Chapter IV: Part 4

"To the young Ladies of Boston. Elizabeth Courtney as several Ladies
has signified of having a desire to learn that most ingenious art of
Painting on Gauze & Catgut, proposes to open a School, and that her
business may be a public good, designs to teach the making of all
sorts of French Trimmings, Flowers, and Feather Muffs and Tippets.
And as these Arts above mentioned (the Flowers excepted) are
entirely unknown on the Continent, she flatters herself to meet with
all due encouragement; and more so, as every Lady may have a power
of serving herself of what she is now obliged to send to England
for, as the whole process is attended with little or no expence. The
Conditions are Five Dollars at entrance; to be confin'd to no
particular hours or time: And if they apply Constant may be Compleat
in six weeks. And when she has fifty subscribers school will be
opened, &c, &c."

NOTE 52.

This was James Lovell, the famous Boston schoolmaster, orator, and
patriot. He was born in Boston October 31, 1737. He graduated at
Harvard in 1756, then became a Latin School usher. He married Miss
Helen Sheaffe, older sister of the "two Miss Sheafs" named herein;
and their daughter married Henry Loring, of Brookline. He was a
famous patriot: he delivered the oration in 1771 commemorative of
the Boston Massacre. He was imprisoned by the British as a spy on
the evidence of letters found on General Warren's dead body after
the battle of Bunker Hill. He died in Windham, Maine, July 14, 1814.
A full account of his life and writings is given in Loring's
_Hundred Boston Orators_.

NOTE 53.

Nothing seems more revolting to our modern notions of decency than
the inhuman custom of punishing criminals in the open streets. From
the earliest days of the colonies the greatest publicity was given
to the crime, to its punishment, and to the criminal. Anna shows, in
her acquaintance with the vices of Bet Smith, a painful familiarity
with evil unknown in any well-bred child of to-day. Samuel Breck
wrote thus of the Boston of 1771:--

"The large whipping-post painted red stood conspicuously and
prominently in the most public street in the town. It was placed in
State Street directly under the windows of a great writing school
which I frequented, and from them the scholars were indulged in the
spectacle of all kinds of punishment suited to harden their hearts
and brutalize their feelings. Here women were taken in a huge cage,
in which they were dragged on wheels from prison, and tied to the
post with bare backs on which thirty or forty lashes were bestowed
among the screams of the culprit and the uproar of the mob. A little
further in the street was to be seen the pillory with three or four
fellows fastened by the head and hands, and standing for an hour in
that helpless posture, exposed to gross and cruel jeers from the
multitude, who pelted them incessantly with rotten eggs and every
repulsive kind of garbage that could be collected."

There was a pillory in State Street in Boston as late as 1803, and
men stood in it for the crime of sinking a vessel at sea and
defrauding the underwriters. In 1771 the pillory was in constant use
in Newport.

NOTE 54.

In 1770 British troops were quartered in Boston, to the intense
annoyance and indignation of Boston inhabitants. Disturbances
between citizens and soldiers were frequent, and many quarrels
arose. On the night of March 5 in that year the disturbance became
so great that the troops, at that time under command of Captain
Preston, fired upon the unarmed citizens in King (now State) street,
causing the death of Crispus Attucks, a colored man, Samuel Gray and
James Caldwell, who died on the spot, and mortally wounding Patrick
Carr and Samuel Maverick. At the burial of these slaughtered men the
greatest concourse ever known in the colonies flocked to the grave
in the Granary Burying Ground. All traffic ceased. The stores and
manufactories were closed. The bells were tolled in all the
neighboring towns.

Daniel Webster said, that from the moment the blood of these men
stained the pavements of Boston streets, we may date the severance
of the colony from the British empire.

The citizens demanded the removal of the troops, and the request was
complied with. For many years the anniversary of this day was a
solemn holiday in Boston, and religious and patriotic services were
publicly held.

NOTE 55.

Mather Byles was born March 15, 1707; died July 5, 1788. He was
ordained pastor of the Hollis Street Congregational Church, of
Boston, in 1733. He was a staunch Loyalist till the end of his days,
as were his daughters, who lived till 1837. His chief fame does not
rest on his name as a clergyman or an author, but as an inveterate
and unmerciful jester.

NOTE 56.

Henry Green, the brother of Anna's mother, was born June 2, 1738. He
was a Latin School boy, was in business in Nova Scotia, and died in
1774.

NOTE 57.

This stove was a foot-stove,--a small metal box, usually of sheet
tin or iron, enclosed in a wooden frame or standing on little legs,
and with a handle or bail for comfortable carriage. In it were
placed hot coals from a glowing wood fire, and from it came a
welcome warmth to make endurable the freezing floors of the
otherwise unwarmed meeting-house. Foot-stoves were much used in the
Old South. In the records of the church, under date of January 16,
1771, may be read:--

"Whereas, danger is apprehended from the stoves that are frequently
left in the meeting-house after the publick worship is over; Voted
that the Saxton make diligent search on the Lords Day evening and in
the evening after a Lecture, to see if any stoves are left in the
house, and that if he find any there he take them to his house; and
it is expected that the owners of such stoves make reasonable
satisfaction to the Saxton for his trouble before they take them
away."

The Old South did not have a stove set in the church for heating
till 1783.

NOTE 58.

The first anniversary of the Boston Massacre was celebrated
throughout the city, and a mass-meeting was held at the Old South
Church, where James Lovell made a stirring address. See Notes 52 and
54.

NOTE 59.

The Queen's night-cap was a very large full cap with plaited
ruffles, which is made familiar to us through the portraits of
Martha Washington.

NOTE 60.

"Old Mrs. Sallisbury" was Mrs. Nicholas Salisbury, who was married
in 1729, and was mother of Rebecca Salisbury, who became Mrs. Daniel
Waldo, and of Samuel Salisbury, who married Elizabeth Sewall. See
Note 73.

NOTE 61.

Mrs. John Avery. Her husband was Secretary of the Commonwealth and
nephew of John Deming, who in his will left his house to John Avery,
Jr.

NOTE 62.

A baby hutt was a booby-hutch, a clumsy, ill-contrived covered
carriage. The word is still used in some parts of England, and a
curious survival of it in New England is the word booby-hut applied
to a hooded sleigh; and booby to the body of a hackney coach set on
runners. Mr. Howells uses the word booby in the latter
signification, and it may be heard frequently in eastern
Massachusetts, particularly in Boston.

NOTE 63.

Peggy Phillips was Margaret Phillips, daughter of William and
Margaret Wendell Phillips. She was born May 26, 1762, married Judge
Samuel Cooper, and died February 19, 1844. She was aunt of Wendell
Phillips.

NOTE 64.

This "droll figure" may have been a drawing, or a dressed doll,
or "baby," as such were called--a doll that displayed in careful
miniature the reigning modes of the English court. In the _New
England Weekly Journal_, of July 2, 1733, appears this notice:--

"To be seen at Mrs. Hannah Teatts Mantua Maker at the Head of Summer
Street Boston a Baby drest after the Newest Fashion of Mantuas and
Night Gowns & everything belonging to a dress. Latily arrived on
Capt. White from London, any Ladies that desire it may either come
or send, she will be ready to wait on 'em if they come to the House
it is Five Shilling, & if she waits on 'em it is Seven Shilling."

These models of fashion were employed until this century.

NOTE 65.

We can have a very exact notion of the books imported and printed
for and read by children at that time, from the advertisements in
the papers. In the _Boston Gazette and Country Journal_, of January
20, 1772, the booksellers, Cox and Berry, have this notice:--

The following Little Books for the Instruction & Amusement of all
good Boys and Girls.

The Brother Gift or the Naughty Girl Reformed.
The Sister Gift, or the Naughty Boy Reformed.
Hobby Horse or Christian Companion.
Robin Good-Fellow, A Fairy Tale.
Puzzling Cap, A Collection of Riddles.
The Cries of London as exhibited in the Streets.
Royal Guide or Early Introduction to Reading English.
Mr Winloves Collection of Stories.
" " Moral Lectures.
History of Tom Jones abridg'd from the works of
" " Joseph Andrews H. Fielding.
" " Pamela abridg'd from the works of
" " Grandison S. Richardson, Esq.
" " Clarissa

NOTE 66.

General John Winslow was but a distant kinsman of Anna's, for he was
descended from Edward Winslow. He was born May 27, 1702; died April
17, 1774. He was a soldier and jurist, but his most prominent
position (though now of painful notoriety) was as commander of that
tragic disgrace in American history, the expedition against the
Acadians. It is told in extenuation of his action that before the
annihilation and dispersion of that unfortunate community he
addressed them, saying that his duty was "very disagreeable to his
natural make and temper as it must be grievous to them," but that he
must obey orders,--and of course what he said was true.

NOTE 67.

The exercises attending this election of counsellors must indeed
have been an impressive sight. The Governor, attended by a troop of
horse, rode from the Province House to Cambridge, where religious
services were held. An Election Sermon was preached. Volleys and
salutes were fired at the Battery and Castle. A protest was made in
the public press, as on the previous year, against holding this
election in Cambridge instead of in the "Town House in Boston, the
accustomed Ancient Place," and also directly to the Governor, which
was answered by him in the newspapers; and at this election a most
significant event occurred--John Hancock declined to accept a seat
among the counsellors, to which he had been elected. The
newspapers--the _Massachusetts Spy_ and the _Boston Gazette and
Country Journal_--commented on his action thus:--

"Mr Hancocks declining a seat in the Council Board is very
satisfactory to the Friends of Liberty among his constituents. This
Gentleman has stood five years successively and as often Negativ'd.
Whatever may have been the Motive of his being approbated at last
his own Determination now shows that he had rather be a
Representative of the People since he has had so repeatedly their
Election and Confidence."

NOTE 68.

Boston had two election days. On Artillery Election the Ancient and
Honorable Artillery had a dress parade on the Common. The new
officers were chosen and received their new commissions from the new
Governor. No negroes were then allowed on the Common. The other day
was called "Nigger Lection," because the blacks were permitted to
throng the Common and buy gingerbread and drink beer, as did their
betters at Artillery Election.

NOTE 69.

Col. Thomas Marshall was a Revolutionary officer. He commanded the
Tenth Massachusetts Regiment at Valley Forge. He was Captain of the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery from 1763 to 1767, and at one time
commanded Castle Island, now Fort Independence. He was one of the
Selectmen of Boston at the time when the town was invested by troops
under Washington. He died at Weston, Mass., on November 18, 1800.

NOTE 70.

A night gown was not in those days a garment for wear when sleeping,
but resembled what we now call a tea-gown. The night attire was
called a rail. Both men and women wore in public loose robes which
they called night gowns. Men often wore these gowns in their
offices.

NOTE 71.

Many Boston people agreed with Anna in her estimate of Rev. Samuel
Stillman. He was called to the First Baptist Church in 1765, and
soon became one of Boston's most popular and sensational preachers.
Crowds thronged his obscure little church at the North End, and he
took an active part in Revolutionary politics. Many were pleased
with his patriotism who did not agree with him in doctrine. In the
curious poem on Boston Ministers, already quoted, we read:--

Last in my list is a Baptist,
A real saint, I wot.
Though named Stillman much noise he can
Make when in pulpit got.
The multitude, both grave and rude,
As drove by wind and tide,
After him hie, when he doth try
To gain them to his side.

NOTE 72.

Mr. and Mrs. Hooper were "King" Hooper and his wife of Marblehead.
He was so called on account of his magnificent style of living. He
was one of the Harvard Class of 1763; was a refugee in 1775, and
died insolvent in 1790. The beautiful mansion which he built at
Danvers, Mass., is still standing in perfect condition, and is the
home of Francis Peabody, Esq. It is one of the finest examples of
eighteenth century architecture in New England.

NOTE 73.

This "Miss Becca" was Rebecca Salisbury, born April 7, 1731, died
September 25, 1811. She was a fine, high-spirited young woman, and
upon being taunted by a rejected lover with,

"The proverb old--you know it well,
That women dying maids, lead apes in hell,"

(a belief referred to in _Taming of the Shrew_, Act II. Scene 1),
she made this clever rhyming answer:--

"Lead apes in hell--tis no such thing;
The story's told to fool us.
But better there to hold a string,
Than here let monkeys lead us."

She married Daniel Waldo May 3, 1757. The "very pretty Misses" were
their daughters; Elizabeth, born November 24, 1765, died unmarried
in Worcester, August 28, 1845; and Martha (who in this diary is
called Patty), born September 14, 1761, died November 25, 1828. She
married Levi Lincoln, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, and
became the mother of Levi Lincoln, Governor of Massachusetts, Enoch
Lincoln, Governor of Maine, and Col. John Lincoln.

NOTE 74.

The fashion of the roll was of much importance in those days. A roll
frequently weighed fourteen ounces. We can well believe such a heavy
mass made poor Anna's head "ach and itch like anything." That same
year the _Boston Gazette_ had a laughable account of an accident to
a young woman on Boston streets. She was knocked down by a runaway,
and her headdress received the most serious damage. The outer
covering of hair was thrust aside, and cotton, tow, and false hair
were disgorged to the delight of jeering boys, who kicked the
various stuffings around the street. A Salem hair-dresser advertised
that he would "attend to the polite construction of rolls to raise
ladies heads to any pitch desired." The Abbé Robin, traveling
through Boston a few years later, found the hair of ladies' heads
"raised and supported upon rolls to an extravagant height."