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

IX.

CURIOUS BOSTON LECTURES

There was published in Boston, in 1698, a very small thin volume of 82 pages, 3 × 5 inches, entitled “The Bostonian Ebenezer.” “Some Historical Remarks on the State of BOSTON, the Chief Town of New England and of the English AMERICA, with some agreeable methods for Preserving and Promoting, the Good State of THAT, as well as any other Town, in the like circumstances.” “Humbly offered by a native of Boston.” Ezk. 48, 35, “The Name of the City from that day, shall be THE LORD IS THERE.” Boston: printed by B. Green and F. Allen, for Samuel Phillips, at the Brick Shop, 1698.

This singular little volume contains two lectures. Preceding the first lecture at the top of the page are these lines:—

The remainder of the page is occupied with this preface:—

“Remarkable and memorable, was the Time, when an Army of Terrible Destroyers was coming against one of the Chief Towns in the Land of Israel. God Rescued the Town from the Irresistible Fury and Approach of those Destroyers, by an Immediate Hand of Heaven upon them. Upon that miraculous Rescue of the Town, and of the whole Country whose Fate was much enwrapped in it, there follow’d that Action of the Prophet, SAMUEL, which is this Day, to be, with some Imitation Repeated, in the midst of thee, O, BOSTON, Thou helped of the Lord.”

At the head of the next page we have the text,—

“Then SAMUEL took a Stone and Set it up, … and called the Name of it EBENEZER, saying, Hitherto the Lord hath Helped us.”

Then follows the exordium, in which the preacher says the Thankful Servants of God have used sometimes to erect monuments of stone as durable tokens of their thankfulness:—

“Jacob did so; Joshua did so; and Samuel did so.” “The Stone erected by Samuel, with the name of Ebenezer, which is as much as to say, A Stone of Help. I know not whether any thing might be Writt upon it; but I am sure, there is one thing to be now Read upon it, by ourselves, in the Text where we find it: Namely, this much,

“That a People whom the God of Heaven hath Remarkably Helped, in their Distresses ought Greatly and Gratefully to acknowledge, what help of Heaven they have Received.

“Now, ’tis not my Design to lay the Scene of my Discourse, as far off as Bethcar, the place where Samuel set up his Ebenezer. I am immediately to Transfer it into the heart of Boston, a place where the Remarkable Help Received from Heaven, by the People, does loudly call for an Ebenezer. And I do not ask you, to change the Name of the Town, into that of Help stone, as there is a Town in England of that Name, which may seem the English of Ebenezer; but my Sermon shall be this Day your Ebenezer, if you will with a Favorable and Profitable Attention Entertain it. May the Lord Jesus Christ, accept me, and assist me now to Glorify Him, in the Town, where I drew my First Sinful Breath. A Town, whereto I am under Great Obligations, for the Precious Opportunities to Glorify Him, which I have quietly enjoy’d therein, for NEAR EIGHTEEN years together. O my Lord God, Remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me this once, to speak from thee, unto thy People.

“And now, Sirs, That I may set up an EBENEZER among you, there are these Things to be inculcated.”

“1. Let us Thankfully, and Agreeably, and Particularly, acknowledge what Help we have received from the God of Heaven, in the years that have rolled over us. While the Blessed Apostle Paul, was as it should seem, yet short of being Threescore years old, how affectionately did he set an Ebenezer with the Acknowledgment in Acts 26, 22. Having obtained Help of God, I continue to this day. Our Town is now Threescore and Eight years old: and certainly ’tis Time for us, with all possible affection to set up our Ebenezer, saying, Having obtained Help from God, the Town is continued, until almost the Age of Man is passed over it. The Town hath indeed Three Elder Sisters in this Colony; but it hath wonderfully outgrown them all; and her Mother, old Boston, in England also; Yea, within a Few Years, after the first settlement it grew to be, the Metropolis of the whole English America. Little was this expected, by them that first settled the town, when, for a while, Boston was proverbially called Lost Town, for the mean and sad circumstances of it. But, O Boston, it is because thou hast Obtained help from God.” “There have been several years wherein the Terrible Famine hath Terribly Stared the Town in the Face. We have been brought sometimes unto the Last Meal in the Barrel! But the fear’d Famine has always been kept off.”

The preacher proceeds,—

“A formidable French squadron hath not shot one Bomb into the midst of Thee;” our Streets have not run Blood and Gore; devouring-flames have not raged. “Boston, ’Tis a marvellous Thing, a Plague has not laid desolate!” “Boston, Thou hast been lifted up to Heaven; there is not a Town upon Earth, which, on some accounts, has more to answer for.”

Secondly, we are to acknowledge whose help it is. “This is the voice of God from Heaven to Boston this day; Thy God hath helped thee!” “Old Boston, by name, was but Saint Botolphs Town. Whereas Thou, O Boston, shall have but one Protector in Heaven, and that is Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The preacher’s third division is that the help Boston has already had should lead her people to Hope. “Hope in him for more help hereafter.” “The motto upon all our Ebenezer’s is Hope in God! Hope in God!” In the course of this part of his lecture, the preacher says,—

“The Town is at this day full of Widows and Orphans, and a multitude of them are very helpless creatures. I am astonished how they live! In that church, whereof I am the servant, I have counted. The Widows make about a sixth part of our communicants, and no doubt in the whole town, the proportion differs not very much. Now, stand still my Friends, and behold the will of God! Were any of these ever starved yet? No, these widows are every one in some sort provided for.”

Fourthly, “Let all that bear public office in the town contribute all the help they can that may continue the help of God in us!” First the ministers will help, and then he calls upon the Justices of the Courts, the constables, the school-masters and the townsmen to help: “Each of the sorts by themselves, may they come together to consider, What shall we do to save the town?”

Fifthly, “God help the town to manifest all that piety which a town so helped of Him, is obliged unto!” And then the town is warned against all sorts of iniquities: against fortune-tellers, bad houses, drinking houses, &c.

“Ah! Boston, Beware, Beware, lest the Sin of Sodom get Footing in thee!”

“And, Oh! that the Drinking Houses in the Town, might once come under a laudable Regulation. The Town has an Enormous Number of them! Will the Haunters of those Houses hear the Counsels of Heaven? For you that are the Town Dwellers, to be oft, or long, in your Visits of the Ordinary, ’twill certainly Expose you to Mischiefs more than ordinary. I have seen certain Taverns where the Pictures of horrible Devourers9 were hang’d out for the signs; and thought I, ’twere well if such Signs were not sometimes too Significant! Alas, men have their estates Devoured, their names Devoured, their Hours Devoured, and their very soul Devoured, when they are so besotted, that they are not in their Element, except they be in Tippling at Such Houses. When once a man is Bewitched with the Ordinary, what usually becomes of him? He is a gone man. And when he comes to Dy, he’l cry out, as many have done, Ale Houses are Hell Houses! Ale Houses are Hell Houses! Ale Houses are Hell Houses!” … “There was an Inn at Bethlehem, where the Lord Jesus Christ was to be met withal. Can Boston boast of many such? Alas, Too ordinarily it may be said, There is no Room for Him in the Inn! My Friends, Let me beg it of you: Banish the unfruitful works of Darkness, from your Houses, and then the Sun of Righteousness will shine upon them. Don’t countenance Drunkenness, Revelling and Mispending of precious Time in your Houses. Let none have the snares of Death Laid for them in your Houses.”

The preacher goes on in two or three further divisions with his declamation against evil and sins, and his conjurations for better things, in faith, hopes and works, intimating all the evils that exist in Boston, and warning the people of the danger of them.

The second sermon is a piece of similar declamation, about what the preacher calls Household Religion, “at Boston Lecture, 26d. 7m. 1695.” A short extract will give a sample of this discourse.

“First, I suppose, we are all sensible, That for us to Loose our Houses by any Disaster whatsoever, would be a very terrible Calamity: Oh! it would be a Judgment of God, wherein the Anger of God, would be seen written with fiery characters. If by an accident, or by an enemy, our House be laid in desolation, every Roar of the Raging Flames, every crack of the Tumbling Timbers, every Downfall of the Undermined walls, and every jingle of the Bells then tolling the Funeral of those Houses, would loudly utter the voice in Deut., A Fire is Kindled in the Anger of God.”

This discourse is very severe upon all “Houses where God is not served,” and defines them as gaming-houses, drinking-houses, houses where troops and harlots assemble. “If the Worshipful Justices, and the Constables, and the Tythingmen, would Invigorate their zeal, to Rout the Villanous Haunts of those Houses, the whole Town would be vastly the Safer for it.”

All that can be said of these curious discourses is that they are a strange medley of declamation, fanaticism, and exhortation, not lacking in thought perhaps, or devoid of sense, but rather insinuating than direct and sensible. The author does not print his name, though they purport to be Boston Lectures, one delivered in 1695 and the other in 1698: it is understood, however, that they were by the Rev. Cotton Mather.

X.

REMARKABLE PROCLAMATIONS

The first proclamation, issued on a broadside, that we have seen, is that of March, 1743, “for a public fast.” It is issued by Gov. Shirley, and begins, “It being our constant and indispensable duty by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to make known our requests to God,” &c. He then appoints the 12th of April ensuing to be observed as a day of general fasting and prayer. After acknowledging “all our heinous and aggravated offences,” the people are required to implore the Divine mercy for “the following blessings, namely,” the life and health of “Our Sovereign Lord the King;” the prosperity of his government; that he would direct and grant success to his Majesty’s arms in the present war, and prevent a further rupture among the nations; in behalf of the Prince and Princess of Wales; and that “it would please God to cover and defend the English plantations, more especially this Province,” &c. Given at the Council Chamber, signed, &c., and ending “God save the King.”

The next proclamation which we have is not probably much known, and not such as were issued by the governors of the Provinces or States, but is a “Declaration of war against the French King.” It purports to be issued originally from “Our Court at St. James’s, the twenty-ninth day of March, 1744, in the 17th year of our reign.” “God save the King.” “Printed in London by Thomas Baskett and Robert Baskett, printers to the King’s most excellent Majesty, 1744.” “Boston, N. E. reprinted by John Draper, Printer to His Excellency the Governor and Council, 1774.”

The proclamation rehearses the troubles which have taken place among the European states, “with a view to overturn the balance of power in Europe, … in direct violation of the solemn guaranty of the Pragmatick Sanction given by him [the French King] in 1738, in consideration of the cession of Lorrain.” It refers to other offensive conduct of the French King, and then replies to some assertions made in the “French King’s declaration of war.” “Being therefore indispensably obliged to take up arms,” the King calls upon all his subjects to assist in prosecuting the same by sea and land; but no special reference is made to the British colonies in America, and the governor (Shirley) does not even add his name to the proclamation. One copy of the remarkable document, at least, has been preserved, and is in possession of Mr. John L. DeWolf of Boston. It is headed by an engraving of the King’s arms, as are all the proclamations issued by the governor, including those for Fast and Thanksgiving Days, &c. It is not probable, though we do not know the fact, that a declaration of war by the King of England was ever re-issued by the governor of any other colony. Previously to this, in this colony, in 1672, the proclamation of war, by the King of England against the Dutch, was publicly read in Boston.

Following this on the 8th of June, 1744, was issued the “proclamation for a public fast.” “Whereas it hath pleased God, in his holy, wise and sovereign Providence, further to involve the British dominions in war, whereby this Province will be greatly affected,” &c. Therefore the 28th day of June is appointed to be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, &c., “and all servile labor and recreations are forbidden on that day.” Signed, W. Shirley. [Troops were raised in Boston at this time, following the declaration of 29th March, and sent to Annapolis, Nova Scotia, where they arrived, as Gordon says, in season, and “were the probable means of saving the country.”]

Among the lesser proclamations, issued by Gov. Shirley, was one on account of “an heinous riot in the Town of Bristol, in open defiance of His Majesty’s authority and Government within this Province.” This was a case where the six persons named and “a great number of others,” marched to the county jail, and there demanded the release of John Round, jr., and by force of arms broke open said prison, “rescuing and carrying off the said John Round and Samuel Borden, another prisoner in said gaol.” The governor calls upon all officers and people to apprehend and secure the parties, and “for the encouragement of all persons whatsoever that shall discover the parties,” a reward of one hundred pounds is offered for several of them, and fifty pounds each for others. Given at the Council Chamber in Boston, 18th day of October, 1744. Signed, &c.

Another remarkable proclamation was issued by “His Excellency, William Shirley, Esq., Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over His Majesty’s Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England.” This is a “declaration of war against the Cape Sable’s and St. John’s Indians.” It is stated that whereas some of the Cape Sable Indians, who have formally by treaty submitted to his Majesty’s government, have, “in the port of Jedoure, in a treacherous and cruel manner, murdered divers of His Majesty’s English subjects, belonging to a fishing vessel; and, whereas, the Cape Sable Indians with the St. John’s tribe, have in a hostile manner joined with the French King’s subjects in assaulting His Majesty’s fort at Annapolis-Royal, &c., therefore, said Indians are declared to be rebels, traitors, and enemies, and His Majesty’s officers and subjects are to execute all acts of hostility against the said Indians,” &c. This proclamation is dated at Boston, Oct. 19, 1744.

On the next day, 20th October, 1744, there was issued the usual proclamation for thanksgiving: “Forasmuch as, amidst the many rebukes of Divine Providence with which we are righteously afflicted, more especially in the present expensive and calamitous war, it has pleased God to favor us with many great and undeserved mercies in the course of this year,” particularly in preserving the life and health of the King, the Prince and Princess of Wales, &c.; in the restraint hitherto given to the Indians near the frontiers of this Province, &c.: therefore, the twenty-second day of December is to be observed as a day of thanksgiving throughout the Province. It will be noticed that nothing is said concerning the season or the crops in any of these thanksgiving proclamations, and it would seem that that matter was not thought of any account as compared with the health of his Majesty the King and the royal princesses.

[Here are three proclamations issued on the 18th, 19th, and 20th October, 1744, the first in relation to a “heinous riot,” the second a bloody declaration of war, and the third for a public thanksgiving.]

In two weeks after the thanksgiving proclamation, on the 2d of November, 1744, came forth another proclamation from Gov. Shirley, of a most bloody character, against the Indians, as follows:—

WHEREAS the Indians of the Cape-Sable’s and St. John’s Tribes have by their Violation of their solemn Treaties with His Majesty’s Governours, and their open Hostilities committed against His Majesty’s Subjects of this Province and the Province of Nova-Scotia, obliged me, with the unanimous Advice of His Majesty’s Council, to declare war against them; In Consequence of which the General Assembly of this Province have “Voted, That there be granted, to be paid out of the publick Treasury, to any Company, Party, or Person singly, of His Majesty’s Subjects, belonging to and residing within this Province, who shall voluntarily, and at their own proper Cost and Charge, go out and kill a male Indian of the Age of Twelve Years or upwards, of the Tribe of St. Johns or Cape-Sables, after the Twenty-sixth Day of October last past, and before the last Day of June Anno Domini, One Thousand seven Hundred and forty-five (or for such Part of that Term as the War shall continue), in any place to the Eastward of a Line, to be fixed by the Governour and His Majesty’s Council of this Province, somewhere to the Eastward of Penobscot, and produce his Scalp in Evidence of his Death, the Sum of one Hundred Pounds in Bills of Credit of this Province of the new Tenor, and the Sum of one Hundred & Five Pounds in said Bills for any Male of the like Age who shall be taken Captive, and delivered to the Order of the Captain-General, to be at the Disposal and for the Use of the Government; and the Sum of Fifty Pounds, in said Bills, for women; and the like Sum for Children under the Age of Twelve Years killed in Fight; and Fifty-five Pounds for such of them as shall be taken Prisoners, together with the Plunder: Provided no Payment be made as aforesaid for killing or taking Captive any of the said Indians, until Proof thereof be made to the Acceptance of the Governour and Council;”

AND whereas, since the passing of the said Vote of the General Assembly, I have with the Advice of His Majesty’s Council determined, That the Line above mentioned, to the Eastward of which the said Indians may be slain and taken Prisoners, shall begin on the Sea-Shore at Three Leagues Distance from Eastermost Part of the Mouth of Passamaquoddy River, and from thence to run North into the Country thro’ the Province of Nova-Scotia, to the River of St. Lawrence;

I have therefore thought fit, with the Advice of His Majesty’s Council, to issue this Proclamation for giving public notice of the Encouragement granted by the General Court of all Persons who may be disposed to serve their King and Country in the Prosecution of the War against the said Cape-Sable’s and St. John’s Tribes, in the manner above-mentioned, upon their own charge; as also to give Notice to the several Tribes of the Eastern Indians, who are still in Amity with us, of the Boundary-Line aforesaid; assuring them that this Government have determined to treat as Enemies all such Indians as live beyond the said Line.

Given at the Council Chamber in Boston, on Friday the Second Day of November, 1744. In the Eighteenth Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord GEORGE the Second, by the Grace of GOD of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c.

By order of the Governour, with

the Advice of the Council,

J. Willard, Secr.

GOD save the KING.

No mention is made of either of these remarkable proclamations in any history of Boston, or other work that we have seen; and it can scarcely be generally known that Massachusetts indorsed the proclamation of the King of England, declaring war against “the French King,” or that the colony, without regard to the King and his government, declared war, including the most desperate and bloody conditions, against the St. John’s and Cape Sable’s Indians, a hundred years after the settlement of the colony, and something more than one hundred and fifty years ago. It will be noticed that the sum of five pounds additional is offered in each case for man, woman, or child, if brought in alive; but considering the expense, danger, and trouble of doing so, it could hardly have been expected that any thing beyond the scalps of the victims, even of children, would be brought in; and it would seem, if any considerable number were killed or brought in, that the debt incurred would be likely to become somewhat burdensome upon the colony. The terms of the proclamation were based upon the votes and orders of the General Court, authorizing the payment of the rewards offered, passed on the 26th day of October. The records of Boston show that in 1756, January, £50 were paid for an Indian scalp, and it is to be hoped this was the only payment ever made for such a purchase.