their pleasure: thither many families resort on Sundays, their day of festivity inid amusement. Yours truly, S. Curwen. TO WILLIAM BROWNE, ESQ., COWBRIDGE, WALES. Bristol, Sept. 28, 1779. Dear Sir : I presume you cannot in your distant retreat form an idea of %■ 1779.] JOURNAL AND I-ETTERS. 223 the great distress the southern coast of this island was in during the continuance of the combined fleets in our channel, especially on the lower coasts of Devon and Cornwall. The flight of the inhabitants from Plymouth to Exeter and inland parts during the panic there, spread terror and dismay wherever they came ; ex- cept to a few, who wished Sir Charles Hardy would, with his thirty-seven ships and fourteen fii.^ates, meet the Hectors of France and Spain, having sixty-seven t,iiips and fifty frigates ; and give them, as they phrased it, a sound drubbing : for they were sure of victory in case of an engagement. But thanks to the favorable stars of Great Britain, at that moment in the ascendant, wiser heads governed public councils ; he slipped by them and got safely up to Spithead. This day we have heard that Paul Jones, in the French king's service, has taken a forty-four gun frigate, and entered the harbor of Hull, and destroyed sixteen ships. What think you of Sir George Collier's Penobscot expedition 1 The loss of so many ships must be insupportably heavy on our pro- vince, and perhaps irreparable ; however, it is a great relief to the English trade, they being all large ships of war, and our sailors expert and adroit in privateering business. Very truly yours, S. Curwen. Sept. 28. Visited Colonel Erving and family ; afterwards (lined and took tea with my worthy friend, Judge Sewallj his company, Mr. and Mrs, Faneuil. From thence I went to see Mrs. Gardiner, her husband the doctor, and iheir daughter. Love Eppes. Meeting Colonel Oliver, late lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts, he informed me of his residence. Sept. 29. Invited personally by Colonel Oliver to a family dinner, meeting only his daughters and his brother-in-law, John Vassal. Sept. 30. By the Ladies' Magazine for August, I perceive that the Massachusett's Bay government limits the return of the refugees, or even absentees, to July, 1780. Oct. 9. Took tea at Mr. Erving's ; his daughter handed me an ancient manuscript copy of Goldsmith's Hermit, and Mr. Rus- sell's lines on his wife, both excellent. 1 ■ ''IP!! '4 1 ■m 'J! f!T -^ 1' '1-. ' ■ ! '■I h I ' u M'n 224 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1779. Oct. 15. Dined with Mr. Vassal in Queen's-square, in company with Dr. Gardiner and Robert Hallowell, the elder of the Simp- sons, Mr. Vassal's lady, and Miss Davis. At dinner, inibrmod by Dr. Gardiner, of many circumstances relating to my countrymen's behavior during the siege of Boston, with which I was not before acquainted ; and which, if true, proves that that people, hke all mankind, when civil commotions take place, are maddened into party rage. I dare say, nothing peculiarly bad, cruel, wrong, or unjust, characterizes that people at this unhappy period. Oct. 17. Papers filled with unauthenticated reports of France having swept the coast of Africa, and taken all our forts. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. Bristol, Oct. 28, 1779. Dear Sir: I should not have delayed acknowledging the receipt of your last favor until this day, had I not undertaken by my friend Eve- leigh's request to furnish your reverence with an authentic and minute detail of the progress of the British army to Charleston, their retreat, and late (for it seems to be shrewdly suspected here, that at present they are in the hands and keeping of the French and Congress,) dangerous and suffering condition at Beaufort. I am afraid there are too strong reasons for apprehending that event. it being rumored here, and generally believed, that administration has received undoubted intelligence of D'Estaing's destination to Georgia and the southern coast, with six thousand troops, and a much larger naval armament than Great Britain has in those seas to oppose them, with any probability of success, under Arbuthnot. Should General Clinton, as the papers have lately intimated, drain New York of five or six thousand troops, and proceed to Georgia, and with a slender convoy (comparatively I mean) meet D'Estaing, it is not difficult to foretell the fate of the American war ; but this is mere suppo.sition and chance, you will say ; tk former may arrive on the coast time enough to land himself and troops, and send off his transports. It will be well for England if he should, for the fate of their claims and pretensions on that con- tinent depends on that single circumstance ; should the two fleets meet in open sea, the odds will be so unfavorable on our side, as 1779.] to approacl Sir f f eorgc indelible sti a defencele; has sufTered Perhaps yoi tween the J shore had si from Mr. * he describes stances, and pathy in my part of hun manner in wl the heart afi^i stitute for bt dried plaice, rather than letters sugge; ships and evi gain nothing cuted. I prf soon experiei with one hea Mv. 3. with Peter F Mv. 16, Sewall. JVov. 26. dined with th versing on A Mv. 28. and Benjamii Dec. 14. Mrs. FaneuilJ 1779.] JOURNAL ANU LETTERS. 325 to approach the worst consequences. The Penobscot affair does Sir Cf eorge Collier's conduct and bravery great credit, leaves an indelible stain on our countrymen and our province, at present in a defenceless condition ; to balance this account the British cause has suflTered a disgrace and loss of equal magnitude at Stony Point. Perhaps you have not heard, that but for a misunderstanding be- tween the American generals, Verplanck's Point on the opposite shore had suffered the same fate. Mr. ***** read me a letter from Mr. * * * * •j of Falmouth, [now Portland, Maine,] wherein he describes the sufferings of people late in comfortable circum- stances, and many in a condition truly pitiable. It raised a sym- pathy in my breast ; I could not restrain the tear of pity, the only part of humanity in my power ; nor was I a little hurt by the manner in which it was told ; poli'ical zeal, like religious, can steel the heart against the feelings of nature. The succedaneum or sub- stitute for bread, of which some have not tasted for months, was dried plaice, powdered. Zeal, for aught I know, is sharpened rather than blunted by sufferings, though that and some other letters suggest that the people are almost worried out by the hard- ships and evils of war ; many no doubt are those, I presume, who gain nothing by it ; of which there are but few except the perse- cuted. I pray God shorten the time of their tribulation ; may all soon experience the blessings of peace, and unite in thanksgiving with one heart and one mouth. Verv truly your friend, S. CaawEN. JVov. 3. Dined with Messrs, Simpson and Waldo, in company with Peter Frye, Benjamin Pickman and Richard Routh. JVov. 16. Visited Mr. Lechmere ; drank tea with Judge Sewall. JYov. 26. Visited Mr. Barnes and Col. Oliver with Peter Frye ; dined with them and Benjamin Pickman at Mr. Lechmere's ; con- versing on American p'olitics and Salem affairs. JYov. 28. Dined with Col. Oliver in company with Peter Frye and Benjamin Pickman. Dec. 14. Dined at Judge Sewall's, and played quadrille with Mrs. Faneuil, Mrs. Sewall and Mr. Francis Waldo. 29 f ii- 226 JOURNAL AND LETTRRS. [1779. I 1 II I i i 1 t:.:. . r m I i • If' '1 1 ' i Dec. 21. Visited Col. Erving ; drnnk tea by Mrs. Sewall's in- vitation, ami passed the evening; in rompnny with Mr. J. Vassal and hidy, and niece Davis, ami Mr. II. liallowell and hidy. Dec. 23. Received two letters from Richard Ward and wife, (my niece,) the first since my absence j and one from William Pynchon. TO DR. CHARLES RUSSELL, ANTIGUA. Bristol, Dec. 23, 1779. Dear Chabi.es : The numerous papers that will go with the fleet, renders it needless for me to send such intelligence as I can at best but im- perfectly furnish you with. There is little, however, of newsjiaper 7iews, besides what is contained in the Gazette, (which docs not always give in full, but perhaps as much information as is prudent,) little, I mean, of what relates to the public. The old proverb justly says, truth lies in a well, and difTicull it is to draw it up. I believe that of fifty reports five only will be founded in fact. It is the lis- temperature of the times, not peculiar to this period, however, (as the jaundiced eye gives its hue to every object,) to present only the party complexion of the relator; for all the world here is (lividtd into American and anti-American, ministerial and anti-ministerial. One fact I will venture to relate, to which I was an eye and ear witness : residing at Exmouth while the combined fleets of Frar.ce and Spain rode masters of the English channel, in sight for many days together of Plymouth, it is hardly credible how the brave, magnanimous hearts of the English forsook them ; a panic seized the country. The town of Plymouth w-as, as quick as thought, drained of its inhabitants and property, and all the neighborhood ; the people flying spread terror as they fled ; even the plague, or an earthquake, coulJ hardly have produced more terrific apprehen- sions. Strange and unaccountable organization and state of the human mind and body, that sudden fear should produce effects more distressing than a deliberate, sensible view of danger ! It is equally unaccountable that the enemy did not land ; for had they atCawsand bay, then without any defence or works to annoy, and a safe shore, with three or four thousand men, (unprovided as we then were with munitions of war,) Plymouth, with the docks, works, and shipping, 1779.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 227 would have fallen a prey to the invaders. There was not wadding enough lor one round in the garrison. That the enemy did not land and attack Sir Charles Hardy, then lying olT Scilly Islands with a very inferior fleet, viz., thirty-seven of the line and twelve fri^^ufcs, with his sixty-seven capital ships and thrice that number of iVigates, is to be jiccounted for only on the same principle that Aliitophel's wise counsel was rejected ; for nothing could save our fleet from defeat, and the kingdom from ravage and desolation in consequence; but by an overruling power, whose wisdom appoints and limits empires and their duration, this kingdom is preserved ; the wisdom of the wise we see sometimes turned to foolishness, and weakness made to triumph over strength and courage. Since those alarms of two months back, another has succeeded of perhaps equal magnitude: Ireland, availing herself of the dis- tresses of her imperious, domineering sister kingdom, has rp ''ed fort^ thousand men with arras in their hands, independent of government, anil a majority of 143 to 42 in their House of Commons; and loudly and peremptorily demands a free trade, which this country h?"', however bitter the dose, with seeming complacency and readine a, granted. It is said the Irish are satisfied, and have besides offered to raise twenty thousand men ; but where men think themselves abridged of their natural rights, and have, or think they have power to recover them, it will be lucky for Old England if the Irish do not proceed to require other concessions. The former is not in a condition to reject her demands, or to force her obedience. I will not say Ireland can maintain her independence, but there are powers willing and ready to support her resistance, and England cannot go to war with all Europe. In truth, she receives ungrateful returns for her generosity, unequalled by any state^since government ob- tained amongst mankind — but enough cf this. I have received a second letter from my friend, V. illiam Pyn- chon, Esq., and his relation in answer to my complaint of ray ban- ishment is truly pitiable ; what he says will ^erve instead of a hundred instances to exhibit to your view a pir.ture of the distress- ful situation of some of our friends, viz. : " If you knew half the inconveniences your continuance here would have occasioned, it would surely lessen your discontent ; bad you lost your business, all your debts, the fruits of many years' labor ; been driven to sell I iif :!■ i' ,:t m^ III n-M |,.-, ii A. i-f h 1 m •i' 5^ Tr 'IfT^^^^^ !■ ■'; 1 '■' ■ M .1 I- ^ ■ : 1 228 JO II UNA r ANn I,F. TTEUS [1779. your house and lamls for payment of your debls and expenses ; and thus reduced, you still would not freely nor safely walk the streets by reason of party rage and malevolence and the uncontrolled ran- cor of some men." This comforts me, and ought to console you and every other sufferer. I remain, dear Charles, Your affectionate friend, S. CURWEN. Dec. 26. Capt. Carjienter called in my absence ; he is master of the cartel ship from JJoston, lati-ly arrived ; friends well at Salem a month ago, when he left. Went to dock and saw Capt. Car- penter, who handed nie letters from IMr. Nathan Goodale, contain- ing gentle hints relating to surprising revolutions in property, \vhich in such times of civil commotions ever take place. Dec. 29. Capt. Carpenter dined with me, and passed the even- ing ; he gave me a more circumstantial relation of Salem, its inha- bitants, and concerns, its present commercial and civil state, than I had received from any one before, though I fancy it is somewhat too highly colored. Dec. 30. Visited Mrs. Erving and presented her a Massa- chusetts Bay apple, which she said she should taste with a high relish, adiling, " to that country I feel as great partiality and love as to my native land." Dec. 31. ]\Iy young townsman, William Cabot, came down from London to visit me, by invitation, in order to confer with Capt. Carpenter. Evening at Judge Sewall's, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Hartford. Thus ends another revolution of the sun. i (: I'Hi! 'M:. I : 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 229 CHAPTER XII. Jan. 1, 1780. Went with William Caliot through Clifton and Hot Wells ; turned into merchants' dock to view the large Manilla ship unloading; her length 172 feet, a prize, esliinated variously from Jt;5(),000 to je300,000. Took tea at Mr. Wraxall's, passed an agreeable hour, conversation turning on history, fulfdment of pro- phecy, and convenience of ladies^ pattens. Mrs. Wraxall has been represented as a stiff religionist ; the contrary this evening has af- forded a proof of: perhaps devotion and a conversible humor have alternately the ascendant ; at best we are but a very changing, uncertain, unsteady compound. Jan. b. Left for Bath at ten, and arrived there in less than three hours ; patrolled the streets, viewing the Crescent, Queens-square and Parade, Paragon-row, Pump-room ; saw there a numerous company, walking, standing ; playing whist the only fashionable game. This city in gratitude to Beau Nash, master of ceremonies, had his picture taken at full length, and put up in the pump-room ; and unluckily between small busts of the great Newton and Mr. Pope, which Lord Chesterfield seeing, uttered these stanzas, viz.|: " Immortal Newton never spoke More truth than here you'll find ; Nor Pope himself e'er penned a joke Severer on mankind : The picture placed the busts between, AiMs to the satire's strength ; Wisdom and wit are little seen, But folly at full length." TO NATHAN GOODALE, ESQ., SALEM, N. E. Bristol, Jan. 10, 1780. Dear Sir: I am obliged for the information contained in your letter brought me by Capt. Carpenter, relative to my friends and acquaintances. ' :xmm .-3*K t> wi ;l > ft ;v,;ft 230 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1780. I am glad to hear that the members of the Monday night club are permitted to assemble without interruption. I wish the continuance of it, and an increase to each member of every valuable enjoyment and thank them for their kind remembrance of me. You may, if you please, acquaint Mrs. Sargent, with my com- pliments, that being about to write Col. Browne, I shall inform him of what you mention concerning her. You write me that as I am a friend to America, I shall always find friends there ; that I ac- knowledge is a most desirable circumstance, but there are other considerations necessary to make any spot on earth an object wor- thy of any one's wish to reside in. My compliments to Mrs. Goodale and Miss Higginson, and your next neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Cabot. Yours, etc., S. CURWEN. TO WILLIAM PYNCHON, ESQ , SALEM, N. E. Bristol, Jan. 10, 1780. Dear Sir : I commence writing,ray worthy friend, without knowing on what subject or subjects, as there is scarce any that party prejudice may not wrongly interpret and draw unfav. 'Ijle inferences from ; besides the governing powers in times of war, tiimult and confusion assume a liberty to dispense with the settled regulations of the state in peaceable times, and among other precautions open letters from foreign parts. I fear you are in the same predicament ; perhaps it may be right, but it is a sad and mortifying restraint on distant friends, and prevents that agreeable intercourse, which supports friendship and adds to the enjoyments of life. With regard to my peculiar situation, connection and senti- niv iits, I must be reserved ; in general my condition is comfortable, although in England it requires as many hundreds as I can realize scores of pounds. Some people who came from your side of the Atlantic affect to prefer this country to their own, whether it be from affectation or a real preference, I pretend not to determine; po^'r moi, I wish for nothing more than peace and to return thither ; no approaches to the former I can as yet perceive. ! V^' i\ ' 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 231 A few weeks since we heard of John Adams and Francis Dana's arrival at Paris from the Congress : little good fruit, how- ever, is to be expected unless one or other of the parties are dis- posed to recede from their pretensions, which Great Britain seems not at all inclined to at present. For my native country I feel a filial fondness ; her follies I lament, her misfortunes I pity ; her good I ardently wish, and to be restored to her embraces is the war-Tiest of my desires. This country is, or might be, a paradise of delights to those who enjoy a full purse, and are by education and habit formed to relish its delights, amusements and pursuits; but for me America is good enough. I was going on, having forgot to tell you that this is designed to acknowledge receipt of your two last agreeable favors, for which I acknowledge myself indebted to you in no less a sum than ten thou- sand thanks; great as this sum is, I am rich in them, sincere ones too ; but I am not likely to lessen my capital from the demands of my American friends, yv-u being one of the very few, to whom in the epistolary way I owe any debts. Ten letters from Salem are all I can boast in the course of almost five years, when scarce a coun- tryman of ours but can count as many yearly. My complaints on this head have proved fruitless and vain, and have more than half determined me to suffer myself to be forgotten abroad, with a very few exceptions; and render measure for measure, and repay silence by contempt. But the tender feelings of the heart are not to be wholly overcome; what was anger and resentment, is by age, the endurance of evils ; and, perhaps, a better way of think- ing, changed info grief: can you then wonder, situated as I am, at my anxiety and distress 1 I do assure you the silence and neglect on the part of my friends and acquaintances, has, more than banish- ment, oppressed my mind ; the latter is not a light burden, and when added to the former, exceeds my religion and philosophy to support. The heart of old age, if not rendered callous by vicious indulgences, is tender as in infancy ; but, to quit the plaintive strain, —You tell me I forget de Repiib., &c. : I confess 1 am like poor Faithful in Pilgrim's Progress, ever almost in the slough of despair; would it were in your power to dart a ray of hope into my gloomy mind. I thank my countrymen for the less unfavorable opinion conceived of me than some others. For my part, I would cheer- m R'.'t' ..Altr t'l I'i'Fi. i., I ; ff''^ 'I |||:!| m^ .9 U^i ■It ■ irs'f 'i III N#nH[:'< 232 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. fully promote to the extent of my power the good cf individuals, and that of the public ; but with regard to the latter, I cannot give my approbation to their whole system of politics. The present circumstances of affairs do not allow me to indulge one wish to return, till they are a little better settled ; and can easily imagine the evils you suggest, which, at my time of life, would quickly overwhelm my poor crazy bark ; hardly able to keep above water even where the waves f re not rough. Please remember my kind- est regards to all my acquaintance ; particularly the members of the Monday night club, which I learn still subsists ; I wish its continuance and increase of worthy members. I fear my worthy old friend, Mr. McGilchrist, has forgotten me ; apropos, it has been my good fortune for a course of three winters passed in Exeter; to find a worthy and intimate friend, who, in his moral, religious, and philosophical character, bears the nearest resemblance to my said Saleui friend. To him I am indebted for much useful inforiLation and entertainment; tor his and the sake of a very few, 1 left that quarter with reluctance, it has been frequently in my thoughts to make a collection of the best pieces that the press affords, for the benefit of my friends and myself; but that depends on contingencies. The execution of that, and some other designs I have had in my mind and view, must be deferred, I fear, to a distant day. Our friends are scattered all over the face of the land, and if soon to be summoned to appear before the last tribunal, they might truly be said to be brought from the east, west, north, and south. Present my kindest regards to Mrs. Pynchon and all your family. Sincerely wishing you a healthy body, quiet mind, and a full pur.'Je, which I think comprehends all earthly blessings, I am, with perfect esteem, your friend, S. CURWEN. Jan. 13. Capt. Carpenter, young Jonathan Gardner, both of Salem, and a Mr. Leavitt, having arrived in a cartel fhip from Boston, dined with me, and passed the afternoon :.nd evening. Jan. 20, Took tea with Mrs. Gardner, in company with Mr. Randolph, brother of the Congress member, though of contrary political principles. Jan. 30. Charles's martyrdom ; attended service in catheOral ; m i ''ii' 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 233 young CampUn preached a serious discourse from " Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." He modestly and laudably avoided any reference to the day. I could not fail to notice the difference between this mock solemnity here and at Exeter : — here, no mayor nor corporation attended in a procession of city officers, with their staves covered with black, nor was the pulpit in the same grim tol'ir. The service was read, with singing, as on other church holidays ; assembly of an indifferent appearance, far from numer- ous. TO WILLIAM BROWNE, ESQ., COWBRIDGE, WALES. Bristol, Feb. 10, 1780. Dear Sjk: Perhaps it may amuse you to be made acquainted with a few particulars relating to our own country and town, that may not have come to your knowledge. About six weeks ago a prize ship from Boston arrived here with thirty-six passengers, who were suffered to depart, under verbal promise to return back again to captivity if this government should not acknowledge the ship to be a cartel, and send back an equal number of Americans to Boston or to T^^ance. In the event, no notice is taken of them, as might be expected ; the ship is claimed, and as yet subjudice, though it is thouaht it will be determined in favor of the claimants. The American owner is a Mr. Mitchell, Irish by birth, American in principle and alliance, being married to a daughter of George Bethune. The master, a Mr. Carpenter, who you know married ihc youngest of the Gerrishes, and tried to be a loyalist (applying, unsuccessfully, however, for a pension) about two years since, whilst he resided with his wife at Brompton-row ; on his v icction he took wit in his anger and returned to Salem. From Luu and young Gardner, only son of Jonathan Gardner, Jr., I have obtained the annexed list of prices, which, instead of a score of arguments, may prove the low condition of Congressional credit, and show the exorbitant rate of the useful articijs of life, and ])erhaps their scarcity. It is a melancholy truth, that whilst some are wallowing in undeservtu Wealth that plunder and rapine have thrown into their hands, the wisest, nio.st peaceable, ajid most deserving, such as you and I know, are now suffering want, accompanied by many 30 ^^(|:";1-' ^.\'l Uh i.[ n i; *!':•!.' 1 I ' 1 234 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. .{IV. m ■ ."1 indignities that a licentious, lawless people can pour forth upon them. Those who five years ago were the "mmner peuple,''' i-ne mw, by a strange revolution, become almost the l.i.'j men of po\v<.r, riches and induence ; those who, on the contraiy, were Jeader ;i :. in tht highest, Imeof life, aie glad .\t this Uino to l;e uiVkhOww ,.m-. unnoticed to escape insult and plunder, the ^vretched conditioi! of all who are noi \iolent, aii, rh«.^ foilowmg are persons of the most eminence for business Ui S" .leui, as far as my memory serves, viz.: Hasket Derby, Wil- hau Pickti.an, George Crowninshield, William Vans, Capt. Ilana- (!in, a brave and notable privateer captain, Joseph Ilenfield, Capt. Siisbee, Samuel Gajilner, Joseph and Joshua Grafton's sons, Fran- cis Clarke, Capt. George Dodge's youngest sons, Jos. Orne. E. II. Derby's province tax is ,£11,000, and his neighbors complain he is not half taxed. The immensely large nominal sums which some are said to be worth, shrink into diminutive bulk when measured by the European standard of gold and silver. In New England a dollar bill is worth only 2 • of an English halfpenny. Vins at Is. a piece, ncedies 'cc 2s., beef 2s., 6(1., veal 2s., mutton and lamb Is. Gd., butter 6s. per lb., rum eight dollars per gallon, molasses two dollars, brown sugar 10s. per lb., loaf sugar 15s., Bohea tea seven dollars per lb., colFee five dollars, Irish pork sixty dollars per barrel, lemons 3s. apiece, wood twenty dollars a cord, ordinary French cloth twtnty-two dollars a yard, hose nine dollars a pair. A suit of clothes which cost five guineas here, would cost five hundred dollars in Boston. Yours, &.c. S. CURWEN. Feb. 13. To the Moravian chapel ; ' i \ Washington, the set- tled minister, preached frouj, " Jlnd bev:^- hioncd asaman,-'' etc. The r jat point insistrd on, as usu. 1 '■ _ ihat the supreme Deity, 1780.] J O U U N A L AND F, ". T T E R S . 23-} (he f roil and Father of all, or to use their own languatro, " the etcr- /),// Jc/invah, si/Jfcird death actually, truly and properly, in the per- son of Christ, or was the real su^ering, dying being, who expired on the cross." In the course of these extemporaneous or mernoritcr clTusions, such terms and expressions were used that made my blood more than once almost Ibrsake its channels ; in truth, I was as- tonished and hurt to an extreme degree, and it has caused me to resolve on forsaking this and all assemblies of like over-zealous orthodox tenets. Feb. 16. To the " Wells" over St. Vincent's through Clifton, by Sir VVilliam Draper's; from thence across lirnndon hill to Judge Sewall's, where drank tea in company with Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, Miss Arbuthnot, their niece, and Miss Russell. Feb. 29. Took a walk and went on 'change with Mr. Erving ; then a passage in the Bath coach at four o'clock, and at half past six alighted at the " Three Tuns inn ;" from thence on foot to the collbc-house in Orange-grove, where I remained for two hours reading papers, drinking coffee, etc., and received information from John Boylston, my countryman, that my friend Isaac Smith, lor whose sake I took this ramble, was to leave at nine to-morrow for Bristol ; so I bespoke a seat in the same stage. Passed two hours in the streets and Abbey-square among the crowd — cars entertained by musketry discharged from the abbey leads and ringing of bolls, to celebrate Sir G. Rodney's victory over Don Langara ; — retired to the inn, supped and lodged. Gov. Hutchinson's son William died on the 20th instant. Bath, March 1. After breakfast I entered the carriage and de- rart' d with lay mend Smith, and at twelve o'clock alighted at the White Hart, Bristol. Mr. Smith (lined with me ; he having engaged himself to Mr. Wright and lady, who were this afternoon to pay a visit at Mr. Erving's, my friend and I joined company to tea ; at eight o'clock with the family took a turn in (iueen's-square, to view the illuminations, which were brilliant, in honor of Sir G. I{cJ ,ey's victi; y rf ICth .January. .''^■ di 4. By Inv'Uuion dined at Judge Sewall's with Mr. Si-:. ill. R. and N. Lechm. re. Col. Oliver, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Fran- tic Waldo and March 5. Iilii:'i r- fr,, *'■ ij 1 11 i' ^ .-i'; •t i J 1 1 ,;i':' il , t ■ 1 1 ■ ^^ M' ■?1 •?! m. ^f. ii-llf!^ ! 236 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1780. " raothcVing cake." It is a custom here on mid-lent Sunday for a cake to be brought to mothers, in conformity to wliich custom some females make a large one and present it to their acquaintance. This custom continues in Gloucestershire, and is said to be derived from Joseph's making himself known to his brethren. March 6. Dined at Mr. F. Waldo's with Mr. Simpson, bis nephew, and young Borland. TO MR. LAKIN, BIRMINGHAM. Bristol, March 6, 1780. Dear Sir : You are pleased to compliment me on my knowledge of (he state of affairs in America, but really, should I attempt a narrative of its present political and commercial condition, I fear it would be too imperfect to afford you much useful information. So great a rev- olution in both respects has taken place since my departure, so dif- ferent is the channel of business, so little the concerns that I have amongst the commercial people here, and so slender my advices about them, being chiefly newspaper intelligence, which you know is not always the word of Apollo, that it would be rashness to com- mit to paper my undigested thoughts on those subjects. I strongly suspect the independency of America, or a system of pohtical and civil government, will sooner or later be established there, to the utter overthrow of the navigation act of Charles II., and the com- merce of Great Britain with the American colonies and her other foreign dominions, if she will be powerful enough to retain any, which I fear ; in this case it may be easily discinied that by open- ing new channels, trade will assume a new face, and be conducted by very different people, and on quite difTercnt principles. You propose undertaking a journey here, and I assure you of a cordial welcome to ray lodgings, to pass your time while here ; and as conversation admits of less restraint than writing, I shall with the greatest cheerfulness communicate as much as lies within the compass of my knowledge f lating to the subject of your inquiry. I wish the benefit you might derive from my information would bear any proportion to the pleasure I shall receive in communi- cating ; for you can scarce be more obliging than to afTord me an occasion of paying in person my respects to him for whose former 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 237 civilities I am indebted more than is in my power at present to dis- charge. To your kind inquiry I am happy to answer, my friends, far removed from the seat of war, escape descents on their coasts and inroads on their frontiers, which their brethr'^n in the southern colonies unhappily do not. A more particular relation I must de- fer to a personal interview. Yours truly, S. CURWEN. f I fii i'f March 11. Dined at Mr. Erving's with two daughters of a Mr. Ewen, who had been residents on Rhode Island, but driven off by civil storm ; and being told that Capt. and Mrs. Fenton with myself, intended to dine with them at Brislington, expressed their pleasure to see us next Monday. March 14. Took tea at Judge Sewall's ; company Mr. Simp- son, Mr. F. Waldo, Mr. Faneuil and lady, and Miss Russell. Jpril 14. Visited by Nathaniel Coffin and R. Hallowell ; meeting widow Borland's eldest son John, recognized each ether, made mutual compliments and invitations. TO WILLIAM PYNCHON, ESQ., SALEM, N. E. Bristol, Jlpril 19, 1780. Dear Sir : The bearer, being acquainted with the state of our political af- fairs, will communicate more than would be prudent for me to commit to paper, should I be disposed to dabble in that dangerous business, politics. A tedious, uniformly insipid inactivity soon ren- ders every place displeasing ; but my removal from hence depends on contingencies not to be foreseen. If I leave, I shall engage in a week's ramble, and like the father of the faithful, go, not know- ing whither ; the world is all before me where to choose my place of rest, hitherto unfound, and with no land of promise before me. ******* Perhaps it may be amusing to you to be informed of the num- ber of Americans in Bristol, who are comprised in the following list :— Col. Oliver ^nd six daughters Mr. R. Lechmere, his brother Nicholas, wi'^ ..;d two daughters, Mr. John Vassel, wife and S .' i^]^ Vi '"' 'i'i.ii' ' M' :\.i: w ■■■^i^mw^>^ M 238 JOUUNAI, AND LETTERS. [1780. Ilj. : m ij:i Hi tili I i niece, Miss Davis ; Mr. Barnes, wife and niece ; Miss Arbuthnot ; Mr. Nathanitl Coflin, wife and family ; Mr. Robert Hallowcll, wil'u and children; Judge Sewali, wife, sister, and two sons; Sam' .1 Scwall '.vi'u ^l^^ I..i.isman, Mr. Faneuil, and wife ; Mr. Fr.ncis Waldo and Aic. Si;npson, together with Mrs. Borland, a • and tliree daughters. I send this by young Gardner, who witli r.li. Leavitt and Capt. Carpenter leaves us to-raorrow, and will shift for their passage to America as they can. Very truly, S. CURWEN. TO MR. RICHARD WARD, SALEM, N. E. Bristol, Jlpril 19, 1780. Dear Sir: Your two favors of the 5th and 12th of November are at hand. You say, that " to the many we have written you, we hav ; re- ceived no answer ;" it is not a little unaccountable, that of many not one should have arrived to me before these two ; for that ia truth is the case. That neither you nor my niece should in the course of five years take the least notice of her only uncle, was in my judgment a singular instance of forgetfulness ; that you ^v,ls a partisan I well knew, though not in the rankest degree I hope; and it is natural that she should be biassed to the side you took, anil I thus accounted for the dead silence through the long interval between my departure and the receipt of yours; but your declara- tion has explained the difficulty, and I find, greatly to my satisfac- tion, that other causes than those I suggested to myself have prevented my receiving those instances of notice and regard which your relation to me demanded. That I find no acknowledgment in yours of the receipt of even one of the many sent to my niece and you, h to be accounted for in the same way. The Irish, availing themselves of the embarrassment of Great Britain, have got an enlargement of privileges, and talk of making further demanils. That tne war is at a distance from your own doors, the melanchi •' reports from the southward afford you the strongest reasons Ij .iaily thanks ; may it not be your misfortune in the Matisachusct ts Bay to experience the sufferings, ravages, carnage and devastation of her sister southern colonies. 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 239 Absence from all I hold dear on earth is an evil, and the pecu- liar condition I am in, increases its severity ; but 1 endeavor to muster my whole stock of religion and philosophy, and with the united aid of both, and a few amusements, life is tolerable. I cannot prevail with myself to quit a peaceful region, and attempt a passage across the Atlantic during this state of turmoil; should I choose a place to reside in on the western side ot the globe, Halifax would not be the spot ; nothing but the prospect of great gains, which reconciles all climates and people, would make that place ill any degree tolerable ; besides, the expense of living is as extra- vai^ant as in England, without any of its advantages to counter- balance their many inconveniences and evils. I thank you for the expressions of kindness and good-will from you both respecting my peace of mind. Tell your son, my namesake, I shall answer his letter soon. With unfeigned regard, your uncle, S. CUKWEN. JJpril 24. This day, five years are complete since I abandoned my house, estate, elfects and friends. God only knows whether 1 shall ever be restored to them, or they to me. Party rage, like jealousy niul superstition, is cruel as the grave ; — that moderation is a crime in limes of civil confusions, many good, virtuous and peaceable persons, now suffering banishment from America, are the wretched proofs and instances. — May it please God to inspire with wisdom and true policy the principal conductors in this truly lamentabi war on both sides the Atlantic, and give peace in our time. Did I know how to emancipate myself from this constrained, useless, uniform blank of life, and enter on an active course, I would joyfully seize the occasion. Evening at theatre to see " Belle's Stratagem ;" entertaiiuuent "Waterman." I would not indulge a cynical, surly disposition, but cannot help acknowledging that I find great disappoinlment at the theatrical performances. Actors fall below my idea of just imitation; to my seeming they overact, underact, or contradict nature ; — a hero is a bully, a gentleman is a coxcomb, a coxcomb a fool, a lady affected, pert or insipid ; but gamesters, chamber- maids, footmen, indeed, the whole series of under-characters, not illy played. ;''N'|i, tk r ■''At i\?'l !;♦* ; ■ :^ :ii ) '- 1 1 .! • ^\i[ 240 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. Jlpril 28. A lotharpy rcspectinfr the public interest has seized the people of this country ; which the selfish principles, supreiiiely governini;;, or rather tyrannizing over all ranks and orders, ages, sexes and conditions, has brought on thera ; they arc devoted vic- tims, and so I leave them to their impending fate. I really think that neither administration nor opposition is composed of uncommon characters ; for if other men in each line were to succeed these that now figure on the political stage, the same, or nearly the same parts would be played ; for in the corrupt state of this people, ministerial conduct, such as it is, is necessary ; I do not say »,xpe- dient, for the wheels of government cannot move an inch without money to grease them. Did the circumstances of things admit, I verily believe my favorite Lord North, who I take to be one of the best characters in the whole British empire, would shine one of the brightest luminaries that ever enlightened the political hemi- sphere. Walked abroad, and met one of my countrymen ; who informed me that, by a packet twenty -five days fiom New-York, advices had been received that General Clinton, after two months from thence, had arrived at Georgia ; and had proceeded to within a mile and a half of Charleston, S. C, before which he was to have opened his batteries of forty cannon on the 11th of March; that the town had from four to six thousand troops within, and a great plenty of military and other stores ; that it was divided into four parts by deep trenches or canals filled with water, intersecting each other at right angles ; that the Americans were resolved to dispute the ground inch by inch; but party representation adds, however, that they had no great relish for a patriotic death. Afternoon and evening at Judge Sewall's ; — company, Mrs. Long of Ireland, Mr. and Mrs. Faneuil, Mr. Oxnard, with young Inman and his wife, a son of Ralph's, in the military line, and JMiss Inman. May 14. Evening at Lady Huntingdon's chapel ; Mr. Wills preached; who took an affectionate leave, being about to depart on a converting progress through South Wales. He warmly con- tended against the damnable doctrine of Arianism ; the professors of which, at one blow, he condemned to eternal perdition. Pily it is that orthodoxy, meaning thereby not right, just thinking, but the 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 241 belief of established notions, under the sanction of civil authority, should always, in all cases, and at all times, be accompanied with uncharitiibleness ; the understood characteristic of the false church. M((i/ 17. Public expectations are at the hit^hest pitch re- .spectiiiy the success of General Clinton, and the great advantages frovernment will derive from it ; if it shall be the occasion, sup- nosing he shall become possessed of Charleston, of producing u reconciliation on generous and safe terms, my joy will accompany ihe general acclamation. May 19. Nathaniel Cofl'm is going to Bath for his health. Meeting 11. Ilallowell in the street, he read some paragraphs in u letter from his father Gardiner at Poole, informing of the distresses of our country, discontent of people at the continuance of the troubles, and intimating wishes to return to former connections with this country, wherein I cordially join j — would that that happy event might soon take place, with honor and safety to all parties ! May 29. This being Restoration-day, some houses are distin- guished by oak branches in front, which is a mark of attachment to monarchy ; and by many 'l regard to the excluded lamily, at least in some placo, as Tvianchester, Exeter, &,c. June 5. This being the appointed day for setting mt on u tour of pleasure to the north by Judge Sewall, Samuel Sewall and myself, I was early notified by a thundering at the door ; being awake, I soon descended, and found my friend's eldest son with a message, desiring ray immediate presence at breakfast before de- parture. Complying with the summons, on going over, I found the family up, and all things in readiness, but the owner of the carriage delayed us for an hour ; at length it arrived, and taking leave of our friends, we sot forward in an unpromising air ; the morning being cloudy, with the appearance of rain, whicli through the day came down in the form of a drizzle. At nine, we alighted at the Bell inn, Newport, distant eighteen miles ; henct to Gloucester ; roads for the greater part dirty and bad ; grounds fertile ; farm-houses, barns, and avenues slovenly ; fences in ill repair and low. At twelve alighted at King's Head inn, at the last mentioned place ; here took a collation ; taking a relay, departed for Newton. Here it came into my head to inquire of our host, who seemed to be lazy man, whether his was the house referred to 31 mMm >■ 'I 'IF ^ ! ill ■•■^M i '?• v) '^^ 'I i':' Mil ill • IJ! I'; If M2 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. in Tom Jones, where Sophia Western's raufF was picked up by her paramour ; to which he replied in the affirmative, and offered to show the bed where it lay ; had his invitation been to see the charming young lady herself, I doubt whether my answer would have been what I gave him. Here we stopped no longer than to have fresh horses put to. Hence to Worcester is twelve miles, and over excellent roads j pleasant hedges and well cultivated lands in view. Worcester, June 6. Strolled for two hours, viewing the cathe- dral and new bridge, which latter is nov/ finishing, and a beautiful structure. The new street leading to the centre of the city on one end, and to the bridge on the other, will, when completed, be a fine avenue, and among its greatest ornaments. At ten departed hence to Horbrook, eleven miles ; here took a new relay, and choosing the road through Kidderminster, alighted at Bridgenorth, distance from former stage sixteen miles. This town lies in Salop, and for situa- tion is most singular, part being on a lofty plain, faced with a rock in some spots nearly perpendicular, the ascent to which is by slopes and steps in a kind of serpentine line ; on the front is a terrace, affording a view of the lower town. The town is situated on both sides of the river Severn, communicating by a bridge ; a well cultivated country is in prospect from the upper part, bounded by hills in a circular line, rising gradually one beyond another ; the lands interspersed with rows, clumps and forests of trees, and scat- tered habitations of farm houses and gentlemen's seats. In the up- per town are the remains of an ancient castle, destroyed when Cromwell took the town, that before was in the king's interest: one side or line of the wall to the height of forty feet projects fif- teen or eighteen feet, occasioned either by the settling of the ground, or by force of many cannon balls striking on it at once. The ef- fects on the front yet appear in the very many excavations in the stone of the size of eighteen and twenty-four pound balls ; it is separated by a chasm or breach of twelve to fifteen feet wide, and as many long from the standing part ; thickness six feet. Cement. not of hard consistency, has retained its present state much beyond the memory of man. Be it as it may, the inhabitants are well sat- isfied it will continue till a great convulsion of nature shall overturn the great fabric of the globe itself. The town on the iiill iias two 17S0.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 243 churches exempt from the bishop, and called ^' pecvliars," under jurisdiction of the Whitraores, who have right of visitation ; also liffht of advowson, and can exercise all right of ecclesiastical juris- diction excppt sacerdotal. After an en passant survey, we took fresh horses and convey- ance, and set off for Brosely, distant from hence eight miles ; to this place arrived in an hour, took a look at the iron bridge. Next stage Much-Wenlock, distance hence twelve miles j a pitiful inn and town, where we lodged ; Shrewsbury, our last stage, lying at twelve miles distance. Here we visited the residence of Samuel Porter, late of my native place, Salem ; but the 'prima facie view of my townsman's lodgings convinced us that it was not a fit place for us to remain at. After hearty congratulations, bid him adieu lor the present, and returned back to the Talbot inn, leaving our other companions, Samuel Sewall and Samuel Porter, to measure the distance through the fields on foot, where they soon arrived af- ter us. Here we proposed to fix our tent for two or three days ; having bespoke dinner, we had a social tUe-a-Ute, and after a hearty meal, and a few glasses of port, took myself off to find out my other townsman, Capt. Poynton, who was also become a resi- dent here, and v;hom I found at a namesake's, living on Pride hill, so called, within the town. After tea 1 took him to our companions, and all joining issued forth to see the icwn and ascertain the ex- pense of living, which we found higher than at Bristol. Shrews- bury is populous, having several churches ; there is a most agree- able walk f f a circular form on the banks of the Severn, lialf a mile in extent, and surrounded by lofty trees. There are still ruins of an old castle, now become private property and the seat of the owner, standing on a lo^ty eminence and commanding the town. There is also a large building intended for a foundling hospital, but not succeeding, is now fitted up for Spanish prisoners, when they catch them. Shrewsbury, June 9. We reassumed cir post-chaise seats and departed from " proud Salop," as it is called, for having refused the offer of the crown to make it a city, saying " it is better to be a large town than a small city" — leaving our two townsmen to their respective enjoyments. However, before leaving this place, I must observe, Mr. Samuel Sewall and myself, with Capt. Poynton, dined ,!»■ ■ -%■ If! ' : •( 1 ' \ \ mm^ f III ' '^1^ Ji:i«'^ m V t i. M llr'BliKlfiJi . M flj^'^l^^lM' 244 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. at Samuel Porter's lodgings, which we found well provided ; and the next night, being the night preceding the one to our departure passed at the " Gullet" inn, the resort of all better sort to hear and tell news. During my stay within, I heard read several letters from lords, sirs, etc., from London, with relations of the mob that was raging there. From hence to Ellesmere, sixteen miles, we ran in two and a half hours, being accommodated with fresh horses • thence to Wrexham, eleven miles ; respectable in buildings, some fine streets, a market and well built church, erected about the time of the reformation ; its tow er superbly decorated in Gothic style. Next stage was Chester, at eleven miles distance ; stopped at the (loldcn Talbot in Eastgate-street, house of best repute, largo, with a handsome coffee-room, ball and drawing rooms, it bemg the as- sembly house. This small city is singularly circumstanced, having a delightful terrace walk on top of walls encompassing it round, in length near two miles, defended with a breastwork or parapet about three feet high ; has no guns nor embrasures, nor platforms for unevenness of surface within the walls and adjoining grass; the walk in some places is but a few feet above the level within, and others as high as tops of chimneys. On the quarter bounded by the river Dee it is sixty or eighty feet above the surface of the water; on one or two streets is a covered way or walk raised one story above the street called the rows ; the ascent is by many flic^hts of steps from the streets, rendering it very convenient to foot passen- gers, especially in foul weather ; these are fdled with shops and stores above and below ; the passage ways are paved with flags, the breadth twelve to fifteen feet. This city has the appcrirance of antiquity, though there are many very genteel, tasty, and noLIt houses ; I should judge the number between two and three tlinn- sand, inhabitants about seventeen thousand. Just within the walls is a most beautiful race-ground. I forgot to mention the cntliedral, of no g eat extent and rather indifferent appearance ; it was how- ever in decent repair, but contained nothing remarkable. Having taken a view of the whole place, we took leave of Ches- ter, designing for Manchester by way of Duke of Bridgewater's canal from Warrington ; on that route our first stage was Fords- ham, an indifferent small village, distance ten miles. The keeper of the inn an Irishman, not wanting in the characteristic mark of rMv, 1780.] lOURNAL AND LETTERS. 245 that country, a bold unblushing face ; after a plausible commenda- tion of his carriages and horses, he gave us a sorry post-chaise and a pair of miserable cattle ; he yet had the impudence to apply to us to procure the land from Warrington to this paltry village to be made a turnpike, saying it would be pounds in his pocket, which I really doubt. He mistook us for parliament-men. From hence to Warrington ten miles; the inn, the ''Red Lion," tolerable. Streets narrow, dirty, and ill paved ; like many other towns, with a gutter running through the middle, rendering it inconvenient passing streets. This town abounds in dissenters, and has an aca- demy for young preachers of that persuasion. Governor Hutchin- son was to have been buried at Brompton yesterday. Warrington, June 11, Set off on foot for London bridge, so called from its lying in the great London road across the canal, at two miles' distance herefrom. This spot is a common rendezvous whither flock all passengers Avhora curiosity prompts, or business urges, to sail up to Manchester, at twenty miles' distance ; or down to the locks at Runcorn, on the other hand, ten miles distant ; or across the Mersey to Liverpool, this being the common route. Two boats daily carry passengers up and down. Diverted from our intended route, Manchester, we turned our course to a contrary direction, sail- ing down to Runcorn to view the celebrated locks; passed in our passage under sixteen bridges laid across the canal, consisting of one brick arch of eighteen to twenty-two feet span, and twelve feet high. Of these we were told there are sixty-four ; probable enough, including the branches and marin*. cut, for Judge Oliver counted on the grand canal forty-eight. The boats for passengers are fifty feet long and fifteen wide, and will hold a hundred per- sons. Arrived at Runcorn in two hours, and supped at "White Hart" inn. Samuel Sewall and myself having amused ourselves lor two hours in seeing a barge enter from the river Mersey into tliu first lock and through to the canal, we returned back and met our companion the judge, whose curiosity did not stim- ulate hiiii to stay so long in the cold as ours did ; and found the inn crowded ,with great numbers of jolly lads and lasses, met to congi.itulate our landlady's daughter, lately married and just returned home, after a week's absence. The concluding scene of Sunday, being considered in England as a relief from labor, is f I .«" II ^^ni ■I 1;; ■f '!l^i. ;. I 246 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. generally spent in ale-houses by the niicUUuig and lower sorts, in merry-making. Runco7'n, June 12. Walked abroad, shaping my course to church-yard, where I saw the curate and his clerk ; name of Ibrraor was Scw*;ll. I returned by the way I went, acfiuaiiitiiig my com- panions, who had arrived before mc, of the adventures. They regretted my neglect in making no intjuiry, nor inforsuing the curate of their name ; but I was loth to incur the imputation ol impertinence which he justly might have made, in instituting inqui- ries about such matters as people of this country are shy about communicating 'o strangers. At eleven o'clock rcshippc! our- seKes on board same barge, and returned back to whence we caud . where, fniding a chaise ready for Liverpool, we again ilivi-i,,' froiu our light-line course, Manchester, and struck oiT for iki; town, twenty miles distant ; returning back K) Warring' pro- ceeded to Prescott, at ten miles' distance, where toe' ^iay, I his town i.s noted for coal-pits and watch movement. ;oui iLe former Liverpool is principally supplied by wagons. Entereil the city of Liverpool, so celebrated foi' its commercial character : houses by a great majority in middling and Jowii style, lew rising above thatmaik; streets long, narrow, crooked, and dirty in an eminent degree. During our shorl abode her*-, we scarcely saw a well-dressed pirson, lior half a dozen gentknifii's carriages ; few of the shops appear so well as in other great towns; dress and looks more like the inhabitants of Wapping, Shadwell. and Rotherhithe, than in the neighborho<«i of the Exchange, or any part of London above the Tower. 'J'he whole com'plexioii nautical, and so infinitely below all our expectations, that nought but the thoughts of the few hours we had to pa^h here tendei^i it tolerable. The docks however are stupcn(k)usly giand : the iun»- one, called Town Dock, lying in the centre of it, and iJled Willi vessels exhibiting a forest of masts ; besides this, are tln-ee very large ones lying in front of the city, communicahng vvhh each other by ilood-gates, intermixed with dry ones for repauing. The lower or new one has a fine wide quay on its outer side, an agreea- ble walk being lined with trees on cither hand ; below this, on tk river, is nov/ building, nearly finished, a circular battery witii embrasures for thirty cannon. Paiade and barracks are in hand,. ill 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 24": niid when completed will afford a charming walk and prospect if allowed to the inhabitanls. Liverpool, June 12. Taking a circuitous ramMo through this, to us, disgustful place, returned to inn, paid our bill, and entered (he carriage we came in, which the driver and owner would fain, but for Judge and Samuel Sewall's resolution, have jo ikcycd us out of, designing craftily to shift us off to the common stage ; but his plan being disappointed, we were replaced in our own carriage, witli no company but ourselves. liidding adieu to Liverpool, we set forward to Prescott, where we took a relay and proceeded to Warrington ; here we w«;re detained two hours, waiting the arrival of boats. At two o'clock we r^'-cntered our apartment, fdled with feh passengers, among them Mrs. Dawson, wife of the governor of the isle f)f Man, returning from an excursion ; she was a native of Nova Scotia, and daughter of a Colonel Hamilton, and had resicknl in Boston. Mr. Corbet, an attorney of lirosely, also added no inconsiderable pleasure by his social turn while sailing on an unruffled surface through a finely improved country, over hills and dales, river; and bridges ; in five hours we arrived safely at Man- chester. Examined the ingenious machinery and operations of calico-printing. Took carriage for Castleton at the peak of Derby, passing through Stockport and Dislo). The country, as we ap- proached the peak, hilly, liy persuasion the judge reluctantly walker! out to the cave at Castleton, being desirous to defer it till following morning, accompanied by Samuel kS^ewall. After break- fast, taking leave of the vale, w( ascendtd the hill overlooking the town tU- f'oad extends to the furtlier end in a circular line, ,ffrf)rdi«2r a pUawig view of thf lotty surrounding hills and a charm- ins; vale beniftadi, diversified with i; -es, bve hedges, scattereil farm- houses, virMages, aari towers ; the descent on the side of the vale is i|uick, and in cas*^^ "Sif accid«it haz-ardous. In ascending Mr. Sewall and myself chose tWs- safest and most expeditious w ay on loot, not indeed the roost conii<<*tab!e, U^ing surrounded by a gang of children who constafflifli^ acco w f i dni j f carriages, that necessarily move at a 4'fr pace, sopiting caisintf with piteoas looks and accents, which frojifi earliest **i»4ldhoo m #1 '■J ' r - 't . '4 J;. I- ,t:i . IH III 1 I' if,'; 248 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. view of the vale, rendered more so by its contrast with the naked barren hills wherowith it is encompassed on all sides. This plain with scarce a rising to intercept the sight for miles, abounds in pastures, grass and corn lands inclosed by live hedges, and trees in rows and clumps; of the latter there are many inclosurcs of con- siderable extent, and of great height and bulk. Most of the best improvements are on the Duke of Rutland's est;iu-, who has a large and noble old mansion-house, called Haddon Hall, within sight of the traveller. The road to Matlock is an excellent turnpike, through this de- lightful vale, distance twelve miles ; the eye is refreshe(i a good part of the way with a sight of liie river Dee, a gentle stream whicii continued to and beyond the last mentioned place, where we arrived at twelve o'clock. Dismissing the coach, we took up our abode in this indescribably pleasing, romantic spot for a few hours — sadly regretting after leaving it that we had not dedicated longer time to it. This cluster of half a d; /en houses, including tradesmen's and the large inn for servants and short visitants, as our company, arc fdled with apartments for the reception and accommodation of those who resort hither for sake of bathing, to which it is confined. Its remote situation, (its nearest neighbor on one hand Bakewell at ten miles, and on the other Derby at sixteen,) separates it, in a manner, from all society. It is situated on the banks of the Dec, which by the approach of the craggy hills contract to little more than the bed of the river, which flows even to the foot of them. This spot lies under a circular range of hills conforming to tlit course of the river ; the siile of this range is in spots clothed with bushes, shrubs, and trees of various dimensions, interspersed with bare spots and shelving rocks, overhanging and threatening instant fall. In some the ascent is quick, in other parts easy, and in the midst of this unpromising barren wild are levels that nature or in- dustry have made, now improveil as habitations for the poor but perhaps contented few, whose lot has cast them into this dreary spot ; each hut being accommodated with a small plat for garden and yard. To the spectator on the other side, a view of these singularly situated habitations is picturesque and pleasing. Just below the houses for company's residence, on a plain lyin;:; but little above the level of the river, are covered baths, supplitd b\ 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 249 streams from hills, issuing under the foundation of houses, but they have no distinguishing character. Crossing the ferry, of a hundred feet, we found a serpentine walk, cut and levelled for a quarter of a mile, then limited by a lead mine, now working. This walk is a delicious retreat in a sultry day, the trees on either hand forming an embowering shade ; it is accommodated with field seats, from whence are vistas, two terminating in natural cascades, rendered, however, more perfect by art. Returning back from hence to end of walk, we began our ascent over slopes and steps to the summit of this very craggy hill, which is extremely tedious, and puts the lungs as well as muscles to no small exercise. About three fourths the way up stands an alcove to rest the weary traveller, where we were glad to avail ourselves of a seat for awhile. Having at length gained the summit, we thought ourselves fully repaid for fatigue by the charming prospect, both in respect to its extensiveness and variety. Though we were so exalted, the Fox, as it is called, being the extreme end of the range of mountains on other side, almost insulated, lifted its aspiring head nearly as much above us as we were above the surface of the river that we beheld flowing just under our feet. The manner in which visitors live together is social and harmonious; the meals taken in a common room, none having a precedence ; their mixture promiscuous ; attendance at a certain hour notified by a bell. Hither also they repair to form parties, as chance or inclination points, some to cross the water to serpentine walk, to climb the craggy cliff; others to ride on horseback, or in carriages ; others again for cards. — Generally after supper cards or dancing fill up the space to time of repose. Their lonely situation contributes not a little to inspire all with a desire to promote mutual enjoyment, which is suppooed to be met with here in this retired solitary retreat in a more extensive degree than in any other place of public resort through England. Here are manufactured neatly polished pieces in the fancy way, of Derbyshire spar, stone, etc. Judge Sewall and myself bought each a sugar-basin and cream-bucket, edged with gilt pinchbeck, -and ladles with metal handles of the same, having bought an egg-cup and pair of salts before at the Peak. After dinner, departed over a fine turnpike, reaching to the town of Derby, distant sixteen miles, which we measured in two 32 \i n jti'ii' ,, I } . 'a 'i- "11'' 'tr -vi >i' ■? i IB '4* \^ win \ . i 1 250 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. f'r tliij' hours, and alightcil at the " King's Head " inn. Here we met a singular phenomenon in the person of John Tompson, a waiter at this inn for forty-three years ; the fifteen years immediately pre- ceding the present service porter to Sir Robert Sutton, and the eleven years before that to the Earl of Ferrars. He is now eiglity- seven, and although somewhat decrepit and stooping, carries no mark of age in his face, that still retains a rubicund complexion without r single wrinkle. His memory, and indeed all his facul- ties appear in full vigor. The Ferrars family show a respect for their former servant by sending a carriage for him now and then, especially at Christmas and holiday times, when he is made wel- come ; and " so late as last Christmas," said he, " I danced from eleven to four o'clock there, and good music inspires me with vigor to acquit myself to the satisfaction of ray partners, and makes rae, for the while, return to youth." Derby, June 16. After breakfast we all repaired with a con- ductor to the silk mills, for which this town is famed, these being the originals of this kind of manufactures in England, having been introduced from Italy in a surreptitious manner by Sir Thonias Larabe. At twelve we departed for Burton on Trent, thence to " George" inn, Lichfield, and from thence to Birmingham, where stopped at the " Hen and Chickens," High-street. Soon after our arrival, S. Sewall and myself sallied forth, leaving the judge, reluc- tant to exercise, to entertain himself. It seems that sitting by the window, he espied a countryman of ours, resident here, passing by; on opening the casement, the other seeing him, came over and re- mained with him till our return. He called again, accompanied by Mr. Elisha Hutchinson, son of our late governor, who together passed an hour and then departed ; the former inviting us to dine next day, promising to accompany us to the manufactories. June 17. Soon after breakfast. Judge Oliver, being the other countryman before mentioned, agreeably to last evening's promise, came and in a post-chaise accompanied us to Bolton and Fothergill's manufactory, called Soho, about two miles out of town, for gun-barrel boring by a fire engine. From thence to a ramble modo pedestriy and afterwards to Judge Oliver's to dinner, and at tea Mr. Hutchinson joined us ; in the evening went over to Mr. Lakin's. if 111 u >^««* 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. June 18. Soon after breakfast, Judge Sewall's impatience to be gone hurried us into a post-chaise, taking the road to Wolver- harapton, dista'^^ f om hence fourteen miles, passing through Wcd- nesbury, where (he coal-pits arc that supply Birmingham with coals : we arrived dt Wolverhampton in three hours. The town contains one church, the parish is fifteen miles in length, reaching near Lichfield. It is a deanery, and has a vicar or curate, salary from only Jt;20 to jEoO, notwithstanding the pomposity of the churches; — this is annexed to ^Vind^o- From hence to ShifTnal, our next stage, is twelve miles ; then je to Bronckton, a village, three miles from last inn, and to Brosely three miles, where we supped and lodged. J le 19. Mr. Corbit, surgeon, coming to our inn in order to { ilfil a promise of last night, acconi^ianied us in a post-chaise, pro- cared and ready against his arrival ; entering the vehicle, our first visit was to the porcelain manufactory, noted for its fine Nankin blue color, no other colors attempted here ; — lately was sent off, as we were told by one of the burners, a complete set or table ser- vice for the royal table, a sample whereof we saw ; from hence directed our course to the iron bridge. For a more perfect view of this curious and singular piece of jiuntal architecture, we returned lack as many miles as the day's journey consisted of; and the world affords not its like : a bridge perfect in all its parts, com- posed entirely of cast iron. It is laid over the Severn, from a town in Shropshire, called Brosely, to Co.r'rrook-dale side, and adjoining a truly romantic spot noted for coal j ..'nos and iron stone, where- with it abounds. Dined at the inn, rumpany same as last evening ; afterwards we all together walked to Surgeon Corbit's, our guide and attendant ; S. Sewall and myself drank coffee with his spouse. Leaving this house. Judge Sewall and myself returned to the inn, where I passed a heavy, sleepy evening ; S. Sewall was engaged in loyally celebrating General Clintrr's success at Charleston, by discharging a two-pounder half loaded several times in a private garden ! The town of Brosely, where we now are, is long and straggling ; the houses seem to owe their present situation to mere chance ; in general it has a dark, sooty, dirty look, few only of the houses in decent style. June 20. Having accomplished the object of our return, and uiijif If m , ill I 262 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. iiify^.' [1780. being accommodated with a post-chaise, took our departure, and in an houi" were set down at Bridgenor'i;, leaving determined to take passage 'in the Severn to Worccstpi ..t tliirty miles from this; this variety in mode of travelling an agreeable one, especially as the fare is but one shilling and sixpence, which consideration has weight with those whose bank begins to ebb fast, having already measured, of turnpike chiefly, almost five hundred miles. Adjusted all with the master for passage next day, the interval between the pre,sent hour and time of rest was chequered by eating, drinking, walking, and playing at backgammon. June 21. Entered our conveyance, Vihich we found coranii ,i and for commodities instead of a passage boat ; filled with vvotil and bulky articles some feet above the gunwale, leaving us and one fellow passenger but scanty room in stern sheets. I 'irst delay was at Brindley ; here we refreslicd with a collation ; next at Stourport at junction of the great Staffordshire canal with Severn ; at six o'clock landed at Worcester, just below old bridge. Jumped on shore, leaving companions and baggage, who, before they left the banks of the river, engaged to-morrow's passage to Gloucester, nearly same distance. From boat adjourned to the " Hop-pole" inn ; soon after Mr. J. Vassal entered, we being seen by his ser- vant ; he is on his return from Birmingham, having been there on a reconnoitering plan, and speaks of it with the greatest dislike as a dirty, ill-built hole. So different are men's tastes that my com- panions make it daily a subject of their praises. For my own part I think it deserves neither extra .-agant praises, much less execra- tions. It is of an amazing extent, all its new streets spacious and straight, and not ill-built j here are many excellent buildings, and London itself does not exhibit a more spacious and well-built one than Newiiall-street, though its paving is not of best quality. Be- spoke beds and supper, and left the inn for a ramble ; directed course to new bridge and then to Castle Mount, seeming a work of ait, of a regular form, agreeable walk to the top or flat about eighteen feet over, having evergreens around its border. Hence returned back to inn. We partook of a splendid supper, which, with other acts of a diflferent complexion from the late adopted plan of economy, shows that inconsistency is a common fault among frail men. our money, v 1780.] JOURNAL ANU LETTERS. 253 June 22. At twelve departed, our l>oat more lumbered nnd dirty than before, and passengers of still meaner sort ; and it having taken three hours to arrive at a landinj^ within three miles of I'liion, to which we walke"" 'or ii''k on board, proceeded to next stage of fifteen miles, ( port, where changed horses. Our home is distant fro eighteen miles ; at three or four hundred yards withou ate at the head of Stokes, we crossed a short thick foot-j i, \>^ >, running out from under hedges, seized the reins of our horses, threatening instant death to the driver if he did not stop ; whereupon he stopped, and giving up the reins, ran to chaise door and was going to demand our money, when S. Sewall supposing him only a rude fellow, raising himself forward, made a push at him with his cane ; at which the pad retreated back a few paces, discharging his pistol at same instant, and ran off, presuming he had executed his threat, which was, " damn you, I'll do for you." Judge Sewall thought he perceived the wind of the bullet as it passed ; be that as it may, it was found next morning. It grazed the moulding, which di- verted it from a course that otherwise must have entered S. Sewall's body, but how his head escaped is inconceivable ; it pierced through the lining and lodged between it and leather top, proving a slug near three quarters of an inch long, and was picked up next morning. Thursday evening, June 22, concluded a journey of five hundred miles in eighteen days. TO MR. JOHN TIMMINS, LONDON, Bristol, June 24, 1780. Dear Sir : I take the earliest opportunity after my excursion of eighteen days to acknowledge the receipt of yours. I hope the execrable mob in London is thoroughly quelled, and the promoters of it in safe custody, ready for the execution of deserved justice ; I wish government may arrive at the bottom of this infernal plot, for that there was one, no man in his senses can doubt. Through the great W m m ■Lii: IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 11.25 b£|28 |25 ■tt Itt 12.2 ■• u MUu lU 11.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) S72-4503 ^ -V*^ ^^V '"'^A.'*' ^ ^v 254 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. tfi extent of country we passed during its rage, there appeared an universal detestation against them ; though should the flame catch at some populous places, there are villains enough to be found ready to join in plunder, rapine, murder and burning. Very truly yours, S. CORWEN. June 30. Walked to the quay to find a vessel bound to White- haven, intending, if practicable, a water conveyance to Workington, in Cumberland. July 6. Foot-pad taken in Bath-road j Judge Sewall seeing him thinks he is the one that attacked us. July 8. Met Mr. R. Hallowell, who informed me of his going to London, Received a letter from J. R., inclosing one from R. Ward, Salem, by Isa. White, via Amsterdam. TO WILLIAM BROWNE, ESQ., COWBRIDGE, WALES. Bristol, July 13, 1780. Dear Sir : By two letters from Salem, one from our friend William Pynchon, of May 3, via Amsterdam, I am informed of the death of Mr. McGilchrist on the 20th of the former month ; a man of un- dissembled virtue and singular integrity, and the most friendly heart ; to whose memory 1 cannot fail to pay the tribute of a tear. Besides whom, the late ranting patriot J. W. is also gone to the former generations. As for the rest, all our friends are well and longing, but as almost without hope, for the good old times, as is the common saying now, except among those, as he expresses it, whose enormous heaps have made them easy and insolent, and to wish for a continuance of those confusions by which they grow rich. Our friend wishes to hear from you and other of our towns- men and friends here. If you are disposed to oblige in this way, a letter inclosed to my care, left at the New England Coffee- House, London, soon to be my residence, shall be forwarded. I am far from being sanguine of essential good effects from Clinton's success. Truly yours, S. CURWEN. w 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. TO WILLIAM PYNCHON, ESQ. 255 Bristol, July 15, 1780. Dear Sir: This may serve to inform you of the receipt of your favor of May 3, and to convey my acknowledgments therefor ; nor do I know any favors more deserving of thanks than letters from distant friends and acquaintance ; in truth, I think, Solomon never uttered more truth, or discovered more knowledge of mankind, than in the following proverb : " Good news from a far country is aa cold wa- ter to a thirsty soul." To be made acquainted with the welfare of my friends is among the first and warmest wishes of my heart, nor (loth it feel more pleasurable sensations than are derived from that source. Since my last, the political state of affairs seems in many peo- ple's opinion to have taken a more favorable turn for this country, but good and ill often succeed each other in the whirl of human affairs in quick succession ; for amidst a deal of good news daily pouring in from abroad, a most tremendous cloud suddenly and unlooked for arose and covered our horizon, threatening instant destruction even to the very being of government itself. For some days it was feared the city of London would be laid in ashes, during which the most abandoned and profligate miscreants that were ever nourished by, or have proved the curse of society, were to have availed them- selves of the conflagration and terror occasioned thereby, and plun- dered what the less cruel felons might have spared, perhaps mur- dering those against whom their spite might have been levelled. On the day that the petition of the Protestant associators, as they denomi- nated themselves, was to be presented to the house, the subscribers were by au advertisement of Lord George Gordon, their president, desired to meet in St. George's Fields j the reason alleged was, that no building in London was large enough to hold the expected numbers, and from thence to accompany him with the petition to the house — meaning by so numerous an appearance to give weight to it, or enforce it more effectually. The rabble, many of whom were signers, likely enough for the most villainous purposes, for with such the more mischief the better sport, joined, making no less a nutiber, it is credibly said, than forty thousand ; a number of such characters, and under such circumstances, truly alarming ; li;.;:'. i ■ ! -h 'ii 1 f" l'!f '■ ' 'li. ffl 256 JODRNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. nr hm-'- *i 1 V 1 t 'I '()'■ ■ 1 i . IS *: t 'i fl ■; .1 1! i 1 1 kl 1 1, yj;. from hence they paraded through the borough of Southwark and along London streets, at first it is said orderly, but no sooner had they reached palace yard than they filled that and all the avenues leading to the house. Throwing off the mask, they bawled aloud for liberty and the Protestant religion ; and now their insolence began, for many members of both houses undistinguishingly re- ceived marks of their indignant rage ; some were stopped and threatened, otherwise abused and assaulted, pulled out of their car- riages, and glad to get off without hats, wigs, with lacerated gar- ments and flesh-wounds ; whilst many were happy to retreat unhurt and absent themselves from the house for that day at least. The distinguishing badge they wore was a blue cockade, which the president. Lord George, had the boldness to wear in his hat to the house, but being espied, he was desired, nay, even menaced, and with reluctance suffered it to be taken out. The most sober, and many such, doubtless, there were among them, retired peaceably and in good order j but the rabble, by far the greater number, having raised themselves into a frenzy, for fire you know is kindled by collision, adjourned, resolving to plunder and destroy the houses of those who from liberal principles had promoted a relaxation of the supposed too great rigor of the act of William and Mary against papists, that had been for many months the occasion of a paper war on the subject, and excited a real or pretended terror in the iiids of many who were, or affected to be, afraid of the increase and ^ revalence of popery. The houses of these and some unoffending Roman Catholics fell a sacrifice the first day to their rapine and malice ; what became not plunder, was destroyed, or devoted to the flames. In the number were Sir George Saville's, a most wor- thy character, a steady whig, and an anti-ministerialist, but being a friend to taxation, and a man of property, was a suitable subject, and worthy of these sons of liberty and supporters of the Protestant cause to exercise their patriotism upon. The second day. Lord Mansfield's house employed their patriotic labor ; his valuable library, pictures, and household goods, to the amount of near thirty thousand pounds, were plundered, broken, destroyed and devoted to the flames ; — among other things, was a large collection of manuscripts on various subjects, of immense loss to the world, it is said. In short, as Lord Loughborough, late Mr. 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 257 Wedderburne, says, seventy-two houses and four prisons are now lying in ruins ; of the latter, the fine new building of Newgate- street prison, King's Bench, Clerkenwell, and Surry Bridewell ; from whence were let loose all the debtors and felons who assist<:d in promoting those atrocious crimes, for which they were soon to have suffered the justice of the laws. Had they directed their aim at the Bank the first or second day of their rage, it is to be feared tliey might have annihilated the books, papers, and records : — a blow that might have shaken government to its centre, and in- volved the nation in evils too horrid to mention. The third day it was attacked ; providentially, the fate of a score or two, and a strong party of dragoons and light-horse surrounding the palla- dium, saved it from the merciless claws of these ravening wolves. For three or four days, ten to fifteen houses were seen at one time in the centre of the metropolis lighted up by design ; and to com- plete this most abhorred plan of destruction, a design was formed to cut off the new river pipes, but, in the moment of execution, it was most happily prevented. Thus this great city and the government are still preserved, monuments of divine forbearance : — it hath pleased Him who saith to the boisterous waves of the sea, " hitherto shalt thou come, and no further," to put a stop to the rage and madness of the people, and for the present to control the malicious designs of our iiiveterate enemies ; for, that the ravages of the late banditti took their rise from abroad, has a face of probability. Though I cannot take upon rae to warrant the following or any paragraph in the newspapers to be the word of Apollo, it is yet confidently asserted \p them, that " a gentleman lately arrived from Holland has affir^^ed that he heard the French ambassador there declare openly, that London would be laid in ashes within a month." So deep was the plan, and so seriously in earnest to ensure complete destruction, that such situations and kinds of business were pitched upon, as afforded the most combustible materials for supplying a fierce flame, as oil-dealers, distillers, warehouses, &c. ; but a kind interposing Pro- vidence stopped the devouring fire, and all is now once again settled, quiet, and, it is to be hoped, safe. To secure which, and overawe the profligate and daring, enough of whom all great cities abound in, a lar-ge encampment is still continued in Hyde Park of 33 ■ iiti !« liiB "'/Jrr n; ;■ J "t (I' '11*1 ■ '':?:!! AV^ I i ^r !"l i ■■141 H «K I lit il i lit r 258 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. light-horse, dragoons and foot, and are to be kept up during tlie summer; besides a party (notwithstanding the city mayor and patriotic gentry's remonstrance about city rights,) patrolling and keeping guard in London, to the great annoyance and terror of the turbulent and dangerous. Bath and Bristol were intended to have been theatres whereon to have exhibited the future acts of the same tragedy. At the former, the Roman Catholic chapel and the priest's house were purged of all their effects that fell within the claws of these de- structive harpies, and the combustibles they committed to the unre- lenting flames : but a party of the Hereford militia, and a troop of dragoons, being at callable distance, seasonably arrived to prevent further mischief. The latter city, by a vigorous internal police taking early precautions, dispersed a threatening storm ; three or four hundred banditti, collected in St. James's parish in this cit}- for the patriotic purpose of rapine and burning, were, by a well timed early association, scattered and driven back to their dens ; all the well disposed arming and patrolling through the streets for several nights. During this luiscreantic insurrection, Judge Sewall, Samuel Sewall, and myself, were on an excursion in the country, wherein we dropped on the abode of our townsfolks, Samuel Por- ter and Captain Poynton ; the former carrying indelible marks of personal identity, the latter of an amazingly increased bulk and gouty habit ; their present abode is Shrewsbury. I rather envy than lament our worthy friend, Mr. McGilchrist, who is now in a more peaceable neighborhood, I dare say, than that he has quitted, and I fancy without regret ; would that you and I were with hira, resting, perhaps, in undisturbed quiet till the last grand tribunal scene shall open, and restore the sleeping dust to life and activity ; or, perhaps, roving in the unbounded fields of immensity, exploring and admiring the astonishing operations of omnipotence. Know you that the two great objects of American odium are now no more : — Governor Bernard died some time since, and lately Governor Hutchinson ; suddenly, as he was stepping into his carriage. Mr. Timmins has recovered from a very severe fit of sickness, and has taken up his residence with his family at Chelsea, for the benefit of the air. My future abode will be at London, or its 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 269 neighborhood. Letters will reach me there addressed to be left at the New England CoiFee-House, Threadneedle-street. With great esteem, your assured friend, S. CURWEN. July 16. Attended worship at College; Mr. Porvis, one of the prebends, preached a very ingenious discourse ; afterwards I was told it was not of his own composing ; as it is not an unusual custom among the Episcopal clergy to read others' performances in the pulpit. Afternoon saw Mr. Coates, who repeated his son's invitation to tea, and on returning home, finding no one waiting for me there, directed my footsteps to Bank-terrace, meeting a mul- titude, as is ever the custom on pleasant Sundays. July 18. From this day we have an addition to our family of my countryman Nicholas Lechmere ; supped with him and a friend of his named Maddocks. July 19. Just finished a long letter to my friend Mr. Pynchon, inclosing Lord Loughborough's speech to grand jury on St. Mar- garet's hill at the trial of some of the London rioters. July 23. Afternoon walked with N. Lechmere over Durdham Down to Ostrick ; crossed over to Cooke's Folly, a tower on the banks of the Avon. July 30. Drank tea at Mr. R. Lechmere's and after a social tete-a-tete walked with him, and lady and daughter and brother to College Green, where joined four Americans. Wrote to advise my friend Timmins of my intention to bid adieu to Bristol, and make London my residence till I shall be no more, for I despair of ever leaving this island. August 2. By invitation dined at Mr. R. Lechmere's with Admiral Graves' lady, etc. August 3. Mr. N. Lechmere accompanied me to the stage for Bath, where took leave. Found a female of fourteen only passen- ger. At Temple-gate were joined by the well known Mr. Heathin, late of Honiton in Devonshire, with his maiden sister ; the former very loquacious, who without partiality seems a compound of strong sense, knowledge, vivacity and vanity. ****** My attention was drawn to his reading the quack doctor's speech to the gaping mob, his attendants, in Launcelot Greaves, written by the late Dr. fe '' \i\. 1". mm ■ i 1 ^ ^fl i< . 1 II '\i\ ^>m ^* WW \^: gii j^- m I; WiM' n, i «• :l' ^y ') i II .''^1 ^M' I!,: .1 260 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. Smollet ; he solicited my interest with Mr. Nathaniel White, whose preaching I had attended, and proposed still to attend at old Jewry, in order to procure for him the use of his meeting-house on Sunday evenings for lecture. At six o'clock alighted at Castle inn, Market- street, Bath. After tea, taking a ramble met my said loquacious fellow-traveller ; joining me, proceeded to a long walk in a lonely road, of which he seemed glad to avail himself to recount his own adventures. Bath, August 4. Arose at seven o'clock, and joined by a Mr. Graves, a young clergyman of Suffolk, whose obliging, social be- havior rendered him an agreeable companion. On the road, about half way to our first stage, a parson named Goddard overtaking us, alighted from his own horse, delivered it to a servant, and entered our carriage, adding a third to our company. For the first half hour, our two Oxonians kept to themselves the whole conversation, wherein were disclosed many clerical and academic tales, stories, and anecdotes; among others I recollect the following: — Dr. Barton, dean of Bristol and rector of St. Andrews, Holborn, who was, according to British mode of expression, dark, meaning stone- blind, being of a humorous disposition and great self-command, having a mind to entertain himself, invited four eminent persons in the same desolate condition as he was, to a dinner, none other being present but the servants. These were Sir John Fielding, of as eminent a character in the juridical line as perhaps any roan in the civilized world ; Mr. Stanley, the well known musician, and others whose names I forget. After partaking of a joyous feast, they took a humorous leave and departed. At eleven o'clock we alighted at the Black Lion in Devizes, where, after taking refresh- ment, I walked forth to ramble, and espied a sign, for quaintness of its device here noted. On the sign were painted five men, well known by the name of the "Jive alls ;" the first in order, accord- ing to present mode of arrangement of church before king, stands the parson in his sacerdotalibus ; he prays for all : second, the lawyer, in his gown, band, and tie-wig ; he pleads for all : third, the soldier in uniform, with a fierce countenance; he fights for all: fourth is a physician, with great wig and solemn phiz, and boluses and julips in his hand ; he kills or cures all : the fifth and last is the farmer, with his settled, thoughtful countenance ; he pays for all. 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 261 Leaving this place, with fresh horses, arrived at " Great CastW^ inn, Marlborough, at two o'clock; distant thirty-two miles from Bath. This inn is famous through England for grandeur of struc- ture, it having been a nobleman's mansion-house ; the excellence and expensiveness of its accommodations, provisions, etc., are of the highest s^rle. Passed grounds wherein is a mount made by art, the ascent to the summit in a spiral line of so gentle a rising as to be imperceptible, in length half a mile, though encompassing it but four times. The mount does not exceed a hundred feet diame- ter, nor more in height ; the top is a plain, planted with trees, from which is to be seen a distant view of the town, consisting of one long street and a few short ones at right angles. Newbury, our next stage, is a long town, consisting of buildings in middle and lower style, decent and in good repair ; has one Episcopal church and four dissenting meeting-houses. Its inhabit- ants are avowed friends of American liberty, and disavowers of the war. Departed hence at seven o'clock, slept at the " George inn," Reading, a large, handsome, well-built town, principal of this fine county (Berkshire); from hence to Colebrook, where I stayed again and dined; then travelled my last stage, London, be- ing set down at the Swan inn, Holborn bridge, at the end of Fleet- market, at six o'clock. After a short rest, daylight still remaining, as it did some hours after, I walked forth to vif.v the ruins of Mr. Langdale's house, etc., almost adjoining the inn ; proceeding forward to Newgate, but little distance, which was lying in a deplorable state of ruin, destro < ' by the mob. I returned back to ray inn, filled with honest but Je vid indignation, which ought to warm the breast of every peaceable well wisher to order, laws, safety, and the rights of individuals : sleep put an end to my mortifying reflections. % M ill m> I Um l!,, ,' 262 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1780. !| '■" I '•i,i> I', 4 , > 1 !P 1 (:»■ ' li j . CHAPTER XIII. London, Jiug. 8. Engaged lodgings at Mrs. Councel's, No. 22 Castle-street, Falcon -square. TO HON. JONATHAN SEWALL, BRISTOL. Ijmdon, Jlug. 14, 1780. Dear Sik : I have been told by Mr. Jos. Green and his wife, and with such an air of serious earnestness as to lead me almost into a belief of it, that advice had last Saturday been brought to town by a vessel said to have arrived from America, that on the 19th of May, the moon being just then beyond the full, the sky clear and unclouded at sunrise, and to all appearance promising a fine bright day, con- tinuing some time in this state, when all at once a sudden darkness overspread the face of the heavens, and so palpably thick was it, that candles were lighted in the houses during its continuance till three o'clock in the afternoon, to conduct the common concerns and intercourse of life. A short interval of light or twilight ensued, but was succeeded by a tenfold darker night than was ever known. Perhaps I am misinformed ; if you have not heard of this extra- ordinary and uncommon phenomenon, suspend your belief till bet- ter or no information follows, or in the former case a fuller n il more particular relation shall be made. Time, the great revealer of secret things, will soon convince you of its truth or falsehood. I am not myself determined in ray opinion ', the belief of uncommon events requires strong evidence ; should this be true, you have astrologers, soothsayers, magicians, and wise men enough among you to explain its meaning. Very truly, your friend, S. CURWEN. 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 2G3 TO COL. WILLIAM BROWNE, COWnniDGE. London, Jlugmt 16, 1780. Dear Sir: The contents of ray last were chiefly to acquaint you of the re- ceipt of a letter from our common friend, Mr. Pynchon, tiated Salem, May 3. I shall now give you a part in his own words : " I am pleased at having so safe a conveyance, but should be more so could I write with freedom ; as I cannot, you will make allow- ances for my scrawl. I may, however, acquaint you that your family and friends are in health, and bear with cheerfulness and fortitude the rubs, jostlings antl vexations of turbulent times ; they are wishing to see you, to tell you a hundred things which might make you laugh, admire, and sometimes stare. During the winter we have been blocked up with snow ; the oldest inhabitant re- members not such quantities of it on the earth at any one time. But we are now thawed out, and begin to rejoice that the price of wood is fallen from $4,60 to $3,00 a cord. Had other necessa- ries been proportion ably dear, some of us might well wish for a return of the good old times, as they are now called ; and those whose enormous heaps have made them easy and insolent, might wish for a continuance of the confusions by which they grew in the Frenchman's style, " horriblement riches." Our worthy friend Mr. M'Gilchrist foretold that he should not live to sec an end of it, and feared that few of his old friends would ; he has gone into the vale, a true prophet — he left us on the 20tli April. His patience and fortitude continued to the last ; his sickness and death were of a piece with his life, and that you know was a lesson of virtue. He delayed making his will a little too long ; some of his preju- dices and resentments appeared on that occasion. He gave to " the Society for propagation of the gospel in foreign parts" all arrears coming to him, being three years' salary, and his part of the donation made for missionaries who had suffered in these times. I often wish to hear of Col. Browne and others of our town - men and friends there." In answer to a letter of mine some time ago, mentioning the evils of exile at my time of life, he says, " What would your feel- ings have been, my good friend, if while here you had lost your business, all your debts, the fruits of many years' labor j had been 111 l4i si III il , .1 II. IIh .1 1^ ' ' ( ' i! I t,l ■ 1 'I^Ui*' '■ . K^ m * h I s 964 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1780. driven to sell your house and land for the payment of debts nnd ex- penses, and the remainder had sunk in your hands fifty per cent ; and that though thus reduced, you could not freely nor safely walk the streets by reason of party rage and malevolence, nnd the uncon- trolled 'rancor of some men." A wretched and truly pitiable condition this ! a just picture, I fear, of American popular liberty. Dr. Charles llusscll died at Antigua last June, and his brother James, who by lucky captures by a letter of marque has realized fifteen thousand pounds sterling, is soon to be settled a Bristol merchant, and bound in the matrimonial chain to Mr. R. Lech- mere's second daughter, Mary, whom I think a fine, well accom- plished lady. Mr. Jo. Green and wife told me the story of a dark day having occurred in New England, on the 19th of May,such as was never before known ; — in order to maintain the common in- tercourse of life, candles were lighted and kept burning. For ray own part, though I am no believer in omens, I cannot but take this to be a most extraordinary and terrifying event. Darkness, in the onei- rocritic art, denotes distress, anguish, trouble, loss, sickness, death, and the whole train of evils, physical and moral. Perhaps the fearful among our country folks may find in themselves a disposi- tion to be reconciled to the thoughts of a reconnection with this country, which seems more likely to force terms on them than since this foolish, needless, baneful quarrel commenced. Here, or in this neighborhood, I propose to continue till I shall take my flight to the upper regions, or descend to the shades below ; for I am quite unsettled in my own mind whether a state of activity or insensibility shall fill up the interval between death and the fu- ture state of endless existence. My respectful compliments wait on Mrs. Browne and son ; and ardently wishing you and them the highest felicity, I remain, With great esteem, Your faithful friend, S. Cur WEN. P. S. Mr. Francis Waldo, who will soon be with you, will inform you of the troop of New Englanders resident in Bristol. August 18. Took a long, solitary ramble through Charter- house-square, thence through Gray's-Inn-lane to Clerkenwell-green, 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 265 wherein is n building not before seen or heard about, called Nevr lliiks Hall, or Middlesex Sessions House, a large and handsome structure; thence through Smithfield and Long-lane, a narrow, dis- mal, dirty street, to Aldersgate-street. Jiigust 19. Called at Francis Waldo's lodgings in Pall Mall, and at Arthur Savage's in Brompton-row, and left a card for the absentees; not a little jadt'd by the circumambulation. August 20. At Westminster Abbey ; the vergers not thinking proper to offer me a seat, I left the choir, and, like the multitude, passed the hour of devotion in gazing at the monuments and read- ing inscriptions. From thence passing through cloisters, pro- ceeded to Dean's court, inclosed in part by Westminster school buildings; returning back, stayed in choir during part of prayer ami sermon, and passed half an hour in [wet's corner. Thence to St. Margaret's church, the prea ' 'jr having just then ascended the pulpit ; I was minded to stay, but these church-servants neglecting to open a pew door for me, 1 soon departed homewards. Jtugust 23. To artillery-ground to view manoeuvres of the military association, who performed manual exercises, firings, and evolutions commendnbly. My curiosity, though still active, is soon satisfied ; nor do I lind a more convincing proof of its increasing imbecility, if the expression be not improper, than in this par- ticular. FROM HON. JONATHAN SEWALL. Bristol, August 22, 1780. Dear Sir : By a letter from Mr. Waldo to Mr. Simpson, the account of the miraculous darkness at Boston hnd reached Bristol before I was favored with yours. The story I firmly believe to be true, but like many Jewish stories in the Old Testament, I take it not in a literal, but in a metaphorical or allegorical sense. Take it as an allegory, and it is easily to be cretlited ; but as this kind of writing is now become rather obsolete, it is necessary to premise, that under the present tyranny in America, no man there dares write upon politi- cal subjects in iplain English ; if he writes at all, it must be in iark enigmas, and in this scriptural style I presume the letter from 34 J . }l: !■ is- i> ' Wi'^P Mi ^ > { .'''■ : . j! t ! " '■ 1 jl r V 266 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. which iCou dertve your intelligence is written. Interpret it thus The writer wished to let his friend here know what effecl the news of the reduction of Charleston had upon the minds of the Boston rebels, (or saints, if you like that word better,) but he dared not communicate his intelligence in a language intelligible to all, and therefore chose to give it in an allegory, trusting to the sagacity of his friend, who, being a New England saint, as I presume, he doubted not was well enough versed in Old Testament allegories, to translate it into literal English, and thus it is : — On the 19th of May, by a private hand, the news arrived of the surrender of Charleston, and though at sunrise the sky was clear, and promised a fine day, i. e., the_) were till that morning assured Clinton would be defeated, yet this fatal news at once darkened their bright pros- pect and induced a gloomy horror, so that candles were lighted in their houses, — i. e., Adams, Hancock, Dr. Cooper, and other rebel leaders went from house to house to assure the people the news could not be true. This was the short interval of light, or twilight, that ensued ; but soon after, on the same day, or perhaps the next, (for allegories, you know, do not and need not go on all fours,) an express arrived with an official account confirming the dark tale, and then the twilight was succeeded by a tenfold darkness— a dark horror and blackness of despair fell on all. This is my in- terpretation. Si quid novisti rediiis istis, Candidas imperti ; si nm, his xitere mtcum* It is consoling, pro tempore, at least. In my sense of the story, you are not hummed nor misinformed, but you only, like many other commentators, misinterpret. I cannot devise the meaning of your quaint device at thedevizes, unless the Jive alls intend five shoemakers, but this seems too far-fetched to deserve even the epithet of" quaint ;" perhaps were I to see the figures in their characteristic attitudes, I might make a better guess ; but with my present data, I give it up, and wish you would explain it, or if you choose to try my genius at expounding enigmatical paintings, which, I assure you, is but a sorry one, give me the characteristic attitudes ; paint it to me as it is, and I'll try again. I am mightily pleased with the news of the day : La Nymphe • " Pray adopt it ; unless you can suggest a better one." 1780.] J O U R N A I, AND I. K T T V. 1! S . 207 taken by the Flora, which must be true, and the French seventy- four gun ship by the Bienfaisant, which, as I always hope the best, I hope is true ; besides a frigate taken and carried into Halifax, which I likewise hope is true. I rejoice also that Admiral Geary is arrived in the Channel. I hope the eighteen Russian raen-ot- war will be taken into safe custody, and held till we are sure they can do no mischief. Were I his Majesty's premier, I would not for a moment trust a b of a queen, who could nmrder her hus- band and mount his throne— there's no trusting such a jade ; if she means fair, her ships are safe in our hands ; if, on the other hand, as is most probable, she means, in conjunction with France and Spain, to play the devil, obsta prina'piis ought to be our motto. Nip her in the bud, secure these eighteen ships, and her marine power is annihilated — and considering the brimstone, besides mur- dering her husband which I would never forgive, has been the in- stigatrix of the northern association, why the deuce should we stand upon ceremony with her? Why should England regard the laws of nations, while every power in Europe is setting them at defiance 1 No, no. Providence, or their evil genius, has put thera into our hands, and all nature will ridicule us if we let them escape. I hope his Majesty, God blfi-ss him. Lord North, Lord Sandwich, and all the lords of the council, God bless them all, see the thing in the light I do ; if they do, I asn sure the Czarina's eighteen ships will soon be manned by British seamen, and added to the British fleet. Her consum^iate impudence in sending her fleet into our harbors, after the infamous step she has taken, and our own security, the first of all laws, will amply justify us. Tell Lord North what I say when you see him next. 1 should not have troubled you with my scolding at the Empress of Russia, (against whom I have no personal enmity, except a lit- tle for the murder of her husband, which I think concerns all bus- bands,) had I not learned when I got half down the other side, that Danforth goes for London on Thursday, by whom I can send this, so that a cover will cost you nothing. With very little malice against the Czarina, and none against any other of God's creation, I am your sincere friend and humble servant, J. Sewall. Mr. Curwen. 1 % ' 4, M' 1 ' i V m 'li&iii ':'i''!i!L. i''^ mm I .,, .Jl.'iii,' up fi lir ■:ii '-a 268 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. {ff' ftij n' I '^ .■ 'm ' ■ • ; > ' ' ' liiriii m I fiitlii ! I FROM HON. WILLIAM BROWNE. Cowbridge, Wales, August 22, 1780. Dear Sir : I give you many thanks for your kind favor just received, and gladly avail myself of your kindness to forward the inclosed, as ad- dressed. I have also to acknowledge the receipt of two former letters, which have long lain before me, waiting for spirits to sup- port the ennui of writing a single line. In short, to tell you a truth, our prospects with regard to America were till lately so un- promising, my finances were so small, ray family and expenses so increased, that, added to the common catalogue of vexations which attach themselves to us all, more or less, every exertion became a burden, and I had nothing to do to be easy but to do nothing and care for nobody. Better expectations have produced better spirits, and brought with them better dispositions. It is with pleasure then that I wish to revive a correspondence with an old and much esteemed friend. It has puzzled all the wise men of Cowbridge to divine from what cart of London you have dated your letter ; va- rious are the conjectures, some humorous and some plausible, but none satisfactory ; so we have agreed to suspend our speculations until we could consult the inhabitant of this unknown region. I thank you for the extract from Mr. Pynchon's letter. A de- tail of their sufferings would give us pain if they were all strangers; how much more then when we have so many friends among them ? It brings, however, this pleasing reflection, that we made a wise choice in leaving them. When you have collected an authentic and satisfactory account of the phenomonon you mention to have happened at Boston,* I wish you would communicate it, with its circumstances, consequences, and impressions, unless it should lirst appear in some public print. I think you do perfectly right to make choice of London for your residence the coming winter. It is the only place in which a single man can spend the gloomy months with any satisfaction. \ wonder as much that more of our countrymen do not resort there at that season, as that so many of them continue there when they <* Dark day. 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 269 ought to be sporting in green fields and by the side of purling streams. Sed trahit sua quemque voluntas* I lately received a line from Mr. Porter, describing, in the most gaudy colors imaginable, the happiness to which his situation has introduced him, encouraging all the world to come to Shrewsbury, and promising every felicity that the golden age could ever boast of. What strange mortals we are ! Some men are always happy where they are, some where they have been, and some where they shall be ; and yet we are none of us satisfied with either past, pre- sent, or to come. I wish I could remove your doubts about the in- terval you mention, for then I could also administer some satisfac- tion to myself. At present I have only that of subscribing myself, dear sir, Your affectionate friend, Wm. Browne. Mk. Curwen. August 25, Visited the ruins of King's Bench prison and Sur- rey bridewell, sad proofs of popular folly and violence ; the former repairing. TO THOMAS RUSSELL, ESQ., BOSTON. London, August 25, 1780. Dear Sir : I am ignorant in what light my silence to you may appear ; indeed, I am not satisfied of the propriety of it myself; however, I doubt not your candor, when I declaie upon honor, that want of real esteem and regard was not in the remotest view a cause. Your obliging favor demanded an answer and thanks ; do not say it is too late now, for I now offer them with equal warmth and sin- cerity. I presume Lane and Fraser have long since informed you that I availed myself of your friendly offer, that did me an essential service ; but having determined not to mention any circumstances relative to business in letters, for very olvious reasons, to which I have steadily adhered, you will therefore please to excuse any thing further r .nis head. Would that the safely of intercourse between the two countries by letter was greater, but God only * " Every one follows the bent of his own inclinations."' i'\ -mm, r H„JS 270 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. 1 r ^' :,■,*, ■ 1 1 h ^ ! J . ' u. !:,ir knows •when a period will be put to this execrably baneful war. I fear it is hardly arrived to half its length, unless this country gives up the chase, for the obstinacy of the Americans supplies the want of resources. Yesterday news arrived of the most melancholy complexion. Our western-bound fleet, the convoy and one ship only excepted, fell into the hands of the French and Spaniards, consisting of forty-nine merchant ships, transports and victuallers, including five outward-bound East Indiamen. This is the most capital blow England ever felt by an enemy at sea ; particulars in papers that accompany this. Of the penchant of noble and wealthy ladies to vie with their partners of the other sex in the laudable pursuit of gaming, etc., take the following instance: At the time of my first arrival in London, a house opposite Governor Hutchinson's, in St. James'- street, was then finishing, called " Sqavoirvivre," being a gaming- house of the highest modern taste, perhaps much more magnificent in architecture and furniture than English America can boast, and designed for gentlemen exclusively. The ladies' pride being piqued, they bought up that which the governor lived in, and the two on either side of it, and though in excellent repair, demolished them, erecting in their room one in the same taste as its opposite neigh- bor ; and to this day these two temples are devoted to the worship of the blind deity, Fortune, on whose altars are nightly sacrificed thousands, besides the peace and support of many of her foolish and equally blind devotees. These, among a multitude of other instances, are proofs and memorials of the expensive taste and di- versions of this age and country. Messrs. Byles and Brattle having been refused a residence in their own country, renders my return (who I presume stand not so fair as either of them) more doubtful, or rather more impracticable; and though it has ever been the first and the last wish of my heart to return, and you know that very well, I presume you think a per- mission not obtainable, having received no encouragement on that head. Most ardently and sincerely wishing you every blessing, I am, with love to Mrs. R. and little family. Your obliged friend, S. Curwen. 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. FROM HON. JONATHAN SEWALL. 271 Bristol, Aug. 24, 1780. Dear Sir : Since I wrote you by Mr. Danforth, Mr. R. Temple and family have arrived here in thirty-two days from Boston, from whom I learn that the story of the dark day is literally true ; but, as they relate it, the phenomenon was truly wonderful, far beyond my comprehension. They say the morning was not as you state, fine and clear, but rather lowering and drizzly, though far from dark ; that at nine o'clock an uncommon darkness came on, without any appearance of a thick cloud. Mr. Temple said it seemed as if a veil was drawn over them, which he seemed to look through, and see the heaven beyond it. The darkness increased till they were obliged to light candles, and this continued till three o'clock, when it lightened up a little ; but before sunset the darkness returned, and the night resembled the darkness of Egypt, which might be felt. It was so intense that many persons in Boston and the coun- try were bewildered in going from house to house where they were intimately acquainted. They say that during the darkness in the day, the green grass appeared of a dark blue color ; and on the next morning, both the water and land were covered with a dark greasy or oily substf nee ; that the darkness extended northward, as far as Hudson river ; and westward, as far as they had heard from — I say as far as Lake Champlain ; and that it was the devil spreading his wings over the northern rebellious colonies, and if they do not repent, the next time he will certainly fly off with them all. I give you this account to atone for ray infidelity in my last, and with all the allowance I can make for the subtle workings of the imagination. I confess, I am puzzled to account for the ap- pearance ; the young ladies, the Misses Temple, who were in Boston, say candles were lighted all the day in the shops and houses ; but in the evening, they were at a wedding-ball with a brilliant company ; which, if they don't exaggerate, would put me in mind of the inhabitants of the old world, who were eating and drinking, feasting and frolicking, till the flood came, &c. &c. They add another circumstance which increaseth the wonder ; namely, that during the darkness there was not the least appear- ; ,i 11 ^ m 'lit ■■M ,!-■ ., in I t 5 t: m i/\ t ,£■11 f !'• i IW' 'IT I i' . 1 ■ 1, m 1': ■ ':> |r „ I ! # m % 272 JOURNAL AND LITTERS. [1780. ance of fojr, smoke or haziness. I wish you would consult that learned body, the Royal Society, upon this lusus naiurce, and let me know the result ; for I do not believe all the wise men of Boston will be able to explain it. I have seen Boston papers to the 17th of July ; but they con- tain nothing new, except the arrival of the Chevalier de Ternay at Rhode Island, with seven ships of the line and troops ; upon this occasion, all their pens are at work to rekindle the dying patriotic fire. Washington, it seems, in expectation of deTernay's arrival, had made a requisition upon all the states, of men, horses, provisions, &c. ; but, by the complaints in the papers, the levies went on heavily. The plan seetns to be to muster their utmost force, and in conjunction with the French, to attack New-York, and drive the British Ibrces fiom the continent. I wish they may have courage to attempt it. General Kniphausen has burnt the little village of Springfield in the Jerseys. A paper of July 6th, says, General Clmton was returned to New-York ; but that of the 17th leaves him up North river, near forming a junction with General Kniphausen. The ladies of Philadelphia have opened a subscription for supplying the army with comforts and conveniences; they have appointed a trcasuress to receive, and a committee to distribute the donations ; and all the ladies upon the continent are earnestly and pathetically exhorted to follow this laudable and patriotic example. If (he zeal and spirit of the peasants can again be raised, I think this will prove a decisive campaign. Admirals Graves and Ar- buthnot, it is said, are at New-York ; so that if the Chevalier De Ternay did not get away with ships very soon, they probably, ere this, are added to the British navy ; which would console for the loss of the East and West Indiamen. I must mention an advertisement I read in one of the papers, which shows the value of the paper money there : — " Forty dollars is ofl'ered a pound for horsehair, or three shillings in hard money." Or which is better, " the advertiser will work it up at the halves !" Yours very truly, Jonathan Sewall. Jlugmt 26. Visited Mr. Jo. Scott : — dined at Mrs. Hay's, with James Ilarwood and S. Conant, (two young Americans, ; ii / 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS; 27^ Strangers to me,) and was after joined by Mr. Thomas Danforth, the first time of seeing him since my return, he having been absent on a three months' excursion to the westward ; he brought me A humorous letter from Judge Sewall. Jugust 27. Met S. Walsh and Peter Johonnot. TO HON. William browne, cowbridge, wales. London, Jiugust 29, 1780. Dear Sir : Mr. Francis Waldo's intended journey to Cowbridge on a visit to bis sister, Mrs. Flucker, affords me opportunity of acknowledging receipt of your favor of the 27th inst. Yours endorsed to Mrs. Sargent will go off to-morrow for Holland under cover of mine j having ordered the bearer in case of capture, (though my letters contain neither treason, love, nor politics,) to throw them into the sea ; yours will follow their fate. My present residence is not that of the gay and fashionable, and therefore unknown, suiting me ill this state of degradation not a whit the less on that score. The different views and appearances that are daily arising in and about London, are as great and almost as frequent as the different phases of the moon in one of its revolutions, and render many spots and places a mere terra incognita, that to those who have been absent a few years were well known. For having about ten days since wandered to the further end of Mary le Bone, being designed to a distant quarter, on finding myself there, I inquired for the gardens which you remember to have been resorted to by company, and where fireworks were exhibited ; to my surprise the whole ground is laid out in streets and covered with grand and elegant houses, and even beyond it. In this ramble accident revealed a secret that has puzzled you and the wise men of Cowbridge, that probably I should otherwise never have possessed. Some months since h. letter was addressed to me by James Russell, dated Manchester- square — the location of which was beyond the reach of my know- ledge or any of those I had consulted, having never before heard of it ; chance, however, in this ramble directing my steps among rows of new buildings, and directing also my eye to a corner house in an unfinished square of noble structures, inscribed Manchester- square, this unimportant secret was thereby revealed. 35 l< '■ I'l!- ' . h ri >•• M i'^n '.: f I %i\\\ fliL-i! f I' , t: ;^i*' mm m ■• |';«i. S74 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. ''' •■' '■, .f;r 1 '. i r ^^t K li k ^iii'l .» •ij' hi 11 I am afraid your sunshine of happiness is a little overclouded by the mortifying advices in respect of our eastern and western fleets ; the most capital blow England ever received by an enemy at sea since King William's reign, fourscore years ago, when nearly four hundred sail were lost at one time. The loss is esti- mated at a million, I hope it will not be more. To this another stroke has succee. and their wliot piiden pies ; And they keep zitch a naise all over the town, Ich think that the world wor a turn'd up-zide-down." With the kindest love and regards to Mrs. Browne and family, I remain your affectionate friend, S. CUKWEN. Mgust 31. To Mr. Francis Waldo's, at " Gentlemen's Hotel," Pall Mall ; met Mr. Jo. Greene on Holborn Hill, and walkid to Brompton to call on Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Savage; both absent. Mf' 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 276 At a bookseller's in St. Paul's Churrh-yarH, met toy Scoti^h towns- man Andrew Dalglisli, from Glasgow, and he wishes me to recotn- meiid him private lodj^intrs. In the Strand njet Mr. Frs. Waldo, and accompanied him to Canon coffee-house, Sprinjv Gardens, and took tea, where wi^re joined by Jo Scott, and remained till eleven o'clock in talkinr; politics. In the " Courant" of this day, find a siiinrniiry of form ot «^overnment to be estahlishfd in Massa- cliiwtts Bay, to cominiince next Ortober. It will be w« 11 if it be proiliiclive ot as murh security as the old. There are not wanting th(w, I fiiiicy, many on both sid«'s the great water, who do with me fear the dire consequenoes of an estrangement from govern- mental power anil protection, atid a pernicious allianre with a faithlt'Ss people ; ujuny there are as well alTerted to the real interest of 'hat (loiintiy as the uiost ardent republicans. If Fiench tronps in the English colonies in North America be not pregnant with direfid evils, and destructive of American independence, ray foreboding fears are imaginary may they prove so. I wish, how- ever, the hit-l)rained politicians there may in time foresee the baiicfid con>eiuences early er>i!i;h to prevent then, — i " not, wo betid J the in'i i') tants! I he.Kti!y wish they never may experience the cruelty and oppression that belcll Flanders during the Duke of Alva's sansfuimry tyranny, and may its oppressions be of less dura- tion, should they ever experK'nce them from their present allies. The politics of the court of Versailles are not in their nauire formed to promote the liberty of English subjects; nothing but party rage intercepts between the mental eye and a truth visible as the sun at meridian in a cloudless day. Sept. 2. Circuited to Smithfield, in order to see the ceremony of opening Bartholomew Fair by the Lord Mayor — ^just finished. The whole is a mere rabble rout, reli.shable only by " mene peu- ple;" conducted by men, women, and children, in painted masks and mcrry-andrew tawdry dresses. The amusements consist in jumping, dancing, riding on roundabout horses with legs, speech- making, etc., performed on scaffolds; together with sleight-of-hand tricks, in front rooms hired for that purpose ; the ascent whereto is by a kind of rough ladder-stairs, actors and performers inviting in by a thousand antic postures and gestures. Passages round lined m I A I'' r i! hn m L H F ■M J Jl! •kri t'JIi' 'Mm iif 1276 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. ( I * I with booths and tents, crammed with gingerbread, pastry, and all Jcinds and varieties of baubles. Sept. 3. To Richmond Gardens ; they fall short of my expeci tations — a dead level, laid out in lon^, straight gravel walks, not in the best order — lined with trees and stumps, great numbers, we were told, cut down to serve the king's kitchen for fuel. A little beyond is a fine lawn, interspersed with trees, and accommodated with field seats, commanding a delightful view of the river Thames, here a smooth gentle stream, gliding along the side of a delightful raised terrace, eight feet high, between gardens or lawns, for a mile ^nd a half, reaching to Kew house — for the pompous appellation of palace it merits not. This walk reminds me of Sir John Dun^ flam's beautiful couplet : " Though deep yet clear, tliongh gentle yet not dull ; Strcng without rage, without o'erflowing full." From this only pleasing spot departed, taking a final leave of these (I know not why) celebrated gardens, and directed our steps to the Queen's Terrace, so called, on Richmond Hill, commanding, though not a very extensive, yet a distinct and pleasing prospect, having many fine objects in command of the eye besides the river, which is almost undei foot. Ascending to the top, passed the well known inn of Star and Garter, remarkable for its elegant accom- modations, and consequent high charges, and entered park, cele- brated for its natural beauties. Sept. 9. Met Mr. J. Waldo, of Bristol, and a Capt. Fletcher, both violent Americans in principle ; the latter commander of a letter of truce, (falsely so called,) who brought over Mr. R. Tem-. pie and family. Sept. 12. At Guildhall, to see the polling for city members fprnew parliament; conducted with regularity, the avenues crowded with distributers of party papers, bawling aloud for their employ^ ers' favorites, friends of the respective candidates bringing on voters, single and in shoals. Sept. 15. Charles J. Fox shot ahead of Lord Lincoln greatly yesterday (candidates for Westminster) ; the latter, it is said, pro- poses to l;eep the election going on till after some borough e!ec- 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 277 tions are over, in order to have a numerous host of friends, but he must rally great numbers. Sept. 16. To Mr. Timmins's, and after an hour's abode, walk- ed together ; encountered Van Coulster ; his shabby dress gave me uneasiness, indicating want ; he seemed in good spirits, however, and inquired my lodgings — gave him a card. Sept. 17. Attended worship at Lincoln's Inn chapel. Samuel Peters preached — he is an indifferent speaker and composer — how he got there is as hard to conceive as straws in amber. After, at Essex chapel, Mr. Lindsay preached to a very respectable looking assembly; church is not crowded at this season — a most excellent discourse, delivered with suitable gravity, and, I am disposed to believe, sincerity. Sept. 19. Market crowded with mob huzzaing for Fox. Sept. 21. Election for sheriffs; all but livery excluded from the hall on election of city officers. Sept. 23. Walking through Old Bailey, and seeing a great crowd, learnt that two pickpockets were to be whipped. Jack Ketch, a short sturdy man, soon appeared with the culprits, one after the other ; the first seemed like an old offender, and was mod- erately lashed ; the mob said he had bought off the minister of justice ; he writhed but little. The other was young, distress painted strongly on his countenance ; he cried loudly ; his back seemed unused to stripes ; from this time it will carry the marks of legal vengeance, and proofs of his folly and wickedness. Going forward, passed through the Strand ; and returned by way of Covent Garden to see election, which had been ended and poll closed for two hours ; and the elected members, returning from the procession, were just entering James'-street, mounted on two arm chairs, placed on a board that was carried on eight men's shoul- ders, accompanied by thousands with tokens of victory : red and blue ribbons in their hats. Sept. 25. At Covent Garden theatre ; performance, Beggar's Opera ; parts well played, but great impropriety, not to say inde- cency, in Mrs. Kennedy's personating McHeath. Bravery, gal- lantry, and a fearless disregard of death, the characteristics of that notorious highwayman ; which female softness awkwardly imitates. Following entertainment, falsely so called ; execrably foolish and \H 5 :{! !,« : P m ;i:;':.<:'1 f>t. ..} n ! ill 278 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. ■i- '\ ■\ i'«. n li -' if '' ■ ^! P I'll III, childish. I am sorry to arraign even the shilling gallery for want of judgment, in .siitfering such unmeaning stuti'to pass for a furci'. TO WILLIAM CAROT, ESQ, NO. 7, LAMBETH-TERRACE. JVb. 22, Castle-street, Falcoi -square, Sept. 28, 1780. Dear Sir : Recollecting a request you mater of the Unitarian society niettiag Jit Essex l-lou>e in the Siiand, had published a liturgy lofornud .; i icably to Ur. Sainiiel Cbnkc's plan, free from the erMv; and peculiarities o( any aid every par- ticular sect among Christ ans; makmu ilie supreme Gi il ami Failier of all, in contradistinction to every other being, the sole cbj i:t cf religious U'(,r ship ; but in the name and as the disciples cf Jesus Christ, whose Lord, h^ad and ma.ster, all true Christiaris ackiinw- ledofe him to be. If you have not bouuht one, Ihey are to !)e had of Mr. Johnson, bookselh^-, 72 St. Paul's Chuicb-yard. His mode of worship, I profess to think agreeable to the genuine spirit ol the gospel, and m>se!f to be one of his worshippinij cnngregalion. His plan, in my view, is vscriptural ; his wor.ohp plain, simple, un- mixed with superstitious, immeaninj;' jn her back, and swinging to ai/d fro three feet above the fl« of the stage; rising without any assistance, she walked back w- ds and forwards on it ; whilst in notion, a whalebone hoop cm reater diameter than her height w -is placed on the wire, into wk« she stepped and walked backwards and forwards as before, an. tiilst in it received in her hand a sni iller hoop, wheret n were pla( < wo tumblers, about two thiids full of red liquor, and whilst si., vas swinging whirled the smaller hoop round many times w lut spilling a drop. The same afl< rwards mounted a tight-io| e, mv- ing baskets of the size of a half bushel fastened to her feet ; wi ,, these she walked backwards and forwards, displaying various mo- tions. After divesting herself of these incumbrances, she first walked as before backwards and forwards, leaping, vaulting, and throwing herself down. Her pert 'rmances on the tight-rope were accompanied by a balance-pole in her hand, and by two men who slightly touched the pole when it (escended below the horizontal lines. Whilst on the slack-rope, she went through the whole ex- ercise of flourishing colors, consisting of a great variety of motions —holding a standard in each hand. '.. !'■ Ill i I i!f- > « 1 ^1 - - If.- i"' »'. H': f M 1 jr- ■ r li 1 Hi»7 *- 1 •• . ')i 1 t 1 1 ' 1 ■ ■■! ' 1^ it 280 JOURXAL AND letters. [1780. TO ARTHUR SAVAGE, ESQ., NO. 7, BROMPTON-ROW. JVo. 22, Castle-street, Falcon-square, Oct. 14, 1780. Dear Sir : Your agreeable and obliging favor of the 11th instant came to hand the day after its date, but a severe cold, yet confining incj prevented the attention your politeness demanded. I thank you for the kind information it contained respecting the Roman denarii and English coins; a few of which, if not above the reach of my purse, 1 would gladly procure. If my indisposition goes off and the weather permits, I will wait on you next Monday afternoon. With compliments to Mrs. and Miss Savage, I remain, etc., etc. S. CURWEN. Oct. 15. Sunday afternoon, at the Temple. Stood for a time to take another stare at old Plowden's funeral monument; the figure in a decumbent posture, near the altar — a most expressive face ; he died in 1585. This church is a noble old large structure, containing many funeral monuments and inscriptions. Just without the church, and under arches, lie in a decumbent posture ten Tem- plars, in their military garb and appurtenances, contained within two separate inclosures. From church retreated with the company into the gardens, always open on Sundays between and after services. Oct. 16. Visited Mr. A. Savage, and abode ttiere till late in the evening. Oct. 17. To Oxford-street, to examine some silver Roman denarii and Greek and English coins — for which they require far more than I think them worth — a Cromwell half-crown at thirty- six shillings ! But I am not medal mad. Oct. 18. Received an order from the treasury for my quarterly allowance. Bought ten silver Roman denarii. Mr. Samuel Hirst Sparhawk and Andrew Dalglish drank tea with me. Oct. 19. Went with Mr. Sparhawk to Disputing Club, at King's Arms, Cornhill — Question : " Is it for the advantage of mankind, that at the institution of government, rewards should have been given to virtue, as well as punishments inflicted for vice ?" The proposer 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 281 varied the question, or rather dispute, by repeatedly declaring the impossibility of establishing it, from the unsuccessful attempts of ancient nations, as Egyptians, Chinese, former and modern. This point was however contested, s in the instance of the Romans, who made some faint attempts in corona civica and muralis — allowing valor to be a virtue, and by exempting from taxes the father of four children, placing the increase in society in that predicament ; and in modern times the French, in bestowing the order of St. Louis, and even the English in some instances, particularly the order of the Bath — the late honor and pension to Capt. Farmer's eldest son and widow ; all of which had and have a tendency to raise an emu- lation in the breasts of gentlemen in that line. The whole of which and many other fine things on this side the question, were smartly and pointedly ridiculed by a Dr. Dodd, whose brilliancy of expres- sion, liveliness of wit, and keenness of satire, kept the assembly in almost one continued roar of laughter and applause. Some of the speakei-s acquitted themselves to very general approbation, and none failed to receive marks of applause. However low public virtue and public spirit is thought to be, and unfortunately really is, I could not but remark, with great satisfaction and delight of soul, the loud and very general shouts of applause to every lively, just sentiment and expression in favor or in support of the virtues, public spirit, regard to the constitution, and the rights of mankind. The room was large and handsomely furnished with glass chandeliers ; and the entertainment so highly pleasing, amusing, and instructive, that I am determined to attend hereafter every Thursday evening, when circumstances shall permit. The presi- dent enters at eight o'clock, and continues till ten. When the question has been debated, and no one, after a silence of two minutes, offers to rise, he puts the question, or rather reads it very deliberately ; the vote is then taken and declared ; in the present question, in the negative. Oct. 25. It being Accession-day, park guns fired — saw a great collection of people. Oct. 26. Walked with Mr. Dalglish to Hempsted, passing Caen Wood, Lord Mansfield's seal ; liom thence to Highgaf e ; at Gate-house we dined — from thence to Bagnigge-wells to tea — passing home, we abode there two hours, and departed to King's 36 i.|t fl^fi] JT^P ^p w i'ii« P r ■ , "1 '■ , i ! I I 1 't ,. I ll' fc.' iwH'ffr' Ml"!' 282 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. ri78a Arms, Cornhill Disputing Club ; — question proposed was, " Would it be proper at this crisis, considering our successes in South Caro- li7)a, to offer the Americans independence ?" After much warmth or expression on both sides, though without scurrility or abuse, the question was put ; though the first time declared by the president uncertain on which side the majority lay, to me it appeared in the affirmative; none denied the president's dedaration. The second time it was plainly in the negative. Oct. 28. Had an agreeable t6te-a-t6te with Mr. T. Danforth, on his Holland tour. Dined at Mr. Sparhawk's ; company J. Scott, B. Cutler, and a young Mr. Perkins, late from New- York. Heard many novel stories about America and the Americans. TO REV. JOSEPH BRETLAND, EXETER. London, Oct. 31, 1780. Dear Sir : I should not have failed to have answered your obliging favor of the 30th ult. before this time, but the daily expectation of giv- ing a satisfactory reply to your inquiry, (concerning the state of the air previous to the darkness on which your conjecture was founded,) has been the only cause of this delay. The young per- son who brought the relation first to London from Boston, being gone to Holland, has not yet returned ; nor has it been in m} power to obtain sight of any one from that country since ; despair- ing of it for some length of time, I cannot prevail on myself to de- lay any longer. Your ingenious accounting for the appearances during and after the darkness is natural, pleasing and intelligible. The trouble you have taken to commit your thoughts on the subject to writing, de- mands ray thanks. The late performance of Dr. Priestley, which you wished me to read, I have bought and read with great delight ; for when the very existence of the Deity, as well as his moral govern- ment, is denied and made the scorn and subject of light mirth among the young, thoughtless and profligate, in conversation as well as in the writings of philosophers and pretenders to cool, dis- passionate, unprejudiced reasoning, I am pleased to find one of Dr. Priestley's known abilities stand up in support of this most impor- tant of all the articles of belief. Two or three difficulties having 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. occurred to me in reading, (which was done in a kind of currente pede,) I shall give it a second or third examination, and hope by the friendly aid of ray worthy friend, to arrive at a more compre- hensive knowledge ol the subject. 1 am glad Mr. H.'s arrogance and malevolence, if you will allow the expression, against moral obligation, is corrected by so masterly a hand ; but could wish the doctor had not rated his philosophical abilities so low; for should his defenders find the least mistake, misrepresentation or misquota- tion, his warmth will be construed to have procei (lt;d from envy and a bitterness of spirit against an author of established fame ; nor will the friends to that side of the question fail to magnify it and trumpet it forth to the doctor's disadvantage. I am sorry I cannot give an answer of a contrary kind to my friend's wish, so flattering to my pride, of my return to Exeter ; but the increasing infirmities of old age, the advanced season of the year, and, above all, the approaching period to the American dis- pute, forbid my leaving the city. I fancy you will wonder at the last reason as.signed, but in truth that event, it is my real opinion, is much nearer than is generally expected. I acknowledge I am not acquainted with one courtier or court lounger, nor informed of the deliberations or opinions prevailing in the cabinet. It is from the appearances of affairs only 1 form my judgment. In a chequered state of things, as is the case in common wars, the sen- timents, opinions and judgments of all men vary with the vicissi- tudinary, changing state of events ; but in this baneful, woful quarrel, such a continued, unbroken series of disappointments, dis- asters and mortifying events have taken place, that it seems to me to be morally impossible but the eyes of all thoughtful, prudent, knowing men must open and discern the impolicy and impractica- bility of accomplishing the great end for which this war was un- dertaken — the reduction of the colonies to the obedience of the British parliament. It may be objected that our prospects are brightened, and we are in a course of conquering ; — that I deny, for one swallow makes no summer. We have beaten the rebel army, and expelled that army out of Carolina with half their num- bers ; have rivetted the inhabitants to our interests ; they are be- come loyalists and have sworn allegiance, and that they will always v:mm 1' 284 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. do whilst you can coiomand their estates and persons. This re- minds me of the hnes in Hudibras : " 'Tis he that breaks an oath who makes it ; Not he who for convenience takes it." That the Americans practise this rule is true, but how far they believe it to be just, I won't say. For proof I refer you to Rhode Island, Philadelphia, and those parts of Long Island and the Jer- seys, relinquished ; there are besides many other instances ; while un- der British power they are loyal, that power removed, they as nat- urally return to their former condition as any elastic body returns to its natural form when the force is removed. That the reduction of South Carolina with the defeat of Gates will draw North Caro- lina and Virginia, I no more believe, than that Rodney will over- power either of the fleets of the combined powers, and of course take possession of some of their islands in the West Indies, which nobody dreams of. The situation of this country respecting neutral powers, is alarming ; should Portugal declare against us, we shall not have a port on the sea coast of this terrestrial globe to carry our prisoners into out of our own dominions, whilst all the nations far and near shelter and protect our enemies ; and that she is on the point of forsaking our alliance is but too probable. If Great Britain shall retain her rank among the great nations of Europe, and a respect- able part of her foreign possessions, the miracle of her salvation will be as great and auspicious as the deliverance of the children of Israel from the oppressive power of Pharaoh and his hosts when they stood trembling on the banks of the Red Sea, just before it opened by divine command to let them pass through, and thereby escape his power. Could my prayers and tears prevail, a plenty should not be wanting to save our country from utter ruin, to which I fear this once happy, favored isle is hastening by large strides. Please make my compliments to such acquaintances as you know I did nnd ought to esteem, and believe me very truly. Your friend, S. C UK WEN. [1780. 'his re- ar they > Rhode the Jer- ?hile un- ' as nat- f returns eduction th Caro- n\\ over- )f course ;s, which owers, is ot have a prisoners and near I point of tain shall respect- salvation children osts when before it thereby a plenty to which strides, es as you uly, lURWEN. 1780] JOURNAL ANU LETTERS. 285 CHAPTER XIV. London, J^ov. 1, 1780. Went to Parliament House, through Court of Requests to lobby of House of Commons ; thence to pas- sage to the House of Lords ; the crowd in both great. I could gain no admittance. I saw Lord George Germaine for the first time ; a large, stout, raw-boned man. Met Mr. R. Temple and family in the passage to the lords, waiting to see Mr. Querme of the black rod ; questioned him about the state of the air in New England previous to the mid-day darkness in May last year ; he remembered but little about that event, or declined to say much about it. In clearing the house to go to the lords to attend the king's accept- ance of their speaker, and hear his speech from the throne, I was drawn away, when otherwise I might have seen Lord North, that for the space of five years, my residence in England, I have not hitherto been favored with. J^ov. 4. Accompanied Mr. Dalglish to La Belle Assemblee, or Ladies' Disputing Society. The question proposed was : " Would it not be prudent and proper, considering the great demand for public supplies, and the difficulty of raising them, to lay a tax on old bachelors ?" The lady who first spoke, moved to alter the question and include old maids, which was objected to by a fine young lady, who answered in a lively, pleasing manner ; her objec- tion was, however, overruled by a vote put by the president. Ques- tion then stood as including old maids. Twelve female speakers stood forth in succession, and the question was carried in the affir- mative. There were many excellent thoughts expressed and some witty ones ; some acquitted themselves to the approbation of the company. A few, through diffidence or forgetfulness, stopped short in mid-race, and sat down, unable to proceed ; these met with po- lite and kind indulgence, and wereclapped by way of encourage- ment. Kov. 8. Towards Guildhall meeting; great crowds to view the preparations for to-morrow, when the mayor is to be sworn in A fVI t .1 I'. H. '1M I ,r .{ 286 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. and invested with the regalia of the chief magistracy. The floor of the hall is raised, half of the lower part partitioned off and in- closed for the entertainment of the lord mayor, aldermen, and cora- men council, with their guests. In the central line, through the whole length, are hung three noble chandeliers, and round the walls, in festoons, are placed small lamps of different colors. The lady mayoress' drawing room is also adorned in the same manner, and a music gallery built up for the present occasion. JVov. 9. Lord Mayor's day. My lord goes attended in a pompous procession fromGuildhall toQueenhithe stairs, and thence in thecity barge, gaudily decorated, by water to Whitehall stairs, from whence he riiles in a coach to Westminster Hall, to be sworn into his new office by one of the barons of the exchequer. He returns by water to Blackfriars Bridge stairs, where he lands and goes in city stace coach to Guildhall, to partake of the banquet there provided, and pass the remainder of the day in festivity, accompanied by city councils, sheriffs, and other officers. Streets lined with crowds, besides company stands or tents erected in Cheapside, on both sides as far as King-street, leading to Guildhall. A man in complete armor attends the armorer's company on horseback, with such a weight of iron as renders his duty a heavy and fatiguing one. Called on by Samuel Sparhavvk, to accompany me to a friend's house on Ludgate hill, for an advantageoussight of the procession, but being too early, continued our walk to the park, where we met Mr. Clark (father-in-law of Mr. Copley) for the first time since my return to London ; he kindly welcomed me back, and invited me to renew ray visits at his house. TO HON. JONATHAN SEWALL, BRISTOL. L(mdon,jyov. 19, 1780. Dear Sir : The delay to answer your favor of August 24, arose solely from successive diappoinlments in my endeavors to obtain a true and in- telligible relation of the state of the air immediately preceding the darkness that covered the face of the heavens on the 19th of last May ; the knowledge of this circumstance seems necessary in order to assign a strictly phi'osophical reason for it. As the fact at pre- sent stands, all reasoning about it depends on the truth of hy- 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 287 polheses ; my philosophical friend, Mr. Bretland, of Exeter, has sent the following conjectural account of its cause, which I shall transcribe for your amusement, and doubt not you will think it both ingenious and probable. " The uncommon phenomenon of which you have favored me with an account, is deserving the attention of philosophers : the previous circumstances of the atmosphere where it happened, seem necessary to enable me to give a satisfactory explication of its causes. If I may be allowed to conjecture, I suppose that before it came on, there had been much dry and warm weather, and an extensive stagnation in the air. If these were the previous circum- stances, it may, I think, be accounted for by supposing that the air having been very much dried, and the putrefaction of lakes and vegetable substances having become very great and extensive, there was a copious ascent of vapors, which are well known to have frequently a blue or purple tinge, and at the same time not to form themselves into clouds sufficiently dense to obstruct the pas- sage of the rays of light, or wholly interrupt the view of objects between which and the observer's eye they may chance to be situ- ated, though dense enough to reflect a very large proportion oi" the rays of light from the upper surface, and sufficiently colored to tinge the rays that pass through them, and so communicate their own color to the objects on which these rays fell. Perhaps you may more clearly apprehend my meaning by an example. Take a spectacle-glass, of deep purple color, and look through it at an ob- ject, and you will find that you can see the object distinctly ; and let the light shine through it upon an object, and you will observe the obi*^ct but faintly illuminated, and to receive in some degree the color of Ihe glass. Now the greasy substance that fell in the night, seems to have formed during part of the day a vast spectacle-glass, as I may call it, through which the heavens were visible, and from the rays passing through which, the glass received a blue or pur- ple tinge. The light that came through that immensely large glass was so little that a great darkness was occasioned by the want of those inconceivably more numerous rays that were reflected by the upper surface of the great spectacle-glass, and had no object inter- posed, would have fallen as usual on the earth's surface. If the boundaries of the vast spectacle-glass had been discoverable, the ■III IM *•'' ■\' i !' •■ .#. )■'' [■'■ill''; 'r'l' L PI"' !t ;| wiMf; r • • If ;it. 288 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780, '? t!" ' n t .' I :Ml ■l\ iii''''' k » i!l people of Boston would have perceived that there was a vast cloud hanging over them ; but as they looked through a medium, the limits of which they could not perceive, they were not able to dis- cover any cloud, but as Mr. Temple justly remarked, the heavens seemed to be covered only with a large transparent veil." So far my friend. — I could wish it were possible to procure a just account of this necessary circumstance in order to ascertain the true cause of so singular a phenomenon, but this I fear is not obtainable. How great was ray disappointment at meeting your informant a few days since in the lobby of the House of Lords, where I had some conversation with him on the subject, but to no purpose, he I fancy not having examined it with a philosopher's attention, or even puzzled his head to investigate natural causes. Much greater effects might have been expected from the almost miraculous success of Lord Cornwallis, than we have now reason to expect ; but knowing my views of things are very different from yours, I will not trouble you with my foreboding fears, and shall bid adieu to the subject, which I never consider without reluctance. Yours, truly, S. CURWEN. JVov. H. Entered Chancery court, the chancellor sitting as he, or the master of the rolls when he presides, always does, with hat on, taking minutes of the case, as is customary in all the courts for judges to do. JVov. 12. Attended worship at Essex House chapel; Mr, Lindsay preached. In mid-service, a well dressed Scotch lady entered the pew wherein a gentleman and myself were silting. After service, she inquired of me if the preacher did not deny the divinity of Christ, or rather, she affirmed that he did ; adding, she never heard it so plainly declared in public before ; to which I assented, telling her this congregation was set up professedly on Unitarian principles; disavowing all other objects of religious worship and adoration, but the supreme, everlasting God, the Father and Lord of the universe, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ; who, in the text, is declared to be the Son of the everksting God. The settled members hold themselves the disci- ples of Christ, and members of that body of which he is head. She 17SU.J JOUK.V't. AND LETTERS. 289 i'urther added, that Mr. L. was a Socinian ; which I neither was disposed nor could I deny, referring her to himself for a justifica- tion of his principles, as far as he could make it satisfactory to her, if her curiosity or wishes led her to make further inquiries ; giving her a short relation of his conduct with respect to his forsaking the Church of England, whereof he was a settled minister seven years ago ; but his scruples in relation to the divinity of Christ had forced him to relinquish a valuable living, and lucrative, honorable prospects in that establishment, for an uncertain support among those of his own more liberal sentiments ; and his integrity had been rewarded here by this society. She seemed disposed to lengthen our conversation, but having said all I had proposed to impart at present, took a sudden leave. After tea, called on Mr. Dalglish ; whom, with his friend, I accompanied in a coach to " Carlisle House," at a Sunday evening entertainment, called the promenade, instituted in lieu of public amusement ; and to compensate for twelve tedious hours interval laid under an interdict by the laws of the country, yet unrepealed formally by the legislature, though effectually so in the houses of the great and wealthy, from whence religion and charity are but too generally banished. The employment of the company is simply walking through the rooms ; being allowed tea, coffee, cho- colate, lemonade, orgeat, negus, milk, &c. ; admission by ticket, cost, three shillings ; dress, decent, full not required ; some in boots ; one carelessly in spurs happening to catch a lady's flounce, he was obliged to apologize and take them off. The ladies were rigged out in gaudy attire, attended by bucks, bloods, and macca- ronies, though it is also resorted to by persons of irreproachable character : among the wheat will be tares. The arrangement of tlie house is as follows : — From the vestibule where the tickets are received, the entrance is through a short passage into the fust room, of a moderate size, covered with carpels, and furnished with wooden cliairs and scats in Chinese taste ; through this the company passes to another of a larger size, furnished and accommodated as the former ; passing this, you enter the long-room, about eighty feet by forty ; this is the largest, and lighted with glass chandeliers and b' anches fixed to side walls, against which stand sofas covered with silk, — floors carpeted. Hence tending to the left, you cross 37 !.h ■M'i< ■' W 3:*^ 1 M K'^'; •'fiii.i H r :\ i 'iMlf tin, ■1 : i'*l;!" ♦ ■ I. !:^i|it*i'i; 1 "'i- 1 . flM't' ' i ! . f! nm::: t; 1 !»!''■ s "'IsN^^ r ,ll ,' 4|> N^- il':' S90 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. the hall, and enter the wilderness or grotto, having natural evergreens planted round the walls ; the centre an oblong square, about twenty-five feet long and fifteen broad, fenced with an open railing, a few shrubs interspersed, flowering moss and grass ; in one of the angles is a natural well, with a living spring, which the attendant told me was mineral. Fronting the entrance, in the centre, at the further end is a cave cased with petrifactions, stones artificially cut into resemblance of the former, and spars, with here and there a dim lamp so placed as to afford but an imperfect sight of surrounding objects. To the top of the arch leading to the cave, is an ascent of two flights of steps on each hand, and over it a room not unlike in form the cave below, painted in modern style in oval ccvopartments, containing hieroglyphics and ancient sto- ries ; on tiie same elevation is a narrow gallery, continued on either side to about half the length of room, fronted near three feet high with an open Chinese fence or railing : — this room is about fifty feet deep by thirty wide, lighted as the others with vaiiogated lamps, but rather dim j next enter into two tea rooms, each with tables for forty sets or parties. So far for ray imperfect description of this house, wherein the well known Mrs. Cornelly used to accommodate the nobilit}, etc. with masquerades and coteries. Dress of the ladies differed widely ; one part swept their track by long trails, the other by an enormous size of hoops and petticoats. The company usually resorting there about seven hundred, as the ticket receiver told me ; — this eveninc; the house was thronged with a good thousand. The rooms were filled, so that we could scarce pass without jostling, interfering and elbowing ; for my own part, being old, small and infirm, I received more than a score of full butt rencounters with females ; — whether provision was not made lor so large a company, or whatever the cause may be, it was full two hours before I could procure a dish of tea, after fifteen vain attempts, nor was I singular ; and when served, it was in a slovenly manner on a dirty tea-stand. I never saw a place of public resort where the company was treated with so little respect by servants ; even common tea-houses, whoso cliarac- ter is far humbler, as" Bagnigge Wells," " White Conduit House," " Dog and Duck," etc., are in this respect preferable. It would be treating " Ranelagh" with great indignity to bring it into com- hlri 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETT 291 parison with this which is designed to supply i; placi during the long vacation of that fashionable resort ; nor are Vauxhall Gardens less than a thousand times beyond this in every eligible circum- stance, unless I saw it under peculiar disadvantages. Met Peter Frye and young William Eppes there ; also saw the Duke of (iueensbury, who I was told is a never failing attendant on places of dissipation, which his seeming age should, one might think, restrain him from such juvenile amusements ; but old habits arc strong, and too powerful to be resisted when long indulged. Tired of this scene I took myself off at the early hour of twelve, and bidding adieu to Carlisle House, after a few i'garemens arrived with no small content at my own lodgings. J\'ov. 14. While rambling, Montague House came in view ; it occurred to rae to take another view of the Museum •, I entered and applied to Dr. Harper, the under-librarian, who referred rae to the ticket porter for admission the following day at eleven o'clock. Arriving at home, Wm. Cabot drank tea with me ; S. Sparhawk came in afterwards, and abode two hours ; from whom I heard the first account of Arnold's intentional withdrawing himself and four or five thousand troops under his command from congressional service to the royal standard at New-York; the failure of this scheme of treachery, and his lucky escape from his enemies' hands. From him also the relation of the seizure of Mr. Laurens' papers, late president of the Congress, and now a state prisoner in the tower; giving an account of the desperate situation of their affairs, with complaints of failure of their resources, and their inability to support the war any longer without loans from Holland, France or Spain. The above comes from Benjamin Thompson,* a native of Massachusetts, (formerly an apprentice to my next door neighbor in Salem, Mr. John Appleton, an importer of British goods,) now under-secretary in the American department. JVov. 15. Mr. Snelson calling at my lodgings by accident, I told him of my intention of visiting the British Museum, and took him with rae. Dr. Gifford, the librarian, indulged rae with the ad- mittance of ray companions without a ticket. The company nu- merous, of both sexes ; several inquisitive and chatty ladies not a little heightening the entertainment. In the Harleian collection • Afterwards Count Rumfonl. 'i« Ml I !' il! WW \.'f ,1 I I * if '¥ ■':' 892 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [17«0. was an ancient manuscript, near twelve hundred years old, most curiously illuminated; a copy of (Jenesis in (inrk capitals, written by ()rij2;en's own hand in a (piarto sho, inc loscd in a beau- tiful tin-gilt box resembling that fold, containing only its remains, being unfortunately almost wholly doytroyed in the Cotton library conflagration many years ago. (hi the same slu-lves were also many others of distant antiquity in the same wretched plight with this. Here also is the remains of the original Magna Chartn, granted by King John at Runnymead, part of which is scorched and illegible by the same catastrophe. An exact but not per- fectly fac simile copy stands by its parent's side, with the arms of those noble barons who extorted it from that unworthy prince, em- blazoned and surrounding it. Also that most valuable manuscript, the Alexandrian copy of the Bible, in (Jreek capitals, of fourteen hundred years' duration. Among the shell-fish kind is one of the smallest size, which looks like the vertebra' of a small animal, for which an Italian curioso paid three thousand sequins. Sir Hans Sloane at length became possessed of it for thirty pounds sterling ! Among pearls is one of the size of a pea, of a light purplish water, valued at five hundred pounds. So liberal of money arc men of curiosity, that the last mentioned sum has been offered for it. The innumerable curiosities in the natural as well as artificial way, coming fiist upon me, confounded my memory ; the latter destroying the traces of the former by the (juickness of their transition. Dr. Gilford's respect- ful and cheerful attention is very pleasing ; he is eighty-one years old, lively and sprightly to an uncommon degree. I observed against the wall of the Cotton library a bust of Pope Benedict XIV., called from the liberality of his sentiments '' tlu; Protestant pope." In the room of antiquities received from Sir William Hamilton, and brought fVom Italy, is a vase having an inscription of Etruscan original, in the ancient mode of writing in Greece, soon after the importation of the sixteen letters from Phcnicia by Cadmus. J\ov. 16. State lottery being to be drawn, curiosity led me to Guildhall, where a gallery for spectators is erected with seats, one of which I obtained for sixpence. The fust object that struck me was a great number of clerks writing down the numbers of tickets and quality as they were proclaimed. The wheels were placed 780.] J O U R N A I- AND I, K T T E U S , 293 on eitlior hand upon a stage raised about six fi-ct from the floor, at the bottom of the hall utidrr IJeckford's statue; between were seated the commissioners at a long table, and a boy at eaeh wheel. After delivering the ti(;ket the boy raises iiis hand above his head with fingers displayed open, and after two flourishes thrusts it into the wheel, delivering the tickets severally to the man on either side, who on cutting the tickets open, being tied and sealed, de- clares the number. To prevent future pranks from boys employed to draw out the numbers, a commissioner sits in a box directly opposite each boy anil near him ; who besides is obliged on taking out each number to raise up his hand, holding the ticket between his tore finger and thumb, delivering it to the man, who aftrr cutting it open announces its fate or fortune. Walked to New England Coffee-house to inquire after new lodgings; from thence to the Disputing Club at King's Arms Tavern, Cornhill; the question to be spoken, for properly it was not debated, was, " Can the doctrine of polimamy, endeavored to be established by a viell known divine in a late jwblication, be defended on the principles of recvton, relir, ion, or sound pnliey ?" After many humorous and some solid arguments against it, in defence however of which no one stood up on Dr. Maddam the author's grounds, it wjis voted in the negative, one hand only in affirmative, produ- cing a hiss or laugh of contempt and indignation. A gentleman whom I took to be in the law line, stood up and modestly said the argument had not had a fair discussion, as no one appeared but to condemn and reprobate ; and after an apology, presumed to sup- pose it might under certain regulations and restrictions by the legislature, in certain supposable cases, be allowed, whereby some evils, the too common attendants of matrimony, might be avoided without incurring greater evils. This met with not the least coun- tenance, yet the speaker, who was a well behaved man of know- ledge and ability, was treated with respect. It was moveil that the company should publicly reprobate the doctrine, but prudential considerations prevailed to negative the )tion. Kov. 21. Left cards and complin, ids at Mr. Clarke's for himself and Mr. and Mrs. Copley, who are abroad. JVbu. 22. Mrs. Cowley, a celebrated playwright, dined with us ; she is a small, sprightly body. Evening at a new play called " Generous Impostor.''^ 1 ^i I ''^m i ^* f - 1 294 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1780. JVby. 23. Went to Crown Coffee-house to meet Mr. Arthur Savage, disappointed ; — proceeded to Westminster Hall — courts sitting. Saw Lord Loughborough for the first time since his title and presidency of the common pleas ; he was single on the bench, being on trials after term. Saw Judge Buller on king's bench ; he appears shrewd, quick, ready, and promises for an active judge — this being my first sight of him since his advancement. JVov. 24. Taking out Mr. Dalglish, proceeded to Adelphi Hotel to visit, en pansant, Col. Peter Frye and his daughter, Mrs. Oliver ;* after a short stay departed for Westminster Hall, the doors of neither Lords nor Commons being open ; returning passed through the Park, and met Samuel Sparhawk, who joined us to Spring Garden Coffee-house. JVov. 28. At Westminster Hall ; courts sitting. Mr. Justice Skinner, lately advanced to chief baronship on exchequer bench. Saw Mr. Justice Heath on common pleas bench, whom I knew and frequently saw a sergeant at Exeter, his birth place. JVov. 29. Six provinces out of seven of the Dutch union have acceded to the armed neutrality of the north, to prevent British search of neutral ships suspected of carrying naval and military stores to the enemy. Sunday, December 3. Walked up the Strand, when to my surprise I found myself all alone, not a person within sight, not a coach to be seen or heard ; which, considering the hour, (five P. M.) was singular. In this predicament I walked on a hundred yards or more ; arrived at Spring Garden Coffee-house, and over a dish of tea read the Morning Post, containing letters of Generals Washington, Clinton, Arnold, and Major Andre. The latter, though pitied here, perhaps justly, is doubtless to be ranked in the class of spies, and his punishment, however censured here, was in my mind not undeservedly inflicted, and to be justified by the universal practice of all nations, civilized and uncivilized, on per- sons of that character. Dec. 4. At New England Coffee-house, where conversed for the first time with William Jackson, from whom learnt particular circumstances of harsh treatraeit he received from fierce partisans in Boston, Newburyport, etc. Dec. 5. Evening at Patagonian Theatre, Exeter 'Change ; a ♦ Afterwards the wife of Sir John Knight. 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 295 bauble of a thinf^. The show a burlesque farce, but I know not of what ; performance in puppetry, speakers below the stage and in- visible ; machinery awkward, scenery pretty. Among the auditors was Lord Molesworth. Dec. 12. Samuel H. Sparhawk called ; accompanied him to Ladies' Disputing Club, at King's Arms, Cornhill. A kdy pre- sided and acquitted herself very commendably. Question : " Was Mam, or Eve most culpable in paradise ?" Mrs. President ad- dressed the assembly with great propriety, just accent and pleasing voice; explaining the nature of the meeting ; justifying ladies ap- pearing to speak in a public promiscuous assembly. She was fre- quently applauded ; on ascending the chair, she turned round and gracefully saluted the company, discovering perfect self-possession, void of all embarrassment. The other speakers also acquitted themselves laudably, and were frequently clapped. Some spoke, I won't say argued, on one side, some on the other ; very little serious argument, unless declamation, quotations from Hudibras, etc. can be so denominated. The subject afforded matter for mirth, but the most serious speeches turned against the mother of us all. The concluding speech was foreign to the question ; the subject was the term " congress." The speakers were lively, and their wit and humor produced shouts of laughter. The principal speaker in- troduced her speech by observing that the word being understood here as implying rebellion, she at first apprehended American ladies were coming over in shoals to seduce the young gentlemen from our island ladies ; but after considering the subject, and being informed by a clergyman, to whom she applied for its meaning, had found that the word has a harmless signification, and had been used on this side the water in treaties of peace, as the congress of am- bassadors of belligerent powers atNimeguen, Aix-la-Chapelle, etc., that it is derived from a Latin word signifying a meeting together to compose or reunite discordant parties. She was pleased to hear it was not likely to give disgust to our state physicians, who were laudably employing their skill and labor in administering harsh medicines to the disordered members of our consumptive empire. After a series of lively observations, she closed by wishing success to the institution, and that it may do honor to female eloquence. Question being put, whether Adam was most in fault, vote by three :t : V ,iWi ll ;^ a :,' ■■'i!i fr'^H^. m P i- ifit ^^i. if, 1**1 |i''!-'ilS- I,, 7 ^^ >f"^ i ■ f ■J] f 1 i • iii v^- I ,:/•• 29() JO U UNA I, AND LETTERS. [1780. hands only, negatived by one. Thus Eve stands acquitted in tins female school of oratory of being the most guilty, though I fancy the major part considered as females are not so clear in the affir- mative. Mrs. Hayley, the great frequenter of all public city assemblies, was there. A small interruption happened by a dirty boy's mixintr with the company ; the president declared her surprise at it. In all large public collections of people of mixed character, persons of unruly disposition are to be found, who will indulge themselves in undue freedoms, if it can be done with impunity. Dec. 14. Col. Browne called on me twice to-day in ray ab- sence. Dec. 15. Called on Col. Browne and also on Arthur Savage ; both out, the latter gone to Bristol with William Cabot. In my way, met Thomas Hutchinson, whom I had not seen for four years. Dec. 17. Afternoon, accompanied by John Parkhouse, I attended the famous llerries' chapel of ease, St. John square ; he preached in an animated style, with oratorical delivery, to an audience crowtled and respectable. Dec. 19. Called on Mr. R. Clarke, in company Avith Col, Browne ; we were invited to Mr. Copley's picture-room, wherein were two exhibition pieces, viz., Brooke Watson's wonderful de- liverance iiom a great shark that had twice seized him, and had bitten off one leg. The other piece, Copley's own family, corapri- sino" himself, wife, and three children, and his father-in-law, Mr. Clark. Here is also a large piece representing the House of Lords, when Lord Chatham, in the height of his patriotic zeal, was seized with a fit which proved fatal ; the piece represents the moment oi his being raised from the floor on which he had iiillen, and was lying in the arms and lap of the Duke of Cumberland, his son-in- law ; number of lords sixty, in their dresses, attitudes, etc, either as they then stood, or as the painter fancied they might, faces taken from life as they successively sat for this purpose. It is to bo en- graved for a print, deliverable next August twelvemonth, at three guineas each. Mrs. Hay appeared in view so very like, that the first glance announced for whom it was intended. After amasiiiir ourselves lor some time, took leave and sejjarated at door. This tlay removed my lodgings to No. 10 Funiival's Inn court. Appear 1780.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS, 297 ances are for enjoyment here ; experience manifold has taught me not to rely on them, nor shall I draw up a verdict till supported by issue at departure. Dec. 20. William Jackson called, (he lodges at No. 5 this court,) and passed the evening till tea. Dec. 21. More snow has fallen than has been known to be on ground at once, or in same space of time, for many years. Dec. 23. Samuel H. Sparhawk called to let me know he had received letters from New England so late as October 19. Mr. Jos. Green died about three weeks ago. Dec. 26. Called on Mr. Peters ; he was absent, being officially engaged at church, this being St. Andrew 's day. Dec. 28. This is my birth-day, allowing for difference occasioned by alterin;^ the style. This day I have completed a circle of sixty-four years; but to how little moral advantage, it humiliates me to think. May the short remainder of my probationary state be marked with brighter lines, and the review of the interval, the present and last hour of ray rational life, when that awful and important hour shall arrive, yield me a comfort that the retrospect of the past cannot afford. Being at Furnival's Inn Coffee-house, Mr. Peters and a Metho- dist parson entered, joining company and conversation for a short time. Dec. 29. Paid my first mourning visit to Mr. Joseph Green's widow ; she seems greatly oppressed with grief. Dec. 31. Attended public worship at Essex-street chapel. \ 4 :]■ f .'"H H'. v'l : IM 38 h\ 'I- H t i ,1 .1 t.i. 'i*'l' '(' ■ I' I ■ r u 2i)H JOUUNAL AND L U T T E 11 K. [1781. n't 'i' i.''H| 1 CH APT Ell XV. London, January 1, 17S1. Tlio first day of llic new year; may it please (Joil to crown the endeavors ot' p;oo(l iiu'n to l)rini' about that desirable <'venl, jjiwe and (niietiicss amoiif:^ the con- teiidiiit^ j)owers, before another aniuial revolution, to the lionor iviul safely of all conccrneil. Jan. 2. Dined at Barley -mow, Salisbury court. Mcdiiijr Harrison (Jray, learnt the capture of the vessel in which S. Coiuiiit sailed from Holland ; she was carried into ('Ork. liy this nieiins, several letters 1 uddiessed to dillerent friends arc thrown into the abyss. Jan. 3. I know not whether the mercantile portion of the na- tion consiiler aui • 1 i ' •i 1 ! , 1 1; i f ■ ■ 302 JOUUNAI. AND LETTERS. [1781. or later, the scales which party zeal had clapped ever the eyes of the di'luded people will fall oil", and they will discover the erro their own madness and ill-jud{^ed submission to leaders of selfish wicked schemes have seduced them into. She adds, continental dollar bills have, notwithstanding congressional authority, sunk to sixteen for one since their emission, though sent abroad for the express purpose of restoring their credit ; so ineffectual is human power to create something out of nothing; also reports, that taxes are risen to such a height as to exceed the produce of the land. Those who have left America since the rujiture, have brought ac- counts so exaggerated that renders it prudent to receive them with caution, and not give too hasty credit. However, that the people are oppressed with taxes, is notorious ; that they are in want of money, of the common essential articles, is also well known ; and personal safety is very precarious, etc. Nothing, I presume, but despair, under the power of an American and French army, can reduce this once happy people. May these destructive locusts soon be expelled iVom the face of the country, and selfish purposes be abandoned ; for the true interest of the English government con- sists in a friendly and indissoluble union of all its members. Jan. 21. To No. 8 Ilaymarket, to see Lieut. William Browne, (my friend Col. Browne's son,) of the 38th regiment ; he had departed for Portsmouth in order to take shipping for Gibraltar. TO JONATHAN SEWALL, ESQ., BRISTOL. London., Jan. 23, 1781. Di'AR Sir : A few days since, I received a long letter from our common friend, l^octor Ilolyoke, who informs me that the winter of '79— 80, exceeded any since 1740. It began before the middle of Pecember, and it should seem, lasted till June nearly ; no vegeta- tion taking place till the last week in May ; that the snow con- tinued to fall till the 11th of January, when it was between two and three feet deep. Not a day in all January, nor till 10th of Feb- ruary, was it warmer at eight o'clock A. M. than twenty-eight degrees of Farenheit's scale, — which I fancy pretty thoroughly cooled thera ; and, on the 29th of January, the mercury stood at six degrees below zero within doors, and abroad sunk two degrees 1781.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. lower. Under all our distresses, we here enjoy, he says, one pros- pect promising public iiappiness in I'uture : — four or live years since, less than half a pint of Siheriaii wheat was sown anion^ them, producing; so incredibly, that, in the northern counties of New iMir^land especially, there is reason to believe the harvest this year will yield seed enough for the whole state anotlier year. Notwithstanding the evil doings of our countrymen, are not you pleased to think they are likely to become independent of the southern colonies, and tat, like the inhabitants of the other im- proved countries on the face of the earth, Christian's food, and be no longer confined to that which everywhere else is raised only for the nourishment of horses and poultry 7 I am glad at heart, but fear that even this blessing, like food taken into a disordered stomach abounding in acrimonious juices, but the more increases its morbid state — for this unexpected supply, and at this juncture, will afi'ord the crafty, political, and spiritual misguides among them but too plausible an occasion to trumpet forth this seemingly seasonable interposition of divine Providence in their favor, and confirm and harden them, amidst all their sufferings, in their infatuated destruc- tive resistance to a power as necessary in my mind to their safety and honor as a parent to his children in an infant state. Nor do I fancy it would be a diflicult matter for the aforementioned gentry to persuade them that Moses and Joshua's prophetical declarations to the children of Israel, that they should possess a land flowing with milk and honey, and be filled with the finest of the wheat — the two former of which you know they had plenty enough before, — did ultimately refer to themselves, was typical of them, and was now accomplishing — so entirely do they seem to have surrendered up their understandings to the insinuations and influence of their guides. The last year's taxes in Massachusetts were more thaii commensurate to the produce of their lands, under the best improve- ment ; if the force that keeps them under such deplorable circum- stances is not insurmountable, their political folly exceeds any re- corded in history. With perfect esteem, your friend, S. CURWEN. • '^ V'l I :!l< ii 304 JOURNAL ANr) LETTERS. [17SI. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH, London, Jan. 24, 1781. Dear Sir: Were I to write a theme, as yon know was cnstomary in the last years at our schools, and should choose Tully's celebrated line for the subject, " crdant armn toiler, concvdat luurca iingiuc,'" our Massachusetts might be quoted as an example. For amidst the din and clash of arms, the hurry, tumult, and confusion of war, as though they were enjoying the sweetest blessings of a well estab- lished, secure peace, the rulers of the present government there have instituted and incorporated a society for promoting literature and the liberal arts, etc., by the name of the "American Acaik- my of Arts and Sciences;" of which the following is a short rela- tion, received lately from my friend Dr. Holyoke : " Our legisla- ture has lately incorporated sundry gentlemen in the several coun- ties, to the number of sixty, enabling them to hold real and personal estate, and has granted them other ample powers and privileges, for the purpose of promoting those arts and sciences which may be either useful or ornamental to society." To which he adds, "I doubt not, you will wish the society may flourish j the cause of science being the cause of humanity." I do fervently wish its en- couragement and increase ; glad at heart that they have been dis- posed to promote any plan to soften that ferocity and hardness of heart which war, rapine, and plunder have lately spread among them, and which the wisest and most prudent among them have viewed with horror. I have never read this paragraph in tny friend's letter, but it reminded me of a line in Horace, unless J mis- take the author, Emollit mores nee sinit essefcros.* I was, for a time, at a loss to account for their choice of this particular period for such a purpose, considering the great and important business upon their hands of forming a new state, etc., but am now fully satisfied the foregoing hint was the true and pressing cause. Dr. Langdon has quitted the chair of the presidency of Harvard College, but for what reason I am not acquainted. The late emission of paj)er by Congress cannot find credit enough to obtain a currency — the old bills are eighty for one. I remain truly yours, S. Curwen. ♦ Letters soften and relink the character. If 1781.] JOUBNAI, AND LKTTEHS 305 TO ROWLAND SAVAGK, ESQ., HALIFAX. London, Jan. 25, J 781. Dear Sir: By mere accident, going to the " Blue Post,"" almost opposite my lodgings, I saw Mrs. Savage, which gave me great pleasure ; by her I was informed of your appointment at Halifax, being the first intelligence concerning you since my ill-omened departure from America. Hope your post affords a genteel subsistence ; in these times, no unfavorable circumstance to refugees, in which case I most heartily congratulate you. Wishing you a supply and continuance of all needful blessings, I am your friend, S. CURWEN. Jan. 27. Mr. Barnes called on me to inquire about Colonel Erving's lodgings, Islington. Jan. 28. At St. Paul's — Dr. Whitfield preached ; company, as usual, small but respectable. Passed an hour at Gray's Inn Coffee-house; received a list of the seized and forfeited estates in Massachusetts. Feb. 1. Dined at White Heart inn, Bishopgate-street, at Mr. Dalglish's invitation, in company with Messrs. H. Hughes, Hutch- ins, John Inman, and Whitlock. Feb. 5. At Westminster Hall, being the important day of Lord George Gordon's trial ; floor stowed as bale goods in a ship, and as closely packed. Soon took myself off, rather than hazard death by suffocation : — the collection was miscellaneous. Trial lasted till four o'clock next morning, when he was acquitted on the score of insanity. Feb. 6. Accompanied Mr, Arthur Savage to Clerkenwell, by his desire, to view an old secularized religious house, called Priory, now belonging to the Duke of Portland, tenanted by a carpenter and undertaker, who civilly accompanied us through ; there is now nothing remaining of old buildings but a small portion of cloisters, at the end whereof is cut, •' Jordan Bridget, Murrell Bridget ^ fotmders, 1100." In a distant part are small remains of a wall, supposed to be in a state of decay, and the two arches, a larger and a smaller, the former ornamented, and both portions of a circle, 39 ; «'! m^ 1'^ q :. i ^[ >\} hi'' ■ ♦'! »^- 1:1 :«)(i J O (I II N A I, A N II I. !■; I'T K K S . [17SI. \vliich form jircvalloil before tlio introiluctionof the (Jolhic or Nor- luan .stall's. Ili'tiiriiinLi; from tliciici', (iirricd into a court of si'vi'r;il narrow alleys, lillid witli small liiittish kind of houses, tlie hal)it;i. lions of fillli ami v'lii', named liliubi ny . i//i'i/, nolorioiis for its con- stunt supply of Tyburn. Ten liave been (lra|j;{^e(l out from thence in one session, for thievery and other enormities, and graced the lialter. Met our hite Mr. Fisher; I turned in with him to Mr. Hutchins' auciion room, who was then employed in disposin"- of natural and artilicial curiosities, from the South Sea, just imported in the " Uesohilion." Ftb. 7. Visited Col. Browne and lady ; meeting Mr. Dalfrlisli, took him with me, nnd after a short stay departed to INh-. Tim- mins's; thence to Mr. Artluir Savafj;e's, Biomptoii-row, Fib. 9. Mr. Dal^lish called for me to accompany hitn to Greenwich Hospital ; walkin^r to (jracechurch-street, alter luill'iui hour's delay, entercil staj^e and soon arrived there, and thoroughly examined it within and without. Dined in a detaelied room be- longing to a tavern in the town, built and projecting over the river Thames, fi-om whence is a view of the Isle of Dogs, iJlaidcwall and Long Ileach. Heturned in st;ige; in our passage was told the lol- lowing: -an inhabitant of this town walks every day and has done so for some years back, from seven to eight miles, having measijrfd within the period from whence the computation bcfri* lo some months since, forty-five thousand miles. Evening at down Tavern Lodge; (iuick, the celebrated comedian, was raiseU !(> uiasonry — a humorous, tunny companion, who I fancy intei.vls to entertain the public with the secrets of this society. Feb. 10. Accomjianied Mr. Barnes to St. Nicholas College Abbey, Old Fl.'^h- street. Dr. Porteus, r»ish(^p of Chester, preached an excellent and elegant sermon, in style and composition, and pleasingly delivered. Feb. 1,3. Visited by Parson Peters, and Parson Clarke, laic a townsman; from a coltl taken on board a prison ship in lioston harbor, to which he was consigned by the j)atriots in punishnient of toryism, he has lost his voice, and is scarce able to articulate. This, ailded to his deafness, renders him a lonely, pitiable oliject; he has received twenty pounds per annum from the society lor pro- pagating the gospel — government declining to give him a settkd 17S1.] JOURNAI, AND I, KTTF. RS. 307 stipend, though it has once aiul again presented him with a scanty ;;rutuity. I\b. 15. At Col. Browne's. Mrs. Hrownc informed me of lior trt-attncnt nt Salem and Boston, alter her huisbaiurs departure t(» Kii;j;liiii(l. I'll). 16. At Bow chureli to hear an annual sermon to society tor propaj^atin^ the [gospel in jxirtibtis Irunsmurinis' ; Dr. Hard, bislinp of Lichfield anil t.'oventry preached ; present the lord may- or, two sherilis, two arehhij^hops, Butler of Oxford, Thomas of lluLlii'ster, and Markhain of York'. I'tb. 19. KvL'nin<;, at an address on heads, exhibited in trans- parency, as follows : Sterne, a pathetic apostrophe; Capt. Cook, the celebrated (•ircumnaviij;ator, an encomium, etc. Brcshui's sur- prising; tricks on cards followed, intcrluded with music, and an imitation of the thrush, blackbinl, sky-lark, nightingale, wood-lark ami (piail. Fch. 24. To theatre to see Mrs. Cowley's new play ; unfor- tunately it was hissed oil' thestafrc just before the conclusion of the last act ; beini^ in its progress of acting alternately and frecpiently hissed by its foes and checreil by its tricnds ; the latter proved the minority, and tlierelbre un.successful, as all in minorities are in state and church, as wel' as theatres. Man) came for the express purpose of supporting or damning it ; her husband, a writer in one of the daily papers, employs his pen in criticising works of all other sta;i;e writers, and has by the severity of his remarks raised up a host of determlnul iocs, to crush whatever proceeds from his quar- ter; though no foreign considerations were needed to banish this piece from the stage, its own intrinsic unworthiness was more than enough; being a low performance, and unworthy the pen of the author of'' Belle's Stralui^em" and " Who's (he Diipe.''^ Knowing the Wilier an(' I^'r connections, I feel severely for them, espei'ially, too, as her brother is a fellow lodger, whose excpiisitc delicacy of feel- ing must 1 e cruelly wounded on this occasion. The prologue and epilogue were excellent, and did great credit to the performers, Mr. Lewis and Miss Young, who were rewarded with universal ap- plause. Feb. 26. Drank lea al the widow Greene's in company with two Misses Joye of Boston, by whom I was informed of the follow- ^!l I hi ii 'i-'; •,!i ! f '( I I '¥ ¥' i r': iv in f:i!| r r >»■' ,i f 'il.i il ^.i: T i':'i f .1 ■i I ' J 1 f , .'_ ■■"'^ ! 1 i 1 ■ 4 h ■ i, 1 .li< ■! ■Jif- t^ !■ h r • ; '■ . I- vi ,,' ■ i I I; If '1 **:) 4 pf;i-'' p* 1 ■J- ilB A 4 !* ! m 308 J V II N A I, AN I) I, K T T li K S . [1781. iiipf : viz., a yn>nif!;or son of Kiancis (irconc from Boston, who was born (leaf nnd (liiinl), wlio was under the tuition of a person in Scotland, in (he course of one year arrived to the power of forming articulate sounds, and V 'i. '» ; ' 't ■ ' 1 r .,i 1 ., i ' I 314 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [178L circumscribed limits, three-fourths of the way to it now built being then country. It is low studded and lofty roof, small windows, many juttings and projections ; is now in private hands, the Duke of Portland's, and is used as a boarding-school. The grounds re- main unaltered. ^prU 26. Mr. Goldthwait and Mr. Danforth dined with me ; at five we departed by assignment to Mrs. Hay's ; Col. Browne and lady were to have been of the party, which accident prf vented. "We had Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson, late of Boston, and Mr. Greene, who in dress equalled a nobleman of the highest rank and quality, girded with a military side weapon. ^pril 27. Colonel Erving and Mr. Dalglish called ; the latter for me to accompany him to the commons' house. The subject of debate was the East India officers, — the motion by Lord North 3 bis opponents were Burke, Charles J. Fox, etc. Jlpril 28. Visited my friend Governor Browne ; confined by an ill turn which seized him violently. I called to acquaint Mrs. Browne, that •' Belle's Stratagem" was to be acted to-night, having engaged to accompany her to see it. Jlpril 29, Sunday. At Essex House chapel, Dr. Priestley preached an excellent discourse ; proving beyond contradiction that religion and virtue are the only just sources of true delight and joy, or as he modified the language, of settled, calm serenity of mind. It was a discourse worthy a Christian divine, and happy would those be on whose minds those blessed truths were im- pressed in indelible characters. Rev. Mr. Wiswall was by my in- vitation my fellow-worshipper at Essex House. Afternoon service, Mr. Lindsay preached. My companion drank tea with me, ex- pressing in conversation his professional dislike of Mr. Lindsay's attempt to reform the liturgy. Religious prejudice is the unhappy lenven of a narrow education, and manifests a fettered mind. I hope I have sufficient reasons to rejoice that mine is free from those manacles. I plainly see it may be politically useful to state managers and hierarchists, whose views extend not beyond this present mortal state ; but in no view is it to be supported on the grounds of advancing the cause of truth and manly sentiment, and genuine, unadulterated Christianity. Jipril 30. Entered Col. and Mrs. Browne's name with my !';»( ' 1781.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 315 J' 111 own for admission some days hence at British Museum ; list filled for two or three days. May 4. Dined at Col. Browne's, there heard of Mrs. Sar- gent's death. Evening waited on Mrs. Browne to Covent Garden theatre, to see " The Duenna.^* May 7. To Mr. Maddocks' at Walworth, with Mr. Dalglish, to see his fine show of tulips, which unfavorable weather deforms greatly, preventing the beautiful, pleasing display that might other- wise be expected. May 8. Passed forenoon at the public exhibition of paintings, sculpture, and drawings of the Royal Academy in Somerset House, Strand. A great concourse of well dressed, genteel people, as usual ; large exhibition room crowded, but my good fortune secured an aJvantageous seat, almost central, which from arrangement and construction of room and pictures, yielded a fuller view and happier light; I kept in close connection with ?. ^-''^ -'eman of taste and judgment, disposed to communicate, and seeming happy to show off and please ; by him I was entertained and instructed. May 23. This day at eleven o'clock entered British Museum. Dr. Woide, the transcriber and publisher, complaisantly showed me the Alexandrian manuscript of the New Testament, fuvored me with many ingenious remarks, and read me several passages which I confess I should without his assistance have found it difficult to hobble through, from the peculiar manner of wriiing then used. It is said to be older than the Arian controversy, and is without the seventh verse of the fifth chapter 1st Epistle of St. John. It is written in Greek capitals, without distinction of points or words, letters following in equi-distant spaces. A i'ac simile copy is now preparing by my informant, who appears learned, and is very obliging. After having gone through part of our course in the rooms, my companions Col. and Mrs. Browne appeared and joined us. We were attended by Dr. Solander; some of our company were persons of distinction, Lady Dowager Wynne and her young son the baronet, and several others whose names I have forgotten. Among other curiosities were shown us King Edward Vlth's journal, written with his own hand — volumes of royal letters, etc. It seems all letters from the princes of Europe to one another are preserved, and after death of writer sent back to their respective \ Ml ,;i -I 11 '«, i,i]U n I'Ji' 1 ;i !'. '! Ill' !'■-,: , 1 4' ' ;j .';■■■ I 1: ■• f ' 1 •■ 316 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1781. courts ; they are of one size — seal never broken, a ribbon through the wax is cut in order to open it. Dr. Solander showed us an oyster-shell of a roundish form, about four inches over, which he said was valued at a hundred guineas ; another larger beside it, of less brilliant water, of no more value than ten ; they both had a faint mother of pearl cast. On returning home found a letter from Arthur Savage, informing rae of Mr. Thompson's compliments and wish to see me at eleven o'clock to-morrow, at his lodgings. May 24. Went early in order to be at Mr. Benjamin Thomp- son's in time, and being a little before, heard he was not returned home from Lord George Gerraaine's, where he always breakfasts, dines and sups, so great a favorite is he. To kill half an hour, I loitered to the park through the palace, and on second return found him at his lodgings ; he received me in a friendly manner, taking me by the hand, talked with great freedom, and promised to re- member and serve me in the way I proposed to him. Promises are easily made, and genteel delusive encouragement the staple arti- cle of trade belonging to the courtier's profession. I put no hopes on the fair appearances of outward behavior, though it is uncandid to suppose all mean to deceive. Some wish to do a service who have it not in their power ; all wish to be thought of importance and significancy, and this often leads to deceit. This young man, when a shop lad to my next neighbor, ever appeared active, good- natured and sensible ; by a strange concurrence of events, he is now under secretary to the American secretary of state, Lord George Germaine, a secretary to Georgia, inspector of all the clothing sent to America, and Lieut. Col. Commandant of horse dragoons at New-York ; his income arising from these sources is, I have been told, near seven thousand a year — a sum infinitely beyond his raost sanguine expectations. He is besides a member of the Royal So- ciety. It is said he is of an ingenious turn, an inventive imagina- tion, and by being on one cruise in channel service with Sir Charles Hardy, has formed a more regular and better digested system for signals than that heretofore used. He seems to be of a happy, even temper in general deportment, and reported of an excellent heart ; pecuUarly respectful to Americans that fall in his way.* • Afterwards the celebrated Count Rumford. 1781.] JOU \L AND LETTERS. 317 Mem,. A letter has been intercepted and published here, thought by some to be a genuine production and unintentionally fallen into British hands, signed Geo. Washington, sho\^-ing his opinion of American inability to support this burdensome and ex- pensive war, unless France and other allies bestir themselves and lend more essential aid than hirherto ; meeting Mr. Paxton and Treasurer Gray, they both agreed in sentiment that it is a genuine letter, and dictated by real judgment. Drank tea at Mrs. Greene's by appointment ; met Mr. Wis- wall, who was just going to his cure in Oxford. At his request I jumped into the carriage with him, and alighted at Crosskeys, Gracechurch-street ; thence to Boar's Head, Eastcheap, and in the identical spot where Nym, Pistol, Bardolph, Hal, and Sir John Falstaff were wont to assemble together to pass their jovial even- ings three hundred years since ; after a regale of punch to the remembrance of these jovial blades, we returned to Crosskeys. June 5. Visited Governor Browne and Mrs. Browne, both un- well; promised to dine with them the last of the week. June 8. Mr. Erving called. June 11. Visited Mrs. Greene and Abel Willard ; drank tea with Mrs. Councel ; a Mr. Codner and Jones, both late from Boston, there; no material intelligence obtained from them. They say provisions are double in price to usual in former happy times. Never did an infatuated people wanton away their felicity more foolishly. June 13. Dined and passed the evening at Col. Browne's. June 19. Paid farewell compliments to Elisha Hutchinson, goioi^ soon to his summer residence at Birmingham. June 22. Through Moorfields came across a mountebank or stage doctor, on an elevated scaffold, covered with a ragged blanket, discoursing to the more dirty-faced ragged mob; demonstrating to their satisfaction, no doubt, the superior excellence of his nostrums to thoseof the dispensary, and the kiiore safe and secure state of patients under his management than hospitals and common receptacles of sick and wounded poor ; whose lives, hesilth, and ease, he said truly, were as dear to them as those of the best gentry or highest nobility in the land ; and he further added, of as much use to the public, which for aught I know is equally true. \\\ m ) ill ^f ( ''1 !l ':, I :,;'"■! h ^ ^.-i' H ^-r „ ' ll r 'rt i; 'iitt^ - nm- si' K.N i; i m Queen in a faint greenish silk full dress, except her head, on which she had a bonnet with a feather of the same color as her dress. July 16. Crossed the river to Eton college or school, passing through cloi-sters and quadrangles. I learnt from a lad that there were three hundred and thirty pupils belonging to the school ; the higher class had on gowns and caps of university fashion. After breakfast, at castle, to hear the roll-call of Lord Falconberg's regi. ment, now on duty, and hear the music ; two bands of which were playing while the royal family were walking last evening. Took our carriage and departed over Cranbrook bridge, and at two o'clock arrived at the Eight, so called, being a little island of two acres in the river Thames, opposite Kew, just above the bridge. We came hither expecting to have a fine dinner, but the boat had been robbed by some Londoners ; were disappointed. Arrived at lodgings at seven o'clock. July 17. Took Captain Coombs to dine with me at the " Thirteen Cantons; " — called on A. Savage. Spoke to Mr. Rowe of Treasury about Captain Coombs ; he encourages his application to Lord North. July 23. Met Mr. R. Clarke on horseback near Charing Cross ; walked in Charter-House square and gardens ; am told the number of men supported by the founder's munificence is four- score, besides forty boys. July 25. Rode to Enfield to inquire respecting board ; result unsatisfactory. I rambled to the borders of the Chase, now laid out in corn and grass, to the great advantage of the neighborhood. In this town is a large, and for the age it was built in, a lofty house of three floors, which had been the residence of Queen Eli- zabeth ; having on the walls within the court, the arms of England quartered with the fleur-de-lis of France, and Q. E. inscribed over in plaster of Paris, almost obliterated by time and weather. Re- turned home on foot without much fatigue. July 26. Called for an interview with Mr. Benjamin Thomp- son ; he and Lord George Germaine not returned from the country. July 27. Called again on Mr. Thompson ; neither he nor Lord George returned. Passed two hours in Mr. Waller's front dining-room, to have a sight of the French spy, De la Motte, who 1781.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 321 was dragged on a hurdle to place of execution, Tyburn, to be hanged ; tall and well grown, — dress black, Mapped hat. July 28. Went with Mr. Arthur Savage on a curiosity walk, to gaze at Chiswick House and gardens; by a card (without which none are admitted) we found an entrance. It is a seat belonging to the Duke of Devonshire, but forsaken by hira. It was left hira by its former owner, the late Earl of Burlington. It is properly a miniature building, and in a peculiar taste; not a room I think twenty feet square, many smaller. The walls are covered with pictures, some fine originals, principally copies ; grounds covered with sphinxes md urns. Walks m Chinese taste, long, straight, and gravelled; cut hedges. From a terrace is a beautiful view over a delightfully improved co ;ntry, bounded by surrounding hills, in- terspersed with j^entlerat-.'s seats-, farm houses, live hedges, corn grounds, pastures with trees in ro . clumps and wildernesses. In the grounds are a few temples ui d porticoes. Having satisfied curiosity, as far as time . 'ould admit, we : '■tered the road and be- gan our homeward covrse, .>nd arrived at three o'clock. July 29. Dined at Capt. Hay's, by invitation card of yester- day, with Mr. Danforth, and also Mrs. Geyer, just arrived from New-York. July 30. Went to Westminster Abbey to meet Mr. Savage by agreement, to expluin to him the meaning of mottoes under arms of the knights of the bath in Henry Vllth's chapel. Saw, for the first time, Lord Chatham's eflRgy in wax, having the wig, shoes, robes, etc., he had on when he expired in the House of Lords ; said to be very like him, but very unlike every cut of him that had before co^ie to my view. July ?\ Dined with Mr. Simpson and Mr. Higginson, and abode there till four o'clock ; returned, and Mr. Smithson drank tea with me. Aug. 1. Capt. Coombs breakfasted with me ; accompanied him to the Treasury, in order to put his petition, with Sir William Pepperell's recommendation, into Mr. Rowe's hands ; who returned it, advising to a further attestation of the alleged facts. Return- ing, we stepped into Lincoln's Inn Hall, where was sitting Lord Chancellor Thurlow in a case of lunacy, from whence I departed 41 ! :i i '■ ■ I B.'^ i,. W'A * > > :l r.T Y^ 1^^ • ' ' ' ' ; ii ii I, 1 }■ » 1) • I !'• I,t 322 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1781. alone and dined at home. Drank tea with Harrison Gray and wife at Broinpton. ^ug. 3. Called at Mr. Thompson's lodgings, in Pall Mall Court - disappointed — went to show Mr. Savage the grave of Judge Chambers Russell, in Bunhill Fields burying ground ; which at sixty pounds expense has but a common grave stone. Thence to the poor remains of a once royal palace, of which the outer gate- way (St. John's Gate) is now standing, and only that ; the site is now a cowyard and stable ; so where once royalty was lodged, beasts inhabit. Aug. 4. Again disappointed in not finding Mr. Thompson at his house, nor at the Treasury. Jiug. 6. Took tea at Mr. Copley's, with Mr. R. Clarke and the family. Mug. 8. In conversation with Mr. Peters, was informed that it is and has been all along the delerniination of the cabinet to set up the noblemen's claim against New England charters, annihilate all of them, and reduce the surviving inhabitants to a state of villen- age, or expel them. He says he has sufficient authority to assert this. Cruel, barbarous determination ! May heaven disappoint their cursed device against innocence, justice, right, humanity, and every laudable principle and virtue. May America and my countrymen, more dear to me than ever, be made acquainted with this more than brutuai cruelty ; may disappointment be the issue of their attempts, vexation and every evil the reward of such unexampled, oppressive, rapacious designs, for it is but yet in embryo, never, I hope, to see the light. I doubt not heaven has in store ample revenge for this devoted country, whose rulers seem infatuated, and themselves on the verge of ruin thereby. Jiug. 9. Mr. Jones, a Bostonian, drank tea with me. Aug. 11. After one hour's waiting, admitted to Mr. Thompson in the plantation office ; he seemed inclined to shorten the inter- view, received me with a courtier's smile, rather uncommunicative and dry. This reception has damped my ill grounded hopes, de- rived from former seeming friendly intentions to promote my views ; this, my first, will be my last attempt to gain advantages from a courtier, of which I never entertained favorable impressions. h V : ih 1781.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 323 Jug. 18. Took tea and passed the evening at Mr. and Mrs. Hay's. Jiug. 21. Dined at Capt. Hay's, with four gentlemen. Jug. 24. To the Gresham lecture room to see Copley's picture of Lord Chatham's death,. Sept. 4. Took tea with Pr. Jeffries, of Boston, a son of David Jeffries. .: ! ■ TO MR. THOMAS WYER, NEW-YORK. London, Sept. 12, 1781. Dear Sir : Having the other day met Mr. Berry, who informed me you were settled in New-York with your wife, and that he would take charge of a letter and deliver it into your hands, I am encouraged to send this scrawl that serves to acknowledge the receipt of yours of a distant date, and thank you for it. I hope your situation is comfortable, though, at best, a man in the civil or commercial line has many reasons of complaint in a garrison of disorderly, licentious soldiers. I am glad to be informed that you are employed in busi- ness, and hope it will turn out to good account. It has been my wish ever since I have been from my own home, that all who are in a state of exile, whether voluntary or not, ex- cept those immediately concerned in the revenue, who could not have remained in America, had been prudent enough to have kept their political opinions to themselves, especially after the frenzy had worked itself up so high in the minds of our zealous patriot neighbors, and remained at their own dwellings, and made the best shifts they could in these troubles. They might, I really think, liave found ihemselves, for the most part, in less disagreeable circum- stances than they now are ; at least I can truly say it respecting my own particular case. But the bad consequences of past errors are now only to be lessened by a prudent forbearance of harsh re- proachful language against the present rulers in the American colonies that remain in subjection to Congress authority ; for what- ever you warm transatlantic loyalists may think, it is probable, however the general war may terminate, there never will be estab- lished such a degree of British governmental authority in North America as will cause much matter of triumph to American ;^i ■ t i f ;■' - I (; !« ' M *!■ lUl ^1 M: il ♦ ■1' ^ I i A:u n^^ 1^ (\h : 'iij J W :i^ >y ' nil!' >iiwi )■■■ ! 1 i •A I kEi I '-T*' ' \i 'fii'.illi iij! J R H''<1'' V 324 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1781. refugees. I wish America would dissolve the execrable French al- liance, that they have sufficient reasons already to detest, and which will, if continued much longer, issue in greater ruin. We are now hemmed in by the combined fleets of France and Spain, to the number of forty-nine capital ships, and eleven frigates which have been cruising for some time in the chops of the English Channel. Ours, under Admiral Derby, is at present in Torbay. A large East and West India fleet is hourly expected under a slender convoy ; but government has taken the precaution to send out some fast sailing cutters to apprise them of the danger. Wishing you success and safety, I am your friend, S. CURWEN. Sept. 27. Accompanied Messrs. Savage and Toulmin to Drury Lane, to see " School for Scandal," which was highly entertaining. On the appearance of Mrs. Cargill , appointed to one of the parts, a general hiss, followed by an unusual clap of approbation, for some minutes kept on to discountenance the hiss, occasioned by her whimsical caprices and rude disappointment of the public at Hay- market Theatre about two months since. She is a pleasing per- former and public favorite. Oct. 2. Took tea and passed the evening at Mr. John Savage's with Mr. A. Savage, except a walk to Chelsea Hospital. Oct. 9. Papers say Adam Woolridge is appointed American secretary's deputy, in lieu of Mr. Fisher, who now holds the office. Mr. A. Savage dined and passed the evening with me. Oct. 15. Went over to Chelsea; met Mr. Benjamin Hal- lowell there. Another countryman. Commodore Loring, discharged from pension list by death, and another going same way ; Brigadier Royall seized with small-pox, with hazardous symptoms. Capt. Coombs dined with me. Oct. 18. Thirteen criminals executed at Tyburn — a melan- choly consideration that robberies have of late greatly increased, as indeed has thieving of all kinds in the metropolis. Oct. 20. Mr. Arthur Savage, and Miss S., and Mr. John Sav- age, lady and son, drank tea with me. By the papers I find some Salem privateers have fallen into the hands of the British. Oct. 30. Dined with Mr. and Mrs. Hay. 1781.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 325 TO SAMUEL SEWALL, ESa, SIDMOUTH. London, Oct. 30, 1781. Dear Sir : Inclosed is a bank post bill for £24 6s. 8d., the balance of your quarterly pension of .£25 ; and while I reside in London will, with great readiness, serve you or any acquaintance in this or any way in my power. You wish me to write you favorable news from America ; would to God such was to be found written in the book of fate. Respecting the state of the war in that quarter : the French, you know, are in possession of the Chesapeake, with a much supe- rior fleet to that of Great Britain ; for they reckon thirty-six capital ships to our twenty-four, even after Digby's junction. General Cornwallis's royal master is in the utmost distress for him, whom all the world here fears to hear will have been Burgoyned, and there- fore an end to this cursed, ill-omened quarrel, though not in a way they wish ; for which the instigators and continuers deserve exe- cration. It is, however, reported that twenty thousand men are to be shipped off to America in February, part of whom are the five thousand before destined to the East Indies. I am yours, S. CURWEN. JYbu. 20. Letters from New-York inform us that New London, in Connecticut, is burnt, with all the shipping, by six hundred American Associators, so called, leagued in a band of destruction against their native country : together w'th the loss of lives and properties of the inhabitants, the assailants left of their number two hundred dead on the spotj their doclh the just punishment due to such parricides. By the king's speech I find he intends, if parliament will fur- nish men and money, to continue his efforts to reduce his rcl .I'ious subjects in America to his royal wiJ I and pleasure, and his other enemies to his own terms, if he can ; and no doubt they will con- tinue to furnish both as long as they kst, and until they shall fairly and completely have dried up all the sources, which, perhaps, a few more expensive, unsuccessful campaigns will effectually accomplish. Would that this nation or its rulers were wise enough to sit down n % 1 1 r ■ 111 ' . ; > I ,. ; y .Mm i ''«iii ' ■ ,1 w I,!' II f ill ''^.■'' ■ < il.iH; I ' .- i i i ! ■1.t. : '1 'I : '"-^.f'J 326 JOURNAL AND LETTERS, [1781. :;^'.. r^if «i !• . u' by its present losses, and make the best of what remains. Com- merce and conquest are two things in nature very unlike, and re- quire very different geniuses in carrying on ; and which is most congenial and natural to these islanders is obvious. JVov. 22. The wind continues westerly, detaining Admiral Rodney's fleet of eight ships of the line in Torbay, bound for the West Indies. The court and all apprehend some great blow there, as they have reason from the greut superiority of the French fleet gone from Charleston since Cornwallis's surrender on the 19th ult. of himself, officers, army, baggage, artillery, ammunition, de guerre and de houche, to the Anrierican General George Washington, of whom some of ihe vyise men of this countiy speak with undeserved contempt. This being the second instance that has happened to the best forces of this continent, and perhaps the first of the kind that ever befell this haughty America-despising people. And the flight of two English admirals, with a frequently declared superior fleet. Graves and DIgby, (under the auspicious eye of one of the royal offspring. Prince William Henry, who is training up, and I hope will prove an ornament and a useful naval commander,) to New-York with Clinton and his garrison of cooped-up troops, who for a few weeks having breathed Tree air, are now chiefly return- ing back to their winter amusements and useful employment of dan- cing, card-playing, acting farces on mock stages, and decorating their pretty persons for the astonishment and delight of their female admirers. Adieu to the character which once justly enough distinguished the army and navy of this little empire ! JVov. 23. Overtaken in the Park by a former travelling com- panion, named Aspdin, of Philadelphia, on horseback ; he recog- nised me after an interval of four years. TO j\iR. ANDREW DALGLISH, GLASGOW. London, JVov. 25, 1781 Dear S r : London, as you justly observe, to a pushing man and of abili- ties is the place to gain great advantages, ii iie knows the world and how to avail himself of lucky incidents, and is attentive to them ; but to ore of a contrary character it is far otherwise. ii'l 1781.] JOURNAL ANU LETTERS. 327 Your request of my service need not be twice asked, if I know how lo perform any thing essential for you, or any friend ; but being placed by Providence out of the reach of rendering services, I am endeavoring to reason myself into the belief that I stand in need of none myself, though possessing very little more than the necessa- ries of life ; 'tis a hard task, though if attended with success, shall not grudge my pains. Our townsman, Mr. Fisher, holds a quar- tered, precarious office, at I fancy less than half its real income, in, under, and returnable to Mr. Thompson, when he shall me back, which I doubt not will be in the spring or summer following. Clerkships, as all offices under government, are at open mar- ket, and bought and sold as public stocks, the premium four, five, or six years' income. The Treasury Coffee-house, under the arches, is the place where the sellers or brokers are to be seen at business hours. If you have any connections that can recommend you to men of influence, and can really engage their interest, (for promises are the courtier's traffick, and mean nothing ; people of breeding are too polite to disoblige in any other way but by neg- lect,) you may succeed ; without, it will be vain to attempt. Merit is disregarded, implying a demand. Here it is not asked what you have done, but what you are capable of doing, is worth attending to. In whatever line you direct your views, I sincerely wish suc- cess ; you might assuredly depend on ray aid if it could or can be of any use to you. With real and hearty good will, I am your friend, S. CURWEN. JVou. 26. Going through the Park, I found great numbers there waitin,-. Tor the king's passing to the parliament house, being first day of session, when it is opened by a speech from the throne ; the king in his robes, crown on his head, which, if capable of feel- ing, must I think feel more distress than at any time since his brows bore this emblem of royalty. The total overthrow in Lord '~*'^''n- wallis's defeat, of his long projected and self-promised subju; .-^i mJi of Noiiii America to an un; '•'■i' -oiled power, must have this jlitct. Man's designs are often ove;.aled by a more powerful auti ority. Took tea at Mr. John Savage's, acco.iUng to promise, v«'iuv a room full of company. |i'v,;-»'; . f| m i PI ^ t' i ■ ■ r I ' 1 ! i IS < r^i • A ..I i '■ fi 1 'i J|l:::,ti r''4i^:;,j' .;''^ -;■''' 328 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1781. f ' ft lL,r '^1 li '►' ^^1 JVov. 30. Took my watch to London to be reformed, it proving a Uocless coinnanion in its present state of false intelligence j bor- rower! one in ihe irjurim. Dec. 5. Mr. Thomas Hutchinson and Mr. A. Savage took tea with nic TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. Brompton, Dec. 15, 1781. Deah Sir : I delayed atiiiweriiig your last favor til! I could send a satisfac- tory one to your question aboutyour friendjThomas Barnard, Esq., of Lincoln's ir* . j and now I have the pleasure to acquaint you that he and I were this day as usual fellow-worshippers at Essex House chapel, which seems to be his Sunday's resort, both for worship and the communion, at which he attends with becoming devotion. Our preacher to-day was Mr. Estin, of Lewinsmead, Bristol, for Mr. Lindsay himself always performs the liturgy service. Since Lord Cornwallis's surrender, government, I am told, has laid aside all other thoughts than to maintain, if practicable, Caro- lina, Nova Scotia, New-York city, Charleston, and Georgia ; per- haps since the majority for carrying on the war in America, when the House of Commons consisted of more than four hundred, fell to forty-one only ; a proof, notwithstanding the irresistible influence of court, of the real sentiments of the landed interest. For the aforesaid purpose immense quantities of army and navy ammunitions, de guerre and de bouche, will be sent over, and primarily furnish America, and ultimately, I fear, France, with the ability to dis- possess Great Britain of every foot of ground on the continent of North America ; and it will be well if not the islands too. But whoever is master of the ocean will doubtless command these; whether Great Britain is or is not at present, is a fact easily to be judged of; whether she will be in time to come, must be read in a following page in the book of fate. 'Tis, I confess, foolish to an- ticipate evils ; a wise man said, " If evils come i.ot, thr; ., i learsare vain ; And if they do, fear i.iit augments the pain." No mind is so fortified as not to feel concern for what may ''!'■ ;i78i. roving ; bor- >ok tea L781. satisfac- Esq.jOf ^ou that IX House 'ship and kvotion. :istol, for told, has )le, Caro- tia; per- ca, "when ed, fell to influence For the Qunitions, furnish ty to dls- ntinent of too. But nd these; isily to he 36 read in ish to an- what may 1781.] JOURNAL ANU LETTEKS. 329 liappcn, especially when smarting under the rod, nor insensible whoM oppressed. Very truly yours, S. CURWEN. Dec. 20. Went to London in order to pass a day at Capt. Hay's ; he was departed to Portsmouth to meet liis ship there. JJcc. 23. Sunday at Essex House chapel. Mr. Lindsay preached an admirable dissuasive against placing terms of acceptance with God on narrow party principles, as if he was engaged to support Calvin, Arminius, or the Council of Nice, or any body of patriarchs, archbishops or bishops whatever. Dec. 31. Three days since was my birth-day, when I entered my sixty-sixth year. What reason have I to lament the loss of time and waste of powers that our indulgent Creator has bestowed upon us for wise and useful purposes. Henry Laurens, Esq., late president of Congress, was admitted to bail and discharged from the Tower. 42 -;j I' ■) V 'I ii i) n ^1 ■«: .) t'-^'i '■% ■'II ■m '\i. I'- 'tjki H W\ \*1 111 tl ^^'■|i' ijl i: i":^r V\ I SI, 330 JOURNAL AND LETTEKS. [1782. ! f. i'l »• / WM CHAPTER XVI. Biwnpton, London, January 1, 1782. Dined at Mr. John Sa- vage's, in the Grove. Jan. 3. Called on Dr. Jeffries, a countryman of mine, at No. 28 South Moulton-street. In my absence, INIr. Timmins and James Russell called. TO SAMUEL SEWALL, ESQ., TAUNTON. London, Jan. 8, 1782. Dear Sir : Mr. Rowe names (he 21st for delivering out his orders to the bank for payment of our quarterly stipends. I shall be on the ■watch, and avail myself of the earliest day for myself and you. I presume you have heard of the death of poor Abel Willard, your late friend, whose continuance on the London stage was of a few days only after his return from Oxford. He is now gone to that retreat from suffering, where the wicked cease from trou- bling, and the wjary are at rest. I am told the surviving mate is a mourner in earnest. I wish you the compliments of the season, and am glad to hear from you, that you are enjoying the pleasures of cheerful mirth and conviviality ; may they continue up to your desires, which I pre- sume are ever confined within the bounds of temperance j and hope a full restoration of your health and spirits. Happy those who can amuse or gladden their hearts with anticipation of future good. The present prospect is too gloomy for my weak mind to discover one gleam of hope. Your faithful friend, S. CUKWEN. Jan. 10. Received a lettc to .onvey to the widow Poynton, at Saleu), from her late husband's kinsman of same namf ,i»i Orange- court, Leicester-fields, with a complais' '♦ invitation to dine with fcim next Sunday. :«» •^ ..Mtt. 1782.] JOUaNAL AND LETTERS. TO SAMUEL SEWALL, ESQ., TAUNTOX. 331 Yeoman's Row, Jan. 24, 1782. Deak Sir : I have the pleasure to inclose you a bank post-bill for .£24 6s.Sd., wishing it safe to your hands. I am not happy enough to present you -with any good news of our own selves or our public concerns, unless you will say none is such, at a time when bad only may reasonably be expected from almost all quarters of the globe. And though I would not raise imaginary ideal terrors in the breast of any of my acquaintance, I cannot forbear to mention a piece of intelligence received from an acquaintance here, communicated to him by a lady, who, he says, has intimate cabinet-council connections. He says, she has in times past more than once or twice informed him of secret deliberations and resolves done and acted there, that at the time surprised him, and were afterwards verified by the events. She told this in con- lidence, with great apparent concern of mind, etc., seeming firm in belief, and fear of its being put into execution within a few months. Hear then your doom :— it has been a subject of deliberation, and is thought to be determ.;,ed in the cabinet, to withd'aw from the American refugees in Englu.vl ; \\ government support. So shame- less and unexampled an act of Imruarity, you probably may think, cannot be perpetrated in a civilized state ; perhaps no'. Politics and morals, however, are founded on very different grounds, I'ltl conducted by principles of a quite contrary complexion from er. ■ other. What is heterodoxy, base and unjustifiable in the one syo ■ tern, may be in the other sound state orthodoxy, and free from reproach ; viewed in the single light of supposed good of the state. One cannot, therefore, tell what the administrators of public affairs may think it politically '">riuleat to do in the paroxysms of public distress; and their wa} ; '.id means are unhappily in one at this very time. I would fain disbelieve, but confess my fears step in between apprehensions on one side, and doubt on the other, and cast up the balance on the side of the latter. This day, I questioned Mr. Rowe at the Treasury on the subject ; and he, with the apathy of a stoic, and the composed countenance of a -, coldly replied, he had not heard of it. No, answered I, and I trust you "^W.^ U ,11 4 w\ i 1, 11.(1 mm } ■' Hi * '. 332 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1782. 'i;l^i! ij ui m '} • i ' ro*'erred in spite of yearly disappointments from generation to gcnei ation. Your real friend and well wisher, S. CURWEN. }!:if^ '; ! uiji' March 2. Lord George Germaine, who was admitted into the administration on the idea of subjugating N. America to the un- conditional authority of Parliament, having since Lord Cornwallis's surrender of himself and the whole army to the victorious arms of IH' "^^' 'Im^ 1 1'' , 1 .; ; \':^k 1 ■ '^ir,''' '' ■ ' f ■ i i 1i.:> ^•fi f\<^l ■1* .-■, I m liif'^ 1 i 1, , '" 'is' • - ■ M b 1 iS t> M^ '' If 'I 336 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [17S2. France and Congress, abdicated his post of secretary in the Ameri- can department, left the House of Commons, and gone up to the House of Lords by a patent of nobility. General Carleton, who is confessedly of superior ability in point of military knowledge and execution, is now appointed general-in-chief in America, w hen all mantinivres in his line are intentionally given up, and no opportunity is afforded for exertion, except in the way the former generals, his predecessors, have figured in amassing personal wealth out of this already cruelly oppressed people. Lord George Germaine's ad- mission to the upper house was accompanied by many severe re- flections and motions to address the king to prevent it; many lords thinking it disgraceful to suffer tamely one to be added to their number who stood disgraced by the sentence of a court martial, and was forbidden the society of any of the officers of the army. The Marquis of Caermarthen made the motion, and Lord Shelburne warmly seconded it. Many speeches on the occasion. Last Wednesday, General Conway concluded a long speech in the Commons with the following motion, viz. : Resolved, *' That it is the opinion of this house, that a further continuance of an offensive war in America for the purpose of subduing by force the revolted colonies is totally impracticable, inasmuch as it weakens that force which we oughc to employ against our European enemies, and is contrary to his majesty's declaration, who, in his gracious speech from the throne, expresses a wish to restore peace and tranquillity." This motion the ministerial party endeavored to dispose of by the attorney general's motion for an adjournment, when at half past one o'clock the house divided, and to the discomfiture of his majesty's ministers they were in a minority by nineteen. General Conway then moved that an address be presented to his majesty on the above resolution. This was seconded by Lord Althorpe, and carried without a division ; the minister not daring to risk a second defeat. In coii^equence of this important decision, the nation is at last within the prospect of enjoying the blessings of a peace with America. Lord Stormont wrote to the lord mayor and aldermen to pre- vent, if possible, illuminations in the city ; none were exhibited but in the gallery on ' o top of the monument, which blazed with more than sixscore lamps. As soon as the joyful tidings of the 1782. 1782.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 337 minister's defeat and the nation's deliverance was announced in the lobby and avenues of the house to the numerous multitudes that waited in anxiety and perturbation to know the fate of their country, the most vehement and heartfelt shouts of acclamation pierced the ear, if it did not reach the heart of the minister, now tottering on the treasury bench. Those noble and distinguished chaiacters, who by their steady perseverance and zeal had over- come the ruinous system of ministers, were hailed by the grave multitude as the saviours of their country. Expresses were des- patched by the ambassadors to their several courts, announcing this important decision, which naturally changes the system by which the peace of Europe is disturbed. The king's answer to the address of the Coramons in consequence of General Conway's motion for putting an end to the present war with America, con- tained the following : " There are no objects more near to my heart than the ease, happiness and welfare of my people ; and you may be assured, that in pursuance of your advice, I shall take such measures as shall appear to me most conducive to the restoration of harmony between Great Britain and the revolted colonies, so essential to the prosperity of both, and that my efforts shall be di- rected in the most effectual manner against our European enemies, unlil such peace can be obtained as shall consist with the interest and permanent welfare of my kingdom." March 4. Advice of the surrender of Minorca to the combined armies of Fiance and Spain, by Gen. Murray; of the capture of St. Kitt's by the French, to which fate Nevis and Montserrat will probably soon submit. Essequibo and Demarara, taken by Rodney and Vaughan, are retaken by a French squadron, and it will be great good fortune if one single West India island be left to this wretched, devoted country. March 7. The large banking house of Brown and Collinson, Lomba.d-street, was declared bankrupt to-day, and carries with it a train of ruin. They were of the society of Quakers, a id therefore more unexpected, as people of that persuasion are generally pru- dent, and not engaged in expensive luxurious modes of life. March 10. A gentleman lately from Brest acquaints Lord Sandwich that a piecr of bad news ^ xd arrived there from the West Indies, which renders somewhat probable the report of a 43 i; j!' <1; f.,'. , ii 1 fi'- . mm'' f'i-i--. t|* I fiiil I' ,. b> 338 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1782. master just arrived, that St. Kitt's was retaken by Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, who hearing of de Grasse's departure, immediately sailed and obliged the French troops to the number of six thousand to surrender. They had not forced the English lines at Brimstone Hill, and were left exposed without a single ship to aid them. De Grasse, thinking himself sure of the conquest, after safely landing these, had left them to their chance, and went in quest of other ad- ventures ; probably to assist in retaking St. Lucia. May it prove true. March 12. I find myself for some time laboring under distress- ing symptoms, which I have reason to believe my nature too feeble to withstand, and which must soon give way to and yield in the struggle. May I retire where undue passion, ungoverned appetite, and selfish regards shall have no rule or sway, and all shall be peace, harmony, mutual regards, and no intemperate gratifications. .March 18. This day advice is come from Ireland of the most serious nature ; a large quantity of artillery is arrived there from France, under the pretext of securing the island from foreign inva- sion ; but from the known general prevailing wish among the peo- ple, there is some reason to fear a general revolt from this govern- ment, and an independency thereon. Should it take place, wo betide this fallinsi' nation. March 20. On the Earl of Surry's rising in the House of Commons to make his motion about removing ministers, Lord North arose, and after some altercation about the propriety of his standing up at the same time with the member, on his explaining his motives he was allowed to proceed, when he announced his (and the rest of the king's servants') quitting" the administration, and moved for an adjournment till next Moniuch advanta? his hat on, he was o«i4ered tr take it off, with which be complie*,, keeping his is<«indker':lw«f jp to his face to prevent the discovery s«rtce at rcif'^\n hM(»g unu^iual On 1782.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 341 his entering, being questioned, he frankly owned where he had been, not a little to the disapprobation of his father; who has since complied with his request to allow him a summer's progress through the kingdom, which he has often solicited, in case he would pro- mise to make no more such elopements. It is a maxim of state for the present incumbent of the throne to keep the successor ignorant as possible, and totally unconcerned and unused to court measures and all public concerns, and this king seems inclined to put the maxim in practice to its extent. March 29. Good Friday ; attended worship at Whitehall chapel. Lord North present. Being disappointed in Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's church, (at the former by the lowness of the reader's voice, at the latter by the service not having begun,) proceeding cityward, just as I came to the gate leading from Par- liament-street to Scotland-yard, or Whitehall, who should cross me but a large clumsy gentleman with a blue ribbon across his breast, who, on inquiry, I found was Lord North. Following him into Whitehall chapel, I remained during the service. He is rather above the common height, and bulk greatly exceeding ; large legs, walks heavily, manner clumsy ; very large featured, thick lips, wide mouth, high forehead, large nose, eyes not lively ; head well covered with hair, which he wears high before. The preacher was Dr. Noel, dean of Salisbury, the only Episcopal preacher that I ever saw or heard repeat the Lord's prayer by heart ; not one of them daring to trust to their memory except this man. His manner and delivery very agreeable, and his discourse excellent and useful. Dined at Salisbury-court ; met Mr. Dalglish, who accompanied me h'i'nc to tea and passed evening. March 30. Mr. Dalglish called, and we went together to the Bishop of London's terrace-walk on the banks of the Thames at Fulh im, and rf'turned by Little Chelsea. March 3L Attended public worship at St. Paul's; Mr. Hys- lop preached. Drank tea with Mr. Peters. He informed me administration would not consent to the independence of America ; thf' ministerial plan is to govern America by a lord-lieutenant, and create nobility ; and if she will not agree to Great Britain's pro- posal, to make a partition treaty of the colonies with France, to whom the ftorthern colonies and Canada would be ceded, the I mm '•' k\ 'S. I. i| I' J 1^ Mi 1U. I- »■ r,'* .H % ' 'V '' r 1} '' ■ ' 1 1 i 1 ■ ffi ■> HI : r i^^i! .r' '1,1 : III 342 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1782. southern colonies remaining to Great Britain, — a fine bargain, truly. ^pri! 4. Mr. Dalglish called at ten o'clock, and we departed on foot to Hampton Court, passing through Chelsea, part of Ham- mersmith to Fulham, crossed the river just above Putney bridge, passed through i.hat town, and to Bornes Mortlake to back of Kew; from thence 'o Richmond, crossing the river at the bridge, pro- ceeded through Twickenham to Hampton, passing Bushy Park, a tedious level of more than a mile in length, arrived at King's Arnas inn at two o'clock, where we dined. At four o'clock proceeded to the palace ; entered with a large company of females, who arrived there at the same time with us, joining a master with a number of young persons, his pupils, and a governess with a score of ;;/cijng misses, rendering our company through the royal apart- ments very numerous. The rooms almost all hung in rich tapestry of Brussels manufacture, wrought in gold and silver, which, l)eing put up in King William's reign, time has somewhat tarnished. Pity that the room built for the reception of the Cartoons, and which they long adorned, is now by this king's whim robbed of them to cover the staircase walls of Buckingham House. Return- ing we arrived at " King's Arms" inn, on the borders of Kew Green, and at the foot of the bridge leading to Brentford at eight o'clock, where we su})ped and lodged. Jlpril 5. We walked on Bankside terrace as far as Sion House, meaning opposite thereto. Returning we passed the building, and taking the foot-path by the river, kept it through Chiswick and Hammersmith as far as it was continued, affording most agreeable views ; then turning, crossed the country to Fulham and by little Chelsea, arriving at Don Saltero's cafe on the bank of the river, where we dined, and at four o'clock departed, arriving at mylodg- ir-gs at f.\e o'clock, having in two days walked thirty-two miles, (yesterday twenty-one, and eleven to-day,) and am at this prooent writing no more fatigued nor less able to take another walk to- morrow of the same length. Jlpril 6. Capt. Coombs and Mr. Dalglish drank tea with me. Jlpiil 7, Sunday. Attendeil worship and communion at Es- sex House chapel ; Mr. Lindsay read the service and officiated at the communion. Dr. Priestley preached an excellent discourse. 't m i-«i 1782.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS, 343 TO SAMUEL SEWALL, ESQ., SIDMOUTH. Brompton, April 8, 1782. Dear Sir: I fancy you need not give yourself any concern about future supplies, which my last letter intimated. Government, it is proba- ble, will not be guilty of such injustice as to withhold what the public faith has engaged. Some ill-founded grants will be stopped, and here the reform in this will end. Truly your friend, S. CURWEN. April 8. Removed my lodgings from Yeoman's Row to Mrs. Sraithson's, near the chapel, Brompton. Jlpril 15. News from East Indies that our Admiral Hughes had taken three places from the Dutch on the coast of Malabar. Further accounts of the designed reform by new administration in national expenditures and abolition of all needless sinecure estab- lishments — wish it may prove true and of lasting advantage. Jlpril 18. The delegates of the associated counties held their first meeting in the new common council chamber at Guildhall. During the late administration they were refused it with some marks of contemptuous disapprobation. New men and new meas- ures have effected a wonderful change in the common council of London. .fl])ril 19. This day seven years the fatal fight at Lexington, Mass., happened ; productive of such baneful consequences to Great Britain and America ; what will be its issue, is known only to Hlra who ovei rules the folly and wickedness of man, to ser\ e his own wise purposes : may all of them who are so deeply interested therein be prepared for it. April 20. It is affirmed that the cabinet, which consists of ten members, have been thrice equally divided ; the lord president in that case makes report to the king, and he agrees with one opin- ion, which is then entered in the council books, with this addition, " by command of his majesty." The king refused to give his opin- ion, saying, " Let it he done as they determine among themselves." " But, sire, they are divided." " So let it remain then!" — A strong • ■'.;.::; ■riifiH^ S! I' Ii ' t " 1| i fl .i I! -is f ||r !#i' ; ij;:.i > '1 i' ■i; !i;|l I? 344 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1782. m i i-^ ' I' ■■' ir >sy t I MM :h\ HI ^^ :|fl f ' ,<• '■ ?'i i'' t#' flf iii. :■ ■;m! , H|fi ground of suspicion that neither measures nor men are to his liking. " The king in a pet, his affairs nil deranged, Has ut last his unrnorciful niiiiisters changed ; Brave news, quoth the Congress ; but better would be, Had the king when he changed them omit wd the C." ^pril 24. Admiral Barrington has sent into Portsmouth four French transports from Brest and a large ship armed en flute, and was left chasing four men-of-war near the harbor. April 25. Admiral Barrington arrived in harbor with ten ships of the line and nine transports — French prizes, intended for the East Indies, with another French ship of sixty-four guns armed enflvie. May 2. To Westminster Hall ; sr ; in hour in chancery court, heard lord chancellor try three causes ; method summary. May 9. To Chelsea — took tea with Mrs. Tiramins — Robert Hallowell first acquainted me with Claik Pickman's death. TO RICHARD WARD, ESQ., SALEM. London, May \i, 1782. Dear Sir : Should your great and good ally obtain the two only very pro- bable objects of her American alliance, the impoverishment of Great Britain and the consequent seizure of the late English colo- nies, which she seems at present in a fair Avay for, no man on this side the Atlantic in his wits v/ould, I think, whatever regard he may feel for his native country, willingly forego a bare subsistence here for French domination and wooden shoes there. I would just suggest to you, should America in this hour refuse the offers Great Britain may make of a separate peace ; or France refuse to suffer her, (for we well know here the power she has acquired otfer her,) and no partition treaty take place, (being in the present situ- ation the best to be expected,) depend upon it, you fathers of the present age will have it in their power ere many revolutions of the sun, to tell their children the inestimable civil, religious and politi- cal privileges you of this generation have wantoned away, and with sad regret recount the happy condition of former days ; nor will the comparison with those you will then mournfully experi- jl ^^ipfe very pro- ihment of ish colo- an on this •es'drd he absistence I would the offers refuse to ui red over ssent situ- lers (if the ions of the ind politi- .way, and days; nor ly experi- 1782.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 345 ence between English protection and French oppression, fail to enhance your misery. You will then find the little finger of French power heavier than the loin of the English government, with all its apprehended train of evils. As a proof of my needless fears or right judgment, convey my kind love to your wife and children. Your friend, S. CURWEN. TO HON. JONATHAN SEWALL, BRISTOL. Lond&n, May 12, 1782. Dear Sir : Confined as I have been, for near two yeai s, to a very narrow circle without variety, like monotony in music , every thing about me is become insipid. I am therefore going iito a scene of new objects, and hey for Flanders for n month. Nr turalists say change of air, even from bad to worse, is good for the health of the body ; that of the Netherlands must, I think, be cert linly salubrious and nutritive. How happy should I be to have so agreeable a com- panion as Judge Sewall. Who knows what effect a month's resi- dence may produce 1 For my part I fancy my thin lathy body in Ihat air, and by the use of rich generous Burgundy, etc., procurable there at a cheap rate, may increase to a manly bulk. My heart would dilate with pride and pleasure to receive a note of compli- ance with my request — nor should I be displeased if your kinsman Carauel Sewall should join and make a trio. Please remember me ♦o your family and those of our countrymen with you with whom 1 am acquainted. Very truly yours, S. CURWEN. May 12. It is suggested that the new administration mean to increase the power of the crown by their projected new militia. As they have, or one of them at least, deceived the people by fre- quently declaring he had a peace in his pocket, when the event showed the falsehood of those declarations; should their other pre- lonsio.ns prove as futile and groundless, they will des^^rve the exe- crat) n of this and future generations, and will, I hope, meet a deserved fc.te. At best, however, I expect not much good, and 44 I i i ,1 346 JU^HNAI. AND LETTERS. [1782. ;f ' «t ' 1' IM m '■'I I ii I think ours an ill-compacted junto of very short duration : their p' inciples are not uniform nor concurrent. Mai/ 17. At New England Colloc-house heard the glorious news of Admiral Rodney's defeat and capture of the French Ad- miral de Grasse, with five capital ships, and one sunk. With Mr. Dalglish to Chelsea College Gardens — thence to Mr. Timrains's to tea. May 18. Trinqueraale, the strongest garrison belonging to the Dutch, and called the Gibraltar of the East Indies, being the principal fortress on the island of Ceylon, has been captured by Adn^jral Sir Edward Hug' os, who was going against another fort. ■which he hoped to reduce. May 23. Dined at New England CofTee-house with New England company. May 24. With Mr. Dalglish went to Maddocks the florist's exhibition of tulips ; he pointed out the bell king and bell queen stocks, a beautiful and singular plant, which he is unable to in- crease, having derived but one oHset in twenty-two years ; had been olFered twenty-two guineas for it ; the tints are exquisitely fine. This day arrived further advice of Sir Samuel Hood's capture of two more French men-of-war, ^viz., L' Esprit of eighty guns, and Philo of seventy- four, and two frigates, the Amiable, thirty- two and Ceres eighteen, in the W^est Indies. May 25. Loitering through St. James's Park, and seeing many people collected around the rails of Buckingham House, stopped to see the Prince of Wales, who soon appeared in a phae- ton with Col. Tarleton, who, I was told, is frequently to be seen with him. June 3. Crossed Westminster bridge to visit Mrs. Hay and Mr. Dalglish. June 9. It is reported that the Russian ambassador announced that the czarina has declared, in case the Dutch refuse the offer Great Britain has made, which she pronounces liberal, that she will assist the English with her fleet — eighteen for channel service and twenty against the Dutch. June 25. To Queen dock, Wrapping, to see Capt. Coombs on board a ship he is appointed to keep guard in j stepped in at long room, custom-house. I I 1782.] JOUBNAI- AND LETTERS. 847 June 28. To Mark-lane corn market, to inquire for Indian corn, ami was told the .f had been none loi- two years. Afterwards met Mr. Flucker in the Park, and conversed with liini half an hour. Met T. (loldthwait, and rode with hiiu to Charing Cross j invited roe to dine at his house, Walthamstow. ' June 29. Took a long walk with Mr. Hutchinson. Met a nan with a mug in his hand, which he said was once the famous hakspeare's,and that he inherited it from his w.i. ♦her, who was u to all Shakspeare's effects, being adesc- • d;.!,, iaia him in the ''le line; and that Garrick had offeu 1 lu -jnineas for it .le celebrated the jubilee at Stratford upon Avon. The Pub- vertiser to-day says, " Administration have very laudably de- teruiined on withdrawing their pensions from the American refu- gees ; so that next year," says the writer, " we may hope for some more haymakers than we are able to get for the present har- vest." An ill-natured and I hope untrue declaration. Juh/ 1. Visited Parson Peters ; meeting there Parson Wiswall, accompanied him to Battersea bridge, having stepped into Don Saltero's cafe, Chelsea, and drank tea. ii} TO REV. ISAAC SMITEl, SIDMOUTH. JVear Brompton Chapel^ July 2, 1782. Deak Sir : You desire me to be communicative about myself — a poor sub- ject, truly, to write about. I am, however, to thank you for your soli- citude, and at present, as you see by the date, am very near the house of God, but never enter therein, keeping steady to our con- venticle in Essex-street, Strand, which is my regular and consiant Sunday's resort ; retaining still my old New England prejudice of observing the fourth commandment. My health is belter than iisual, having escaped the epidemic hitherto. Three days since I received a letter from T. B., wherein he acquaints me that our friends are well. I presume you have heard of the death of Judge Lynde and Clark Pickman. Your townsman Allen is dead, leaving Sir William Pepperell and George Erving his executors, directing that his remains shall be removed after the troubles to the vault under King's Chapel, Boston. ■ hi '■ '\w in- iViir / i I \ 1 ^ ^^!> ^.^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) // ^/ k y^ ^M. ^ K° 1.0 I.I 11.25 bi|28 1^ 1^ 12.0 12.2 I 141 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (716) S72-4503 i rmMh-M '.I onwu!' Bill IS;' . r,' "lii I: .JiV 348 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1782. We have an American Thursday dinner club at the New Eng- land Coffee-house. Very truly your friend, S. CORWEN. July 3. Meeting Parson Wiswall, on whose recommendation I went to Battersea to engage lodgings for a fortnight ; from thence to his church and attended prayers, where were present nine in the house exclusive of nine parish boys. From thence we set off by agreement on a walk to Kingston on the Thames, nine miles, arri- ving at the " Sun,^' where took a cold repast, a pottle of straw- berries ; arrived at lodgings before nine o'clock. New arrange- ment of ministry; Lord Shelburne first commissioner of the treasury, Earl Temple secretary in lieu of Chs. Jas. Fox, and Mr. Pitt, a favorite patriotic speaker, in lieu of Lord Shelburne ; Burke cut, and Barre also, with a pension of .£3,200 per annum ; Duke of Manchester lord chamberlain. July 4. Went to London to the Thursday dinner at New England Coffee-house. July 5. Went to Westminster, and in the lobby of the House of Commons heard that Charles J. Fox, Lord John Cavendish, Edmund Burke, and General Conway, have been dismissed from the king's service ; the former on account of his speech last Monday, declaring the independency of America to be agreed on, which Lord Shelburne denied, having steadily refused his consent thereto. Lord Rockingham's death, which happened last Monday, has very probably hastened the present event. Returned as far as Mr. Elisha Hutchinson's, Brompton, and drank tea with the family. July 11. Dined as usual at New England fish-club dinner. The king prorogued Parliament, and made a speech from the throne in his robes and crown. July 16. At Parson Peters's met young Parson Clarke, and observing him speak articulately, and with some degree of clear- ness, expressed my surprise ; and inquiring the cause, he told me his speech came to him on a sudden, and on the very day seven years that he was first seized with the incapabiUty of uttering sounds. 1782.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 349 July 21. To Kensington Gardens ; there met Thomas Danforth and Samuel Porter ; the latter related an account of his voyage to Oporto. July 22. Went to Clapham Common to dine with Mr. Gilbert Harrison ; Mr. Toulmin and his lady's mother there. Returned through the fields ; the hedges perfumed by sweet smelling blossoms. July 25. Had a view of the Duke of Cumberland's sailing match on the river, from Mr. Hay's summer-house on the bank. River covered with barges and boats, oars, scullers and sails ; the duke in his own barge, ensign red, having an anchor and a length of cable in gold-leaf depicted thereon. A great concourse attended ; he was in going saluted by a discharge of small cannon ; the boats departed from Blackfriars bridge, length of course to Putney bridge ; premium a silver cup of jE50 value. July 27. Dined at New England Coffee-house on fish in com- pany with Mr. Flucker, Francis Waldo, Mr. Hutchinson, Thomas Goldthwait, etc. July 29. Through Hackney to Walthamstow, where dined with Mr. Goldthwait. Jiugust 3. In passing Bird-cage Walk had a slight glimpse of Count de Grasse at Sir Peter Parker's window ; he is a stout, very tall man. August 4. At Battersea church j the vicar, Parson Gardner, preached. August 21. Wrote Mr. Elisha Hutchinson at Birmingham. Afterwards went to Capt. Coombs' at a Mr. Birch's, beyond Folly Bridge, Dockhead ; on the door of a meeting-house I passed ob- served the following words written in chalk, "' We have erred and strayed." Unless the supporters of the doctrine of necessity, or even expediency, of a universal conformity to a state establishment of the form of religious worship, can lay its foundation in reason or a command in holy writ, I defy the ablest disputant to prove me or any dissenter in England or elsewhere guilty of a fault in ad- hering to a different mode of external worship, or schism in a bad sense. On the contrary, all political establishments being tinctured with the reigning principles of the times when they were founded, and men's notions and opinions changing with fashions, usages, custoius and language, a continued sameness is utterly impossible ', WW '^ W,*;i' !* I ', tii i.«'i' i i I ^i 1. i m'. • IliK \' >f • 'fr' »l« i Ih 356 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. J t fir,... m : [1782. mons from Messrs. Wilmot and Cooke, (members of Parliament, chosen by the lords of the treasury to examine the claims of the American sufferers, state their claims and produce vouchers,) to attend them at the American secretary's office. Treasury-house, Whitehall. Was examined and dismissed, after being directed to bring a certificate of my being a person of property, and of steady uniform attachment to principles of loyalty, whicli I propose to bring from the late provincial secretary, Mr. Flucker. Oct. 26. Drank tea at Samuel H. Sparhawk's, Bedford-court, Red-Lion square, and remained till nine o'clock. Oct. 28. Passed afternoon and evening at Mr. Danforth's, ■who assisted me in drawing up my certificate to present to the commissioners. In the evening Dr. Jeffries, a brother exile, called in and announced the arrival of an express with advice that Lord Howe is relieving Gibraltar; the French and Spanish looking on him from Algeziras bay without even attempting to loose ground and meet him ; an apparent proof that with fifty-one capital ships they thought themselves unequal to his fleet of thirty -four. It is likewise added, that the Spaniards by the late high wind have lost three ships. Oct. 29. Went to Mr. Flucker's with the following certificate for his signature, viz. : — " General Gage and Governor Oliver being absent from London, we, the subscribers, do certify that Samuel Curwen, Esq., late of Salem, in the province of Massa- chusetts Bay, is descended from an ancient and respectable family in said province. That he has been a deputy Judge of Admiralty and Provincial Impost Officer, and for near thirty years in the com- mission of the peace for the county of Essex ; had always main- tained a most respectable character, and was early distinguished for his attachment to the established constitution of the province, and its dependence on and subordination to the authority of the king of Great Britain, and was esteemed a gentleman of consider- able property and fortune." Called in the afternoon and received my certificate, signed, " Thomas Flucker, secretary of the province of Massachusetts Bay." While there, joined by Col. Morrow, just arrived from Cowbridge, in Wales, on a like errand. Oct. 31. Called at Mr. Timmins's; he was engaged in pack- .1 i; i% 1782.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 367 ing up his goods in order to remove to Wolverhampton, where ho is about commencing business. JVov. 1. To Pimlico, where took tea with Parson Peters. JVov. 2. Reported that Lord Howe has had an engagement ^vith the combined fleet, and has defeated and dispersed it. JVbr. 8. Saw in ray landlord's parlor the poorest nobleman I believe in the three kingdoms, a Lord Kirkcudbright, brought up a glover, and who for years worked at this trade in Glasgow ; he is now a captain in the king's guards. Passing a coach, I observed its number 1000, the highest number licensed. J^'ov. 11. Received my order for quarter's pension of JE25; the first given to any refugee on the new establishment of no de- duction to the officer of commissions. JVov. 25. Co: J air; St. James's canal frozen hard enough to bear skating on. JVbv. 26. The meeting of Parliament summoned for to-day is postponed to Thursday 5th proximo, in expectation that the com- missioners at Paris may by that time come to their ultimate deter- mination about peace or war ; or on the preliminaries whereon a peace is to be founded. France and Holland fancy they see too well the probable consequences of prolonging the war, to accept the terms proposed ; presuming in the issue Great Britain must accede to what they shall demand, and who does not ? None, I dare say, but those who will not, and only such are blind. JSTov. 27. Newspapers filled with contradictory reports about peace ; all dread a continuance of this nefarious, ill-omened, ill- judged, distracted quarrel. Mov. 30. Dined and passed the day at Capt. Hay's. Mrs. Chap- man, with whom these my friends board at Kensington Common, near Vauxhall Gardens, says that the famous Sterne, author of " Tristram Shandy," " Sentimental Journey" etc., was totally void of the fine feelings of humanity, which he so beautifully paints, and are characteristics of his writings, which in respect thereto show him to be an original genius ; and but ill discharged the various relative duties of life ; one instance only excepted, which was an immoderate fondness of an only daughter. As a proof among others, he suffered an aged mother, which but for the proof of it is hardly to be credited, to die in a jail for want of money to discharge a debt of twenty 'i'i ' f ' 13 V ' ml I '' .i 368 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1782. pounds. The public ought to know the character of a writer who so ill in practice exemplified what his pen so justly and beautifully describes. This was told her by a very intimate acquaintance of Sterne, who was personally informed of his whole history. Dec. 3. Yesterday Vergennes' secretary brought notice that the commissioners appointed by Great Biitain and the thirteen United States, had signed a provisional treaty, whereupon stocks rose five per cent. The following letter was published : WhitehallyDec.3, 1782. The Right Honorable the Lord Mayor : In consequence of my letter to your lordship of the 22d ult, I take the earliest opportunity of acquainting you that a messenger is this moment arrived from Paris with an account of provisional articles having been signed on the 30lh ult., by his majesty's com- missioners and the commissioners of the United States of America, to be inserted in and constitute a treaty of peace, which is to be concluded when terms of a peace shall be agreed upon between Great Britain and France. I am, etc., I. TOWNSHEND. Dec. 4. Called on Mr. Heard at Herald's office; there learned, in a conversation with a Mr. Webb, of seeming great political knowledge, that at the time the House of Commons left the late administration in a minority, or in other words, refused to support Lord North's measures, the king took it to heart, and resented it so far as to declare he would leave them (as he expressed it) to them- selves, and go over to Hanover, from whence his family came, and proceeded so far as to order the administration to provide two yachts to transport himself there ; whereupon the queen interfered, and remonstrated against such a desperate measure, so fatal to her and his family, as well as his own personal interest. Others, too, repre- sented the distressful condition to which the nation would be re- duced by the absence and want of royal authority, though it seemed to little effect, so sadly chagrined and provoked was he. Lord Rockingham also joined the remonstrants, and showed the necessity of a change of men and measures, with no better 1782.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 359 success; — so naturnlly obstinate and pertinaciously bent was he on his favorite plan c i' subjugating his (here called) rebellious subjects in America, and bringing thera to his feet, till he was told that as sure as he set his foot out of the kingdom, the parlianaent would declare the crown abdicated and the throne vacant, nor would he ever be permitted to re-enter the kingdom again, — which argu- ment, it seems, brought him to a more cool and juster sight of the folly of such a step, and the absolute necessity of stooping to a compliance with the requisitions of the public. I do not pretend to indicate the measures of opposition, but a more unsuccessful ad- ministration, from whatever cause it proceeded, which time will satisfactorily perhaps explain, was never before engaged to promote royal designs. What may be the condition of Great Britain and America at the period of the present distressful war, God knows ; for my own part, I tremble at the event, as desirable as it may be, for I can view neither country without the most fearful apprehen- sions of dreadful distresses ; whoever began and voluntarily con- tinued this unreasonable, pernicious dispute, does and will deserve the execration of this and future ages, and in the language of ****," The child will rue, that is yet unborn, the fatal mea- sures of Lord North's administration." Dec. 5. The king delivered his speech from the throne. I went to see him robe and sit on the throne at the House of Lords ; he was clothed in green laced with gold when he came, and when he went, in red laced ; it being the custom to change his garments. The tail of his wig was in a broad, flowing, loose manner ; called the coronation tail. His abode in the lords' chaiuber scarce ex- ceeded half an hour, in which he read his speech of eleven pages. As one proof among many that might be given of the restraint and disguise of real sentiments on the part of courtiers, from the highest character in the presence chamber to the lowest lounger and attendant at ministerial levees, take the following : — When the king found himself obliged to take new ministers, and give up Lord North and his associates, it is notorious that it was abhorrent to the royal mind, and being naturally of a pertinacious, obstinate temper, was with the utmost difficulty brought to yield a reluctant consent. On the first court day after the appointment, when he was in a manner forced out of his closet into the room of audience, be re- >i> i fi % ^i' m m.ii p'm li . € 1';-iV i>i .% 360 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1782. ceived his new servants with a smile, and transacted business with them afterwards with as much seeming cordiality and openness, as if they had been in his favor, and in his most intimate conceits ; so seemingly satisfied and so serene was the royal countenance, that all the newspapers sounded forth the gracious monarch's obliging, condescending goodness to the public wishes, though nothing was farther from his heart, had not the necessity of his affairs impelled him thereto. At the same time coming up to Mr. "Wilkes, he said he was glad of the opportunity to thank him for his very proper and laudable behavior in the late riot ; took notice of his looks, which indicated a want of health, advised him to a country air and exercise, which, said his majesty, I find by expeiience an excellent expedient to procure and preserve health ; all this with the same apparent sincerity, as if they had been in a continued course of paying and receiving compliments, congratulations, and acknow- ledgments for mutual kindnesses and good offices, though all the world knows there was not a man in the three kingdoms more thoroughly hated, nor whom he had taken a more foolish and un- necessary pains to ruin. The above-mentioned interview being told of in company, Mr. "Wilkes took occasion to remark in the following words : — " To have heard the king, one would have thought I was consulting a quack on the score of my health." Dec. 6. Read the king's speech, declaring his offer of inde- pendency to America, and his hopes soon of a general peace. Dec. 16. Received from a Cumberlander a note informing me of Miss Curwen, an heiress of said county, having married with a Mr. Christian, possessing a small estate adjoining her large one. Dec. 17. Dined at Capt. Hay's, with Mr. Danforth and a Mr. Burges, a warm opposer uf American independence, who asserted that a great majority of his countrymen (English) abhor the idea, (which Mr. Danforth silently controverts,) declaring they will for- cibly oppose the plan ; thinks the minister who attempts it deserves the gallows, and will join in bringing him to it ; with this reserve only, should Ijord North and a great majority of the parliament co- incide, then it would be proper for the nation to acquiesce; he also declared his abhorrence of the successors of Lord North and his associates. Dec. 20. Went to general court martial at the Horse Guards, 1782.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 361 on General Murray, and abode in the crowd two hours, till adjourn- ment at three o'clock ; in the course of the trial, a witness in favor of the impeached had been several times called for on account of some privateers he was accused of being concerned in, particularly the Hannah, afterwards bought for government service. Sir Wil- liam Draper proposed that the witness should be asked whether Gen. Murray had received any profits on the sale of prize goods ; the demand threw Gen. Murray into an apparent embarrassment, and cast a concern on his face, to me very plainly to be seen ; but his witness, Neal, with an unblushing, unembarrassed, brazen countenance, relieved his friend by giving a direct negative. Sir William, expressing great astonishment, turning to him asked, " Do you, upon your oath, say that you do not know that General Murray had any profits arising from the sale of prize goods ?" The witness repeatedly said he did not know he had, which seemed to put Sir William into an agitation. This thorough-paced witness appeared determined not to do his work by halves. I know not what effect a true answer to the question would have had, but it seeras it might have led to an inquiry which the general would, perhaps, be glad to prevent. Dec. 21. At court-martial, and in the course of this day'r evi- dence, it appears that Sir Wm. Draper catches hold of every cir- cumstance that can possibly admit of the least coi-nnlaints ; and what man's conduct, who is possessed of discretionary power?, does not ; at least, it appears General Murray has not acted ^ base, rapacious part, nor tyrannical ; at least, not seemingly beyond the limits of his written commissions as governor and vice-admiral of the island and its dependencies —prudently saving appearances. In the issue, by the complexion of facts at this stage, not to anticipate, I fancy he may acquit himself, if not with great honor, at least without blame : nor perhaps may Sir William incur the disgraceful blame of Admiral Keppel's accuser. Sir Hugh Palliser. Though the prosecution of both really proceeded from the same cause, a real dislike ; the accusers of each, in other respects, stand under very different predicaments. Dec. 23. Two hours at the Horse Guards at General Murray's trial; letters between the parties were read that manifested suffi- ciently mutual heart-burnings and antipathies. 46 I'i'il: : ill fill' ( I w'^'M i {■ m fU 362 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1782. Dec. 28. The papers announce the refugees forsaken or neg- lected by Lord Shelburne and his compeers ; the gratitude of courts ought to be reckoned among the nonentities of Lord Rochester's list For my own part, I am too far down the hill of life to be much distressed at the events of a peace with America on any terms, or continued war — let the younger look to it. This day completes my sixty-seventh year ; with more propriety than Jacob, I may truly say, " Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life." God best knows when a period will be put to them ; its suddenness I deprecate not — may I not be unprepared for the event. Dec. 31. Walked in the Park with Robert Lechmere. Capt. Coombs took tea with me, and Mr. Wiswall called. W 4^.. n V' •■# 3.] JUUKNAL AND LETTKKS. :i63 CHAPTER XVII. London, Jan. 6, 1783. Walked for two hours in the Park ; saw Lord Shelburne for the first time to my knowledge. He is of a middling size and well set ; walks strong and springy ; his dress a brown frock and boots, with a whip in his hand. Jan. 7. On an inquiry concerning Mr. Cottenbilt, I find he died about six years since, and his wife about twenty : two daugh- ters, six and seven years old when I lodged with them in Whale- bone-court, in 1738, are now living and widows, one at Enfield, and the other in Holland. Jan. 9. Walked to Brompton ; visited Mr. Hutchinson ; drank tea and passed the evening with Mr. Danforth in philosophical conversation. Jan. 17. Met my former townsman and neighbor, George Deblois, in Cheapside, whom I have not seen for more than seven years ; gave him my address. Jan. 21. In passing along Parliament-street, saw a long fu- neral procession, say fifly carriages ; on inquiry, found it was an officer named Townshend, who had served in America. Jan. 23. Advices have arrived that the British troops have left Charleston and arrived at New-York ; and yesterday the Commons completely liberated Ireland from its oppressive thraldom, to which it has been subject to the king and his ministers for many years. Jan. 24. This day strong reports that preliminaries of peace are signed. It is said great sacrifices are to be made by the British in the east ; if that be all, it will be well. Lord Grant- ham, one of the secretaries of state, acquainted the lord mayor that the preliminaries were signed ; this is a matter of joy to all well disposed to the true interest of their country. It is said to be a much more favorable peace than, all things <• ^ .idered, could be expected. .Jan. 25. George Deblois and Capt. Coombs took tea with me and passed the evening. Jan. 28. Mr. Danforth told me of a meeting of Massachusetts •'Mt-' i'' 'i.ji. |;.]l;..^li:M i' : i ■ ill :i ; I) uS 364 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. refugees at Sir William Pepperell's, to deliberate on what may be proper to be done respecting an application. Meeting adjourned till Saturday next at same place. Jan. 29. At king's bench, Westminster Hall ; heard a judg- ment on a point of law respecting the license of a dissenting meeting-house, given against the justices, who endeavored to avail themselves of a subterfuge to avoid granting it ; wherein Lord Mansfield spoke sharply to the counsel for the justices. Afternoon at New England Coffee-house, reading the preliminaries of peace, which I confess astonish me : — a tract equal to half of Europe is surrendered. Jan. 30. King Charleses Day. Attended service at Westmin- ster Abbey j a considerable throng of fellow-worshippers in the great aisle of the choir ; my station or seat was in the prebend's stall. Dr. Bagot, the lately elected bishop of Bristol, of a most diminutive size, preached a loyal court sermon, giving the Church of England's styled loyal martyr a most exalted character ; which if just, that unhappy prince has been sadly misrepresented. He did not, however, descend to scurrillities or abuse ; thorough-paced in hierarchical principles, but not intolerant. Feb. 1. Attended a meeting of refugees at Sir William Pep- perell's house, Wimpole-street, to consider of somewhat to be done respecting an application to Parliament, if agreeable to administra- tion. Chose Sir William Pepperell agent to inquire of Mr. Secretary Townshend and Lord Shelburne, first lord of the treasury, if this course is acceptable to them. Lord North approves of it, and advi':es all the colonies to unite together. Broke up at three o'clock ; number present thirty-three — being all or nearly all in town that had received treasury allow- ances. Feb. 3. Met my countryman Mr. John Powell, from Ludlow ; also met Mr. De Berdt, whom I had not seen for seven years ; he having resided in the country since his marriage, six years ago. Agreed to dine with him to-morrow. My townsman, Samuel Porter, also came to see me j neither time, climate, change of place or circumstances will ever alter this man's character ; I never knew one whose characteristic qualities are so deeply impressed as his. Feb. 5. Attended the adjournment of the Massachusetts refu- I .') 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 365 gees at' Turk's Head, Gerard-street, Soho ; when Sir "William Pepperell reported that Lord Shelburne, by Mr. Secretary Towns- hend, thought the present an improper time to present a petitioii to Parliament. We enlarged his powers, etc., and after much con- versation on sundry particulars adjourned to next Saturday week at same place. Thirty present. Feb. 7. By the papers of this day it appears that the ratifica- tion of the preliminaries was signed by the French king on the 3d instant, and are arrived here as soon as completed. The part of France received by Mr. Fitzherbert and forwarded. The Dutch have not yet acceded. An armistice or cessation of hostility by sea agreed on between us. Feb. 11. Informed that Sir "William Pepperell has summoned a part of the Massachusetts refugees to meet at " Turk's-Head" for a special occasion '.^called at the Treasury, was informed that a board would be held this week, and the commissioners' report acted on, and orders respecting the Americans given out. Feb. 13. Notified to attend a meeting of refugees — voted to empower Sir "Wm. Pepperell to join in a petition to Parliament malgre au ministre d'etat, (in spite of the minister of state.) TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. London, Feb. 11, 1783. Dear Sir : Perhaps it may not be unpleasing to you to be made acquainted that the refugees from the province of Massachusetts Bay, under the denomination of loyalists, to the number of thirty- three, met at Sir William Pepperell's to consult about the choice of an agent to confer with the agents of the other provinces, in order to form a plan for addressing, remonstrating, or petitioning ParUament ; but whether of the three I am ignorant, though present at the choice, which by an unanimous vote fell 6n Sir William ; — and also to re- ceive a report from him of Mr. Secretary Townshend's answer respecting Lord Shelburne's approbation or disapprobation, without the former it being judged improper to proceed. Mr. Townshend excused himself to Sir William for not having applied to Lord Shelburne, by pleading business, but promised to call on him the next day, etc., if practicable, and thus the affair stood till the 5th ji » ' i ii'- ' I M' Mi m 11 I;. I iBBl'' ;i('s ii \ ,. mm 366 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. inst., to which time the meeting was adjourned, when Sir William reported that Lord Shelburnc thought the present an improper time to present a petition to Parliament. Since the meeting I find there are those averse to all measures at present, and amongst others [ confess myself a dissentient for the following reason : the king having taken the refugees under his care by recommending their case to the consideration of Parliament. Expectation is on tiptoe respecting the result of the commis- sioners, Wilmot and Coke, chosen by the lords of the treasury to examine, settle, adjust and proportion the claims and allowances of the refugees, who have been and are on the list of grantees — before whom we in that class have been. Some are apprehensive of a retrenchment ; some have too much reason to fear a total ex- cision ; very few, indeed, have hopes of an addition. It is reported and expected that the petitioners who hitherto have had no allow- ances, will be soon called before them to show the grounds of their pretences to governmental charity, when probably some pittance will be granted. The salaries of all the officers under the crown in the thirteen United States have been for some time past struck off; and part to some will be given under the same denomination with us, who have held none before. Judge Auchmuty of Boston has for these several months been annihilated, and reduced to the condition of a humble petitioner for a hundred pounds. Sir William finding his powers too limited, they were enlarged, and he is now empowered to consult and act in all cases in con- junction with the agents from the other provinces, giving his private word not to take any important step without consulting his constituents ; which precaution was universally thought necessary, as Joseph Galloway is suspected of sinister designs. It is said that they are making great retrenchments in offices and officers' salaries and fees. Think you while this spirit lasts, we useless, burdensome aliens shall escape untouched 1 that we dogs shall be longer suffered to take the bread out of their own chil- dren's mouths ? I trow not. I fancy you wonder at the terms granted America, as all the world does ,* but perhaps it may abate when you shall be told the agent Mr. Oswald is eighty-two years old, has been a correspond- ent of Congress, and is a very particular friend of Mr. Laurens. 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 367 As Americans will have a right by treaty to navigate the lakes to and from the ocean, and almost the whole of the country where furs are taken lies within the territories, it will be well if Great Britain gets any supply of that commodity but from the high mightinesses of America. Whether our rulers had any, and what concealed purpose in this American treaty, I have not penetration enough to discover ; that it proceeded from ignorance is hardly supposable, if from inattention, unpardonable ; and I confess the last most likely ; for iiad the wish of administration been ever so violent to compromise at all events matters with America, it is not supposable she would ultimately have insisted on such immeasura- ble tracts, which far exceed all Europe in extent. But it is now irrecoverable ; the die is cast — the ratification completed here and sent to France, and on the 3d was ratified there and exchanged. That a peace was necessary, all moderate men allow, and most, that in all other respects saving America it is as favorable as could have been expected ; in my mind betiier. I think our enemies have shown laudable jnaoderation. With great regard, S. ClTRWEN. TO REV. ISAAC SMITH, SIDMOUTH. Lmdon, Feb. 14, 1783. Dear Sir : In a letter I receivec'. yesterday from my friend William Pyn- chon, Esq. of Salem, iu the following : — " Capt. John Derby will most willingly accommodate any of his countrymen who may wish to return with him.'^ Capt. Derby, in a large ship of his brother's, is now at Nantz, to return in a month ; which is encouraging to all not under the ban of the states, and I am told their prejudices are surprisingly abated, and there seems a disposition to forget past animosities and kindly receive all the fugitives. This day I went to the Treasury to inquire about my allowance, and to my comfort found it : '.ood as at first. A few are raised, some struck oflf, more lessened. Of those that have come to my knowledge, Gov. Oliver's is lessened jEIOO, out of ;£300 ; Mr. Williams, who has married a fortune here, is struck off; Harrison !■ -..I,*! '^: ,'M! ii.^f I'J. 'X- !1, II &> !?' i' 'U 11' ii 4'»,' nM- > m v-i ! '< )M. mi ■; 368 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. :H'-# :iy Gray, with a wife and two children, struck off; his brother Lewis lessened to Je50 ; D. IngersoU reduced from Je200 to jeiOO; Sam- uel H. Sparhawk from jBISO to je80; Benjamin Gridley from jei50 to jeiOO; Thomas Danforth's, Samuel Sewall's, Samuel Porter's, Peter Johonnot's, G. Brinley's, Edward Oxnard's and mine, continue as at first ; Chandler's raised £50 ; Samuel Fitch's jE20 ; Col. Morrow's £50 ; one whose name I forget is sunk from j£100 to <£30 ; and many names and sums totally forgotten. On the whole, it is said the sum paid last year to refugees, amounting to near je80,000, is now shrunk by the late reform to je38,000 ; and if the commissioners act on the same frugal plan respecting the petitioners whose cases will probably soon be considered, I very much doubt whether the sum of last year's expenditure under this head, including all their additional allowances, will not exceed this year's. This is the great, the important day on which the prelimina- ries are to undergo a most critical and severe discussion, and will determine the fate of Lord Shelburne's administration ; news un- luckily for it has arrived, that the government of Virginia has declared they will pay no regard to any remonstrance, or request, or requisition respecting refugees, which manifests the fatality of the preliminary article recommending the same. Your faithful friend, S. Curwen. Feb. 17. Mr. Flucker died suddenly in his bed yesterday morn- ing, and is the forty-fifth of the refugees from Massachusetts within my knowledge, that have died in England. He was secretary of state for Massachusetts. Feb. 18. Mr. Deblois told me that Virginia had expressly de- clared they would not regard any remonstrance, requisition, or request of Congress respecting the loyalists of their province, as the fifth preliminary article between Great Britain and America stipu- lates : the fatality of which was visible enough before this proof. It is likely the rest of the states will copy so laudable an example, and exhibit thereby to the world a specimen of their power, want of virtue, moderation, and disregard to the principles of humanity. Shame to Great Britain that these unhappy persons stand in need of a recommendation promising such small efficacy — a striking les- 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 369 son to future generations never to support the reins of government against the determined resolution of a very numerous people. The House of Commons did not rise till seven o'clock this morning j being engaged in debate on preliminary articles of peace, and pro- visional articles between Great Britain and America. The magni- tude and importance of the subject deeply employs the attention not only of the managers, but the public universally, who are all ears for the result. Lord Shelburne and administration are left in a minority by sixteen in the Commons. In the House of Lords strong opposition to the terms of peace. English pride cannot brook to receive the dictates of a conqueror. Feb. 19. Evening at Dr. Graham's lecture on health, in his « Temple of Health," in Pall Mall, near St. James's. The first room entered was properly a vestibule, from whence through folding doors one passes into the apartment holding the electric bed, about seven feet square, raised three feet from the floor ; over the frame at the head are fixed two balls gilded of four inches diameter and one inch apart, to receive the electric spark from the machine above, continued down in a glass tube through the floor. Passing this, you enter the room of Apollo, through a narrow entry, having on each hand two or three niches containing statues gilded, about half the natural size. The first object that meets the eye is the temple of Apollo, being a round cupola five feet in diameter, supported by six fluted pillars of the Corinthian order and eight feet high, in imitation of scagliola ; in the centre stands a tri- podal frame with concave sides, on which rests in each angle a lion coiichant, supporting a long frame for the branch of six or eight lamps, adorned (or rather overcharged) with crystals, whose tremulous motion by the company's walking adds great brilliancy to the appearance, the walls all around having many branches with three candles each, besides two more large central branches, suspended by gilt chains from the ceiling. The decorations in the frippery kind are in great profusion in this as well as in the other room, consisting of glass in various forms and sizes, inlaid and hanging — many gilt statues of Apollo, Venus, Hercules, Escula- pius, etc., besides a few pictures. The master discovered a ready elocution, great medical knowledge, and appeared well qualified to support the character he assumes. 47 1 ' i ■ r u Ih m ' .f ?;■■' ,,,; 1' I 1% 'hi r. i.-:\ >f' ' '■•* h , m I, ' ^^ ' ' ?JiA .1 ?;'■*' 370 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. March 4. Called at G. Deblois's lodgings, and found tliut he sailed for Halifax on the 1st. Met Capt. Coombs, who informed me that Mr. Rowe at Treasury was drawing our pensions ; hast- ened and received my order. March 7. Government unsettled. Old administration out, no successors agreed on. Lord Gower has been solicited by the king to accept the premiership, or to be first lord of the treasury — the lord chancellor and Charles Jenkinson are of the interior cabinet. It is said the king has scarce eaten these two days, and is violently reluctant to take Charles J. Fox into his counsels ; and the party wherein he is engaged is by far the most powerful, to which Lord North has lately allied himself; to separate which has been the king's endeavor, but it seems without success. It is generally thought the king must at length yield. He will have to adopt the whole Rockingham party, or suffer the wheels of government to stop till Parliament remonstrate, which it soon must if the arrange- ment is not immediately made, all national business being at a stand. March 15. Administration not fully settled ; the king claim- ing the right of filling up vacancies in the cabinet in case of death or removal, and the new administration demanding to have none added but by their consent, that there may be no jarring among themselves ; and they will not aci till this be settled. March 17. Visited Mr. Richard Clarke — thence to the Treas- ury to inquire when the commissioners were to meet again, and meeting Mr. Alleyn, a clerk, was informed about Mrs. Gen. Wins- low's* allowance ; finding a mistake had been made by Mr. Rowe to her prejudice, I proceeded to inform her brother Clark of it, and from thence to her own lodgings ; she being absent I returned, and stopping at her sister Deblois's, found her there, and rejoiced her heart by acquainting her that her allowance stood as at first grant- ed, and leceived her thanks. March 19. Walked to Park. Meeting Mr. Thomas Hutchin- son, joined and accompanied him to Hyde Park corner ; he ac- { uainted me that Col. Phips, who is just arrived, relates that, during his captivity at Boston he was civilly treated by all ranks, • Lady of Gen. John Winslow of Marshfield, a refugee. Ai. m\^..^' 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 871 anil although obliged to reside at Cambridge, the state forbidding strangers a residence at Boston, he could easily obtain leave to visit there in the daytime. TO ANDREW DALGLISH, ESQ., GLASGOW. London, March 17, 1783. Dear Sin : My design herein is to give you my crude, and ask in return your better digested thoughts, on the present critical situation of Great Britain and the States of North America. However exult- ing they may feel in this first hour of their deliverance from British governmental authority, they have in my poor opinion an immeas- urable distance of road to travel over, intercepted with bogs, preci- pices, cloud-topped, scraggy mountains and deep valleys, before they will be able to arrive at an improvable champaign country, where ease, plenty and content are to be found : — in other words, that country abounds in lawless, ungovernable subjects, disposed, however, to imitate the vices, follies and luxurious fashions of wealthy states, with comparatively little ruiming cash, immense debts, no funds established, and permanent and powerful creditors to account with. I was yesterday told by Mr. R. Clarke that Massachusetts was answerable for a yearly interest of twenty I' ou- sand sterling due for a loan. Wc are at this period in this country in a kind of anarchy ; no settled administration, the most import- ant national concerns neglected or delayed. The Rockingham party is, evidently, the most numerous, and therefore most powerful, and since the coalition between the man of prerogative and the man of the people, the latter, very justly so styled, can carry all before him. The great obstacle, however, to a full establishment of the cabinet is, it seems, whether the present lord chancellor and Lord Stormont shall be of it ; which the king insists upon, designing them, if he can prevail to bring them in, as checks on the rest, these two being professed abhorrers of the pres- ent designs of the embryo administration. The other point is the king's right to fill up vacancies that may happen by death or removal, which is refused him, saying they will have none but those in whom they can confide. If the king gains his point, af- fairs will go on in the old channel, and there will be no reform ; if ,1 nii'i ' t. (■'^* , (1 If. I:l' m. ,#«: i' I ',.T l''l ,15* i I Mm y» % 9'. 372 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. he yields, he will scarcely be more than a doge of Venice, and the cabinet will rule and possess the whole powor of the stutc. Respecting the public, it seems to be of no importance who is in or who is out ; all are in pursuit of one jilan invariably to the neglect of the general welfare, or more properly at the expense of it. In this inter-reign Lord Shelburne sits and acts in the treasury, and Mr. Pitt as chancellor of the exchequer : — as to the character of the for- mer, though I profess no veneration .
e well supported. May 22. Informed that the refugees', or as they affect to deno- minate themselves, loyalists', petition to Parliament is presented, and supported by Lord North and all in administration, that all •who have pensions may receive them by their agents, go where they will, even if they shall return to either of the United States. June 15. Joseph Hooper called and drank tea ; gave him a certificate as he desired, though [ fancy it will be of no effect, respecting his property, business, and manner of living j of which, as I know, I can say but little. June 19. Walked to White Conduit House, to see a great cricket match played ; Lords Winchelsea, Easton, and Strathaven, and Sir Peter Burrill, etc. ; a very severe headache drove me oil the field. June 30. Visited the artificial flower-garden at Spring Gar- dens ; a beautiful imitation, laid out in walks, containing in its borders a great variety of the most curious flowers and many spe- cies of wall fruit, with birds of the season and climate placed in J783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 379 natural attitudes on the boughs in good preservation ; having also a small piece of water, with a jet d'eau in the centre, and a swan floating on its surface, besides a stream of water falling down a rugged precipice into a basin : the upper part of the sides covered with perspective views, which enliven the room, being of faint green ground, and eighty feet by fifty and twenty-five high, the top almost an entire skylight. July 9. At the gallery of the House of Lords; Mr. Cooper, a counsellor at law, pleading at the bar in a case wherein the distillers were concerned ; on the third reading of bill, Lord Effingham rose and objected to various clauses, all of which were overruled, and the bill passed. A message from the Commons was received and read. In the former case. Lord Effingham called the first lord of the treasury, the Duke of Portland, who rose, and to my seem- ing acquitted himself very indifferently ; in his person he is un- pleasing in figure and countenance. Lord Effingham had the ap- pearance both in person and dress of a common country farmer ; a green frock coat, with brass buttons, his hair short, straight, and to appearance un/combed ; his face rough, vulgar and brown, as also his hand ; in short he had the look of a laboring farmer or grazier* There were three bishops and twenty-three lay lords present : re- mained there two hours. July 11. At the bottom of Buckingham-street, on the bank of the river, is a very convenient stone alcove, wh^re 1 met a foreigner, who proving communicatively inclined, I attended for near an hour to his relations ; the subject being the small degree of liberty this country enjoys compared with the states of Germany, particularly the king of Prussia's dominions, which he endeavored to exemplify from that monarch's readily redressing all acts of injustice from his courts, or from the oppressions of one subject to another. Another proof was the burdensome taxes of this country, to which the Ger- man states are not liable ; the demesnes of the princes, and other sources, furnishing them with an income independent of taxes. A third was the exorbitant fees and delays of justice in our courts? which are just causes enough for complaint, crying aloud for re-" dress ; which, alas! there is but little reason to hope for. July 12. By appointment, dined at Mr. De Berdt's, a brother of the late Mrs. Joseph Reed of Philadelphia ; about six o'clock, !iSl il M ^ i'''iii|lii|i!^- Ml -ill I f 'Mi i! i^. fi;te. V 71H i i'll-l.^ 380 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. departed with Mrs. De Berdt in her chaise for their country house, in Wormly parish, on Sir Abraham Hume's land and manor, Herts ; passing through Shoreditch parish, Kingsland, Stoke Newington, Tottenham, High Cross, Edmonton, Pender's End, Enfield, Wal- tham Cross, Theobalds, and Cheshunt. Mr. De Berdt arrived soon after on horseback. July 13, Sunday. Attended worship at a meeting-house in Turnford in the morning ; in the afternoon at the parish church, standing on Sir Abraham's ground, who is the presentee thereof; a miserable, dark, old, forsaken temple, seemingly in a state of dere- liction, though its revenues are far from contemptible, amounting to £200 and more; its present incumbent is a D. D. Accompanied my friends to the christening of a daughter and churching of the mother ; after service partook of tea and christening cake. July 14. Set off through Lord Monson's grounds for Mr. Hughes' at Hoddesdon ; arrived in an hour, and passed another hour •with him ; then returned and rode with Mr. and Mrs. De Berdt over the Lea and New rivers into Essex, along the meadows; leaving there, we entered a rough, lonesome road that continued to the top of a very long hill of quick ascent. On the summit stands Roydon, from whence forward both lands and road had a very different appearance ; passed Stansteadbury church, standing on the edge of the eminence, and half a mile distant from the town or any house, except one gentleman's seat in its neighborhood, overlooking the extensive field called the Ryehouse field, perhaps from the grain of that kind for which it is noted. Descending into the plain, stretching for a mile or two on either hand, we passed the house well known in the history of Charles IL, for the real or imaginary plot against government laid there ; and also the two rivers. New and Lea, running scarce more than ten rods asunder, through the whole length of the plain, and parallel to each other ; at ten o'clock arrived home. July 21. Wrote to Thomas Russell, Esq., Boston, and intro- duced Mr. Coap. [1783. intry house, nor, Herts ; Newington, ifield, Wal- arrived soon .ng-house in rish church, itee thereof ; state of (lere- imounting to Accompanied ching of the cake. jnds for Mr. J another hour VIrs. De Berdt he meadows; hat continued )n the summit id road had a [urch, standing from the town neighborhood, field, perhaps lescending into ind, we passed for the real or id also the two rods asunder, ;o each other ; Lton, and intro- 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. TO WILLIAM PYNCHON, ESQ , SALEM, N. E. 381 London, July 26, 1783. Dear Sir : The raging fever of the times will doubtless abate, for no vio- lent fermentations are lasting, but not perhaps till the purposes of raising it are answered. The political frenzy of your country, and the peculiarly critical situation of American refugees here, put it out of my power to be decided respecting my future destination. However, as I wrote Mr. Ward, age and infirmities have made such inroads on me, as render of little importance the public deci- sions here or there. I ardently wish and pray for the welfare of both countries ; but to whisper a truth in your ear, 1 should not entertain a single thought of crossing the Atlantic at my advanced time of life, even under the pleasing prospect of a friendly and kind reception, was it not for the short enjoyment of my friends and acquaintance ; much less is the thought pleasing with such prospects as must present themselves to those misguided, unfortunate persons, who retired from America to Europe and elsewhere in the beginning and during the late troubles. 1 strongly suspect America will not find such a cordial and unrestricted liberty from the Euro- pean powers respecting commerce and the creation of a powerful navy, as she fondly and delusively imagined. Now the hurry of war is over, men's minds are more at leisure to view the importance of keeping within proper bounds the new rising states, of such vast extent of sea coast, such variety of soils, such capability of im- proving its native materials, and which, if suffered, will grow to a dangerous height. Please present ray kind respects to friends and acquaintance, and believe me Your friend, S. CURWEN. July 27. To the Tower, and encompassing it once round on the ramparts, left it, and passing over Little Tower-hill, joined a company attending a field speaker ; one in the outer ring proved boisterous and severe, but the preacher was too much engaged to attend to the noise that disturbed most in that quarter. i! m << m ■U ?i- Hi '^n 1-' f III d 'i !! I , .n h^ ";! '''' r' -^ !r?!i S;! lill 382 JOURNAL ANL LETTERS. [1783. July 29. Called on Mr. and Mrs. Mather ; afterwards William Vans called ; I took a stroll with hira and tea at Bagnigge Wells ; thence home by way of Peerless-pool and Moorfields. TO GEORGE RUSSELL, ESQ., BIRMINGHAM. London, July 20, 1783. Dear Sir : Your kind wishes I read with heartfelt satisfaction, for I meet with very few who profess the slightest regard ; on this subject I could enlarge, but my feelings would urge to a style prudence for- bids me to use. You express yourself as one not callous to impres- sions of humanity, as interest and passion render too many ; " that when the horrors of war cease, there should end all animosities." I wished and hoped it too, but with what success the world too evidently sees ; not a single expectation of mine through the pro- gress of this baneful war but has ended in disappointment. To keep myself from all future mortifications, I am determined to take no further part or concern in public measures, than what arises from unavoidable constraint by personal interest ; and considering the sour aspect of American politics respecting absentees, I cannot but think my plan an obvious dictate of wisdom. Local attach- ment having lost its force in me, and so averse as I am to a tedious voyage, that could I persuade a few friends that it was not for want of a due regard, I know not whether, at this advanced time of life, I should not retire to some quiet village, and there pass in undis- turbed ease, unknowing and unknown, the short portion of my remaining days. Perhaps, at your time of life it is hard to conceive the propriety of the foregoing intimation ; but you will remember old age blunts the passions as well as the reason, and renders rigid and stiff the finer fibres of the brain, those vehicles of animal spirit, by means of which impressions of all kinds are less frequent and strong. You very justly observe, that the true state of the case is not always to be known from newspaper representation, and I can add, scarce ever even when public instruments are pretendedly copied. However, in the present case, I fancy you may, without injury to truth, believe the resolves from the town of Worcester to be genuine ; nor less those very curious ones from the New Jerseys, in [1783. rds William gge Wells ; M. 20, 1783. 1, for I meet his subject I prudence for- us to iropres- nany ; " that animosities." he world too ough the pro- jintment. To •rained to take n what arises nd considering ntees, I cannot .ocal attach- am to a tedious as not for want ed time of life, pass in undis- lortion of my ard to conceive will remember id renders rigid if animal spirit, iss frequent and the case is not , and 1 can add, 'endedly copied, without injury JVorcester to be [ncw Jerseys, in 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 383 the Morning Chronicle of the 26th inst., (if I have uot mistaken a day or two,) wherein you will see the predicament of us poor re- fugees in the opinion of our late fellow-subjects ; but party zeal is blindness as well as madness. Both the foregoing as well as others of like import, I have seen in my own town newspaper, called the Salem Gazette, nor does it want confirmation from verbal testimony, and a multitude of letters from friends and foes corroborate the same. Your wish and expectation that the present delirium, as I call it, will not be lasting, is common ; it is in all men's mouths ; its con- tinuance will, I dare say, be of fatal length to me, as well as in its operation. To show on what footing I stood before the news of peace had intoxicated them, take the following extracts. In one letter, dated 2d January last, from a worthy friend and correspondent, he says : — " It is the general desire that you be urged to return, with assur- ances that you will be joyfully and respectfully received, and may reside here in peace and safety." Another writes : — " Your friends and acquaintance ardently wish for your return, and continuance among us in peace and security all your days." The ship Captain, (Holton Johnson of Lynn,) with whom I came from America, was, by a revolution common at such periods, translated into a legislator in our Massachusetts Assembly ; being about two months since in London, told me that had not his interest and efforts prevailed, my name would have been inserted in the banishment list, and my estate confiscated. The reality of this fact depends on the relator's veracity ; the reasons, if any, must be private pique and malice ; no public crime was ever alleged, but merely leaving the country in her distress. If success is justification, I confess guilt. A subsequent letter of 12th May, says : — " It seems clear to your best friends that your caution was not groundless." In one of June 5th : — " Since plundering and privateering have declined the reverend Dr. Whitaker exerts himself on the wharves as well as in the desk against the return of Americans ; let your patience and fortitude continue a month or two longer, and I believe that you may safely leave faction and party rage to spend their utmost spite without harm." In one of 14th June, from the same : — "Mrs. P. hath been at Providence, etc., and finds that Rhode Ml,. .: f i, 11 A ! ; t I 1 if-i .'■ ;,i I If I *u I'i 384 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. Island and Connecticut are surprised at the conduct of Massa- chusetts, as to the return of absentees who have not been inimical to America. That Mr. Sparhawk and others, who went thither from New-York and other places, were treated with great humanity and respect ; that they encourage the return of Americans. These and other occurrences considered, I doubt not of seeing an alter- ation of measures before the end of the present session of the Assembly ; I trust we shall not long continue to drive our own people into other states." The Dr. Whitaker before mentioned, of Salem, is a notorious character in America, and not unknown here, whose employment some years ago was that of an itinerant preacher, leading about a tawny native of America for people io look at, and hear his preach- ment ; he was also at the same time t ngaged in the more profitable pursuit of soliciting charity for the eetiblishment of an Indian col- lege in the frontier wilderness of my country. He is usually called Dr. Meroz in America, from his constantly applying the 23d verse of the 5th chapter of Judges to the poor refugees. I am far from wishing ill to the cause of liberty, much less to that of my native country, to which on the contrary, as a citizen of the world and a friend to the inalienable rights of mankind, i wish every kind of good, but am ?4ually far from thinking America has gained its delusively fancied prize by independence. By some congress- ional manoeuvres of late, a train I fear is laid for the establishment of a power much more fatal to liberty than Great Britain durst have aimed at, whilst she could have retained any governmental autho- rity there. Their liberation is a doubtful proof of the divine ap- probation of their cause. Many there thirsted after it, and so did the Israelites for a king, which God at length gave them, in his anger : and he has, I fear, given them their heart's desire by way of punishment for wantoning away those singularly great advantages of a civil, religious and political nature, with which he had favored them above all people upon the face of the whole earth. They often were used to compare themselves to God's highly favored peo- ple, and I truly think their case is not unlike ; mercies and preserva- tions as numerous, nor does their folly and ingratitude fail to finish the comparison. If any expressions here are not altogether of the complexion of your own notions, I know your candor will nirke i.\,\ mm' 'u 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 38S allowances for the difference of our situation, though I am not aware of an unfriendly bias in uy mind. Your faithful friend, S. CURWEN. August 6. At New England Coffee-house to read the papers, filled with relations of the rising spirit of Americans against the refugees, in their towns and assemblies. Intoxicated by success, under no fear of punishment, they give an unrestrained loose to their angry, malevolent passions, attribute to the worst of causes the opposition to their licentious, mobbish violation of all laws, hu- man and divine ; and even some of the best of the republican party seem to think, at least their practice squints that way, that the sup- posed goodness of their cause will justify murder, rapine, and the worst of crimes. But cool impartial posterity will pass a better judgment, and account for the violences of the times from party rage, which knows no bounds. TO MR. JOHN TIMMINS, WOLVERHAMPTON. London, August 9, 1783. Dear Sir : By the newspapers from America, particularly our quarter, I find there remain but slender grounds of hope for success in at- tempting the recovery of debts or estates ; a general shipwreck is seemingly intended of all absentees' property — the towns in their in- structions to the representatives making it a point to prevent the return of them, and consequent confiscation of all their property, notwithstanding the provision in the fifth preliminary article. These lawless people regard not any obstacle when the gratification of their angry passions or the object of gain is in view ; — some of their re- solves perhaps you may have seen. I yesterday read in a Boston Gazette, published (in June) by Edes, the well known sedition- trumpeter, the following copied out for your view from the resolves of the town of Lexington, of the same complexion with the rest of their town meeting measures: "Common sense and the laws of nature and nations concur to pronounce them one and all aliens from the commonwealth. As to the idea of admitting some and rejecting oth- ers, it is easy to see that the wisdom of angels would be puzzled to 49 iv I \ A i 1^1. It 1' U' [U'.'i I *! 386 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. draw a line — to determine when or where to stop. Upon the whole we cannot but think it indispensably necessary for the peace and welfare of this state, and the freedom and happiness of the Unitid States, that a decided part be taken to prevent the return and the recovery of their estates, and property that was formerly theirs." — Though in this you see the temper is unfriendly and adverse, the language is decent. From a paragraph of to-day's paper is the fol- lowing : " Letters by an American vessel yesterday from Boston brought certain information of a very unfavorable nature to the loyalists, whose situation is extremely precarious, and no step is likely to be taken for their relief." The same letters add, that " several parts of the country are in a state of convulsion, in a strug- gle to get repossessed of estates seized by individuals during the troubles." Sitting by Frederick Geyer in the N. E. Coffee-house, he said that John Amory had written him that he was made to hope by his friends for a readmission into Boston, having already been per- mitted to have a sight of his children, &c. He had received letters by Callahan from Boston, by whom thirteen passengers have just arrived ; among them are Leonard Jarvis, Samuel Eliot, and a Mr. Seaver. I suppose you have heard of Capt. Smith's treatment at Phila- delphia. Such, however, is the course of human affairs, and it may be, for aught I know of, consummate wisdom and a just retribution of rewards and punishments ; for I am far from thinking there is such a very great disproportion of happiness here below among individuals, as is the common opinion, or that external circumstan- ces are of any weight in the question of the quantity of human happiness of each one individual compared to another. In a little space of time I shall be dead to a sense of all these puzzling events ; it may be, shall see the reasonableness and equity of the providential government in a clear and satisfactory light. Heartily wishing you health, success, competency and content- ment, I am, with cordial esteem, Your friend, S. CURWEN. jJwg. 12. P. S. — The London Evening Chronicle of this day contains a sensible and excellent circular letter from General Washington to the several state govp' rs ', the forementioned di- 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 387 reeled to Governor Greene, of Rhode Island. If you have not seen it, the liberality of that government absolve^i this from all imputa- tions on the score of tolerating the Roman Catholics in Canada — they having far outgone these by admitting persons of all faiths as well as none to a full participation, not only of the liberty of living and exercising their religion among them, but to all the immunities, rights, privileges, emoluments, and honors of the state. This is, I confess, carrying toleration to the very largest extent. S. C. TO RICHAIID WARD, ESQ., SALEM. London, Jiugust 11, 1783. Dear Sir : I refer you to my letter by Mr. Conant for an explicit answer to your question, " Do you propose to spend the remainder of your days abroad '?" though 1 do not think my expression, " The wished for period of my return is not arrived," carried any doubts of what were my intentions. With regard to that event, you best can tell whether I or any exile from America, whatever our wishes may be, shall ever be suffered to make an attempt ; a subject I consider with some indifference, age and infirmities having made such in- roads on ray constitution as k ave me but little to hope or fear from the result of public councils or the imprudence of private conduct. So far, however, am I from indifference to the real welfare of America, that I ardently wish moderate counsels may prevail, for it is the universal opinion that her credit and interest will be essen- tially hurt, should an illiberal, impolitic exclusion of all absentees take place. I am free to declare my apprehension that the lower, illiterate classes, narrow-minded and illiberal all over the world, have too much influence, and that political and civil events bear some proportion to the wisdom of public councils ; not always, as instances of a contrary kind may be adduced through a succession of many ages in the history of mankind. Please to acquaint the " Social Library" company, whatever occasions they may have for a supply from hence, they shall b freely welcome to my services. With best love to my niece anv» your children, I am your friend, S. CURWEN. |..i.f^!il I ! I ill' ' M 388 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. Mug. 17. Attended public worship at St. Giles's, Cripplegate. The number of youthful voices accompanying the organ rendered that part of the service pleasing and devout. After service walked to the altar to see the funeral monument of a woman rising out of a coffin ; the inscription too high for me to read, but said to perpetuate the extraordinary event of a woman of this parish being brought to life after interment, by the sexton's de- scending into the vault to cut off from her fingers some rings, which by swelling could not otherwise be recovered. Report adds, that raising herself in the coffin, she quitted it and followed the sexton out of the church, and proceeded homewards, and arriving there at midnight and knocking hard at the door, awakened the maid, who went trembling to her master, saying she was sure the knock was that of her mistress ; on going down and opening the door, to their astonishment found it to be her mistress indeed. Report further adds, that this same woman lived to have seven or eight children. On asking the female pew-opener, she replied : " That is the report, but having been but a late parishioner, she could not say, but some thought it meant to denote the resurrection of the body." Below is the bust of the famous martyrologist " Johannes Foxus," put up by his son Samuel about 1590. Jlug. 31. Attended worship at the church of St. Austin and St. Faith the Virgin, united parishes close under St. Paul's, and the latter so called as I was informed on inquiry at St. Paul's of the verger ; he further said that it was in the gift of the dean and chapter. A Mr. Ryder, author of a history of England, preached an ingenious and entertaining discourse. Afternoon at the Magda- len, where heard an excellent, pathetic, and finely adapted address to the tenants by Mr. Sellon, minister of Clerkenwell, one of the justly celebrated preachers of the day. Sept. 3. Mr. Foster, the late appointed clerk to commissioners for examining loyalists, advertises to-day for them to bring in an estimate of their estates, effects, losses, etc., to him at his chambers, Middle Temple, before the 29th inst. Sept. 19. Yesterday evening received a note from Mr. De Berdt, inviting me to accompany Mrs. D. to his country house at Brox- burn Herts to pass a few days during his absence in Wiltshire, where, after three hours, we arrived in Mrs. D.'s chaise before tea. [1783. ripplegate. in remiered ter service [■ a woman to read, but [lan of this ;exton's de- some rings, Report adds, loUowed the and arriving wakened the was sure the 1 opening the stress indeed, lave seven or she replied: rishioner, she le resurrection martyrologist 1590. it. Austin and It Paul's, and St. Paul's of the dean and land, preached [at the Magda- Japted address |ell, one of the commissioners jto bring in an ; his chambers, 1 Mr. De Benlt, louse at Brox- Je in Wiltshire, laise before tea. 1783.] JOURNAL ANU LETTERS. 389 Sept. 23. At twelve o'clock set off with Mrs. D. for Ware, through Hoddesdon, Ryefields, Stansfield, Mardock Mill, the late residence of Mr. De Berdt. Sept. 25. To Hoddesdon; meeting Mr. James Inman and another gentleman, accompanied the former home. Sept. 26. Proceeded with Mrs. De Berdt Londonwards, meeting and overtaking multitudes in carriages and on foot, bound to the Walthara Abbey-statute for servants — a day established by act of Parliament, following the last day of Fairs, for hiring servants. The males appear with the tools or insignia of their respective em- ployments; the females of the domestic kind are distinguished by their aprons, viz., cooks in colored, nursery-maids in white linen, and the chamber and waiting-maids in lawn or cambric. Here resort all who want to go into, or arc out of service, as well as those families who stand in need of servants. After a few delays and the interval of three hours, arrived in London, passing through Clapton and Hackney, deviating from the usual road for variety sake. Sept. 29. Visited Mrs. Hay ; first time since her return from Scotland. At New England Coffee-house, saw a number of young Massachusetts men bound home in Callahan, gone down the river. In Oxford-street, called at Mr. Danforth's and S. Porter's; both absent. Oct. 4. At ten o'clock, set off with Mr. D. in a post-chaise for Lord Tylney's seat, Epping Forest ; conducted through the rooms and from them to the grotto, which, in my opinion, is the most pleasing and elegant I ever saw ; though Goldney's at Clevedon is by some esteemed before this ; and which, perhaps, in the rich- ness of some of its spars may exceed. Oct. 6. This day was proclaimed peace with France, Spain, and Holland, with the usual formalities, at Palace, Charing Cross, Cheapside Conduit, and the Royal Exchange ; had a sight of the procession in Pall Mall, but the crowds disappointed me from hearing the proclamation, or seeing the ceremony of admis- sion through Temple-bar into the city. Oct. 8. At New England Coffee-house in company with Mr. Nathaniel Gorhara, lately arrived from Boston, whom I had well known. He is a native of Charlestown, late a member of Congress, '■m i. ^, ■i ii iiiii k '^^ »!ii'i , •' V': i I IS Ik- Ii ■ '' .' i •• 390 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. I I't^j \-\ ; I )' .'■ I ■' i i [ i: iil'll and of the Massachusetts Assembly, and who is now here on the score of obtaining a benevolence for the sufferers at the destruction of that town, June 17, 1775, by the king's troops; which, all things considered, carries with it such a face of effrontery as is not to be matched. Invited him to tea; received a letter from my wife's brother, James Russell. TO HON. JAMES RUSSELL, LINCOLN, MASS. London, Oct. 8, 1783. Mv Dear Sir : I thank you for your favor of the 21st August, the first from you since my unhappy abandoning my former home in April, '75. You write, " I give you joy on the return of peace ;" as far as it shall be productive of real good to the parties concerned, it has my approbation ; respecting myself it is an event of the smallest moment, were the appearances in your quarter ever so bright and pleasing ; how much less when the thirteen late peaceable happy colonies are reduced to the licentious and gloomy condition wherein they now are, if general report may be depended on. In truth, were your sister* no more, there would need no act of Massachusetts or any other assembly, or senate, to prohibit ray return. So far as to America and myself ; now to another point, that of interest. After I had written to your son Thomas of Boston on the subject, I had heard of the sale of your late son Charles's estate at Lincoln to your son Chambers ; I will presume you did not forget my demand of j£300 sterling, and somewhat more for his bond to rae, though your silence respecting it has since raised my apprehension. Mr. Thomas Russell will address you on this subject, and I trust sufficient will be received to remunerate him for monies obtained on his credit by me for my support soon after my arrival here. Wishing you and your family every good, I remain, my dear sir, Your affectionate brother, S. CURWEN. Oct. 9. Received a note from Mr. De Berdt, inviting me to dinner on Friday with Mr. Gorhara and Mr. Barrett of Boston. • Mrs. Curwen. 1783.] JOURNAL ANTJ LETTERS. 391 Oct. 25. Accompanied Mr. Gorham to House of Commons and Westminster Abbey. Oct, 28. Saw Captain Nathaniel West and Captain Smith for the first time ; received information from the former that his brother Eben was living, (whom I feared was dead,) and about to return to Salem. Oct. 29. Mr. J. Fletcher drank tea with me, and related in detail his misfortunes, present condition and views. TO MRS. ABIGAIL CURWEN, SALEM. London, Oct. 30, 1783. My Dear Wife : The peace, or rather acknowledged dismemberment of the late English colonies from their mother country, has, it seems, been so far from affording a prospect to such of the American absentees •who might be willing to return back, that, on the contrary, from what appears, the present governing party are determined to pass bills of final exclusion of all such as left their country after the troubles commenced. If their government is in the hands of what their great and good allies call the " mesne peuple," which two short words you have Anglo-Gallic friends enough among you to translate, no liberal public measures are to be expected. If it was not for your sake, or that you would follow my fortune or accom- pany my fate, I should not hesitate for a moment taking up my future abode, which cannot possibly be but of short continuance, somewhere out of the limits of the republican government. " The world," as Adam said on his expulsion from paradise, " is all before me, where to choose my place of rest, and Providence my guide." By this you see, I have not fixed my views ; nor can I, prudently, till your government shall have come to a final deter- mination respecting your runaways, or, as they affect to call them- selves by the pompous character oi loyalists ; which, however, does them no more credit here than with you. Wishes for the welfare of my friends still warm my heart ; as to the rest, I read with cold indifference the insurrections in Pennsylvania, and the carryings-on m the late English colonies, having lost local attachment. If your fortitude has increased in the proportion that your health and spirits have improved, perhaps you will not find it an W' lii f .1, I ■n I ( * I lif'r'Blil ■'' ki? .' 1 ii:j II. i«jt.l v\- Ui f>^^ v^ illi'M! r*ilf'ff^" ;,:i ., , : m ' .ill . >liiL^ ill 392 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1783. insurmountable difficulty to resolve on a land tour to Canada, or a voyage to some other English settlement. Whatever shall be the result of your thoughts, let me be made acquainted therewith as soon as convenient. Should a fmal expulsion be concluded on, you will no longer hesitate. Mr. Jay and John Adams are here, and if administration was kindly affected towards American sufferers, perhaps some good might arise ; though for my own particular case, I have no favor- able opinion of the gratitude, or even justice, of kings or courts ; nor of the friendly regards of the two forementioned Americans towards us in the unhappy predicament of petitioners for the bounty, not to say justice, of the court ; from the latter, [Adams,] it is cur- rently said and believed, harsh declarations have fallen here as well as in Holland and France respecting us, nor has he probably changed his mind. The ancients say, " Qui trans mare ciirrunt, ccelum non animum mutant.'"* Of a different complexion and temper is Mr. Nathaniel Gorham, with whom I have had several interviews; he is moderate, reason- able, and conciliatory ; would that his views prevailed among his countrymen. He has just informed me that on the 4th proximo, agreeably to Charles J. Fox's appointment, he was going to wait upon Lord Keppel ; if a member of the American Continental Congress can lower himself to use the derogatory term of wailing on the first lord of the English admiralty. Yours, in all affection, S. CURWEN. J^ov. 5. Last night a very destructive fire consumed many houses, upwards of forty, between Aldersgate, Bartholomew Close, and Cloth Fair, supposed the most extensive in London for many years ; the fire yet unextinguished ; no account yet given of the damage, loss, etc. JVbv. 24. At the American commissioner's office, late Duke of Newcastle's house, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, for directions respecting a memorial. Kov. 25. Attended among the rest of expectants to have a * Those who cross the scat, change their abod<) but not their minds.' 1783.] JOURNAL ANU LETTEKS. 393 sight of the air-balloon discharged from the Artillery-ground, at one o'clock ; it rose moderately, and in a southerly direction ; was in sight ten or twelve minutes ; its appearance to my eye, after it diminished to four or five inches in diameter, was like three round balls in contact, in shape of a triangular body with obtuse angles. I should think the numbers in Moorfields exceeded fourscore thou- sand. The sight was amusing ; perhaps posterity may improve on this newly investigated subject, and make what is now only a pleasing show, a commodious, perhaps pernicious, aerial convey- ance, JVbu. 28. Capt. Carpenter, of Salem, called ; he is just from Lisbon. TO WILLIAM PYNCHON. ESQ. Lmdon, JVov. 28, 1783. Dear Sir : However unfavorable to my wishes the result of the American Assemblies may be, I shall be gratified by receiving the earliest advices. Capt. Nathaniel West brings mr a message from the principal merchants and citizens of Salem, proposing and encour- aging my return; which instance of moderation I view as an honor to the town and respectful to myself, and I wish to return my thanks through you. It affords me pleasure, and I would cheer- fully accept the offer ; but should the popular dislike rise against me, especially if co-operating with governmental resolves, to what a plight should I be reduced, being at present (but for how long is a painful uncertainty) on the British government list for jGIOO a year, (a competency for a single person exercising strict economy,) to surrender this precarious allowance without public assurances of personal security. It would be little short of madness, should the popular rage com- bine with the public decisions to prevent our future residence ; de- prived of all assistance, and even the last refuge of the wretched, hope here, expelled there. Imagine to yourself the distress of an old man, without health, under such adverse circumstances, and you will advise me to wait with resignation till the several Assem- blies shall have taken decisive measures on congressional recom- mendation, agreeably to the provisional treaty, if that body shall 50 ■'■> Vi ,1 t' m^ '.i i,l \ rUiSm t ■ ''IV iti i . if) " !H !• i liM A .ItH' II 'ii 1 " ^ ^iii, ' '■ |!' i iiii ' 111' y 1 394 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1781. deem it prudent to cotvform to what their commissioners have agreed to. But enough of this. One of your Massachusetts pubUc min- isters, Mr. John Adams, is here in all the pride of American inde- pendence; by Mr. Gorhara I am told he uttered to him the follow- ing speech, that " together with the war he had buried all animosity against the absentees." Though he is of a rigid temper, and a thorough-paced republican, candor obliges me to give him credit for the humanity of the sentiment, being spoken in private, and to one of his own party, and probably without an intention to be pub- lished abroad. In a conversation with my informant, he further replied, that he chose to consider himself as a plain American republican ; his garb plain, without a sword, which is carrying his transatlantic ideas, I fear, a little too far. Should he have the cu- riosity, or his public character render it expedient, to attend at a royal levee, or at a drawing-room at St. James's on a court day, I hope he will not deserve and meet with as mortifying a repulse as our late chancellor. Lord Thurlow, at the court of Versailles ; whose surly pertinacity in wearing a bob-wig occasioned his being re- fused admittance into the king's presence. However frivolous a part of dress soever a sword may appear to one of Mr. Adams's scholar-like turn, he is by this time, I fancy, too well acquainted with the etiquette of courts to neglect so necessary an appendage, without which no one can find admittance out of the clerical hne. I have nothing further to add but my ardent wishes for an in- crease of the health and happiness of yourself and family ; for I am very truly, Your friend, S. CURWEN. JVbw. 30. Attended worship at the chapel in Margaret-street, Cavendish-square, where Mr. Foid, from Liverpool, officiated, using the liturgy appointed for the dissenters on the plan of preconceived forms in that place ; it being the first use of it in London. Dec. 2. Mr. Gorham passed three hours with me. Dec. 5. Evening at Covent Garden Theatre, to see old Mack- lin in the characters of Shylock in the Merchant of Venice, and in Sir Archy McSarcasra in Marriage a la Mode, a farce of his own writing ; in both he excels, and although more than fourscore years 1783.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 396 of age manifests '^n exertion that would credit even youth. The house crowded ; the character of Portia, in the former, })erforraed by a Miss Roscoc, her first appearance. Dec. 18. Yesterday Charles ,1. Fox's famous East India bill was on a second reading thrown out of the House of Lords, by a ma- jority of nineteen, the vote being seventy-eight in favor, and ninety- seven against it. The Pnnce of Wales in the minority, being his first vote as one of that house. Dec. 20. House of Commons in an uproar, occasioned by a supposed design to dissolve them and form a new arrangement of administration ; the members of which, one of the papers has, as usual in extraordinary cases, presented the public with. Dec. 28. Attended public worship at Essex House chapel. Mr. Lindsay preached from — " For we know that if the earthly house of this our tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ; for in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is in heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked." A text and discourse not unsuited to my particular situation, this day completing my sixty-eighth year, and in a dis- consolate condition, laboring under bodily infirmities, dreadful un- certainties respecting my temporal supplies, and but too conscious of many more imperfections and follies, moral and natural ; how- ever doubtful what may be the consequence of a separation of soul and body, I most ardently long for a deliverance from personal evils, and a retreat to that state of quietude where the weary are at :est. Dec. 31. Visited Mr. De Berdt by invitation ; from thence to Capt. Hay's, and engaged to dine there next Friday. This concludes a most unpleasing, unprofitable year, meaning in such a sense as dignifies the rational nature of mortal men. May the following year be productive of better moral effects than the last. m. !SI m 396 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1784. I' . !£ i • I' a i.a^ ^1^ f:<^.m ' ■■ ' 1 i ' ■ : ■ 1 . .., ! ■. ! 1 1 Jir^.,. ■! 1 ^<]^- ■' 1 41 CHAPTER XVIII. London, Jan. 17, 1784. At New England Coffee-house, recog- nised by Col. Tonge, whom at first sight I knew not, till he made himself known. Jan. 24. Last night Mr. Pitt's East India bill lost by a ma- jority of eight; probably a dissolution of Parliament will follow. A wretched plight is this distracted nation in, from an obstinate, despotically inclined king, and a set of profligate, unprincipled men of influence and politicians. I fear there is not sense enough left of the importance of public interest and liberty among the people, to oppose the pernicious designs and measures of court and Parlia- ment, and that the people, from whose efforts alone good may be expected, however unaided by nobles or gentry, will soon, oppressed and overloaded by taxes, submit to any measures their haughty im- perious masters shall impose. Thus the government, once the boast of Great Britain and the envy of the world, will snon find itself on a level with the most contemptible of those nations on ■whom it justly looked with pity, and imprudently with contempt. I think its ruin near enough for my old age to have the cruel mor- tification of seeing, brought about by the most impolitic and foolish of all attempts, the late American war ; and in the short space of nine years fallen, when at the highest pinnacle of power, glory, and wealth it had ever attained, to its present state of despair. Feb. 2. Disturbed by disagreeable dreams from whatever cause, whiohj however, I pretend not satisfactorily to account for to myself; I find my imagination much more busily employed now than in my youth.. Feb. 3. Joseph Hooper called on me to accompany him to the American Commissioner's office in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, which I did, and gave a relation on oath, which proved my unacquaintedness with his affairs of no advantage to his cause. Afterwards at New England Coffee-house, reading the papers, filled with melancholy accounts of the party squabbles in the House of Commons between Foxites and Pittites, the former of whom have got a majority to I' I' it [1784. )use, recog- 11 he made st by a ma- will follow, m obstinate, incipleil men I enough left r the people, t and Parlla- good may be on, oppressed : haughty im- ■nt, once the will snon find e nations on ith contempt, he cruel mor- tic and foolish ; short space power, glory, despair. ,m whatever account for 'mployed now jinyhim tothe Is, -which I did, Icquaintedncss ^ards at New Ith melancholy Imons between I a majority to 1784.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 397 M^.M address the king to turn out thelall.LT and his associates, which has produced such a ' .grin in the king's mind, it is said, as has deter- mined him to retire to Hanover, and leave this distracted country under the government of guardians of the realm, of which his son, the Prince of Wales will be first in the comrai&sion. Feb. 9. The extreme severity of the weather seems to ill-in- fluence the tempers of the state managers, whose pertinacious obstinacy forebodes, by their struggles in the House of Commons and their opposition in the House of Lords, to bring on a state convul- sion. Should healing measures not soon be adopted, and the meet- ing bill run out, the army will of course be left without restraint, and the dogs of war be let loose ; the, consequence all have rea- son to dread, none fully foresee. Feb. 13. The two political game-cocks, Pitt and Fox, are at length to compromise, and the public business, for a while at least, be sufTered to go on, which during the contests between the House of Commons on the one side, and the king supported by the House of Lords on the other, has stagnated, to the great reproach of the conienders, and injury of the public interest, which, however, in this period of venality and selfishness, seems to be a consideration of the smallest importance, if any at all. JPei!>. 17. Received several letters from Salem, encouraging me to hope I may be permitted to return to my native country. FROM WILLIAM PYNCHON, ESQ. Salem, Jan. 2, 1784. Dear Sir: I have made inquiry amongst your friends, and all agree that although there seems to be no prospect of a repeal of the laws against absentees, yet the inhabitants of this town, the committees, and all orders, seem very desirous of your returning in the spring. As Mr. Cabot, by whom I shall send this, is urgent for it, and can inform you of the present temper and disposition of the people towards you, it will be needless for me to give you particulars. Assurances from hence as to security, etc., while the laws remain unrepealed, we cannot give you, other than private opinion only. Mr. Cabot will acquaint you, and, by what Mr. Vans says, you will have it in letters from several, that thre. Many return and lile such as nor say so. ofore in the iw for your ley must re- the General , and to their ven let them t ; even your bservation on discourage lot to mention M Pynchon. ay 9, 1784. into my hands as agreeable. r. Barnard and gyraan of that itaker) lately lich he had for lurbulent spirit iting to disturb land must force infess, though lesist the most er is the cause [probably will |nn, if the pro- rve their inter- 1784.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 403 est in the purchase of books, no exertions shall be wanting in my power to do them justice. There is one circumstance relating to books with which you may be unacquainted : the first edition of a book of character and quick sale bears a high price till the run has abated ; besides, the modish outside dress, emblematic of the taste of the age, enhances the price not a little. Second hand books, and those out of the tonish line, may generally be bought reasonably ; books of amusement and the beauties of modern writers are in com- mon estimation, and sell dear. Respecting Mr. Hasket Derby's library, if it was sent through a merchant, probably an addition was put to the bookseller's price of at least 25 per cent,, not an uncommon practice here. Your mention of young Mr. Daniel Oliver is sufficient to recommend him to my respect and notice, if he shall see fit to desire it ; without which it is not likely I may see him, being rarely in the way of Americans, having forsaken the New England Coffee-house, grown old, the transatlantics young and unknown to me, and their manners and language unpleasing. The easy credit obtained here is astonishing, and characterizes truly this nation, who are credulous, generous, unsuspecting, and wealthy beyond belief; if great mutual complaints and sufferings do not follow the immense indiscriminate exports to America, I shall be much out of my reckoning. It will not be surprising to me if French politics will be as much execrated among you as they were admired and praised during the war ; it is morally impossible, that despotic as the court of Versailles is, she can relish the republican principles and maxims of the United States lonj^er than she can make them subservient to her own ambitious purposes. All the world knows the ruin of Great Britain was the only object of her assisting America to throw off her dependence, and the folly of her statesmen has aided the views of that intriguing power. Never had this country a fairer opportunity of disappointing the pernicious views of her rival neighbors than the present, were there a public spirit in this in- fatuated nation ; but, alas ! a regard to the public welfare is no more to be found among its rulers. However indignantly I behold the conduct of her neighbors, I confess France should be consid- ered only as a rival power, striving to give the law to a state that i: u h'-t i <^ J ' III f ■ I' ' if » ,f 404 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1784. rail' ' m ■m^'T'l,,^ I' A' "if '!•' ■,'j' 7 iiCh ' l|! ■:l« ''Mil'' I 8 has for more than a century made it a professed principle to thwart all her political views. I hope your people will have mcr'j wisdom than to permit an aristocratic spirit to take place among you J for of all civil oppressions that is most intolerable. I sincerely thank you for all your favors, particularly the last ; the contents of your letters might have been published at the market-cross without injury to your character in the height of the war, unless with such persons as Alcock and Whitaker, whose mad party zeal construed into guilt every innocent word and act of those they were disposed to slander and vilify. I am, with great truth, Your faithful and grateful friend, S. CURWEX. May 9. After service proceeded to Mr. Danforth's lodgings to take him by agreement to Kensington Gardens, where after a few turns adjourned to " Adam and Eve" ordinary. Mr. Samuel Porter and young Farnham afterwards joined us in the gardens, which we found excessively crowded ; among others the Duke of Chartres, brother of the French king, and two other French noble- men. May 11. Saw John Sparhawk from (near) Portsmouth for the first time. May 13. Saw Captain IngersoU from Salem. May 15. With Mr. Bartlet purchased plays for Mr. Pynchon, and law-books for Mr. Ward. Mr. Bartlet presented me with a medal struck in Philadelphia ; — in a round compartment stands, " U. S 5 . . . . 1783 ;"— round, " Libertas et JustUia ;" on the other side, in the centre, an eye surrounded by a glory ; the whole encompassed by thirteen stars, — with the legend, " JVova Comtel- laiio." May 17. To Covent Garden ; abode an hour amidst very numerous throngs, this being the last day of polling, and Fox to be chaired, it is feared ; great riots and destruction will be the conse- quence. The foot-guards and a squadron of horse are ordered to hold themselves in readiness, and approach within a callable distance. In the afternoon went to Covent Garden, now emptied ; the company gone to attend Mr. Fox's procession, — the hustings t 11' [1784. )le to thwart have mci'; ilace among >le. irly the last ; lished at the height of the taker, whose word and act end, S. CURWEN. jrth's lodgings ■where after p. . Mr. Samuel in the gardens, ■rs the Duke of • French noble- tsmouth for the )r Mr. Pynchon, ted me with a artraent stands, ustUia ;" on the ory; the whole Jfova Constd- ur amidst very , and Fox to be 11 be the conse- rre arc ordered [ithin a callable , now emptied ; 1,— the hustings t 1784.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 405 removed, and all the stands taken down. Proceeded thence to Charing Cross, which, to my surprise, I found crowded ; the pro- cession then just beginning to march by from Westminster Hall, in the following order : — the officers of each parish distinct, with their peculiar standards, attending two and two, with wands in their hands ; bands of music ; next gentlemen on horseback ; then others on foot ; in the rear was Mr. Byng, whose appearance was an- nounced by " Byng and Fox for ever .'" Then followed a few horsemen ; then Mi\ Fox, mounted on a lofty chair, on and around interwoven with a laurel bower almost encompassing him ; soon after appeared a lofty white silk banner, with this inscription, — " Sacred to female patriotism ;" and was immediately followed by the Duchesses of Portland and Devonshire in their coaches, around which were laurel festoons, each drawn by six horses ; the whole concluded with about thirty private carriages. An innume- rable crowd attended, and with vociferous acclamations, but no riot nor mobbing ; government having wisely provided the horse and foot-guards, which probably discouraged the ill-disposed. May 20. Parson Walter and Mr. Danforth visited me and took tea. May 21. Visited by Captain Ingersoll from Salem, from whom I have heard more particulars relative to the present state of the town and its inhabitants than for several years. TO WILLIAM VANS, ESCl., SALEM. London, May 21, 1784. Dear Sir: Your favor of 2d January, was, I acknowledge, unexpected ; but did not surprise me, though at this late day. The difference of your sentiments from mine and those of my mistaken friends, needed not to have caused the destruction of your former letter ; for how wide soever our political motions have been, or perhaps now are, that letter, I dart say, conceived in purity of intention, and brought forth in decency of expression, could not have failed to prove informative and amusing ; and on that score a welcome present. Besides, I sit in judgment on no man ; wishing for candor towards myself, I think it my duty to practise it in my turn to all ; referring it to God alone to approve or condemn, who alone has ii I ii il w I'^'i If 'TfiiMf jf : R.Jto .ki y 406 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1784. the right ; and to knaves and fools who have none, to usurp that right. The (louhts that have hitherto discouraged my attempting to trust the faithless waves again, are derived from more than one source. However wanting in respect the appellation, I had rather be accounted a timid friend, a light you say I am viewed in, than an enemy ; a reproach I am not conscious to have deserved. Your report of the returned penitents to their former habitations, strengthens my belief of lenity towards myself, should I ever be in a condition to stand in need of such kmty. However, if I rightly understand the meaning of your caution to address to the care of a friend, you yourself, sanguine and positive as you are of the safety of my person and property, think it a proper precaution to slip behind the curtain for a while after entering on the territories of the United States ; a part, Mr. Vans, I shall on no account stoop to act, dissimulation being no part of my character, and I am too late in life to assume new habits. I am well pleased to hear of the singular moderation of the town of Salom ; if other towns have been violent in words only, as your letter intimates, their character is greatly injured and the public abused. Having answered your letter, I now take leave, after subscribing myself with due regards. Your friend, S. CUBWKN. June 8. William Browne, lately arrived from Gibraltar, where he sti'ved as an officer during the siege, son of Colonel Browne, now governor ol' Bermudas, called on me after an interval of six years ; he appears intelligent, and his manners much refined. June 11. To my vnsman, S. Porter's lodgings, Kensington, through the gardens. There seems no inclinatioti in him or any refugees to return back ; fed, I presume, with delusive hopes of a compensation, or rather deluding themselves with ungrounded ex- pectatione founded only in their vain wishes and desires of court compassion, which may be justly added to Lord Rochester's list of ideal nothings- June 19. At one o'clock the funeral procession of Sir Barnard [1784. to usurp that attempting to iore than one lation, 1 had u say I am t conscious to er habitations, kl I ever be in er, if 1 rigbtly o the care of a re of the safety caution to slip erritorics of the ccount stoop to [id I am too late ideration of the in words only, injured and the ifter subscribing S. CUBWEN. iibraltar, where Colonel Browne, an interval of , mucli refuicil. Lgs, Kensington, |i in him or any ^ubive hopes of a I ungrounded ex- desires of court Rochester's list of In of Sir Barnard 1781.] JOURNAL ANn LETTERS. 407 Turner, sherifl", passed through Bishopgate-street amidst great crowds, tho'igh much lessened by the delay which the populace mistook for its being laid aside ; the body had been arrested after it was put into the hearse, in the street, for a considerable debt, which was afterwards compromised, on whose oi' what account is variously stated. The hearse was preceded by two lines of the artillery association, headed by an officer and five privates abreast, their firelocks reversed, marching in slow pace, rnufllcd drums beating, trumpets sounding, and other instrrments playing the 104th psalm tune ; the hearse was adorned with large flowing plumes of ostrich feathers, just before which was led the horse of the deceased, dressed in black ; on the saddle were laid the hat, sword, and boots crossed. A small detachment of the artillery company followed the carriage of the deceased and those of his brother sheriffs ; after which the whole closed by fourteen car- riages, each drawn by two pair of horses ; the whole was to proceed nine miles, to Tottenham ; solemn and pompous in the extreme. June 22. At New England Coffee-house read Mr. Pitt's speech and motion to stop the smuggling of tea, by a repeal of the heavy duty on that article, and substituting a lighter one ; and to prevent any injury to the revenue, by laying an additional house and window tax, whereby the poor and middling classes will be eased ; and the burden, as it ought, will lay on the wealthy. Polling in the Borough for the election of a member in the room of the late Sir Barnard Turner ; candidates. Sir Richard Hotham, and Mr. Paul Mesurier. FROM HON. JONATHAN SEWALL. Bristol, June 28, 1784. Dear Sir: Accept ray thanks for your kind communication of your inten- tions to revisit America, and for your obliging offer of accepting any services I may wish to trouble you with. I am clear in my judgment that you are perfectly right in your present determination ; you have taken no active part, — your family has remained unmo- lested, and Mr. F. Cc;bot assures me, that whenever you choose to return you will be rectived with the warmest cordiality by all your •» 1 I n ■ii r '■.' ! J 408 J O iril N A I, AND I. E T T K R S . [1784. old fiit'iiils, and will roceivc no insult from any ; in sliorl, (jiat yoti may go as sal'oly as liti can. This was his ciosin<^ expression. You have not told me wiicn you intend to embark ; if you tliink proper to jjjive me .seasonable notice of the time, perhaps 1 may trouble you with the eare of one or two letters, provided you ^l^^■^> be the bearer of them Irom an alien — traitor by law, vide Jlcl (if 177i). U )ou have any (piahns, as 1 don't know but you may, upon good grounils, give me but a hint of your fears or wishes, and I shall conform to either, as my letters will be of no impurtaiicu to mystiK or my correspondents — no treason, no polities, 1 assure you. If you go, as 1 with twenty-eight others still remain exiles, it is not probable we shall ever see each other again, in this world- Cod only knows what kind of one the next will be, whether mor'; or less dirty— be it what it may, if we meet I .shall most joyfully take you by the hand. Indeed I don't absolutely despair of steiii" you again in this strange world, for upon my soul, though I was born and breil yet I am a stranger in it ; but my design is to go out to N. Scotia this autumn or early in the spring — there, if you wish, you may see me, but while the unjust, illiberal, lying act of 1779 remains unrepealed, never will I set foot on the territories of the thirteen Uniteil Independent States. I feel no resentment against them. 1 wish them more happiness in their unnatural in- dependence than my judgment allows me to hope for them — but I have been mistaken throughout the whole voyage; yet, however I may have been out in my ibrmcr opinions, I wish my judgment may still be erroneous — I wish, most sincerely, my native country may meet all the happiness she has sought, per fas ct lufas — she thinks she has obtained it— I wish she may not be mistaken ; but I have my doubts. Mrs. Sewall accepts with thanks your compliments, and returns ihcm most cordially ; my sister, whom you kindly remember, died, poor girl, on the 17th of May last, alter a paralytic stroke about three months before ; I think I may say, she has gone with as few- faults on her head as any of us can expect to go with. I miss her greatly, — but why should we complain t I am your humble servant and sincere friend, JoNA. Sewall. t " !i !■ . i 1781.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS, 409 TO HON. JUDGE SEWALL, BRISTOL. London, June 29, 1784. Dkar Sir: Oa some accounts I shall return to America with reluctance, having many doubts on my mind of meeting such a reception as will oncoura^/e my continued abode in that land of purity, sanctity and liberty. I feel too independent a spirit within to apprehend or regard any danger from republican licentiousness, which ever has been my contempt and abhorrence. The following infer nos. The success of my application to the commissioners, now sitting in the Treasury, I am as yet ignorant of; my memorial or petition was this day delivered in, and is to be con- sidered to-morrow. Whatever shall be the event I shall endeavor to support the same spirit, though a success equal to my supposed just expectations would serve as pillars or buttresses in an old tot- tering edifice, to add strength and support thereto. Please make my compliments to your family, and to Mr. Sam- uel Sewali if in your neighborhood. Dear sir, your affectionate friend, etc., S. CURWEN. June 29. After composing the following petition, I proceeded with it to the Treasury — dubious of its fate or fortune. " To the Commissioners appointed by act of Parliament to con- sider the sufferings and service of the American loyalists: " The petition of Samuel Curwen humbly showeth : That your petitioner was forced to abandon his home and dwelling b" the repeated menaces of the people within a few days after the unnap- py rencounter at Lexington, who reproached all persons with the invidious appellation o( lories, as they chose to call such as did not openly accuse the king's troops as aggressors, were for supporting law and order, and for forbearing future violences ; among which number your petitioner was one. Taking refuge aboard a vessel bound to Philadephia, he arrived there, hoping to find an asylum from outrage and indignity ; but in this he was mistaken, for though that city had during fill former wars shown a manifest dis- like to military levies and arrangements, and when in the Ic 'i dis- 52 ..iiilltii; iM, ill ■1 ( /;■ I m. i^^§ ! I f !'' :i ir'l'' i U ' -1. II 410 JOURNAL AND LETTERS'. [1784. pute, a sinpjular moderation ; at this period the political frenzy had risen to an equal height as in New England, and your petition- er was soon informed that that city could prove no refuge to him, even by those friends under whose protection he sought for safety ; the only condition of his continuing there was a public renunciation of his principles,, acknowledging his errors, and promising future obedience to the new assumed powers. Loth to be held up to the public in so disgraceful and mortifying a view, and to confess a falsehood, he took the only alternative in his power. All communi- cation with the northward by sea being forbidden by the city committee of saft ty and inspection, lest General Gage's troops at Boston should be supplied with flour, etc., and by land no letters could be sent but under the inspection of the state inquisitors — the regular post-office established by act of Parliament being shut up, and travelling by land dangerous to any but those called soiis of liberty — he therefore took shipping again, and after a series of dangers in a very tedious passage, arrived in London, where and in the country, he has resided to the present time, subsisting whilst his own stock lasted on that, and since on the public bounty. Having received some overtures since the peace took place from some of his townsmen of Salem, which, together with the sad de- rangement of his affairs there, makes him wish to revisit his native country of New England, but the advices from his friends rendering it still doubtful whether he can with safety and comfort pass the remainder of his days there — being near the verge of threescore years and ten — he proposes therefore to retreat to Nova Scotia or one of the royal colonies, in case he cannot obtain a resettlement on the forementioned conditions, and therefore humbly requests liberty to appoint an agent here to receive the usual allowance hitherto indulged hira, and for so long a time as may be judged proper to continue it. And your petitioner as in duty bound, etc., Samuel Curv/en." July 2. Went to Treasury ; returned re infeda, not a little deranged but not much disappointed ; my expectations from court not being high, I cin suffer but rarely any inconvenience, taking care not to put myself in the way of frequent mortification. The •tification. The 1784.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 411 present application is of a kind I should have thought not liable to a repulse, many such favors having been already granted, if the re- quest deserves not rather the appellation of a just demand. July 5. Went to the Treasury, and there received the agreea- ble information that the commissioners had granted my petition to appoint an agent to receive my quarterly allowance after my de- parture from England, on making satisfactory proof of my being alive at the successive periods of payment. From this I date an end to my doubts respecting my embarkation ; its issue time must reveal. July 7. Made an early visit to Mr. Gorham, to talk on the subject of our passage with Capt. Ingersoll. July 8. On 'change met Capt. Folger and John Spar- hawk, both of whom I wish to embark with Mr. Gorham and my- self with Capt. Ingersoll. Mr. Jonathan Jackson called on me for a letter of introduction to Mr. George Russell of Birmingham, which I cheerfully gave, acquainting Mr. Russell that he possessed an unblemished reputation and extensive property, in case he may form any commercial arrangement there. TO REV. JOSEPH BRETLAND, EXETER. London, July 9, 1784, Dear Sir : I could not, with my strong sense of obligation to Mr. Bretland for the many instances of respectful attention received from him during my residence in the west, leave England without acknow- ledging them. My departure from London will be within a fort- night — a voyage at this late hour of my life is an undertaking, even were the prospects bright, I would gladly dispense with ; but duty and interest call too loudly to be resisted. I presume your acquaintance on the western continent lies in a very narrow com- pass ; however, if it shall be in my power to serve or amuse you in respect to the concerns in that distant quarter, I shall feel my- self obliged by gratifying your wish. I know not in what employment I am to pass the small rem- nant of my days, should Providence permit my safe return home ; but I shall not think part of it ill-bestowed in directing and assist- ing the studies and pursuits of my niece's children, who are just of U^'SI M ^ il is ' !■■■ fm i li*:! w in ' .,! '1,1 I ,! 412 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1784. an age to receive useful ideas — with regard to the English, Latin and Greek tongues, I shall esteem it a peculiar favor it you will be pleased to forward me a list of books and the order in which they should bo used. Very truly your friend, S. CURWEN. July 10. To the Treasury ; found the American door besieged by a score of mendicants like myself, waiting their turns — though I thought my early attendance would have entitled mo to No. 1, 1 was glad to stand No. 21; so groat was the crowd that I was more than once about to depart and leave them. July 11. With Capt. Coombs took an airing to the tower, having encompassed it on the ramparts, and taken a view of the American thirteen stripes flying on eight vessels lying in one tier; the first view I ever distinctly had of their independent naval glory. Arranged about going with Capt. Ingersoll. July 16. Gave a power of attorney to George Bainbridge of Bread-street, to receive my pension quarterly. .fuly 18. Mr. Cassini, the French mathematician, having presented through his ambassador in London a memorial, praying that some person would undertake to carry triangles from Green- wich to Dover to meet the French at Calais, in order to determine the exact distance between the observatories of Paris and Green- wich ; his majesty, who is ever ready to patronize useful schemes, immediately granted one thousand pounds for the carrying it on, and General Roy was, by his own consent, fixed upon for the un- dertaking. TO REV. JOSEPH BRETLAND, EXETER, DEVON. London, July 19, 1784. Dear Sir : Your obliging favor of the 17th is just received. For a long time I was flattered with the expectation that my philosophical ac- quaintance would comply with his promise to answer your favor, till I had in truth forgotten I had not written you, and my delay arose from his, which at last ended in a refusal. He seems to value ■! Hi- i';' 1784.] JOURNAL AND LETTERS. 413 himself on a freedom from the shackles of fear, and thinks that rn advantage which no believer in the existence of a Deity can boast of, and to that principle refers all those labored treatises to prove one ; and though fully convinced of the truth of his system, is satisfied a universal belief of thera in the present state of things would not be productive of beneficial effects in society, which to me is instead of a tiiousand arg'iments to manifest their falsity. I would with unff igne! pleasure travel further than the distance between us to meet my worthy friend, but unless the weather pre- vent, or some unforeseen accident intervene, to which human af- fairs are liable, I shall take shipping within four days. It repents me much that I had not availed myself of leisure to have visited you ; but past neglects may be, like this, lamented, not repaired. Your kind information in respect to method of teaching, I thank you for ; your friendly caution I take in good part, and shall not fail to attend to it ; and your request, you may depend on my compliance with. Be pleased to make my respectful compliments to all friends. 1 remain, with real regard. Yours, S. CURWEN. Julij 20. Went to Mr. Copley's, George-street, Hanover- square, to take ray leave of him, and pay my last compliments to his father-in-law, Mr. R. Clarl ", and the family. Mr. Copley ab- sent at Tunbridge. July 22. Accompanied by Mr. Nathaniel Gorham, breakfasted on board ship Union, Capt. Jonathan Ingersoll, wherein I have en- gaged my passage to Boston ; met Benjamin Pickman the elder and younger. Dined at Mr. De Berdt's, in company with General Joseph Reed of Philadelphia, and Mr. Gorham ; also drank tea and passed the evenmg there. July 25, Sunday. Attended worship at Mr. Lindsay's chapel, Essex-street, Strand ; took my final leave of Mr. Lindsay and Dr. Disney at the chapel door. July 28. Took leave at lodgings 107 Bishopgate-street with- in, and proceeded to the ship Union, lying at Irongate, where I purpose to abide till ray arrival at Gravesend. Paid twenty guineas IMI P ' f m I iv If'' \ 11 ' I,,., y. i'Wt m fj ^14: «'^J f m < •\ \ 414 JOURNAL AND LETTERS. [1784. in part for my passage money. From henceforth I bid nn ever- lasting farewell to London. At ten o'clock the Tower guns, to the number of eighty, were discharged ; this being the day appointed by royal proclamation to be observed as a thanksgiving lor the general peace. Despatched a boat to bring Capt. Coombs from his brig Minerva ; Capt. Patterson and Cleves also drank tea with us. Jiug. 1. Proceeded down the river with a fair wind. Mug. 2. Anchored otT Deal. Jlug. 3. Capt. Ingersoll with two passengers arrived on board; immediately after the ship broke ground, and in an hour entered the Channel ; and now \n:y for the ocean. Jlug. 4. This morning all our passengers breakfasted together for the first time ; their names, Nathaniel Gorham, William Smith, Lewis and Francis Deblois, of lioston, a Mr. Isle, and myself. Jlug. 6. Stood in for St. Helen's road ; thence proceeded to Cowes harbor, Isle of Wight, where we anchored ; went ashore, took tea and supped at the Vine inn. Jlug. 7. With four fellow-passengers took coach for Newport, the only borough town on the island, consisting of four hundred houses ; it lies at the head of water beyond Cowes five miles ; re- markable for no manufactures or productions, natural or artificial: thence trudged it on foot to Carisbrook Castle, on an eminence a mile or more distant, now in ruins, and inhabited by a family named Poney, consisting of two or three maidens and their servants. The church is a living of jei20 per annum. After dinner we all set oil for our ship. Jlug. 8. Got under Avcigh, and at six o'clock are now in the bay, steering for Lymington road, where we arrived at nine o'clock and anchored, waiting for the ebb to carry us through the Needles at a league's distance. These rocks lie on the island side of the en- trance, and on the opposite shore of the main land of England. On a point, of a mile or so in length, stands Hurst Castle, remarkable in history for being the prison of King Charles, not long before his execution. Jlug. 10. Supposed off Berryhead, at five leagues distant. Afternoon changed our course and entered Dartmouth harbor. Jlug. 11. At six o'clock A. M. in the ofling. Start bearing X. by E., four leagues distant ; dead calm ; ten vessels in sight. 1 I; m [1784. I bid an cvcr- vcr guns, to ihe i ,yrfia « f. 'IC) »r* 1^1: 1 r .rr H I ,J.I .'^t li: 4 mm . pil'l '' fl •i ■■ ! ■ r iC ' i-ilp'i V"f ' 111 ' In f im i i! ft ! - r ' V Ijl 1 1' 1 i; m 1 '' H : 9 s w ■'■ if ' Ir'' '%i I ::.i. SUPPLEMENT; CONTAINING ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS, BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF INDIVIDUALS MENriONfiD IN THE FOREGOING WORK. II U i '*l 1 i 1 ; ' '• w your . thelc Ik-ju; TM SUPPL EMENT. ILLUSTRATIVE DOCLIMENTS ADDRESS OF THE MERCHANTS AND OTHERS OF BOSTON, TO GOV. HUTCHINSON. Boston, May 30, 1774. We, merchants and traders of the town of Boston, and others, do now wait on you, in the most respectful manner, before your departure for England, to testify, for ourselves, the entire s^ tisfac- tion we feel at your wise, zealous, r . ,i faithful administration, uir- ing the few years that you have presided at the head of this province. Had your success been equal to your endeavors, and to the warmest wishes of your heart, we cannot doubt that many of the evils under which we now suffer, would have In'' en averted, and that tranquillity would have been restored to this long divided province ; but we assure ourselves that the want of success \n those endeavors will not abate your good wishes when removed from us, or your ear- nest exertions still on every occasion to serve the true interest of this your native country. While we lament the loss of so good a governor, we are ^'"-^'y relieved that his Majesty, in his gracious favor, hath appointed as your successor a gentleman who, having distinguished himself in the long command he hath held in another department, gives us liiC most favorable prepossessions of his future administration. We greatly deplore the calamities that are impending and will soov '^ on this metropuiib, by the operation of a late act of Par- liaijjent for shutting up the port on the first of next month. You » \ '■ iti J ij! I I ;r ■• . '» , F\f; .l Ml lit iMm vA iiiiii ill 424 ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. cannot but be sensible, sir, of the numberless evils that will ensue to the province in general, and the miseries and distresses into whi. ;. it will particularly involve this town, in the course jf a few montK^. Without meaning to arraign the justice of the British Parlianient, we could humbly wish that this act had beer ^juched with less rigor, and that the execution of it had been delayed to a more distant time, that the people might have had the alternative either to have complied with the conditions therein set forth, or to have submitted to ''. usequent evils on refusal; but as it now stands, all choice is precluded, and however disposed to compliance or concession the people may be, they must unavoidably suffer very great calamities before they can receive relief. Making res- titution for damage done to the property of the East India Company, or to the property of any individual, by the outrage of the people, we acknowledge to be just ; and though we have ever disavowed, and do now solemnly bear our testimony against such lawless 'iro- ceedings, yet, considering ourselves as members of the same commu- nity, we are fully disposed to bear our proportions of those damages, whenever the sum and the manner of laying it can be ascertained. We earnestly request that you, sir, who l;now our condition, and have at all times displayed the most benevolent disposition lOMards us, will, on your arrival in England, interest yourself in our I half, and make such favorable representations of our case, as that we may hope to obtain speedy and effectual relief. May you enjoy a pleasant passage to England ; and under all the mortifications you have patiently endured, may you possess the inward and consolatory testimonies of having discharged your trust with fidelity autl honor, and receive those distinguishing marks of his Majesty's royal approbation and favor, as may enable you to pass the remainder of your life in quietness and ease, and preserve your name with honor to posterity. William Blair, Jan es Sc'lkrig, Ar( 'bald Wilson, Joij.niah Oreen, Sainuel H. Sparhawk, Joseph Turin, Roberts &c Co., John Greenlaw, Benjamin Clark, William McAlpine, Jonathan Snelling, James Hall, William Dickson. John Winslow, jr., ILLUSTRATIVE C t M E N T S . 426 ThcophilusLil'ie, Miles Whitworth, James McEwen, William Codner, James Perkins, John White, Robert Jarvis, William Perry, James & Patrick McMastere, William Coffin, Simeon Stoddard, jr. John Powell, Henry Laughton, Elipbalet Pond, M. B. Goldthwait, Peter Hughes, Samuel Hughes, John Semple, Hopestill Capen, Edward King, Byfield Lynde, George Lynde, A. F. Phipps, Rufus Green, David Phips, Richard Smith, George Spooner, Daniel Silsby, William Cazneau, James Forrest, Edward Cox, John Berry, Richard Hirons, ZiphioTi Thayer. John Joy, Joseph Goldthwait, Samuel Prince, Jonathan Simpson, James Boutineau, Nathaniel Hatch, 54 Martin Gay, Joseph Scott, Samuel Minot, Benjamin M. Holmes, Archibald McNiel, George Leonard, John Borland, Joshua Loring, jr., William Jackson, James Anderson, David Mitchelson, Abraham Savage, James Ashy, John Inman, John Coffin, Thomas Knight, Benjamin Green, jr. David Green, Benjamin Green, Henry H. Williams, James Warden, Nathaniel Coffin, jr., Silvester Gardiner, John S. Copley, Edward Foster, Colbourn Burrell, Nathaniel Greenwood, William Burton, John Winslow, Isaac Winslow, jr., Thomas Oliver, Henry Bloye, Benjamin Dads, Isaac Winslow, Lewis Deblois, Thomas Aylwin, William Bowes, Gregory Tovvnsend, Francis Green, Philip Dumaresq, i^.\ if I (&' I ''im lis ■^:m J^ 486 ILLVSTRATIVI DOClMEitTI. Harrison Gray, Peter Jolionnot, George Erving, Joseph Green, John Vassal], Nathaniel Coffin, John Timmins, William Tailor, Thomas Brinley, Harrison Gray, jr., John Taylor, Gilbert DebloiR, Joshua Winslow, Daniel Hubbard, Hugh Turbett, Henry Lyddell, Nathaniel Cary, George Brinley, Richard Lcchmere, John Erving, jr., Thomas Groy, George Bethune, Thomas Apthorp, Ezekial Goldthwaite, Benjamin Gridley, Junn Atkinson, Ebenezer Dridgham, John Gore, Adino Paddock. ADDRESS OF THE INHABITANTS OF MARBLEHEAD TO GOV HUTCHINSON. Marblehead, May 25, 1774. His Majesty having been pleased to appoint his Excellency the Hon. Thomas Gage, Esq., to be governor and commander-in-chief over this province, and you, (as we are informed,) being speedily to embark for Great Britain : We, the subscribers, merchants, traders, and others, inhabitants of Marblehead, beg leave to present you our valedictory address on this occasion ; and as this is the only way we now have of expressing to you our entire approbation of your public conduct during the time you have presided in this province, and of making you a return of our most sincere and hearty thanks for the ready assistance which you have at all times afforded us, when applied to in matters which affected our naviga- tion and commerce, we are induced from former experience of your goodness, to believe that you will freely indulge us in the pleasure of giving you this testimony of our sincere esteem and gratitude. In your public administration, we are fully convinced that the general good was the mark which you have ever aimed at, and we can, sir, with pleasure assure you, that it is likewisR the opinion of all dispassionate thinking men within the circle of our observation, notwithstanding many publications would have taught the world to ILLUSTRATIVE UOCUMENTS. 487 ;head to gov onvinced that the aimed at, and we risR the opinion of )f our observation, lught the world to think the contrary ; and we beg leave to entreat you, that when you arrive at the court of Great Britain, you would there embrace every opportunity of moderating the resentment of the government against us, and use your best endeavors to have the unhappy dis- pute between Great Britain and this country brought to a just and equitable determination. We cannot omit the opportunity of returning you in a particular manner our most sincere thanks for your patronizing our cause in the matter of entering and clearing the fishing vessels at the custom-house, and making the fishermen pay hospital money ; we believe it is owing to your representation of the matter, that we are hitherto free from that burden. We heartily wish you, sir, a safe and prosperous passage to Great Britain, and when you arrive there may you find such a re- ception as shall fully compensate for all the insults and indignities which have been offered you. Henry Saunders, Richard Hinkly, Samuel Reed, Robert Ambrose, Jonathan Glover, Richard Phillips, Isaac Mansfield, Joseph Bubler, Richard Stacy, Thomas Procter, John Fowie, Robert Hooper, 3d, John Gallison, John Prince, George McCall, Joseph Swasey, Nathan Bowcn, Thomas Robie, John Stimson, John Webb, Joseph Lee, Thomas Lewis, Sweet Hooper, Robert Hooper, Jacob Fowle, John Pedrick, Richard Reed, Benjamin Marston, Samuel White, Joseph Hooper, John Prentice, Robert Hooper, jr. ADDRESS OP THE BARRISTERS AND ATTORNEYS OF MAS- SACHUSETTS TO GOV. HUTCHINSON, MAY 30, 1774. A firm persuasion of your inviolable attachment to the real interests of this your native country, and of your c( nstant readiness, by every service in your power, to promote its true welfare and Itiil mM\ i^m -t : * '■f H .J r '■<;■ «il !»:«' 423 ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. prosperity, will, we flatter ourselves, render it not improper in us, barristers and attorneys at law in the province of Massachusetts Bay, to address your Excellency upon your removal from us, with this testimonial of our sincere respect and esteem. The various important characters of Legislator, Judge and first Magistrate over this province, in which, by the suffrages of your fellow-subjects, and by the royal favor of the best of kings, your great abilities, adorned with a uniform purity of principle, and in- tegrity of conduct, have been eminently distinguished, must excite the esteem and demand the grateful acknowledgments of every true lover of his country, and friend to virtue. The present perplexed state of our public affairs, we are sensi- ble, must render your departure far less disagreeable to you than it is to us,— we assure you, sir, we feel the loss ; but when, in the amiable character of your successor, we view a fresh instance of the paternal goodness of our most gracious sovereign ; when we reflect on the probability that your presence at the court of Great Britain, will afford you an opportunity of employing your interests more successfully for the relief of this province, and particularly of the town of Boston, under their present distresses, we find a conso- lation which no othc'r human source could afford. Permit us, sir, most earnestly to solicit the exertion of all y^ur distinguished abilities in favor of your native town and country, upon this truly unhappy and distressing occasion. We sincerely wish you a prosperous voyage, a long continua- tion of health and felicity, and the highest rewards of the good and faithful. We are, sir, with the most cordial affection, esteem and respect. Your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servants, Robert Achmuty, Jonathan Sewall, Samuel Fitch, Samuel Quincy, William Pynchon, James Putnam, Benjamin Gridlcy, Abel Willard, Andrew Cazneau, Daniel Leonard, John Lo^vell, Daniel Oliver, Sampson S. Blowers, Shearjashub Brown, Daniel Bliss, Samuel Porler, i.ir imble servants, ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. 429 David Ingersoll, Jeremiah D. Rogers, David Gorham, Samuel Sewall, John Sprague, Rufus Chandler, Thomas Donforth, Ebenezer Bradish. From the Essex Gazette of June 14, 1774. Messrs. Hall : As it is generally known that an Address from the Mr-rchants, Traders and others, in the town of Salem, to the late Governor Hutchinson, was signed by numbers of gentlemen belonging to the town ; and it being as well known that his Excellency gave his answer to the same, it remains now a matter of great speculation, especially amongst those of the town of Boston who were foremost in promoting a plan so apparently beneficial in the present exigency of affairs in this province, what sufficient reason can be assigned by the subscribers, (contrary to the very design of such an address,) for then not making it public. Many conjectures might be admitted upon this matter, not to the honor of the concerned, which we shall omit for the present. Yours, Z. Y. From the Essex Gazette of June 1, 1775. Salem, May 30, 1775. Whereas w^e the subscribers did some time since sign an address to Governor Hutchinson, which, though prompted to by the best intentions, has, nevertheless, given great offence to our country : We do now declare, that we were so far from designing by that action, to show our acquiescence in those acts of Parliament so universally and justly odious to all America, that on the contrary, we hoped we might in that way contribute to their repeal ; though now to our sorrow we find ourselves mistaken. And we do now further declare, that we never intended *he offence which this ad- dress has occasioned ; that if we had foreseen such an event we should never have signed it ; as it always has been and now is our wish to live in harmony with our neighbors, and our serious de- termination is to promote to the utmost of our power the liberty, the welfare, and happiness of our country, which is inseparably connected with our own. m ■''II ! ' 3 < :ll \Mt:\ \ V,r .y. ■ ■J. 'i i r • , jri .f'M -,» ■ r i: ':'.■■ ill !■■' i 480 ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. John Nutting, N. Goodale, Ebenezer Putnam, Francis Cabot, N. Sparhawk, Andrew Dalglish, E. A. Holyoke, William Pynchon, Thomas Barnard, Nathaniel Dabney, William Pickman, C. Gayton Pickman. In Committee of Safety, Salem, May 30, 1775.— The declar- ation, of which the above is a copy, being presented and read, it was voted unanimously that the same was satisfactory ; and that the said gentlemen ought to be received and treated as real friends to this country. By order of the Committee, RicHAKD Derby, Jr., Chairman. In the same paper of June 1, 1775, immediately following the above, is a communication to the Committee of Safety, from the late Rev. Thomas Barnard, dated May 25, 1775 : — Gentlemen : A suspicion of being inimical to those with whom we are con« nected in society, and whom we esteem and love, cannot but give severe pain to a generous mind. Unhappily, I have been viewed by m-y countrymen in a light so disagreeable. The address which I signed to Governor Hutchinson upon his leaving this province, I signed with no party views, with no design whatever of injuring that country with the prosperity of which my dearest human in- terests are closely connected, but with strong hopes of promoting the lasting peace and welfare of my native land. But I own, my fond expectations arising therefrom have been disappointed. The cause of America I look upon capable of full defence by the voice of justice and the British constitution; and shall be ever ready to support it in that way which the united wisdom of the cojitinent shall dictate. Such are my sentiments, and upon the strength of them I would request of my countrymen to throw the veil of charity and forgive- ness over any incautious action of mine, which may have led them to think unfavorably of me, and to grant :rie a place in their esteem, which I shall ever think myself happy in deserving. Tho.mas Barnard, Ji;. as real friends ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. 431 In Committee of Safety, Salem, May 25, 1775.— The declara- tion, of which the above is a copy, being presented and read, it was voted unanimously that the same was satisfactory ; and that the said gentleman ought to be received and treated as a real friend to his country. By order of the Committee, Richard Derby, Jr., Chairman. From the Essex Gazette, June 14, 1774. Last Saturday, (June 11th, 1774,) the following address was presented to his Excellency the Governor : — To his Excellency Thomas Gage, Esq., Captain-General, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England, and Lieutenant-General of his Majesty's Forces. May it please your Excellency : We, merchants and others, inhabitants of the ancient town of Salem, beg leave to approach your Excellency with our most respectful congratulations on your arrival in this place. We are deeply sensible of his Majesty's paternal care and affection to this province, in the appointment of a person of your Excellency's experience, wisdom and moderation, in these trouble- some and difficult times. We rejoice that this town is graciously distinguished for that spirit, loyalty, and reverence for the laws, whi- h is equally our glory and happiness. From that public spirit and warm zeal to promote the general happiness of men, which mark the great and good, we are led to hope under your Excellency's admir".:*ration for every thing that may promote the peace, prospeilty, and real welfare of this pro- vince. We beg leave to commend to your Excellency's patronage the trade and commerce of this place, which, from a full protection of the liberties, persons and properties of individuals, cannot but flourish. And we assure your Excellency we will make it our constant endeavors by peace, good order, and a regard for the laws, as far as in us lies, to render your station and residence easy and happy. ' 1' m m w * ■ 1= . al '^^'i'llli f .'I ...I J. Ill; if,..: 432 ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. John Sargent, Jacob A»hton, William Wetmore, James Grant, Henry Higginson, David Britton, P. G. Kast, Weld Gardner, Nathaniel Daubney, Richard Nicholls, William Cabot, Cabot Gerrish, William Gerrish, Rowl'ind Savage, William liilly, Jonathan Goodhue, Nathan Goodale, William Pickman, C. Guytou Pickman, Nathaniel Sparhawk, William Vans, Timothy Orne, Richard Routh, Stephen Higginson, John Prince, George Deblois, Andrew Dalglish, Joseph Blaney, Archelaus Putnam, Samuel Porter, Thomas Poynton, Samuel Flagg, Benjamin Lynde, William Browne, John Turner, P. Frye, Francis Cabot, William Pynchoa, John Fisher, Johr Mascarer E.A. Holyol- Jos. Bowdit»"' Ebenezer Putnam, S. Curvven, John Nutting, Jos. Dowse, Benjamin Pickman, Henry Gardner. Tht " Loyal Address from the Gentlemen and Principal Inhas- iTANTS OF Boston to Governor Gagk on his oEfARTURE fob England, October 6, 1775," was signed as follows : John Erving, Thomas Hutchinsc, jr., Silvester Gardiner, Wm. Bowes, John Timmins, Nathaniel Coffin, John Winslow, jr., Alexander Bymer, Robert Hallowell, Robert Jarvis, David Phips, John Tayler, Archibald McN?al, Franris Green, Benjdinin Davi«, John Sampson, William Tsyler, John Inman, Wm. Perry, John Gore, Isaac Winslow, jr., Thomas Courtney, I ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. e, John Love, William Dickerson, blois, Hugh Tarbett, William Hunter, ilglish, Nathaniel Perkins, Robert Semple, ney, John Powell, John Joy, Putnam, James Selkrig, Gregory Townsend, rter, Archibald Cunningham, Isaac Winslow, oynton, William Cazneau, Byfield Lyde, agg, David Barton, Richard Clarke, Lynde, John Semple, Benjamin Fanieul, jr., kowne, Henry Lawton, Thomas Amory, ner, William Brattle, George Brindley, John Troutbeck, Ralph Inman, abot, Stephen Greenleaf, Edward Winslow, ^ynchoa. William Walter, Benjamin M. Holmes, ler, James Perkins, William Jackson, .carer Phillip Dumaresque, Richard Green, lyol- Joshua Loring, jr., James Murray, dit^' Henry Lloyd, Joseph Scott, p Putnam, William Lee Perkins, Peter Johonnot, n, George Leonard, Nathaniel Gary, tling, Tho»as Brinley, Martin Gay, •se, Daniel Hubbard, Samuel Hughes, 1 Pickman. ■ Samuel Fitch, William Coffin, jr., iirdner. ■ John Atkinson, Adino Paddock, ■ Joseph Turin, Andrew Cazneau, » Principal Tnhab- B Samuel Hirst Sparhawk, Henry Lindall, S DEPARTURE FOK H Ebenezer Brigham, Theophilus Lillie, LL0W6 : H William Codner, Henry Barnes, JtmMkmn Snelling, M. B. Goldthwait, yler, 1 M^Wftmmn Gridley, Lewis Gray, (i McMeal, B Oitlherr D«blois, Nathaniel Brinley, [ire en, ^M £a ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. 435 Boutineau, Joshua Loring, Nathaniel Hatch, William Browne, Richard Lechmere, Josiah Edson, Nathaniel Rea Thomas, Timo- thy Ruggles, John Murray, Abijah Willard, and Daniel Leonard, Esqs., late mandamus counsellors of said late province, William Burch, Henry Hulton, Charles Paxon, and Benjamin Hallowell, Esqs., late commissioners of the customs, Robert Auchmuty, Esq., late judge of the vice-admiralty court, Jonathan Sewall, Esq., late attorney general, Samuel Quincy, Esq., late solicitor general, Samuel Fitch, Esq., solicitor or counsellor at law to the board of commissioners, have justly incurred the forfeiture of all their prop- erty, rights and liberties, holden under and derived from the govern- ment and laws of this state ; and that each and every of the persons aforenamed and described, shall be held, taken, deemed and ad- judged to have renounced and lost all civil and political relation to this and the other United States of America, and be considered as aliens. Sect. 2. Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all the goods and chattels, rights and credits, lands, tenements, and hered- itaments of every kind, of which any of the persons herein before named and described, were seized or possessed, or were entitled to possess, hold, enjoy, or demand, in their own rif;ht, or which any other person stood or doth stand seized or possessed of, or are or were entitleil t-^ '^Hve or demand to and for their use, benefit and behoof, shall escheat, enure and accrue to the sole use and benefit of the government and people of this state, and are accordingly hereby declared so to escheat, enure and accrue, and the said gov- ernment and people shall be taken, ileemed and adjudged, and are accordingly hereby declared to be in the real and actual possession of all such goods, chattels, rights and credits, lands, tenements and hereditaments, without further inquiry, adjudication or determina- tion hereafter to be had ; any thing in the act, entitled, " An act for confiscating the effects of certain persons commonly called ab- sentees," or any other law, usage, or custom to the contrary not- withstanding ; provided always, that the escheat shall not be construed to extend to or operate upon, any goods, chattels, rights, credits, lands, tenements or hereditaments, of which the persons afore named and described, or some other, in their right and to their use, have not been seized or possessed, or entitled to be seized ' I* ' Mi ■:■' !*f; ^mm^ '(( ;■ ^ w\- "' ,. PI ' ■ ■ I f .■•' lii't r ' ' '* 436 ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. or possessed, or to have or demand as aforesaid, since the nineteentli day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. — IPassed Jlpril 30, 1779. J^ot revised.'] STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. An Act for confiscating the estates of certain persons commonly called absentees. Whtreas every government hath a right to command the per- sonal services of all its members, whenever the exigencies of the state shall require it, especially in times of an impending or actual invasion, no member thereof can then withdraw himself from the jurisdiction of the government, and thereby deprive it of the bene- fit of his personal services, without justly incurring the forfeiture of all his property, rights and liberties, holden under and derived from that constitution of government, to the support of which he hath refused to afford his aid and assistance : and whereas the king of Great Britain did cause the parliament thereof to pass divers acts in direct violation of the fundamental rights of the people of this and of the other United States of America ; particularly one cer- tain act to vacate and annul the charter of this government, the great compact made and agreed upon between his royal predeces- sors and our ancestors ; and one other act, declaring the people of said states to be out of his protection ; and did also levy war against them, for the purpose of erecting and establishing an a.'bi- trary and despotic government over them ; whereupon it became the indispensable duty of aii the people of said states forthwith to unite in defence of their common freedom, and by arms to oppose the fleets and armies of the said king ; yet nevertheless, divers of the members of this and of the other United States of America, evilly disposed, or regardless of their duty towards their country, did withdraw themselves from this, and other of the said United States, into parts and places under the acknowledged authority and dominion of the said king of Great Britain, or into parts and places within the limits of the said states, but in the actual possession and under the power of the fleets or armies of the said king ; thereby abandoning the liberties of their country, seeking the protection of the said king, and of his fleets or armies, and aiding or giving en- ILL U STRATI "K DOCUMENTS. 437 the nineteentli seven hundred evised.^ sons commonly tnmand the per- xigencies of Uie ending or actual limself from the le it of the bene- ing the forfeiture nder and derived tofwhichhehalh tiereas the king of pass divers acts the people of this 'ticularly one cer- (Tovernment, the lis royal predeces- ring the people of id also levy war tablishing an &:bi- jreupon it became states forthwith to by arms to oppose ertheless, divers of jtates of America, ards their country, of the said United edged authority and ito parts and places ctual possession and said king ; thereby ,g the protection of tiding or giving en- couragement and countenance to their operations against the Uni- ted States aforesaid : Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Repre- sentatives, in '' oral Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that ev y inhabitant and member of the late province, now '■■^ate, of Massachusetts Bay, or of any other of the late prov- inces or colonies, now United States of America, who, since the nineteenth day of April, Anno Domini oi^e thousand seven hun- dred and seventy-five, hath levied war or conspired to levy war against the government and people i' any of the said provinces or colonies, or United States ; or who iiath adhered to the said king of Great Britain, his fleets or armies, enemies of the said provinces or colonies or United State's, f hath given to them aid or comfort; or . lO, since the said nineteenth day of April, Anno Domini one •housand seven hundred and seveu.y-five, hath withdrawn, without the permission of the legislative or executive authority of this or some other of the said United States, from any of the said prov- inces or colonies, or United States, into parts and places under the acknowledged authority and dominion of the said king of Great Britain, or into any parts or places within the limits of any of the said provinces, colonies, or Unitc^l States, being in the actual pos- session and undf^r the power of ttie fleets or armies of the said king ; or who, before the said nineteenth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and after the arrival of Thomas Gage, Esq., (late comir-^.nder-in-chief of all his Britan- nic Majesty's forces in North Amer;r, ,/ at Boston, the metropolis of this state, did withdraw from their usi.al places of habitation within this state, into the said town of Boston, with an intention to seek and obtain the protection of the said Thomas Gage and of the said forces, then and there being under his command ; and who hath died in any of the said parts or plnces, o: hath not returned into some one of the said United States, and been received as a subject thereof, and (if required) taken a ' oath of allegiance to such states, shall be held, taksn, deemed and adjudged to have freely renounced all civil and political relation to each and every of the said United States, and be considered ^s an alien. Sect. 2. And be it further enacted l-v the authority aforesaid, that all the goods and chattels, rights and credits, lands, tenements, >ii :^t\ i , r. 1 it ! ■ Im i^! V l-i" j '■' Mil J. J lilii' tM 438 II.LliSTRATIVK DOCUMENTS. hereditaments of every kind, of which any of the persons herein jefore described were seized or possessed, or were entitled to pos- sess, hold, enjoy or demand, in their own right, or which any other person stood or doth stand seized o. ;i-'.Haessed of, or are or were entitled to have or demand to and for their use, benefit and be- hoof, shall escheat, enure and accrue to the sole use and benefit of the government and people of this state, and are accordingly here- by declared so to escheat, enure and accrue. — [Passed Jipril 30, 1779. J\'o/ revised.'] MANDAMUS COUNSELLORS. Salem, Aug. 9, 1774. The following were appointed by Ins majesty, counsellors of this province by writ of mandamus,* viz :— Col. Thomas Oliver, Lieut. Governor, President ; Peter Oliver, Thomas Flucker, Foster Hutchinson, Thomas Hutchinson, Jr. Hiirrison Gray, Judf^e Samuel Uanforth, Col. John Erving, Jr. James Russell, Timothy Ruggles, Joseph Lee, Isaac Winstow, Israel Williams, Col. George Watson, Nathaniel Ray Thomas, Timo hy Woodbridge, William Vassall, William Browne, Joseph Greene, James Boutineau, Andrew Oliver, Col. Josiah Edson, Richard Lechraere, Commodore Joshua Loring, John Worthington, Timo- thy Paine, William Pcpperell, Jeremiah Powell, Jonathan Simp- son, Col. John Murray, Daniel Leonard, Thomas Palmer, Col. Isaac Royall, Robert Hooper, Abijah Willard, Capt. John Er- ving, jr. STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. An Act to prevent the return to this state of certain persons therein named, and others who have left this state or either of the United States, and joined the enemies thereof. Wherens Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., late governor of this state, Francis Bernard, Esq., formerly governor of this state, Thomas Oliver, Esq., late lieutenant governor of this state, Timothy Rug- gles, Esq., of Hardwick, in the county of Worcester, William Ap- thurp, merchant, Gibbs Atkins, cabinet maker, John Atkinson, John Amory, James Anderson, Thomas Apthorp, David Black, William Burton. William Bowes, George Brindlcy, Robert Blair, Thomas Brindley, James Barrick, merchant, Thomas Brattle, Esq., Samp- ♦ Those whose ntJincs are in italics alone took the oath of ofTico. rson3 herein itled to pos- ich any other are or were lefit and be- intl benefit of irdingly here- fed April 30, pointed by lis atnus,* viz •— Peter Oliver, utchinson, Jr. in Erving, Jr. Vinslow, Israel jraas, Timo by [osepb Greene, dson, Richard lington, Timo- onathan Simp- Pahner, Col. apt. John Er- certain persons \tc or either of It lor of this state, state, Thomas Timothy Rug- \t, William Ap- Atkinson, John iBlack, William Blair, Thomas |le, Esq., Samp- nil of offico. ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. 439 n, shop-keeper, Gilbert *', Philip Dumaresque, Erving, Jun., Esq., Edward Foster, Jun., sou Salter Blowers, Esq., James Brucr, Ebenezer Bridghnm, Alex- ander Brymer, Edward Berry, merchants, William Burch, Esq., late commissioner of the customs, Mather Byles, Jun., clerk, Wil- liam Codner, book-keeper, Edward Cox, merchant, Andrew Cazneau, Esq., barrister at law, Henry Canner, clerk, Thomas Courtney, tailor, Richard, Clark, Esq., Isaac Clark, physician, Benjamin Church, physician, John ("■ Iln, distiller, John Clark, physician, William CofFm, Esq., 'Suit el Coffin, Esq., Jonathan Clark, merchant, Archibald C Deblois, merchant, Lewis DebJi merchant, Benjamin Davis, nii George Erving, Esq., Edward 1 blacksmiths, Benjamin Faneuil, Jun., uiuiLuant, Thomas Flucker, Esq., late secretary for Massachusetts Bay, Samuel Fitch, Esq., Wilfret Fisher, carter, James Forrest, merchant, Lewis Gray, mer- chant, Francis Green, merchant, Joseph Green, Esq., Sylvester Gardiner, Esq., Harrison Gray, Esq., late treasurer of Massachu- setts Bay, Harrison Gray, Jun., clerk to the treasurer, Joseph Goldthwait, Esq., Martin Gay, founder, John Gore, Esq., Benjamin Hallowell, Esq., Robert Hallowell, Esq., Thomas Hutchinson, Jun., Esq., Benjamin Gridley, Esq., Frederick William Geyer, merchant, John Greenlaw, shop-keeper, David Green, merchant, Elisha Hutchinson, Esq., James Hall, mariner, Foster Hutchinson, Esq., Benjamin Mulbury Holmes, distiller, Samuel Hodges, book-keeper, Henry Halson, Esq., Hawes Hatch, wharfinger, John Joy, house- wright, Peter Johonnot, distiller, William Jackson, merchant, John Jeffries, physician, Henry Langhton, merchant, James Henderson, trader, John Hinston, yeoman, Christopher Hatch, mariner, Robert Jarvis, mariner, Richard Lechmere, Esq., Edward Lyde, merchant, Henry Lloyd, Esq., George Leonard, miller, Henry Leddle, book- keeper, Archibald McNeil, baker, Christopher Minot, tide-waiter, James Murray, Esq.,' William McAlpine, bookbinder, Thomas Mitchell, mariner, William Martin, Esq., John Knutton, tallow- chandler, Thomas Knight, shop-keeper, Samuel Prince, merchant, Adino Paddock, Esq., Charles Paxon, Esq., Sir William Pepperell, baronet, John Powell, Esq., William Lee Perkins, physician, Na- thaniel Perkins, Esq., Samuel Quincy, Esq., Owen Richards, tide- waiter, Samuel Rogers, merchant, Jonathan Simpson, Esq., L. orge i'l ' 11. ijii > '. P H f.' I jjif ' ' 1 i 1 ^. o^ ^ y 7 %s IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 !f i^ l£^ I.I 114 14 12.2 ■u 1^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 1.25 11.4 1^ « 6" - •»> ^^"^ 33 WEST MAIN STRiiT WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO (716) 873-4503 5^ IS 6^ r*' Mm'''' 440 ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. Spooner, merchant, Edward Stowe, mariner, Richard Smith, mer- chant, Jonathan Snelling, Esq., David Silsby, trader, Samuel Sew- all, Esq., Abraham Savage, tax-gatherer, Joseph Scott, Esq., Francis Skinner, clerk to the late council, William Simpson, mer- chant, Richard Sherwin, saddler, Henry Smith, merchant, John Semple, merchant, Robert Semple, merchant, Thomas Selkrig, merchant, James Selkrig, merchant, Robert Service, trader, Simon Tufts, trader, Arodi Thayer, late marshal to the admiralty court, Nathaniel Taylor, deputy naval officer, John Troutbeck, clerk, Gregory Townsend, Esq., "William Taylor, merchant, William Vassal, Esq., Joseph Taylor, merchant, Joshua Upham, Esq., William W^alter, clerk, Samuel Waterhouse, merchant, Isaac Winslow, merchant, John Winslow, jr., merchant, David Willis, mariner, Obadiah Whislon, blacksmith, Archibald Wilson, trader, John White, mariner, William Warden, peruke-maker, Nathaniel Mills, John Hicks, John Howe, and John Fleming, printers, all of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, Robert Auchmuty, Esq., Joshua Loring, Esq., both of Roxbury,in the same county, Samuel Golds- bury, yeoman, of Wrentham, in the county of Suffolk, Joshua Loring, jr., merchant, Nathaniel Hatch, Esq., both of Dorchester, in the same county, William Brown, Esq., Benjamin Pickman, Esq., Samuel Porter, Esq., John Sargeant, trader, all of Salem, in the county of Essex, Richard Saltonstall, Esq., of Haverhill, in the same county, Thomas Robie, trader, Benjamin Marston, merchant, both of Marblehead, in said county of Essex, Moses Badger, clerk, of Haverhill, aforesaid, Jonathan Sewall, Esq., John Vassal, Esq., David Phipps, Esq., John Nutting, carpenter, all of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex, Isaac Royall, Esq., of Medford, in the same county, Henry Barnes, of Marlborough, in said county of Middlesex, merchant, Jeremiah Dummer Rogers, of Littleton in the same county, Esq., Daniel Bliss, of Concord, in the said county of Middlesex, Esq., Charles Russell, of Lincoln, in the same county, physician, Joseph Adams, of Townsend, in said county of Middle- sex, Thomas Danforth, of Charlestown, in said county, Esq., Joshua Smith, trader, of Townsend, in said county, Joseph Ashley, jr., gentleman, of Sunderland, Nathaniel Dickenson, gentleman, of Deerfield, Samuel Bliss, shopkeeper, of Greenfield, Roger Dicken- son, yeoman, Joshah Pomroy, physician, and Thomas Cutler, ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. 441 gentleman, of HatBeld, Jonathan Bliss, Esq., of Springfield, Wil- liam Galway, yeoman,'of Conway, Elijah Williams, attorney at law, of Deerfield, James Oliver, gentleman, of Conway, all in the county of Hampshire, Pelham Winslow, Esq., Cornelius White, mariner, Edward Winslow, jr., Esq., all of Plymouth, in the county of Plymouth, Peter Oliver, Esq., Peter Oliver, jr., physician, both of Middleborough, in the same county, Josiah Edson, Esq., of Bridgewater, in the said county of Plymouth, Lieutenant Daniel Dunbar, of Halifax, in the same county, Charles Curtis, of Scitu- ate, in the said county of Plymouth, gentleman, Nathaniel Ray Thomas, Esq., Israel Tilden, Caleb Carver, Seth Bryant, Benjamin Walker, Gideon Walker, Zera Walker, Adam Hall, tertius, Isaac Joice, Joseph Phillips, Daniel White, jr., Cornelius White, tertius, Melzar Carver, Luke Hall, Thomas Decrow, John Baker, jr., all of Marshfield, in the said county of Plymouth, Gideon White, jr., Daniel Leonard, Esq., Seth Williams, jr., gentleman, Solomon Smith, boatman, all of Taunton, in the county of Bristol, Thomas Gilbert, Esq., Perez Gilbert, Ebenezer Hathaway, jr., Lot Strange, the third, Zebedee Terree, Bradford Gilbert, all of Freetown, in the bcxme county, Joshua Broomer, Shadrach Hathaway, Calvin Hathaway, Luther Hathaway, Henry Tisdel, William Burden, Levi Chace, Shadrach Chase, Richard Holland, Ebenezer Phillips, Samuel Gilbert, gentleman, Thomas Gilbert, jr., yeoman, both of Berkley, in the said county of Bristol, Ammi Chace, Caleb Whea- ton, Joshua Wilbore, Lemuel Bourn, gentleman, Thomas Perry, yeoman, David Atkins, laborer, Samuel Perry, mariner, Stephen Perry, laborer, John Blackwell, jr., laborer, Francis Finney, la- borer, and Nehemiah Webb, mariner, all of Sandwich, in the county of Barnstable, Eldad Tupper, of Dartmouth, in the county of Bristol, laborer, Silas Perry, laborer, Seth Perry, mariner, Eli- sha Bourn, gentleman, Thomas Biimpus, yeoman, Ephraira Ellis, jr., yeoman, Edward Bourn, gentleman, Nicholas Cobb, laborer, William Bourn, cordwainer, all of Sandwich, in the county of Barnstable, and Seth Bangs, of Harwich, in the county of Barn- stable, mariner, John Chandler, Esq., James Putnam, Esq., Rufus Chandler, gentleman, William Paine, physician, Adam Walker, blacksmith, William Chandler, gentleman, all of Worcester, in i he county of Worcester, John Walker, gentleman, David Bush, yeu- 56 Ml m Sf "i .(!' I -*: 'i'f '[% ! '!■ 442 ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. man, both of Shrewsbury, in the same county, Abijah Willard, Esq., Abel Willard, Esq., Joseph House, yeoman, all of Lancaster, in the said county of Worcester, Ebenezer Cutler, trader, James Edgar, yeoman, both ofNorthbury, in the same county, Daniel Ol- iver, Esq., Richard Ruggles, yeoman, Gardner Chandler, trader, Joseph Ruggles, gentleman, Nathaniel Ruggles, yeoman, all of Hardwick, in the said county of Worcester, John Ruggles, yeo- man, of said Hardwick, John Eager, yeoman, Ebenezer Whipple, Israel Conkay, John Murray, Esq., of Rutland, in said county of Worcester, Daniel Murray, gentleman, Samuel Murray, gentle- man, Michael Martin, trader, of Brookiield, in the said county of Worcester, Thomas Beaman, gentleman, of Petersham, in the same county, Nathaniel Chandler, gentleman, John Bowen, gentleman, of Princeton, in the said county of Worcester, James Crage, gen- tleman, of Oakham, iu the same county, Thomas MuUins, black- smith, of Leominster, in the said county of Worcester, Francis Waldo, Esq., Arthur Savage, Esq., Jeremiah Pote, mariner, Thom- as Ross, mariner, James Wildridge, mariner, George Lyde, cus- tom house officer, Robert Pagan, merchant, Thomas Wyer, mari- ner, Thomas Coulson, merchant, John Wiswall, clerk, Joshua Eldridge, mariner, Thomas Oxnard, merchant, Edward Oxnard, merchant, William Tyng, Esq., John Wright, merchant, Samuel Longfellow, mariner, all of Falmouth, in the county of Cumber- land, Charles Callahan, of Pownalborough, in the county of Lin- coln, maiiner, Jonas Jones of East Hoosuck, in the couhty of Berkshire, David Ingersoll, of Great Barrington, Esq., in the same county, Jonathan Prindall, Benjamin Noble, Francis Noble, Elisha Jones, of Pittsfield, in the said county of Berkshire, John Graves, yeoman, Daniel Brewer, yeoman, both of Pittsfield, aforesaid, Richard Square, of Lanesborough, in the said county of Berkshire, Ephraim Jones, of East Hoosuck, in the same county, Lewis Hub- bel, and many other persons have left this state, or some other of the United States of America, and joined the enemies thereof and of the United States of America, thereby not only depriving these states of their personal services at a time when they ought to have afforded their utmost aid in defending the said states, against the invasions of a cruel enemy, but manifesting an inimical disposition to the said states, and a design to aid and abet the enemies thereof ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS. 443 bijah "Willard, i of Lancaster, trader, James liy, Daniel 01- landler, trader, jreoman, all of Ruggles, yeo- nezer Whipple, said county of \Iurray, gentle- e said county of lam, in the same wen, gentleman, nes Crage, gen- 1 MuUins, black- orcester, Francis 2, mariner, Thom- eorge Lyde.cus- )mas "Wyer, mari- 11, clerk, Joshua Edward Oxnard, nerchant, Samuel )unty of Cumber- le county of Lin- in the county of Esq., in the same ncis Noble, Elisha lire, John Graves, ttstield, aforesaid, unty of Berkshire, )unty, Lewis Hub- , or some other of emies thereof and ly depriving these Ihey ought to have [states, against the nimical disposition Ihe enemies thereoi in their wicked purposes, and whereas many dangers may accrue to this state and the United States, if such persons should be again admitted to reside in this state : Sect. 1. Be it therefore enacted by the Council and House of Representatives, in general court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that if either of the said persons, or any other person, though not specially named in this act, who have left this state, or either of said states, and joined the enemies thereof as aforesaid, shall, after the passing this act, voluntarily return to this state, it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the county, and of the selectmen, committees of correspondence, safety, and inspection, grand jurors, constables, and tythingmen, and other inhabitants of the town wherein such person or persons may presume to come, and they are hereby respectively empowered and directed forthwith to appre- hend and carry such person or persons before some justice of the peace within the county, who is hereby required to commit him or them to the common gaol within the county, there in close custody to remain until he shall be sent out of the state, as is hereinafter directed ; and such justice is hereby directed to give immediate in- formation thereof to the board of war of this state : and the said board of war are hereby empowered and directed to cause such person or persons so committed, to be transported to some part or place within the dominions, or in the possession of the forces of the king of Great Britain, as soon as may be after receiving such in- formation ; those who are able, at their own expense, and others at the expense of this state, and for this purpose to hire a vessel or vessels, if need be. Sect. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons, who shall be transported as aforesaid, shall voluntarily return into this state, without liberty first had and obtained from the general court, he shall, on conviction thereof before the superior court of judicature, court of assize and general j gaol delivery, suffer the pains of death without benefit of clergy. — \[P(issed, September, 1778.] WORCESTER RESOLUTIONS RELATING TO THE ABSENTEES AND REFUGEES. The following votes were passed by the citizens of Worcester, ■i 444 ILLUSTRATIVE DOCDMENTS. I'i *'i;i' . !^ M May 19, 1783, and contain the substance of their doings relatite to the refugees : Voted, — That in the opinion of this town, it would be ex- tremely dangerous to the peace, happiness, liberty and safety of these states, to suffer those, who, the moment the bloody banners were displayed, abandoned their native land, turned parricides, and conspired to involve their country in tumult, ruin and blood, to become the subjects of and reside in this government j that it would be not only dangerous, but inconsistent with justice, policy, our past laws, the public faith, and the principles of a free and independent state, to admit them ourselves, or have them forced upon us without our consent. Voted, — That in the opinion of this town, this commonwealth ought, with the utmost caution, to naturalize or in any other way admit as subjects a common enemy, a set of people who have been by the united voice of the continent, declared outlaws, exiles, aliens and enemies, dangerous to its political being and happiness. Voted, — That while there are thousands of the innocent, peace- able and defenceless inhabitants of these states, whose property has been destroyed and taken from them in the course of the war, for whom no provision is made, to whom there is no restoration of estates, no compensation for losses ; that it would be unreasonable, cruel and unjust, to suffer those who were the wicked occasion of those losses, to obtain a restitution of the estates they refused to protect, and which they have abandoned and forfeited to their country. Voted, — That it is the expectation of this town, and the earnest request of their committees of correspondence, inspection and safety, that they, with care and diligence, will observe the movements of our only remaining enemies ; that until the further , order of government, they will, with decision, spirit and firmness. endeavor to enforce and carry into execution the several laws of I this commonwealth, respecting these enemies to our rights, and the rights of mankind ; give information should they know of any obtruding themselves into any part of this state, suffer none to remain in this town, but cause to be confined immediately, for the purpose of transportation according lo law, any that majj presume to enter it. r doings relalWe it would be ex- :ty and safety of e bloody banners ed parricides, and lin and blood, to rernment ; that it ilh justice, policy, iples of a free and have them forced lis commonwealth r in any other way ,ple who have been ed outlaws, exiles, 2ing and happiness, he innocent, peace- 28, whose property e course of the war, is no restoration of lid be unreasonable, wicked occasion of tales they refused to id forfeited to their this town, and Ibe )ondence, inspection ;e, will observe the hat until the further , spirit and firmness, [the several laws of our rights, and tlie 1 they know of anj state, suffer none to led immediately, f« law, any that may EVACUATING LOYALISTS. 444 a List of the Inhabitants of Boston who, on the Evacua* TION OF THE BRITISH IN MaRCH, 1776, REMOVED TO HALIFAX WITH THE Army. No. of flimily. Lieut. Gov. Oliver and sei vts. 6 Council, fyc. Peter Oliver and niece, Harrison Gray and family, Timothy Ruggles and sons, Foster Hutchinson and fam. Josiah Edson, John Murray and family, Rich'd Lechmere and fatn. John Erving and family, Nath'l Ray Thomas and son, Abijah Willard and sons, Daniel Leonard and family, Nath'l Hatch and family, George Erving and family, 2 6 3 13 1 7 12 9 2 3 9 7 6 Ctistom House. Henry Hutton and family, Charles Paxton and family, Benj. Hallowell and family, Sam'l Waterhouse, Sec'y, and family, James Porter, Comp. Gen'l, Walter Barrell, Insp. Gen'l, James Murray, Inspector, William Woolen, Inspector, Edw'd Winslow, Collector, Boston, Charles Dudley, Coll., New- port, George Meserve, Coll., Pis- cataqua, Rob't Hallowell, Comptrol., Boston, Nath'l Coffin, Cashier, Arthur Savage. Surveyor, &c. 12 6 7 7 1 6 7 2 1 6 4 6 66* No. of Ibmily. Eben Bridgham, Tide Sur- veyor, 8 Nath'l Taylor, Deputy Naval Officer, 2 Sam'l Mather, Clerk, 3 Sam'l Lloyd, Clerk, 6 Christ'n Minot, Landwaiter, 1 Ward Chipman, Clerk Sol. 1 Rob't Beebell, Clk. Collr. 1 Skinner, Cookson, and Ev- ■?ns. Messengers, 3 J? L es Barick, Clerk Inspr. 5 John Clely, Tidcsraan, 4 John Sam'l Pettet, Tidesman, 6 John Selby, Clerk, 2 Edw'd Mulball, Tidesman, 1 Hammond Green, do 1 John Lewis, do 6 Elkanah Cushman, do 1 Edw'd Dwyer, Messenger, 3 Sam'l Chadwal, Tidesman, 1 Chandler, Landwaiter, 1 Patterson, do I Sam'l Sparhawk, Clerk, 5 Isaac Massingham, Coxswain, 1 Owen Richards, do 1 Refugees. Ashley, Joseph, 1 Anaods, Barret, 1 Atkinson, John, Merchant, 4 Atkins, Gibbs, 1 Ayres, Eleanor, 3 Allen, Eben'r, 8 Bowes, Win., Merchant, 4 Brinley, Thomas, do 3 Burton, Mary, Milliner, 2 Bowen, John, 2 Blair, John, Baker, 1 Bouwers, Arch'd, Acct. 1 -H ! It- NiPf. :i. »! i '^ ■H ii; \j *l!i' . Gkorge Curwin, Ihe first of the name in New England, came, as slated in the introduction, from Workington, Cumberland, Eng- land, where he was born December 10, 1610, and where, says Camden, " is the stately, castle-like seat of this ancient^ knightly family.''* He settled at Salem, and in company with the celebrated Hugh Peters laid the foundation of the mercantile enterprise of Salem, and first commenced building vessels in that port ; he was afterwards extensively engaged in commerce during the whole of his long life. His books of account, and his mercantile correspond- ence with Sir William Peake, (lord mayor of London in 1666,) show that he had embarked in the London trade previous to the year 1658. The late Rev. Dr. Bentley thus notices him in his Sketch of Salem, published in the Collections of the Massachusetts His- torical Society, in 1800 : — " This year ( 1685) Salem lost another eminent man, Capt. George Curwin,'who came here in 1638 with his family, and was rich. He was often engaged in town affairs, and commanded a troop of horse. He was also a representative in the general court. There is a three-quarter portrait of him in the hands of Samuel Curwen, Esq.,* son of the Rev. George Cur- win, and his great-grandson. He had a fine round forehead, large nostrils, high cheek bones, and gray eyes. His dress a wrought- flowing neckcloth, a sash covered with lace, a coat with short cuffs and reaching half way between the wrist and elbow, the shirt in plaits below ', an octagon ring and cane, which still H remam >> He died on the 3d of January, 1685, leaving no debts, and one of the largest estates that had been administered upon in the colony, which was inventoried at only je5,964 19s. Id., but comprised be- sides the homestead, four dwelling-houses, four warehouses, and two wharves in Salem ; three farms in the vicinity, containing fif- teen hundred acres; a warehouse and wharf in Boston ; the ketches * Author of the foregoing journal. — £d. •iiff' j: ! 1| i^ !. t,- J' li- 'Mil ■ I i.n l^ V 446 NOTICES OF THE CURWENS. George, Swallow, John, and William, valued at jGIOSO; in mer- chandise jE2,232 ; in gold and silver coin je93 7*. Od., in English and New England money, and 621 ounces of plate. Among the wearing apparel inventoried, are a silver-laced cloth coat, a velvet ditto, a satin waistcoat, embroidered with gold, a troping scarf and hat band, golden topped and embroidered gloves, and a silver- headed cane, which still remains. / In the settlement of the estate, Capt. Curwin's widow Eliza- S beth, who was a daughter of Hoir. Herbert Pelham, one of the ► '' council of assistants, and also sister-in-law of Governor Josiah Winslow, of Plymouth colony, claimed some plate given her by the lord mayor, by her father, and by the governor ; together with eight pounds in gold which her husband had received from Mr. Pope, being the "produce'^ of an Indian boy sent her by the govemcr and council from Plymouth. His five daughters married Hon. James Russell and Edward Lynde, Esq., of Boston, William Browne, jr., Esq., and Josiah Wolcott, Esq., of Salem, and President Wadsworth of Harvard College. Annexed is a view of the house erected by Capt. Curwin, in 1642, still standing at the corner of Essex and North streets. It was altered by the late Richard Ward, Esq., about seventy years ago, and his daughter (the present occupant, to whom it has descended) is the last survivor of the fifth generation from the ori- ginal owner ; her granddaughter, who resides with her, is of the seventh generation of the family born in it. The unfortunate per- sons arrested during the witchcraft delusion were examined in this bouse by Justices Corwin and Hathorne, before being committed. Capt. John Cobwin, the eldest son, was born in Salem, July 28, 1638. He became a merchant, and was elected deputy to the general court, from Salem, where he resided. He married Mar- garet, third daughter of John Winthrop, jr., governor of Connecti- cut, in May, 1665 ; her mother was the only child of the famous Hugh Peters, who suffered with the regicides at the restoration of the monarchy, in London, in 1660. Capt. Corwin died in 1683, leaving an only son, George, born February, 1666. The latter, who married Suhr.nnah, and afterwards Lydia, daughters of the Hon. Bartholomew Gedney, of the provincial council, is the Captain NOTICES OF THE CUEWENS. 447 1050 ; in mer- Od., in English I. Among the \ coat, a velvet oping scarf and , and a silver- 's widow Eliza- lam, one of the lovernor Josiah te given her by r; together with I from Mr. Pope, the govemp'r and ssell and Edward Esq., and Josiah ?orth of Harvard Capt. Curwin, in Jorth streets. It out seventy years to whom it has tion from the ori- ith her, is of the unfortunate per- examined in this eing committed, n Salem, July 28, id deputy to the e married Mar- Irnor of Connecti- id of the famous the restoration of in died in 1683, The latter, who iters of the Hon. , is the Captain Corwin mentioned in Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, in the expedition against Canada, under Sir William Phips, in 1690. He was unfortunately sheriff of the county of Essex in 1692, and for officiating during the witchcraft delusion, was severely persecuted by the friends of the sufferers, till his death, which took place in 1696. Bartholomew Corwin, the only son of the last mentioned George, removed to Ainwell, Hunterdon county. New Jersey, and married Esther Burt ; he had four sons, viz., George, John, Joseph, and Samuel, and died May 9, 1747. Samuel Corwin, of Amwell, a grandson of Bartholomew, informed the editor in 1822, that the books and papers left by his grandfather were destroyed, with other movables, during the revolutionary war, when his uncle Joseph removed to Canada, and the family of his uncle George, who died in 1780, removed to Kentucky. Probably Governor Corwin of Ohio is a descendant of this branch. He also informed the editor that John Corwin, a great grandson of Bartholomew, was living at Baltimore. Hon. Jonathan Corwin, second son of the first mentioned George, was born at Salem, Nov. )4, 1640. He commenced his public career as a deputy to the general court, and the following extract from the records, of Salein, shows much confidence in himj and at the same time the action of that town towards re-establish- ing a government under iiie venerable Bradstreet, in opposition to the tyranny of Sir Edmund Andros : — " May 7, 1689. Captain John Prince and Mr. Jonathan Corwin were chosen to assist in the council at Boston, to be held on the 9th inst. ; and we desire that the honorable the governor, the magistrates, and deputies chosen in the year 1686, would (having always due respect to our de- pendence on the crown of England, and the obligation we are under by the late declaration before the surrender of the last government) reassume our charter government, by taking their places and forming a general court as soon as possible ; unto which, we shall readily and cheerfully subject ourselves, and be always assisting to the utmost of our power with our lives and estates as formerly." Mr. Corwin was named a provincial counsellor in the charter of 1691, and served until he was appomted a judge of the supreme I !| .*f nr uS ilii 448 NOTICES OF THE CUBWENS. court in 1702 ; the latter office he resigned in consequence of ill health, in 1715. He died in July, 1718, leaving a widow; the daughter of Sir Henry Gibbs of Dorsetshire, whose estate was sequestrated in 1648, during the revolution. Of their children, Anne died in youth; Elizabeth married James Lindall, Esq., of Salem ; and George, born in 1682, who was graduated at Harvard college in 1701. He prepared himself for the church, and was orda'ned and settled in that of his ancestors in Salem ; the first founded in the colony of Massachusetts Bay. He is thus noticed in the historical collections of Massachusetts, as copied from the records of the church : — " Died, at Salem, Nov. 23, 1717, the Rev. George Curwin, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, and the fourth of his ordained ministry. He was highly esteemed in his life, and very deservedly lamented at his death ; having been very eminent for his early im- prcvement in learning and piety, his singular abilities and great labors, his remarkable zeal and faithfulness. He was a great bene- factor to our poor.' There is a good half-length portrait of him in the gallery of the Essex Historical Society. He married Mehitable Parkman ; and their sons were Samuel, author of the foregoing Journal, born in 1715; and George, born in 1717. The latter graduated at Harvard college in 1735, and engaged in commercial pursuits with success, until interrupted by hostilities with France ; which induced him to join in the expedition against Louisburg. His commission as commissary, bears the signature of Governor Shirley, and is dated February 1, 1745. He married Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Pickman, Esq., of Salem ; and died in the prosecution of a mer- cantile enterprise at St. Eustatia, in 1746. His children were, George, born in 1739, who early embarked in commerce, and was drowned while on a voyage to the West Indies in 1761 ; Sarah, who died unmarried; and Mehitable, who married the late Richard Ward, Esq., of Salem, and died in 1813, at the age of seventy- two. The late Samuel Curwen Ward, Jr., a grandson ot the last mentioned, at the request of Judge Curwen, took his name, by an act of the legislature of Massachusetts ; and the three sons of the former are all that now bear that name in New England. isequence of ill a -widow; the lose estate was f their children, indall, Esq., of lated at Harvard hurch, and was Salem ; the first ; is thus noticed copied from the eorge Curwin, in I of his ordained d very deservedly t for his early im- bilities and great was a great bene- in the gallery of litable Parkman ; nng Journal, born tter graduated at ;rcial pursuits with ;e ; which induced His commission ,r Shirley, and is •hter of Benjamin [^cution of a mer- [is children were, immerce, and was in 1761 ; Sarah, [d the late Richard age of seventy- Lndson of the last [k his name, by an 1 three sons of the England. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. It GEN. PEPPERELL. General Sir William Pepperell, Baronet, was born at Kittery Point, Maine, in 1696. His father, Col. William Pep- perell, a native of Cornwall, England, settled in 1676 at the Isles of Shoals, where he was for many years extensively en- gaged in the fishing business. After acquiring considerable prop- erty, he removed to Kittery Point, and erected there a large man- sion house, now standing, where he died on the 15th February, 1734, opulent and well esteemed. One of his daughters married the Hon. John Newmarch ; the other died in 1766, having suc- cessively married Hon. John Frost, Rev. Dr. Colman, and Rev. Benjamin Prescott, all of whom she survived. Sir William was his only son, and about the year 1727 was chosen a member of his majesty's council for the province of Massachusetts, to which he was annually re-elected until his death, a period of thirty-two years. With a vigorous frame, firm mind, and great coolness when in danger, he was well fitted for his residence in a country exposed to a ferocious enemy, and soon attained the rank of colonel. When the expedition against Louisburg was contemplated, all eyes were turned to him, then president of the council, and he was commissioned by the governors of New England to that all- important command, on the 31st January, 1745. He furnished this motto for the flag, which gave the enterprise the air of a cru- sade : " Mil desperandwn Christo duce." He invested the city in the beginning of May, and articles of capitulation were signed in July. After this important and brilliant achievement, by command of his majesty he repaired to England and received a colonelcy in the army, from which he was raised to oe a major-general in 1755, and a lieutenant-oeneral in 1759. Besides the dignity of a baronet, which was cufjerred upon him, he obtained the thanks of the min- istry, and peculiar tokens of respect from several of the royal family. His affability gained him friends among all classes, and his mann Ts were rot affected by his exaltation. The welfare of his country alone could have taken him from his domestic enjoy- 57 * i GOV. HUTCHINSON. Thomas, (son of Colonel Thomas Hutchinson, an eminent mer- chant and member of the council, who seized the famous pirate, Kidd, when he resisted the officers sent to arrest him,) was gra- duated at Harvard College, in 1727. He at first embarked in commercial pursuits, but did not succeed. He then studied the common law of England, and the principles of her constitution. He was elected for ten consecutive years to the assembly, and for * See Allen's Biography. ' ' I rom the general 1. His conduct, province, was so ronet, March 20, his temper ; he he restrain his to prorogue the refusing to make cral court, how- le opportunity of removal of the md he emharked, utenant-governor, ted his departure; occupied the place )n would not have M, and his zeal for rit of the people ; led them to those colonies from the )X Bernard, "which some secret friend, fsts of liberty. His jerica, written in London in 1774 ; were published in BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 455 three years was speaker. He succeeded his uncle, Edward Hutch- inson, as judge of probate, in 1752. He was a member of the council from 1749 to 1766; lieut. governor from 1758 to 1771. On the death of Judge Sewall, in 1760, he was appointed chief- justice ; all which he filled with distinguished ability. " His oratory charmed beyond that of any man ; there was equal fluency and pathos in his manner; he could be argumentative and smooth ; he was active, diligent and plausible ; and, upon all occasions seemed to be influenced by public spirit more than selfish consider- ations. His respect to religious institutions, his sympathy with the distressed, his affability, integrity, industry and talents, procured in a very high degree the public confidence." In 1767, he was appointed one of the commissioners for settling the boundary with New- York; and, amidst all the vituperations against him, Massachusetts has cause to remember with gratitude that his ad- vice only prevented the other commissioners, Hancock, Hanly and Brattle, from abandoning the claim to the western territory of New- York, which was retained and sold for a large sum. On the departure of 'Governor Bernard in 1769, the admin- istration devolved on Lieut. Governor Hutchinson ; and in March, 1771, he received his commission as governor just as he had con- cluded to advise the government that it would be desirable for him to remain chief-justice, and pass his days in peace. Unhappily for himself he accepted the appointment, and from this time till his departure in 1774, he was constantly in dispute with the council and assembly. Among the subjects of controversy, was the pro- vision made for his support by the crown. By his speech of Jan. 6, 1773, asserting the supreme authority of parliament, he pro- voked a discussion by the council and house which had better never been uttered ; and the minister recommended hira not to renew the discussion. His views he at all times candidly and manfully explained to the legislature ; in many speeches and mes- sages which display his learning, temper and abilities. The confidential letters w^ritten by him, and others to Mr. Whately, a former member of parliament, in opposition to the ministry, which caused so much excitement in 1772, were procured by Dr. Franklin through Mr. Temple, (afterwards consul general to United States,) from Mr. Whately's executor, and caused a duel i; ki #! *i I '' II 0[ ill 'I'h IM m I) !i mm ' 111 456 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE!. between the two latter. Dr. Franklin sent them to Mr. Cooper, vrith an injunction that they should not be copied or published ; of which restriction the Doctor remarked, that " as distant objects seen only through a mist appear larger, the same may happen from the mystery in this case." In this state they remained six or eight months, and finally were communicated to the legislature in secret session. In the letters was no sentiment the governor had not avowed in his public addresses. All that was objected to, and for which the council reproached him, was the following : — " I never think of the measures necessary for the peace and good order of the colonies without pain ; there must be an abridgment of what are called English liberties. I doubt whether it is possible to project a system of government, in which a colony three thou- sand miles distant shall enjoy all the liberty of the parent state." For this, the council and assembly voted an address for his removal; and at a hearing before the privy council of his friends, Mr. Man- duit and Mr. Wedderburne, on his behalf, the decision was in favor of " the honor, integrity, and conduct of the governor." In an unpublished letter of John Adams to Colonel Joseph Ward, dated Quincy, Oct. 24, 1809, he says :—" If I was the witch of Endor, I would wake the ghost of Hutchinson, and give him absolute power over the currency of the United States and every part of it ; provided always, that he should meddle with nothing but currency. As little as I revere his memory, I will acknowledge that he understood the subject of coin and commerce better than any man I ever knew in this country. He was a mer- chant, and there can be no scientific merchant without a perfect knowledge of the theory of a medium of trade. It will be in vain to talk of public credit, until we return to a pure, unmixed circu- lation of standard gold and silver. There can never be a govern- ment of laws in money matters, without a fixed philosophical and mathematical standard. Contracts can never be inviolable with- out a stable standard." Governor Hutchinson deserves great honor for his labors in regard to the History of Massachusetts, which he published from its first settlement to the year 1760. In so high estimation was it held, that at the expiration of more than half a century after its publication, successful efforts were made by the most influential niOOHAPHICAI, NOTICES. 467 persons there to obtain the unpublished part of this history, which they pronounced, " a work of inestimable value, resting on the solid basis of utility and truth ; the accuracy and fidelity of which was nniversdly felt and acknowledged." These efforts of the govern- ment of Harvard College, the Historical Society, of Judge Davis, Governor Grore, Dr. Kirkland, Dr. Lowell, and James Savage, Esq., who secured the private circulation of five hundred copies before publication, and whose sentiments on the leading subject are at variance with those of its author ; are proud testimonials of the character of Governor Hutchinson in the field of his labors and sacrifices, and amidst the descendants of his persecutors. Governor Hutchinson died at Brompton, near London, June 3, 1780, aged sixty-nine, and was buried at Croydon. JOHN HANCOCK. In the posthumous volume of Governor Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts,* he says: — " Mr. Hancock's name has been sounded through the world as a principal actor in this tragedy. He was a young man, whose father and grandfather were ministers in country parishes, of irreproachable characters, but, like country ministers in New England in general, of small estates. His father's brother, from a bookseller became one of the most opulent merchants in the province ; he had raised a great estate with such rapidity, that it was commonly believed among the vulgar, that he had pur- chased a valuable diamond for a small sum and sold it at its full price. But the secret lay in his importing from St. Eustalia great quantities of tea in molasses hogsheads, which sold at a very great advance; and by importing, at the same time, a few chests fiom England, he freed the rest from suspicion, and always had the reputation of a fair trader. He was also concerned in supplying the officers of the army, ordnance and navy, and made easy and advantageous remittances; when he died, he left to his nephew more than fifty thousand pounds sterling, besides the reversion after the death of his widow, of twenty thousand more. The uncle was always on the side of government ; the nephew's ruling passion was a fondness for popular applause. He changed the course of his uncle's business, and built and employed in trade, a great ♦ Published in 1828. 58 -lit m 468 BIOORAPHICAI. NOTICES. iiiiii \hm •if m- number of ships ; and in this way, and by building at the snroe time several houses, ho. found work for a great number of trades- men ; made liiinself popular — was chosen selectman — represtnl ative — moderator of town meetings, etc. lie associated with those who were culled friends of liberty. His natural powers were moderate, and had been very little improved by study, or appli- cation to any kind of science. His ruling passion kept him from ever losing sight of its object, but h': wis fickle and inconstant in the means of pursuing it ; and tlK>i li. ii r the most part, he was closely attached to Mr. Samn 1 A^Luu: , ) : nas repeatedly broken off from all connection wiili him for several months together. Partly by inattention t' iiis privan .itTairs, and partly from want of judgment, he became ;" '.y involved and distressed ; and the estate was lost with much greater rapidity than it had been acquired." President Quincy, in his invaluable History of Harvard Univer- sity, has demoted a chapter to the wrongs which that institution suffered at the hands of Mr. Hancock as its treasurer ; and closes the detail as follows : — " From respect to the high rank which John Hancock attained among the patriots of the American Revo- lution, it would have been grateful to have passed over in silence his long denial of the rights of the college, and withholding its property, had truth and fidelity of history permitted. But justice to a public institution which he essentially embarrassed during a period of nearly twenty years, and also to the memory of those whom he made to feel and to suffer, requires that these records of unquestionable facts, which at the time when they occurred were the cause of calumny and censure to honorable men, actuated in their measures solely by a sense of official fidelity, should not be omitted. In republics, popularity is the form of power most apt to corrupt its possessor, and to tempt him, for party ends or pr r ;onal interest, to trample on right or set principle at defiance. Hist I y ':.is no higher or more imperative duty to perform, than l>v nn iii\.::iding fio^Iity to impress this class of men with the apprehension that, although through fear or favor they may escape the animadversions of contemporaries, there awaits them in hei impartial record the retribution of truth." President Quincy also says of him : — " His manners were full of suavity and attraction ; his love of place and popularity intense. ling at the Ratnc lumber of trades- traan — represent )ciated with those iral powers were )y study, or appli- on kept hira from and inconstant in nost part, he was repeatedly broken months together, lartiy from want of ised ; and the estate been acquired." )f Harvard Univer- ich that institution 2asurer ; and closes ! high rank which he American Revo* ssed over in silence |nd withholding its litted. But justice arrassed during a memory of those at these records of en they occurred ible men, actuated idelity, should not irm of power most for party ends or nciple at defiance. ty to perform, than of men with the ir they may escape iwaits them in her manners were full popvilarity intense. BIOURAPHICAL NUTICKS. 460 He ♦'arly joined the patriotic party, whose leaders perceived the advantage of placing hira at thin head ; at>d giving him every ,1, inrtion they could command. By the continued influence of these possfsisi'^ns, manners and cif nmstancfs, he acquired a popular power, which in this country has scarcely been exceeded." " The .styl*" of living he adopted, and the o| ■ ■i^ss of his hand to every object coinciding with his views or his ini tsts, k'pt his ample resources in a perpi' ual state of exhaustion. '^nited both his interest and policy to postpone debts, and gratify ti n^|^." rOV, Hiitchin- f' MUEL Bh k in his de> author- him^elf ■ned the ittempt y in- SAMUEL ADAMS. Of this distinguished patriot of the Re\ f>lMtion, son, in the posthumous volume already quott i, says ; Mr. Adams's father had been one of the directors of the Laud 1741, which was dissolved by act of parliament. Aftt " cease his estate was put ip for sale by public auction u ity of an act of the general assembly. The son first ii conspicuous on this occasicn. He attended the sale, tlii^^ sheriff to bring an action i a;ainst him and all who shoul to enter upon the estate wniter pretence of a purchase ; an timidating both the sheriff and those who intended to purcii se, he prevented the sale, kept the ^state in his posst >sion, and '"bt to the land company remains unsatisfied. He was afterwai i-ol- lector of taxes for the town ^f Boston, and made a dclali ion, which caused an additional tax upon the inhabitants. These i i ngs were unfavorable to his character, but the determined spirit • showed in the cause of liberty v ould have covered a multitude n such faults. He was for near twenty years a writer against gov- ernment in the public newspaper-^ ; at first but an indifferent one ; long practice caused him to arriv • at great perfection, and to ac- quire a talent of artfully and fallac ously insinuating into the minds of his readers a prejudice against he characters of all whom he attacked, beyond any other man I ever knew. This tiilent he em- ployed in the messages, remonstrances, and resolves of the House of Representatives, most of which were of his composition, and he made more converts to his cause by calumniating governors and other servants of the crown, than by strength of reasoning. The benefit to the town from his defence of their liberties, he supposed 1 I « 1 it 11 Ii 1^ ll ||«| 460 BIOGAPHICAL NOTICES. rm 5 ;«;•/? Mi an equivalent to his arrears as their collector ; and the prevailing principle of his party, that the end justified the means, probably quieted the remorse he must have felt from robbing men of their characters, and injuring them more than if he had robbed them of their estates." JOHN ADAMS. The same writer has the following notice of another eminent leader of the revolution : " Mr. John Adams was a distant relation and intimate acquaintance of Mr. Samuel Adams. After his edu- cation at the college he applied to the study of the law, a short time before the troubles began. He is said to have been at a loss which side to take. Mr. Sewall, who was with the government, would have persuaded him to be on the same side, and promised him to desire Governor Bernard to make him a justice of the peace. The governor took time to consider of it, and having, as Mr. Adams conceived, not taken proper notice of him, or given him offence on some former occasion, he no longer deliberated, and ever after joined in opposition. As the troubles increased he increased in knowledge, and made a figure, not only in his own profession, but as a patriot, and was generally esteemed as a person endowed with more knowledge than his kinsman, and equally zealous in the cause of liberty ; but neither his business nor his health would ad- mit of that constant application to it which distinguished the other from all the rest of the province. In general he may be said to be of stronger resentment upon any real or supposed personal neglect or injury than the other, but in their resentment against such as opposed them in the cause in which they were engaged, it is diffi- cult to say which exceeded. His ambition was without bounds, and he has acknowledged to his acquaintance that he could not look with complacency upon any man who was in possession of more wealth, more honors, or more knowledge than himself." LIEUT. GOV. GUSHING. Thomas Gushing, LL. D. was the son of a very popular speaker of the Assembly of Massachusetts ; graduated at Harvard College in 1744 ; was fond of public life, and paid too little attention to pecuniary considerations ; was many years a representative, and in BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 461 1763, when Governor Bernard negatived Mr. Otis as speaker, he was elected in his place, and continued in that office till chosen a member of the first Congress, to ic^set in Philadelphia in 1774. He was elected lieut. governor in 1779, which office he held till his death in 1788. His name as speaker having been signed to all the public papers, made it known abroad, where he was considered the leader of the whigs. Dr. Johnson, in his pamphlet called " Taxation no Tyranny," says, " one object of the Americans is to adorn the brows of Mr. Cashing with a diadem." And he was at other times the object of the sarcasm of ministerial writers. He was a member of the corporation of Harvard College, and attentive to its affairs, from which he received a diploma of doctor of laws. JUDGE PAINE. Robert Treat Paine, L.L. D., one of the signers of the decla- ration of independence, was born in Boston, 1731; graduated at Harvard College in 1749 ; studied law ; and conducted the pros- ecution on the part of the crown with great reputation, in the absence of the attorney general, in the trial of Capt. Preston and his men of " Boston massacre" memory in 1770. In 1773 he was elected a member of the General Assembly, and afterwards was chosen a member of the continental Congress, which met at Phil- adelphia in 1774. The following four years he was re-elected and rendered important services in introducing the manufacture of salt- petre, then imperfectly understood, while the colonies were suffer- ing for the want of gunpowder. He was also of the committee for the encouragement of the manufacture of cannon, and other imple- ments of war. In a letter to the Hon. Joseph Palmer, as president of the Massachusetts provincial Congress at Watertown, he com- plains of an intrigue to supplant him in the good opinion of his constituents, and says he " has just discovered a malicious and slanderous correspondence between John Adams and Thomas Gush- ing." On the organization of the Supreme Court in Massachusetts in 1776, he was named for one of the judges, which he declined at first, as John Adams, many years his junior, had obtained the ap- pointment of chief justice; but upon the resignation of the latter, Mr. Paine took his seat on that bench. His son, who afterwards bore his name, was a distinguished writer of national and patriotic poetry. !: u mm i''P>'':ni'," i ■' j' 1 ^mB'J' '¥ ■t <\' '4 1 1 'i^;!. '1' i!! u ■'>''■■«■ ■ 'V , ' 'i ' 'I 'fl h 1 ' i¥ , ; T H. 462 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. GOV. HARRISON. Col. Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the declaration of independence, was a native of Virginia, and graduated at the college of William and Mary. He commenced his political career as early as 1764, in the legislature of his native colony. The royal government offered him a seat at the council board, a tempting bait for young ambition, which he had the resolution to refuse, as the measures of the ministry were already unfriendly to the liberty of the provinces ; and when the time came for active resistance to arbitrary power, he was ready for service. He was in the first general Congress of 1774, and the three succeeding ones, and was particularly useful as chairman of the board of war. After his resignation in 1777, he was elected speaker of the House of Bur- gesses of Virginia, and filled the chair till 1782, when he was elected governor, to which office he was twice re-elected. He retired in 1785 to private life, but in 1788 became a member of the convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States. He died in 1791. Gov. Harrison was father of General William H. Harrison, late President of the United States. LIEUT. GOV. A. OLIVER. Of Lieut. Governor Andrew Oliver, Gov. Hutchinson says, " A very small portion of mankind have so well deserved to be characterized, " Integer vitce sederisque purus." Scarce any man ever had a more scrupulous and sacred regard to truth, and yet, to such a degree did the malignant spirit of party prevail as to cause a writer* in the public papers in England to bring against him a charge of perjury. The Council of Massachusetts Bay, from whose votes and resolves this writer attempted to support the charge, by a vote which they caused to be printed, repaired the in- jury as well as they could ; but a consciousness of his innocency and integrity was his best support. This abuse, however, together with the reproaches most injuriously cast upon him by the resolves of the council and house, in which he was treated as the deter- mined enemy to the liberties of his country, the interest whereof, * Arthur Lcc, under the signature of Junius Americanus. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 463 f the declaration graduated at the is political career olony. The royal d, a tempting bait to refuse, as the J to the liberty of tive resistance to I was in the first ing ones, and was [■ war. After his he House of Bur- 32, when he was ; re-elected. He arae a meniber of the United States. General William Hutchinson says, 11 deserved to be Scarce any man truth, and yet, to rty prevail as to \ to bring against chusetts Bay, from ?d to support the d, repaired the in- s of his innocency however, together lira by the resolves ated as the deter- interest whereof, kinericanus. according to the best of his judgment, (which was much superior to that of his most virulent persecutors,) he always had at heart, affected his spirits and evidently accelerated his death." Lieut. Gov. Oliver was a son of Hon. Daniel Oliver, of Bos- ton, and graduated at Harvard College in 1724. He was a repre- sentative from Boston, member of the council, and secretary of the province, before his last troublesome dignity as lieut. governor, which office he filled from 1770 to 1774 ; until death closed his career on the 3d March in that year. His removal had been clamorously called for by the people through the provincial as- sembly. Lieut. Gov. Oliver was a liberal benefactor to his alma mater in books, ancient manuscripts and anatomical preparations. HON. S. QUINCY. Samuel Quincv, brother of Josiah and Edmund, of Boston, graduated at Harvard College in 1754, was a poet and an elegant prose writer. As solicitor for the crown, he was engaged with Robert Treat Paine in the memorable trial of Capt. Preston and the British soldiers in 1770 ; his brother was opposed to him on that occasion, and both reversed their party sympathies in their professional position. He was an addressor of Gov. Hutchinson, and went to England early in 1775. He was included in the ban- ishment act of September, 1778. In April, 1779, he was appointed comptroller at Parkin Bay, Antigua, and died on his passage from Tortola to England for his health, August 9, 1789, aged 55. Mr. Quincy married a sister of the late Henry Hill, Esq., of Boston. His son, of the same name, who graduated at Harvard College in 1782, was an attorney at law in Lenox, Massachusetts, where he died, Jan. 1816, leaving a son Samuel, now an alderman of Bos- ton. His other son, Josiah, is an eminent counsellor at law of Romney, New Hampshire, and president of the senate of that state. HON. JON. SEWALL. Jonathan Sewall,LL.D., was born at Boston, August, 1728. His father, Jonathan Sewall, merchant, was a nephew of Chief Justice Stephen Sewall, and grandson of Major Stephen Sewall, of Salem. He graduated at Harvard College in 1748, and was a teacher at ■ ii! .jjfFl IK, ' u 464 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. I V ,n. m% i^ i !■ IM' H; Sii • I Salem till 1756. He married Esther, daughter of Edmund Quincy, Esq., of Braintree, afterwards of Boston, and sister of Dorothy Quincy, wife of Governor Hancock, and of Elizabeth Quincy, wife of Samuel Sewall, Esq., of Boston, the father of the late Hon. Samuel Sewall, chief justice of Massachusetts. Mr. Sewall stu- died law with Judge Chambers Russell, of Lincoln ; commenced practice in his profession at Charlestown, and at the death of Jeremy Gridley, Esq., he was appointed attorney-general of Mas- sachusetts, September, 1767. He was an able and successful law- yer. The elder President Adams was his intimate friend, though opposite in politics, and has done justice to his memory. He was solicitor-general before he succeeeded Gridley in the office of attor- ney-general. His eloquence is represented as having been soft, smooth, and insinuating, which gave him as much power over a jury as a lawyer ought ever to possess. It is proper here to take notice of one fact relative to Sewall. He commenced the suit in May, 1769, in favor of a negro against his master for his freedom, viz., James vs. Richard Lechmere, of Cambridge. The late Chief Justice Dana was counsel for the defendant. The suit terminated the following year in favor of the negro ; and I believe it was the first case where the grand question was settled abolishing slavery in that state. The case of the negro Somerset, which Blackstone commends so highly, and which has been a matter of self-gratu- lation in England, was not settled till 1772; two years after the decision in favor of James. In 1768, he was appointed judge of admiralty for Nova Scotia, and although he went there once or twice in that capacity, he remained but a short period. At the commencement of the revolution, he was residing at Cambridge, in the Vassall house, afterwards Washington's head quarters, and since occupied by Andrew Cragie. He left this country for IZng- land early in 1775. He had before ably vindicated the characters of Governors Bernard, Hutchinson, and Oliver, and was esteemed an able writer. He was proscribed in the Conspirator's Act of April 30, 1779. He resided chiefly in Bristol till 1788, (for the education of his children,) when he removed to St. John's, New- Brunswick, having been appointed judge of the vice-admirally court there, where he resided till his death, which occurred Septem- ber 26, 1796, at the age of sixty-eight. His widow survived him, BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 465 and removed to Montreal, where she died at an advanced age. His son Jonathan, was at school at Hackney in 1777, and after- wards resided at Quebec, where he sustained the offices of solicitor and attorney-general, and judge of the vice-admiralty court, until 1803, when he was appointed chief justice of the province, which he resigned in 1838, and died November 12, 1839, aged seventy- four. In 1832, he received the degree of doctor of laws, from Harvard College. His son Stephen was appointed solicitor-gene- ral in 1810, and resided in Montreal, but lost that office in 1814, in consequence of political differences with the governor ; he died there of Asiatic cholera in the summer of 1832. ISAAC SMITH. Rev. Isaac Smith graduated at Harvard College in 1767, where he was a tutor 1774-5, when he left for England, having a brother settled there. He was a loyalist, and a dissenting minister, much esteemed for the catholic tenor of his discourses. He was ordained June 24, 1778, over a society of dissenters at Sidmouth, Devon- shire, but returned to New England after the peace, and became librarian in Harvard College, from 1789 to 1791, and subsevjucntly preceptor of Dummer academy, at Byfield, near Newburyport, Massachusetts. He was a brother of William Smith, Esq. of Boston. JOSEPH GREEN. Joseph Green, Esq., a wit and poet, born at Boston,1706, received the rudiments of learning at the South Grammar School from Mr. Williams, and graduated at Harvard College, 1726. He was the author of many fugitive pieces, chiefly satirical, against the gover- nor or assembly, as chance might direct. He was a fine classical scholar. He turned his attention to commerce, of which he obtained a comprehensive knowledge, and acquired a handsome property. To integrity and generosity were added in him politeness and ele- gance. His humor, learning and taste might have connected him with the influential, and procured for him almost any distinction ; but he would never accept public office. He signed an address to Governor Hutchinson on his leaving the government. In 1774, when an act passed Parliament depriving Massachusetts of her charter, a number of counsellors were appointed by mandamus ; 59 in ■!i '< } I i IMi V wmtli ^ [ii 466 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. among them was Mr. Green, who declined the honor as soon as summoned, giving in his resignation to Governor Gage. Of his poetical pieces, " the Elegy on Mr. Old Tenor," and the satire on the processions of Free-masons, have passed through many editions. During the Whitfieldian controversy, there was a club of sentimen- talists who wrote what they pleased, and, as the pamphlets were emitted from the press, it was easy to conjecture the parts he wrote, especially if a line of poetry was introduced. They also took a part in politics, and began by attacking the administration of Governor Belcher, putting his speeches into rhyme. In the con- troversy with Great Britain, previous to the Revolution, most of these gentlemen joined the party of loyalists. Mr. Green was in- cluded in the act of banishment of 1778, and having left Boston early in 1775, passed the remainder of his days in England, where he died at London, December 11, 1780, aged seventy-four. JASPER MAUDUIT. Jasper Mauduit, Esq., of London, the friend of Governor Hutch- inson and Lieutenant Governor Oliver, successfully vindicated their characters respecting their letters to the privy council, as- sisted by Mr. Wedderburne. He was for a long time treasurer of the Society for propagating the Gospel among the Indians of New England, and agent for the Assembly of Massachusetts Bay in London. His zeal was greater for the conversion of Indians, than for the important concerns of the province. ISRAEL MAUDUIT. Israel Mauduit, Esq., secretary of Lord George Germaine, was distinguished as the writer of several pamphlets, in which the char- acter of General Howe was severely attacked. WARD NICHOLAS BOYLSTON. Ward Nicholas Boylston, Esq., the son of Benjamin and Mary Hallowell, (his mother being the sister of Nicholas Boylston,) was born at Boston in 1749 ; by the desire of his maternal uncle, his name was changed in 1770. In 1773, he embarked for Newfound- land ; from thence he sailed to Italy ; travelled through Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and along the Barbary coast ; and BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 467 returned through France and Flanders to England, in 1775. He entered into business as a merchant, and remained in London till 1800, when he returned to Boston, and continued to reside in Massachusetts till his death, which occurred in January, 1828, at the age of seventy-eight. He possessed a mind emulative of the spirit of his maternal ancestry, which he acknowledged in a letter dated May 20, 1800, when he founded at Cambridge the " Boylston Medical Library." In this he expressed the pride he felt in being nearly allied to his maternal great-uncle. Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, '* who first introduced the inoculation for the small-pox into America, from whence it was carried to England, and has ever since been extending its beneficial influence through the world ;" and also to his uncle, Nicholas Boylston, '* whose memory is known and honored for his liberal donations to Harvard University." In 1840, Mr. Boyl- ston's fund for a college and anatomical museum amounted to nine thousand dollars; which was in addition to the medical library of eleven hundred volumes, and the fund for prize disserta- tions, established by him in 1800. JOHN PRINCE. Dr. John Prince, of Salem, Mass., a refugee, who removed to Halifax, in 1775. He married a daughter of Hon. Richard Derby, of Salem, and was proscribed in the banishment act of Massachu- setts, Sept. 1778. John Prince, Esq., of Boston, who married a daughter of E. H. Derby, Esq., is a son. JOSEPH HOOPER. Joseph Hooper, Esq., of Marblehead, was a graduate of Harvard College in 1763, and a refugee in 1775. He was a son of Peter Hooper, Esq., a " mandamus " counsellor, who rose from abject poverty to apparently inexhaustible wealth ; engrossing for years a large part of the foreign fishing business at Marblehead, which was very extensive about the year 1760. For a while he pur- chased all the fish brought into that quarter, sent it to Bilboa and other ports in Spain, and received gold and silver in return, with which he purchased goods in England, etc. He built splendid houses in town and country, rode in a chariot like a prince, and 1 N't J ! 1 p It i.i ti.i Hiti « ) u h ]^ iiiili 1 ^ *' 1 II t '^ ' \ m I m i| ^1 E t ' S K!| 1 hi li| i i h M ft m ' { u } . 468 niOGBAPHlCAL NOTICES. m ,i ^ii^"t' m ^M mM x^ ! I ,,' was ever after known as " King Hooper." For years ho knew not the state of his afTairs, and died insolvent in 179Q. At his elegant house in Danvers, (since CoUins's,) he entertained Governor Gage for some time in 1774. The mansion late Chief Justice Sewall's, in Marblehead, was built by his son Joseph Hooper. He became a paper manufacturer at Bungay, Suffolk, England ; where he died in August, 1812. Although his name does not appear in the proscribing act, a rope walk of his and some lots of land were sold by the commissioners, with other confiscated property, in 1781. GENERAL CARLETON. Sir Guy Carleton, (afterwards Lord Dorchester,) a distin- guished British officer in America ; was appointed a brigadier- general in this country in 1766 ; he was made major-general in 1772. At the close of the year 1774, a commission passed the seals, constituting him captain-general and governor of Quebec. When Canada was invaded by Montgomery in 1775, Carleton was in the most imminent danger of being taken prisoner upon the St. Lawrence after the capture of Montreal ; but he escaped in a boat with muffled paddles, and arrived safely at Quebec, which he found threatened by an unexpected enemy. Arnold, though he had been repulsed by Colonel McLean, was yet in the neighborhood of the city, waiting for the arrival of Montgomery, previously to another attack. General Carleton, with the skill of an experienced officer, took the necessary measures for the security of the city ; his first act was to oblige all to leave Quebec who would not take up arms in its defence. When Montgomery approached, his sum- mons was treated with contempt by the governor, whose intrepidity was not to be shaken ; by his industry and bravery, Carleton saved the city. After the unsuccessful assault of the last of December^ in which Montgomery was killed, he had nothing more immediately to apprehend. In May, 1776, he obliged the Americans to raise the siege ; and it was not long before he compelled them to withdraw entirely from Canada. In October, he recaptured Crown Point ; but as the winter was advancing, he did not attempt the reduction of Ticonderoga, but returned to St. John's. In the beginning of the next year he was superseded in his command by Burgoyne, who was intrusted with the northern British army. Carleton's expe- i% I I ■■ ; rs ho knew not At his elegant Giovernor Gage ustice Sew all's, ;r. He became ind ; where he ot appear in the ts of land were roperty, in 1781. hester,) a distin- ited a brigadier- major-general in lission passed the vernor of Quebec. 775, Carleton was 3oner upon the St. escaped in a boat ec, which he found lOUgh he had been ; neighborhood of ery, previously to of an experienced !curity of the city; ho would not take proached, his sum- ■, whose intrepidity :ry, Carleton saved ist of December; in lore immediately to lericans to raise the them to withdraw Crown Point; but Ipt the reduction of le beginning of the ly Burgoyne, who Carleton's expe- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 469 ricnce, abilities, and services were such as rendered him worthy of the command, which v, ^iven to another. Though he imme- diately asked leave to resign his government, he yet contributed all in his power to secure the success of the campaign. In the year 1782, he was appointed, as successor of Sir Henry Clinton, commander-in-chief of all his majesty's forces in America ; he arrived at New-York with his commission in the beginning of May. After the treaty was signed, he delayed for some time the evacu- ation of the city, from regard to the safety of the loyalists ; but November 25, 1783, he embarked, and withdrew the British ships from the shores of America. He died in England at the close of the year 1808, aged eighty-three ; he was a brave and an able officer, and he rendered important services to his country. Though he was not conciliating in his manners, and possessed the severity of a soldier, yet his humanity to the American prisoners, whom he took in Canada, has been much praised. In excuse for the little attention which he paid to the honorable burial of Mont- gomery, it can only be said that he regarded him as a rebel.* GENERAL BURGOYNE. It is curious that a man of such celebrity as a writer, a senator, and an officer, as the late Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, should be found among the number of those of whose youthful days no memorial has been preserved. Neither the time, place, nor circumstances of his birth are known. Even his parentage is doubtful. He is said, but upon what authority it does not appear, to have been a natural son of that Lord Bingley who died at an advanced age, in 1774. That he had the advan- tage of a liberal education and early intercourse with polished society, is sufficiently evident from his writings ; and it is probable that he was early devoted to the profession of arms, for on the 10th of May, 1759, he was raised to the rank of Lieut. Colonel, and in the August of the ensuing year, he was appointed Lieut. Col. Commandant of the 16th Light Dragoons. His after services at different periods, in Spain, Portugal and America, are all well known, especially the unfortunate termination of his military career at Saratoga, which, though it tarnished not his honor, cast a shade * See Allen's Biography. 1 1 1(1 ln]< '^ : :, if ifl f w 470 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. Ml imifx si. f I, ..mm M'V^-W over his brow, ever afterwards conspicuous to the physioirno- mical tyc. He arrived in England on parole in May, 1778, and published a letter to his constituents, throwing the blame of the failure of the expedition on Lord Sackville, (George Germainc,) the secretary of the American department ; and a reply to it, doubtless written by Lord Sackville, exhibits some of the peculiari- ties of the style of Junius. He made on certain occasions no ordi- nary figure in parliament, and towards the close of the year 1781, when a majority of parliament seemed resolved to persist in the war, he joined the opposition, and advocated a motion for the dis- continuance of the fruitless contest. He knew that it was impos- sible to conquer America. " Passion, prejudice and interest," said he, " may operate suddenly and partially ; but when we see one principle pervading the whole continent, the Americans resolutely encounteri'ig difficulty and death for a course of years, it must be a strong vnnity and presumption in our own minds, which can only lead us to imagine that they are not in the right." He moved in the first circles, and married Lady Charlotte Stanley, a daughter of the Earl of Derby ; and yet we know not who and what originally he was. He was the author of four successful dramas : The Maid of the Oaks, the Lord of the Manor, Richard Cceur de Lion, and the Comedy of the Heiress ; and yet the curiosity of his biographer, even in this anecdote-dealing and memoir-sifting age, cannot trace his origin, or the scenes of his education. The fable of the Lord of the Manor seems, in some degree, to have been suggested (though sufficiently disguised in the modification of character and circum- stances) by the incident of his own matrimonial connection ; for his was a clandestine and unauthorized marriage, at a time when he held only a subaltern's commission in the array, and is said to have excited at first the resentment of the lady's father to such a degree, that he declared his resolution never to admit the offenders into his presence, though in process of time the anger of the earl subsided, a reconciliation was effected, and was succeeded by a •warm and lasting attachment. It is probable, also, that the mem- ory of his lady, who died in the year 1776, at Kensington Palace, during his absence in America, is embalmed by the affectionate regrets of the General in that beautiful air in the first act of that opera : «r BIOO APBIOAL NOTIC 471 '' Encompassed in an angel's frau An angel's virtues lay ; Too soon did lienven assert the • iitiw, And cull its own away. My Anna's worth, my Anna's charms, Must never more return ! What now shall All those widow'd arms f Ah, me ! my Anna's urn !" It is some confirmation of this conjecture, that General Bur- goync contracted no second marriage. Taste and sentiment, rather than vigor and originahty, and familiarity with local manners and the superficies of character, rather than the comprehensive views of the sources of human action and penetration into the deepest re- cesses of the human heart, characterize the genius of this writer ; and his satire, though well pointed, will accordingly lose its inter- est when the memory of the fleeting follies and temporary politics at which it is levelled shall have died away. Of his dramatic works, incomparably the most valuable is the comedy of " The Heiress," which may, indeed, be called the last comedy produced on the English stage. From the peace till his death, which took place in August, 1792, he lived as a private gentleman, devoted to pleasure and the muses. The following letter, addressed by him to Garrick, is cha- racteristic : HI » i!l 'i I I TO DAVID GARRICK, ESQ. Wednesday, JVov. 9, 1774. My dear Sir: Your obliging and most friendly letter was delivered to me yesterday, at the moment I was sitting down to dinner with com- pany, or I should have endeavored on the moment to return ray acknowledgments, with a warmth of expression due to that with which you have honored me. In regard to the very signal dis- tinction you propose to me of the freedom of the house, and the manner of presenting it, I hope you will permit me to decline the parade, and at the same time believe me truly sensible of the honor of it. I should feel myself as proud to be seated in Drury Lane by your deliberate judgment of my talents, as ever an old Roman n ri t'tV' fh L'^ H 472 BiOOBAPHICAI, NOTICES. did in acquiring the freedom of kis theatre by public services ; but you arc at present too partial towards me ; and, till I appear in my own eyes more worthy, I must request you to bound your kind intentions to an order for admittance occasionally to your green- room, where I promise neither to criticise your men ill-naturcilly, nor lead astray yourself. The having contributed the songs and music, and other reasons alleged for my introduction to your re- hearsals, will, I conclude, equally pass with the company for this additional favor, without the necessity of any farther discovery. But as you kindly insist upon my directions, I desire it to be done by a simple order to Johnson, and no gold box, nor silver box- not even a mulberry one : you must give me a reception Hamlet- like — I will have no appurtenances of welcome. I think I may, without vanity, congratulate you upon the piece having laid hold of the audience last night. A general relish was very discernible. I could not help agreeing with a critic who sat near me, and who expressed himself delighted with the genteel scenes, that the intro- duction of the lamplighters was too coarse to assort with the rest. Suppose three or four of your girls were introduced in the act of weaving cords of flowers, such as the dancers use in the second act. They might fix one end of the cord to the scene, and keep slipping back as they weave the flowers, in the manner the rope- makers do, which would be picturesque. In that case, O'Daub's part might begin with his conversation with the architect ; and he might present himself to the girls in some nonsense like the follow- ing : " O^Daub. — If these pretty maids would pay me with a kiss a-piece, 'faith, I'd paint them all round for nothing at all. Surely they look as bright as a May morning already, and a touch of ray brush will make them remembered by those who never saw 'em." It after this the two additional verses of the song were added, the words would apply, and Moody's action might have effect. Should you approve this idea, or any one like it, the alteration is so short it might be studied and acted in half an hour ; but I submit it to you on the sudden, like many crudities with which I have troubled you. Lord Stanley is come to town, and very earnest to see " The Maid of the Oaks." I send to Johnson's for a box for Lady Betty to-morrow, that she may do him the honors, and I hope I shall succeed. If you could send rae the copy this afternoon, I would BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 473 lUc stTvicos ; but , till I appear in bounil your kind ly to your green- mon ill-natureilly, ed the songs anil iClion to your re- coropany for this farther discovery. Esirc it to be ilone :, nor silver box— reception Hamlet- «. I think I may, e having laid hold IS very discernible, near me, and who enes, that the intro- ssort with the rest. duced in the act of 1 use in the second le scene, and keep t manner the rope- lat case, O'Daub's architect; and he nse like the follow- lay nie with a kiss ;ing at all. Surely and a touch of my 10 never saw 'em." ng were added, the liavc effect. Should iteration is so short but I submit it to lich 1 have troubled iarnesttosee"The lox for Lady Betty ind I hope I shall lafternoon, I would return it in time lor you to put it into the printer's hands to-raor- row afternoon. Ik-licve me, with the truest sense of the value of your friendiihip, dear »ir, your faithful nnd obedient, etc., etc. J. BUKGOYNE. GENERAL CLINTON. Sni Henry Clinton, an English general, son of the colonial Governor Clinton, was the grandson of the Earl of Lincoln. After distinguishing himself in the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, he was sent unsuccessfully against New-York and Charleston. He after- wards, in September, 1776, occupied the city of New-York. October 6, 1777, he assaulted and took forts Clinton and Mont- gomery. In 1778, he succeeded Howe in the command at Phila- delphia, whence Washington compelled him to retire. In May, 1780, he took Charleston. It was he who negotiated with Arnold in his treason. He returned to England in 1782, and died Dec. 22, 1795 ; a few montlis before, he had been appointed governor of fiibraltar. He published a narrative of his conduct in America, 1782 ; Observations on Cornwallis's Answer, 1783 j Observations on Stedman, 1784. LORD CURNWALLIS. Charles Cornwallis, Martjuis, commander of the British array in America, surrendered at Yorktown, October 19, 1781 ; an event which brought the war to a close. In 1790, he was governor- general of India, and by his victories in the war with Tippoo Saib acquired high reputation. Again was he appointed, in 1805, governor of India ; where he died, at Ghazepore, October 5. He married in 1768, Miss Jones, a lady of large fortune; who is said to have died of a broken heart, in consequence of his engaging in the American war. He published an answer to the Narrative of Sir Henry Clinton, 1783. LORD HOWE. Admiral Earl Howe was born in 1725, and on the death of his brother the general, succeeded to his til ' and estate. He com- manded the British fleet which arrived . Staten Island July 12, 1776; and was named in the commission to offer proposals of 60 i| >l i m *k ^ r 474 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. peace. In July, 1777, he convoyed the two hundred and seventy transports in which the army sailed from New-York to the Chesa- peake. He repaired to Newport in the winter as a safe harbor ; which place he relieved on the 30th Aug., 1778, when threatened by the Americans and French, by arriving from New-York with a hundred sail of ships. In September, he resigned the command to Admiral Garabier. On the 1st of June, 1794, he obtained a vic- tory over the French, and died August 5, 1799. Lord Howe was the brother and successor in his title of the General Lord Howe who fell in the attack on Ticonderoga in 1758, in whom, said Mante, " the soul of the army seemed to expire ;" and to commem- orate whom the province of Massachusetts Bay caused a monu- ment to be erected in Westminster Abbey. GENERAL HOWE. General Sir "William Howe, brother of Richard, Earl Hovve, was the successor of General Gage in command of the British forces in America. He first arrived at Boston in May, 1775, with General Burgoyne, and commanded in the battle of Bunker Hill ; he took possession of New-York in September, 1776 ; and was one of the commissioners to offer terms of peace. In July, 1777, Sir William sailed for the Chesapeake, and entered Philadelphia, Sept. 27 ; he defeated the Americans on the 4th of October, same year, at Germantown. In May, 1778, he was succeeded by General Clinton, In the House of Commons, in December same year, when assigning his reasons for quitting his command in America, he particularly blamed Lord Sackville, (formerly Lord George Germaine,) the minister, for not sending reinforcements, nor co- operating in his plans ; and in the January following. Lord Sack- ville, if he was the author of the letter to Admiral Howe, returned the invective. He published a second edition of liis narrative relative to his command in 1780; he died in 1814. General Charles Lee said, " Howe was the most indolent of mor- tals, and never took pains to examine the merits or demerits of the cause in which he was engaged. That the king and parliament formed the supreme power ; that supreme power is absolute and uncontrollable ; and consequently all resistance rebellion ; that he was a soldier and bound to obey in all cases whatever : these were i and seventy o the Chesa- safe harbor; in threatened -York with a J command to )tained a "vic- )rd Howe was \ Lord Howe n whom, said d to comraem- aused a monu- ird, Earl Howe, I of the British vlay, 1775, with of Bunker Hill ; 6 ; and was one July, 1777, Sir iladelphia, Sept. her, same year, ded by General nber same year, and in America, ■ly Lord George cements, nor co- ing, Lord Sack- Admiral Howe, d edition of his e died in 1814. [t indolent of raor- |or demerits of the and parliament (r is absolute and ■ehellion ; that he itever : these were BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 475 his notions, and this his logic. He was naturally good-natured, and as an executive soldier all fire and activity ; brave as Caesar. His understanding good, but confounded by the immensity of the task imposed upon him." GENERAL GATES. Horatio Gates, a major-general in the army of the United States, was a native of England ; is said to have been a natural son of Horace Walpole, Lord Orford. In early life he entered the British army, and laid the foundation of his future military fame ; he was aid to General Monckton at the capture of Martinico ; and after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, he was among the first troops which landed at Halifax under General Cornwallis. He was with Braddock at the time of his defeat in 1755, and was shot through the body. When peace was concluded, he purchased an estate in Virginia, where he resided until the commencement of the Ame- rican war in 1775 ; when he was appointed by Congress adjutant- general, with the rank of brigadier-general, and accompanied Washington to Cambridge. In August, 1777, he took command of the northern department, and succeeded in capturing Bur- goyne in October. Congress passed a vote of thanks, and ordered a medal of gold to be presented to him by the president. His conduct towards his conquered enemy was marked by a delicacy, which does him the highest honor ; he did not permit his own troops to witness the mortification of the British in depositing their arms. After Gen. Lincoln was taken prisoner, he was appointed, June 13, 1780, to the command of the southern department ; August 16, he was defeated by Cornwallis at Camden. After the peace he retired to his farm in Berkley county, Virginia, where he remained until the year 1790, when he came to reside in New- York ; having first emancipated his slaves, and made a pecuniary provision for such as were not able to provide for themselves. Some of them would not leave him, but continued in his family. On his arrival at New-York, the freedom of the city was presented to him. In 1800, he accepted a seat in the legislature ; his poli- tical opinions did not separate him from many respectable citizens, whose views differed widely from his own ; he died April 10, 1806, aged 77. A few weeks before his death, he wrote to his friend Dr. (I . w ;i J; il'W :: I i !■ ■'IV'S'' 11 m^. . mit I 'I ■ 476 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES; Mitchell, then at Washington, on some business, and closed his letter, dated Feb. 27, 1806, with the following words : — " I am very weak, and have evident signs of an approaching dissolution. But I have lived long enough, since I havj^ lived to see a mighty people ani- mated with a spirit to be free, and governed by tianscendant abilities and honor." tie retained his faculties to the last ; he directed that his body should be privately buried, which was ac- cordingly done. General Gates was a whig in England, and a republican in America ; he was a scholar, well versed in history and the Latin classics. While he was just, hospitable and gene- rous, his manners and deportment yet indicated his military cha- racter. JUDGE DANA. Francis Dana, LL.D., chief justice of Massachusetts, was a descendant of Richard Dana, who died at Cambridge about 1695. His father was Richard Dana, an eminent magistrate ; he was born at Charlestown in August, 1742, and after graduating at Harvard College in 1762, studied law with Judge Trowbridge ; he passed the year 1775 in England, where he had a brother, Edmund, a minister at Worcester, who died in 1823. In 1776, he was ap- pointed a delegate to Congress, and taking his seat in November, 1777, continued in that body until in November, 1779, he accom- panied Mr. Adams to Paris, as a secretary of legation. He was elected December, 19, 1780, as minister to Russia; where he remained, though not publicly received, from August, 1781, till the close of the war, returning in December, 1783. He was chosen a delegate to Congress in 1784 ; and a member of the Massachusetts Convention, where he advocated the constitution. The office of envoy extraordinary to France in 1799, he declined; and Mr. Gerry was deputed in his stead, with Messrs. Marshall and Pinck- ney. Appointed chief justice of Massachusetts in 1792, he dis- charged very impartially and ably the duties of that office until ihis resignation in 1806 ; he died at his seat in Cambridge, April 25, 1811, aged sixty-eight. Judge Dana was a learned lawyer, and presided in court with great dignity ; his opinions on the bench were remarkable for their clearness and perspicuity. In his politics during the days of violent excitemonts, he was strongly attached BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 477 to the federalists. His corrf.spondence while in Europe, is con- tained in Sparks's Diplomatic Correspondence, vol. 8th. COLONEL PICKERING. Hon. Timothy Pickering, LL. D., the son of a prominent citi- zen of Salem of the same name, was born there on the 17th July, 1746, and graduated at Harvard College in 1763. The memorable distinction of conducting the first resistance in arras to the power of the mother country fell to his lot, at his native place, on Sunday the 26th of February, 1775, when the march of Col. Leslie's regiment of royal troops was resolutely intercepted, and his further progress arrested by him at the head of the militia, at the bridge over the North River. The draw of the bridge was hoisted, and Col. Pick- ering presented himself on the opposite side. He informed Col. Leslie that the military stores he came to seize were the property of the people, and that they would not be surrendered without a struggle. Col. Leslie ordered his men into a large gondola at the wharf, to secure a passage over the river. In a moment Major Sprague, the owner of the gondola, sprang on board and beat a hole through the bottom, by which it was sunk. While effecting this he was wounded by the soldiers with their bayonets, and thus was here shed the first blood of the Revolution. The Rev, Mr. Barnard now interposed, and by judicious persuasions prevented the impending catastrophe ; and Leslie, pledging his honor, that if Col. Pickering would let him pass the bridge, so that it might ap- pear a voluntary act on his part, he would abandon the attempt to seize the stores ; and this being acceded to on the part of Col. Pick- ering, the former returned immediately to his transports at Marble- head, and re-embarked his regiment from the harbor that night. Col. Pickering marched at the head of the Essex regiment as soon as he heard of the Lexington affair, on the 19th of April of the same year, to Medford, in order to intercept the enemy, but was not in season. He also took up the line of march with his regi- ment for the heights of Charlestown on the 17th June, but arrived too late to participate in the affair of Bunker Hill. Col. Pickering compiled a manual for the drill and exercise of the troops, which was in general use until the Baron Steuben published his more ex- tensive work. He was appointed the same year a judge of the com- ?i! i I f III'! I'! 478 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.. fh iH" (' ) '*' f ' ' 'I i I men pleaSj and succeeded Mr. Curwen as admiralty judge for the district including Boston and Salem. In the autumn of 1776, he commanded the Essex regiment under General Washington in New Jersey. The following is an extract of a letter from General Washing- ton to Congress, dated at Morristown, May 24, 1777 : " I beg leave to inform Congress, that, immediately after the receipt of their resolve of the 26th of March, recommending the office of adjutant general to be filled by a person of ability and unsuspected attachment to our cause, I wrote to Colonel Timothy Pickering, of Salem, offering him the post, in the first instance, and transmitting at the same time a letter to Colonel William R. Lee, whom Congress had been pleased to mention, to be delivered to him in case my offer could not be accepted. This conduct in pre- ference of Col. Pickering, I was induced to adopt from the high character I had of him, both as a great military genius, cultivated by an industrious attention to the study of war, and as a gentleman of I'berdi <;ducation, distinguished zeal, and great method and ac- tivity in business. This character oi' him I had from gentlemen of distinction and merit, and on whose judgment I could rely. " When my letter reached Col. Pickering, at first view, he thought his situation in respect to public affairs would not permit him to accept the post. That for Col. Lee he sent immediately to him, who, in consequence, repaired to head quarters. By Col. Lee I received a letter from Col. Pickering, stating more particu- larly the causes which prevented him accepting the office when it was offered, assuring me that he would, in a little time, accommo- date his affairs in such a manner as to come into any military post in which he might be serviceable and thought equal to. " Here I am to mark with peculiar satisfaction, in justice to Col. Lee, who has deservedly acquired the reputation of a good officer, that he has expressed a distrust of his abilities to fill the ap- pointment intended for him ; and hearing that Col. Pickering would accept it, he not only offered, but wished to relinquish his claim to it in favor of him, whom he declared he considered, from a very in- timate and friendly acquaintance, as a first-rate military character; and that he knew no gentleman better or so well qualified for the post among us. Matters being thus circumstanced, and Colonel Lee I BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 479 pleased with the command he was in, I wrote to Col. Pickering on his return, who accepted the office, and is daily expected." He immediately marched with the array to Pennsylvania, and was by the side of Washington at the battle of Brandywine, on the 14th September ; he was also present at that of Germantown, October 4. He was soon after elected by Congress a member of the Board of War, with Generals Gates and MifBin. The arrange- ment of the staff department was also intrusted to him and General Mifflin. In August, 1780, he succeeded Gen. Greene as quarter- master-general, and discharged the arduous and complicated duties of that department with promptness and fidelity. Col. Pickering was employed in various negotiations with the Indian tribes, and in 1791 was appointed postmaster-general, which office he held till 1794, when he succeeded Gen. Knox as secretary of war. In August, 1795, he temporarily had charge of the state de- partment, and upon the resignation of Mr. Edmund Randolph, in December, received the appointment of secretary of state. This was the last office he held under Washington ; from which he WtS removed by President Adams, in May, 1800. It was this circum- stance to which the eloquent and eccentric John Randolph alludes when Col. Pickering's political course was attacked in the House of Representatives some years after ; on that occasion Randolph declared that he would gladly surrender all his own riches and honors to be able to say, what that patriot (Pickering) could say, viz., " that he ever enjoyed the unbounded confidence of Washing- ton while living — and the enmity of his successor." On Col. Pickering's removal from office, he commenced the settlement of new lands in the back woods of Pennsylvania ; but soon after disposing of them, he returned to Massachusetts, and at Wenham, near his native town, he, like Cincinnatus, cultivated with his own hands a farm which he purchased. He could not long be spared from public life, and from 1803 to 1811 he was a senator of the United States, and from 1814 to 1817 he represented his district in Congress, to the delight and satisfaction of his con- stituents. He died at Salem on the 29th June, 1829, aged 84. His active life afforded but little leisure for literary pursuits, yet his writings were vigorous and elegant. From early life he was a professor of Christianity. In the service of his country he was m. li ;.<*' ;!;! - .; IT I' ' m>i a 'Ai.' '^M li Ir governor in 1792. Soon after he went to England and was cre- ated a baronet, and was succeeded by Prevost of New Brunswick in 1808. He possessed a sound judgment, liberal views, and a highly cultivated taste. He was the friend of learning and learned men. Dartmouth College was established during his administra- tion, and flourished under his patronage. He always endeavored to promote the interest of the province, and through his influence its settlements rapidly increased. He exerted himself to preserve the union between this country and Great Britain, but was obliged to yield to the spirit of the times, and submit to a separation. He greatly promoted agricultural improvements. He erected a splen- did mansion on his farm at Wolfsborough, on the border of Lake Winnipiseogce. He died at Halifax, April 8, 1820, aged 83. He married the widow of Theodore Atkinson, jr., whose maiden name was Frances Deering, in 1769. Portraits of Sir John and Lady Frances are preserved at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. JUDGE INGERSOLL. Hon. Jared Lngersoll, a judge of admiralty, was born in Mil- ford, Connecticut, in 1722, and graduated at Yale College in 1742; settled as a lawyer in New Haven, and in 1757 was agent for the colony in England. He was appointed a distributor of stamps for Connecticut under the famous stamp act, and thereby lost his pop- ularity; the people compelled him to resign, August 24, 1765, which was soon after his return from England, but not deeming his resignation sufficiently explicit, a large number from the eastern part of Connecticut set off for New Haven, and meeting Mr. Inger- sol at Weathersfield, compelled him to renounce the office and cry out "Liberty and property." The next day five hundred men escorted him to Hartford. On being appointed admiralty judge for the middle district, about the year 1770, he removed to Philadelphia. In consequence of the Revolution he returned to New Haven, and died in August, 1781, in his 60th year. ELISHA HUTCHINSON. Elisha Hutchinson, Esq., second son of Gov. Hutchinson, graduated at Harvard College 1762. He was in company with liiiiliUit BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 503 his eldest brother Thomas consignee of one third of the East India Company's tea, destroyed at Boston in 1773. He went to Eng- land a refugee, in 117 b; was proscribed in the banishment act of 1778, and resided in England till his death, which took place at the house of his son. Rev. John Hutchinson, Blurton parsonage, Trentham, Suffolk, in 1824, at the age of 81. His brother William Sanford Hutchinson, died of consumption in England, Feb. 20, 1780, aged 28. WILLIAM HUTCHINSON. William Hutchinson, Esq., nephew of Gov. Hutchinson, grad- uated at Harvard College in 1762 ; was a refugee in 1775 ; and died Feb. 6, 1791, in Europe, aged 57. He was a king's counsel- lor at the Bahamas. il^ii JOHN S. COPLEY. John Singleton Copley, Esq., a distinguished historical painter, was born at Boston. His mother was a daughter of Gen. Wins- low, and his sister the wife of Col. Henry Bromfield, who resided in London, 1775. He married a daughter of Richard Clarke, Esq., one c^ the consignees of the East India Company's tea ; and being an addresser of Gov. Hutchinson, was early a refugee loyalist. Mr. Copley visited Italy in 1774, and joined his wife and children in England in 1776. He resumed his profession in the metropolis with unsurpassed success. His "Death of Chatham," "Defence of Gibraltar," and " Charles I. in the House of Commons," placed him among the first artists of the age. He died in the full exercise of his talent, suddenly, in 1815. Many of his superb portraits adorn the mansions and galleries of Massachusetts. His only sur- viving son. Lord Lyndhurst, as distinguished in the legal profession as his father was as an artist, was born in Boston in 1772, and graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself, winning many prizes. In 1816 he was elected to parlia- ment. In 1819 became solicitor-general; in 1826, on the death of Lord Gifford, master of the rolls, and in 1827 lord high chan- cellor of England, which honorable post he at present holds for the third time ; all of which offices he has filled with distinguished ^ vi ^1. ill fi' WW 111 1^ :!m' ' M' ;:fti ■{-■ - ^^ i^? r « 604 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. ability. He was raised to the peerage in 1827, and his armorial motto, " ultra pergere," may well apply to his former career. A sister of Lord Lyndhurst married Gardner Greene, Esq. of Bos- ton. REV. S. A. PETERS. Samuel A. Peters, D. D., an Episcopal clergyman, of Hebron, Connecticut, where he was born, December 12, 1735. He gradu- ated at Yale College 1757. In consequence of loyal principles he was dismissed in 1774 from his charge of the churches at Hebron and Hartford, and went a refugee to England. He remained abroad until 1805, when he returned to New- York. In 1817 and 1818, he made a journey to the west as far as the falls of St. Anthony, claiming a large territory under an Indian grant to Capt. .Jonathan Carver. He is the reputed author of a History of Connecticut, pub- lished at London, in 1781. It is of a similar stamp with Knicker- bocker's History of New-York, and does but little credit to its author. Dr. Peters would never acknowledge the paternity of this work, but the fact is now well established. He died at New-York, April 19, 1826, aged ninety. His remains were entombed at He- bron. Dr. Peters was chosen bishop of Vermont, while in Eng- land, but did not accept the charge. He left one daughter, who accompanied him in exile, and mar- ried Mr. Jarvis, afterwards secretary of the province of Upper Canada ; she is now living at Queenstown. Dr. Peters also left a son, who died of yellow fever at New Orleans, where the eldest son of the latter now resides. TIMOTHY ORNE. Timothy Orne, Esq., of Salem, graduated at Harvard College in 1768 ; became a merchant, and married a daughter of William Pynchon, Esq. He died before 1791. MAJOR HAWLEY. Joseph Hawley, of Northampton, Massachusetts, was born in 1724, was graduated at Yale College, and possessed strong natural powers, improved by the study and practice of the law. He early ind his armorial rmer career. A le, Esq. of Bos- yraan, of Hebron, 735. He gradu- oyal principles he arches at Hebron ,e remained abroad n 1817 and 1818, 3 of St. Anthony, to Capt. Jonathan [Connecticut, pub- amp with Knicker- little credit to its the paternity of this \ died at New-York, re entombed at He- lont, while in Eng- a in exile, and mat- province of Upper )r. Peters also left a IS, where the eldest at Harvard College aughter of William usetts, was born in jessed strong natural the law. He early BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 505 embarked in political life, and retired from the assembly in 1776, with an influence seldom equalled, obtained not less by his gree^t talents than his unsullied and unimpeachable infrojrity. His opin- ions were followed almost implicitly, and the leauers in the assem- bly despaired of carrying any measure to which he was opposed. At a time when the distresses of the war had produced disaffection, and a faction was organized in the western part of Massachusetts, in almost open resistance to the constituted authorities, he in- duced nearly all to sign a humble petition to government, praying for an act of indemnity for the past, and promising future obe- dience. Major Hawley declined all honors and employment when his popularity was at the highest, and thus formed en example of those public spirited, generous citizens, (ready to share the peril and de- cline the reward,) who illustrate the idea of a commonwealth, and who, through the obstruction of human passions and infirmities, being of rare occurrence, will always be the most admired and no- ble ornaments of a free government. He was certainly a great man, and a thoroughly upright one ; a disinterested patriot whose feelings and convictions were in be- half of freedom. He closed his earthly career at Northampton, in 1788, at the age of sixty -four. R. CLARK. RicHARP Clark, Esq., of Boston, graduated at Harvard College in 1729, became an eminent merchant, and, with his sons, was con- signee of a third of the East India Coiiq >anv's tea destroyed in Boston in 1773, on which account his l-'usf. in School-street was assaulted. Went to London, where he arrivt J December 24, 1775. Was proscribed in the banishment act of the assembly of Massa- chusetts, October, 1778. He was one of the addressers of Gov. Gage on his departure from Massachusetts. lie resided in London till his death, at the house of his son-in-law, John Singleton Copley, February 27, 1795. Mr. Clark was a pall-bearer at Gov. Hutch- inson's funeral in 1780. Jonathan, his son and partner, who accompanied his father, returned to America after the peace, and resided in Canada. 64 a 1 '> V!ji ^^i H' i -1,1 ': t. !!f % ijif: \m'. i' I i ' \mM ;?'ti m VrWm iy.v *si li^? s: ' 'i i.f II 506 B I O G R A 1' ill vJ A L N T I C K S . T. FLUCKER. Thomao Fluckkr, Esq., secretary of Massachusetts 1771, on the promotion of Mr. Oliver to be lieutenant governor; was a refugee, and passed his remaining days in London, where he died, February 16, 1783. His son Thomas graduated at Harvard Col- lege, 1773, was a lieutenant in the 60th British regiment. His daughter was the wife of Maj. Gen. Henry Knox, of the revolu- tionary army, and afterwards secretary at war. S. SEWALL. Samuel Sewall, Esq., the friend of Attorney General Jonathan Sewall, in exile, was a great-grandson of Ch. Justice Samuel Sewall, and grandson of Samuel Sewall, Esq., of Brookline, who married Rebecca Dudley, a daughter of the governor. His father was Henry Sewall, Esq., of Brookline; a gentleman much respected, who died there in 177 1, aged fifty -two years. This son Samuel, born December 31, 1745, graduated at Harvard College 1761, lived unmarried a counsellor at law in Boston ; was an " addresser" of Gov. Hutchinson and Gov. Gage; left for England in 1775, was proscribed in the banishment act of September, 1778 ; passed the re- mainder of his life in England, and died at Bristol, May 6, 1811, aged sixty-six years. His large estate in Brookline, inherited in right of his mother, was forfeited. .,:-■ HARRISON GRAY. . Harrison Gray, Esq., receiver-general of Massachusetts, was born at Boston, and bred a merchant. His patrimonial inher- itance, aided by industry, enabled him to acquire a handsome for- tune. In June, 1753, he was chosen treasurer of the province by the general court, and continued in that office till October, 1774. He adhered to government from the beginning of the controversy, but the moderation of his conduct, his superior fitness for the office, and the confidence in his integrity, secured him public favor through the stormy period which commenced soon after his first election. and coaiinucd until bis appointment to and acceptance of the office of mandamus counsellor in 1774. But this was an unpardonable offence in the eyes of the soni^ of liberty. It was, however, unsoli- BIOGRAPHIUAI, NOTICES. 507 lusetts 1771, on overnor; was a 1, where he died, at Harvard Col- i regiment. His X, of the revolu- General Jonathan ce Samuel Sewall, line, who married His father was uch respected, who son Samuel, horn oUege 1761, lived an " addresser" of ^land in 1775, was 118 ; passed the re- stol, May 6, 1811, ine, inherited in Massachusetts, was latriraonial inher- re a handsome for- of the province by till October, 1774. of the controversy, itness for the office, lublic favor through ■r his first election. ■ptance of the office s an unpardonable IS, however, unsoli- cited, unexpected, and accepted with great reluctance, being stren- uously pressed upon him by the leaders of the loyalist party ; and as most of those who had been appointed his colleagues, living in the country, were compelled by popular excitement to decline the office, he was led to believe that residing in Boston, then garrisoned by an array, he had no such apology for shrinking from the service, aad accordingly sacrificed inclination to a conscientious sense of duty. In October, 1774, the royal government being ended in fact, the provincial congress resolved, " that no more taxes be paid to him,'" and soon after made choice of Henry Gardner for his suc- cessor. This authority he could not be expected to recognise ; i therefore retained the books and files at his office, till the evacuation by the British troops, and then left them in exemplary order ; they are still in the public archives of Massachusetts, and show the mo- del of a faithful state treasurer. He might perhaps have been jus- tified in retaining a lien upon these as a security against loss and damage to a very valuable real and personal estate which he left, and which was soon after confiscated ; but his high sense of official duty forbade his recourse to any such precaution, and he withdrew from a country which he loved not less than did those who stayed at home, taking nothing which belonged to the public ; but being himself a creditor to many of the principal persons among the sons of liberty, at the head of whom was John Hancock, who owed him a large sum for borrowed money, no part of which would he pay in his lifetime, and of which a small part only was received from his executors. When the British fleet retired from Boston, Mr. Gray, urged by a sense of duty, with the male members of his family tore himself away from his adored and only daughter, Mrs. S. A. Otis, and went to England, where he lived to a great age upon a small pension from the British government. Perhaps no mfin among the many excellent persons who went into exile at that time, was more beloved and regretted by his po- litical enemies; for a more genuine model of nature's nobleman never lived. J. FISHER. John Fi rii-ii, Esq,, collector v'. 6: 1cm in 176S, a brother-in-lav of Gov. Wentworth, of New Hamp^ uire j a refugee, he was eraployeJ ■\ - i'.i<- "< !; ! , H i i\ a. i\ Mil IP''" " ' '4'1 Ik -M^ hi 41 508 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. as secretary to Lord George Germaine, the American secretary, on the departure of Mr. Thompson (Count Rumford) to America, in which office he was succeeded by Mr. Adam Woolridge in 1781, E. OXNARD. EuwARD OaSAiWf Esq., graduated at Harvard College in 1767 ; aftKr^.aids a vncrc'nanf at Falmouth, (Portland,) Maine, and a tem- porary )i°rde! ^.t tiif I'/iisconal church at that place, from the de- parture' of Mr. Wijwa.'l in May, 1775, to the burning of the town. Hi' v^.as a refugee during the contest ; was proscribed in the ban- ishment act in 1778, and returned at the close of the Revolution, ami a-rain embarked ii' commercial pursuits. He died July 2, 1803. JUDGE BLISS. Hon. J '.. THAN Buss Avas born at Springfield, which he repre- sentee hi Ihe assembly of Massachusetts. He graduated at Harvard College in 1763, and attended Lord Percy to Concord on the 19th April, 1775 ; was a proscribed refugee by the banishment act of 1778 ; he had been one of the " rescindcrs'' in Gov. Bernard's ad- ministration. He married a daughter of Col. John Worthington, of Springfield, a loyalist; another daughter married the Hon. Fisher Ames. He became chief justice of New Brunswick, his as- sociates, being Ward Chipman, and Edward Winslow, refugees, and sons of Harvard. He died at Fredericton, N. B., 1822, aged eighty years. GENERAL RUGGLES. Timothy RuGGLEs, born in Rochester, Massachusetts, Oct. 1711, eldest son of Rev. Timothy Ruggles, of that place, graduated at Harvard College, 1732, and soon after commenced the study of the law. He represented his native town in the provincial assembly at the age of twenty -five, and pi ocured the passage of an act still in force, prohibiting sheriffs from filling writs. He practised some years in Rocheste, , when he removed to Sandwich. His reputation was so great that he Avas early and frequently employed in the ad- joining counties of Barnstable and Bristol, and was the principal antagonist of Col. Otis in causes of impnrtar :p. He occasionally T'.ttended the courts in Worcester earb* in his pr;!'',ssionf.l career. i'ii i.*] '4 :i W, ii i!|!;| Ml > 'I Hf.l 610 BIOORAPHICAL NOTICES. ; n ^^ ■ft !'■ I i »^ 'fM spent a few months on Long Island, and then went to Nova Scotia where he died in 1798, aged 87. Few in the province were more distinguished, and few more severely dealt with in the bitter con- troversies preceding the Revolution ; as a military officer he was distinguished for cool bravery and excellent judgment and science in the art of war, and no provincial officer was held in higher esteem for those qualities. His appearance was commanding and dignified, being much above the common size ; his wit ready and brilliant ; his mind clear, comprehensive and penetrating ; his judgment was profound, and his knowledge extensive. His abili- ties as a public speaker placed him among the first of his day ; and had he been so fortunate as to embrace the popular sentiments of the times, there is no doubt he would have been ranked among the leading characters of the Revolution. D. OLIVER. \ Daniel Oliver, Esq., son of Chief Justice Peter Oliver, a learned and accomplished lawyer of Worcester county, graduated at Harvard College in 1762. A refugee loyalist of the Revolution, he died at Ashted, Warwickshire, May 6, 1826, aged 82. His father was an antiquarian, and copied with his own hand Hub- bard's manuscript H.story of New England, which the son refused the loan of to the Massachusetts Historical Society for publication in their Collections. MAJOR BRATTLE. Thomas Brattle, graduated at Harvard College in 1760 ; an absentee, proscribed in the act of 1778 ; long after his return from England, he remained at Newport, R. I., his fate being in suspense. He finally recovered his confiscated house and grounds at Cam- bridge ; he died Feb. 7, 1801, aged 59. SAMUEL PORTER. Samuel Porter, Esq., an eminent attorney at law, of Salem, Massachusetts ; graduated at Harvard College in 1763 ; an ad- dresser of Gov. Hutchinson in 1774, and a refugee to England ; was r>ro.scribed in the banishment act of 17' .. ind died in Lonuoij, Jur^ ^798. J# '^ BIOGRAPHICAL NO TICKS. 511 DR. AUCHiVIUTY. Rev. Samuel Auchmuty, D. D., brother of Robert Auchruuty, Esq., of Boston, graduated at Harvard College in 1742 ; was rector of Trinity church, New-York. The degree of D. D. was con- ferred on him by Oxford Universiiy ; he died March 3, 1777. His son. Sir Samuel Auchmuty, G. C B., a lieut. general in the British array, died in 1822. JUDGE AUCHMUTY. Hon. Robert Auchmuty, of Boston, judge of the admiralty court in 1768 ; was a brother of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Auchmuty, rector of Trinity church, New-York, who died in 1777. Their father was also a judge of the admiralty court. The son appeared once after his appointment, says Eliot, in defence of Captain Preston and his soldiers, and his argument was described as so memorable and per- suasive, " as almost to bear down the tide of prejudice against him, though it never swelled to a higher flood." He was a zealous loyalist, and died in England ; he wrote some of the obnoxious letters to Mr. Whately, surreptitiously obtained with those of the governor and others, KEV. J TPOUTBECK. John Troutbeck was assistrnt rulnister at King's chapel, Bos- ton ; a refugee, he died in exile some time before November, 1783. DR. OLIVER. Peter Oliver, of Salem, third son of Lieut. Governor Andrew Oliver, a refugee, was driven into Boston in 1775 ; signed the ad- dress to Gov. Gage ; died in London, April 4, 1795 ; surgeon in the British army. His widow, (daughter of Col. Peter Frye), was afterwards married to Admiral Sir John Knight, and died at her seat at Camberwell ntar I-m... "on. REV. J. WISWALL. John Wiswall, son of the grammar school master of Boston of the same name, graduated at Harvard College in 1749, and was the first minister of the first Episcopal church at Portland, Maine, in 1764. When Capt. Mowatt's little squadron lay in the harbor, April, 1775, to which the town (then called Falmouth) shortly '. '*r. 1,(1 Hi « : :i I :S w < ' '> 1, i SI I'l nj liiiif ■ : W; MM' lir it 512 BIOGUAPHIUAL NOTICKS. after owed its destruction, Mr. Wiswall's intimacy as well as thai of some other citizens with its officers, procured his arrest and close examination by the ' tmmittee of safety. In May he left his people and the place, 3'.d never returned. lie was proscribed in the banishment act of ITj. Mr. Wiswall was a curate at Oxford in 1781. After the peace he came to Nova Scotia, and wjis in- duced at their urgent request to take charge of a portion of his former flock, with other emigrants from the United States gathered at Cornwallis in that province. COLONEL PICKMAN, Benjamin Pickman, Vsq. was born at Salem in 1740 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1759. He was a merchant in early life, a representative of the provincial ass"mbly, and commandant of the first regiment of Essex county. He did not take a popular view of the subject of revolution, but left the country at the commencement of it, and consequently was proscribed, and his estate included in the confiscation act ; but after his return from England a portion of it was recovered, not however without much difficulty. Col. Pickman married a daughter of Dr. Toppan of Boston, and died at his nat.' e place in April, 1819, aged 79. He was a son of the Col. Pickman who died at Salem, in ]773, aged 66; a member of the provincial council anJ judge of the common pleas, whose sisters married Curwen, Ward, and Ropes, the father of Judge Ropes, and whose brother Samuel was governor of Tortola. The first mentioned Col. Pickman left a number of children. The late Dr. Thomas Pickman, who graduated at Harvard College in 1791, was one, whose first wife was a daughter of Jonathan Haraden, Esq., a distinguished naval commander during the Revo- lution, on the side of America ; and after her death, Miss Palmer, granddaughter of Hon. Joseph Palmer, president of the Massachusetts provincial congress of 1776. William Pickman, Esq., another son, resides in Salem ; and Col. Benjamin Pickman, who graduated at Harvard College in 1784, and immediately com- menced his travels by the way of England. He married a daughter of Elias Hasket Derby, Esq. ; was extensively ar d suc- cessfully engaged in commerce ; represented Essex south district in congress ; and for several years the county, in the senate of the state- His philanthropy was unbounded, and Salem has sustained BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 513 a great loss by his removal to Boston, to reside with the widow of his son Col. Benjamin T. Pickman, late president of the senate of Massachusetts; — she is a niece of the Rev. Isaac Smith, so often referred to i n the body of this work. It is n remarkable coincidence, that of four successive genera- tions, the eldest sons bearing the same name have been colonels, and three of them in command of the same regiment. The last mentioned was for several years at Exeter academy, and com- pleted a commercial education in the counting-house of Messrs. P. and H. Le Mesurier and Co., of London, preparatory to establish- ing himself in mercantile business at Boston. He was an aid-de- camp of Gov. Brooks ; and like all his above-mentioned ancestors, possessed a great share of public spirit, and a dignity and elegance of manner rarely attained ; his many virtues array themselves be- fore the writer on every recollection of the friend of his youth. COL. FRYE. Peter Frye, Esq., of Salem, was born in Andover, and gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1744. He was a judge of the common pleas and register of probate for Essex county, and colonel of the first regiment. He was for several successive years a repre- sentative in the provincial assembly, and was one of the seventeen noted " rescinders' in February, 1768 ; a term of reproach applied to the minority, whose votes sustained Gov. Bernard in his demand that an obnoxious vote be rescinded, at the Earl of Hillsborough's request. In the event of refusal he was directed to dissolve the assembly. The vote repelling the demand was 92 to 17. Col. Frye adhered to government, and was a refugee in 1775. He married a daughter of Col. Pickman, of Salem. His daughter Love married Dr. Peter Oliver, and afterwards Admiral Sir John Knight, K. C. B., mu\ died at her seat at Camberwell, near Lon- don, in 1839. Col. Frye died also at the residence of his daugh- ter, on the 1st of February, 1820, aged 97. He was included among the banished by law in September, 1778. SAMUEL WATERHOUSE. Samuel Waterhouse, Esq., was appointed collector of the cus- toms for Boston, in 1772 j a loyalist in 1775 j he retreated to Phila- 65 i 'p III. n ;!;! :l I , I t' I I 514 BIOGRAPHICAL NUTICES delphla soon nftcr the battle of Lexington ; was an absentee, and included in the proscription act of September, 1778. JUDGE PUTNAM. Hon. James Putnam, born in 1725, in the part of Salem now called Danvers, was a relative of the distinguished patriot General Israel Putnam ; he graduated at Harvard College in 1746 ; studied law with Judge Trowbridge, who was ever his friend and associ- ate. He commenced practice at Worcester, where his office was soon thronged with clients, whose confidence he ever retained. He became eminent as a well-read lawyer, skilful in pleading and safe in counsel. He was appointed attorney-general of the prov- ince when Jonathan Sewall was raised to the bench of the court of admiralty, and was the last under the provincial government. Putnam was a firm and zealous loyalist, and took refuge in Bos- ton, accompanied the British army to New-York, thence to Halifax, where he embarked for England in 1776. On the organization of the government of the province of New Brunswick in 1783, he was appointed a member of hi^ r^ajesty's counsel, and a judge of the superior court. He resided in the city of St. John's, and continued in office till his death, which occurred 23d Oct., 1789. He was stern as a judge, but patient and inflexibly just. Re- served in private life, his wit and humor were irresistible. It was said (to Charles S. Putnam, Esq., of Fredericton, a descendant) by a suc- cessor on the bench, that he was " an unerring lawyer, never astray, and I am inclined to ihinkt the best latvyer in JYorth America.'' It' • i r DR. RUSSELL. Dr. Charles Russell, son of Hon. James Russell, of Charles- town, succeeded to his uncle Judge Chambers Russell's estate at Lincoln ; graduated at Harvard College, 1757 ; married Elizabeth, only child of Col. Henry Vassall, of Cambridge ; sailed for Mar- tinique in April, 1775 ; was proscribed in the Massachusetts ban- ishment act of 1778 J was a physician at Antigua, where he died in 1780. BIOOnAPHlCAL NOTICE; 516 JOHN VASSALL. John Vassali,, Esq., Cambritlge, graduated at Harvard College 1757 [son of Col. John Vassali, who graduated in 1732] ; the noble mansion he built became Washington's head-quarters in 1775-G. He lived in princely style there, but, having taken a very active part to uphold the royal cause in vain, he resigned all to the ravagers ; and large estates being still left to hira in Jamaica, went with his family to England. Ilis loyalty went so far that he would not use on his arms the family motto, " setpe pro rrge, semper pro repxih- licn." Of his four sons, Spencer, the eldest^ rose to be a lieut. rolonel in his majesty's service, and his gallantry at the assault on Monte Video, where he fell, Feb., 1807, won for him abundant praise. He was proscribed by the Massachusetts assembly in the ban- ishment act, Sept., 1778; and died at Clifton, England, October 2d, 1797, aged 60, immediately after rising from a hearty dinner. His widow died there, March 31, 1807. LIEUT. GOV. T. OLIVER. Hon. Thomas Oliver, the last colonial lieut. governor of Mas- sachusetts, a native of Dorchester, graduated at Harvard College 1753. In 1774 he was made lieut. governor, as well as manda- mus counsellor, but his life had been previously so retired, and his habits and tastes so much in unison, as to give some color to the rumor of the day, that Thomas had been -ni':taken for Peter (the i:hief justice) in making out the comrc> He is spoken of by the few who remember him, as a moil< l^ ^ Uity and courtesy. He married a daughter of Col. Job' " uilt and occupied the elegant mansion in Cambridge, lon^ ^. -.idence since of Gov. Gerry. Col. Oliver was a refugee, and in. lu'bd in the proscription act of September, 1778. He died at Bristol, England, Nov. 29, 1815, aged 82. He was a man of letters, j.nd lived in the shades of retirement while ht; was in Europe. CAPT. POYNTON. Thomas Poynton, of Salem, Massachusetts. His windows were broken by the mob, because he refused to recant for addressing Ciov. Hutchinson ; retreated to England in 1775, where he died. T. DANFORTH. Thomas Dankorth, Esq., son of Judge Danforth, of Cambridge, i- 1 !*: li: r f ]\ f 1 f: I m I !*! ri ft I \\ 516 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. where he graduated in 1762 ; pursued the profession of the law at Charlestown till the Revolution, when he became a refugee. lie ended his course in London, April, 1820, where he practised many years in his profession. He was proscribed in the aci of Massachu- setts, Sept., 1778. CHIEF JUSTICE OLIVER. Hon, Peter Oliver, LL. D., chief justice of Massachusetts, and brother of Lieut. Governor Andrew Oliver. Their father was the Hon. Daniel Oliver, of Boston, a member of the council, distin- guished alike for his piety, public spirit and philknthropy. Judge Oliver was born in 1713, and graduated at Harvard College in 1730. He was appointed to the supreme bench of the province September 15, 1756. His residence was at Middleborough. On tlie appeal made to the judges by the general assembly in Febru- ary, 1774, whether they had received any nart of their allowance from the king, he alone of all the judges dared to brave popular sentiment, and answered that he " had accepted the king's bounty, and could not refuse it in future without royal permission." This caused the concentrated weight of indignation to fall upon him. The assembly voted that he had rendered himself obnoxious to the people as an enemy, and iir nediately presented a petition for his removal. Articles of impeachment for high crimes and misde- meanors were exhibited, which Gov. Hutchinson refused to coun- tenance. The grand jury at Worcester, on the 19th of April fol- lowing, presented to the court a written refusal to serve under the chief justice, considering it illegal for him to preside until brought to answer to the above-mentioned charges. He became a refugee in 1775, and died at Birmingham, England, in October, 1791, aged 79. His son Peter died at Shrewsbury, England, in 1822, aged 81. JUDGE RUSSELL. Hon. Chambers Russell, son of Hon. Daniel Russell, of Charles- town, Massachusetts, graduated at Harvard College in 1731. Was a representative from Lincoln in the legislature ; afterwards a judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts, from 1752 to 1761 ; also a judge of admi-'lty. He died Nov. 24, 1767, aged 54, in London, whither he went in pursuit of health. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, 517 DR. LLOYD. James Lloyd, M. D., was born at Lloyd's Neck, Long Island, (New-York,) in 1728 ; a son of Henry and grandson of James Lloyd of Boston, who died there in 1693. At the age of seventeen he removed to Boston, where his two elder brothers were settled j one of them was agent of purchases for the British government, and held the office at the commencement of the Revolution. Here he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Clarke, and after completing his studies in Paris, he commenced practice in 175'2. He was soon after surgeon of the garrison in Castle William in Boston harbor, and was in extensive practice in the town and vicinity, before the arrival of the troops in 1'775, under command of Sir William Howe, who sought out and renewed his acquaint- ance with Dr. Lloyd, his former physician. Sir William and Earl Percy became his tenants, having rented an adjoining estate (late Gardner Green, Esq.'s) then under his care, belonging to his relative Mr. Vassal!. Immersed in the labors of his profession, and interfering no fur- ther in politics than an expression of his sentiments ; not theorizing as to the future, and seeing the country at large generally happy and increasing, it is not surprising that with many other patriotic men, Dr. Lloyd should have thought that the time for final separa- tion from the mother country had not arrived, and that a course less decisive might have procured a redress of grievances without passing through the hazards of a revolution. Events may have proved the errors of these '^ninions, but as the results of an honest independence of judgment, they were never disguised by Dr. Lloyd. He was an addresser of Gov. Gage in 1775, and consequently a loyalist, though never molested. In 1785 he protested against the alteration of the liturgy at King's Chapel, Boston. He died at Boston in March, 1810, " full of years and full of honors ; an orna- ment to his profession, an example to his survivors, vith the esteem of all who knew him, and the blessing of those ready to perish," He left a daughter, Mrs. Sarah Borland, relict of Leonard Vassall borland, and a son worthy of such a father, the late Hon. James Lloyd, LL. D., who for many years represented Massachusetts in the senate of ihe United States. i :l I . if* •■' « .^ ! : .18 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. I i'V l'&f?^^'ff ^t F. WALDO. Francis Waldo, second son of General Waldo of Portland, Maine ; he was a representative of Falmouth, now Portland, in 1761-2, and the first collector of that port. He graduated at Har- vard College in 1747 ; was a refugee in 1775, and died in Kent, England, May 9, 1784. B. HALLOWELL. Benjaaiin Hallowell, Esq., a comptroller of the customs, Bos- ton, but resided at Medford; went to England a refugee ; at the peace returned to America and resided in Canada, where Lis (laughter married Chief Justice Elmsly, and now resides at Toronto, a widow, with her son and daughter. D. BLISS. Daniel Bliss, Esq., eldest son of Rev. Samuel Bliss, of Con- cord, born in 1740; graduated at Harvard College in 1760; stud- ied law with Abel Willard, Esq., and was admitted to the bar May, 1765. He married a daughter of Col. John ]\Iurray, of Rut- land. He had a high standing at the bar, being well versed in his profession, and enjoying a good reputation as a general scholar, and as a man of high moral and religious principle. He was early imbued with principles favorable to the prerogative; but was never a bitter, nor even a warm partisan. He was urged to join the popular party, but his oath of allegiance awakened scruples of con- science, and his family ties, friendship, and society, g?.\'e force to his objections. He repaired lo Boston with his family a few days before the commencement of hostilities, and thence with the British troops to Quebec. He was appointed commissary of the army, and for not making use of the facilities and opportunities which the office afforded for speculation, all he got for his lionesty was, as he told a friend, to be laughed at by the iJritish officers. At the close of the war, he settled at Fredericton, New Brunswick, where he sustained the office of "hief justice of the inferior court, and resided till (he lime of his death in 1806. He revisited his native state, and would gladly have spent his days there in the mi(N't of his early associations, but the decree of gov- ernment was an cd'ectual barrier to it. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 519 of Portland, vr Portland, in luated at Har- died in Kent, 2 customs, Bos- efugee ; at the ula, where liis ides at Toronto, ;1 Bliss, of Con- 3 in 1760;stud- Itted to the bar Murray, of Rut- ,'ell versed in his general scholar, He was early ; but was never rged to join the scruples of con- L- rr?ve force to imily a few days with the British of the array, and inities which the inesty was, as he !rs. •edericton. New lef justice of the 1th in 1806. Ho e spent his days le droree of gov- He possessed an active and sprightly mind, with great fluency and fascination in conversation. Of his sons, the elder, in the British army, resides in Ireland ; the younger, John Murray Bliss, is a distinguished judge in New Brunswick, COL. UPHAM. Joshua Upham, Esq., the son of Dr. Upham, of BrookfieJd, was born in that town in 1741. He was graduated at Harvard Univer- sity in 1763,* in a class with several who afterwards acted impor- tant parts on the general stage. One of the first v'ooUen factories ever attempted in this country he established in 1768, at Brookfield. On finishing his professional studies, he was admitted to the bar in Worcester, August, 1765. He commenced practice in his native town, and pursued his business with successful assiduity in »he courts, till 1776, or the following year. He removed from Brookfield to Boston, where he resided till 1778, and thence to New-York, where he continued during the remainder of the war. While in New-York he was aid-de-carap to Sir Guy Carleton, and before he left the British army, became a colonel of dragoons. On the organization of the government of the province of New Brunswick, in 1784, Upham, who had been one of the first settlers there, returned to his favorite science, the law. He was appointed judge of the highest court in the province, and sustained the impor- tant and responsible duties of his office with industry and ability. In 1507, he was selected by his brethren on Ihe bench to visit England, for the purpose of obtaining from the government a more perfect organization and arrangement of the judiciary in the British American provinces. He fully succeeded in the object of his ap- pomtment, but did not live to return to his country. He died in London in the year ISOS.f "While in London, he enjoyed the ♦ The late Timotliy Pickering was liis class-mato and room-mate. Their early friendship survived the bitter and hostile spirit that grew up inter partes iu the revolutionary war. On tlie return ol" peace, tliey renewed their cor- respondence, which is said to have been of an aOectionatc and deliglitful character. t He was buried in the church of Mary-le-bone. Judge Upham was twice married. His first wife wa."! a daughter of Col. Murray of Rutland .; and the second a daughter of Hon. Joshua Chandler, of New-Haven. !■■ W ■i ti; .P i f.:i ..5:1 520 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. friendship of Mr. Palmer, who afterwards beC[ueathed his valuable library to our university, of Sir John Wentworth, Sir William Pepperell, Lord Dorchester, and Mr. Percival.* Judge Upham held a high rank as counsellor and advocate ; he had a great command of language ; not a mere flow of words, but the music and harmony of arrangement and style ; the well of English undefiled, and adorned with classical elegance. He pos- sessed, in a remarkable degree, that rare talent, fine powers of conversation, of which Lord Bacon laid down the true rule, and indulged occasionally in a happy vein of satire. With brilliancy and wit,t he united many virtues, and a sound judgment. " The prevailing excellence of Iuk character," to use the words of one who foodly cherishet hm jaemory, " was a benignity of spirit. which seemed to affect ihe «3iercises oi his uitellect, as well as of his affections." Judge Upham w 38iag ut his person and address, while he was imbued with .' nat grace which comes before education. and which education can hardly bestow. Like Bliss, he was of that peculiar class of the old school of manners, of whi( 'i, pro- bably, even the youngest among us have seet some surviving specimens. C61. WILLARB. Abijah Willari), of that part of Lancaster now called Hai - vard, Worcester county, Massachusetts , \vhere he was born in 1722 ; was appointed one of the mandamus counsellors, took re- fuge at Brooklyn, Long Island, and at th* ekse of the w«r stttkl at Lancaster in New Bi'unswick, wiiere ibe rfietf, in May, 17£ aged 67. His fauiilv returned to Latjcaster, Mamachusetts, after * Mr. Percival, tbeii prime miiu«rt*r, ;i few days befurn ho w- . jassi. . .. sent la tlie son of J mine Upham £iMi) sterling to assist him in M» educatiiuii. This son is tlio R.^ Charles W. Upii*m, now of Salem, Massa riliio tts, wfl known by his histon';al writings. t Major Garden, in his interestin-j; volume of anecd'i'ii^ of the j«i»in tht southern department, relates an aneoiiv* O'f fJpham thait *nay wi m- duced lieie. The Britit^li triy>p», it will i>e *> 5 1! •it'' ' :'■•{ 'li! IfIi *(wf f mi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. It'i ••!,i ■.{ i ' m p m li was placed upon his opinion. No one was ever a greater bene- factor in the neighborhood in which he lived ; instead of fomenting quarrels, and lending himself to the complaint of every one who might come to him with a list of grievances, he did all in his power to check the angry passions of clients, and promote peace. He would frequently accompany a client to the party complained of, and succeed • .« reconciling their differences. Indeed, so far did he overcome the prejudices of the many, then entertained against the profession, that he wa,« emphatically termed the honest lawyer. Willard possessed that true modesty that ever marks the ingenuous mind ; and, although of a cast of character approaching somewhat to timidity, he was full of moral courage, of stern integrity, and unyielding purity of principle. In his person he was tall and of good figure. In his disposition he was mild and conciliating, and his good qualities were marked in his benignant expression. Jn September, 1770, he formed a partnership in his profession with the late Judge Sprague, of Lancaster, which is believed to have been the earliest connection of the kind in the county of "Worcester. He might have remained in that town in peace and respect, and indeed with high personal consideration, during the invading bitterness and the easily adopted suspicions and preju- dices of our revolutionary struggle ; but, alarmed at the approach- ing tempest, and with many others believing that it would overwhelm every thing in its course, he resorted to Boston during the impending danger, when the character of the contest became at once fixed, and it was impossible again to pass the dividing line. He left the country during the war, and died in England, Nov. 1781. His widow* survived him, and died in Boston but a few years since. Col. Abijah Willard, before noticed, was his bro- ther. RUFUS CHANDLER. RuFus Chandler, Esq., the son of Col. John Chandler, was born at Worcester, May 18, 1747. He was fitted for college by the Rev. Mr. Harrington, of Lancaster, and graduated at the uni- * A daughter of the late Rev. Daniel Rogers of Littleton ; another daughter was the wife of Samuel Parkman, Esq., of Boston, and Rev. Jonathan New. hall of Stow.— ^««» oj J. U^iUardat Worcester, 1829. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 523 versity in Cambridge in 1766 ; he commenced the study of the law with James Putnam, and was admitted to the bar Nov. term, 1768. From that time till the closing of the courts in 1774, he continued in the profession at Worcester, Like most of the influ- ential family of his name, who had had extensive and almost unbounded sway in that county ab primo origine, he adhered to the royal party, and left the country during the war. He ever after- wards resided in London as a private gentleman, till his death, October 11th, 1823; he was proscribed by the act of 1778. He was not distinguished for eloquence, nor for great intellectual power, but he held a respectable rank in his profession, and gained much praise in the practical parts of his business ; and for his neat- ness, accuracy, and punctuality as an office lawyer. His fidelity to his clients insured him their esteem, and a very considerable amount of business. Through life he observed the strictest rules of economy, the rather from a regard for such as had a right to his aid, than from any love of money for its own sake. In his per- sonal habits he was remarkably precise ; he was the nice man ; he possessed great moral worth and purity, and a conciliating dis- position.* COMMODORE LORING. Joshua Loring, of Dorchester, Mass., was one of the five com- missioners of the revenue, and proscribed in the act of 1778 ; his son Benjamin, who graduated at Harvard College in 1772, was an absentee, but not proscribed ; his eldest son, Joshua Loring, jr., was an addresser of Guv. Gage, and proscribed in 1778. — Commo- dore Loring died an exile, in 1781. ISAAC ROYALL. Hon. Isaac Royall, of Medford, was remarked by every one for his timidity ; he halted between two opinions respecting the Revo- lution, until the cannonading at Lexington drove him to Newbury- port, where he embarked for Europe. He was a proscribed refugee, and his estate, since that of Jacob Tidd, Esq., was confiscated. He died of small pox in England, Oct. 1781. His bounty laid the first professorship of law at Cambridge, and a legacy of plate to the first * See Mr. Willard"s Worcester Address. \ ll !r » if ^•1 ]i nil 'rl;:| m i f i m m M \ .1 ! i ■ I mii Ml '■m i ll ' I :,jM ill 524 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. ip.t : '• ,.•■■■'■; '-."I, Jii •' r'0i III 11 tip 1^ :ui church at Medford shows that his regard for his country was not weakened by distance, nor seared by proscription. He bequeath- ed more than two thousand acres of land in Granby and RoyaUon, in Worcester county, for the estabhshraent of the aforesaid profes- sorship. He was for twenty-two years a member of li.u council. His virtues and popularity at first saved his estate, as his r j, ^e was not included with those of his sons-in-law, Sii William Pepperell and George Erving, in the " conspirators' act," — but on the repre- sentation of the selectmen of Medford, "that he went voluntarily to our enemies" his property was forfeited and taken under the con- fiscation act. He made bequests to Medford and Worcester, and legacies to the clergymen. While a member of the house of reprt- sentatives, he presented the chandelier which adorns its hall. SIRT. BERNARD. Sir Thomas BEUNAun, Bart., D. C. x ., third son of Sir Francis, governor of Massachusetts, graduated at Harvard College 1767 ; entered early at Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar in 1780 ; made treasurer of the Foundling Hospital 1795. The death of his brother (Sir John) in the West Indies, 1809, devolved a baronetcy upon him. Oxford created him soon after a doctor of the civil law. He was the active and liberal patron of various charities, and author of divers small tracts, the best known of which " The Comforts of Old Jlge,'' saw a fifth edition (12mo) in 1820. Sir Thomas died at Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, July 1st, 1818. — His sister, Mrs. King, was authoress of a volume entitled " Scripture Characters cf Females." GEORGE ERVING. George Erving, Esq., merchant of Boston, was a refugee includ- ed in the conspirators' act ; married previously a daughter of Isaac Royall, Esq., of Medford. He died in London, January 16th, 18C6, aged 70. LORD G. GERMAINE. Lord George Germaine, afterwards Lord Sackville, was tried by court martial on account of his conduct at the battle'of Minden in 1759, and disgraced. To hip has been attributed the authorship of BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 525 Junius's Letters ; but it is hardly possible that an officer who had been publicly pointed at and formally convicted by a court martial as a coward, would pen the following remark of Junius respecting himself: " His character is known and respected in Ireland as much as it is here ; and / know he loves to be stationed in the rear as well as myself." lie was secretary of state for the American department during the war of the Revolution, and it is generallyjadmitted that his ad- ministration was bad. Tn a letter to Lord|Howe, on his naval conduct, attributed to Lord S.i' iville, he says, " Had your lordship and your brother saved the northern army, which you had abundant power to do, the rebellion, then in its infant state, must have been suppressed; the war with France and Spain had not happened ; and what ; s yet of more mo- ment to the peace and safety of the empire, that faction, which is daily distracting the councils of state and wrenc hing asunder the union of power which is necessary to its safety, w Duld now hide its monstrous head in the dark cells of its own folly ind treason." Gen. Howe had ft lends in parliament, and Lord George Ger- maine's orders and instructions were the subject of their philippics ; and they were powerful enough to make that minister retire. SIR W. DRAPER. Sib William Draper rendered himself famous by his correspon- dence with " Junius," in vindication of the character of the Marquis .' Granby as commander-in-chief ; for although as a writer he was i ' ond only to Junius, he was foiled by him, and withdrew from the nntest extremely mortified. He soon after left Lngland, arrived at Charleston, S. C, in January, 1769, and travelled towards the north as far as New-York, receiving every attention on his way. At New-York he married MissBehancey,**^ a lady of great connec- fims there and agreeable endoioments,'" says the London Magazine foi J766. She died in 1778. In 1778 he was appointed Governor 01 Minorca. He built at Clifton near Bristol a monument of taste, and called it "Manilla House;" and he also erected in College * Daughter of James De Lancey, chief justice and lieut. governor of New Yori.who died in 1760. ii t m \h I I! li'i : '* 1-1 |i ' ' i ' ii < r Ml' il: II ; •: 51 'I h 'H: 1,1 i ; 'JifeT -*Mfc^ 526 Bti'^'j! n APHICAI. NOTICFS. I !■ ' .i:t i H-' Wm I 1 f' .(: Green, Bristol, a mausoleum over the remains of his parents, whom he delighted to honor. SIR WM. PEPPERELL. Sir William Peppkkell, Bart., son of f 'oL Nathaniel Sparhawk, of Kittery, and grandson of Sir William Pepperell, Baronet, the hero of Louisburg, whose only daughter was mother of the subject ot this notice. He graduated at Harvard College in 1766, and was for many years a member of the council uf Massachusetts. After the decease of his grandfather, (who adopted him on the death of his only son Andrew,) he was created successor to his title in Oc- tober, 1774. He married Tlizabeth, daughter of Hon. Isaac Rojall, of Medford. He was a retugee, and proscribed in the act of 1778. He died in Dorset-street, Portman-square, Dec. 2, 1816, aged 70, having previously lost lady Pepperell and his only son William. 1 lis daughters were married as follows : — Elizabeth to the Rev. Henry Hutton, A. M., of London ; Mary to Sir William Congreve, and Harriet to Sir Charles Thomas Palmer, Bart. — Lady Palmer and Lady Congreve were living in 1832. On the 16th Nov. 1774, in a county congress, held at Wells, York county ,5Maine, he was denounced as follows in the fourth resolution passed that day : " Resolved — Whereas the late Sir Wm. Pepperell, honored and respected in Great Britain and America for his eminent services, did honestly acquire a large and extensive real estate in this coun- ty, and gave the highest evidence not only of his being a sincere friend to the rights of man in general, but of having a paternal love to this county in particular ; and whereas the said Sir William, by his last will and testament made his grandson residuary legatee and possessor of the greatest part of said estate, who hath, with purpose to carry into force acts of the British parliament made with appa- rent design to enslave the free and loyal people of this continent, accepted and now holds a seat in the pretended board of counsel- lors in this province, as well in direct repeal of the charter thereof as against the solemn compact of kings and the inherent rights of the people. It is therefore resolved, that he hath therefore forfeit- ed the confidence and friendship of all true friends of American liberty, and, with other pretended counsellors now holding their HIoaRAFHlCAL NOTICES. 627 s parents, whom lianiel Sparliawk, IJaronet, the hero )f the subject of in 1766, and was lachusctts. Alter no on the death of to his title in Oc- Hon. Isaac Royall, ™ the act of 1778. 2, 1816, aged 70, son William. His to the Rev. Henry m Congreve, and -Lady Palmer and ;ss, held at Wells, lows in the fourth )erell, honored and eminent services, estate in this coun- lis being a sincere jng a paternal love lid Sir William, by liduary legatee and Ihath, with purpose |t made with appa- of this continent, board of counsel- the charter thereof inherent rights of [h therefore forfeit- lends of American low holding their seats in like manner, ought to be detested by all good men : and it is hereby recoramended to the good people of this county, that as soon as the present leases made to any of them by him are expired, they immediately withdraw all connection, commerce and dealings from him— and Jiat they take no further lease or conveyance of his farms and mills until he shall resign his seat pretendedly occupied by mandamus. And if any persons shall remain or become his ten- dv' after the expiration of their present leases, we ommend to tt /ood people of this county not only to wit' t'';r.'^ i'' connec- id commercial intercourse with them, hu\ ?v Wva,' them in ■r provided by the third resolve of this congress." COL. DAVID PHIPS. (JoL. David Phips, son of Lieutenant Governor Spencer Phips, of Massachusetts, was graduat'd at Harvard College in 1741 ; was colonel of the troop of guards in Boston, 1773 ; an addresser of Gov. Hutchinson in 1774, and of Gage in '75 ; high sherifTof Mid- dlesex county in 1775. Driven into Boston, he went to England, which country he left in April, 1777, for America, with Admiral Montague, and afterwards served under General Knyphausen. His house at Cambridge, afterwards Wm. Winthrop's, was confiscated. He died in England, July 7, 1811, aged eighty-seven, styled in the Gentleman's Magazine " Capt. David Phips, R. N." His sisters married Andrew Bordman, Judge Joseph Lee, Col. John Vassall, and Richard Lechmere, all magnates of Cambridge. Several books of the British peerage represent the family of the Marquis of Normanby (Lord Mulgrave) as descended from Sir William Phips, governor of Massachusetts in 1691. This is a manifest error; Sir William having no children adopted his nephew Spencer Phips^ (afterwards lieut. governor of Massa- chusetts,) father of Col. Phips, the subject of this article. The ancestor of Lord Mulgrave was Sir Constantine Phipps, an eminent London lawyer in the reign of Queen Anne. JOSEPH GALLOWAY. .Joseph Galloway, an eminent lawyer and speaker of the assem- bly of Pennsylvania ; a member of the first congress, 1774 ; changed sides, and joined the British in New- York in December, 1776 ; r I i ^i"l li '■\ : I I I ; I 1 :' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 Ui 121 115 lis utm ... 1^ u m m lU u lAO 1.4 1.6 Sk y rV^'^y '^IV-** Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO (7i£)S72-4S03 1^0 /4 628 BIOORAPHICAL NOTICES. went to England, and with Gen. Robertson, in 1778, misrepresented the state of the public mind and resources of the provinces. Col. Trumbull, in a letter to Gov. Trumbull, dated Sept. 12, 1780, says: " Mr. John Temple (afterwards Sir John, consul-general) has been indefatigable in his endeavors to defeat the misrepresentations of Gen. Robertson and Mr. Galloway at the bar of the house of com- mons, and to convince this country of the impracticability of coer- cing America. His acquaintances among the friends of America are the Dukes of Richmond and Rutland, Mr. D. Hartley, Dr. Price, Mr. Burke, etc., who pay great attention to his information." He died in England, 1803, aged seventy-three years, after publish- ing several works. Mr. Galloway appeared as an evidence against Gen. Howe, in the house of commons, at the instance of Lord George Germaine ; and Eliot says of Galloway : " Nothing can exceed the perfidy of that satellite of the minister of war, whose own ignorance and gross absurdities were more glaring than Gen. Howe's." BENJAMIN GRIDLEY. Benjamin Gridley, Esq., graduated at Harvard College, 1751, and practised law at Boston. He was an addresser of Gov. Gage; proscribed in the act of September, 1778. E. WILLIAMS. Elijah Williams, Esq., attorney at law, of Deerfield, Massa- chusetts, graduated at Harvard College, 1764 ; became an officer in the British army, soon after the affair at Lexington, in April, 1775 ; returned in the spring of 1784, and received half pay during life. Died in 1793, aged forty-seven. • J. JACKSON. Hon. Jonathan Jackson was treasurer of Harvard College from 1807 to 1810, when he died. He was much esteemed as a man of talents, integrity, and of amiable and courteous manners. ADMIRAL WINTHROP. Robert Winthrop, vice-admiral in the British navy, was the youngest son of John S. Winthrop, Esq., of New-London, Connec- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 629 ticut, where he was born, Sept. 7, 1764. On his father's side, he was a lineal descendant of the early governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut, of the same name ;* his mother was Elizabeth, daughter of William Sherriffe, Esq., of London, whose first hus- band was Capt. John Hay, of the British army. After the death of his father, young Winthrop, when fourteen years of age, left New-London for New-York under a flag of truce, consigned to the care of a maternal uncle attached to the British force stationed here, by whom a midshipman's warrant was obtained for him in the royal navy. Of his subsequent career the following notice, taken from an English publication,! furnishes an interesting though concise account. " May 10th, 1832, died at Dover, of paralysis, aged seventy, Robert Winthrop, Esq., vice-admiral of the blue. Mr. Winthrop was a midshipman on board the Formidable, bearing the flag of Sir George B. Rodney, in the memorable battle of April 12, 1782. He was a lieutenant in 1790, and at the conquest of Martinique, in 1794, he commanded a battalion of seamen, attached to Prince Edward's brigade. In the spring of 1796, he commanded the Albicore sloop at the capture of St. Lucia ; and about the same time, he captured near Barbadoes, I'Athenienne, French corvette, of fourteen guns. He was afterwards appointed to the Undaunted frigate, and in that ship had the misfortune to be wrecked, on the Morant Keys, during a heavy gale of wind, August 27, 1796. His post commission bore date Dec. 16, following. " Captain Winthrop's next appointment was to the Circe, of twenty -eight guns, stationed in fiie North Sea; and in June, 1798, he served in the expedition sent against Ostend. Major General Coote, who commanded the army employed on that occasion, has recorded in his despatches, ' the indefatigable exertions and good conduct' of Captain Winthrop, who superintended the landing of the troops. In the summer of 1799, Capt. W^inthrop was intrusted * The lino of descent wjis as follows : — 1. John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts, died in 1049. 2. John Winthrop, jr. governor of Connecticut, d, 1G76. 3. Wait S. Winthrop, chief justice of the superior court of Mas- sachusetts, d. 1717. 4. John Winthrop, F. R. S., d. 1747. 5. John S. Win- throp, father of the admiral, d. 1770. t Gentleman's Magazine. London, 1832. 67 : 630 BIOORAI'HICAL NOTICES. 'i *- W:' t ? M m with the command of a small squadron, employed on the coast of Holland, the boats of which, in the night of the 27th of Juno, vory gallantly cut out twelve sail of merchantmen from the Wadde, without having a man hurt, notwithstanding they were much annoyed by the fire from the enemy's batteries and gun-boats. On the 10th of July, the boats also cut out three more valuable vessels, and burnt another laden with stores. " In the following month the Circe assisted at the capture of the Helder ; on which occasion all the Dutch ships lying in the Nieuwe Diep, together with the naval magazine at the Nieuwe Werk, con- taining a large quantity of stores, were taken possession of by Captain Winthrop. This event led to the surrender of the enemy's fleet in the Texel. In October of the same year, Capt. Winthrop's boats, under his own immediate direction, carried off from the port of Delfzel a sloop of war and schooner j the Lynx of twelve guns, and the Perseus of eight guns. ** In the autumn of 1800, in the expedition against Ferrol, Captain Winthrop commanded the Stag frigate, but which was unfortunately stranded in Vigo bay, on the 6th of September, and was obliged to be destroyed by fire, after the stores had been removed. " On the re^^ewal of war, after the peace of Amiens, Captain "Winthrop obt . ihe command of the Ardent, a sixty-four gun ship, stationeu ^.. the coast of Spain; where he drove on shore La Bayonnaise, French frigate, of thirty-two guns and two hundred men, from the Havana bound to Ferrol. The crew, to prevent her being taken possession of, set her on fire, by which she was totally destroyed. The Ardent was subsequently employed off Boulogne, under the orders of Lord Keith. From that ship he was removed into the Sybille frigate, about July, 1805, and on the 3(1 of May, 1807, he captured I'Oiseau, French letter-of-marque. In the ensuing summer, he was appointed to the command of the Dover district of sea-fencibles. He attained the rank of rear- admiral in 1809, and of vice-admiral in 1830. " Admiral Winthrop married, December 23, 1804, Miss Far- brace, of Dover, by whom he has left a family of two sons and four unmarried daughters." ■i BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 631 THOMAS LINDALL WINTHROP. Thomas L. Winthrop, LL. D., half-brother of the preceding, was born at New-London, Conn., March 6, 1760. His mother was the only daughter of Francis Borland, Esq., a merchant of Boston, and granddaughter of Timothy Lindall, Esq., of Salem. Mr. Win- throp began his collegiate course at Yale College, but finished it at Harvard, where he graduated in 1780. Soon after taking his bachelor's degree, he embarked at Nantucket for Amsterdam, in a merchant ship, which was captured on the passage and carried into an English port ; by permission of Admiral Duckworth, however, he was allowed to visit London on his parole, and after- wards travelled in the interior of the country, and on the continent. At the close of the war, he returned to the United States with Commodore Truxton, and engaged in commercial pursuits at Bos- ton, where he continued to reside during the remainder of a long, useful, and not unhonored life. In 1786, Mr. Winthrop was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Temple, and granddaughter of Governor Bowdoin. The only son of the latter having no issue to perpetuate the family name, Mr. Winthrop's second son, the late James Bowdoin, of Boston, a gentleman of great personal worth and literary distinc- tion, assumed it by the desire of his uncle, taking with the name a large estate.* Another son of Mr. Winthrop, Hon. Robert C. Wintl rop, has recently represented the city of Boston in congress, with distinguished reputation. In politics Mr. Winthrop belonged to the old republican party ; he was several times elected to the Massachusetts senate, and in 1826, was chosen lieut. governor of the state, by the votes of both political parties, which office he continued to fill by successive annual elec- tions, until his retirement in 1832. He was an active and liberal pa- tron of literary and benevolent institutions, over several of which he presided during the latter part of his life. He was for a long period an officer of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. At the time of his decease he was president of the American Antiquarian So- ciety, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the State Agricul- * Mr. Bowdoin contributed many valuable papers to the Collections of the Mass. Hist. Society, being deeply conversant with the early history of New England. > :ii h :|.,i I.: it II; ^1 ! I i } H Hi I r !:l H II Ii- I I. : I' H ). 532 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. ,»l 'I. |;il:lH tural Society ; and the libraries of the two former institutions were greatly indebted to his liberality for many important additions to their historical treasures. Governor Winthrop was also a member of various other learned and economical institutions both in this country and Europe, with some of which he maintained a constant correspondence. Indeed, the greater part of his time for several years before his death was devoted to these objects, and to the promotion of the religious and benevolent enterprises of the day. He died universally beloved for his many virtues, and respected for his public services, at his residence in Boston, on the 22d of Feb., 1841, having nearly completed the eighty-first year of his age. Governor Winthrop was in his person tall and commanding, and remarkable for the elegance and suavity of his manners ; enjoying an ample fortune, he lived in a style of generous hospi- tality, and for many years was in the habit of receiving at his table most strangers of consideration who visited the New England metropolis. The members of the state legislature, and of the numerous associations with which he was connected, have reason to remember the liberal character of his hospitable attentions ; and the latter lost in him a munificent patron and benefactor. In his religious opinions he was firm, but catholic and tolerant; attached to the communion of the Episcopal church, he died as he had lived, a humble and sincere Christian. N. GORHAM. Hon. Nathaniel Gouham, born at Charlestown, Mass., 1738, was often a member of the legislature, and in 1784 was elected to congress, of which body he was afterwards president. He was also a judge of the common pleas for several years, and assisted in forming the constitution of the United States, as a member of the convention. His early advantages were only those of a com- mon school, but possessing talents of a high order, he appeared to advantage in company with literary men. He at one time engaged in mercantile pursuits, but left them for public life. In debate he had independence enough to dissent from measures he disapproved, and therefore he did not escape the obloquy of the ignorant, who confounded all moderate men with those who were unfriendly to the cause of liberty. lie died in 1796. BIOGBAPHICAL NOTICES. 533 titutions were »t additions to ilso a member s both in this led a constant me for several cts, and to the ses of the day. id respected for tie 22d of Feb., : of his age. \ commanding, f his manners ; generous hospi- fing at his table New England ire, and of the ed, have reason attentions; and lefactor. In his lerant ; attached as he had lived, DR. APTHORP. Rev. East Apthorp, D. D., born in Boston, 1733, educated at Cambridge, England ; took orders, returned, and was settled over the church erected under his care at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Here he published a pamphlet in defence of the conduct of the " Society for Propagating the Gospel," which was attacked by Dr. Mayhew, who was answered by Dr. Seeker, Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy rendered his situation irksome, and he left for England. It was thought by many, that the establish- ment of the Episcopal church at Cambridge was for the purpose of converting the students, who were generally dissenters, and with ulterior views, which excited the most acrimonious jealousy. Dr. Apthorp was afterwards successively vicar of Croyii- «i, and rector of Bow church, London, which he exchanged for the pre- bendary of Finsbury ; he had many friends among the dignitaries of the church, and was generally beloved and respected. He mar- ried a daughter of Foster Hutchinson, Esq., brother of Gov. Hutch- inson. His only son was a clergyman. His daughters married Dr. Gary and Dr. Butler, heads of colleges, and a son of Dr. Paley. — His sisters were married to Dr. Thomas Bulfinch, of Boston, and Robert Bayard, Esq., of New -York. He published two volumes of Discourses on the Prophecies, delivered at the Warburton lecture, Lincoln's Inn, and a volume in answer to Gibbon. The last twenty-six years of his life he passed at Cambridge, England, with almost total loss of sight ; he died April, 1816. R. WARD. Richard Ward, Esq., of Salem, son of Joshua Ward, one of the justices for Essex county, first appointed on the establishment of republican government in Massachusetts, was born in Salem, April 5, 1741. He ardently espoused the popular cause with his father, and opposed the arbitrary measures of parliament. He was a member of the committee of safety and protection during the entire period of the Revolution, and under direction of Gen. Charles Lee constructed at the neck the fort bearing his name, for the defence of the harbor and town of Salem. He accompanied Col. Pickering with the regiment in which he was a subaltern officer as !'i' 'J i » Mi m V. w 634 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. soon as the Lexington affair was known, to Medford, in order to intercept the enemy, but they were not in season. They also took up the line of march for the heights of Charlestown, on 17th June, but arrived too late to participate in the affair of Bunker Hill. His commission, dated at Watertown, June 6, 1776, as " cap- tain of the third company of the first regiment of Essex county ^ whereof Timothy Pickering, jr., is colonel," was granted " by the major part of the council of the Massachusetts Bay, in JVew Eng- land," and by them signed during the interval between colonial and republican government, on paper bearing the impress of the crown and the sign manual of the king, with the colonial seal ap- pended. The following are the signatures attached to it, and of those who signed it, one was afterwards president of the continental congress, and six were governors and lieutenant-governors of Mas- sachusetts : — viz., J. Bowdoin, J. Winthrop, Caleb Gushing, R. Derby, Jr., T. Gushing, B. Lincoln, S. Holten, Jabez Fisher, Moses Gill, B. White, William Phillips, Benjamin Austin, John Whet- comb, Henry Gardner, Daniel Davis, and D. Hopkins. Mr. Ward had married the daughter of George Gurwen, in 1762, and owing to her feeble health, the cares of his numerous family devolved upon him ; and its imperative claims, as well as that of their uncle's family, (the author of the foregoing Journal), pressed so heavily that he was obliged, after having served with his regiment com- manded by Gol. Pickering in New-Jersey under Washington in 1777, to retire from the military service of his country. He was for a long period at the head of the town government, and a member of the state legislature, as well as an acting justice of the quorum for Essex county many years. He was from the beginning prominent in the ranks of the anti-federal or old republican party, but never a heated partisan. Mr. Ward possessed great firmness and equanimity of temper, and his suavity of manners and obliging disposition endeared him to all. He died in November, 1824, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, and a widowed daughter only survives of his large family. Children of his sons, George C., Samuel C, and Richard, are living in different parts of the union. d, in order to 'hey also took on 17th June, tiker Hill. 776, as " cap. Essex county, ranted " hy the , in Kew Eng- itween colonial impress of the jlonial seal ap- ed to it, and of ' the continental vernors of Mas- ;b Gushing, R. ez Fisher, Moses in, John Whet- fins. Mr. Ward 1762, and owing ly devolved upon of their uncle's ressed so heavily regiment com- Washinglon in juntry. He was vernment, and a ing justice of the ,m the beginning republican party, limity of temper, ion endeared him ty-fourth year of his large family, and Richard, are BIOORAPHICAL NOTICES. S. A. OTIS. 636 Hon. Samuel Allyne Otis, a brother of the Hon. James Otis and General Joseph Otis, was born in 1741, and graduated at Harvard College in 1759. He soon after became a merchant of Boston. In 1776 he was first elected a representative to the gen- eral court, and he was also a member of the convention which framed the constitution of Massachusetts. During the Revolution he was a member of the board of war. In 1787, he was one of the commissioners to negotiate with the insurgents of " Shay*s Re- hellion.'* He was elected a member of congress in 1788, and after the adoption of the new constitution was secretary to the senate of the United States, which office he filled with scrupulous fidelity and suavity of manner, without being absent from his post a single day during a period of thirty years, and till his death, amidst the colli- sion of party strife, to the entire satisfaction of all. He died at Washington, April 22, 1814, aged seventy -three. Mr. Otis was first married to the only daughter of the Hon. Harrison Gray, re- ceiver-general of Massachusetts, and afterwards to the widow of Edward Gray, Esq. His son, Samuel A. Otis, Esq., died at New- buryport the same year with his father. His other son is the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston, long the able and eloquent repre- sentative of Massachusetts in the national senate. S. GARDINER. Sylvester Gardiner, M. D., was 'jorn at Narragansett, Rhode Island, in 1717 ; commenced the praot:-;^ of medicine in Boston, by which, and the importation of drugs, he accumulated great wealth; he also inherited an extensive landed estate in Maine. He married the widow of William Eppes, Esq., of Virginia, who was a daughter of Col. Benjamin Pickman, of Salem, Massachu- setts, and died at Poole, England, leaving a son William Eppes, who married a Miss Randolph, of Bristol, England, and whose son is an assistant commissary-general of the British army ; a daugh- ter, Love Eppes, who married Sir John Lester, of Poole, and Abi- gail Eppes, who married Richard Routh, Esq., also a loyalist. From his high standing and extensive acquaintance. Dr. Gar- diner selected his associates from such as were congenial to his taste, and his house was the resort of the literary and scientific tirJ 11 iif III * li .i HI I' 11, m II m ' I ! 'V\ i i\\^ 1 , ,1 /.» 536 niOORAnilCAL NOTICES. [ill 1)1 from both siilcs the Atlantic. Among his giiests were Sir Williatn Pepperell, Gov. Hutchinson, Earl Percy, Admiral Graves, Majors Pitcairn ami Small, and General Gage. The Revolution broke up these associations, and after the siege of Boston he sought shelter at Halifax, and afterwards in England, where he passed with heavy heart ten years of exile. For being a refugee, his large estate and stores of drugs were confiscated, but owing to some er- ror, his lands in Maine were recovered after his return, at the close of the war. He closed his eventful life at Newport, Rhode Island, August 8, 1786, in his 69th year. The following tribute is inscribed on a monument erected to his memory at Gardiner, Maine : Sacrum Memorial SYLVESTRIS GARDINER, Qui nalus, hiiud obscuro genere, in insula Rhodi, Studuit Parisiis, ct Bostoniie diu medicinam fclicitOr Exercuit. Postquam satis opum paravisset, Navavit operam ad domandam ornandamque Hanc oricntalem regionem, tunc incultara. Hic sylvas late patentes evertit, molas omnigenas ^diiicavit, omnia rura permultis tuguriis ornavit, Templum Deo erexit, Atque hoac loca habitantibus pater-patrix dici Profectij meruit. Vir acerrimo ingenio, medicus sciens, Maritus fulelis, plus in liberos, In obeundis negotiis vigilans, sagax, indefessus, Integer vita, in sacris Uteris doctus, Christianffi fidei omnino addictus, Ecclesiicque Anglicanai observantissimus, Mortuus est in insula Rhodi, Anno Domini mdcclxxxvi, atatis lxxix.' Ut viri de ecclesia deque Republic^, optime meriti Memoriara commendaret posteris, suaque insuper Erga avum venerandum pietatis monumentura extaret, Honorarium hoc marmor erexit, Nepos han'esque, Robertus Hallowell Gardiner. BIOORAPHICAL NOTICES. 537 DR. JEFFRIES. Dr. John Jeffries, of Boston, son of David Jeffries, Esq., born Feb. 5, 1744 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1763 ; studied in London, and was honored with the degree of IVT. D. at Aberdeen in 1769. He was a physician in Boston till the Revolution ; after- wards surgeon of a ship in the British squadron in Boston harbor, and attended the wounded at Bunker Hill ; went to Halifax in 1776 as surgeon-general, and to England in 1779, and had in both places professional employment under the crown. He recommenced his regular medical life in London in 1780, and on the 7th Jan- uary, 1785, he acquired a sort of eclat by crossing the English channel with Blanchard in a balloon, when he landed in the forest of Gii'nes in France, which procured for him the attention of the most distinguished personages of the day, and an introduction to all the learned and scientific societies of Paris. He returned to Boston in 1789, to an extensive practice ; and delivered the first public lecture on anatomy, a branch of his profession of which he was very fond. After a successful practice of fifty-three years, he died at Boston on the 16th of September, 1819, aged seventy-six years. C. PAXTON. Charles Paxton, Esq., one of the commissioners of the customs, and the writer of one of the obnoxious letters to Mr. Whately, took refuge in England during the war. He was a pall-bearer at Gov. Hutchinson's funeral in 1780. Of his subsequent career we have no information. \ !'r'f,{ II! LIEUT. GOV. GOLDEN. Cadwallader Golden was born at Dunse, Scotland, 17th Feb., 1688 ; he was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and devo- ted himself to medicine and mathematics, in both of which he made great proficiency. He emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1708, where he practised physic for several years, and then returned to Great Britain, and acquired reputation as a medical writer. He came a second time to America in 1716, and after passing two years in Pennsylvania, he settled at New- York, and the next year was appointed the first 68 ! '! ; I 538 FIOURAPUICAI. NOTICES. fill BUrvcyor-gcncrnl of the lands of the colony, and a master in chan- cery. In 1720 he was o king's counsellor under Gov. Burnet, lie had resided on a tract of land, for which he received a patent, near Newburgh on the Hudson, tlien on the frontier, where he was ex- posed to attacks from the Indians. lie was appointed lieut. gov- ernor of New- York in 1761, and occupied this station during the remainder of his life, being repeatedly at the head of affairs by the absence or death of several governors. While acting governor, the stamps arrived and were placed under his care in Fort George. The people assembled in great numbers, determined to destroy them ; but although the fort was pronounced untenable by engi- neers, and the people threatened to kill him, he defended his trust, and succeeded in securing it on board of a British man-of-war. He was burnt in effigy by the populace, who destroyed his car- riage. After Gov. Tryon's return in 1776, he retired to his seat at Flushing on Long Island, whare he died Sept. 28, 1776, in his 89th year.* Mr. Golden wrote, besides numerous medical and bo- tanical essays, a valuable history of the Five Indian Nations, and an essay on the " Principles of Action in Matter," to which is an- nexed a Treatise on Fluxions. Among his correspondents were Linnaeus, Gronovius, the Earl of Macclesfield, Dr. Franklin, and many other of the most scientific men of his time. DR. COOPER. Myles Cooper, D. D., president of King's, now Columbia Col- lege, New-York, was born in 1734, and educated at the university of Oxford, where he graduated as master of arts in 1760. Arriving in New-York, and recommended by the archbishop of Canterbury as well qualified to assist in a college, he was received by Presi- dent Johnson in the most affectionate manner, and appointed pro- fessor of moral philosophy. After the resignation of Dr. Johnson, he was chosen to the presidency in February, 1763. Soon after, Dr. Clossey, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where he had * The scat of Guv. Colden at Fliisliitig WJis culled Spring Hill ; it Wiis confiscated, und is now the property and residence ol" Hon. Benjamin W. Strong. BIOORAPHICAI. NOTICES. G39 also taken the deforce of doctor of physic, was appointed profeaior of natural philosophy. A (grammar school was also established and connected with the college, under the charge of Mr. ('ushing, from l^oston. The classes were now taught by Dr. Cooper, Dr. Closscy, and Mr. Harper, with great advantage. In 1775 Dr. Cooper was a stanch loyalist, and on being dis- covered as a public writer on the side of the crown, a large mob assailed him in the night at the college, with threats against him, but Alexander Hamilton kept them at bay by his unsurpassed elo- quence, while Dr. Cooper escaped to a friend's in the upper part of the city, from whence he was put on board a vessel bound to Eng- land. This was in the month of May, 1775. On the 10th of the same month, prior to his departure, Dr. Cooper wrote to his friend and fellow-sufferer, Isaac Wilkins, Esq., who had preceded him to London, as follows : " All things yet in statu quo. On Sunday I went to Morrisania to visit Mrs. Wilkins ; she was as well as could be reasonably expected, after parting with you, and returned that evening to Castle Hill, where I hope she will enjoy your return in safety. I had not time, you know, to write by you, save to Mr. Blackburn and Mr. Vardill, but they will sufficiently introduce you to all whom you would wish to see for for the present. If I think of any thing I can do for you, I will write by Mr. Cooke, for Bristol next week, and I will let no op- portunity escape that I hear of, without giving you a line, whilst I continue in this country of confusion, which for the sake of the col- lege I am minded to do as long as I can with any degree of pru- dence. Should this congress be as hot as the last, we arc undone; should cooler measures be adopted, we may yet be preserved j for Britain, though stout, is exorable." From Oxford, Feb. 4, 1777, where he had resided for three months, he thus writes to the same friend then at Long Island : " Mr. Wetherhead wrote me about Mr. Seabury's pay ; I have ap- plied to the bishop of London to interfere with the admiralty, and hope all will be settled to his satisfaction. I wish much to hear from him ; in the mean time, my best respects to him, Wetherhead, Samuel Bayard, etc. I will write to as many as I can by this pack- et, but, like an improvident man, I have deferred the business to the V! I '1 ^ \n W, ■ (,11 mm 640 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. last, and now am called upon by the provost to attend some affairs of the college, which are agitating before the house of commons ; so that it is out of my power to say whether or not I shall be able to write another line. Dr. Clossey shall hear from me pres- ently." From Edinburgh, 26th Feb., 1779, he wrote to the same friend at Long Island, as follows: " I received your obliging letter of 2d October, in London ; I had not been there for a year before, and was only there then for a few days, having gone from this remote region into the south to take possession of a very small living pre- sented me by the present chancellor, i"om which business I returned as quickly as possible to this city, which has been my residence for fourteen months past, and where I am too agreeably situated to think of moving unless for the better ; or unless I should be obliged to reside on the little living aforesaid ; or unless, which would be best of all, a happy termination of American disputes should enable me to resume my old situation; and till such an event takes place, I do not expect to be completely satisfied. " You gave me spirits by representing matters in your quarter in a better light than I had viewed them. Indeed, Drs. Inglis and Seabury had been uniform in their information, so much of it as came to my knowledge, of the same purport ; but the corrobora- tive evidence even of a layman to two priests still had its effect. I wish to heaven you may not be wrong in your opinions. My most affectionate regards to Mr. Cutting, Mr. Golden, the Ludlows, Dr. Ogden, etc., whom I suppose you frequently see." To the same friend, care of Rev. Dr. Inglis at New- York, he wrote from Edinburgh, May 30, 1783, as follows : " 0, my dear friend ! I shed tears most copiously when I first opened your letter, and upon the perusal of it now in order to answer it, I am more affected than before. Heavens ! what confusion must you all be wit- nesses of in your unhappy situation. And yet I cannot help form- ing some hopes, that now the contest is ended the governing pow- ers will relax their severity, and endeavor to bring over to them the minds of those whose persons and properties they have posses- sion of. I long for accounts from New-York that I can depend upon ; for I have not received a lir.e from any of ray correspondents there since their independency ; a circumstance that must occasion such BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 541 changes in the American system as cannot be conceived, I trust, by the wisest at this distance. " 'Tis true I have taken a living ; it is in Berkshire, half-way between London and Bath, and twenty-six miles from Oxford ; a spot as delightful as can well be imagined, yet I don't know if ever I shall go thither to reside. I am as pleasantly situated here as I could wish to be." He had been for some time one of the ministers of the Episco- pal chapel of Edinburgh, where he died May 1, 1785, at the age of 51. Dr. Cooper possessed wit and humor to a great degree ; and pleasing manners, united to agreeable conversational powers. Al- though he had long expected death, he died suddenly, soon after writing ilie following epitaph of himself: ■H' h' " Here lies a priest of EnglisVi blood, • Who, living, liked whate'er was good ; Good company, good wine, good name ; Yet never hunted after fame. But, as the first he still preferred, So here he chose to be interred ; And, unobserved, from crowds withdrew, To rest among a chosen few ; In humble hope that Scveieign Lovo Will raise bim to the blest aij >ve." ii'i' SIR F. BARING. Sir Francis Baring, Bart., born April 18th, 1750, was a son of John Baring, of Larkbeer, near Exeter, England, from which city the former was first elected to parliament on the 9th Nov. 1776, an in- teresting account of which is contained in the third chapter of this work. He early distinguished himself by his accurate knowledge and dexterity in financial calculations at the eventful period in which his public career commenced, and the reputation thus early acquir- ed continued throughout his life. He exhibited a just knowledge of the interest of his country, and an anxiety to extend her commerce. In negotiating the various loans required from time to time, his af- fluence and talents enabled him to assist the minister, and he final- ly became the leading member of the monied interest ; and even the prosperity of England, at certain periods, may be said to have revolved around him as its p-imum mobile. He was designated by * 'i'';. i !': !;: im V ' itl: I' lit V ^' ^ iii* 542 BIOORAPHICAL NOTICES. Mr. Erskine as " the first merchant of the world," and his services on all occasions of great national interest, particularly as a director of the East India Company and as a member of parliament, were too important to escape the notice of administration, and entitle his memory to grateful recollection. The honor of baronetcy was conferred upon him on 29th May, 1793. Sir Francis possessed such influence in the commercial world, that his death, which occurred on the 12th September, 1810, oc- casioned a sensible depression in the public stocks. He married a daughter of William Herring, Esq., a cousin and coheiress of Dr. Herring, archbishop of Canterbury. The sister of Sir Francis married the celebrated lawyer John Dunning, afterwards Lord Ashburton, which title became extinct at the decease of their only son. Sir Thomas Baring, born in 1772, succeeded his father in the bar- onetcy. Another son, Alexander Baring, now Lord Ashburton, be- came the head of the great commercial house, and did not retire from it until 1830. He was born in 17'i4, visited this continent in 1794, and travelled through the greater portion of the then United States on horseback, before 1797. He met the present king of France at the Falls of Niagara when there was but one house in Buffalo, and that a very indifferent one. Mr. Baring married a daughter of the Hon. William Bingham, one of the most opulent and public spirited citizens of Philadelphia, then a senator in congress from Pennsylvania. The house of Baring, Brothers & Co. have with scrupulous fidelity attended to the interests of the United States as government agent for nearly half a century, which entitles every member of it to our gratitude , and we can never too highly appre- ciate the services and sacrifices of Lord Ashburton in his recent em- bassy, which has secured to Great Britain and the United States a treaty satisfactoiy to all the right minded of both countries. Mr. Baring, having served as a member of the house of commons for many years, and held with honor, for a short period, the chancel- lorship of the exchequer, was elevated to the peerage in 1835, a proud testimonial of his distinguished abilities, and a just reward for a life devoted to the honor and best interests of his country. ' If '^} BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 543 B. MARSTON. Benjamin Marston, Esq., son of Col. Benjamin Marston, of Salem, Massachusetts, graduated at Harvard College in 1749. Be- came a merchant at Marlilehead, and was a refugee, proscribed in 1778. He closed his career as a commissary in the service of the African Company at Baalam's Isle, on the coast of Africa, in 1793. E. WINSLOW, JuN. Hon. Edvtard Winslow, jr., of Plymouth, Massachusetts, was graduated at Harvard College in 1765; he was compelled to take re- fuge in Boston in 1775, and became a colonel in the British service. He was afterwards a counsellor and judge of the superior court of New Brunswick, where he died, at Fredericton, in 1815, aged 70. He and his cousin, Pelham Winslow, were among the found- ers of the « Old Colony Club" in 1769, now the "Pilgrims' So- ciety." S. ROGERS. Samuel Rogers, merchant of Boston, who graduated at Har- vard College in 1765, was proscribed as an absentee, Sept. 1778, and returned to Boston, where he died June 1, 1804, aged 57. , S. WILLIAMS. Seth Williams, Esq., of Taunton, graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1755 — pursued the study of the law, and was in practice at the commencement of the Revolution. He was a refugee, and (lied in London previous to 1791. COUNT DE GRASSE. Francois Joseph Paul, Count de Grasse Tilly, born in 1723, made his first appearance in the war between England ai.d France as the ally of the North American colonies, in command of the frigate Robuste, in the battle ^ i Ouessant, July, 1778 ; the first se- lious act of hostility between the two powers, and the first step of the Count de Grasse in defence of American liberty. Under Count d'Estaing, in command of a squadron, he aided in taking the island of Grenada, in 1779, when the British fleet was saved from total M )ii y W ! ii t ' m I 'h'-'U. I -i: m 'iji^i m BSMBtiPffj f iH^B||jlJf A ^; Mm. I ^I'i 644 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. defeat by a calm at the close of the action. After three years of distinguished services he left Brest in 1781, in command of a fleet of a hundred and fifty sail, (twenty of the line,) and in thirty-six days fell in with Admiral Hood, then blockading Martinique, whose superiority of sailing alone enabled him to escape, with severe damage to four of his ships. After a short stay at Port Royal de la Martinique, he concerted with the Marquis de Bouille the attack of Tobago, the success of which, and its rapidity of execution, pre well known. His distinguished talents and zeal in the cause of America gained her entire confidence ; and measures of co-operation were concerted between Generals Washington and Rocbambeau and the French admiral, which resulted in the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and virtually closed the war between Great Britain and America. Count de Grasse was solicited for protection against the British fleet daily expected upon the coast, for a reinforcement of troops, for provisions " de guerre and de bouche," and for 1,200,000 francs for the more pressing necessities of the French troops. To all of these demands he lent most zealous and efficient aid, and in the short space of twelve days he collected all his disposable naval force, (without endangering St. Domingo,) embarked three thousand four hundred troops, and by his personal influence, and the actual pledge of his estates in St. Domingo and France, raised the funds desired. The expedition (necessarily a secret one) arrived at the capes of the Chesapeake on the 28th August, the same day that Admiral Hood appeared off New-York with fourteen vessels of the line. He succeeded in landing the troops, and on the 5th Septem- ber was prepared and engaged the British fleet until nightfall, ■when they separated. After four days' vain search for his oppo- nents, he returned to the capes in time to intercept two frigates, the " Iris" and " Richmond," which were leaving the bay with des- patches they had been unable to deliver to Cornwallis. The allied armies (informed of the approach of the French fleet, by the frig- ate " La Concorde," on 15th August) arrived at the mouth of the Elk on 6th September, one hour only after the bearer of despatches from Count de Grasse. Count Rocbambeau spoke of this coinci- dence as most remarkable, that a combined expedition of land and naval forces, the one from the north of America and the other from BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 545 the West Indies, should both arrive in the same bay only one hour apart. On the 19th October, Lord Cornwallis capitulated to the united forces of France and America ; six thousand five hundred men were made prisoners of war, one hundred and sixty cannon, twen- ty-two flags, and forty transports fell into the hands of the allies. This expedition originated with Count de Grasse ; the plan was matured by Washington, Rochambeau and himself in concert. To the activity of all the commanders is mainly due this tran- scendant success, as only eight days after the capitulation was signed an increased British naval force arrived off the capes with seven thousand troops on board ; enough, in all probability, to have sustained the royal authority in the south. Congress passed a resolution on the 28th October, to erect a mon- ument at Yorktovvn in commemoration of this great event, and also the following : " That the thanks of the United States, in Con- gress assembled, be presented to his excellency the Count de Grasse, for the skill and valor he has shown in attacking and beat- ing the British fleet, in Chesapeake Bay, and for the zeal and ar- dor by which he gave, by the naval force under his command, the most effective and distinguished succor and protection to the allied army in Virginia." Congress also presented him four pieces of cannon, inscribed as follows : " Taken from the English army, by the combined forces of France and Americ? . at Yorktown, Virginia, August 19, 1781. Presented to his Excellency Count de Grasse, in testimony of the inestimable services rendered by him on that day." The cannon remained at the ch&teau of Tilly, fourteen leagues from Paris, until during the French Revolution the property and all its dependencies were lost to the family. On the 13th February, 1782, the island of St. Christopher sur- rendered to Count de Grasse and the Marquis de Bouille. In command of the united forces of France and Spain, in the West Indies, the count sustained his high naval reputation, and de- fended himself successfully against the English fleet, until the 12th April, when (his vessels having been injured by contact with each other, his own ship, the " Ville de Paris," being run afoul of by the " Zel6e") he was attacked by eleven of the enemy. His sails torn and ships ungovernable, his crews fasting and worn down with the 69 >: > t f ,ii" i ii m !|-^ : i ij i ■ i^' ■' '■ 1 ; • '■ ■'. 1 , H' , ^ i l|^ 1 ' n 1 w M § V: 1 ■ i -4 1 ^1 A 1' 1 ;.n' '1 111 ' ' jH r 1 1 i| i^ ^^^ »^' i''!''1 M ¥ < ■ ''i| 41 646 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. exertions of the previous nights, and without chance of success, he hauled down his flag, after combatting from eight A. M. till six P. M. History offers no example of a longer or more spir- ited naval engagement, or a more obstinate resistance. It was proved at a court of inquiry, that the most important manoeuvres, as well as nine signals from the admiral, were neglected. Count de Grasse (which is worthy of notice) never left the quarter-deck dur- ing the action, nor received a wound ; he had a hundred and twen- ty-one killed on board the Ville de Lyons, and a very large number "wounded. Carried a prisoner to England, the hero became negotiator, and exerted himself with that governmeiit to incline it to peace. He had the gratification of taking to France, in August following, verbal propositions of peace to the French government, from Lord Shelburne, first lord of the treasury. France insisted upon the ac- knowledgment of the independence of the United States as a con- dition of the treaty, and the preliminaries were signed at Paris on the 30th November, 1782. History shows that the United States are as much indebted to the unceasing efforts of the Count de Grasse in her favor after his return to Europe, as for his brilliant achievements in the Chesapeake and West Indies. It may be said that his life was consecrated to securing independence to the North American colonies ; for its ac- complishment he employed all his valor, all his talents, all his zeal, and finding his task completed, and object gained, he died on the 14th January, 1788, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. Count de Grasse left an only son, who served with honor in the several grades of the French army, and was decorated by Count Rochambeau at St. Domingo with the cross of St. Louis in behalf of Louis XVI. At the massacre of Cape Francois, he saved him- self and family on board an American'vessel, which landed them in complete destitution at Charleston, where, with other exiles, they experienced the hospitality and sympathy of the inhabitants. Count de Grasse became a citizen of the United States, and subse- quently returned to the service of his country, his attachment to which was manifested in the campaigns of Italy and Spain. The French Revolution deprived him of his estates, and he has in vain awaited from government, to the age of seventy-eight, a BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 647 nee of success, n eight A. M. ST or more spir- stance. It was t manoeuvres, as jted. Count de uarter-deck dur- ndred and twen- ry large number e negotiator, and it to peace. He ugust following, raent, from Lord ted upon the ac- States as a con- gned at Paris on nuch indebted to ler favor after his n the Chesapeake as consecrated to onies ; for its ac- ents, all his zeal, ned, he died on lis age. with honor in the corated by Count t. Louis in behalf •is, he saved him- h landed them in ither exiles, they the inhabitants. States, and subse- is attachment to and Spain, istates, and he has seventy-eight, a recompense of his services. Should we do more than justice to the memory of one of the bravest and most devoted defenders of our liberties, in sharing with him the inheritance acquired by the united valor of our fathers 1 The only surviving daughter of the first Count de Grasse, is the widow of the late Francis Depau, Esq., of this city, one of our most enterprising, opulent, and public spirited merchants, to whom all praise and credit is due for greatly extending our commerce with France, by establishing the first line of packets between New- York and Havre. COL. EDSON. JosiAH Edson, Esq., of Bridgewater, graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1730, was a representative in the general assembly of Massachusetts, from that town. He was a refugee, and banished by the act of September, 1778 j he had been commissioned a man- damus counsellor in August, 1778, but declined serving ; he died previous to 1782. W. VASSALL. William Vassall, Esq., of Boston, was appointed a counsellor in 1774, by writ of mandamus, but did not serve ; he was a re- fugee, and banished by the act of September, 1778. He died in Surrey, England, in 1800, aged eighty-five j he graduated at Har- vard College in 1733. JUDGE HUTCHINSON. Hon. Foster Hutchinson, a brother of Governor Hutchinson, and one of the last judges in the supreme court of Massachusetts under the charter, to which he was appointed in 1771. He gra- duated at Harvard College in 1743 ; he accepted the appointment of mandamus counsellor in 1774, and soon after was compelled to take refuge in Boston, and became an absentee. He was proscribed in 1778, and charged by the act of 1779, as a conspirator against the liberties of his country j he died at Halifax, in May, 1799. N. R. THOMAS. Nathaniel Ray Thomas, Esq., of Taunton, Bristol county, Mass., was graduated at Harvard College in 1751 ; appointed by t" ,r. . „,«H ni t ! I ' f I I 648 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. li I'M^ writ of mandamus a counsellor in 1774, but declined serving. He was proscribed in the act of 1778, and died in Nova Scotia, 1791. PELHAM WINSLOW. Pelham WiNSLOW, Esq., an attorney of Plymouth, Massachu- setts, was a son of General John Winslow, of Marshfield ; and graduated at Harvard College in 1753. He was driven into Bos- ton, and was a major in the British service ; proscribed by the act of 1778 ; and died at Flushing, Long Island, in 1783. JUDGE LEONARD. Hon. Daniel Leonard, of Norton, Massachusetts, graduated at Harvard College in 1760 ; a member of assembly. He was a dis- tinguished political writer, and a member of the legal profession. In 1774, he was the antagonist of John Adams, in relation to " the rights and prospects of the colonies" under the respective signa- tures of Novanglus and Massachusettensis. He was a refugee in 1775, and was proscribed in 1778 ; he was afterwards chief justice of Bermuda, and died in London, June 27, 1829, aged eighty-nine. COL. SALTONSTALL. Col. Richard Saltonstall, was the eldest son of Richard Salton- stall, of Haverhill, Mass., a judge of the superior court of that pro- vince. He was born, April 5, 1732, and graduated at Harvard College with distinguished honor, in 1751. Colonel Saltonsall entered into the military service of the province in the French war, in 1756, and was at Fort William Henry, Lake George, at the time of the memorable capitulation and massacre, August 9, 1757. When the Indians fell upon the unarmed prisoners, he escaped, and arrived a few days afterwards at Fort Edward, on the Hudson, nearly exhausted by hunger and fatigue. He commanded a regi- ment from 1760 to the close of the war. On his return to Haver- hill, he was appointed sheriff of the county of Essex, which office he held until he left the country. When the difficulties between the colonies and the mother country came on, Colonel Saltonstall was opposed to forcible resistance ; he believed that it must be ineffisctual, and that the colonies would fall before the power of Great Britain. He was BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 549 I serving. He i Scotia, 1791. ith, Massachu- larshfield; ami Iriven into Bos- ibed by the act 33. s, graduated at He was a dis- legal profession, relation to " the espective signa- ls a refugee in ards chief justice ged eighty-nine. land the mother losed to forcible lal, and that the Iritain. He was greatly beloved and respected ; he often represented the town in the general court. It was long before he lost his popularity, not- withstanding his opinions ; but in the autumn of 1774, a great number of persons collected before his house, armed with clubs, etc., and with threats of violence, contrary to the advice of some friends who were with him, and who had gone for the purpose of aiding in his escape, he came to the door and addressed the excited as- sembly with great calmness, firmness and dignity ; reminding them of his services for his country, that he had exposed his life in its defence, etc. Seldom has a speech been more effectual ; it quelled the excited passions of the multitude, and they dispersed. He was soon after compelled to take refuge in Boston, and embarked for England, in 1775. Col. Saltonstall refused to accept a commission in the British army, saying, that if he could not conscientiously engage on the side of his country, he would not take up arms against her. His reputation as an officer was high, and it is supposed that he might have had an important command in the American army, if be had embraced the popular cause. Col. Saltonstall was proscribed by the law of 1778, and passed the remainder of his days in England. In one of his letters, written soon after the peace, he expressed great affection for the delightful place of his nativity ; but he added, — ^'* I have no remorse of con- science for my past conduct. I have had more satisfaction in a private life here, than I should have had in being next in command to General Washington, where I must have acted in conformity to the dictates of others, regardless of my own feelings." Colonel Saltonstall resided on the beautiful family estate in Haverhill, known as " the Saltonstall place," where he lived in a style of liberal hospitality, sustaining the character of a truly upright and honorable man, and an accomplished gentleman ; he was never married. He was kindly received by his remote family connections in England ; and his friends erected a monument to his memory at Kensington, with the following inscription : " Near this place are interred the remains of Richard Salton- stall, Esq., who died October 1, 1785, aged fifty-two. He was an American loyalist, from Haverhill in the Massachusetts ; where I' '1 :l i If I ' ' I i- ! ' "l! km W- ■ t 650 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. he was descended from a first family, both for the principal share it had in the early erecting, as well as in rank niid authority in governing that province. And wherein he himself sustained, with unshaken loyalty and universal applause, various important trusts and commands under the crown, both civil and military, from his youth till its revolt ; and throughout life maintained such an amia- ble private character, as engaged him the esteem and regard of many friends. " As a memorial of his merits, this stone is erected." Col. Saltonstall was a descendant in the sixth generation from Sir Richard Saltonstall, one of the patentees of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and who arrived at Salem, in the Arabella, (or Arbella,) June 12, 1630, with Governor Winthrop and their associates, " bringing out the charter with them." He was also a patentee of Connecticut, and may be considered as one of the principal founders of both colonies. A memoir of this family may be found in the publications of the Mass. Historical Society. Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall, brother of Colonel Saltonstall, was a decided whig of the Revolution. The Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, of Salem, an able and eloquent representative, now in congress from Massachusetts, is his son. N. CHANDLER. Nathaniel Chandler, son of Col. John Chandler of Worcester, graduated at Harvard College, in 1768, was a practising attorney at Petersham, when the troubles commenced, and was compelled on account of his principles to take refuge in Boston. He was proscribed in 1778. Had for a while led a corps of volunteers in the British service at New-York. He afterwards went to Eng- land, returned, and died at Worcester, 1801, aged fifty-one. DR. B. S. OLIVER. Brinlev Sylvester Oliver, M. D., fourth son of Lieut. Governor Andrew Oliver, graduated at Harvard College in 1774, studied medicine and surgery, and was afterwards a surgeon in the British service. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 661 principal sViarc iiul authority in ■ sustained, with important trusts ilitary, from his d such an amia- 1 and regard of cted." generation from of the colony of in the Arabella, Uhrop and their » He was also •ed as one of the )f this family may ;al Society. Saltonstall, was a iverett Saltonstall, now in congress I of Lieut. Governor . in 1774, studied feeon in the British DR. PAINE. William Paine, M. D., son of Timothy Paine, Es(|., of Wor- cester, Mass., graduated at Harvard College in 1768. He was practising professionally at Worcester at the commencement of the Revolution ; was a refugee, and proscribed in 1778. Became an apothecary to the British forces in Rhode Island and New-York. At the peace he settled at New Brunswick, and was a represent- ative for Charlotte county. He removed to Salem, Mass., where he practised from 1787 to 1793, with success in his profession. The death of his father caused him to return to Worcester, where he closed his checkered life, on the 18th April, 1833, at the age of eighty-three. WM. CHANDLER. William Chandler, Esq., youngest son of Col. John Chandler, of Worcester, Mass., was compelled to take refuge in Boston, and was proscribed in 1778. He returned after peace was restored, and died in his native place, July, 1793, aged forty. Mr. Chandler graduated at Harvard College, in 1772. CHARLES CURTIS. Charles Curtis, of Scituate, Mass., graduated at Harvard Col- lege, 1765. Driven into Boston, he was proscribed in 1778, and died in New-York, previous to 1832. DR. P. OLIVER. Peter Oliver, Jr., second son of the chief justice of the same name, both of Middleborough, Plymouth county, Mass. ; the former graduated at Harvard College in 1761. He had practised in Scit- uate in early life ; was driven into Boston, and in consequence became a refugee in England, where he died, at Shrewsbury, in Sept. 1822, aged eighty-one. REV. M. BADGER. Rev. Moses Badger, of Haverhill, graduated at Harvard Col- lege, 1761 ; was a refugee, proscribed by the act of Sept. 1778. Af- ter the peace he returned, and was rector of King's Chapel, Provi- dence, Rhode Island, where he died, Sept. 19, 1792. I III ffi I i!' i ' I I ¥\ :j;iW!'l|| 111 i- ^-W''^i;l 552 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. J. D. ROGERS. Jerkmiah Dummer Rookrr, Esq., an attorney at law of Little- ton, graduated at Harvard CoIIe^'e, 1762. He was a refugee, pro- scribed in 1778, and died at Halifax, 1784. T. A. COFFIN. Thomas Aston Coffin, Esq., son of William Coffin, of Boston, and cousin of Sir Isaac Coffin, remained in Boston nftir the siege, and was proscribed in 1778. " He was privat- ■ ta to Gen. Carleton, and in 1784 was appointed com .issui •g^.lit A to the British troops at Quebec. He died in Lrndnn, May 3d, 1810, aged fifty-six. Mr. Coffin grad'iated t Harvard College in 1772. REV. B. LOVELL. Rev. Benjamin Loveli,, youngest son of the grammar school master at Boston, was graduated at Harvard College in 1774. He became a refugee, first to Halifax, where he married, and after- wards to England. Mr. Lovell tuok orders, and was settled at Ashe, Surrey, where he died, March 14, 1828, aged seventy-three. J. PUTNAM, Jh. James Putnam, Jr., Esq., son of Hon. James Putnam of Wor- cester, graduated at Harvard College in 1774 ; was a refugee in 1775 ; became barrack-master, and subsequently one of the house- hold of the late Duke of Kent ; of whose will he was executor. He died in London, March, 1838. GOV. FRANKLIN. Hon. William Franklin, born in 1731, a natural son of the celebrated Dr. Franklin, was the last of the royal governors of New Jersey, an> .^n< of the most conspicuous persons in opposition to the princir'p^ '^^ '' " ^evolutl' Although born upon the American soi., ' /as iiom feeling and principle a loyalist ; and his firm adherence to government, under the most adverse circum- stances, and with all the influence of his father's example to con- tend against, as well as his disapprobation of the course he took, showed a self-sacrifice seldom equalled, and renders him well worthy of notice, while his sufierings entitle him to our sympathy. BIOORAPHICAL NOTICES. 553 t law of Litlle- s a refugee, pro- 'offin, of Boston, n afti ' the siege, ocr» ta to Gen. -g,.i.i dl to the , May 3d, 1810, College in 1772. I grammar school ;ge in 1774. He carried, and after- id was settled at red seventy-three. Putnam of Wor- was a refugee in one of the house- he was executor. latural son of the [oyal governors of rsons in opposition [h born upon the lie a loyalist ; and 1st adverse circum- |s example to con- |he course he took, renders him well to our sympathy. or his early history very little is known ; h»' was a captain in the anny during the French war, and served with credit at Ticon- ik'YO 'a. He 111 . vards accompanied his lather to England, where he appears to have bteO received with di.slinction. He was honored by thf university of Cambridge with the degree of Master of Arts, and w.- fmd him < "Joying the intimacy and confidenrf^ of the Earl of Bute, on whose rtMcommendation Lord Halifax npp 1 i 1 [i I II .11 • ' V 'I I 664 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. suggesting that it would be more safe to confine him in some other state than New-Jersey ; and that body recommended that, after an examination, he should be transferred to the custody of the gover- nor of Connecticut. He was accordingly brought before the con- vention for examination, but his firmness did not desert him, and he steadily refused to answer any questions, denying the authority of that body, which he asserted had usurped the government. He was then sent to Connecticut, and after a confinement at Middle- town of nearly two years, was liberated in exchange for an Ameri- can general officer, when he retired to England, on a pension, which was continued during life. He died on the 17th November, 1813, at the age of eighty-two. Gov. Franklin, though wanting the genius of his father, was a man of talents, firmness, and integrity. That his conduct was the result of sincere convictions cannot be doubted. He had been raised to his dignified station without any solicitation on his part, or on the part of his father, and it is probable that a feeling of gra- titude may have held him more steadily in his course. It is evident that he sacrificed much in acting as he did, if it were only the friendly intercourse with his parent, who had previously bestowed upon him much of his confidence and affection. The letters be- tween them had been frequent, but when the course of the gover- nor became manifest, their intercourse entirely ceased. The last of the doctor's letters was in January, 1774, and he had no further communication with his son till after the peace, when the latter, in 1784, wrote to his father, proposing a reconciliation. The doctor remarks in his answer, that nothing had ever caused him so much pain as " to find himself deserted, in his old age, by his only son ;" he finds for him, however, an excuse in his situation, but remarks that " there are natural duties which precede political ones, and cannot be extinguished by them." The intercourse thus recom- menced continued, probably, till the death of the illustrious philoso- pher and statesman. Gov. Franklin was twice married, and left, at his death, one son, William Temple Franklin, editor of the works of his grand- father, who died in Paris, May 25, 1823. Gov. Franklin caused a monumental tablet to be placed in the chancel of St. Paul's church, New-York, with the following inscrip- tion : ri BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 555 " Beneath the ahar of this church are deposited the remains of Mrs. Elizabeth Frankhn, wife of his Excellency William Franklin, late governor, under his Britannic Majesty, of the province of New- Jersey. Compelled to part from the husband she loved, and at length despairing of the soothing hope of his speedy return, she sunk under accumulated distresses, and departed this life 28th July, 1778, in the forty-ninth year of her age. Sincerity and sensibility. Politeness and affability. Godliness and charity, were, with sense refined and person elegant, in her united. From a grateful remembrance of her affectionate tenderness and constant performance of all the duties of a good wife, this monument is erected, in the year 1787, by one who knows her worth, and still laments her loss." I. WILKINS, D. D. Isaac Wilkins, of Westchester, New-York, son of Martin Wilkins, Esq., who in infancy, at the decease of his father, an opu- lent planter, and an eminent man of the island of Jamaica, was brought to the province, and received the best education the coun- try afforded. The former married Isabella Morris, a sister of that eloquent patriot and statesman, Gouverneur Morris.* Mr. Wilkins first prepared himself for the church, but did not take orders. As a member of the provincial assembly, he was subsequently distin- guished for loyalist principles, and his eloquence and integrity ac- quired for him an influence rarely attained, andwhich for a consid- erable time prevented the prostration of the colonial government. The following extract from his speech on the resolutions for adopting the measures recommended by congress, shows the interest he felt in the subject : " We have before us the choice of peace or war, of happiness or misery, of freedom or slavery ; and can we hesitate which to choose ? By proceeding in a firm, but loyal and constitutional " Another brother, Sir Staats Morris, K. C. B., who entered the British army in early life, attained the rank of lieut. general, and married the duchess of Gordon. V i I I!' IH I'., I s'JI ^ i I:' i'l: i I ii n /' i il ^^.?f m'4 ! I ■• it' ' W i-'i. ^, If I 'i: i 556 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. manner, in the settlement of this unhappy difference with our mother country, we cannot fail, I am convinced, of meeting with success, of securing to ourselves a free constitution, and of a restor- ation to the favor and protection of the parent state, which, next to the favor of heaven, will be our best and strongest safeguard and security. This is the critical moment of our fate ; we have it now in our power to do the most essential good or mischief to ourselves and our posterity. If we neglect this opportunity of promoting our common felicity, and of establishing our liberties on a firm and lasting basis, we may perhaps never have another, and shall repent of our fatal infatuation and folly when too late to retrieve the mis- take ; when the horrors of civil war shall be increased by the curses of our wretched and deluded constituents, who, in the bitter- ness of their hearts, shall point us out as the authors of their ruin, and when we shall be obliged to submit to the laws of conquest, or the penalties of rebellion. I have shown that the rise of this dispute with Great Britain has been an unreasonable jealousy on our part, originating from an impolitic exertion of authority on hers ; and that it is our interest, as well as duty, to cultivate the closest union with her. I have shown that by a peaceful conduct we may procure for ourselves, and perhaps for our sister colonies, a more perfect system of government than that we have hitherto enjoyed, which was indeed better calculated for our infant state than for the present period of our maturity ; a period that requires, however paradoxical it may seem, more liberty and a stricter gov- ernment. I will only add, that if contrary to my most ardent wishes, contrary to the dignity of this house, to the dictates of hu- manity, and our duty to our constituents and country, you adopt the measures of congress, and by that means involve our country in a civil war, that most dreadful of calamities, I declare my honest in- dignation against your course, and call heaven to witness I am guiltless of the blood of my fellow subjects that will be shed on the occasion — I am guiltless of the ruin of my country." About the 1st of May, 1775, Mr. Wilkins was compelled to abandon his family and country, and embarked for England, after taking the following leave of his countrymen, which appeared in Rivington's Gazette, of May 3, 1775 : BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 567 ence with our ■ meeting with ind of a restor- , which, next to safeguard and we have it now lief to ourselves ^ of promoting js on a firm and and shall repent retrieve the mis- ncreased by the ho, in the bitter- >rs of their ruin, ws of conquest, t the rise of this able jealousy on of authority on to cultivate the |)eaceful conduct sister colonies, re have hitherto our infant state iod that requires, d a stricter gov- my most ardent le dictates of hu- ry, you adopt the our country in a re my honest in- to witness I am 1 be shed on the • 3S compelled to ed for England, which appeared "My Countrymen: " Before I leave America, the land T love, and in which is con- tained every thing that is valuable and dear to me, my wife, chil- dren, friends, and property, permit me to make a short and faithful declaration, which I am induced to do, neither through fear, nor a consciousness of having acted wrong. An honest man and a Chris- tian hath nothing to apprehend from this world. God is my judge and witness, that all I have done, written, or said, in relation to the present unnatural dispute between Great Britain and her colonies, proceeded from the honest intention of serving my country. Her welfare and prosperity were the objects towards which all ray en- deavors have been directed. They still are the sacred objects which I shall ever steadily and invariably keep in view, and when in England, all the influence that so inconsiderable a man as I am can have, shall be exerted in her behalf. " It has been my constant maxim through life to do ray duty conscientiously, and to trust the issue of my actions to the Al- mighty. May He, in whose hands are all events, speedily restore peace and liberty to my unhappy country ; may Great Britain and America be soon united in the bands of everlasting amity, and when united, may they continue a free, virtuous, and happy nation, to the end of time. " I leave America and every endearing connection, because I will not raise my hand in opposition to my sovereign, nor will I draw my sword against my country ; when I can conscientiously draw it in her favor, my life shall be cheerfully devoted to her service. " Isaac Wilkins." Bishop Seabury wrote Mr. Wilkins on the 30th of May, 1775, that Drs. Cooper and Chandler had sailed from New-York the pre- vious week for England. Mr. Samuel Bayard, jr., wrote Mr. Wilkins in London, dated New-York, 6th June, 1775, " that the few soldiers who were here embarked on board the Asia yesterday ; their baggage was stopped by some of our inhabitants, and one or two soldiers deserted. Stop- ping the baggage is said to have been contrary to the sentiments of most people here. We are, however, very quiet. The military made no resistance, as the officers were afraid of greater desertions r:r Biii' II ,\.\ I i^: 41 1\4 558 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. if the soldiers remained in the streets." On the 5th July he writes as follows : " Wooster's camp I suppose you know is within two miles of us — it is in a field adjoining the sand-hill, and on the left hand side of the new road which runs through N. Bayard's land, so that this road is on the east side, and the road over the sand-hill on the north side of the camp. The number is said to be fourteen hundred. These are a part of the five thousand which the continental con- gress have directed to be kept in this province. We have for ten days past received contradictory accounts of an action between Gen. Gage and the provincials, which happened on the 17th June. No account from Gen. Gage yet. Surely, if those who now direct affairs had a real love of the country at heart, they would use every means to obtain their desires before they involved us in the horrors of war. If influenced by laudable motives, their measures appear to be the effect of infatuation ; the uncertainty of what this may urge them to is such, that when I go to bed I know not whether I may not be waked by the noise of cannon battering the town, as there is the Asia of sixty guns lying just opposite my bed." On the 13th of July he further writes as follows : " Yesterday some of our Connecticut troops seized the cutter of the Asia, with eight or ten men, who came on shore to bring a sick man. They hauled the boat into the street, (the men belonging to her sitting in, huzzaing and calling them their horses ;) some time after they put the boat in the water and set fire to her. I hear Gen. Wooster has wrote a polite letter to Capt. Vandeput, assuring him that this outrage was without his knowledge, and contrary to his wishes. It is said the boat will be paid for." August 2, he also writes thus : " Although we are but looked upon as enemies to the liberty of our country, yet I can answer for you, as I believe you can for me, that we as sincerely wish her every blessing and the enjoyment of every liberty which the nature of civil government can admit, as the loudest of those who at this time are in opposition to govern- ment ; and I am convinced you will use all your influence and abilities to promote the good of your country ; which I hope our infatuated countrymen will one day be convinced of and acknow- ledge." Mr. Wiikins returned to Long Island in 1776, then under con- trol of the ISritish, where he remained until the close of the war. Biographical notices. 559 While in England, Mr. Wilkins recoraraended to Lord North terms on which the breach could be healed, but they were not heeded. On the 4th of Feb., 1777, from Oxford, Dr. Cooper, form- erly president of King's College, New- York, wrote to Mr. Wil- kins, at Long Island, as follows : " I have heard of your sufferings with much pain, though I own without surprise ; you may remem- ber I tried to dissuade you from going so soon on that very account. But that * * * * # * should have been the very instrument of this wickedness, is far more than I could have supposed, and I heartily pray, (with a safe conscience, too,) that he may have an ample and speedy reward. The same good wishes attend all the laborers in the vineyard of Satan, wheresoever dispersed." At the close of the war, Mr. Wilkins was, by the terms of the banishment act, compelled to leave the republic, and he repaired to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, where he remained several years, and subsequently removed to Lunenburgh, in the same pro- vince. He obtained leave to return to his native land previous to 1803, and having taken orders, was settled over the parish of West Chester, where he continued highly esteemed for lofty prin- ciple, ever exhibited through a protracted and checkered life, which closed soon after penning the following epitaph : To the iueraory of The Rev. ISAAC WILKINS, D. D. who for 31 years was the diligent and faithful minister of this parish, placed here, as he believed, by his Redeemer. He remained satisfied with the pittance allowed him, rejoicing that even in that he was no burden to his parishioners : nor ever wished nor ever went forth to seek a better living. Mr. Wilkins died 5th February, 1830, aged eighty-nine years. M m I r ilii m ■!\ ■■,! ■:k Ik i) h! /SI 560 BIOORAPHICAL NOTICES. REV. IVORY HOVEY.* Rev. Ivory Hovey was born at Topsfield, near Salem, Mass., on the 3(1 of July, 0. S. 1714. He graduated at Harvard College in 1735, in the class of Mr. Curwen. He studied theology, and was settled at Matapoiset, a parish of Rochester, Massachusetts, in 1740. He left that place in 1765, and was soon after resettled in a parish of Plymouth, where he passed the remainder of an unusu- ally long and useful life. He married in 1739, Olive, daughter of Capt. Samuel Jordan, of Biddeford, Maine, who survived him a few months. Mr. Hovey was able to continue his ministerial la- bors till a few days before his death, which took place on the 4th of November, 1803, in the ninetieth year of his age. It is remarked by Dr. Alden, (from whose Collection these particulars are obtained,) that for some time before his decease, Mr. Hovey " was but the third among the living of his alma mater.:' He probably outlived all of his classmates, although he survived Mr. Curwen by only eighteen months. For sixty-five years before his death, says Alden, Mr. Hovey kept a journal, in which those things designed for his own partic- ular use were penned in a short hand, as is said, of his own inven- tion. This journal, closely written, amounts to the astonishing number of seven thousand octavo pages. The same author pub- lishes an excellent letter of great length, addressed by Mr. Hovey to a young candidate for the ministry, written twelve days only before his death. ♦ See above, page 418, where it is mentioned as uncertain whether tliis classmate of Mr. Curwen was living in 1795. The present notice of Jlr. Hovey has been prepared since that part of the work was printed. ■ll^'' BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 561 SAMUEL QUINCY. [The following additional particulars and documents relating to this unfortunate gentleman are derived from original papers, of which copies have been made and forwarded to us since the preceding notice of him was in type. Aside from the fact that they have been communicated by a lady, (Miss Eliza S. Quincy, jr., of Cambridge, Massachusetts,) these documents possess too deep an interest to be withheld from the public, although their publica- tion renders the article more voluminous than is strictly consistent with the plan of this work.] Mr. Quincy was born in that part of Braintree now Quincy, Massachusetts, April 13, 1735. He was the second son of Josiah Quincy, who at that time resided on the estate of his ancestor in that town, and who afterwards removed to Boston, and became an eminent merchant of that place. His mother's name was Hannah Sturgis, daughter of John Sturgis, Esq. of Yarmouth, Massachusetts. She died in Boston, August, 1755, aged 43, leaving three sons and one daughter. She was an excellent and religious woman, and had received the best education the country at that time afforded. Her children honored her memory, and the eminence and usefulness of their lives and characters bore testimony to the virtuous principles she had early instilled. Endowed with fine talents, Mr. Quincy became eminent in the profession of the law, and succeeded Jonathan Sewall as solicitor- general of Massachusetts. He was also distinguished for his know- ledge and attainments in general literature, and as the author of numerous fugitive essays in prose and verse, that appeared in the journals of the day. He was the intimate friend of many of the most distinguished men of that period, and an early correspond- ent of John Adams. In early life he appears to have coincided in his political course and opinions with his brothers. During the movements preceding the Revolution, his name appears on the records of the town of Boston, associated with that of Josiah Quincy, jr. From the letter written by him to his brother, so ardent a patriot, on receiving a copy of his " Observations on the Boston Port Bill," 71 U ;|t ;,i I J, , i ■ ! ( Ml im .1 ! '■ ^'5 S l*!l i IH ,;.i 1 iM 562 lUOlillAPHICAI, NOTICES. it appears that their aficction for each other remauicd unal- tered.* The feelings of his father and family, who were all devoted to the cause of freedom. and independence, were undoubtedly deeply wounded by the course Samuel Quincy pursued, as a letter of bis sister, Mrs. Lincoln, evinces. But they always continued to take an affectionate interest in his fate and fortunes ; and the want of letters from his father and friends, to which he alludes in bis letters from London, undoubtedly arose from the difficulties of transmitting letters to London at that troubled period. His father Was then advanced in life, and lived in retirement at liraintree on his paternal estate. The following impassioned letter was written to Mr. Quincy by his sister, Mrs. Lincoln, when on the eve of his departure for Eng- land : 1:1 :f' 'I '! i • fS' 1114 4 ii€ ^? r:'i:-i u%. ■if f' 1 '■ r '<« J! ■1 ' «■■ I TO SAMUEL QUINCY. Bmintrecy May 11, 1775. My dear BitoTiiKu : I write this in hopes to put it into the letter my father has just written. If it should reach you, it may serve to convince you that I have not forgotten that you are my only brother. lie must judge what I feel, when I tell him that I fear I shall never see him again. Our two departed brothers died upon the seas. Yon perhaps will say your body is sound ; it may be so, but the sick in mind call for more than Esculapian aid. If any thing could surprise me noic, the hearing of your going home would ; but of late every thing that is marvellous and strange is to be expected. I have not time to enlarge upon the compli- cated distresses of our country, of families, or of individuals, but shall briefly say that our connections have experienced such a se- ries of melancholy events as are not to be paralleled. We, my brother, I hope, can sympathize in sorrowing for the loss of a bro- ther, whose character was, as far as any man's of his age ever was, unimpeachable. In his labors for the salvation of his country, he was indefati- ♦ Sae Memoir of J. Quincy, jr., by his son PrcsiJent Qnincy, p. 100. emained unal- BIOORAPHICAL NOTICKS. 363 gable. Kis death, I hope, will prove a warninfit to others — not to pursue too eagerly any point. Nature kept upon the stretch will give way. He did not sufficiently consider the tenderness of his frame, and it may truly be said he fell a martyr in the cause of liberty. In the monody on our eldest brother I find the following lines ; they may with equal propriety be applied to the younger : " That liPart which late, innmned with jjatriot zeal, Braved the bold insults of its country's Ibe, No more its pious frenzy can reveal, Nor e'er in Freedom's cause again shall glow." Let it not be told in America, and let it not be published in Great Britain, that a brother of such brothers fled from his coun- try — the wife of his youth — the children of his affection — and from his aged sire, already bowed down with the loss of two sons, and by that of many more dear, though not so near connections, to se- cure himself from the reproaches of his injured countrymen, and to cover such a retreat, obliged to enlist as a sycophant under an ob- noxious Hutchinson, who is a tool under a cruel North, and by them to be veered about, and at last to be blown aside with a cooL " to-morrow, sir." "Refusal, canst thou wear a smootlier form ?" My blood chills at the thought of the meanness of a seekei', and flames with indignation at such treatment from those in power. Arouse from your lethargy — let reason take the helm— disregard all greatness but greatness of soul ; — then the little trappings that royalty can confer will lose their lustre, that false lustre which I fear inclines you to the 'prerogative side. Spare me, and do not call what I have written impertinent, but ascribe it to the anxiety of a sister, really distressed for thee. I behold you leaving your country, " a land flowing with milk and honey," and in which, as yet, iniquity of all k'nds is punished, and its religion as yet free from idolatry, (how long it will continue so God only knows — we have reason to fenr ? depredation on our religious system next,) for a country where evil works are committed with impunity. Caa ^ ) n I. ^% f\ I: fil ■• I i %v> :)\ If' 564 RIOORAFIIICAL NOTICES. you expect there to walk uprightly 1 Can you take fire into your bosom and not be burned 1 I take a long farewell, and wish you success in every laudable undertaking. Your afloctionate sister, II. Lincoln. ( mtm kJim hi 1 'ii TO HENRY HILL, ESQ., CAMBRIDGE. Boston, May 13, 1775. Dear Brother : There never was a time when sincerity and aflectionate unity of heart could be more necessary than at present. But in the midst of the confusions that darken our native land, we may still, by a rectitude of conduct, entertain a rational hope that the Almighty Governor of the universe a ill in his own time remember mercy. I am going, my dear iri<.-itd, to quit the habitation where I have been so long encircled with the dearest connections. I am going to hazard the unstable element, and for a while to change the scene — whether it will be prosperous or adverse, is not for me to determine. I pray God to sustain my integrity, and pre- serve me from temptation. My politica.1 character with you may be suspicious ; but be as- sured, if I c.u.not serve my country, which I shall endeavor to the utmost of my power, I will never betray it. The unhappy event which took place yesterday, was as unex- pected as it was distressful ; my concern for your safety, as well as my anxiety for the agitation of my dear partner, wounded me to the heart. Oh, cruel separation. 1 had many things to say ; I could have talked with you for evtr ; but the will of Heaven forbade it. The kind care of my family you have so generously offered, penetrates me with the deepest gratitude. If it should not be in my power to reward you, you will have that recompense greater than I can give you, the approbation of your own heart. Would to God we may again enjoy that harmonious intercourse I have been favored with since my union with your family. I will not despair of this great blessing in some future and not very distant period. * * God preserve you in health and every earthly enjoy- ment, until you again receive the salutation of Your friend and brother, Samuel Quincv. BIOORAPHICAL NOTICES. ; fire into your every laudable II. Lincoln. -I lit ay 13, 1775. Fectionate unity But in the midst : may still, by a it the Almighty lember mercy, on where I have IS. [id for a while to or adverse, is not itegrity, and pre- vious ; but be as- endeavor to the jy, was as unex- safety, as well as |ounded me to the _ to say ; I could [eaven forbade it. 'nerously offered, [should not be in ;ompense greater [n heart. Would itercourse 1 have uily. I will not not very distant ry earthly enjoy- \MUEL QuiNcv. EXTRACTS FROM MR. QUINCYS LETTERS. London, July 25, 1775. * * I have now been here a month. I have not yet seen Lord North or Lord Dartmouth, not because I could not, but be- cause I have not been sent for, and choose my own time if I do it at all. I mention this to show you how mistaken you are when you suppose I shall be strictly examined. I have just returned from a visit to one of the first law officers, by whom I was very politely received. As to politics I say nothing ; suffice it that my opinion of men and things remains the same, and is confirmed every hour. * * We have just received the news of the battle of the 17th of June, by the Cerberus ; but this is a subject on which I dare not venture. Every thing is peace here j I wish it may soon return to ray dear, dear country. TO HENRY HILL, ESQ. London, August 18, 1775. You conjure me by the love of my country, to use my best endeavors to bring about a reconciliation, suggesting that the Americans are still as determined as ever to die free, rather than live slaves ; I have no reason to doubt the zeal of my fellow- countrymen in the cause of freedom, and their firmness in its de- fence, and were it in my power, my faithful endeavors should not be wanting (nay, I have a right to say they are not) to effect an accommodation. But, my good friend, I am unhappy to find that the opinion I formed in America, and which in a great measure governed my conduct, was but too justly founded. Every propo- sal of those who are friendly to the colonies, to alter the measures of government and redress the grievances of which they complain, is spurned at, unless attended with previous concessions on their part. This there is less reason every day to expect, and thus the prospect of an accommodation is thrown at a distance ; nor is there yet the least reason to suppose that a formidable if any opposition will be framed against administration in favor of America. The people of this country are united in their attachment to the reigning i! , T |l i ,1 ^1 ii i i! If I ill '■ il ^^'i* '#',:",. m • .;• i 56G BIOaRAPHICAIi NOTICES. prince and his family. Tho kinp's ministers are their own ; and though a clamor against those who arc in power, which is ever the case in popular governments, in some measure divides the metrop- olis, the city politics never were on a lower ebb. Their petitions and remonstrances are received with indignation, as they arc con- ceived to originate from an nnti'ministerial spirit, and not as the offspring of true patriotism or friendship to America. The poiiti- cal subordination of the colonies is in this island a sacred tenet. It is not, therefore, very surprising, that the late alarming strides of colony opposition have taught them to suspect a determination to emancipate the continent from every civil connection with this country, and a dangerous design of independency, notwithstanding the denial of it in words. Under this apprehension, the yeomen, merchants, and manufacturers, in the inland parts of the country, who were wont to be advocates for America, as far as I am able to form a judgment both from information and observation, are be- ginning to murmur against them. Their common answer is, Whilst you were reasonable in your demands and complained of real burdens, wc were willing to support you, but we cannot ven- ture to assist American indepmdeuce, lest we lay a foimdation for the destruction of both countries. Their produce and manufac- tures are in quick demand, and likely to continue so, owing princi- pally to the equipment of the Spanish flota, and the late Russian war. They are therefore at peace and contented, immersed in ■wealth and commerce, and caring little what pusses beyond them. Some of the principal Ainerican merchants here with whom I have conversed, are projecting an association promising their aid to gov- ernment, and publicly to convince America that they are not to expect the assistance of the trade here in support of what they call her extravagant claims. We look, say they, upon your attempts to distress us by stopping your commerce, as a mark of your want of honesty, and your pretended flame for liberty as only a desire for domination and empire. When the lord mayor carried up to St. James's the late city remonstrance and petition for the removal of the troops from Boston, his procession, with the usual parade, at- tended by the sherifTs, aldermen and common-council, excited little attention, and was honored at the palace gate with but a dumb peal even from the tattered rabble. BtOURAPIIti; At. NOTICER. 5G7 The clTcct of the battle of Hunker Hill is n resoliilion to send more ships and troops, every species of ninmiiiiition and warlike implements, and all kinds of supply ibr the supjjort of Hoston j many of them are already embarked. Admiral Shuldam supersedes Admiral Graves, and Sir Jell'ery Andierst, it is said, has consented to accept the command, and General Gage will have leave to re- turn. What number of troops will be sent I am not able to say, but I understand much preater.in the spring;, if a negotiation does not take place. I mention these thinj^s minutely, to show you of how small importance are those flattering? articles of intelligence which sound well upon paper, and appear hifrhly spirited and influential. These are facts, not of conjecture only, but visible and operative. Your reflection will perhaps be, we must then work out our own sal- vation by the strength of our own arm, trusting in the Lord. Really, my friend, if the colonies, according to their late declaration, have made a resistance by force their choice, the contest is in short re- duced to that narrow compass. I view the dangerous and doubtful struggle with fear and trembling ; I lament it with the most cor- dial affection for my native country, and feel sensibly for my friends. But I am aware it is my duty patiently to submit the event as it may be governed by the all-wise counsels of that Being ' who ruleth in the heavens, and is the God of armies. ' TO MRS. QUINCY. * * Lo7idon, Jan. 1, 1777. The continuance of our unhappy separation has something in it so unexpected, so unprecedented, so complicated with evil and misfortune, it has become almost too burdensome for my spirits, nor have I words that can reach its description. There are passing be- fore me a thousand varying objects, some of them affording amuse- ment, and others admiration. I see many faces I have been used to. America seems to be transplanted to London. St. James's Park wears an appearance not unlike the Exchange i Boston. * * I long much to see my father. It is now more tl eighteen months since I parted with him in a manner I regret. Neither of you say any thing of the family at Biaintree. They ought not to think me regardless of them though I am silent ; for, however ill I , i ! Mr a' I I I 668 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. lightly Ihcy may look upon me, I yet remember them with pleas- Mr. David Greene is gone to Antigua. Mr. Ber- ure. * * * gvvin, of North Carolina, is now with me. * * London, March 12, 1777. You inquire whether I cannot bear contempt and reproach, rather than remain any longer separated from ray family 1 As I always wished, and I think always endeavored, not to deserve the one, so will I ever be careful to avoid the other. You urge as an inducement to my return, that my countrymen will not deprive me. of life. 1 have never once harbored such an idea. Sure I am I have never merited from them such a punishment. Difference of opinion I have never known to be a capital oflencc, and were the truth and motives of my conduct justly scrutinized,! am persuaded they would not regard me as an enemy plotting their ruin. That I might yet be able to recover in some respects the esteem of my friends, I will not doubt while I am conscious of the purity of my intentions. When I determined on a voyage to England, I resolved upon deliberation, and I still think, with judgment. I did not, in- deed, expect so hurried a succession of events, though you must remember, I long had them in contemplation. Had an accommo- dation taken pl^ce, my tour would have been greatly advantageous, especially on the score of business j what it will be now, time must tell. I am sorry you say nothing of my father, or the family at Braintree ; I have not received a line nor heard from them since I left America. * * God bless you all ; live happy, and think I am as much so as ray long absence from you will permit. March 20, 1777. I am not surprised much that, to the loss of property, I have already sustained, I am to suffer further depredations, and that those to whom I am under contract should avail themselves of this opportunity and endeavor to make what is left their own. All I ask is that my brother and my other friends (if I have any) would think of me as they ought, and to be assured, that as far as they inter- pose their assistance to save me from sufTering, they will not here- after find me deficient in return. " ( JILM BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 569 October 15, 1777. If things should not wear a more promising aspect at the open- ing of the next year, by all means summon resolution to cross the ocean. But if there is an appearance of accoramoilaling this truly unnatural contest, it would be advisable for you to bear farther promise ; as I mean to return to my native country whenever I may be permitted, and there is a chance for my procuring a live- lihood. But I do not say that I will not accept of an opening here, if any one should offer that I may think eligible. n London, April 18, 1778. The late unexpected change of the state of public affairs in this kingdom has occasioned a variety of speculation among men of moderate principles in both parties. While some construe the concessions of parliament as the effect of fear and pusillanimity, others regard them as the offspring of humanity, a desire to put an end to war and the fruitless eff"usion of kindred blood. The pros- pect of a foreign rupture has doubtless its weight ; but a wish to restore the confidence of America by generous overtures, and its dependence by a mild administration of government, I believe is really a principal foundation of the present terms. Would to God they may be such as will meet the voice and wish of the colonies, and the result be a reunion of two countries whose interests, in my opinion, can never be divided. I have lived to see the beginning, and thus far the progress of this cruel convulsion ; my prayer is that I may live to see the end of it. It has produced effects won- derful and illustrious ; in some of which we may discern and ad- mire the great hand of Providence, in others the havoc of corrupt passions and ambition. Devastation and death are inseparable attendants in the train of war. I regret my once happy conntry has, in so short a time, experienced so large a share of them. They are events I have long ago trembled at as a picture of imagination only ; my heart is, however, now disburdened in some degree by a prospect that the wrath of man will no longer prevail to the de- struction of life and property. By the favor of Lord Willoughby (of Parhara) with whom, by the kindness of my friend Mr. Fraser, I have the honor of an inti- mate acquaintance, my curiosity has been several times gratified 72 sr ^ !-!, t\ 1 1 Miltlpf ' 570 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. by an access to the house of lords, during the most important in- quiries ; particularly about ten days since, when the great Lord Chatham came down to the house tottering upon his "eeble limbs, to give his voice and advice on the present critical and dangerous exigence of the state. The business f'" ♦he day being introduced by the Duke of Richmond, Lord Chatham rose, and in a faltering tone of voice, manifestly enfeebled since I heard him before, began his remarks by recurring to former periods of national alarm, compared them to the evils now complained of, pointing out the causes and their remedy, and then delivered his opinion on the two great questions of a war with France, and the independence of America. His speech was short to what I expected, and I believe much shorter than he intended. The Duke of Richmond rose in reply, and with some asperity objected to what had fallen from the noble earl. Whether this or mere bodily weakness was the cause I know not, but just as the duke had finished, his lordship suddenly fainted. The house was immediately ordered to be cleared, and the doors and windows set open ; but eager to see so celebrated a senator, as I thought in his last moments, I ventured to press in again, and saw him borne off on the shoulders of the Duke of Cumberland and other noblemen of the first distinction, pale and speechless. " Silent that tongue, On which, enrapt, admiring senates hung." It was a grand though an affecting sight ! Supposing him to be near his exit, I almost wished to see him die within those walls, where for so many years he has figured to his own honor and the glory of his country. * * * If there is an accommodation, I shall certainly turn my views to some part of the continent, unless something very promising should offer elsewhere. It would grieve me very much to think of never again seeing ray father ; God bless him, and many other worthy friends and relations in New England ; but a return to my native country I cannot be reconciled to until I am convinced that I am as well thought of as I know I deserve to be. I shall ever rejoice in its prosperity, but am too proud to live despised where I was once respected — an object of insult instead of the child of favor. * * BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 571 You suggest, that had I remained,! might still have been with you in honor and employment. It may be so, but when I left America I had no expectation of being absent more than a few months, little thinking operations of such magnitude would have followed in so quick a succession; I left it from principle, and with a view of emolument. If I have been mistaken it is my misfortune, not my fault. My first letters from my friends congratulated me on being out of the way ; and I was pleased to find my under- taking met with their approbation as well as my own. The hearts of men were not within i ly reach, nor the fortuitous ev( it of things within my control. " I am indeed a poor man ;" but even a poor man has resources of comfort that cannot be torn from him, nor are any so miserable as to be always under the influence of inau- spicious stars. I will therefore still endeavor to bear my calamities with firmness, and to feel for others. * * Those who have befriended my family are entitled to my warmest gratitude, and I hope you will never fail to express it for me. Whether it ever will be in ray power to recompense them I know not, but no endeavor of mine shall be wanting to effect it. * * * I conjecture, though you do not mention from what quar- ter, you have received unkindness. There are in this world many things we are obliged and enabled to encounter, which at a dis- tance appear insupportable. You must have experienced this as well as I ; and it ought to teach us that best doctrine of philoso- phy and religion — resignation. Bear up, therefore, with fortitude, and wait patiently in expectation of a calmer and brighter day. London, May 31, 1778. By the public prints we are made acquainted with an act of the state of Massachusetts Bay, that precludes those among others from returning, who left it since the 19th of April, 1775, and "joined the enemy." You do not mention this act, nor have I any information by which I am to construe what is meant by " joining the enemy." The love of one's country, and solicitude for its wel- fare, are natural and laudable affections ; to lose its good opinion is at once unhappy, and attended with many inconsequences; how much more unfortunate to be for ever excluded from it without of- fence ! It is said also that there is a resolve of congress, " that no II r^ 'N !„,: ''! .■ (I ^4 \¥ iM -m mwm W'%,,;^ m .*?' 1 "^^'i .?#iH .iff' 572 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. absentee shall be permitted to take up his residence in any other colony without having been first received and admitted as a citizen of his own." This may have some effect on a movement I had in contemplation of going southward, where I have a very advan- tajreous offer of countenance and favor. London, March 15, 1779. " You may remember in some of ray former letters I hinted my wish to establish a residence in some other part of the conti- nent, or in the West Indies, and particularly mentioned to you An- tigua — where my kinsman Mr. Wendell, my friend Mr. David Greene, Dr. Russell and his family, Mr. Lavicourt, Mr. Vassall, and others of my acquaintance, will give the island less of the ap- pearance of a strange place. By the passing of the act of proscrip- tion the door was shut against me in my own country, where I own it would have been my wish to have ended my days. This confirmed my resolution. I have since unremittedly pursued various objects, endeavoring to drive the nail that would go. My first intention was that of transplanting myself somewhere to the southward. On this subject I thought long, and consulted others. I considered climate, friends, business, prospects in every view, and at last formed my opinion. The provinces in the south part of America in point of health were not more favorable than the islands — in point of friends they might be preferable, but with respect to business or the means of acquiring it, uncertain ; public commotion yet continued, violent prejudices are not easily removed. I had neither property nor natural connections in either of them. I could have no official influence to sustain me. What kind of government or laws would finally prevail it was difficult to tell. These and other reasons determined me against the attempt. But to stay longer in England, absent from my friends and family, with a bare subsistence, inactive, vpithout prospects, and useless to ray- self and the world, was death to rae ! What was the alternative ? As I saw no chance of procuring either appointraent or eraploy here, the old ol^ect of the West Indies recurred, where in my younger days I wished to have remained ; and by the influence of some particular gentlemen I have at last obtained the place of " Comptroller of the Customs at tiie port of Parham in Antigua j" BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 573 in any other id as a citizen ment I had in I very advan- 'i 15, 1779. tters I hinted t of the conti- led to you An- nd Mr. David :, Mr. Vassall, less of the ap- ict of proscrip- luntry, where I ny days. This ttedly pursued would go. self somewhere , and consulted ispects in every :es in the south favorable than irable, but with [certain; public lasily removed. lither of them. What kind of IdiflFicult to tell. attempt. But nd family, with useless to my- [he alternative 1 lent or employ where in ray |the influence of the place of in Antigua ;" for which island I mean to embark with the next convoy. My view is to join the profits of business in the line of my profession to the emoluments of office. This I flatter myself will afford me a handsome maintenance. I grow old too fast to think of waiting longer for the moving of the waters, and have therefore cast my bread upon them, thus in hopes that at last, after many days, I may find it. Transmit to my father every expression of duty and affection. If he retains the same friendship and parental fondness for me I have always experienced from him, he will patronize my children, and in doing this he will do it unto me. It was my intention to have written to him, but the subjects on which I want to treat are too personally interesting for the casualties of the present day. He may rest assured it is my greatest unhappiness to be thus denied the pleasing task of lightening his misfortunes and soothing the evening of his days. Whatever may be the future events of his life, I shall always retain for him the warmest filial respect, and if it is my lot to survive him, shall ever think it a pleasure as well as ray duty to promote to my utmost the welfare of his posterity. My mother will also accept of my duty and good wishes ; the prosper- ity of the whole household lies near my heart, and they will do me injustice if they think me otherwise than their affectionate friend. * * * Col. Scott yesterday received a letter from his wife, by the Marquis de la Fayette, by which I learn you were all well the 4th January last. * * With respect to ray property in America, my wish and desire is, if I have any control over it, that my friends there collectively, or some one singly under your direction, would take it into their hands, and consolidating the debts I owe into one sum, apply it to their discharge. I can think of no better way than this. If eventually I am deprived of it, I will endeavor to bear it with that fortitude which becomes a Christian and philosopher. P. S. I could wish above all things to preserve my law books. TO HENRY HILL, ESQ. London, May 25, 1779. " * * I have obtained an appointment at Parham, in Antigua, ■' V \i \" iliil : !«'■;< 1 1 Et 574 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. as comptroller of the customs, and am to embark soon for St. Kitts. * * It is this (lay four years since I left Boston, and though I have been racked by my own misfortunes and my feelings for the distresses of my family and friends, I have still by a good Provi- dence been blessed with health and comforted by the kindness of many friends. If I have not been in affluence, I have been above want, and happy in the esteem of numbers in this kingdom to whom T was altogether a stranger. * * The education of my children is uppermost in my heart. The giving my son the benefit of classi- cal learning by a course of college studies, is a step I much approve. The sequestration of my books is more mortifying to me than any other stroke. If they are not yet out of your power save them for me at all events. wm^^^' mm mm4wM ill ;•"' itt TO THE REV. DR. WIGGLESWORTH, HOLLIS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY, CAMBRIDGE. Jlivtigua, June 28, 1782. , * * Nothing has laid so near my heart during my absence and misfortunes as the advancement of the education of my chil- dren. The honor ray son is about to receive at the approaching solemnities I hope will be well earned. *' * * It was always nay desire, and more than once have I intimated to ycu my inclination, to turn my thoughts and influence towards the prosperity of the college ; how that object has been defeated needs no explanation. I was ever their well wisher — they would have found me their benefactor. In a copy of a letter to a friend, apparently in the West Indies, but whose name does himself: not appear, Mr. Quincy thus expresses Antigua, Feb. 1, 1782. You ask of me an account of my coming to the West Indies, the manner of my existence, and destination, &c. The story is long, and would require many anecdotes to give the true history, but you will excuse me if at present I say only, that in the year 1775, just after the battle of Lexington, I quitted America for Lon- don on motives of business, intending to return in a few months ; but my absence was construed by our good patriots as the effect of n for St. K'ltts. , and though I feelings for the a good Pvovi- the kindness of avc been above ngdora to whom of ray children \)enefit of classi- 1 much approve. ; to me than any ?er save them for SDR OF DIVINITY, June 28, 1782. uring my absence cation of my chil- [t the approaching It was always ray GU my inclination, prosperity of the Is no explanation. e found me their In the West Indies, cy thus expresses ^, Feb. i, 1782. |o the West Indies, l&c. The story is Ive the true history, lly, that in the year 1 America for Lon- in a few months ; liots as the effect of BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, 676 my political principles, and improved first to my proscription, after- wards to the very flattering title of traitorous conspirator, and the confiscation of my estate. I remained in England several years, but, tired of waiting for the moving of the waters, and unwil- ling to waste the flower of my age in a state of indolence, neither profitable to myself nor ray family, I resolved to seek my fortune in this part of the world, where I had been in ray younger days,— obtained a berth in the customs, which, together with the emolu- ments of my profession, afford me a comfortable subsistence, and the prospect of something beyond. Your friend, &c., Samuel Quincy. to henry hill, esq., boston. St. Christopher, July 26, 1783. My DEAR Brother : I am sorry to find that the letters you wrote me after the tidings you received of ray loss of your dear sister,* never reached me, as by that means I was deprived of the consolations, which the sym- pathy of our friends affords in the hour of grief. * * For strange as it may seem, however painful the idea that we are for ever separated from our friends, there is something pleasing to me in calling to memory the conversations, the attitudes, which present them in the strongest point of view, the occasions upon which, and the places where they have most administered to our felicity and comfort. If this is not the case, how great a part of the small pit- tance of enjoyment allotted to us in this life is broken off. How many of our former friendships and sweetest intercourse would be for ever obliterated, and dead to recollection ; our fund of gratifi- cation would be confined to the narrow limits of the objects imrae- diately around us. There is in some persomj a strange kind of reluctance to conversing about their dead friends ; as if those passages in their character which render their memory dear, could not be thought upon without recalling the circumstances of their departure. To die is the lot of humanity ; if the sentiments and conduct of those who have been separated from us, are such as have * The wife of Mr. Quincy, who died Nov. 1782. Jl ':* m fi?:^''p M li ill F'-'^^v* ■? t'-^ 576 niOORAPHICAL NOTICES. afTordcd us cither amusement or instruction, and their example wor- thy of imitation, the more we meditate or confer upon their native and ornamental graces, the more we pay them honor ; the more likely are we (at the same time that we receive a sensible grati- fication) to imbibe the amiable qualities in which they excelled, and to adopt their virtues. • * * * If the events of life were under our control, it is probable wc should endeavor to govern them to the purpose of our views. In that case 1 should soon be in tiie society of my nearest friends; it would be immaterial to me in what part of the world, for I have long since learned that happiness is not confined to any particular spot : diffused equally through the immense space of air and earth, the animal part of creation, whether rational or brute, possess it in every region ; and most likely were we permitted to carve for ourselves, our fortunes would be still more chequered than they are. This reflection, at the same time it expands our idea of the Deity, has a tendency to teach us acquiescence in the state to ■which we are destined. Change seems to be as necessary to sus- tain the present link of being as air and food, for though the acci- dental ties of birth, kindred, and friendship, have a powerful influence on our affections, if the latter is met with where least expected, it has there its most j)eculiar energy, and the former gradually lessen as the probability of restoring them is removed in a greater or less degree. TO SAMUEL QUINCY, JR., CAMBRIDGE. June 10, 1785. ' How anxious soever I may feel to see rny friends and rela- tions once more, I cannot think of doing it at the expense of ray liberty ; nor will I ever visit that country where I first drew my breath, but upon such terms as I have always lived in it ; and such as I have still a right to claim from those who possess it, — the character of a gentleman. * * * The proposal Judge Sumner has hinted to me of keeping his old berth for you at lloxbury, is a good one, at least better than Boston. Cultivate his good opinion, and deserve his patronage ; he will bestow the latter for my sake, I trust, as well as his personal esteem for you. It will also stand you in stead at court, where I hope you will one day figure as a r example wor- )on Ihcir native )nor; the more \ sensible giati- h they excelled, 1, it is probaLle se of our views, nearest friends ; rtorlil, for I have to any particular of air and earth, •ute, possess it in ted to carve for quered than they Is our idea of the ;e in the state to necessary to sus- r though the acci- have a powerful with where least and the former leiQ is removed in June 10, 1785. friends and rela- he expense of ray e I first drew my s lived in it ; and who possess it,— sal Judge Sumner , at Roxbury, is a his good opinion, atter for ray sake. It will also stand ne day figure as a BIOORAPHICAF, NOTICES. rj77 legiajator as well as an advocate. All depends upon setting out right. You are at the edge of a precipice, or ought to consider yourself so; from whence, ifyou fall, the " revocare gradum" is a task indeed. Resolve, then, to think right, and act well ; keep- ing up to that resolution will procure you daily the attention of all ranks, and command for you their respect. Keep alive the cause of truth, of reason, of virtue, and of liberty, if I may be permitted to use that name, who have by some injuriously been thought in a conspiracy against it. This is the path of duty, and will be the source of blessing. July 24, 1789. I am exceedingly sorry to hear of the distracted political situa- tion of Massachusetts. * * * A constitution founded on mere republican principles has always appeared to me a many-headed monster, and, however applauded by a Franklin, a Price, and a Priestley, that in the end it must become a suicide. Mankind do not in experience appear formed for that finer system, which, in theory, by the nice adjuf>tment of its parts promises permanency and repose. The passions, prejudices, and interests of some will always be in opposition to others, especially if they are in place. This, it may be said, is the case in all governments, but I think less so in a monarchy than under a republican code. The people at large feel an overbalance of power in their own favor ; they will naturally endeavor to ease themselves of all expenses which are not lucrative to them, and retrench the gains of others, whether the reward of merit or genius, or the wages of a hireling. Turtola, June 1, 1789. My bear Son : Your short letter of the 14th February gave me pleasure, as it informed me of your health and that of your family, and other friends in the neighborhood of Roxbury. # » « It would be my wish to make you a visit once more in my life, could it be ascertained I might walk free of insult, and unmolested in person. Two things must concur to satisfy me of this, — the repeal of the act passe.l 1779, against certain crown officers, as traitors, conspirators, &c. ; and accommodation with those who 73 II ;' I Ui '! ( rM I'M >:\\vm pi i i! i.1 Il»l II 578 DIOCIR APHIC AL NOTICES. IM' '''0 ,' ■ i .^' ' (!■' St J*. have against me pecuniary demands. The first I have never yet learned to be repealed, either in whole or in part, and therefore I consider it as a stumbling-block at the threshold ; the second, no steps I suj)pose have been taken to effect, although I think it might be done by inquiry and proposition — with some by a total release from demand, and with others by a reasonable compromise. If you ever wish your father to repose under your roof, you will take some pains to examine the list, and make the trial. I shall shortly, I hope, be in a situation to leave this country, if I choose it ; but whether Europe, of the two objects I have in view, will take the preference, may depend on the answer I rnay receive from you, upon the hints I have now thrown out for your consideration and filial exertions. * # « I have been, as I informed you in my last, a good deal indis- posed for some time past. I find myself, however, better on the whole at present, though I feel the want of a bracing air. Adieu. Your ailisctionate parent, Samuel Quihcv. Soon after the date of this last letter, Mr. Quincy embarked for England, accompanied by his wife.* The restoration of his health was the object of the voyage, but the effort was unsuccessful ; he died at sea, within sight of the English coast. His remains were carried to England, and interred on Bristol hill. His widow imme- diately re-embarked for the West Indies, but her voyage was tempestuous. Grief for the loss of her husband, to whom she was strongly attached, and suffering from the storm her vessel encoun- tered, terminated her life on her homeward passage. ♦ Mr. Quincy was luurried to a second wife at Antigua. P' ■ \ whom she was ?r vessel encoun- LINES BY DR. COOPER, PRESIDENT OF KING'S, NOW COLUMBIA, COLLEGE. The following lines were written by Dr. Cooper, in England, on the 10th of May, 1776, the anniversary of his departure IVom New-York. As it is descriptive of his precipitate flight from the college, to avoid the outrages of a mob, this efl'usion may be regarded as a document of historical interest, aside from the beauty of the poetry. To thee, O God t by whom I live, The tribute of my soul I cive. On this revolving dny ; To thee, O God ! my voice I raise, To thee address my grateful praise. And swell the duteous lay. Nor has this orb unueasing rua lis annual circle, round the sun, Since when the heirs of strife. Led by the pale moon's midnight ray, And bent on mischief, urged their way To seize my guiltless life. At ease my weary limbs were laid, And slumbers sweet around me shed The blessings of repose : Unconscious of the dark design, I knew no base intent was mine, And therefore fear'd no foes. When straight a heaven-directed youth,* Whom oft my lessons led to truth, And honor's sacred shrine, Advancing quick, before the rest. With tremblmg tongue my ear addrest, Yet sure in voice divine : "Awake! awake! the storm is ni£[h — This instant rouse— this instant tly— The next may be loo laiu : Fuar hundred men, a hostile band, Access imnortunate dcmarjd, And snake the croaning gate." I wake— I fly— whilst loud and near Dread execrations wound my ear. And sore my soul dismay ; One avenue alone remain'd, A speedy passage there I gain'd Ana wirig'd my rapid way. That moment all the furious throng. An entrance forcing, pour'd alonij;. And fill'd my peaceful cell ;t Nor yet content— but hopinc still, Their impious purpose to fiillil. They force each yielding door ; And whilst their curses load my head. With piercing steel they probe the bed. And thirst for human gore. Meanwhile along the sounding shore, Where Hudson's waves incessant roar, I work my weary way ; And skirt the windings of the tide. My faithful pupil by my side. Nor wish the approach of day. At length ascending from the beach, With hopes reviv'd by morn, I reach The good Palemon'st cot ; Where free from terror and affright, I calmly wait the coming night. My every fuar forgot. 'Twas then I scai'd the vessel's S side. Where all the amities abide That mortal worth can boast ; Whence, with a lon^ini,', lintiering view, I bid my much-lov'd York adifU, And sougiit my native coast. Now all compos'd, from danger far, 1 hear no more the din of war, Nor shudder at alarms ; But sak'ly sink each niglil to rest, No malice rankling through my breast, In freedom's fusteiing arms. Though stripp'd of most ilie world admires, Yet torn by fLWUiitain'd desires, I rest in calm content ; And humbly liope a gracious Lord Again tliosi; blessings will afiord, Which once his bounty lent. Yet still for many a faithful friend, Shall day by day my vows ascciid Thy dwelling, O my God! Where hurmlesa jest, and modest mirth, Who steady still in virtue's cause, And cheerful laughter oft had birth. Despising faction's mimic laws. And joy was wont to dwell. The paths of peace have trod. Not ev'n the Muses' hallow'd fane. Nor yet for friend alone- for all Their lawless fury can restrain. Too prone to heed sedition's call, Or check their headlong haste ; Hear me, indulgent Heaven ! They push them from their solemn seat, O! may they cast tiioir arms away, Profane their long rever'd retreat. To Thee, and George, suhmifsion pay, And lay their Pindus waste. Repent and be forgiven ! ■ Mr. Nicholas Osden. t Mr. Siuyvcsnnt's seat in the Bowei7. t King's, now Columbia College. § Kiiigfi.--lier, hluop of war, bound to England. 1" Cil} !t 5 l:-i. \\ ir I'! If f: * ■ .f,i.;:i ^Y: ml 'li 1!' ' 1 1 Vw ■■' iv': ;. I '^\ ■iH, NEW- YORK CONFISCATION ACT. An Act for the Korlciturc (uul Snlo of tlio tHlnteH ofPcrHons who hnvo adlicrcd to the EiietnicH of this Stiilc, iitul for deiiliiriri); tliu Sove- reignty of the People of this State in respect to all property within the Hiiuic.— I'liHseil, October 22, 1789. Therefore be it unacted by tho People of the State of New- York, etc., Tluu John Murray, Eurl of Duninnre, formerly governor of the colony of New-York, William Tryon, E«(|,, late governor of the Haid colony, John Watts, Oliver De Lancoy, IIiigl> Wallace, Henry White, John Harris Criiger, William Axtell, and Roger Morris, Esq., late members of the council of the said county ; George Duncan Ludlow and Thomas Jones, late justices of the supreme court of the said colony ; John Tabor Kempc, late attorney-general of tho said colony ; Williani Uayard, Robert Bayard, and James Do Lancey, now or late of the city of New-York, Esqs. ; David Matthews, late mayor of said city ; Jamea Jauncey, George Folliot, Thomas White, William McAdam, Isaac Low, Miles Sherbrook, Alexander Wallace, and John Wetherhead, now or late of tho said city, merchants; Charles Inglis, of the said city, clerk, and Margaret his wife; Sir John Johnson, late of tho county of Tryon, knight and baronet; Guy Johnson, Daniel Claus, and John Butler, now or late of the said county, Esq. ; and John Joost Hcrkemer, now or late of the said county, yeoman ; Frederick Philipwe and James Do Lancey, now or late of the county ol Westchester, Esqs. ; F'rederick Philipse, (son of Frederick,) now or late of the said county, gentleman; David Colden, Daniel Kis- sam the elder, and Gabriel Ludlow, now or late of Queen's county, Esqa. ; Philip Skeene, now or late of the county of Charlotte, Esq., and Andrew P. Skeene, son of Philip Skeene, late of Charlotte county ; Benjamin Seaman and Christopher Billop, now or late of the county of Richmond, Esqs. ; Beverly Robinson, Beverly Robinson the younger, and Mal- com Morrison, now or late of the county of Dutchess, Esqs. ; John Kane, now or late of tlie said county, gentleman ; Abraham C. Cuyler, now <> laie of the county of Albany, Esq. ; Robert Leake, Edward Jessiip, u,! i Ebenezor Jessup, now or late of the said county, gentlemen ; and i'«tor Du Bois and Thomas H. Barclay, now or late of the county of Ulster, Esqs. ; Susannah Robinson, wife to the said Beverly Robinsoti. and Mary Morris, wife to the said Roger Morris ; John Rapelje, of Kings county, Esq.; George Morrison, Richard Floyd, and Parker Wickliani. of Suffolk county, Esq^. ; Henry Lloyd the elder, late of the .state of Massachusetts Bay, merchant ; and Sir Henry Clinton, knight, be and each of them are hereby severally declared to be, ipso facto, convicted and attainted of the oilrnce aforesaid; and that all and singular the estate, both real and personal, held or claimed by iliem the said persons severally and respectively, whether in po-gscssioii, reversioner renKiinder, within this state, on the day of the pas.sjng of this act, shall be, iuul here- by is declared to be forfeited to, and vcssted in the People of this State. \y/\ I •Hons who hnvo uring the Hove- propcrty within New-York, otr., r of the colony of mill colony, John lite, John Hiirria luemberrt of the il TliomiVH Jonos, in Tabor Kempc, Haynril, Robert ity of New-York, I Jauncoy, George Miles Sherbrook, of the saiil city, klargarct his wife ; ind baronet; Guy if the said county, the said county, [lovv or late of the ion of Frederick,) den, Daniel Kis- en'fl county, Esq^- ; ,Bq., and Andrew ounty, Benjamin unly of Richmond, ounger, and Mal- Esqs. ; John Kaiu\ C. Cuyler, now <■ dward Jessup, a.i i tlemen; and lVn> r county of Ulster, rly Robinson, and Rapcljc, of Kings Piirkcr Wiikhani, ito of the state o!" oil, knight, be and [)so facto, convicted and singular the 111 the said persons rsioii or remainder, shall be, and lierc- iple of this State. THE PEPPERRELLS OF KITTERY. As this was the only native New England family ennobled by the British government previous to the Revolution, and as the honor wau conferred for distinguished public service, it would [seem that further notice than what has been taken in the introduction and in pp. 449 and 526 is due, and will, no doubt, be acceptable to the reader. The fortune of General Pepperrcll far exceeded any that had been amafised in New England, and his enterprise and public spirit shed u wide-spread influence around. He loaned a large sum for the furtherance of the expedition he was destined to command. And notwithstanding that Franklin and other prominent men of the middle and southern provinces pronounced the contemplated siege and attack of Luuisburg to be Quixotic, so satisfied was Pepperrcll of the feasibility of the plan, and that the reduction of that stronghold of the enemy was an object of vast importance, that he willingly hazards u fortune, fame, and life itself, foi" i ' accomplishment. His zeal in the business imparted new life to the people, and he finally succeeded in influencing the co-opeiation of all the New England gov- ernments. Fortune adhered to him in this as in all his commercial enterprises, and to the good judgment ho displayed, as well as to his example of per- sonal bravery, is the final success of the expedition mainly to be attri- buted. By command of the king, (George II,) General Pepperrcll repaired to England soon after the surrender of the French, and upon presenta- tion, after an expression of ,. i] M, I 5*1 fV' •t.M K I'l I i^ \'' t iiii! I \ i^; m^'m ;l! ,( Xf- I J.anishment, the forfeiture of a princely domain, which he held only in trust — it being entailed — and which the act of confiscation could not le- gally reach. He was exemplary in private life, contributed largely to the relief of t'l !f[ iii m I I' fell: i i k '<' ill I'- ■ 1 t) • i''. •k't if H I ill! I: »ittive countrymen, and faithrully served his feliow-suflerera in the cause of loyalty, as well in a pecuniary as in other points of view. He was amongst the leaders in that great work, the establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The following letters from Sir William Pepperrell to his friend the late Isaac Winslow, Esq. of Boston, who had married Miss Sparhawk, of Sa- lem, a cousin of the baronet fully evinces his charity for his political oppo nents, notwithstanding the bitterness which marked their writings and conduct. And it is a remarkable feature in the ktters of the loyalists throughout the revolution, that they exhibited an ardent love of country, and great liberality towards those who differed from them, notwithstand- ing their sufferings from proscription, confiscation, mobs, and finally ban- ishment. Extracts of Letters from Sir William Pepperrell, Bart, to Isaac Wiiui- low^ Esq., in New- York. London, Nov. 21, 1780. Mv DEAR Friend — I had the pleasure of writing you by the October packet to inform you of my having obtained a grant for you from the Treasury of £100 per annum. I can say with great truth that the servi- ces which my situation in this country has enabled me to render my bro- ther loyalists, have been in the worst of times a source of real comfort to me, and a very great alleviation of the weight of my own misfortunes. I trust I cannot in any one instance be charged with having neglected to render these very worthy but unfortunate brother exiles every sciTice in my power. I claim no merit from a most faithful discharge of this duty ; I only mean to convince you that in this instance my duty and inclination have gone hand in hand. « December 6, 17S0. I received your packet by Maj. Harnage. I gave Mr. Thompson.* Lord George Germaine^s Secretary, your letter to his lordship. I liked the sentiments it contained very much, and I am sure they will be pleas- ing to his lordship- I had an interview with Lord North a few dayp ago. when I uiked him for your grant, as I have more than once done so to my frieuil Lord G. Germaine, for his recommendation of you, and to my good friend Mr. Thompson for his kintl assistance. August 19, 1781. " Besides, I was led to believe that my Surinam estate would yield this year clear three hundred and fif\y hogsheads sugar; and being made very comfortable the year before with three hundred, I thought myself happy in being allowed to expect so large an addition clear of all expenses But ' riches take unto themselves wings and fly avcay,^ for I cannot ex - ♦ Afterwards the celebrated philoaoplier Count Rutnford. /. to Isaac Wim- THE PEPPERRELLS OF KITTERY 587 pect this year to get home any part of the produce. Mr. Hudson, of Am- sterdam, who has had the consignment of the sugars for these forty years, has already made a difficulty about crediting me any longer. And Mr. Lane has hinted, that as the remittances from Holland are stopped, I can no longer expect he will continue to advance. I am not, however, under any concern about my situation, for I think there will be a peace with Holland, and if things come to the worst, I can live decently in a retired situation for £500 sterling per annum, which I am allowed from govern- ment; therefore be under no concern about me." October 2, 1781. I beg leave to return you my sincere thanks for the kind concern you show for my welfare in the advice you hive given me, respecting the plan which has been so much talked of for a new government at the Eastward. I have never entertained an idea of coming out to it myself, or of accept- ing any other employment in America, if I could possibly avoid it; but in case of a happy reconciliation, and then if my friends wished it, I would certainly make an offer of my services. You will receive this by my worthy friend Col. Thompson,* who is going out to join his regiment of dragoons. I have recommended you to him as one of my best friends, and I am sure, from the friendchip that hat* ever subsisted between us, he will be desirous of rendering you every service in his power, and I entreat you to mention your wishca to him without reserve. My friends in New- York cannot oblige me more than by showing particular attention to this great and worthy character. He has been uniformly the patron of our loyal American brethren ; and the services he has rendered them, and the ardent zeal he has constantly shown in their cause, as well as his amiable disposition and uncommon literary merit, give him every possible claim to their esteem and affec- tion. London, Dec. 2, 1781. " I condole with you on the great national calamity that has befallen us in Virginia; it is great and distressing beyond measure; and when I think of the sacrifice made of our dear and worthy brethren in that coun- try by the tenth article of the capitulation, I am filled with horror ! I will say no more till I hear the particulars. I am quite in the dark respecting the measures government intend to pursue in America ; but it is general- ly supposed that we shall not extend our posts, but strengthen those we ha"e, and confine our future operations chiefly to the sea. You will be- lieve me when I tell you that I heartily join you tn your wishes for a peace ; but I cannot possibly see how that happy event can be brought about, till America becomes a little more reasonable ; for the constitutional * Afterwards Count Rumford h !■ Hi- ilMli'i ^M' lit I H 1 11 J-' »■*!■■''■ ':^ mi li," 1' :■ fill '?■> ■ 'f ' n »' ly^ I'^lE^ R^'^ 588 THE PEPPERRELLS OF KITTERY. dependence of that country (for no other is talked of or wished for) seems to be so interwoven witli the most essential rights and privileges of the mother country, that it is a question whether a ministry could be found in tlie kingdom !hat would dare give it up ; that would dare, I may say, to dissolve a tie on which our very existence ad a free people must princi- pally depend. The nation, with all its weight of misfortunes, is not yet prepared for a measure so niinous and disgraceful. It will suffer again and again before it will consent to its own annihilation." Sir William Pepperrell had becoine responsible for merchandise •shipped at his own suggestion, for account of his friend Mr. Winslow, and which, owing to the adverse circumstances of the timeei, did not prove ad- vantageous to his friend. He thus alludes to it in a letter to Mr. Wins- low, 3d Jan. 1782 : " I am sorry co And your goods were damaged, and more so that you have suffered yourself, at a time when you had so many other troubles to distress you, to be so anxious about them on my account. 1 do assure you I am under no concern about them myself, except that I feel a little mortified that my intentions respecting them will not be so fully answered as I could wish. Let the event be what it may, I beg leave to remind you of my being a volunteer in the matter, and that there is not any thing for which you can possibly blame yourself. You never made any request to me upon the subject, but the goods were sent in compliance with my wishes." February 6, 1782. I take the liberty of sending to your care my late father-in-law's will,* which I beg you will forward by the first opportunity to Mr. Bowdoin, whom Col. Roj'all has left one of his executors. You may send it open or not, with my letter as you think best. March 6, 1792. I know not what to say to you upon politics. Upon several questions respecting a peace with America which have b<^en agitated of late in the House of Commjns, you will see by the papers, that administration have been outvoted by tl "i opposition, and left in the minority. Administration seem desirous of going any reasonable length for the purpose of obtain- ing a peace, but cannot see themselves clear in purchasing it at the enor- mous price of American independence. What will be the final determi- nation is yet a secret ; but I have been very long convinced that this country would be very happy to hearken to any reasonable terms of ac- commodation with America, but her sovereignty over the country she finds it hard to relinquish. Whether administration will be able to keep their ground is somewhat uncertain ; but as they are as desirous of peace » Isaac Royall, founder of the Professorship which bears hie name. hed for) seems kvilegcB of the ;ould be found ire, 1 may say, (le must princi- ines, is not yet rill suffer again r merchandise r.Win8iow,and d not prove ad- jr to Mr. Wins- I damaged, and 3U had so many on my account, ilf, except that I I will not be so It it may, 1 beg r, and that there lelf. You never ds were sent in uary 6, 1782. Er-in-law's will,* [o Mr. Bowdoin, my send it open irch 6, 17S2. icveral questions led of late in the linistration have Administration irpose of obtain- ig it at the enor- he final determi- vinced that this ible terms of ac- the country she be able to keep iesirous of peace I hie name. THE PEPPERRELL8 OF KITTERY. &89 as their upposers, and only differ about the means that ought to be used for the accomplishment of so desirable an end, it appears rather probable at present that they will not resign. You will have heard before this reach- es you ot the resignation of Lord George Germaine, who is created a peer with the title of Viscount Sackville, and of his being succeeded by Mr. Ellis, late Treasurer of the Navy, of whom, though his lordship has led me to entertain the most favorable sentiments, yet I cannot but think that the public, and particularly the American loyalists, have sustained a heavy loss by the resignation of Lord George. London, April 2, 1782. You will be surprised at the total change in administration, but will with me acquiesce in it, if productive of the desirable event for which we have both been so long wishing : and if n peace should also be settled with Holland, I am sure in a matter in which your friend is so nearly con- cerned, will be pleasing to one who wishes him so well. Many are san- guine in their expectations, that both these important f^b;?"^- 'ill be ob- tained in consequence of the change ; should they be right I shall bless the day on which it took place. But my time will only admit of my tell- ing you thus abruptly, that in every change I shall be ever yours. P. S. This will be delivered to you by Brooke Watson, Esq.,* whom, I hope, through Col. Thompson, you will be acquainted with. * Sir Brooke Watson, afterwards Lord Mayor and Member of Parliament. His rescue from the jaws of a shark when a eea-boy, and bathing in the harbour of Ila- vanna, was the subject of one of Mr. Copley's best pictures. It seems the shark seized his leg, snapped it off, and waa about to devour him, when a sailor struck the monster between the eyes with a heavy boat-hook, and saved his companion. The terror of the boy, the fury of the fish, and the resolution of the mariner are well rep- resented, while the agitated water in which the scene is laid seems bloody. This picture adorns the walls of Christ's Hospital, London. A curious anecdote has been related of him wbile Commissary General, and 1 ravelling in America. He, it seems, arrived at a Ljuntry inn at a proper dinner hour, very hungry. The inn-keeper, inattentive to his inquiry about dinner, looked earnestly at his wooden leg, when the following dialogue took place : Commissary. Why do you not reply to my inquiry ? Landlord. Why, Squire, I'm dreadful curious to know how you lost your leg. Commissary. If I tell you will you give me dinner at once 1 Landlord. Oh ! ye3. Squire, and such a one as you never eat. Commissary. Will you agree not to ask me any other question 1 Landlord. Yes, Squire ; not another word will I ax you. Cnmmissary. Well, then, it was bit off — now give me dinner at once. It seems the Commissary was sensitive on this point, and the pangs of hunger only could have induced him to talk about it. if h \\ 11' I M IB lis i; :' It If! I m Mi' rtl 1 11^' 11 =^Ji 590 THE PEPPERRELLS OF KITTERY. London, Aug. 7, 1782. " It would seem that government despairs of getting our American property restored to us at a peace, and are endeavoring to obviate every difficulty in the way of that desirable event. It is said here that Savan- nah and Charleston are to be evacuated, and the troops sent to the West Indies ; I think there can be no doubt but that New- York will be kept at least till a peace, which we do not seem to be nearer to than we were very long ago ; the language here is, that we cannot make a safe peace till we have reduced the marine of the house of Bourbon, and that we ought to bend our whole force to that object. America to be let alone by land, till she is disposed to accept of conditional independence, which even Lord Shelburne, I think, has consented in his public speeches to grant as -•'ion as she is in a humor to negotiate. If Lord Howe, who I am told is soon to go to Gibraltar with forty sail of the line, can get a successful stroke at the combined fleets, our country may be put into that'disposition sooner than Congress may imagine. But till some such happy blow can be struck, I am afraid we cannot expect to see our unhappy country, or I should rather have said the rulers of it, disposed to be more reasonable." London, Dec. 8, 1782. I take up my pen, though very much engaged and not in the best health, to say a word to you upon a subject of so much importance to all the King's American friends. My last letter will convince you that I was to the last unwilling to believe that America would be ever uncondition- ally independent of this country. I would not, till I actually saw that un- happy event take place, believe that so great a calamity to both countries would be ever suffered to befall them. But seeing that it is done, I will not distress myself, nor you any longer, by dwelling upon the dark side of this extraordinary measure, but will seek for its bright side, and if I can find that it has one, will make that the subject of the rest of my letter. Let me then, in the first place, congratulate you upon the prospect of there being soon an end to the calamity of war ; I think that a cessation of hostilities will soon take place between Great Britain and the United States of America, and that it will soon be followed by a general peace. If the result should be the happiness of Great Britain and America, which 'tis beyond the limits of our understanding to say that it will not, our expected grief will be turned into joy ; and if Parliament should adopt and carry into execution his Majesty's gracious and benevolent wishes respecting us, (loyalists,) that also will be an occasion for joy. Is not this, my good friend, the improvement we ought to make of this unwished for event ? I trust in God, that every man who has sacrificed his all in the cause of his King and country, will be sure to be protected and rewarded by the British government. I feel myself anxious for the whole body of American worthies, particularly for a number of gentlemen with THE PEPPERRELLSOFKITTERV. 591 whom I have for so long a time been connected by the closest ties of friendship. I need not add timt I think often with anxiety what may bo our future situation. To tell yon I shall ever b<3 a friend to you and your family is only to repeat. You must weigh the matter well in your own mind, and tell me to what point I am to direct my exertions for your in- terest. Shall you try to make your peace with our countrymen, or will you come over here, to your pension or an equivalent ? or I trust something better, either here or in a new settlement talked much of just now in the eastern part of the province of Maine, I am persuaded you may rely on. Should there be a new government established, is there any thing in it you would like? I fancy I shall myself spend the remainder of my days in this country ; at least as my children are in the midst of their education. I think I shall not leave at present, but I have the strongest assurances that when matters shall be settled, my recommendation to appointment will be attended to, should there be a new establishment or any vacancies in the old ones. 1: -■ London, May 7, 1783. '' The last vessel from your side brought me your kind letter of 15th March. Since that time you must have heard of the peace, and of the independence of America. I wish either country may ever be so happy ao it was when the two were connected, but I think it is more than can be well expected. I heartily wish both well, and hope in a commercial way they may yet be connected. Our unfortunate brethren, the loyalists, I am much concerned for, though I cannot entertain a doubt but if the recommendation of Congress to the different states should prove ineffec- tual, that Parliament will do somethinc: towards compensation. Ministry promise very fair, and I really believe (it' our property is kept back from us by the stales) they mean to do something handsome for us, though they talk of full compenGation as impossible. An estimate of your losses I am expecting in answer to one of my last letters to you upon that sub- ject. I will do the best for you in my power, as I hope you are convinced I have ever done." w f 592 CAPTAIN HAKADEN OF MASSACHUSETTS. CAPTAIN HARADEN OP MASSACHUSETTS. ■.e'V'H ir ] Among the naval exploits of the Revolution few could compare with those of Captain Jonathan Haradcn of Salein, commander of the Picker- ing, of one hundred tons, armed with sixteen six pounders, and a crew o( forty -five men and boys. Major Garden, in his Anecdotes of the Revolution, says that "while cruising near Sandy Hook, Captain Haraden fell in with a ship of four- teen guns, a brig of ten guns, and a sloop of eight guns, and af\er an action of an hour and a half captured the whole, and that during the same cruize he captured also the " Pomona," of twelve guns, the sloop of war " Hope," of fourteen guns, and the "Royal George," cutter, of fourteen guns." In the spring of 1780 he sailed in the Pickering from Salem lor Bilboa, as a letter of marque, and laden with a cargo of sugar and molasses. When near the coast of Spain Captain Haraden fell in with and captured a privateer of twenty-two nine pounders, and sixty men, and put a prize crew on board under Jonathan Carnes as master, also of Salem, there- by reducing his crew to less than forty. He was still further weakened and embarrassed by having to take care of nearly twice that number of prisoners. About a week afterwards an English ship moimting forty-two guns, with one hundred and forty men, came up with and recaptured the prize. Notwithstanding the disparity of force. Captain Haraden gave her battle, and after a desperate contest compelled her to seek safety in flight, which her superior sailing enabled her to do, when he deliberately retook his prize and carried her safely into port. Mr. Robert Cowan, of Salem, one of the crew, says the " Pickering" looked like a long-boat by the side of the ship. An immense concourse assem- bled on the Spanish coast to witness the fight, and so great was the en thusiasm and admiration with which the victory had been witnessed, that when he landed he was surrounded by a vast throng of strangers, and carried by them in triumph to a populous city in the neighborhood, where he was welcomed with public honors. Another person who was with him in battle, says that he fought with an energy and determination that seemed superhuman, and that although in the most exposed position, where the shot flew around him in thousands, he was all the while as calm and steady as amidst a shower of snow. Captain Haraden captured more than a thousand guns from the ships of the enemy. Captain Haraden was of middle size, but of symmetrical proportions — remarkable for personal beauty, as well as inflexible integrity. His temper was mild and manners gentle, but his firmness and energy were gloriously displayed in battle, and banished fear from the breasts of all under his command. At the close of the war, Captain Haraden suc- cessfully embarked in commerce and the manufacture of cordage, and ;tts. ;tts. compare with of the Pickcr- nml a crew of ^s that "while a ship of four- after an action he same cruize )f war "Hope," sen guns." ilem for Bilboa, ■ and molasBCB. h and captured ind put a prize r Salem, there- rther weakened ;e that number ship mounting 3 up with and ' force. Captain ompelled her to her to do, when into port. Mr. ckering" looked mcourse assem- eat was the en witnessed, that strangers, and jorhood, where n who was with termination that \ position, where lile as calm and captured more al proportions — integrity. His nd energy were le breasts of all 1 Haraden suc- f cordage, and THE K0B1NS0N8 OF NEW- YORK. 593 lived to wimesB the nuptials of two of his three children, see pp. 401 and 511 of tliis book. The youngest, Lucy, is unmarried. He died of protracted consumption in 1803, in his fifty-ninth year, and his fortitude and amiability were apparent to the last moment of his valu- able life. He was endeared by many virtues to an extensive circle of friends. The silver tankards and cans, with suitable emblems upon them, pre- sented by his fellow-townsmen soon after the close of his public life, arc in the possession of his daughter, Mrs. Ropes. THE ROBINSONS OF NEW-YORK. Col. Bevehley Robinson, of the then county of Dutchess, and state of New-York, was u prominent adherent to the crown from the commence- ment of the Revolution. He was, by birth, a Virginian, and the tenth son of John Robinson, who, upon the abdication of Governor Gooch, be- came President of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, as Senior Mem- ber of the Council, and died shortly after his elevation to that office. The subject of this memoir was a cotemporary and for many years a personal friend of Washington, until their intercourse was terminated by the Revolu- tion. In the language of Mr. Sparks, " their friendship was indeed severed only by the harsh and uncompromising decrees of war." He came to New- York about the year 1748, and soon after married Susannah Philipse, the daughter of Frederick Philipse, in whose family were concentrated the two large estates of the Philipses, situated upon the Hudson, the one called Philipsburgh, containing upwards of one hundred and fifty square miles, commencing at a place called the Yonkers, about eighteen miles above the city of New-York, and the other Fredericksburgh, containing two hundred and forty square miles, situated between Peekskill and Fishkill. Frederi' •. Philipse left four children, two eons and two daughters. Tin- lower n inor, Philipsburgh, devolved upon his eldest son, Frederick, and the upper manor, Fredericksburgh, he devised to his three remaining children, Philip Pl'ilipse, Susannah Robinson, and Mary, the wife of Col. Roger Morris, in equal portions. It was at one time supposed that Miss Mary Philipse would have becojne the wife of Washington. S uch, we are informed, is the family tradition, and among the papers of Washington was found a letter written by a Mr. Chew, from Mr. IJobinson's house in New-York, advising him that if he had any serious intentions of making Miss Philipse his wife, to come on to New-York without delay, as Col. Morris, an officer in the army, was supposed to be a rival suitor ; but the advice it seems was disregarded. Early in the Revolution, Mr. Robinson received the command of a provincial regiment called the American Loyalists, a considerable portion of which he raised himself. His eldest son, Beverley Robinson, became 'ml i m :iE:i. ■>' It' I' I 1 ! .'»• M-'niJ: ''■|ru. '■ t 3i !.<" iff l^'f^'iJS lU ,i:; 594 THE ROBINSONS OF NEW-YOIIK li<'iitciuiiit colomi of the corpp, nnd the lute Col. Thomiia Bnrrlny, his hrother-in-hiw, the major, and the regiment wuh engaged in netive ser- vice during the wnr. Colonel Uohinson nvowcd iiis opiriions, nnd took u firm and decided ^^tnnd in favor of the government ns soon as lioHtilities were resorted toon the pnrt of the colonists, and heforo any other conntitutional government existed than that of the mother country. The nets which constituted his " treason," were committed or commenced before a government, to which " treason " could apply had been created. He maintained his allegiance to the government de facto nnd de jure, and obeyed the only laws that were then in force. No man was more sensible than he of the nature and extent of the grievances of which the American colonies had just right to complain, but he was of opinion that redress for these grievances might have been obtained without a resort to arms. He was among the first to clothe his family in the fabrics of the country, to demonstrate practically his opposition to the system of British taxation, and to employ other peaceful measures to accomplish the object that all had in view, and he had confidence in the efficacy of that course of policy. He shuddered at the idea of a resort to arms ; and such was unquestionably the ieeling of u vast majority of the people, previous to the Declaration of Indepen- dence. Entertaining those opinions he acted upon them, and he took up arms in defence of the existing institniions, almost with as much repug- nance as he would have attempted their overthrow. This was the extent of liis transgression, and for this he was attainted of high treason, ban- ished, nnd his estate confiscated. To render the act of confiscation effec- tual, his wife was included in the attainder. His eldest son, Lieut. Col. Robinson, Col. Roger Morris and liis wile, and Frederick Philipse, Esq., were embraced in the same statute. Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Morris were, we believe, the only females, except Mrs. Inglis, who were attainted and banished during the Revolution. It so happened that the estate of Mrs. Morris was settled upon her and her children, at the time of her mar- riage, and consequently her life estate only was the subject of confisca- tion. The estate in remainder, which was secured to the children, was purchased many years before Mrs. Morris's death for a large sum of money by Mr. Astor, who, after a long controversy, finally compromised with the state for five hundred thousand dollars. At the termination of the war, Col. Robinson, at an advanced age. went with a part of his family, his wife, three sons and two daughters, to England, where he afterwards obtained some compensation for his losses, and spent the brief remainder of his life in retirement. Morris, the eldest of the three who accompanied him, who had served during the latter part of the war as a captain in Simcoe's corps, the Queen's Rangers, advan- ced himself to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and died many years ago, at Gibraltar. Frederick Philipse, now Sir Frederick Robinson, K. C. B., and a general in the army, entered the service at a very early age, and I i Rarrlny, his in active scr- I and tlecidcd resorted to on I government :onBtitutcd his nent, to whicli hJB allegiance only laws that the nature and had just right lOvanccB might long the first to rate practically I employ other in view, and he [e Bhuddercd at ly the leeling of ion of Indepen- , and he took up as much repug- B was the extent gh treason, ban- jnfiscation effec- Bon, Lieut. Col. k Philipse, Esq., ind Mrs. Morris o were attainted ,at the estate of time of her mar- ject of confisca- e children, was a large sum of lly compromised advanced age. kvo daughters, to Ion for his losses, [orris, the eldest [)g the latter part Langers, advan- iny years ago, at sinson, K. C. B., early age, and THE II OBI N SONS OF NEW-YORK. 686 early in the Revolution. He aflcrwardrt served in several of the West India Islands, and BultHcquriitly had an opportunity nt' nhtaining n high military roputation upon tlic I'eninHiiia, where he wan twice ^evenly wounded, in the conuiiand ol a hrij,'a(lc. He received three niedajp, and was promoted to the rank of lioutenant general. lie it* now living in London, at an advanced age, and is the only Hurvivor of that gon»>ralioii. William Ilenry, aflerwards Sir William UohiriHon, entered the Commis- sariat, and died at the head of that department, having also been knighted for his long and faithful Hcrvices. These detnilR arc entered into, to kIiow that the victims, politically speaking, of the revolutionary war, were not Huflbred to die neglected and in obscurity by tiic government which they had served, but that their services and sacrifices have been duly appre- ciated and rewarded. Lieut. Col. Robinson, at the conclusion of the war, found an asylum in the province of Nova Scotia, whither he and Major Barclay, with a detachment of their regiment repaired, to siittlo on the Iinds allotted to them by their government. Lieut. Ci^i. Robinsi >* graduated in King's, now Columbia College, in the city of New-York. .1 entered the office of James Duane aa a student at law, but the r voiuiionary troubles com- menced before he was called to the ^v. He had marr 'i' the sister of Major Barclay, and daughter of the ic . Henry Barclay, iurmcrly rector Trinity Church, New-York, who di d ai.out the year 17G0. The pio- neers landed at Annapolis, without means or proppccts, late in the full of 1783, and remained with their families (each having several children) at a nuserable inn, until two log huts were prepared for them in the wildn of Nova Scotia, distant some ten or fifteen riiiles froui any hunr.nn habita- tion, excepting similar huts that had been built by the soldiers. There they lived for several months, upon their rations and such game as the forests supplied.; jWithin a year or two, however, they were put upon half-pay, which afforded great relief to both. They nevertheless contin- ued to reside in those huts for four years, when Col. Robinson removed to the province of New Brunswick. He remained unemployed, except as a member of the King's Council in New Brunswick, until the French Revolution, when, at » < . immencement of hostilities bctween^England and France, two regm.i. is were ordered to be raised in the two provin- ces. Col. Robinson was appointed to the command of the New Bruns- wick regiment, and Col. Barclay to that of Nova Scotia, and, as we are informed, withovu any application from either of them. The former accepted the appointment, and continued in the service until the regiment was disbanded, shortly before his death, which occurred in the city of New- York, his birth-place, in the year 1816, while he was upon a visit to two of his sons, who had elected at an early age to make the home of their ancestors the theatre of their future exertions. John, another son of the Kcnior Col. Robinson, who also entered the army during the revolutionary war, at the end of it took refuge in the f 1 [ . M> k I'i ill 1'- lt ■ :'Jil'^) 1 ir ' : I I .> I! ( H 1 ' 1 ill: I ' II- 1:1 f I! m ''%. I 596 THE BARCLAYS OF NEW-YORK province of New Brunswick, and embarked in commercial operations with considerable success. He filled several offices of trust and profit in New Brunswick, such as Paymaster General of the Province, Mayor of the city of St. Johns for a number of years, and Provincial Treasurer, which situation he occupied at the period of his decease. Col. Barclay, whose fortunes appear to have been so closely connected with those of Col. Robinson -in their early career, is the same who, for many years held the office of British Consul General for the Eastern states, and resided in the city of New- York. His very active and useful life will be the subject of a separate memoir. THE BARCLAYS OF NEW-YORK. ■« 1 U ' u P ■ • : ■ ■■ idi '1' #'' i A ' MSi. P o. '& i k, i.L ,. feiJT * 1 1 1 11 CoL. Thomas Babclay was born in the City and Province of New- York, on the twelfth day of October, 1753, the eldest son of the Rev. Henry Barclay, D. D., who, in the year 1748, succeeded the Rev. William Vesey as Rector of Trinity Church in the same city. Dr. Barclay had one other son, named Antiiony, and two daughters Anne and Catha- rine ; the former married Colonel Beverley Robinson, the younger ; the latter. Colonel Stephen Delancey. These last were the parents of (hat distinguished officer, Lieut. Col. Sir William Howe Delancey, C. B., who was killed at Waterloo, and whose appointment as Quarter Master General to the British army, before that great and decisive battle, was expressly required by the Duke of Wellington, when hie Grace accepted the command. In the year 1764, when the subject of this memoir was but ten years of age, he had the misfortune to lose the fostering care and valued instruc- tions of the pious parent we have named; but not before his exalted pre- cepts and example had created an elevating influence in the mind of his son, which was to endure with his existence. Thomas Barclay delighted in literature from his youth. His family possess a large silver medal and several other prizes awarded him at King's, now Columbia College, in the City of New- York, where he took a degree of A. B. in due course. He studied the law as a profession un- der the late Chief Justice Jay, and was called to the Bar. On the second of October, 1775, he married the fourth daughter of the late Peter Delan- cey, of West Chester, in the then province of New- York, and grand- daughter of the former Gov. Cadwallader Colden, named Susan, after her aunt and godmother Susan Delancey, lady of Sir Peter Warren, K. B., and the mother of Charlotte, fourth Countess of Abingdon, and of the beautiful Lady Southampton. At the date last mentioned, resistance to the mother country was freely discussed and advocated throughout the provinces, which now form the United States. Mr. Barclay thought that the motives alle/r^ed were not THE BARCLAYS OF NEW-VORK. 597 ll! )erations with profit in New Mayor of the tasurer, which jely connected same who, for r the Eastern ive and useful vince of New- n of the Rev. Rev. William r. Barclay had le and Catha- younger; the he parents of >elancey, C. B., Quarter Master live battle, was race accepted but ten years valued instruc- lis exalted pre- he mind of his His family varded him at where he took profession un- On the second e Peter Delan- •k, and grand- id Susan, after eter Warren, lingdon, and of ntry was freely 1 now form the ler^ed were not BnlTicient, nor, in his opinion, had the proper perseverance been employed to induce tlie government to modify its objectionable laws. As liis loyalty never wavered, it became known the more as sentiments of a dillerent character gained numbers and vigor. Accordingly, by an act of the Provincial Legislature o the State of New-York, passed in the year 1779, Thomas Barclay was attainted as a. traitor, for adhering to gov- ernment. A singular cause for attainder ! and his estate, which at this day would be a principality in income, was confiscated under tlie autho- rity of that law. On General Sir William Howe's arrival at New-York, witii the army under his command, in the summer of 1776, Mr. Barclay joined the royal army. In February, 1777, was appointed a captain in a corps called the Loyal American Regiment. In consequence of his gallant conduct at the storming of the forts Montgomery and Clinton, on the banks of the Hudson ri v er, in October, 1777, he was promoted to the majority of the same regiment. In 1780, Sir Henry Clinton, then commander-in-chief of His Majesty's forces in America, appointed him major to a corps of light infantry, with which he served in Virginia and Carolina. In the last named province he remained actively employed until the Marquis of Hastings, then Lord Rawdon, resigned the command in South Carolina in order to return to England ; at which time his lordship sent him charg- ed with his despLtches to Earl Cornwallis, then in Virginia, who had promised to appoint Major Barclay one of his aides-de-camps. On hip passage from Ciiarleston, in South Carolina, to the Chesapeake, he was captured by the French fleet under Count de Grasse. Being soon after exchanged, he rejoined the Loyal American Regiment, and remained major of it until it was disbanded at the peace in 1783. In April, 1783, preceding the evacuation of New- York by the British fiirces in Novem- ber following. Major Barclay was ordtTcd by Lord Dorchester, then Sir Guy Carieton, commander-in-chief in America, to proceed to Nova Sco- tia, accompanied by two other officers, to locate the lands whereon the provincial forces who were tc be disbanded, were to be placed. Thin service performed, he returned to New-York in August following with the intention of going with his family to England. At the earnest solicit- ation, however, of the conimandcr-in-chief. he consented to return to No- va Scotia to superintend the settlement of the disbanded soldiers of his regiment, which duty he performed without any remuneration, and eventu- ally established himself in Nova Scolia, among the troops whom he settled there, with a view to stimulate, encourage and protect them. When he re- moved with th&m he had four children. His ample property in the pro- vince of New-York having been confiscated, with doubtful prospect of the period when he might obtain compensation for his losses, or be placed on the )mlf-pay list, he took a farm for himself in the wilderness of Wilmot, Nova Scotia, among his nen-commissioned ofllcers and privates, as did two or three other officers. With his own hands, and those of two sons, then 75 ^illl 9 ''II m w^ % ttk ;^i HU '■■n i m iM f IM' 1 ' iif' i'f % i\ li ,1 .! I .: ! ■' ■ vr !i I IT S^:l-.^ !-■ ;'■■ f 598 THE BARCLAYS OF NEW-YORK boys, he levelled the forest on his new possession, whicii gratefully ru- warded his toil and perseverance ; while he converted the settlement ol troops into a respectable society, to whom he soon became physician, pastor, counsellor and judge. By his industry in farming, lie supported a large family, until, findinij his colony in a prosperous and orderly state, he removed to Annapolis Royal, about the year 17S9, to pursue his profession at the bar, which he exercised with great success through the province of Nova Scotia. About that time he was elected member of the Provincial Assembly, of which he was chosen Speaker, and the last named office he exercised for several years, until other duties devolved upon him. At the commencement of the war between Great Britain and France, in 1792, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment ; but as Sir John Wentworth, the Governor of Nova Scotia, Avas of opinion that Lieut. Col. Barclay's services would be more benefi- cial to the government by raising a corps of fencibles, in which he con- curred, he declined the appointment, and employed himself in raising a fencible corps of militia, of one thousand men ; it was principally com- manded by experienced officers then on half-pay, and was called the Nova Scotia Legion, consisting of eight companies of light infantry, a company of artillery, and a squadron of light cavalry. The activity, zeal, and service of this corps, were frequently made known to the government, by General his late Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, then commanding the forces in Nova Scotia, and by Sir John Wentworth, Bart. In conseqn ..(i; of information received in the autumn of 1793, that a squadron of Fr enc'i, ships of war, with land forces on board, said to he then in the port ot Tifew-York, meditated an attack upon Halifax in Nova Scotia, and there being in that province no other regular military force, than one company of the Royal Artillery, and the Fourth, or King's Own Regiment, at that time not more than four hundred men strong, and no naval force except a small frigate, it was resolved by the Governor in council to call in six thoueand militia to the defence of HaUfax. Of this number the Nova Scotia Legion composed one-sixth part. Colonel Bar- clay, being then Adjutant General of the militia, performed not only the duty of that office, but important duties in other departments of tlie ser- vice ; and although the officers and men received the usual pay, he de- clined taking any, either as colonel of the Legion, or for his services in any of the other stations in which he acted ; and it is believed that the expense of raising the Legion was borne by himself. In 1796, Col. Barclay was appointed Commissioner to carry into efTect the fifth article of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, con- cluded between Great Britain and tlie United States, which article he brought to a successful termination in November, 1798. In January, 1799, he received the appointment of Consul-Gencral for the Eastern States of America; which lionorable office he filled to universal accept- gratefully ro settlenicnt ot me physician. ■, until, fintling 1 to Annapolis bar, whidi he Scotia. About ly, of which he ieed for aevenil lin and Francf, 1 Nova Scotiii f Nova Scotia, be more bencfi- i which he con- self in raising a )rincipally corn- called the Nova itry, a company itivity, zeal, and Igovernment, by :n commanding Bart. I of 1793, that u •oard, said to he lalifax in Nova ir military force, or King's Own strong, and no the Governor in [alifax. Of this Colonel Ear- ned not only the nents of the ser- isual pay, he de- r his services in jelieved that the carry into efi'ect navigation, con- which article he 3. In January, for the Eastern inivereal accept- THE liARCLAYS OF NEW-YORK, 699 ance, until the commencement of the war between Great Britain and the United States, in 1812, when he returned to England. In the last i imcd appointment he succeeded Sir John Temple, Hart., the first British Con- sul-General. Ai that time Col. Barclay's own personal influence at home had become considerable, in consequence of the just appreciation of his various services, by Sir Henry Clinton, Lord Rawdon, and other commanders, during the Revolution : the most flattering letters from whom and from his Royal Highness the U\ike of Kent, father of the reigning queen, have been read by the editor. By the influential patronage of the Duke of Kent, then commander-in-chief of the forces in North Ameri- ca, soon afler the peace at the close of the year 1814, Col. Barclay was again appointed Commissioner to carry into effect the fourth and fifth ar- ticles of the Treaty of Ghent; the first of which was executed fa-'orably to the interests of the Crown, in 1817. He was not so successful in bring- ing the fifth article to a decision, although he persevered long in his exer- tions to accomplish it. The fifth article embraced what has commonly been termed the Maine houndary line — that long vexed and lately settled question. In the year 1828, he retired from olfice at the age of seventy-five years, be- ing allowed to receive his full pay, as a pension. From the preceding dates it will appear that Col. Barclay was actively and constantly em- ployed in the public service, military and civil, from 1776 to the year 1828, a term of fifty-two years ; or, in other words, from early manhood to old age. He obtained a commission in the army for his second son, De Lancey,* • III a recent work by Cnptain .Ies.se, the followinj; lines, descriptive of M/so#wr. taken from an extemporaneous etFusion of the lute distini^uished Lord Erskine, at a dinner party at Oatlands, the country seat of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, on nev-year's eve, of the year 1812, and the note subjoined theroto by Captain .lesse, may give some idea of the estimation in which he was held : " Halt ! blundering muse, to the right about face ; You have passed over Barclay, go back to his place. You sure must have sion him, so handsome, so tall : A strnighter has never pprung up since the fall — , Better fashioned without, or freer within From malignant ill-nature's original sin. Him famed in our armies one day we shall see, Though a Barclay, a Quaker he never will be." .lease's note follows: " De Lancey Barclay, C. B , another aide-de-camp of the Duke of York's, an il one of the most popular men in the army. He was at this time in the Royal Corsi- cnn Rangers, Colonel Barclay was in the Guards at Waterloo, and at the period of his death, which took place on the twenty-eighth of March, ItiiiG, he was one of ilio aides-de-comp of King George the p'ourih " 11 III i I 1 1 'I 1 .( i,i, I r ■ Iff! tUi I i h m I if' i V ■ ' ■,!■ it I', ■ . ii It um 1 A \ ii' ■. ! 600 THE BARCLAYS OF NEW- YORK. mm i^'^ m> Irffj ''»■•' fjj If, 1 'I , , ^^j1 11 1 .. who was rapidly promoted to llie highest rank wliich his length of ser- vice admitted. lie was aide-de-camp and secretary to his Royal High- ness the Dulte of York, whilst commander-in-chief; and, on the acces- sion of King George the Fourth, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel in the first regiment of the Guards, he was appointed aide-de-camp to the King, with the rank of colonel. His third son, Thomas, now deceased, was placed in the navy, and attained the rank of post-captain, in the year 1914, at an early age. His eldest son, Henry, as well as his younger son George, early and success- fully embarked in commerce, and are known both in the United States and in Europe as merchants of the first respectability. Anthony, his youngest son who attained maturity, became engaged at an early age in the civil service of government, and now fills with high honor the important station of Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at New- York. Col. Baiiplay's daughters were married to Peter G. Stuyvesant, Esq., the late Schuyler Livingston, Esq., Mr. Parsons, and Mr. Frazer. Col. Barclay did not live long to enjoy hia retirement. It appears a? if the habit of activity, botli of body and mind, had become a part of his nature, and necessary to his existence. Until that time he had retained the erect figure and firm gait of the soldier, the sprightliness and gaiety of youth, with the finished manners of a courtier. But when the excite- ment derived from business no longer existed, his cheerfulness and ener- gy began to abate, and after a short illness he expired where he drew his first breath, in the city of New- York, on the twenty-first of April, 1830. Besides his merits as a public servant, he was indefatigable as a friend — a most devoted husband and parent — indulgent and paternal as a master, — full of philanthropy to all mankind — possessing all the determi- nation which characterizes a soldier's, and a\\ the gentleness v/hich tem- pers and graces a woman's heart, — he was an humble, devout, and unos- tentatious Christian. His character is well portrayed by his crest, a sword, and his motto, "Crux Christi, nostra (Corona," THE FAIKFAXEB OF VIRGINIA 601 length of ser- i Royal High- , on the acces- lant colonel in le-camp to the the navy, and arly age. His ly and Buccese- , United States 3came engaged V fills with high Consul at New- G. Stuyvesant, id Mr. Frazer. . It appears a? me a part of his he had retained iness and gaiety when the excile- [ulneGs and ener- here he drew his of April, 1830. dc.atigable as a md paternal as a all the determi- iness v/hich tem- evout, and unos- and his motto. THE FAIRFAXES OF VIRGINIA. In this estimable and noble family the immortal Washington passed four years of bis youth. And as it was the period when character usually receives its stamp, there is no doubt that the for- mation of his was essentially influenced by the association. The Hon. Col. William Fairfax, a son of Henry Fairfax of Towlton Hall, Yorkshire, and a grandson of Thomas the fourth Lord Fairfax, lost his father when very young, and was educated under the auspices of his Uncle, Lord Lonsdale, (ever styled Mc good,) at Lowther School, in Westmoreland. Here he acquired a good knowledge of the classics as well as modern languages. At 21 he entered the army and served in Spain during Queen Anne's war under his Uncle, and afterwards in the expedition against the Isle of Providence, then in possession of pirates. Upon its reduc- tion he was appointed its Governor, but the climate disagreeing with him he resigned his commission and removed to Salem, Massachu- setts, in 1724, where he resided for eight years as collector of the customs, and a magistrate, esteemed and respected by all. His wife died during this period, and he was united in a second marriage to Deborah, daughter of Francis Clarke, Esq., of Salem, a gentleman of the first respectability. Three children were the offspring of this connexion, viz. Bryan, William, and Hannah. He sailed from Salem with his family for the South on the 17 th of June, 1734, and settled first in Westmoreland County, Virginia, near the Washington family, and afterwards in Fai'-fax County, where he erected a beau- tiful villa on the Potomac adj iriing Mount Vernon, which he called Belvoir. He long sustained the offices of Lord Lieutenant and keeper of the rolls of the county, collector for South Potomac, and President of the Council of Virginia. He was highly accomplished and fiuiently distinguished for public and private virtue and re- ligious principle. He I 'ltd Sept. 3, 1757, a ['cj -SO. Washington, on leaving for his command on the 23d oi .•^^irll, 1755, ilus ad- dressed Col. Fairfax : — ' I cannot think of leaving the County with- out embracing the last opportunity of bidding You/di : •;;/^,' 76 ! I!. 1 k'-^ 602 THE FAIRFAXES OF VIRGINIA. '^-"'. ':-A\ ■V : !■ ' I His eldest son, George W. Fair/ax, succeeded to his father's es- tate and employments. Jn curly life he was for a while co-survey- or with Washington to his kirwnar!; Lord Fairfax. In 1753 he was a candidate Ibr th'i house of burgr.'sses, and Washington, then just 21, deeply inlf rested in hissucc(.>:5, \ js engaged in a personal altercatio) in his behalf, viiih Aii. Pci\!' , a friend of the rival can- didate ; and it may Ip well to remark in passing, that finding him- self the aggrcseor, he made an apology, and that forever secured the friendship of Mr. Payne. This is the only altercation it is be- lieved which Wa^bington wf s trig ged *-i during his long life. Mr. Fairfax took aj) unfavorable viev; cf the revolutionary movement, and long bi^fore the appeal . arms v;ent to England. So critical was his ai rival there, !hat he passed in the river Thames the ill- omened tea which eventually caused the rupture between the mo- ther country and her colonies. It is probable he is the friend refer- red to by Weems in the following paragraph of his book, (p. 67.) * Lord Fairfax happened to be at Mount Vernon when Washington received advice from a friend in London, that the Tea Ships were about to sail for America, and said to him, " Well, rny Lord, and so the ships with ihG gunpowder tea, are, it seems, on their way !' * Why, Colonel,' replied his lordship, * do you call it gunpowder tea V To which he responded, * Because I fear it will prove in- flammable, and produce an explosion that will shake both hemis- pheres.' Part of Mr. Fairfax's estates were confiscated on account of his principles, and the heavy reverse of fortune obliged him to abandon his seat in Yorkshire, lay aside his carriage, and remove to Bath. Here he so lived as to save large sums, which he sent for the me of the American prisoners. He died 3d April, 1787, in his 63d year, lamented for his many virtues and accomplishments. Respecting this early and constant friend, Washington thus wrote to Samuel Alhause — 8lh Jan. 1788, — ' I received your letter informing me of the death of our much esteemed and worthy friend, Geo. W. Fairfax. I sincerely condole with you and bis other fr'unds in England upo,i th-? occasion. Notwithstanding the 1 ': g and un interrupted f. hip which subsisted bcv/een C ; I'airfax and myself, and b;;v, - desirous I may be to give every proof of my adcction * • ■ ■.% and his amiable relict, yet I must decline acting lis father's es- tiile co-siirvcy- . In 1753 he shington, then 1 in a personal the rival can- al finding him- )r ever secured rcation it is be- 1 long life. Mr. lary movement, id. So critical Thames the ill- etween the mo- the friend refer- is book, (p. 67.) len "Washington Tea Ships were rny Lord, and so [heir way !' all it gunpowder t will prove in- ake both herais- on account of his lira to abandon remove to Bath. ent foi' the n^e cf in his 63d year, J. Washington thus :eived your letter id worthy friend, his other fr* iinds the 1 '. g and un i'alrfax and ery proof of my st decline acting THE FAIRFAXES OF VIRGINIA. 603 as an executor of his estate. My situation* would prevent a faith- ful discharge of the trust on my part.' Thomas, second son of the Hon. Wm. Fairfax, a midshipman, and esteemed one of the handsomest young men of his age. The following epitaph, penned by his distressed father, shows his early fate : — * To the Memory of Mr. Thomas Fairfax, Who died fighting in his country's cause, on board the Harwich, in an engagement with Mr. Bourdenaye, commander of a French squadron on the Indian coast, 26th June, 1746, aged 20. Beloved of his commander (Capt. Carteret) and highly favored by his friend Commodore Barnet, for his politeness of manners, and undoubted bravery and skill in the theory of his profession. He was excelled by few as a naval draughtsman, and gave early promise by a preg- nant genius and diligent application, of a consummate officer for the service of his country. But the wisdom of heaven is inscruta- ble ; human life is ever in the hands of its author, and while the good and brave are always ready for death, resignation becomes (heir surviving friend. Convinced of this duty, yet subdued by the sentiments of a tender parent, this tablet was inscribed and dedica- ted by his sorrowful father.' William, the fourth son, entered the army an ensign, and was killed in the attack on Quebec, September 13, 1759. He had promising abilities, and was highly esteemed by General Wolfe, whom he had first accompanied to Louis burg at the time of its sec- ond reduction. When the general landed under Quebec, he saw young Fairfax sitting upon the bank of the river, and said to him, ' Young man, when we come into action, remember your name.' They both fell that day on the heights of Abraham, Wolfe pro- claiming that he died satisfied, as he had gained the battle. Bryan, the third son, pursued the usual course of preparatory studies, and took orders in the church. He had previously passed some years at Barbadoes with his uncle, Maj. Gedney Clark. He was for many years rector of a parish in Fairfax r'^'n-t"^ Virginia, where he continued to officiate till his death, a co.i .rt of Gold- • /resident of the Convention for forming the new constitution. ' ''!' ■ lifl iiii! 'IIP i| in m ■U 1-. I; .-Si m m 1 HP ' '' i i i U III m II i|^HrA^-.« rK^ 1" . 604 THE FAIRFAXES OF VIRGINIA. •.wi 'f:',.l ") ' m'fl ■''■ ri smith's village pastor. The salary and perquisites of his arduous office he gave for the support of the widow and children of his pre- decessor in the church. His views of the revolution were not in accordance with Washington's, but this did not in the least affect their friendship for each other, which commenced in infancy and continued without interruption through life. It is happily illus- trated by the following extract of a letter from Washington to him during the gloomy period of 1775. . * The friendship which I ever professed and felt for you, met with no diminution from the difference in our political sentiments. I knew the rectitude of my own sentiments, and believing in the sincerity of yours, lamented, although I did not condemn, your re- nunciation of the creed 1 had adopted.' The foregoing was prompted by Washington's kind inter- position in obtaining permission for his retirement to England, of which however he was unable to avail himself in consequence of certain oaths and obligations required by those in power at New York. This service elicited the following letter from Rev. Mr. Fairfax to Gen. Washington, to which the letter just now read was in answer. ' There are times uhen favors conferred make great- er impressions than others; — at the time when your popularity was at the highest, and mine at the lowest, and when it is so com- mon for men's resentments to run high against those who differ from them in opinion, that you shovld act with your wonted kind- ness to me, has affected me more than any favor I have ever receiv- ed, and could not he believed by some in JVew York, it being above the run (f common minds-' At the decease of his kinsman Robert Lord Fairfax in 1793, the Rev. Bryan Fairfax succeeded to the Barony. W^ashington be- queathed him the superb Bible in three folios, which the Rev. Dr. Wilson, bishop of Soder and Man, had presented to the former with flattering testimonials of respect. Thomas, the eldest son of BryiU) J-ord Fairfax, refused an acknowledgment of the title at the decease of his father, which would have secured him the rich inheritimce of Leeds Castle and its appendages. To a letter which the editor had the honor to address to that venerable gentleman in December, 1842, he received the following reply: THE FAIRFAXES OF VIRGINIA. 605 ' As to those designated loyalists, and opposed to the separation from England, I do not know of any of our name except it be Thomas Lord Fairfax, and ray father, the Rev. Bryan Fairfax. As to the former, I suppose, though I am not sure that he ever was, but never heard of his suffering any persecution for political opin- ions. But as to ray father, I know that he was, and conscientiously so, I believe, remaining as it were neutral ami taking no part for or against the measures of that period ; he was not molested ex- cept that, with all others of the same way of thinking, he was doubly taxed.' To this letter Dr. Orlando Fairfax of Alexandria, a son of the last mentioned Thomas, appended the following note, viz. : • My father, Thomas Fairfax, a man of more than eighty years, is the eldest son of Bryan Lord Fairfax, but he has always been a republican.' It now remains to speak of the distinguished head of this vir- tuous, public spirited, and accomplished family, Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, the early patron of Washington, and we deem it necessary to dwell more fully upon the incidents of his life and the influences of his character than the others : He was born in 1691, a son of Thomas the fifth Lord Fairfax, and Catherine, daughter of LordCulpep^^r, in whose right he after- wards possesse.- Leeds Castle, several manoir in Kent and in the Isle of Wight; and also that immense tract of cuuntry comprised within the boundaries of the rivers Potomac and Rappahannock in Virginia, called the northern neck, containing by estimation five millions seven hundred thousand acres. He had the misfortune to lose his father while young, and came under the guardianship of his mother and grandiiiothcr, the dowager ladies Fairfax and Cul- pepper, the latter of whom was a Princess of the House of Hesse Cassel. He was sent to the University of Oxford, where he passed several years, and became highly esteemed for learning and ac- complishraents. His judgment upon hit'a ; subjects was frequent- ly appealed to, and he was afterwards, in conjunction with Addison and others of the ' Kit-Cat Club,' a writer of that immortal work the Spectatoi. He took a commission in the array, and at the ti.ne he left it (which was at the decease of the survivor of the two I k ' i "} 1 'ii V IM w ■■■■ 1 ijiri i tf: - lie' ' ■' 'Hi If' „ 'A m ji' ;-i jif m 1, ! ' ' tt i' ! " lii ! 1 !■- ■ - vt jij I v ;■: h mw- vi^t: Pi- 'I 606 THE FAIRFAXES OF VIRGINIA. ladies before mentioned) he was at Lne hr~d of a regiment called the ♦ Blues.' He now began to inquire into the value and situation of his es- tates, and discovered that the proprietary lands in Virginia had been rnismanaged. He wrote at once to his cousin, the Hon. V. uiiani Fai.;'ax, at Salem, Mass., requesting him to remove to Virginia, and take upon himself the agency of them. Mr. Fairfax readily complied; i. e., resigned his ofiic ■, and removed there in 1734, first into Westmoreland county, where he opened an agency office for the granting of the lands ; and as the quit-rent he demand- ed was but two shillings for every hundred acres, the vacant lands were rapidly let, and a considerable permanent income was soon derived from them. Lord Fairfax informed of these circumstances, determined himself to visit his kinsman, to whom he felt greatly in- debted, and he passed about a year with him in Virginia; and be- coming captivated with the climate, beauties and products of the country, he resolved to rclarn and settle his aTairs in England, and pass the remainder of his life on his vast a'. ' noble domain here. He probably came first to America in 1739, and finally settled on the northern neck in 1746, at Belvoir, in the family of his friend and kinsman, where he remained several years, directing the man- agement and surveys of his plantations, and amusing himself with hnnting. Game at length becoming scarce and the lands not an- swering his expectations in this quarter, he determined to remove to a fine tract in Frederick county, sixty miles above ' Belvoir.' Here he built a house which he called ' Greenway Court,' and laid out a beautiful farm. He passed the remainder of his long life after the manner of a gentleman farmer ; keeping many servants, several hunters, and a good plain table. His manners were humble, mod- est, and unaffected ; not tinctured in the smallest degree with arro- gance, pride, or self-conceit. He was also free from selfish passions, and was liberal almost to excess. The produce of his farm, except what was necessary for the consumption of his own family, was distributed and given away to the poor settlers in the neighborhood. To these he frequently advanced money to enable them to go on with their improvements, to clear the woods and cultivate the grounds, and where the lands proved unfavorable, and not likely to 'gtment called ition of his es- Virg'inia had isin, the Hon. 1 to remove to Mr. Fairfax ijoved there in ned an agency enthedemand- te vacant lands come >vas soon circumstances, felt greatly in- •ginia; and be- products of the n England, and le domain here, nally settled on ily of his friend icting the man- n'':1 1 « '( I ^i'^ I (/ i'' 614 ADMIRAL JOHN PAUL JONES. 111'' St' ■fVt.P ( i i..Jl i 7- f VFl \ 1 :Wl m hi ■ ■^ fi I? i1 ' engaged and captured, in the sight of an immense concourse of people assembled on the shore to see liim taken, as the commander of the Drake had prnniiseH, before he went out, would soon be the case. He carried his prizf into Brest, where he became involved in a varitty of difficulties for want of money to pay his crew, and support his prisoners. In addition, he had the mortification to fmd that the "Indien" frigate, which had been destined for him, was made over to France, because the American Commissioners had not the means for her completion. The " Ranger" was sent b8,ck to America u®d«r the command of a lieutenanl ; and Jones hii»self was detaiDCfll m France ;o take command of a squadron whicit, it was proMuec would soon be ready for him. The vacillating pohcy of ' Venck aiinistry and the jealousy of their naval officers, cao' ,• deiay of a year, during which Jones employed himself i ^jlanaing expeditions; and urging them on the attention of the Government. In onf of these, the Marquis Lafayette proposed to accompany hiai with a large body of troops, but none were adopted : the French ministry being probably too much occupied with other matters to attend to them, or perhaps thinking them too bold and dating in their con- ception, to be likely to be attended with success in executiwi. While at Brest, brooding over the dilatoriness of the French' government, chance threw in his way a copy of ** Poo'- Richard's Maxims," by Dr. Franklin. The first sentence that cau^t his eye on opening the book, was one, saying, " li' you wish your businta* faithfully and expeditiously executed, go and do it yourself; if otb^^* wise send." This struck him as so pt culiarly applicable to himself, that he immediately set out for Paris, where he found that bis personal attendance was alone wanting to carry the instruction* of the Gov- ernment into effect, and to complete the equipment oJ a squadron of five vessels of war to be placed undtr his command. These were, the Alliance 36 — Pallas 30 — Ceres J8 — Ven- geance 18, and his own ship, the Duras, of 40 guns, TUsimi iwit he called the Bon Homme Richard, in honor erf the a««»hof of the " Maxims," by which he had on this occasion been so nwch b«a«- fited. She was an old East Indiaman, nearly unfit for service, as is evident from the following extract of a let***' from Jones to 'V. Franklin : " We havp inspected the * Bon Hoin^^ Richard/ and it \ * ADMIRAL JOHN PAUL JONES. 615 is the constructor's opinion that she is too old to admit of the ne- cessary alterations. Thus circumstanced, I wish for an opportunity of attempting an essential service to render myself worthy of a better and a faster sailing ship." On the 14th of August, 1779, Jones left L'Orient with his squad- roB, and a heterogeneous crew, to intercept the Baltic fleet. Ow- ing to the desertion of part of the squadron, and the bad conduct of the " Alliance," he could only capture the convoy, consisting of the " Serapis of 50 guns," and the " Countess of Scarborough of 20." He himself, in the " Bon Homme Richard," encountered the Sera- pis, and took her after one of the most severe and proporfionably sanguinary fights ever recorded. The English Commodore Pear- son, who commanded the Serapis, gives the following account of the situation of the " Bon Homme Richard " after the action, in his official despatches : " Her counters were entirely driven in, and the lower deck guns all dismounted ; she was on fire in two places, with seven feet of water in the hold, and 306 men killed and wounded, out of a crew of 380." Commodore Jones carried his prizes into the Texel, and when he appeared on the Amsterdam Exchange, he was styled the " Terror of England," — rather a high sounding title, it must be confessed, but sufficiently indicative of the admiration which his conduct and bravery had elicited even from the phlegmatic Dutch- men. Whi]«» in Holland, he succeeded, in despite of the diplomatic exertions of Sir Joseph Yorke, the British ambassador, in engaging the Sta*e& 'General in the war with England. On his return to France, his reception was most enthusiastic, anrf Loiui XVI. invested him with the order of military merit, and presMited him with a sword of honor. On his return to America^ a gold medal was ordered by Con- giwss to be struck in honor of his achievements, and by a unani- HMiM vote of that august body, he was appointed to the command of ibe " America," a line of battle ship of 74 guns, then being built at P',rtsmouth, and the only vessel of her class at that time in our in^JMJt navy. Th*^- fafes, however, again interfered to prevent km frocQ having the command of a ship suited to his merits ; for iik«r be had superintended her construction; and made her as he !" r-'ii 1!li'!te- A ( ■ li .'.'•I; P'J.;;: r '!>..,. A'^^^^i^"^^ '4 '.tf^. 616 ADMIRAL JOHX PAUL JONES. states in his correspondence, the raost perfect vessel of her class in the world, Congress deemed themselves called on to present the " America " to France, in lieu of the " Magnifique," lost in our waters. Thus disappointed, and in ntsrsuance of the recommendation of Congress, he jomed the fleets oi D'Estaing and D'Orvilliers. In the year 1786, he was appointed by Congress its Agent to Denmark and Sweden, to obtain an indemnity for the prizes taken under his command into their ports, and delivered over by them to the enemy. Soon after this, he was induced by the advice of Mr. Jefferson, then our minister at Paris, to enter the Russian naval service. The negotiations which had been very ably opened by him at Copen- hagen and Stockliclm, were transferred to Paris, and finally brought to a satisfactory conclusion. He entered the service of her Imperial Majesty with the rank of Rear Admiral, and in an action against the Turks in the Liman Sea, on the 7th of June, 1788, he so distinguished himself as to be immediately prompted to the rank of Vice Admiral, and to receive from the hands of the Empress the decoration of the illustrious order of St. Ann. Notwithstanding his success, the slanderous calumnies of his enemies reached him even here, and acting on a mind of acute sen- sibility, so embittered his days, as to induce him to resign his com- mand and return to Paris, wiiere his varied and eventful career was brought to a final close by his death, at the early age of 45 years, on the 12th September, 1792. The National Assembly of France decreed a public funeral and mourning on the melancholy occasion. A deputation from that body attended, and M. Mauon, an eloquent orator, was appointed to pronounce his funeral oration, which closes in the following words : " Imitate him in his contempt of danger, in his devotedness to his adopted country, in his noble heroism, which, after having been the astonishment of the present generation, must continue to be the imperishable object of the veneration of future ages."' His remains were deposited in i> leaJen coffin, the more easily to be removed in case they should be claimed by our Government. This however was never done, and, more ungrateful still, Congress ■■'*#-x ■ her class in present the lost in our tnendation of 'illiers. its Agent to I prizes taken gr by them to Mr. Jefferson, service. The im at Copen- , and finally he service of ral, and in an ! 7th of June, ly prompted to 1 hands of the Ann. umnies of his of ac\ite sen- sign his com- ful career was ^e of 45 years, ic funeral and lion from that was appointed the following devotedness to er having been tinue to be the he more easily r Government, still, Congress ADMIRAL JOHN PAUL JONES, 617 have never liquidated the just claim put forward by his present rep- resentative, George L. Lowden, Esq., a grand-nephew of Admiral Jones, for disbursements actually made by him, which, with interest, amount to about $60,000. This appears the more unjust, as his services to the country were gratuitous. A short time before his death, he was appointed by President Washington, Mr. Jefferson being then Secretary of State, Commis- sioner to Algiers, for the purpose of redeeming from captivity the American citizens who were confined in the dungeons of that bar- barous power. It is not known whether the news of this appoint- ment reached Paris in time to relieve, in some degree, the gloom which hung over the latter days of his life ; but that it was made is sufficient evidence of the high estimate which our eminent pa- triots and statesmen had formed of his character and abilities. We have thus brought to a close our imperfect sketch of the history of this extraordinary man. In his character were found all the tenderness and sensibility of a woman united to the courage and daring of a hero. To the latter may be attributed the many victo- ries he achieved ; while in the former we recognise the source of that exquisite sensitiveness, which enabled the calumnies of his enemies to inflict such rankling wounds on his happiness as embit- tered his whole existence, and finally brought him to an early grave. In the account between him and the United Slates, there is, we are sorry tt say, a fearful balance against our country. To our cause he freely devoted his talents, his fortune, and his life. With his own hands he hoisted the star-spangled banner on board of the Alfred, in the Delaware, the first time it ever floated to the breeze. At the mast-head of a ship under his command, it received its first national salute from a foreign power. Fighting under its folds he was the first to cause the meteor flag of England to strike before it, and on the very coasts of Britain, in defiance of the proudest navy in the world, he caused the astonished enemies of America to quail beneath his prowess. And what was his reward ? Neglect while living, and forgetfulness when dead. " Done to death by tongues of envious men," no one of all thos» , in whose cause he fought and bled, have, as yet, thought fit to do public justice to his memory. And his heir is even obliged to sustain a heavy pecuniary 77 111-. ■ m III! I Will 'i ^! I ! U ill ^;:l ^,\i I i !§'!. i : I ■ V,i' ' ► , 1 618 THE CUNNINGHAMS ':. ■■I' *#:•'' t If)' ! !i * 'i ^ ^'<, ''4' 'i ;'i, I ■■ loss in consequence of bis actual disbursements on account of tbe United States. [The above is deduced from a Lecture upon the Life and Ex- ploits of Admiral Jones, delivered by the editor of this work before the Mercantile Library Association, Clinton Hall, New-York, Janu- ary 2, 1844] THE CUNNINGHAMS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, AND STRICTURES ON THE RECEIVED HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. During the revolutionary contest, S. Carolina was the sr-'ne of one of the most wasteful and bloody civil wars that e^ »'V raged in any country at any age. History blushes at the recit..l of its horrors, and willingly suppresses many of its enormities. In such times party spirit and private feeling entirely pervert men's judgments, and the story of each encounter is one of daring heroism, or of cold-blooded atrocity, according to the views and passions of the narrator. Unfortunately for the loyalists of South Carolina, all the written testimony of the period is from the pens of their opponents, by whom their actions have been misrepresented, their motives misconstrued, and themselves viliiied and abused. Oral testimony, tradition, and the scanty recordj of private fcmilies are all they have now to rely on for their defence and justification. Theirs also has been the losing side, " Victrix causa Diis placuit sed victa Catoni." But the feelings of admiration inspired of old by the contemplation of the generous virtue of the high souled Roman, meet, we fear, with but little sympathy in our dayj and principle, to be honored or respected, must now be on the win- ning side. Certain it is, that in this country the unflinching integ- rity of the Tories of the Revolution has, hitherto, been thought worthy only of execration ; their conduct has been constantly attri- buted to the most unworthy motives, and their memory has been allowed to remain under the most unmerited reproach. Amongst the active loyalist families of that period, none, per- haps, has been so loaded with obloquy as that of the Cunninghams of S. Carolina ; and the following history, containing a record of their deeds, will show how hardly they have been dealt with. This rT^d^m-m count of the ife and Ex- work before -York.Janu- ILINA, IN THE SOUTH. vas the sr-Tie lat e^ •r raged . recit.-l of its lies. nlirely pervert 1 one of daring the views and jalists of South om the pens of misrepresented, d and abused, private fufiiilies nd justification, usa Diis placuit inspired of old he high souled I our day; and be on the win- iflinching integ- ), been thought constantly attri- lemory has been ch. eriod, none, per- le Cunninghams ning a record of ealt with. This OP 80UTH CAROLINA. 619 record will naturally embrace an account of the situation of the colony previous to, and at the commencement of, the Revolution, as well as sume strictures on the received histories of that eventful period. The family of Cunningham in Scotland, now represented by William Cunningham, Esq., of Craigends, of which that of S. Carolina is a branch, have been long distinguished for their deter- mined hoslilitv to all exertions of arbitrary power, whether pro- ceeding from ll. ; ill-defined prerogative of the monarch, or from the usurpet) authority of assoriated bodies of men. They wer j ac- cording!" among the earliest, as well as the most forraidab e, of the opponenVs of the ecclesiastical tyranny of the Church of Lome in that coui/ ry. During the struggle for religious freedom and particularly during the reign of the bigoted James the II., it is Well known that many Scotchmen, who suffered persecution on account of non-conformity, preferred leaving their native co antry to doing violence to their consciences, and purchasing permission to remain at the expense of connivances and concessions which were, in their eyes, not only weak but sinful and wicked. Amongst others, the ancestors of the Cunninghams of S. Carolina, about the year 1G81, came over to America, and finally settled in Augusta county, Virginia, in the region of the beautiful valley of the She- nandoah. The main branch of the family continued to reside there until the yei.i .'769, when it consisted of John Cunningham with four sons and hroe daughters. In January of that year Robert and Patrick, '■ .le two eldest sons, removed to district " Ninety-six" in South Carolina. Robert settled at Island Ford on the Saluda river, and was the first " magistrate" or rather circuit judge ap- pointed for Ninety-six district. As this office was instituted during the year 1760, it is evident he must have received the appointment within a year after his arrival in the colony. On the 9th of March Qi the same year, Patrick was made, by patent, deputy surveyor general of the province of S. Carolina, under Sir Egerton Leigh, then surveyor general. Thus, in a iiige ^nd populous district, comprising nearly one- fourth of the whole province, two strangers receive offices of high trust and emolument ; among the highest, indeed, which the jealous policy of the English government was in the habit of bestowing on I- 1 till 1^ m i ,1 m ril liC' i;,J ■ 1 ■„ . I i'l ifwm THE CUNNINGHAMS the native born !>,? ihifants of the colonies, manifesting the high sense entertainer! oi ineir merit and character. Patrick settled on the Saluda river, now Laurens district, where his descendants have since resided. In 1770 the two younger brothers, John and David, with three sisters, removed also to S. Carolina. John became a planter, and David was appointed deputy survtyor of Ninety-six district. Robert, after a short residence at Island Ford, removed to Peach Hill, where he resided when the troubles commenced. In order to understand fully the events which afterwards occurred, it will be necessary to go back to about twt iity years previous to the Revolution. At that early stage in the settlement of the upper country of S. Carolina, the Indians roamed through it at pleasure ; few, if any, symptoms of civilization were perceptible, and naught met the eye save uncultivated nature, with occasionally the rude wigwam of the savage proprietors. Such neighbors were by no means agreeable to the settlers on the seaboard, who, as the •' Royal proprietors," spared no exertion to drive the others to the mountains. Grants of one and two hundred acres of land were made, for the most trifling consideration, to all who wouln occupy them, and pains were taken to represent this new country as a second " Eldorado," to attract the ambitious as well as the needy of other lands to settle on it. Population in consequence poured in. Industry and increasing numbers soon begat wealth and strength, so that in the short space of twenty years the upper coun- try, constituting the district " Ninety-six," had become the wealth- iest and most' thickly settled portion of the province. During the first thirteen years, however, the population was of so mongrel a cast, the poverty and other difficulties so great, the law so power- less, and the leading guardians of the country so utterly neglectful, that the district had a fearful struggle for very existence as a civil- ized community. Great numbers of ruffians of the lowest class, too lazy to labor for their support, too lawless to respect the rights of others, and too licentious to submit themselves to the restraint of any regular lif( , taking advantage of the confusion arising from the constant inroads of the Indians, and the inefficiency of the govern- ment, preyed on the industry of the community, and rejoiced in the excitement of a life of plunder and rapine. The log houses and rude fences of the early settlers were but an insecure protection Bting the Mgh lick settled on icendarit?, have ihn and David, lohn became a of Ninety-six Ford, removed loramenced. wards occurred, ars previous to 'nt of the upper it at pleasure ; ble, and naught ionally the rude )rs were by no i, who, as the ;he others to the es of land were o would occupy BW country as a fell as the needy sequence poured at wealth and the upper coun- ome the wealth- ice. During the of so mongrel a le law so power- itterly neglectful, stence as a civil- i lowest class, too ,ect the rights of to the restraint of arising from the icy of the govern- nd rejoiced in the \e log houses and isecure protection a OF gOUTII CAROLINA, 621 against the inroads of these depredators. Horses and cattle were their easy prey, and no man went to bed at night without a feeling of insecurity, and a dread lest the ensuing morning should disclose to him some misfortune in the loss of what constituted, if not all, at least by far tl ■ most important portion of his wealth. At last, the state of tl try became so desperate, that the more resperi^j. v.? and eni the inhabitants, finding no protection ('■•m iV~ laws, a '": theraselvfs by the necessity of the ca , ur/.N ! in parti. JUt even any form of law, inflicted summary punishrai .enders who fell into their power. The origi- nal motive loi mu organizing themselves into an executive party was, no doubt, a good one; and the necessity of the times seems to have called for the adoption of some such measure. But the pos- session of absolute and irresponsible power is always dangerous, and it was particularly liable to abuse, when usurped by men whose feelings had been irritated, and whose angry passions had been ex- cited, by a succession of losses extremely difficult to repair, and against the recurrence of which they deemed it impossible to guard, except by measures of the utmost severity, directed against whom- soever they might have the slightest ground to suspect of being implicated. The innocent, consequently, often suffered for the guilty, and the punishment of crime was, in too many instances, made the plausible pretext for the gratification of private revenge. Feuds and animosities between families were soon generated, and, at length, increased to such an extent, as to throw every thing into lawless confusion. The sufferers, joined by all who looked with abhorrence at the infliction of punishment without trial by jury, having made application to the Governor and Council, an agent was appointed in 1764 to investigate matters, and to proceed legally and impartially against all offenders. This person, however, proved wholly unfit for the proper discharge of his difficult and responsible office, and his arbitrary and unjust conduct soon produced another appeal to the Governor in Council, which happily resulted in the Circuit Court law of 1769, establishing courts of justice at Ninety -six, Camden, and Orangeburg. Under this law Robert Cunningham was appointed the first magistrate, or rather circuit judge, for " Ninety-six" district. Five years of prosperity and peace suc- ceeded this arrangement, but the seeds of rancor and animosity \\ ' 1 li: I'll I? ¥; f4 1 11. I- ^, >t^i^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A 1.0 I.I LitTA 12.5 >^ Uii |2.2 1^ 12.0 It! m u I ^ |l.25 1 1.4 1 1.6 ^ 6" ► ^ (P> /Q /: 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) S73-45C? d r<\^ \ iV A \ .v^ ^^ 622 THE CUNNINGHAMS Uitf if' !lf;i V' had been previously too extensively and too deeply sown to be easily eradicated, and they appeared to be suppressed for a time, only to burst forth with greater violence and bitterness, as soon as they were permitted to show themselves in the tumultuary scenes which preceded the Revolution. Thus far, however, the settlers in the upper country appeared to be prosperous, harmonious, and rapidly increrriing in wealth and numbers. Devoted to the culti- vation of their lands, they mixed but little with the inhabitants of the lower country, and were disposed to consider the latter more as ambitious intriguers for place and power, addicted to the acquire- ment of wealth by irregular means, than as a persevering or honestly industrious population. Removed, in a great measure, from the immediate sphere of British oppression, the unjust taxation of the mother country was neither much felt nor complained of by them, and the outbreaks in the north, and the commotions on their own seaboard, were attributed generally to the intrigues and ambition of political demagogues, rather than held to be the legitimate con- sequences of pure and unselfish love of country. It must bt recol- lected too, that, in the early stages of the revolution, few thought or even dreamed of a separation from the mother country, and the only motives assigned for the extreme and warlike measures of en- rolling troops, &c., were an express determination to resist the payment of unjust taxes, and the expectation that England might be induced to revoke her arbitrary acts by a violent and extended show of opposition on the part of the colonies. When, however, these demonstrations were followed up by acts of violence of the harshest and most vindictive character, against those who wished to remain neutral, we cannot be surprised that the patriotism of the leaders of the movement party, whose deeds contrasted so unfavor- ably with their public declarations, should now be somewhat more than suspected by those who had always distrusted the purity of their motives. Had it been declared at once that their object was a separation, the violence of their conduct, though quite unjustifiable, might have been susceptible of some palliation, in consideration of the magnitude of the stake for which they were contending, and the certainty of the ignominious fate that awaited them in case their attempt should prove unsuccessful. But as they asserted their movement to be strictly a defensive one, and to hold in abhorrence OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 633 t m the idea of throwing off their allegiance, it is difficult to reconcile the cruelties they perpetrated with honesty of purpose, and, afker making every allowance for the enthusiasm, under the influence of which political as well as religious bigots, in every age of the world, have endeavored by force to secure compliance, wherever their reasoning failed to produce conviction, the impartial historian will still have to record much to be accounted ibr only by the recklessness with which unprincipled men who assume, of their own authority, irresponsible power, are almost always/ound to allow their passions and the impulse of the moment to have uncontrolled sway over their minds. Under such circumstances, it appeared to the Cunninghams, that though the English government ought not to be permitted to impose taxes on the colonies without their concurrence, yet the people would gain but little, if they escaped the injustice of the British Parliament, only to subject themselves to the odious tyranny of an arbitrary faction at home. They, therefore, advocated the adoption of milder measures, thinking the time had not yet arrived when a sufficient force could be organized successfully to resist the power of England. And they were apprehensive that, in case of an in- effectual struggle, their condition would, af)er much misery and bloodshed, be only more hopelessly deplorable than ever. When, therefore, the Assembly in July 1775 passed a vote in commenda- tion of Massachusetts, and also a non-importation act, Robert Cun- ningham was opposed to both, and afterwards when the " Asso- ciation Act" was passed he openly expressed his disapprobation of it in the strongest terms. This ind .-pendent line of conduct soon brought him, and those who acted with him, under the ban of the dominant party, and it would far exceed our limits to enumerate all the insults that were heaped upon them, or the many grievances of which they had ere long to complain. As force has ever yet proved but a feeble instrument in the work of conversion, its effect on the loyalists was only to make them adhere the more firmly to their principles, and to drive ihem info active and determined hos- tility. Vengeance for wrongs committed against themselves and their families whetted their swords, and directed the aim of their muskets. A civil war raged with unmitigated fury, and its guilt of right belongs to those with whom it originated. il!ll ^'i ,, ! HI Hi' H I 11 I!. '^^ f ii ii !lii '•* J fm mi hj •:-i mm II.,;. ; 624 THE CUNNINGHAMS The first overt acts of oppression were in connection with the " Association Act" which all were required to join. A general committee and a council of safety were appointed to inquire into the state of the country, and to take such steps as they might deem expedient, or think best calculated to enforce the views of the po- pular party. In pursuance of this policy the general committee summoned all the inhabitants of Charleston who had not signed the Association Act to appear before them on the 23d day of July, 1775, and to declare their reasons for refusing to sign it. Some who, in consequence, appeared, were ordered to confine themselves to their houses or plantations, as the reasons they gave for not signing were considered as by no means satisfactory ; others, and the greater number, preferred to leave their country and their homes, and to throw themselves on the protection of England, rather than submit to the persecution of which they foresaw this was only the commencement. No sooner had they done so than it was pro- posed by Middleton and some of the more violent of the committee, to take possession of their estates ; but the time had not yet arrived for the adoption of so extreme a measure, and the motion was lost. Two commissioners, William Henry Drayton and the Rev. Mr. Tennent, the latter a Presbyterian minister of some notoriety, were appointed to make a circuit of the upper country, to explain the motives of their proceedi* nd to induce the people there to join the Association. The inL . >'\ I S' ! It 626 THE CUNNINGHAMS lost my caution." Here we observe Drayton takes great credit to himself and his reverend coadjutor for having surprised an honest man into an indiscreet promise ; he speaks angrily of the bitterness of a gentleman who has just had his feet half scorched off by the ruffianism of their party ; and to cap the climax, he pretends to have his virtuous indignation aroused almost beyond bearing by the insinuation that " he did not mean well to the king." Proh pudor ! Notwithstanding his boasting, however, this chronicler was obliged to confess that their progress would be in vain, and a civil war in> evitable, unless some dozen persons were seized, whose influence he had only shortly before asserted to be on the wane. On such contradictions it is unnecessary to comment, and they are brought forward here only to show the partisan character of the history. A meeting of the inhabitants of the district summoned by the Com- missioners took place on the 23d of August, at the Enoree, and the " Memoirs" state that very few assembled, owing to the " contriv- ances of the heads of the other party." At this meeting Robert Cunningham told the Commissioners that he had said to his men that " if they were satisfied with their present opinions there was no occasion for them to hear the addresses." After this the Commissioners separated, and Drayton went to Snow Hill, near Augusta. A report having reached him on the 29th of August, that Kirkland had taken up arms to recover Fort Charlotte and attack Augusta, and that Cunningham and Brown were to be of the party, he immediately ordered out three companies to be joined by a hundred men from Augusta, and Colonel Thomp- son was directed to march with his rangers, consisting of nearly three hundred militia, to take post at the " Ridge," and Colonel Richards, with three hundred at Enoree. to be a check on Fletchall. He then issued a proclamation to be published in district Ninety-six, delaying an appointed meeting, stigmatizing Kirkland*s conduct as criminal, ssnd declaring all who took arms at his instigation to be public enemies, who should be put down by the sword. Kirkland's movement, if ever intended, which is doubtful, never took place, and he himself, apprehensive of personal violence, escaped to the sea coast. Hearing that Cunningham and Brown continued to collect men, Drayton, on the 6th of September, marched for Ninety-six •eat credit to id an honest the bitterness ed off by the e pretends to earing by the Proh pudor ! r was obliged civil war in- tose influence le. On such y are brought e history. A I by the Com- noree, and the the " contriv- leeting Robert aid to his men ions there was ayton went to ed him on the recover Fort m and Brown ree companies )lonel Thomp- ting of nearly " and Colonel c on Fletchall. ■ict Ninety-six, id*s conduct as stigation to be Kirkland's rer took place, escaped to the lued to collect for Ninety-six OF SOUTH CAROLINA. Court House, with 120 men, and four swivels, intending to join the rangers and militia there, to march into Fletchall's quarters, and to compel a surrender of the principal loyalists. He arrived unexpectedly at the C. H. on the 8th, and immediately despatched a party to surprise and seize Robert Cunningham. He bad quitted his reisdence the day before, but his papers fell into their hands. Both parties now prepared for hostile measures. Drayton, Williamson.'and Mayson proceeded to put district Ninety- six into a posture of defence, and the loyalists assembled at Dr. PeaPs mills ; and, afterwards, under the command of Col. Fletchall, moved their camp to within four miles of Saluda, where they num- bered about 1200 men. Drayton with 1000 men encamped about three-quarters of a mile in advance of district Ninety-six, and at about ten miles distant from the loyalists. His men had beer for some time under continual training, while the others were chc^^y raw volunteers, who had no more knowledge of military drill, than what a muster day now and then could give them. In addi- tion, Drayton was in possession of a strong fort, commanding the pli:n in which he was encamped. Under these circumstances, Fletchall did not consider that he ought to yield to the impatience of his men to be led on against the " rebels," and, therefore, though he had no magazines, and was en- tirely dependent upon irregular supplies for the support of his troops, he determined to act solely on the defensive, in the hope of assbtance from Government. Drayton in the meantime afraid to attack them, tried every means in his power to induce the loyalists to disperse. He wrote letters, calculated to mislead, for ^he pur- pose of their being intercepted, and issued proclamations in which he was lavish of his promises in case of submission, and fierce in bis denunciations in case of resistance. On the 16th a meeting took place between Drayton, Fletchall, and some of the other lead- ers on both sides, who had full powers to conclude terms pf pacifi- cation. A treaty was accordingly made and signed by Drayton, Fletchall, Ford, Greene, Wofford, McLaurin and Thompson, with Kershaw and Salvador as witnesses, in which the signers agreed, " that if any of those who should bind themselves by it, should hereafter by discourse or words, reflect iupon, censure or condemn the proceedings of the Colony, or the Congress, or the Council of W I , I lA I ! i 11 :|il!"| lilt W li 111 ,.■'»«'■ 628 THE CUNNINGHAMS % t Safely, or the General Committee, they should be delivered up to the authority of Congress," as the Assembly of Charleston now de- nominated themselves, within fourteen days after requisition, to be proceeded against at pleasure,"and " that all persons who shall not consio . themselves bound by this treaty must abide the consequen- ces." These terms are said to have given satisfaction to neither party. Robert Cunningham declared he would bebound by no such treaty, and after the camp had broken up and dispersed, he remained on the field with sixty of his followers. Finally he was obliged to yield to the necessity of the case, and retired, adhering to his resolu- tion of not being bound by the treaty. Thus, deserted by Fletchall and all but about sixty adherents, in the middle of a hostile country, with a prison, or perhaps a halter before his eyes, for he well knew into what merciless hands he was likely to fall, did Robert Cunning- bam boldly declare his hostility to the popular party, and his con- tempt for the proposed terms of pacification. Five days ailer the treaty was made, Drayton wrote him a let- ter asking his sentiments with regard to it — and with the intention, as he states to Congress, of arresting him in case he should reply that he did not consider himself as bound by it. Cunningham's answer is as follows : '•Sir, — This day I received your letter dated the 21st of last month, desiring to know whether I considered myself as bound by the peace you made with Col. Fletchall and the other gentlemen from our camp. I think, sir, at this' time the question is rather un- fair ; however, as it always was my determination not to deceive either party, I must confess I do not hold with that peace. At the same time I am as fond of peace as any man, but upon honorable terms. According to my principles that peace is false and disgrace- ful, from beginning to end. It appears to me, sir, you had all the bargain-making to yourself, and if that was the case I expected you would have acted with more honor than taken advantage of men, (as I believe) half scared out of their senses at the sight of liberty caps, and sound of cannon, as seeing and hearing has generally more influence with some men than reason. " I am. Sir, your most obedient servant, « R. CUNNINGHAM. « Page's Creek, Oct. 6th, 1775." OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 629 red up to the on now de- sition, to be ho shall not ! consequen- n to neither d by no such he remained IS obliged to ;o his resolu- by Fletchall itile country, e well knew ert Cunning- md his con- •te him a let- Ihe intention, should reply lunningham's > 21st of last as bound by >T gentlemen is rather un- ot to deceive ace. At the on honorable and disgrace- a had all the expected you tage of men, ;ht of liberty las generally NGHAM. This instant decision, and bold expression of the opinion that Drayton had taken dishonorable advantage of the fears of the loy- alists, shows the independent 'and fearltss character of his mind. On the 23d day of the same month, he was arrested at night, in his own house, by a party sent by Major Williamson, for that purpose, under the pretence of " seditious words," on the affidavit of John Caldwell. He was carried prisoner by a military party to Charleston, and brought before Congress. He there acknowledged at once the truth of the contents of the affidavit, but stated in explanation that these opinions had not been volunteered ; but only given in answer to questions asked him by Caldwell, whom at the time he had no reason to consider as a spy upon his words or actions to repeat them unfavorably to his enemies. He also begged Congress to remember that though he did not consider himself as bound by the " treaty," he had behaved himself quietly and peaceably ever since, taking no part in the contest either way. Caldwell's motives in perpetrating this social treason, were, it is supposed, merely those of selfishness and ambition. Patriotism is out of the question, and it is not alleged that he had any private pique or ill will to gratify. But Drayton had the power to ad- vance hira, and to ruin Cunningham was well known to be a favorite object of that individual. After a long examination. Congress committed their prisoner to gaol, and the SherifT, Thomas Grimbal], was desired to afford hira every reasonable accommodation, suited to his rank in the upper country, but nrr Ui permit hira to converse or correspond with any person whatever, o to have the use of pen, ink, and paper, without the express leave of Congress. His arrest caused a great sensation in the country, and Dray- ton's memoirs say an immedfate and large expenditure of money from the Treasury. On hearing the news of his being made prisoner, his brother Patrick despatched runners to his neighbors, who rose up in arms on the instant, and commenced a pursuit in the hope of overtaking the party, and of effecting a rescue. Being too late to accomplish this, and hearing that a wagon laden with ammunition for the Cherokees was in the vicinity, they turned aside in its search, and coming up with it near " Mine Creek," 1 1 |i| M I!:'. m ,1"' ili i I'll lAi' 630 THE CUNNINGHAMS Ij ; 3 ii'b-lj BTRi. about 18 miles from " Ninety-six" on the 3d day of November, they took possession, and found it contained one thousand pounds of powder, and lead in proportion. Moultrie asserts there were 150 men in this enterprise, while Drayton makes the number only 60. An old man, now alive, recollects they were all collected together in one day, which would favor the supposition that the latter was the true number, as it would have been very difficult at that time, to have obtained more on so short a notice. The civil war now fairly commenced. Congress, on the 7th Nov. ordered out a numerous body of troops, with instructions "to pursue Patrick Cunningham and his party, to apprehend them, to recover the ammunition so feloniously nnd contemptuously taken, and, gen* erally, to do whatever was necessary to suppress the insurrection, and to prevent all future attempts." Meanwhile, Major Williamson of " Ninety-six," went with a party in pursuit, but on their turning on him he was obliged to re- tire. He therefore encamped nearly a fortnight at Ninety-six, waiting for recruits, and the reinforcements ordered out by Congress. The loyalists during this interval, (by no means idle,) were much aided by Capt. Richard Pearis, who had lately joined them. At first, Williamson did not believe they would dare attack him, but receiving information on the l8th that they were actually crossing the Saluda, at the Island ford, he called a council of war, which decided upon retiring to the cleared ground of Savage's plantation, separated from Ninety-six and the gaol, by a spring and ravine, a position favorable for receiving reinforcements and for erecting breastworks, to enable them to use their swivels to advantage. Hardly had they completed their " stockade fort," when the loyal- ists appeared in force, on the 19th, and by taking possession of the court-house and gaol, completely invested them. A conference between the leaders took place, in which the loyalists demanded a surrendr r of their opponents' arms, and an immediate dispersion of their forces. Before any terms were agreed upon, however, fighting com- menced outside. The meeting suddenly broke up, and active hos- tilities began, which lasted two days and a half. The]conference was renewed on the morning of the 22d, when Williamson, Mayson, Pickens, and Bowie, of the one party, met Robinson, Cunningham, or SOUTH CAROLINA. 631 F November, sand pounds 1 there were number only all collected ion that the y difficult at the 7th Nov. s " to pursue a, to recover en, and, gen- insurrection, went with a )bliged to re- t Ninety-six, by Congress, idle,) were joined them, tack him, but lally crossing war, which s plantation, ind ravine, a for erecting advantage, en the loyal- session of the ^ conference demanded a dispersion of ghting com- active hos- nference was son, Mayson, Cunningham, McLaurin, and Pearis of the other. A solemn treaty was then en- tered into, by which it was agreed that all hostilities should imme- diately cease, that the garrison should march out of the fort, and that the public differences should be submitted to liOrd William Campbell on tho part of the loyalists, and to the Council of Safety on the part of the Whigs. That twenty days should be allowed for the return of the messengers to be despatched by the parties, that the persons of these messengers should be held, as is usual, sacred, and that they should meet with no hinderance from either party in the execution of their missions, that the loyalists should retire across the Saluda, that none of the other party should be molested in returning home, that any reinforcements that might arrive should be equally bound by this truce, that all prisoners on either side should be set at liberty, that the fortifications which had been erected should be levelled, and the well which had been dug filled up. I'he Council of Safety having met at Charleston on the 30tb, Floyd, the messenger of the loyalists, presented himself before them to request permission to go on board of the vessel of war where Lord William Campbell had taken refuge, that he might confer with him, in accordance with the terms of the truce which had been concluded. The Council refused to allow him to proceed alone, and sent on board along with him a person called by them a " pur- veyor" who was directed to be present at the interview. When they got on board of the ship of war, Lord William of course refused to admit the " purveyor." He, therefore, immediately re- turned to the Council, who, forthwith, issued an order for the arrest of Floyd the moment he landed, which was accordingly done. The whole of this proceeding, from first to last, displays a want of liberality, and even of good faith, which one would hardly have expected to meet with from an assemblage of the lowest rabble ; but when we consider that the Council was composed of the ** stars" of the state, we are shocked to think that any posture of affairs, however critical, should have had the power so entirely to obliterate from the mind of such a body of men, every sentiment of equity and fairness. But this was not all, for, taking advantage of the 20 days' truce, the provisions of which they had already so unjustifiably violated, they sent Col. Richardson with 150U men, ill! 1 III i'l. lii'f li'i '!! m ill M I Hi-f if' I f i. t 632 THK CUNNINGHAMS to take po^isession of the country, vi)uc\\ the loyalists, by disbanding, in full reliance on the honor of their opponents, had left in an un- protected state. lie encamped in the Dutch Fork, fifteen milts from Saluda, and took a number of prisoners. Here he was joined by various bodies of militia, till his army amounted to 2500 effective troops, with which he went out against the loyalists, who, taken unawares, had not assembled in greater force than 400 men. These retreated slowly towards the territory of the Cherokees, and Col. Richardson issued a proclamation demanding" the delivery of the bodies of the principal offenders, Cunningham, O'Neal, Brown, Reese, Howard, and Greene, together with the arms and ammuni- tion of all the aiders and abettors of those robbers, murderers, and disturbers of the peace, within the space of five days," and, in case of neglect," he said " he would take such steps as he thought the public good required." The proclamation ended by offering pro tection to all except capital j^ofTenders, if they would lay down their arms, and preserve the strictest neutrality. Many in conse- quence laid down their arms, but no leaders were surrendered. Richardton's army had now increased to between four and five thousand, which advanced slowly in pursuit of the four hundred loyalists who retreated before them. Drayton, in his Memoirs, ridi- cules this retreat, as being the effect, in his opinion, of *' cowardice and guilty consciences." He is seemingly wholly unaware that the orderly and well conducted retreat of a body of men in the face of an enemy of more than ten times their number, has ever been held among the most brilliant achievements of military tactics. Notwithstanding all their care, however, the loyalists, now re- duced to a band of 230 men, were on the morning of the 22d Dec. overtaken and surprised ^by Col. Thompson, who had been sent by Richardson during the preceding night with 1300 cavalry and infantry. Five or six men were killed, and 130 prisoners taken. Cunningham had only time to mount his unsaddled horse, and bid " all shift for themselves" in such an emergency. Owing to the fleetness of his horse he escaped, but all the stores and ammunition fell into the hands of the victors. Most of the captured gunpowder was recovered, and delivered to the Indian Agent to be forwarded to the Cherokees. The weather was exceedingly inclement. Snow fell seven days in succession, so that this has been styled or SOUTH CAROLINA . 633 disbanding, eft in an un- fifteen miks le was joined BOO efl'ective , who, taken n 400 men. lerokees, and le delivery of Neal, Brown, and ammuni- lurderers, and ' and, in case e thought the offering pro uldlay down any in conse- rendered. 1 four and five four hundred Memoirs, ridi- " cowardice unaware that len in the face has ever been y tactics, alists, now re- the 22d Dec. lad been sent cavalry and isoners taken, hoise, and bid Owing to the id ammunition ed gunpowder be forwarded ly inclement. as been styled ever since, the " Snow Campaign." Thus tcrminattd the first de- cided outbreak of the civil wnr, originating, as \vv luivi' seen, in the unjustifiable arrest and imprisonment of Robert Cunningham, tu whom we now return. Wo left him, our readers may recollect, in Nov. 1776, in prison at Charleston. There he was destined to remain till the ensuing July, when, the English having been expelled from tlie country, the Council of Safety, deeming it prudent to try the effect of con- ciliatory measures, released him and the other state prisoners, with- out any conditions whatever as to their after conduct. It is, howev- er, evident that this lenity w as the effect of an overweening confi- dence in the success of their arms, rather than of any liberality of sentiment, as Cunningham had some time previously applied to the Council for his liberation in vain, though he was willing to have bound hirasell to preserve the strictest neutrality. Tf British had been repelled, and, as was prematurely supposed, expelled the country Ibrever, and the Council doubtless imagined that this suc- cess, together with a great display of liberality on their part, would have no slight effect on the opinions and after conduct of the pris- oners. And they were right in so supposing, but the selfishness of party spirit in most cases counteracted their policy, and checked the feeling of unanimity which it was calculated to produce. This was fully evinced in the case of Robert Cunningham, who, as soon as he was released, being desirous of showing his sense of the lib- erality of the Council in setting him free without conditions, repair- ed immediately to the head-quarters of an fimy under the com- mand of General Williamson, which had been collected to repel a threatened invasion of the Indians, and offered his services as a volunteer. In warring against the savage, the common enemy of civilized man, who in his barbarity spares neither age nor sex, he felt he could meet his countrymen on common ground. The army however, thought differently, and to prevent a mutiny in the camp, Williamson was obliged to decline his proffered services. The officers, thinking that a man of Cunningham's stamp was not likely to remain long in a subordinate station, and holding, we presume, that the spoils of victory, in the shape of commissions and lucrative appointments, belonged of right to themselves alone, as victors in the civil struggle which had just taken place, could not 78 I't ' II i ■m I! ! r if it. V iff * lid :;|,|l •li^i 634 THE CUNNINGHAMS understand his desire to join them from conscieiitious and disinter- ested motives, and were so violent in their opposition to him, as to prevent Williamson from even receiving him at head-quarters. After this time, till the year 17S0, no public mention is made of any of the Cunninghams. They had all removed to the city of Charleston, where they lived quietly attending to their private affairs. In the spring of 1780 Charleston capitulated to Clinton, and nearly the whole of South Carolina returned to their allegiance. In December of this year Patrick Cunningham was 'nade Colonel of the Little River Regiment, and seems to have had superintendence over some of the confiscated estates. Robert was made a Brigadier General in the British service, and sent to command a fort about seventeen miles from " Ninety-six," called Williams's Fort, with a garrison of 150 men. After the surprise and slaughter at Ham- mond's store, which was about thirty miles distant, many of the fugitives arrived on the evening of the same day at Fort Williams on their way to " Ninety-six," the stronghold of the British in the country. They reported that Washington was at Hammond's store, having a large force under him, with which he intended to march directly on " Ninety-six," taking Fort Williams on his way. These reports were confirmed by many arrivals of wounded men and stragglers during the night, and General Cunningham de- termined to retreat upon " Ninety-six," so as to increase the force of the garrison, whilst there was yet time to carry off as much arms and ammunition as each man could bear, rather than by a fruitless opposition to an overwhelming force, not only lose all his military stores, but cause also a useless sacrifice of human life. They ac- cordingly marched the next morning, leaving only a few men to take care of such of the sick and wounded as were unable to go with them. This movement, dictated alike by military policy and sound com- mon sense, has been stigmatized in the partisan histories of the period as a disgraceful flight, and a great many fanciful versions of it have been recorded. The above account is taken down from the mouth of a Whig revolutionary soldier still alive, who, though belonging to the opposite parly, had eniored from policy the British ranks, and was with General Cunningham at the time. This is undoubtedly the true one, and the fertility of invention that has OF SOUTH CAROLINA 635 ii; It ft ami disinter- to him, as to 1-quarteis. ntion is made to the city of their private 3 Clinton, and •lUegiance. In ide Colonel of iperintendence de a Brigadier id a fort about 's Fort, with a ghter at Ham- , many of the Fort Williams 2 British in the it Hammond's he intended to illiams on his als of wounded unningham de- rease the force F as much arms 1 by a fruitless all his military life. They ac- ew men to take ■»o;o with them, nd sound cora- listorles of the anciful versions ien down from e, who, though )licy the British time. This is ention that has been displayed in distorting it, shows not only how prone the hu- man mind is to believe any story, however improbable, that is dis- creditable to an adversary, but also how prompt the partisan histo- rian is to pander to its credulity. In July, 1781, when Lord Rawdon returned to " Ninety-six," from a short pursuit of General Greene, whom he had forced tem- porarily to retreat, he called the chief of the loyalists together, ex- plained to them the necessity of abandoning the district, and advised them all to retreat within lines which the British troops were able to maintain. Every preparation was accordingl made by Colonel Cruger for immediate departure. Half of all the British force was left with him to cover their retreat, which was commenced on the 8th of July All would then have left, but for a letter addressed to them by General Greene, in which, declaring himself their protec- tor, he promised all who should remain his favour and support. Relying on these assurances some were induced to remain, but soon had cause bitterly to regret their determination. According even to the Whig historian, Sims, " they became the objects of a sanguinary warfare, carried on with a ferocity commensurate with the forbearance which the Revolutionists had so long shown from necessity, and to that hatred which was not unnaturally the conse- quence of their adverse principles." It would be in the highest degree unjust to impute bad faith to General Greene in this matter, but it was impossible for him to restrain h',., subordinates, and to guard against these excesses. But no sooner did he hear of them than General Sumpter was despatched to restore order and to capture the ringleaders ; in the meantime much mischief had been done, and many cruel and disgraceful outrages perpetrated. In November General Cunningham was sent with 700 men into the neighborhood of Orangeburg, where he encountered General Sumpter's brigade of equal force. The latter was obliged to fall back, and met with some loss in consequence of one of his officers having allowed himself to be drawn into an ambuscade; he con- tinued, however, to act as a check on Cunningham's further ad- vance into the country. That General Sumpter, the "-Game Cock of the South," who, from the eulogies passed on him by the his- torians of the day, one is led to conclude would have preferred al- ways to encounter double his own force, should have been content- !i .fli III!' I'::- a • m 'a(.u 636 THE CUNNINGHAMS ' . r'^ ;u 'k ed to act as a check merely on General Cunningham, with a force not larger than his own, incontestably disproves all the aspersions that have been cast with no sparing hand by these same historians on the courage and military skill of the latter. And though Sims, in his account of the capture of Colonel Mayhem, would attribute the humanity and generosity with which that officer was treated, to the absence of General Cunningham, his character for the pos- session of these virtues can with as little justice be impugned. There is no doubt but that Mr. Robins, the cliicer who by a boldly executed act of intrepidity captured Colonel Mayhem, acted strictly in accordance with General Cunningham's instructions, when he admitted him to his parole. And we do not believe that there is one iota of evidence to prove that, during his whole life General Cunningham ever committed a single act unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman. Thus terminates the history of this branch of the Cunninghams, as far as it is connected with the war of the revolution, but it may perhaps be of some little interest shortly to trace 'he after fates of the four brothers and their families down to the present time, before proceeding to give the adventures of Major William Cunningham, a Tory partisan of no ordinary note, a second cousin of the preceding, and whose deeds of daring retaliation for injuries received at the hands of the Whigs, have filled the whole of South Carolina with the fame of his exploits. At the terminalioh of the war General Cunningham and his brother, conscious of their irreproachable conduct throughout the whole of it, were induced by the proclamations of General Greene and the Governor to present a petition to be allowed to remain. But he and Patrick were rejected. The two youngest were per- mitted to remain. General Cunningham first went to Florida, and afterwards to Nassau, N. P., where he built a handsome residence. The English Government desired him to send in a statement of his loss by the confiscation of his estates in South Carolina, and liberally paid him four times the amount, besides allowing him the half pay of a Bri- gadier General for the rest of his life. He afterwards went to England, was presented at Court, and received with much distinc- tion. He died in 1813, at the age of 74, leaving a widow who OF SOUTH CAEOLTNA. 1637 svith a force e aspersions le historians lougli SiinS) lid attribute ivas treated, for the pos- ! impugned, by a boldly icted strictly ns, when he that there is life General he character unninghams, 1, but it may after fates of time, before ]!unningham, le preceding, eived at the arolina with lam and his oughout the leial Greene d to remain, st were per- fterwards to The English s loss by the lly paid him )ay of a Bri- jrds went to Quch distinc- widow who survived him only two years, and a son, Charles, his only remaining child, who had previously married and settled in Jefferson county, Georgia, where he died in 1817, leaving three small children, two of whom, a son and a daughter, are still living. Patrick Cunningham, the second brother, went to Florida at the same time with the General, and remained there for two years, em- ploying the negroes he took with him from Charleston in cutting down live oak for the English. These negroes had been purchased by him during the four years he resided in Charleston, in anticipa- tion of the confiscation of his estates, in case the party to which he had been opposed should be successful. In January, 1785, at the suggestion of his friends in South Carolina, he leilt Florida, and returned to Charleston, where on the 13th of March he presented a second petition to the Governor, which was backed by all the in- fluential gentlemen, his former neighbors, of the upper country. His sentence of banishment and confiscaticn was in consequence repealed, and instead he was amerced 12 per cent., and disqualified from voting or performing any other acts of citizenship for seven years. Before these seven years had quite passed away he was elected to the state legislature, where he served for two terms ond an extra session. The jealousy of the members from the lower country, particularly directed against him as a Cunningham, and shown most palpably in their efforts to keep him in the background, by pointedly passing him over in all committees, &c., so disgusted him with its paltriness, that he peremptorily refused to yield to the earnest entreaties of his constituents to allow himself to be again put forward. Some time in 1793 he was appointed surveyor of the district. In 1794 he lost his only daughter, Pamela, by her clothes accidentally catching fire, and from that day " a change passed o'er his spirit." His health gradually gave way, and he was carried off in a few months at the age of fifty-four, leaving a widow and three sons. The second son, William, a young man of most excellent promise, was soon after cut off at the early age of twenty-two, by an attack of pleuritis. Mrs. v^cnningham did not long survive their loss. She died in 1796. Two sons were now all that re- mained ; John, the eldest, who never married, and died in the year 1819; and Robert, the present representative of the family, who, with his wife, the daughter of Colonel Bird, of Georgia, formerly K li!,i Hi v. I ii I 63S THi: CU N NINOH AMS of the District of Columbia, and his son and daughter, now reside on the family estates in South Carolina. John Cunningham, the third brother, not having taken any active part in the war, further than to fill the office of Commissary to the British army during his residence in Charleston, was, as we have already recorded, permitted to remain there. He afterwards became a merchant, and dying at a good old age, left his youngest and only surviving son, Richard, a fortune of $640,000. He, an easy tem- pered man, of no business habits, intrusted the whole management of his affairs to others, and died at the age of fifty-nine, leaving a young family of five children, with only a very moderate fortune for their support out of the whole of this large sum. David Cunningham, the youngest brother, who had also acted in no more hostile capacity than Commissary to the army in Charleston, and was likewise permitted to remain, returned to district " Ninety- six," where he became a planter, and was again appointed sur- veyor. He died early, leaving a son and daughter. >}. T MAJOR WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. William Cunningham was the third and youngest son of a cousin of those Cunninghams, of some of the features of whose lives, in connection with the revolutionary war, we have given the preced- ing short sketch. This family having removed from Virginia at the same time with the other, had settled also in district " Ninety- six." In 1775, William was a young man of nineteen years of age ; his political opinions leaned to the Whig side, and, being a great favorite with the young men of the district of his own age, he exercised considerable influence over them. On this account, he was applied to by John Caldwell, to assist him in raising one of the companies of armed volunteers, embodied under the authority of Congress, for the alleged purpose of keeping the peace, and of preventing the Tories from creating a disturbance. To induce him to do so, Caldwell agreed that, if they succeeded in raising the full complement of men, Cunningham should be made first lieutenant, and should have a right to retire from the company, in case they should be sent to the lower country, or ordered on any other ser- OF SOUTH CAIlOl, INA, 639 , now reside in any active issary to the as we have ards became jest and only m easy tein- [nanageraent te, leaving a erate fortune also acted in [1 Charleston, ict " Ninety- ppointed sur- :;arolina. •n of a cousin hose lives, in n the preced- n Virginia at ict " Ninety- teen years of and, being a his own age, is account, he raising one of the authority peace, and of 'o induce him lising the full rst lieutenant, , in case they my other ser- vice than that specified by Congress. The company was accord- ingly raised, and was engaged at the taking of Fort Charlotte, on the Savannah river. In the course of time, they were ordered .iown to Charleston, and Cunningham consented to go down with them on the express condition that he should be permitted to resign as soon as they reached their destination. They were encamped near the city for about a week, and were then ordered either to John's or James's island. Cunningham immediately tendered i)is resigna- tion, which, to his surprise, Caldwell refused to accept. Remind- ing him of their solemn agreement, Cunningham swore he should abide by it, and that if he were taken over to the island, it should only be as a corpse. One half of the company who had joined through Cunningham's influence, showed a strong spirit of mutiny and insubordination, as soon as they heard of the altercation that had taken place ; and, at last, to prevent immediate desertion, Cun- ningham consented to go over, on the renewed condition, that his resignation should be accepted as soon as they should reach the island. No sooner had they landed than Caldwell, thinking to strike terror into his men, and thereby have them more under con- trol, had him arrested, put in irons, and tried by court martial on a charge of niutiny. The result of this shameless and ungrateful act of perfidy was, contrary to Caldwell's expectations, that Cun- ningham was n^t only acquitted, but by a decision of the same court, freed from his military engagement, on the ground of condi- tional agrer'/nent; and Caldwell became an object of hatred and contempt to a set of men, to whom the unsettled state of the coun- try afterwards afforded ample opportunity of satisfying their re- sentments, and avenging their private wrongs. Cunningham him- self was satisfied with treating him with personal indignity and contempt, but the others were, as we shall hereafter have occasion to relate, not content with so bloodless a retaliation. Cunningham having returned to the upper country, still adhered to the Whigs, and was with General Williamson in his campaign against the Cherokees, in the autumn of 177G. After this expedition was over, he declared that, having seen reason to change his opinions, he was determined to continue no longer in the service of the Whigs. No sooner had he made this declaration, than a system of perse- cution was commenced against him by those from whose association I I ! , '■ id ii :•! I* I I m in 'ir If !;: m ! 640 THE CUNNINGHAMS ^ff im fj ^r \i}i^ Hi he had retired, ^vhich ended in turning into gall and bitterness all the natural good humor of his heart, and speedily changed a kind and affectionate tempered man into a vengeful and unsparing par- tisan. He was hunted more like a wild beast than a man, and his only secure place of rest was in the deepest recess of some all but impenetrable forest. He dared not visit any of his family, except by stealth, and under the cloud of night, lest he should bring down upon them also the lawless vengeance of his persecutors, for hold- ing communication with one whom the Whigs placed under the ban of their displeasure. Thus he lived, sleeping on the ground in the open air, not venturing under cover even for the night, and enduring hardship and privation of every kind, rather than act with those from whom he had, on due deliberation, conscientiously seceded. A proud and high-spirited temper was not, however, likely to stand this usage very long, and an act of atrocity, of which his brother, John Cunningham, was the victim, brought matters to a crisis, and caused his long smothered indignation to break forth into open hos- tility, and to display itself in the most daring acts of retaliation against his enemies. One of the Whig Captains, William Ritchie, who had been in Caldwell's company, and whose farm matched with that on which Cunningham's brother Andrew and his family lived, had been con- spicuously active in searching for him with the view to capture him, dead or alive. On Cunningham's sending him word that he had better desist, he replied that so far from desisting, " he intended to shoot him down the first sight he got of him, and would follow him, if necessary, to the very gates of hell." On hearing this reply, Cunningham's first impulse was to take Ritchie boldly to task for it, but he was persuaded by his brother Andrew and his cousin Patrick not to notice it ; and as the country was at the time entirely under the control of his enemies, he was induced to retire from the neighborhood for awhile, until affairs should assume a more favorable aspect. Accordingly, in the be- ginning of 1778 he left for Savannah, where the British force then was. Ritchie, ignorant of his departure, continued his search, and exasperated at his want of success, determined to wreak his ven- geance on some other of the family. John Cunningham, a brother of W^illiam, seemed a fit object. He had been not only entirely I itterness all nged a kind paring par- lan, and his ;ome all but nily, except bring down irs, for hold- nder the ban round in the ind enduring t with those isly seceded. kely to stand his brother, a crisis, and ito open hos- )f retaliation had been in lat on which 1 been con- apture hiin, that he had intended to follow him, was to take y his brother s the country ;mies, he was until affairs r, in the be- sh force then s search, and reak his ven- am, a brother only entirely OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 641 lame from his birth, but was subject to fits of an epileptic character. Him Ritchie had drafted to serve in the militia, and when of course he did not appear, Ritchie with two men of the name of Moore and Cook, and some others, went to his house to carry him. Exasper- ated by such treatment, he abused them in no measured terms, and they, declaring they would whip him into silence, actually took this maimed and helpless being, and whipped him by turns until he expired under their lashes. As soon as the news of this cold- blooded murder reached the ears of William in Savannah, he swore he would never rest until he had avenged it in Ritchie's heart's blood. Not being able to procure a horse, he set out immediately on foot, attended only by one servant, and walked all the way from Savannah to" Ninety-six." Sh jrtly before his arrival, Ritchie, still in search of him, and not content with having murdered his brother, entered his father's house. The old man was sick in bed, and, notwithstanding his solemn protestations that he knew nothing of the movements of his son, dragged him over the floor by the hair, and kicked and cuffed him till he was tired. As soon as Cunning- ham arrived, and heard of this additional outrage, he went to Ritchie's house, and found him in the yard with seven or eight of his followers. On seeing Cunningham, Ritchie, conscious of his misdeeds, and the fearful retribution that awaited him, clasped his hands together, and exclaimed to one of his companions, " Lord have mercy on me, Hughes, for yonder is Cunningham, and I am a dead man." He tried to escape over the fence, but Cunningham shot him down, wounding him mortally — and coming close up to him, told him he " had come all the way from Savannah on foot to kill him, on account of the crimes he had committed against his family." From this period till the end of the war, Major Cunningham's life was passed in a series of wild adventures, so often ending in such fearful tragedies, as to earn for him, throughout the country, the sig- nificant cogomen of "Bloody Bill," and in the story of his exploits his famous horse " Ringtail " attained a celebrity hardly less dis- tinguished than his owner's. Ringtail, so called from a white ring round his tail, was a thorough-bred horse, reared by Patrick Cunningham, and presented by him to his cousin when the security of the latter's life depended so much on the celerity of his motions. 11' ir; ■ )ll I lii Mi ■Jl! 11 I i?li '11?'"' fid ■i't II' I' ■•■:,!, ^' f^'m. 642 THE CUNNINGHAMS The feals of strength and speed recorded of Ringtail were such as to throw an additional air of mystery and awe over the deeds of terror perpetrated by his no aster. A Captain Samuel Moore, the same who was with Ritchie when John Cunningham was murdered, commanded a party of twenty men, with which he went in search of William, to kill or apprehend him. In the course of his search, he had entered the house of Andrew Cunningham, in his absence, had used the most abusive language towards his wife, had destroyed a great part of the furniture, and finished by eating as much of the food that hac) been cooked for the family, as was required by himself and his men, and throwing the remainder to their dogs. He had scarcely left the house before William and Andrew Cunningham arrived, and the former, seeing the devastation that had been committed, immediately set out, accompanied by two men, in pursuit of Moore and his party. He tracked them the whole of that day, and sleep- ing in the woods at night, continued the pursuit next morning. When he had got to the foot of a long hill, full of gullies, since called Anglin's Hill, one of the men, seeing Moore's party at the top, fired a gun. At the noise of the report, Moore turned round, and seeing Cunningham, he immediately put spurs to his horse, then considered the fleetest in the country, to escape. Having so great a start as a hill full of gullies, and about a quarter of a mile in length, he must have done so but for the unrivalled speed and bot- tom of Ringtail. After a run of about a mile and a half, during which Moore, in his agony, had thrown away his sword and pis- tols, and every thing that he could get rid of to lessen his weight, Cunningham overtook him, and, after a few words of taunting con- tempt, cut him down with his sword. Strange to say, none of Moore's party stayed to make the slightest defence, but, as if seized with a sudden panic, they all made off in different directions. This chase first brought forth Ringtail's great powers of strength and speed — but very many were the occasions afterwards, on which Major Cunningham was indebted entirely to his horse for his safety. He taught him to give a sudden jerk with his head whenever he saw or heard any one approaching ; and by tying the bridle round his arm, he was thus able to go to sleep in tolerable security, cer- tain of being awaked by the vigilance of his horse long before any * OF SOUTH CAKOLINA 643 ?re such as le deeds of ilh Ritchie a party of 1, to kill or entered the ed the most reat part of od that ha4 lelf and his lad scarcely lam arrived, i committed, uit of Moore \f, and sleep- ixt morning, gullies, since party at the urned round, to his horse, Having so >r of a mile in )eed and bot- i half, during rord and pis- n his weight, taunting con- say, none of ;e, but, as if ;nt directions. s of strength irds, on which for his safety, whenever he e bridle round security, cer- ng before any one could approach near enough to surprise him. Sometimes, however, when resting in the woods, a party in pursuit has been able to gel quite close to him in consequence of his horse's view being obstructed by the trees and brushwood. As soon, however, as Ringtail could hear the crushing of the leaves or branches, or see any thing moving, a sudden jerk of the bridle gave instant warning to his master, who, throwing himself on his back, often only half awake, would gallop off to a secure distance before his enemies had recov- ered from the surprise the sudden movement had caused. On one occasion, particularly, when he had been obliged to swim the Sa- luda river, he had taken off bis clothes, and spread them out to dry, while he took a short nap. At this moment, a Col. Warton, with a party of men, came close upon him, and were deliberating whe- ther they should shoot him as he lay asleep, or endeavor to take him alive, when Ringtail, hearing a rustling of the leaves, gave the accustomed warning to his master, who, jumping on his back, half asleep, made his escape in his shirt and drawers, leaving all his clothes and arms behind him. After the capitulation of Charleston, a great many Whigs re- newed their oaths of allegiance to the king, and yet when success appeared to favor the Whig cause, they reassumed arms against the British. Cornwallis issued orders that all such, when taken, should be put to death as rebels, who had forfeited their lives by breaking the oaths of fealty they had so short a time previously taken. Major Cunningham, then an officer in the British service, was one of those who received these orders, and who executed them rigorously on all such offenders as fell into his power. Away with the sickly sentimentality that would say that he did wrong in so doing. He would have been wholly unfit for his profession as a soldier had he swerved from the performance of his duty on these painful occasions. But not even his greatest enemies have ever alleged that, stern as he was, he was at any time guilty of what was but too common in those times, harshness or cruelty towards women or children. On the contrary, he has on many occasions interfered to protect them at great personal risk, and often at con- siderable expense to himself. After the retreat of the loyalists from " Ninety-six," in July, 1781, those who had been induced by General Greene's proclama- II ll Hi. ii- I i 644 THE CUNNINGHAMS Jr.-:!:^' ■i ■!( tions to remain, were treated with the greatest barbarity. Among the Whigs who distinguished themselves by their cruelties towards these helpless Tories, were a Col. Hays and a Mr. Turner. Cora- plaints having been made to Major Cunningham of injuries com- mitted by these men against the innocent wives and children of some of the soldiers of his corps, who had adhered to him in every danger, he did not hesitate to leave the English camp at Charleston, and to pass into district " Ninety-six," with a party of not exceeding one hundred and fifty men, for the purpose of inflicting punishment on those against whose inhumanity neither age nor sex had afford- ed any protection. Both Turner and Hays occupied military " sta- tions." Turner's was the first encountered. It was taken, and the men put to death. On their way to Hays's " station," some of the men, led on by one " Elmore," seizing the opportunity of Cunning- ham's being at a considerable distance behind, proceeded to Cap- tain Caldwell's house, and finding him at home, they killed him, and burned the house. When Cunningham came up, he regretted what his men had done, but it seems doubtful whether, even had he been present, he could have restiained them, bearing as they did, such determined hatred towards their victim. The party then pro- ceeded on their way to Hays's station. Col. Hays had been warned of his danger the night before by a Capt. Brooks, who sent an ex- press advising him to disband his men, and leave the ground in- stantly, as Cunningham w^as in the country — had taken Turner's station, and killed nineteen men. Hays, distrusting this informa- tion, as he had just returned from scouring that part of the country, and had heard nothing of Cunningham, did not think fit to follow the advice, but merely sent off to another station for assistance in case of need. It was on a fine morning towards the end of November, when, at 10 o'clock, the party of loyalists, led on by Capt. John Hood, rode up to the station at full gallop. This Hood was a very daring fellow. He went close to the piazza in front of the house, and called out in a loud voice, that " none should fire from within, or they should all be put to death." Those within, disregarding this warning, fired through the openings, and killed one man. Major Cunningham arriving shortly afterwards, sent a flag of truce with a written message, demanding " instant surrender," and promising, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 645 'in, y. Among lies towards ner. Cora- ijuries corn- children of bim in every t Charleston, lOt exceeding r punishment X had afford- nilitary " sta- aken, and the ' some of the y of Cunning- ;eded to Cap- ey killed him, ),he regretted her, even had ng as they did, arty then pro- d been warned .10 sent an ex- Lhe ground in- aken Turner's this informa- |of the country, ik fit to follow Ir assistance in |vember, when, [)t. John Hood, a very daring khe house, and from within, or sregarding this man. Major of truce with land promising, if they did so, " to spare .ill thwii lives," but declaring at the same time, that " if they should resist, and so cause the spilling of his men's blood, he would give them no quarter, but put them all to death." Col. Hays, trusting to receive a reinforcement before the station could be carried, refused to surrender, and answered " he should hold out to the last, at the risk of the lives of his whole par- ty." After some shooting on both sides, Cunningham succeeded in setting fire to the '* station " which was of wood, by means of a ramrod wrapped round with tow, dipped in pitch, and thrown in a blazing state on the roof. Half sufTocaled, Hays and his party at length surrendered at discretion. Cunningham immediately hanged Hays and another man called Daniel Williams on the pole of a fodder-stock — the former for his cruelty to women and chil- dren, and the latter for having murdered in cold blood his favorite follower, Thomas Ellison, whose death he had sworn to avenge. Before they were dead, the pole broke, and Cunningham, drawing his sword, slew them both with his own hand. Being told that Cook, the man who, with Ritchie and Moore, had whipped his brother to death, was among the prisoners, he ordered him out from the rest, and slew him with his sword. He then gave permission to his men to do as they pleased with the rest. All who had rendered themselves obnoxious by acts of cruelty and plunder, were slain without mercy. The others were saved. Each of Cunningham's men singled out whomsoever among the prisoners had been guilty of murdering any of his rela- tives, and killed him forthwith. The execution took place about sunset, and doubtless the circumstance of having been kept, by the obstinacy of the defence, before this station, for a whole day, in the midst of a hostile country, had added nothing to the amiability of Cunningham and his band, and may have been the cause why jus- tice on this occasion seems to have been so little tempered with mercy. At the affair of Turner's station, there was no surrender made, nor quarter asked, and of course such a party as Cun- ningham's could not burthen themselves with prisoners. At the time they were attacked, the people of that station were busy cut- ting up some beeves of which they had just plundered the Tories. To conceal their occupation, they had fastened up blankets before the windows. The call for vengeance upon these marauders which i I! ■ 64G THE C U N N I N a H A M S ;-'' ►■'. ' ' 2'llmiu Wl, ' ?,v' had '•eni'liid Cunniti^liam, and lii.s followers in Charleston, received nn ndditional iinpulsu from lenining their present employment. The house was surrounded, and the inma'is cut down as they at- tempted to fly. Only one man escaped the general massacre. Seven were saved at Hays's station, and were next raorninR set free without terms or conditions. It has been asserted that Turner and his men made a formal surrender on the condition of being treated as prisjoners of war. l)ut this was not the case ; and the ubove account of what happened at both stations, is scrupulously correct. On their way back to Charleston, llic party enco an uied one "Oliver Toles," famous for stealing Tory cattle. \>j a spec, of poetical justice, Cunningham had him hanged with i thong cut from a Tory cow's hide. By this time the country had become fully alarmed. Parties under Pickens, Leroy Hammond, &c., cmmenced a vigorous pur- suit, and before they arrived at Charleston Ringtail's mettle was well tried. Seven fiesh parties started in pureiuit of Cunningham, one after the other, but Ringtail carried his master safe ofi° from the whole of them. It was at the expense, however, of his own life, for he died twent)-;liiee days after they reached the city, of fatigue, and the violcul exertions he had been forced to make. Major Cunning- ham, ** Bloody Bill," " the heartless unfeeling monster," " the cold- blooded demon," as in their lying histories they called him, wept like a child over his poor favorite and friend, as he was wont to term him. He had him buried with all the honors of war — the bells of Charleston were tolled and vollies were fired over the hero of many fights. When the English evacuated Charleston, Major Cunningham, instead of embarking with them, chose to proceed to Florida by land, piTompanied by five of \,i<- .ollowers. One day having pitched his tent near the rti/ny^ oi vj fjnville, i Uic fancied secu- rity of a deep wood, they laid aside their arms, unsaddled their horses, and began to cook and get ready their dinner. In the midst of this interesting occupation, they were suddenly interrupted by the unwelcome appearance of a Capt. Butler and twenty men of the Revolutionary party. Taken thus by surprise, each man OK SOUTH C A K I, I N A m I" f !' ston, rect'iveil cinployinent. m as thfy at- ral massacre, t raorninj; set id that Turner Ution of being case ; ami the is scrupuloi ^1) coimi-ied one L's a spetit 'i of h V thong cut irmed. Parties ■i vigorous pur- lil's mettle was jf Cunningham, er safe off from ife, for he died fatigue, and the Vlajor Cunning- ter," " the cold- ailed him, wept le was wont to )rs of war — the ed over the hero lor Cunningham, to Florida by )ne day having ,ie fancied secu- unsaddled their dinner. In the enly interrupted and twenty men prise, each man sprung HH lie was, without arm!), on his unsaddled huisf. and off as he Lest coiild. The tent, arms, and kvery thing < \<. i |il ibcQ)« selves, iiiM* their ban hacked horses, tell mlo the liunds of the gallant Capiain and hin bHnd. Th«' mids of twenty-onr well anited, to six unarmed nun.was rather too (^it't, t'Vtrv forlilood} I3ill ; so thinking, in this case, that disCTetion whs decidedly the belter part of valor, he, and Capt. Hood, who kept close to him, nuulc off as fast as their horses' legs could carry them, ani . were soon beyonti the reach of danger. He arrived safely in Florida, and afterwartJs went lo England with Gen. Cunningham. He was presented at Court, and during the rest of his life, enjoyed the half pay of a Major in the Jiritish service. He married a short time before leaving Charleston, b t had no children. Finally he died of a <«hort illness, in which there was, at first, apparently, no danger, bequeathing his young and beautiful widow, who had left father . id mother and all fur his sake, to the General's care. Such is a faithful, though necessarily a somewhat imperfect sketch of the history of the Cunninghams of S. C. during the war of the revolution. From an impartial examii ation of the whole we think it will hardly be denied, that, in the be ^^'inning, there was every disposition on the part of Gen. Cunninghan and his brothers, to remain neutral. Opposed as they were to the alleged right ot England to lax the Colonies in any manner withi ut their consent, they were equally opposed to the violent measure , and tyrannical acts of the House of Assembly. Well aware of the difference between rebellion nnd revolution, they were of opinion neither that the conduct of the mother coun- try yet justified the Colonies in attempting to throw oiT their allegi- ance, nor that the Colonies themselves were yet in a fit state to succeed in any such attempt. No one can doubt Ih ir conscien- tiously entertaining these opinions, though after ever.s may have proved them to be fallacious; and, entertaining them, one can as little doubt the patriotism as the prudence, which suggested the earnest endeavors on their part to dissuade their f liow-coun- tryraen from engaging in a struggle, which, instead of terminating as it did in the glory of a revolution, they felt convinced would result in all the horrors of an unsuccessful rebellion. The. r situation i|^ tUr ■f i1V> :1 648 LIEUT. COL. THOMAS BROWNE also, as holding offices of high trust and emolument under the exist- ing government, was one of peculiar delicacy. Having so lately renewed their oaths of allegiance on being invested with office, they were not the men to think they were entitled to adhere to them or not as might best suit their convenience, or to construe any thing that had as yet occurred into a violation of the mutual obliga- tions implied in the solemn contract, thus reentered into, between their sovereign and themselves. They held that the Colonies ought, before proceeding to extremities, to have tried, still further, the effect of pacific measures ; and above all, they held that it was particularly incumbent on a really honest party, Avhose con- stant cry was liberty, equality, and freedom of conscience, to per- mit each man to think for himself, and to remain neutral where he could not conscientiously cooperate with them. Consequently the penal enactment called the " Association Act," when passed by the Assembly, was deemed by them to be premature, odious, and ty- rannical. Its consequences, as we have seen, first forced them into open hostility to the popular cause, and though they continued afterwards to side with the loyalists, it must be acknowledged that their course during the whole of the war is marktd by extreme moderation. The case was very different with Major William Cunningham. He had suffered fearful wrongs, and fearfully did he avenge them. Where the law could not reach he took the law into his own hands, and it is not for us to measure the amount of guilt he in- curred by so doing. We cannot doubt, however, that it is to the comprehensiveness, as well as to the severity of these acts of retribution, that the name of Cunningham owes the distinction of being, even to this day, very cordially hated in South Carolina. LIEUT, COL. THOMAS BROWNE, OF AUGUSTA, GA. "Lt. Col. Henry Lee was certainly a man of strong prejudices, but where admiration was excited towards a gallant enemy his generosity was unbounded. Fascinated by the consummate skill and bravery of Col. Browne in the defence of his post at Augusta, his resolution was immediately fixed, to save him from the fury of f OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. 649 r the exist - ig so lately with office, ere to them onstrue any tual obliga- ito, between le Colonies still further, aeld that it whose con- ;nce,to per- ral where he equently the »assed by the ious, and ty- :ed them into ey continued wledged that 1 ty extreme Cunningham, avenge them, nto his own guilt he in- ehensiveness, hat the name this day, very JSTA, GA. ng prejudices, nt enemy his summate skill it at Augusta, )ra the fury of our exasperated population ; and the better to effect it put him un- der the safeguard of Capt. James Armstrong of the cavalry, to con- duct him to Savannah. " The precaution was the more necessary, as the inveteracy of party in the neighborhood of Augusta had given birth to a war of extermination, and he saw that without such interposition a gallant soldier, who had committed himself to his enemy on their plighted faith, would otherwise have been sacrificed. Col. Grierson of the loyalist militia had already fallen by an unknown hand ; and to have risked a repetition of the crime would have subjected the vic- torious commanders to merited censure and reproach. " I have often heard the gallant Armstrong declare that he never had in his own opinion encountered equal peril with that he experienced on this trying occasion. At every turn preparation was made for death — in every individual who approached was seen the eager wish to destroy. Resentment was excited to the highest pitch and called aloud to be appeased by blood. Yet by dint of good management, by the gentleness of persuasion, by forcibly portraying the duty of humanity to a captured and unresisting foe, and occasionally well applied threats, he saved the contemplated victim, and delivered him in safety to his friends in Savannah." — Garden's Anecdotes, p. 125. In page 37 of the same volume he says that " greater skill in defence nor more intrepid resistance was never shown than by Col. Browne, which cannot but enhance the glory of the commanders who compelled him to surrender." Lieut. Col. Thomas Browne's Vindication against Atrocities charged him in our history, 1786. Found among Dr. Ramsay's papers, transmitted by his daughters to the Historical Department of the Charleston Library. Dr. Ramsay : Sir — The publication of an extract from your history of the Revolution of South Carolina, highly injurious to my reputation as an officer and a man of humanity, induces me to address this letter to you. 79 (ijl i ■ «m iMn'i' t' )f! „, 660 MEUT. COL. THOMAS BROWNE Having professed yourself" an advocate for truth, uninfluenced by passion, prejudice or party spirit," you declare that " embracing every opportunity of obtaining genuine infornnation, you have as- serted nothing but what you believe to be fact." If I am to credit these professions, I must believe, Sir, that no party motive would tempt you to defame the reputation of an individual or advance the reputation of your country at the expense of your own. The scan- dalous imputations, therefore, thrown on my humanity, must be im- puted to the malignity of some wretch as devoid of honor as of truth, who attempts to acquire fame by ruining that of others. Conscious of the rectitude of my intentions, although I may have erred in judgment, the censure or praise of an unprincipled person, who has wilfully misrepresented facts, and wantonly departed from truth, ought to be indifferent to me ; yet the duty I owe to the officers and men serving under me, and a reverence for the opinion of the world, which often judges from caprice or common report, prompt me to state to you, an account of the material transactions on which these charges are founded, lest my silence might be imputcii to a consciousness of merited reproach. (^Seethe Preface, page 3.) A civil war being one of the greatest evils incident to human society, the history of every contest presents us with instances of wanton cruelty and barbarity. Men whose passions are inflamed by mutual injuries, exasperated with personal animosity against each other, and eager to gratify revenge, often violate the laws of war and principles of humanity. The American war exhibits many dreadful examples of wanton outrages committed by both parties, disgraceful to human nature. From the commencement of the war, in the limited sphere in which I acted, it was my duty and the first wish of my heart, to carry it on agreeable to the rules which humanity formed to alleviate its attendant calamities. The criminal excesses of individuals were never warranted by authority, or ever obtained the sanction of ray approbation. Could violations of humanity be justified by example, the cruel- ties exercised on my person by a lawless committee, in the wanton abuse of power, might have justified the severest vengeance ; but esteeming it more honorable to forgive than revenge an injury, to those very men who had treated me with the most merciless cruelty, I granted protections and safeguards to such as desired them. In Ill 1! 1,1 il OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. 651 uninfluenced « embracing you have as- am to credit nolive would advance the I. Thescan- , must be im- : honor as of lat of others. 1 I may have cipled person, departed from r I owe to the or the opinion immon report, al transactions ;ht be imputed "iface, 'page 3.) lent to human h instances of are inflamed nosity against ite the laws of war exhibits niitted by both uuencement of is my duty and to the rules amities. The d by authority, pie, the cruel- in the wanton engeance; but e an injury, to :rciless cruelty, ired them. In the discharge of the duties of my profession, I can say with truth, I never deviated from the line of conduct the laws of war and hu- manity prescribe. In your history of the Revolution of South Caro- lina, you have been pleased to form a different judgment. From what source you have obtained your information relative to the circumstances of General Scriven's death, I cannot pretend to determine, but give me leave to say, not from " an advocate for truth uninfluenced by passion, prejudice or party spirit." So ma- licious a representation requires a brief detail of the truth. The frontier of East Florida being exposed to the incursions of the Georgia militia, a party from the districts of Newport and Med- way entered the province, plundered and destroyed every house and plantation on St. Mary's river, and carried off all the inhabitants prisoners, without distinction of age or sex. The garrison of St. Augustine being reduced to great difficulties, by an extreme scar- city of provisions, General Prevost was under the necessity of de- taching Colonel Prevost, with a party of light troops, to collect cattle in the settlements of Medway and iN'ewport. With this de- tachment I had the honor of serving. To enable this light corps to forage with greater effect and security, a party was ordered by the inland navigation, under the command of Colonel Frazer, to present itself before Sunbury, to divert the attention of the Americans from us to its security. After various skirmishes with the Americans near Medway, our spies brought intelligence, that their army, said to consist of nine hundred men, under the command of General Scriven and Colonel Whyte, was on its march to attach us. Co- lonel Frazer ordered me to reconnoitre the position and movements of the Americans, and if possible, to harass them on their march. The country being full of swamps and diflScult passes, I selected thirty-two men from the regiment I commanded, to whose spirit and activity I could trust. About a mile in front of our camp, the ground being particularly favorable to my purpose, an ambuscade was formed in a thicket, at a difficult pass, a few paces from the high road. After permitting their cavalry to pass, the infantry advanced in column, preceded 1 y artillery, and halted close to the thicket. General Scriven and Colonel Whyte harangued their men to prepare them for action ; after finishing their harangue I ordered my party to fire. General Scriven and a Captain Struthers, ! 1 r H Iv 652 LIEUT. COL. THOMAS BROWNE V'l' m pt 'U.^ J mm fell. Tiib Americans, I presume, mistaking this party for our whole force instantly retreated. The General being grievously wounded was treated with tenderness and humanity ; he had the character of a brave, worthy man. I sincerely felt for his misfortune, and order- ed him to be conveyed to our camp, where every attention was paid to him by Colonel Prevost, and every assistance given him by our surgeons. ( Fol. 2, p. 2.) With respect to the devastations you complain of, I shall de- cline the ungrateful task of justifying the loyalists on St. Mary's river retaliating on the property of such of the militia of JYeuport and Medway, as had previously destroyed theirs, and dragged their families into captivity. I only wish to call to your remembrance, the generous invitation of the Governor and Council of Georgia by proclamation, " to all the friends of liberty and independence in and throughout the United States of America, to come and partake of the plunder of East Florida, for which purpose they had nothing to do but to repair to the camp in Burke County, where provisions and ammunition would be supplied gratis, and from thence march under the command of the Governor of the State, by whom every encouragement would be given, and all captures free plunder." The account ycu have obtained relative to the death and suf- ierings of M'Koy and his confederates in Carolina is equally delu- sive.* After the reduction of Charleston by Sir Henry Clinton, I * Captain M'Koy collected a few bold adventurers, and took eeveral positions on the banks of the Savannah, from which he frequently sallied and made prize of boats going up the river with supplies for the garrison at Augusta. After some captures of this kind, Colonel Browne detached Lieutenant Kemp, with seventy-five regulars and twenty militiamen, to attack him. Captain M'Koy engaged them near Matthew's Blufl', killed the officer and fifteen privates, and dispersed the remainder. Soon after this Colonel Browne marched with a hundred Indians and the greatest part of his whole force to drive him from his usual stations. Colonel Harden, with some of the adjacent Americai\ militia, who had lately re- volted from their conquerors, joined M'Koy in this hour of distress; but their combined force was defeated, and for a little time their followers were dispersed. After these advantages the royal conquerors laid waste the settlements on the banks of the Savannah river for forty miles up and down, and for several miles across the country. They stripped the in- habitants, both men and women, of their clothes — turned them out of door* in the midst of winter — and set fire to their houses. — Vol. 2, p. 237. NE ty for our whole vously wounded the character of tune, and order- tention was paid iven him by our in of, I shall de- Is on SL Mary's litia of JYeuport nd dragged their iir remembrance, il of Georgia by ipendence in and e and partake of y had nothing to where provisions om thence march by whom every Tee plunder." e death and suf- is equally delu- Henry Clinton, I s, and took several e frequently sallied ies for the garrison I Browne detached renty militiamen, to Ithew's Blufl", killed linder. Soon after s and the greatest stations. Colonel who had lately re- lour of distress ; but time their followers mquerors laid waste jr forty miles up and 'hey stripped the in- ed them out of door* -Vol. 2, p. 237. OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. 663 was detached by Brigadier General Clark to Augusta. On our march, the Carolinians of the districts near Savannah river, voluntarily took the oaths of allegiance, and received protection. Among the number one M'Koy, a young man of a character notori- ously infamous, applied for protection- His mother, from a know- ledge of the reputation he bore, accompanied him, and promised she would be responsible for his future conduct ; he received protection, and was told if he persisted in plundering or destroying the peace- able inhabitants, he would receive no favor. About twelve months subsequent to this period, numbers of Carolinians who had received protection formed themselves into plundering parties, under the command of a Captain M'Koy robbed and murdered many of His Majesty's peaceable and loyal subjects, and attacked the guards of the public boats navigating Savannah river, with provisions, ammu- nition and clothing for the garrisons of Ninety-six and Augusta. Having received intelligence that the King's stores had been inter- cepted, I detached Lieutenant Kemp of the King's Rangers, from Augusta, with ten soldiers and twenty militia, to pursue the plun- derers. He engaged one Willie as a guide ; a man who had ta- ken the oaths of allegiance and received protection ; this traitor conveyed information to M'Koy of Kemp's force, design and in- tended route ; and led him into an ambuscade previously formed. The militia under the command of Kemp fled on the first fire ; he p.nd the soldiers, unable to resist a very superior force, surrendered themselves prisoners. Capt. M'Koy asked Kemp to join his party; on his refusal he stripped and shot him. The same question was put to the soldiers ; nine out of the ten refused and shared the same fate, the other joined them to save his life, and a few days after, made his escape and brought me intelligence of the murder of Kemp and his men, and that Willie and young M'Koy were the most ac- tive in putting them to death ; that the inhabitants in general had converted their written protections into cockades and had joined a Colonel Harden ; that the King's stores taken from the boats were distributed among the plunderers, and secreted in or near their houses. Apprehending a general revolt in that quarter of the country I immediately marched from Augusta with one hundred soldiers and seventy Indians, and was joined by four hundred militia. About thirty miles from Black Swamp, Colonel Harden about mid- 'i '< m 1^ I ' ■' .d •s^' i fa-''- 664 LIEUT. COL. THOMAS BROWNE night attacked our camp and was repulsed; the militia under my command during the action deserted to a man, joined Colonel Harden, who, thus reinforced, at 10 in the morning renewed the at- tack, but his men being totally without discipline, were defeated with considerable loss. Among the prisoners, Willie, young M'Koy, and eleven of Kemp's murderers were taken ; the identity of their persons and the fact being proved and confirmed by their own confession, they (Willie excepted) suffered on the gallows j and the houses of the plunderers where the King's stores were se- creted were ordered to be burnt. Although I lamented the ne- cessity of having recourse to these extremities, a necessity created by themselves, I am persuaded on a similar occasion Dr. Ramsay would have done the same. Willie, Kemp's guide, experienced a different fate. An Indian Chief, the friend of Kemp, on learning from the soldiers that Willie was the man who had betrayed and murdered his friend, immediately killed him with his tomahawk. This is the only outrage (if it ought to be called one) ever com- mitted by any Indians under my command, and of which you have been pleased to give so truly tragical and melancholy a narrative. After so pathetic a display of your descriptive talents, how ample a field for your fertile genius, without a flight into the regions of fic- tion, will the Indian expedition of General Pickens afford you ! Such a scene of horror and devastation ! Thirteen villages destroy- ed ; men, women and children thrown into the flames, impaled alive, or butchered in cold blood ! How different the conduct of those you style savages ! Not an outrage was committed on the reduc- tion of Fort Howe in Georgia ; on that service three fourths of the detachment consisted of Indians, and the Fort was carried by as- sault ; half the officers with me, killed or wounded ; yet the Indians less savage than their adversaries — (the MS. is here defaced, but I make out that they, the Indians, were touched at the sight of a de- fenceless enemy.) The account you have obtained of the events at Augusta is, I must confess, as well adapted to the prejudice of the weak, as the credulity of the ignorant. Your very honorable and genuine in- former, with a truly patriotic spirit, either disdains to charge his memory with transactions that might stain the reputation of your arms, or it was not convenient to his purpose to remember the OF AUGUSTA, OEOROIA. 665 tia under my ined Colonel lewed the at- vere defeated Millie, young ; the identity rmed by their the gallows J ;ores were se- ;nted the ne- essity created 1 Dr. Ramsay experienced a ), on learning betrayed and is tomahawk, e) ever com- tiich you have y a narrative, how ample a regions of fic- is afford you ! ages destroy- impaled alive, duct of those on the reduc- fourths of the carried by as- et the Indians defaced, but I sight of a de- Augusta is, I weak, as the id genuine in- to charge his tation of your remember the shameuil violation of the capitulation of Augusta; the horrid cruel- ties exercised on the prisoners, the barbarous murder of Colonel Grierson and others, with the bloody achievements of * Colonels Dun, Burnet and Dooly, previous to the siege. In either case it will not be amiss to refresh his memory with the following narrative. The post of Augusta being invested and besieged near three months was surrendered by capitulation. From Colonel Lee, who commanded the Continental Legion, a gentleman of the most hon- orable and liberal sentiments, and from his officers, the King's troops experienced every security and attention ; from the militia under a General Pickens, every species of abuse and insult. Col. Lee and his officers exerted themselves in an uncommon degree, and took every possible precaution to protect the prisoners from violence. The King's Rangers were paroled and quartered at a gentleman's house, with a guard of Continental dragoons under the command of Captain Armstrong. The militia prisoners were confined in a stockaded fort, where General Pickens and his militia were quartered. After Colonel Lee marched from Augusta, Co- lonel Grierson, who had rendered himself peculiarly obnoxious to the enemy by his spirited and unwearied exertions in the cause of his country, was under the custody of the main guard, about ten paces from General Pickens' quarters : his spirit and unshaken loyalty in every change of fortune, marked him out a proper victim to sacri- fice to their savage resentment. One of General Pickens' men nam- ed James Alexander entered the room where he was confined with his three children, shot him through the body, and returned unmolested by the sentinel posted at the door, or the main guard ; be was afterwards stript and his clothes divided among the soldiers, who having exercised on his dead body all the rage of the most horrid brutality, threw it into a ditch without the fort. Thus fell the brave unfortunate Colonel Grierson, a man high in the estima- tion of his country, valued by his acquaintances, beloved by his friends — not by ihe shot of an unseen marksman, but under the eye of General Pickens, by the hand of a bloody, sanctioned and pro- * Sixty peaceable loyalists on the ceded lands, were murdered in their own houses in the course of a week, by these execrable ruffians. II I,'. 1, 656 LIEUT. COL. THOMAS BROWNE 1 i 'J> h i f '• {, « I 1 K •mm i I , tected villain, in shameful violation of a solemn capitulation. After the murder of Colonel Grierson, another execrable villain named Shields (an unseen marksman), the same day, in the same fort, un- der the eye of General Pickens, in the presence of his officers, with- out interruption from the sentries or guards, called Major Williams of the Georgia militia to the door of the prison and shot him through the body. These outrages served only as a prelude to a concerted plan for murdering all the prisoners. To execute this diabolical design, a hundred of General Pickens' unseen marksmen, accom- panied by three Colonels, marched with drawn swords to the quar- ters of the King's Rangers. Captain Armstrong being informed of their intention, threatened and ordered his guards to oppose them if they advanced; then addressing himselfto the King's Rangers, he told them, if attacked to consider themselves released from their paroles and defend themselves. The determined spirit of Captain Armstrong and Major Washington who was present, struck such a terror into these ruffians, that apprehending an obstinate resistance they instantly retired. Enraged at the repetition of such abominable outrages by this band of assassins, not yet satiated with blood, I wrote to General Pickens, reproaching him with a violation of the articles of the capitulation, in defiance of every principle of honor and good faith ; and informed him that the officers and men having acted by my orders, ought to be exempted from violence, and if it was his determination that I should share the fate of Colonel Grierson, he would at least find that a man conscious of having faithfully discharged his duty to his King and country, would meet his fate with indifference. The prisoners shortly after embarked for Savannah, under the charge of Major Washington, who, apprehending the commission of further outrages, distributed the guard among the different boats ; by this precaution, the different detachments from General Pickens' camp who had taken post on the banks of the river, were prevented, after repeated attempts, from firing into the boats. Your account* of a skirmish between General Wayne's army * On the 21st May 1782, Col. Browne, at the head of a considerable party, marched out of the garrison of Savannah with the apparent inten- tion of attacking the Americans. Gen. Wayne, by a bold manceuvre, got GOV. BULL OF SOUTH CA r. I N A 667 laticn. After 'illain named arae fort, un- [)fficers,"with- ijor Williams t him through 3 a concerted lis diabolical tmen, accora- s to the quar- ing informed I oppose them s Rangers, he ed from their fit of Captain struck such a I ate resistance ;h abominable with blood, I iolation of the ciple of honor d men having ence, and if it of Colonel us of having y, virould meet lah, under the commission of liferent boats ; leral Pickens' ere prevented, (Vayne's army a considerable apparent inten- mancBuvre, got and a party of militia and dragoons, consisting of fifty men, vrbo composed the advance of a small detachment I had the honor to command, I presume is taken from General Wayne's hyperbolical report to the Congress. As this buckram feat is altogether a fancy piece, it does not merit a comment. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, THOMAS BROWNE. JVassau, Bahamas, Dec. 25, 1786. GOVERNOR BULL OF SOUTH CAROLINA. William Bull, although Lieut. Governor by appointment, was, for many years, the actual Governor of South Carolina. He was born in this province in 1709 ; received a liberal education, and derived an ample fortune from his ancestors. He was by far the most distinguished of the southern loyalists, not only by his office, but the high estimation in which he was universally held by his countrymen. On the embarkation of Governor Thomas Boones for England, May 12th, 1764, he took upon him the reins of government. Well informed as to the rights of his countrymen as colonists, as well as the claims and duties of the mother country, he was peculiarly qualified for the station ; but the difficulties between the contending parties coming to a crisis during his administration, his stiuation as chief magistrate required more than ordinary abilities, discretion, and sound judgment, to guide in safety the ship of state. In this highly responsible station, he conducted between Col. Browne and the British garrison at Savannah — attacked him at 12 o'clock at night and routed his whole party. The vanguard of the Americans, consisting of 60 horse and 40 infantry, was led on by Col. Whyte of the cavalry and Capt. Parker of the infantry to a spirited charge, in which forty of the men commanded by Col. Browne were killed or wounded, about 20 taken prisoners, and the remainder ob- liged to shelter themselves in the swamps under cover of the night. This advantage was gained by th 3 liberal use of the bayonet. * # * ************* In this successful entei j.rise the Americans had only five privates kill- ed and two wounded.— Vol, 2, p. 366. (I ■ 1; ! n IN I I' III} ■ ■ . M III:' •f'^-'" fi'-T ] *-'■ t lyMl'- v t. ■ '' *■ I llSii.; 't.r! u r ■' UOT. WRIOHT OF OEOROIA. himself with a prudence so remarkable, on such principles of mild- ness and forbearance, as gained him the respect and esteem of all. His official acts ceased upon the arrival of Sir. William Campbell, on the 8th June, 1775. Being from his situation of the number of proscribed, as a non- associator, because he refused to accede to the terms required by the Provincial Congress, the General Committee, who waited upon Gov. Ball with a tender of the compact called " The Association," for his signature, were so struck with his manly and honorable sentiments in declining to sign, that they forbore pressing him on the subject. Many others, of the highest and most respectable standing in society, were restricted in their motions, and finally obliged to leave the colony, while he was allowed to go at large. He left Carolina with the British troops, in 1782. No traces of his life as an American loyalist refugee are to be obtained at this distant day. It is probable, that, like others of his country- men similarly situated, he passed his time in the enjoyment of pol- ished society. He died at his residence. Hart-street, Bloomsbury, London, on the 4th of July, 1791, aged 82. A monument was erected to his memory at his form* r plantation, on Ashley River. In his will, dated London, Oct. 5th, 1690, he speaks with feeling and mel- ancholy of the events which drove him from his native land, but in a style of perfect forbearance. He suffered greatly in point of fortune, as well as by the sacrifice of family friends and local attachments. GOVERNOR WRIGHT OF GEORGIA. Sir James Wright, Baronet, was a son of the Hon. Robert Wright, Chief Justice of South Carolina. He was successively ap- pointed Attorney General, Chief Justice, and Governor of Georgia. He married Sarah, only daughter and heiress of Capt. Maidman, of the British army. Gov. Wright's papers fell into the hands of his son, who inherited his title, and from him may have passed into the possession of the late Sir James Wright, (nephew of Mrs. M. J. Keith,) who died a few years ago in England, unmarried. Gov. Wright left three sons and two daughters. 1st. James, who succeeded to the Baronetcy, and married Car- HON. JOHN STUART. les of mild- eera of all. 1 Campbell, d, as a non- uired by the k'aited upon kssocialion," i honorable ising him on ! standing in r obliged to No traces e obtained at his country- ment of pol- Bloorasbury, it was erected ,iver. In his ing and mel- land, but in a nt of fortune, ittachments. L. Hon. Robert :cessively ap- )r of Georgia, pt. Maidman, ito the hands r have passed phew of Mrs. jnmarried. married Car- oline Mary, daughter of J. Simmons, Esq., of South Carolina, and died without issue in 1803. 2d. Alexander, born 1750, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Izard, Esq., of South Carolina. He died in Jamaica — leaving two sons, James and John — the first had one son, James, who succeeded to the title of his uncle. 3d. Charles, a captain in the royal navy,— died childless. 4th. Ann, married Sir James Wallace. 5th. Isabella, married Thomas Barron. SIR EGERTON LEIGH, BARONET. Sir Egerton was a son of the Hon. Peter Leigh, Chief Justice of South Carolina. He was successively distinguished as attorney general, surveyor general, and a member of the council, and for his services was created a baronet in 1772. He first married, in 1756, Martha, daughter of Francis Bremer, Esq., of South Carolina, and afterwards a daughter of the elder Henry Laurens, and was living in England with other exiles for loyalty, long after the revo- lutionary struggle had ceased. The only record to be found of him, excepting the mere decisions of the admiralty court, is a pamphlet entitled " The Man Uninasked," being a reply to a scur- rilous attack upon him for some public acts, in the case of a vessel belonging to Mr. Laurens. The book is well written, — style excellent, but entirely uninteresting. He has handled his ad- versary with extreme severity. There is nothing in the records of the court at all interesting, connected with Sir. Egerton's life : even these records cease with the first symptoms of the disturbances in Carolina. HON. JOHN STUART. John Stuart, born in South Carolina, was one of the king's council, and superintendent of Indian affairs, being sole agent for Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and the Floridas. He held a seat ex officio in the king's council of each province, by special mandamus from the king, and, consequent on these circum- l.v ,\ij 660 REr. MR. TBNNENT Stances, his influence among the Indian tribes was greater than of any other individual. By the revolutionists he was considered a bold, active, and enterprising opponent, and through his agency, a large supply of arms and ammunition were shipped, partly to Savannah, and partly to St. Augustine, for the purpose of equipping the Indians : but both were intercepted by the Americans. All the inroads of Indians and loyalists from the back country were ascribed to his agency. Mr. Stuart was early suspected of influencing the Indians against the revolutionists, and his sudden disappearance from Charleston in May 1775, so strongly confirmed the many unfavora- ble reports given in to the secret committee, that his wife, Mrs. Stuart, and his daughter, Mrs. Fenwicke, were ordered into the cus- tody of Col. Moultrie. Guards were placed around their house, but Mrs. Stuart soon escaped, and Mrs. Fenwicke was allowed to return to her husband. There appears to have been good cause of suspicion against Stuart, for at the time Connelly plaimed his daring invasion of the back settlements of Pennsylvania and the colonies south of it, a similar scheme was set on foot by Sluart, Moses Kirkland, and others, to attack South Carolina and Georgia. Kirkland was sent from St. Augustine, to Gen. Gage at Boston, to arrange the details. Fortunately the vessel he was in was captured, and himself sent a prisoner to Philadelphia. A part of this plan was attempted to be carried into eflfect in South Carolina by the Cherokees and other Indians, who also attacked North Carolina and Virginia, on the same day. It was, however, soon checked, and the Cherokees were driven out of South Carolina and their towns destroyed. Sir John Stuart, son of the above loyalist, had the honor of gaining at Maida, in the Peninsular war, the first victory with British troops over the French. REV. WILLIAM TENNENT Was born in New-Jersey, and graduated at Princeton, in 1758. He was, two years after, licensed to preach. He first settled in Connecticut, but after a lapse often years accepted, on invitation, the pastoral charge of the Independent Church in Charleston, S. C, n JUPOE DIIAYTON. 661 ter than of ered a bold, icy, a large Savannah, the Indians : '. inroads of ribed to his the Indians ranee from y unfavora- wife, Mrs. nto the cus- ;heir house, allowed to od cause of )lanned his inia and the >t by Stuart, nd Georgia. it Boston, to himself sent attempted to es and other inia, on the Cherokees troyed. he honor of victory with ton, in 1768. rst settled in 3n invitation, leston, S. C, and arrived there in 1772. As a man of learning, eloquence, and piety, he was held in high estimation. He boldly stepped forward, the champion of liberty and independence. With great zeal he preached resistance, nor failed to support it with all his energies. As a member of the provincial Congress, and afterwards of the House of Assembly, he, in his legislative capacity, acquired great celebrity. His valuable life t^k'minated August 11, 1777, and his congrega- tion erected a monunient to his memory in the Archdale-street Church. — Garden* s Jh,^xdotes,p. 202. JUDGE DRAYTON. At the commencement of the revolution, William H. Drayton, who ofticiated as one of the assistant judges, wns the only member of the bench of South Carolina who was a native American. His part was promptly taken, and with decision. His ardor to support the liberties of his country was so highly estimated, as to cause his im- mediate nomination to the presidency of the provincial Congress. His abilities were confessedly great and popular ; talents considered so well calculated to conciliate the wavering and unfriendly, and effect their adherence to the popular cause, that, in conjunction with the Rev. Mr. Tennent, he was sent into the interior, expressly to eflect the union of parties, and to excite a general and firm oppo- sition to government. The seeds of disaffection, however, were already too generally sown. The enemies to revolutionary principles temporized, but as speedily as the hope revived of being supported by a competent British force, broke out in open hostility, and it was quickly found that the sword of Sumpter and of Pickens more effectually produced the performance of their duties, than the persuasive eloquence of Tennent, and commanding oratory of Drayton. His letters, pub- lished expressly to controvert the machinations of the Br' h com- missioners, holding out the fallacious hope of concilia n, have been considered as replete with irresistible arguments, and written in the best style of composition. His strictures also on the conduct of Gen. Charles Lee disobey- •hi L 662 COL. WILLIAM ROBERT POWELL. ing orders at the battle of Monmouth, and calling in question the military capacity of Gen. Washington, have been, by a great ma- jority of the Union, very highly approved. — Gardcn^s Anecdotes, p. 185. •■, i ( « km *'.i GENERAL PICKENS. Attachment to former prejudices, and a belief of the ancient system, were strong among the people of South Carolina ; and the spirit of opposition encouraged by the new government regarded, if not unjustifiable, at least rash and inconsiderate, and leading to con- sequences the most disastrous to the peace and happiness of the community. The exertions of Col. Pickens to controvert the fallacious prin- ciples, and to induce the inhabitants of his district to adopt the popular opinions of the day, were indefatigable. He was constant- ly on the alert ; vigilance became indispensable j for although the lories would oftentimes show a disposition to temporize, yet it was evident, from their murmurings and secret caballing, that they only waited a favorable opportunity to declare their sentiments, and engage in open and decided hostility. No sooner, therefore, did the British appear in force in the south, than their smothered resent- ments burst into a flame. Several hundred of them embodied, and, committing depredations on their route, marched forward to join the royal army in Georgia. Gen. Pickens pursued them with rapid steps, and overtaking them at Keele Creek, attacked them so vigorously that forty of their number, including their leader, Boyd, were killed, and the rest dispersed. Of his intrepid conduct at the battles of the Cowpens and Eutaw it is unnecessary to speak. — Garden's Jlnecdotes, p. 35. COL. ROBERT WILLIAM POWELL, Of Charleston, S. C, was successfully engaged in commerce before the Revolution, in copartnership with John Hopton, Esq., whose sister he married. A claim was last year brought forward in the British House of Commons, in behalf of his grandson, Mr. Chichester, for the ser- JOHN HOPTON, ESQ. 663 question the • a great raa- Anecdotes, p. ' the ancient ina ; and the t regarded, if idingto con- piness of the llacious prin- to adopt the was constant- although the ze, yet it was ig, that they ntiments, and efore, did the hered resent- abodied, and, ward to join itn with rapid ked them so leader, Boyd, ns and Eutaw 5. in commerce lopton, Esq., itish House of , for the ser- vices of Col. Powell, he having raised a regiment of loyalists ; and for losses he sustained by the Revolution, which were stated to have exceeded forty thousand pounds, but for which ten thousand one hundred and seventy-five pounds had only been awarded and paid by the British Commissioners. Sir G. Clark, one of the under Secretaries of State, resisted the claim on the ground that a fixed sum, jE600,000, had been allowed by the American government as a compensation for all losses sustained by American loyalists, and that the claimant had received his proportion of this sum. It was stated in the debate that this was the very last claim of the kind now in existence. Tradition says, that while Col. Powell was in Charleston, with the British, he was distinguished by his affability and kindness to- wards his countrywomen of the Carolina party, who applied for as- sistance under the many distressing and mortifying circumstances to which they were but too often exposed in town. Col. Powell was a gentleman of highly polished manners, of great courtesy of address, and of benevolent feelings towards all. He visited his native country in 1797, when he made a tour of the United States, and was kindly received every where. He was pensioned by the British government, and died in 1835. Mrs. Chichester, his only child, widow of Dr. Chichester, died at Cheltenham, England, several years ago ; their son, J. H. R. Chichester, married a sister of Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bart, JOHN HOPTON, ESQ., A merchant of Charleston previous to the Revolution, in co- partnership with Col. Powell, and upon the evacuation of Charles- ton by the British troops, became a loyalist refugee. He was not of a disposition to obtrude himself upon the public, from which cause his political career is but little known. Neither his manner nor address was at all conciliating, which his friends imputed to the severe apprenticeship he served under Mr. Laurens, an eminent merchant of Charleston. An anecdote has come down to us which is perhaps more illustrative of the times of old than of the individual, but which was related by the ;•,:»» m ,;;i .'.',!l 664 HON. JOHN HUME OF OEOKOIA. family of Mr. Hopton, as a key to the origin of bis stern dispo- sition. Mr. Laurens had his counting-house at a distance from his dwel- ling, and Mr. Hopton, his clerk, slept at the latter place. On one occasion he overslept himself, and Mr. Laurens despatched his ser- vant with a lighted lantern to bring the clerk to the ccunting- house, and Mr. Hopton, thus attended, Avas conpelled to walk in broad day the whole length of East Bay. Mr. Hopton's losses were extensive, and he was pensioned by the British government. He died 25th December, 1831. REV. DR. ZUBLY, OF GEORGIA. John Joachim Zubly, D. D., a native of Saltzburg, Germany, was active among the Revolutionists at the commencement of the troubles. He was a member of the Committee of Safety and of the provincial and continental Congresses. He suddenly and unaccountably left the Congress at Philadel- phia, and returned to Georgia, ardent on the side of the Crown. He became a member of the Royal Assembly, in which he labored hard to atone by loyalty for his former rebellion. He left a journal of this period of our Revolution, which a ChampoUion only could decipher. JUDGE STOKES. Anthony Stokes, Chief Justice of Georgia, was a native of Wales. At the evacuation of Charleston, by the British troops, in the Revolution, he became a loyalist refugee. He kept a journal of events in Savannah, during its occupation by the British troops, which is probably in possession of his grandson, at Caermarthen, Wales. HON. JOHN HUME, OF GEORGIA. Mr. Hume was an active agent of the Crown, and Attorney General at the time of the Revolution, at the close of which he fled lA. bis stern dispo- se from his dwel- place. On one ipatched his ser- io the ccuiiting- illed to walk in ton's losses were Qvernment. He A. jburg, Germany, encement of the 3f Safety and of ress at Philadel- I of the Crown, rhich he labored Dlution, which a HON. WILLIAM WRAOO. 666 ras a native of British troops, in kept a journal British troops, t Caermarthen, A. , and Attorney >f which he fled a loyalist refugee. He died several years ago in Scotland, and left many papers, which no doubt are valuable in a historical point of view. HON. WILLIAM WRAGG, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. A writer in the Southern Review, of July, 1844, introduces an elaborate article on the above subject, by a review of the first edition of this work, from which article we have deduced the following sketch. William Wragg was the grandson of John Wragg, of Hhester- field, Derbyshire, England. His father, Samuel, was a merchant of London. In 1717, the said Samuel purcliased from Maurice Ashley, one of the lords proprietors of the province of South Carolina, "Ash- ley Barony, and St. Gyles," twelve thousand acres in Berkley county, a portion of which has descended to his granddaughter, Mrs. Wil- liam Loughton Smith. He also purchased in 1739, from Joseph Wrr gg and others, another Barony on Craven River, and likewise owned Docken Plantation on Cooper River, bequeathed by him to his son, and where his son was born about the year 1714. When very young, and with his father on board a vessel bound from Charleston to England, he was taken by Blackbeard, the pirate, but was soon released. His education commenced at West- minster School, and was completed at one of the English universi- ties. He was called to the bar in England, and among his friends and correspondents was Edward Willis, Chief Baron of Ireland. Mr. Wragg married, in England, Miss Wood, and when he left had two daughters grown up. He was united in a second marriage to Miss Wragg, of Carolina. In the year 1753, he was appointed a member of the Council of South Carolina. As one of the advisers of Gov. Lyttleton, he incurred the displeasure of thiit functionary by opposition to his agency with the Cherokees in the year 1759, and was suspended as a Counsellor. Dr. Ramsay says the Gov- ernor was to blame for having provoked hostilities when they might have been honorably avoided. Dr. Ramsay also says, that without solicitation the office of Chief Justice was pressed upon Mr. Wragg by the Secretary of State, by the express order of the 80 II. i\; l*,!-^ ^d ■!?.; .'I' ... . ^ 666 HON. WILLIAM WRAGO King— and that his reasons for declining this honorable and lucra- tive office, are proof of his disinterestedness and delicacy. Mr. Wragg (being a loyalist) tells us he considers his name on the list of non-subscribers, as an honorable certificate of hiin, by representing him as one upon whom neither fear, interest, or the prevailing desire and seeming security of swimming with the stream, could operate to do violence to his judgment. He held, with other loyalists, the opinion that a majority of the people of America could exercise no political rights without the sanction of the government of Great Britain ; and that a majority in a province could not take any matters into their own hands which should bind the minority contrary to the ordinary course of law, or injurious to third persons, though such majority was acting in unison with the will of a majority of the people at large, asserting political rights. Dr. Ramsay says, the events of Mr. Wragg's life subsequent to the commencement of the American Revolution, furnish a melan- clioly proof how quick the transition may be from popularity to the ceverse, and that without any moral guilt. When the Carolinians resolved on emancipation from colonial dependence, they would have rejoiced to have had Mr. Wragg for a coadjutor. They re- spected and loved him for his many virtues— they knew his rank, influence, talents, and eloquence. Believing that the popular measures adopted were hostile to the interests of the country, he refused to sign the association, and take the oaths in favor of the new order of things; thus disap- pointing all expectations of his cooperation. Of his sincerity, the upright tenor of his life, and the ties of birth, family, and fortune, all which attached him to Carolina, preclude every ground of sus- picion. Mr. Wragg was now called on to sign an oath of neutrality, containing the following sentence : " I will not directly or indi- rectly, by deed, word, or writing, attempt to counteract or oppose the proceedings of the people in North America, and particularly in this my native province." He refused to take the oath because it enjoined implicit obedience to every proceeding that may be adopted in America, how injurious, nay, how sanguinary soever it may be — because it was illegal — no oath could be ad- ministered but by the authority of common law or act of Parliament, I- i! ble and lucra- acy. s his name on te of him, by iterest, or the ing with the nt. He held, the people of lie sanction of ^ in a province :h should bind or injurious to nison with the olitical rights. ! subsequent to nish a raelan- pularity to the he Carolinians ce, they would tor. They re- cnew his rank, vere hostile to issociation, and js ; thus disap- sincerity, the y, and fortune, round of sus- of neutrality, irectly or indi- eract or oppose nd particularly le oath because ng that may ►w sanguinary h could be ad- of Parliament, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 667 and that by so doing, he should betray the common liberty. He was then confined to his house in the city. His arms, viz. one gun, one pair of pistols, and two swords, having been previously taken from him on the 1st of September, 1775, he was ordered to confinement at his plantation on Ashley River. On the 13th February, 1777, the Provincial Congress passed an act " establishing an oath of abjuration and allegiance," and banishing all who refused to take (he oath, within sixty days. This act made it treason to return to the state. On thf first of July, 1777, Mr. Wragg, in compliance with an order of the Governor and Council, banishing him from the state, having embarked on board the " Commerce," for Amsterdam, passed the bar and looked for the last time on the fading shores of his native land. He took only his young son, and his faithful negro servant Tom. Dr. Ramsay says, he left his country with the sensibilities of a fond husband and affectionate father, and at the same time with the feelings of a persecuted man. The last words of Mr. Wragg's public life, " Fiat justitia mat ccelum," as well as the emphatic conclusion of his last letter to his wife, written on shipboard, " Farewell ! too long a farewell for me 1 but God protect us, and make you happy. Once more, fare- well !" may be regarded as prophetic of his doom. The vessel was shipwrecked, and he perished, in a violent storm, on the 2d of September, 1777, within twelve hours sail of Amsterdam. He committed his infant son to the charge of his faithful Tom, who taking him on his back swam with him until he secured him on a plank. Tom's freedom was given him, as well as a waiting man, a horse, and a cow, and he was loc ".li ' |! .. : teff }rl m I, ]»: ;■■{ The inscription on the monument is as follows : " Sacred to the memory of William Wragg, of South Carolina, who, when the American colonies revolted against Great Britain, steadily maintained his loyalty to his prince, and his attachment to the British government, for which causes alone he was compelled to abandon his tender and affectionate family, his native country, and affluent fortune. Having embarked for England by way of Amsterdam, he was unfortunately ship- wrecked and drowned on the coast of Holland, the 2d Sept. 1777. " In him, strong natural parts, improved by education, together with the love of justice and humanity, formed the complete char- acter of a good man, and left to those who remain behind to de- plore the loss of a tender husband, an affectionate father, and a most indulgent master, and a warm and sincere friend." In person, Mr. Wragg was tall and handsome, and in debate he was dignified and eloquent. By returning the commission of Chief Justice, he silenced the calumnies of political adversaries, and rebutted the suspicion that the hope of preferment had influenced his previous conduct. We can conceive of that " natural inclina- tion and inbred loyalty unto virtue, which can serve hec without a livery," and would believe that more men than get credit for it are prompted by the nobler ambition instead of the meaner — worldly applause or worldly advantage. The following Officers declined signing the Articles of the Association when offered to them by the General Committee OF Revolutionists. Thomas K. Gordon, Chief Justice, Edward Savage, -n Charles M. Cosstell, I . . , , ^ , John Fewtrell, and r'^'^*^"* ^''^^''' William Gregory, J Thomas Shottowe, one of the Council, and Secretary of the Province, James Simpson, Attorney General, — ^— Norris,* Governor's Secretary, * Mentioned, if I remember rightly, in Garden's Anecdotes. so THE ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION. 669 lies revolted to his prince, vhich causes affectionate ng embarked unately ship- Sept. 1777. [ion, together »mplete char- behind to de- father, and a 1." and in debate ;ommission of Iversaries, and lad influenced tural inclina- hec without a edit for it are iner — worldly nCLES OF THE iL Committee iretary of the necdotes. George Roupell, Deputy Post Master General, Robert G. Howarth, Governor of Fort Johnson, James Tiail, Clerk of the Court of C. P., Richard Larabton, Deputy Auditor General, George Milligan, Chief Surgeon of his Majesty s Troops, John Morris, Comptroller of the Customs, and Hon. Wm. VVragg, of the Council. All these assigned to the Committee their several reasons for refusing to sign ; most of them saying that their oaths of ofRce pre- vented ihera. They were permitted to take their property, and retire peaceably wherever they pleased, and many of them went to Eng- land. Others went to the West Indies, and waiting for a change in affairs, joined the two expeditions against South Carolina under Sir Henry Clinton. If others who did sign had acted with equal honor and good faith, it would have been better for all parties. Some of them were known to have acted treacherously, in giving information from time to time of what the Americans were doing or about to do ; and one afterwards acknowledged that he had obtained a seat in the General Committee, for the purpose of exciting doubts, dis- trusts, and distractions in their plans and proceedings. Such con- duct produced suspicion and enmity, even against the innocent, the harmless, and the honorable, which led to banishment, hostility and sequestration on both sides, as each in turn acquired the ascen- dency and power to do wrong. When Charleston surrendered, after a siege of six weeks, the capitulation was not only signed by General Lincoln, the military commander, in behalf of the United States, but by the Lieutenant Governor, General Gadsden, in behalf of South Carolina ; the Go- vernor being absent from the State. All parties appeared to be- lieve that the State had capitulated as well as the city, until the British arras had been extended without opposition over every part of the State, Sir Henry Clinton had returned to New York, and Lord Cornwallis succeeded to tk? command. It was then first dis- covered that the State was not included in the capitulation, but de- clared to be a conquered province, and its inhabitants subject to martial law ; consequently liable to be ordered out in arms against their friends, their country, and political principles. Within three months after the capitulation, the terms were violated by the .Will' mm l. 'i*! nil' » ! ilfilli' ■l> 670 LISTS OF PROSCRIBED LOYAIISTS. British commander. Some of the inhabitants of the city were sent off to St. Augustine; and those of the State were ordered to parade under British officers. This order of Lortl Cornwallis was a fire- brand rekindling strife and hostilities in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and the cause and origin of the war of plunder, devastation, and misery which succeeded. This resistance was called the second rebellion. It is remarkable that in the rebellion of '98 in Ireland, the same plan was adopted, and successfully executed by Lord Cornwallis, aided by two, at least, of those who had been his chief agents in South Carolina, Lord Rawdnn, then Earl of Moira, and Colonel Wemyss, then General Wemyss. Their success in our Southern States was prevented by the American Congress and General Greene's array. In the fall of 1782, the British forces having retired to the pre- cincts of Charleston, the State government was reestablished, and the Legislature convened at Jacksonborough^ Here, while the war was still pending, and their enemy still occupying the capital of the State, and chief seaport, only thirty-five miles from where they were legislating, many of its members impoverished, and all aggrieved by that enemy, and the royalists who were their asso- ciates, guides, informers, and partisans, it is not surprising that le- taliatory confiscations were made on the property of some such royalists. The Act of Confiscation was passed at this session of the Legislature, the property taken, and some of it sold under their authority. No subsequent Act of this kind was ever passed, but for many years thereafter almost every Legislature restored some part of the confiscated property to the different former owners or their descendants, and their return to the country was welcomed. Many of their descendants are among the most respectable, influen- tial, and valuable citizens of our State. Nothing is ever said or done to hurt their feelings, and the Act of Confiscation has been torn out of the Statute Book, to efface the record as far as possible — nobody knows by whom, probably by common consent. Lists of the Loyalists PROSCRiBto b\ the General Assembly OF SoaTH Carolina. No. 1 — Those mentioned in the Confiscation Act, Vol. 4,p. 516. Adam Thomas, Thomas Boone, Bruce, Fisher, Linwood & Co., 18TS. the city were sent ordered to parade Avallis was a fire- 1 Carolina, South ;in of the war of . This resistance [Ireland, the same Lord Cornwailis, bis chief agents in [oira, and Colonel J in our Southern ress and General retired to the pre- reestabli&hed, and Here, while the iupying the capital miles from where )overished, and all 10 were their asso- sur prising that le- erty of some such 1 at this session of ' it sold under their is ever passed, biit iture restored some t former owners or try was welcomed, espectable, influen- ling is ever said or nfiscation has been :d as far as possible )n consent. jeneral Assembly id, Vol. 4, p. 516. icr, Linwood & Co., LISTS OF FBOSCRIBED LOYALISTS. 671 John Bailey, John Bremar, Fenwicke Bull, Sir William Baker, Col. Thomas Browne, Mrs. Colleton, Colin Campbell, Doctor Crokett, P .ert Dean, Messrs. Dee, Brailsford, Hodge & Sands, Samuel Douglass, Eyecott, Thomas Fullalove, Doctor Gibb, Na- thaniel Hall, Richard Hill, John Hume, John Hammerton, Green* wood & Higginson, Thomas Gibbons, Robert Holmes, Peter Roger, Handasyd Hartley, Lieut. Governor Irvine, Jeremiah Knott, George Kincaird, Richard Lambton, Rev. Charles Lorrisade, Lord G. C.Montagu, Charles Maine, Walter Mansell, John Murray, James Michie, Patrick M'Coy, Sir John Nisbelt, Capt. Ord of the Navy, George Ogilvie, W'illiam Ogilvie, Osmond, Ralph Phillips, Row- land Rugely, Henry Reeves, Robert Raper, proprietors of Ro))erts* Barony, John Savage, John Simpson, (of Georgia,) Peter Simond, John Stuart, {George Saxby, proprietors of Thorp's Barony, Peter Taylor, Charles Wright, Jermyn Wright, Robert Wells, Sir James Wright, Lieut. Wilton of the Army, Christopher Williman. No. 2 — Citizens who congratulated Sir Henry Clinton on the fall of Charleston. For the words of the Address, see " Moultrie* s Memoirs.''* William Ancrum, Capt. B.Baker, William Burt, Thomas Buck- le, Sen'r, David Bruce, Thomas Buckle, Jr., Archibald Brown, Rob- ert Beard, Capt. James Cook, Gilbert Chalmers, William Cameron, Gideon Diipont, Jr., Richard Dennis, James Duncan, Arthur Downes, Thomas Eustace, Thomas Else, Christopher Fitzsimmons, John Fisher, John Walter Gibb, Paul Hamilton, Sen'r, Joel Holmes, Ed- ward Hare, John Hartz, Alexander Harvey, Edward Legge, Jr. Aaron Loococke, Alexander Macbeth, William McKenny, James M'Kie, William Nisbet, Hopkin Price, Edmund Petrie, W^illiam Russell, Jeremiah Savage, David Saylor, William Valentine, John West, Jr. John Wagner, John Taylor Ward, Thomas Winstanley. No. 3 — Those who served as Volunteers in the Royal Militia. Charles Atkins, George Cooke, John Davis, William Green- wood, Wm. Glen, Sen'r, John Hopton, Alexander Inglis, Robert Johnston, Zeph. Kingsley, Robert Lindsay, Andrew McKenzie, Thomas Shepoe, Robert Philip, James Rugge, John Ro.se, Doct. Hugh Rose, Andrew Reid, John Smyth, John Tunno, Jacob Valk, John Wragg, Richard Wayne, Alexander Wright, Robert W^illiams, Doct. Robert Wilson. 672 LISTS OF PROSCRIBEn LOYALISTS. No. 4 — Those who congratulated Earl CornwalUs. James Brisbane, Basil Cooper, Samuel Carne, Doctor Jitmrs Clefheral, Dr. Alexander Garden, Patrick Hindes,Chatks Johnston, Robert Perreneau, Alexander Rose, John Scott, son of Jonathan. No. 5 — Those who held Commissions under the Royal Government* Richard Ash of Beaufort, John Adarason, Capt. Anderson of Thickety Creek, Elias Ball of Wambaw, Elias Ball of Covington, Robert Ballingall, Malcolm Brown, James Rosseau,JohnBrocking- ton, Jr., Robert Blair, Jonathan Belton, Hugh Brown, Brian Cape, Rob't Cunningham, Patrick Cunningham, James Cossels of George- town, Gabriel Capers, James Carey, Wm. Cunningham, Andrew Cunningham of Ninety -six, Daniel ClareyofNinety-six, Capt. Thorn Commander, Andrew Deveaux, Jr., Wm. Dorrill, Geo. Dawkins, John Downey of Camden, Robert English, John Fisher of Orangeburg, 'f hos. Fenwicke,Dr. James Frazer, Col. Thomas Fletchall, Matthew Floyd, John Fanning, Elias Fossin, Henry Ferguson, John George Fardo, Doctor Charles Fyffe, Theo. Gaillard, James Gordon of Georgetown, John Gaillard, Zach. Gibbes, Robert Gray, William Guest of Tyger River, Benj. Legge, Col. Robert McKenzie, Wm. Henry Mills, John Mitchell, Capt. Wm. H. McGillory, Chr. Nielie, Henry O'Niel, Chas. Ogilvie, Philip Porcher, Wra. Rees, Benj Rees, Joseph Rhems, Henry Rugely, Samuel Rowe, Joseph Robin- son, James Smyth, Joseph Seabrook, Jr. Wm. Stevens of Saluda, David Turner, Wm. Valentine of Camden, John Wigfall, Benj. Wolford, Capt. James Dandridge, Harbrough, Elias Buckingham, Joseph Black, John Cunningham of Ninety-six, William Else, Benj. Gregory, Geo. Grierson of Waxsaw, John Gelger, Andrew Hiblen, James Holmes, Col. Richard King, Moses Kirkland, John Linder, Jr., Doctor James Linah, Patrick Murray, John Musgrove, Richard Pendaris, David Plumber, Patrick Murray Muckle. No. 6 — Those who avowed their allegiance to his Britannic Majesty and manifested themselves inveterate enemies to the State. Andrew Deveaux, Senr., Edmund Ellis, David Friday, David Guerrard, Nathaniel Harrison, George Julien, John Linder, Senr., Robert Porter Murrell, Doctor Peter Spence, John Willard, Andrew Williamson, John Wilson of Georgetown, John Joachim Zubl.y a/ Government* Bernard" Gov. Edward IVintlow^' ERRATA, pift. 12--7th line from boiioin, f»\ " Nath" read " Neheh." 71 — lor " Haravk" reiiil " Hairick." 2((5 — butiuin line, for '• ritad " roud " rndt." 328 — lOth line frotii lop, |i>r '• Barnard " read ' 3t)5 — 20ih line from top, for " au" rend " le." 4 46 — !Jlh line from tup, for " flon. //. Ptlham " rend Bnd next line, for " aiater-in-laio" rend " siider." 443 — 3d lire from top, for " daughter" read " ilaughter-in-law." 450 — 12th line from tup, for" June" read " July." 467 — !)th line from bottom, for " Peter Hooper" rend " Rohert Ifooper" 480— I2t(i line from bottom, for" 1803" rend " 1833." Judge Blowers died at Halifax. Oct. 25, 1842. 51U — D. Oliver a " nephew," instead of a " son" of Peter Oliver, who was theanti- quariai , &,e. 510 — 2d line from top, for " 1798 ' lead " 1795." Gen. Rugglea descended from Gov. Thonino Dudley, of Massachusetts. 534— 12th line from bottom, for " 1777 " rend " 177C " 546— Dih line from top. for " Ville de Lyons" rend" Ville de Paris" 561 — 2d line from bottom, for " his" rend " this." 580- -4th line from top, for" 178!)" read " 1799." 616 — 10th line from bottom, for " Mauon" read " Maroon." 626 — 10th line from bottom, for " Rtchanln" rend " Hichardnon." , 627 — 8ih line from top, for " dislrirt" read "villntie." " — 9lh line from top, for " Dr. Peiill's" rend " O'Npatl'H." 638 — I7lh line from top, for " daughter" read " three daughtem " 646 — 17ih line from bottom, for " ttrcnty-three" read " two or three." 647 — 13ih line from top, for " Charleston" read " Florida." 669— 3d line from top, for " Troil" read " Treid." 671 — 5tli line from top, tor " Hammerton" read " Hammalin." 671 — 11 til line from bottom, for " llopkin " read " Ilopton." 671-3— for " Thomas Else" read " Thomas Elfc." for " /. IV. Gihl," read " /. W. Gibbes." for " //, (yXifll " read " //. O'Neall." " for " A. Hihlen" read "' A. Hibben." 672 — 8th line from top, for " Rosseau" read " Bosseau." " — lOih line from top, for " Ci.ssels" read " Cassels." " — 17th line from top, for " Theo." read " Thos." " — 12lh line from bottom, for " Wolford" read " Wilferd." " — 3d am' 8th lines from bottom, for " hinder" read " Linden." " — 7th line from bottom, for " David" read " Daniel." " —3d line from bottom, for " Nathaniel" read " Anthony." Extract of a loiter fioni T^uoius P. Page, Esq., of Cambridgeport, to the Editor. " On page 446 you say, Capt. George Corwin's wife was a daughter of Hon. Herbert Pelhnm. I am confident she was a daughter of Gov. Edward Winslow, and sister of Gov. Josinh ^Vinslow. Herbert Pelham names in his will (dated 1672 and proved in 1676) eight children ; but two of which were in New-England, and none by the name of Elizabeth. And Gov. Josiah Winslow in his will, (dated 2d July, 1675, proved 2d March, 1680,) names his sister Elizabeth, the wife of Capt. George Corwin." This error occurred from a genealogical table, obtained from one of the Winelow family, in which the daughters of Gov. Edward Winslow are omitted. This in- Aw.al the belief that Mrs. Corwin (who spoke of Gov. Josiah Winslow as her brother) was a sister of Mrs. Winslow, and a daughter of Herbert Pelham. Editor.