increased, the want of current money was still more sensibly felt. To
supply the demand the general court passed a law for establishing a
coinage of shillings, sixpences, and threepences. Captain John Hull was
appointed to manufacture this money, and was to have about one shilling
out of every twenty to pay him for the trouble of making them.
Hereupon all the old silver in the colony was handed over to Captain
John Hull. The battered silver cans and tankards, I suppose, and silver
buckles, and broken spoons, and silver buttons of worn-out coats, and
silver hilts of swords that had figured at court,--all such curious old
articles were doubtless thrown into the melting pot together. But by
far the greater part of the silver consisted of bullion from the mines
of South America, which the English buccaneers--who were little better
than pirates--had taken from the Spaniards and brought to
Massachusetts.
All this old and new silver being melted down and coined, the result
was an immense amount of splendid shillings, sixpences, and
threepences. Each had the date 1652 on the one side and the figure of a
pine tree on the other. Hence they were called pine-tree shillings. And
for every twenty shillings that he coined, you will remember, Captain
John Hull was entitled to put one shilling into his own pocket.
The magistrates soon began to suspect that the mint-master would have
the best of the bargain. They offered him a large sum of money if he
would but give up that twentieth shilling which he was continually
dropping into his own pocket. But Captain Hull declared himself
perfectly satisfied with the shilling. And well he might be, for so
diligently did he labor that in a few years his pockets, his money-
bags, and his strong box were overflowing with pine-tree shillings.
When the mint-master had grown very rich a young man, Samuel Sewell by
name, came a-courting to his only daughter. His daughter--whose name I
do not know, but we will call her Betsey--was a fine, hearty damsel, by
no means so slender as some young ladies of our own days. On the
contrary, having always fed heartily on pumpkin pies, doughnuts, Indian
puddings, and other Puritan dainties, she was as round and plump as a
pudding herself. With this round, rosy Miss Betsey did Samuel Sewell
fall in love. As he was a young man of good character, industrious in
his business, and a member of the church, the mint-master very readily
gave his consent.
"Yes, you may take her," said he, in his rough way, "and you'll find
her a heavy burden enough."
On the wedding-day we may suppose that honest John Hull dressed himself
in a plum-colored coat, all the buttons of which were made of pine-tree
shillings. The buttons of his waist-coat were sixpences, and the knees
of his small clothes were buttoned with silver threepences. Thus
attired, he sat with great dignity in Grandfather's chair, and, being a
portly old gentleman, he completely filled it from elbow to elbow. On
the opposite side of the room, between her bridemaids, sat Miss Betsey.
She was blushing with all her might, and looked like a full-blown peony
or a great red apple.
There, too, was the bridegroom, dressed in a fine purple coat and gold-
lace waistcoat, with as much finery as the Puritan laws and customs
would allow him to put on. His hair was cropped close to his head,
because Governor Endicott had forbidden any man to wear it below the
ears. But he was a very personable young man, and so thought the bride-
maids and Miss Betsey herself.
The mint-master also was pleased with his new son-in-law, especially as
he had courted Miss Betsey out of pure love, and had said nothing at
all about her portion. So, when the marriage ceremony was over, Captain
Hull whispered a word to two of his men-servants, who immediately went
out, and soon returned lugging in a large pair of scales. They were
such a pair as wholesale merchants use for weighing bulky commodities,
and quite a bulky commodity was now to be weighed in them.
"Daughter Betsey," said the mint-master, "get into one side of these
scales."
Miss Betsey--or Mrs. Sewell, as we must now call her--did as she was
bid, like a dutiful child, without any question of the why and
wherefore. But what her father could mean, unless to make her husband
pay for her by the pound (in which case she would have been a dear
bargain), she had not the least idea.
"And now," said honest John Hull to the servants, "bring that box
hither."
The box to which the mint-master pointed was a huge, square, iron-bound
oaken chest; it was big enough, my children, for all four of you to
play at hide-and-seek in. The servants tugged with might and main, but
could not lift this enormous receptacle, and were finally obliged to
drag it across the floor. Captain Hull then took a key from his girdle,
unlocked the chest, and lifted its ponderous lid. Behold! it was full
to the brim of bright pine-tree shillings fresh from the mint, and
Samuel Sewell began to think that his father-in-law had got possession
of all the money in the Massachusetts treasury. But it was only the
mint-master's honest share of the coinage.
[Illustration: HANDFUL AFTER HANDFUL WAS THROWN IN]
Then the servants, at Captain Hull's command, heaped double handfuls of
shillings into one side of the scales while Betsey remained in the
other. Jingle, jingle, went the shillings as handful after handful was
thrown in, till, plump and ponderous as she was, they fairly weighed
the young lady from the floor.
"There, son Sewell!" cried the honest mint-master, resuming his seat in
Grandfather's chair, "take these shillings for my daughter's portion.
Use her kindly and thank Heaven for her. It is not every wife that's
worth her weight in silver."
LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS IN NEW ENGLAND
_By_ FELICIA BROWNE HEMANS
The breaking waves dash'd high
On a stern and rock-bound coast,
And the woods against a stormy sky
Their giant branches toss'd;
And the heavy night hung dark
The hills and waters o'er,
When a band of exiles moor'd their bark
On the wild New England shore.
Not as the conqueror comes,
They, the true-hearted, came;
Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
And the trumpet that sings of fame;
Not as the flying come,
In silence and in fear;--
They shook the depths of the desert gloom
With their hymns of lofty cheer.
Amidst the storm they sang,
And the stars heard and the sea;
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
To the anthem of the free!
The ocean eagle soar'd
From his nest by the white wave's foam;
And the rocking pines of the forest roar'd--
This was their welcome home!
There were men with hoary hair
Amidst that pilgrim band;--
Why had _they_ come to wither there,
Away from their childhood's land?
There was woman's fearless eye,
Lit by her deep love's truth;
There was manhood's brow serenely high,
And the fiery heart of youth.
What sought they thus afar?--
Bright jewels of the mine?
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?
They sought a faith's pure shrine!
Ay, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod.
They have left unstain'd what there they found--
Freedom to worship God.
THE SUNKEN TREASURE
[Footnote: From _Grandfather's Chair._]
_By_ NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
Picture to yourselves, my dear children, a handsome old-fashioned room,
with a large open cupboard at one end, in which is displayed a
magnificent gold cup with some other splendid articles of gold and
silver plate. In another part of the room, opposite to a tall looking-
glass, stands our beloved chair, newly polished and adorned with a
gorgeous cushion of crimson velvet tufted with gold.
In the chair sits a man of strong and sturdy frame, whose face has been
roughened by northern tempests and blackened by the burning sun of the
West Indies. He wears an immense periwig flowing down over his
shoulders. His coat has a wide embroidery of golden foliage, and his
waistcoat likewise is all flowered over and bedizened with gold. His
red, rough hands, which have done many a good day's work with the
hammer and adze, are half covered by the delicate lace ruffles at his
wrists. On a table lies his silver-hilted sword, and in a corner of the
room stands his gold-headed cane, made of a beautifully polished West
India wood.
Somewhat such an aspect as this did Sir William Phipps present when he
sat in Grandfather's chair after the king had appointed him governor of
Massachusetts. Truly, there was need that the old chair should be
varnished and decorated with a crimson cushion in order to make it
suitable for such a magnificent-looking personage.
But Sir William Phipps had not always worn a gold-embroidered coat, nor
always sat so much at his ease as he did in Grandfather's chair. He was
a poor man's son, and was born in the province of Maine, where he used
to tend sheep upon the hills in his boyhood and youth. Until he had
grown to be a man he did not even know how to read and write. Tired of
tending sheep, he next apprenticed himself to a ship-carpenter, and
spent about four years in hewing the crooked limbs of oak trees into
knees for vessels.
In 1673, when he was twenty-two years old, he came to Boston, and soon
afterward was married to a widow who had property enough to set him up
in business. It was not long, however, before he lost all the money
that he had acquired by his marriage and became a poor man again. Still
he was not discouraged. He often told his wife that some time or other
he should be very rich and would build a "fair brick house" in the
Green Lane of Boston.
Do not suppose, children, that he had been to a fortune-teller to
inquire his destiny. It was his own energy and spirit of enterprise and
his resolution to lead an industrious life that made him look forward
with so much confidence to better days.
Several years passed away, and William Phipps had not yet gained the
riches which he promised to himself. During this time he had begun to
follow the sea for a living. In the year 1684 he happened to hear of a
Spanish ship which had been cast away near the Bahama Islands, and
which was supposed to contain a great deal of gold and silver. Phipps
went to the place in a small vessel, hoping that he should be able to
recover some of the treasure from the wreck. He did not succeed,
however, in fishing up gold and silver enough to pay the expenses of
his voyage.
But before he returned he was told of another Spanish ship or galleon
which had been cast away near Porto de la Plata. She had now lain as
much as fifty years beneath the waves. This old ship had been laden
with immense wealth, and hitherto nobody had thought of the possibility
of recovering any part of it from the deep sea which was rolling, and
tossing it about. But, though it was now an old story, and the most
aged people had almost forgotten that such a vessel had been wrecked,
William Phipps resolved that the sunken treasure should again be
brought to light.
He went to London and obtained admittance to King James, who had not
yet been driven from his throne. He told the king of the vast wealth
that was lying at the bottom of the sea. King James listened with
attention, and thought this a fine opportunity to fill his treasury
with Spanish gold. He appointed William Phipps to be captain of a
vessel called the _Rose Algier_, carrying eighteen guns and
ninety-five men. So now he was Captain Phipps of the English navy.
Captain Phipps sailed from England in the _Rose Algier_, and cruised for
nearly two years in the West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of
the Spanish ship. But the sea is so wide and deep that it is no easy
matter to discover the exact spot where a sunken vessel lies. The
prospect of success seemed very small, and most people would have
thought that Captain Phipps was as far from having money enough to
build a "fair brick house" as he was while he tended sheep.
The seamen of the _Rose Algier_ became discouraged and gave up all hope
of making their fortunes by discovering the Spanish wreck. They wanted
to compel Captain Phipps to turn pirate. There was a much better
prospect, they thought, of growing rich by plundering vessels which
still sailed in the sea than by seeking for a ship that had lain
beneath the waves full half a century. They broke out in open mutiny,
but were finally mastered by Phipps and compelled to obey his orders.
It would have been dangerous, however, to continue much longer at sea
with such a crew of mutinous sailors, and, besides, the _Rose Algier_
was leaky and unseaworthy. So Captain Phipps judged it best to return to
England.
Before leaving the West Indies he met with a Spaniard, an old man, who
remembered the wreck of the Spanish ship and gave him directions how to
find the very spot. It was on a reef of rocks a few leagues from Porto
de la Plata.
On his arrival in England, therefore, Captain Phipps solicited the king
to let him have another vessel and send him back again to the West
Indies. But King James, who had probably expected that the _Rose Algier_
would return laden with gold, refused to have anything more to do with
the affair. Phipps might never have been able to renew the search if the
Duke of Albemarle and some other noblemen had not lent their assistance.
They fitted out a ship and gave the command to Captain Phipps. He sailed
from England and arrived safely at Porto de la Plata, where he took an
adze and assisted his men to build a large boat.
The boat was intended for the purpose of going closer to the reef of
rocks than a large vessel could safely venture. When it was finished
the captain sent several men in it to examine the spot where the
Spanish ship was said to have been wrecked. They were accompanied by
some Indians who were skilful divers and could go down a great way into
the depths of the sea.
The boat's crew proceeded to the reef of rocks and rowed round and
round it a great many times. They gazed down into the water, which was
so transparent that it seemed as if they could have seen the gold and
silver at the bottom had there been any of those precious metals there.
Nothing, however, could they see--nothing more valuable than a curious
sea-shrub which was growing beneath the water in a crevice of the reef
of rocks. It flaunted to and fro with the swell and reflux of the
waves, and looked as bright and beautiful as if its leaves were gold.
"We won't go back empty-handed," cried an English sailor, and then he
spoke to one of the Indian divers: "Dive down and bring me that pretty
sea-shrub there. That's the only treasure we shall find."
Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping from the water, holding
the sea-shrub in his hand. But he had learned some news at the bottom
of the sea.
"There are some ship's guns," said he the moment he had drawn breath,
"some great cannon, among the rocks near where the shrub was growing."
[Illustration: UP CAME TREASURE IN ABUNDANCE]
No sooner had he spoken than the English sailors knew that they had
found the very spot where the Spanish galleon had been wrecked so many
years before. The other Indian divers immediately plunged over the
boat's side and swam headlong down, groping among the rocks and sunken
cannon. In a few moments one of them rose above the water with a heavy
lump of silver in his arms. The single lump was worth more than a
thousand dollars. The sailors took it into the boat, and then rowed
back as speedily as they could, being in haste to inform Captain Phipps
of their good luck.
But, confidently as the captain had hoped to find the Spanish wreck,
yet, now that it was really found, the news seemed too good to be true.
He could not believe it till the sailors showed him the lump of silver.
"Thanks be to God!" then cried Captain Phipps. "We shall every man of
us make our fortunes!"
Hereupon the captain and all the crew set to work with iron rakes and
great hooks and lines fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the
sea. Up came the treasure in abundance. Now they beheld a table of
solid silver, once the property of an old Spanish grandee. Now they
found a sacramental vessel which had been destined as a gift to some
Catholic church. Now they drew up a golden cup fit for the King of
Spain to drink his wine out of. Perhaps the bony hand of its former
owner had been grasping the precious cup and was drawn up along with
it. Now their rakes or fishing lines were loaded with masses of silver
bullion. There were also precious stones among the treasure, glittering
and sparkling so that it is a wonder how their radiance could have been
concealed.
There is something sad and terrible in the idea of snatching all this
wealth from the devouring ocean, which had possessed it for such a
length of years. It seems as if men had no right to make themselves
rich with it. It ought to have been left with the skeletons of the
ancient Spaniards who had been drowned when the ship was wrecked, and
whose bones were now scattered among the gold and silver.
But Captain Phipps and his crew were troubled with no such thoughts as
these. After a day or two they lighted on another part of the wreck,
where they found a great many bags of silver dollars. But nobody could
have guessed that these were moneybags. By remaining so long in the
salt water they had become covered over with a crust which had the
appearance of stone, so that it was necessary to break them in pieces
with hammers and axes. When this was done a stream of silver dollars
gushed out upon the deck of the vessel.
The whole value of the recovered treasure--plate, bullion, precious
stones, and all--was estimated at more than two millions of dollars. It
was dangerous even to look at such a vast amount of wealth. A sea-
captain who had assisted Phipps in the enterprise utterly lost his
reason at the sight of it. He died two years afterward, still raving
about the treasures that lie at the bottom of the sea. It would have
been better for this man if he had left the skeletons of the
shipwrecked Spaniards in quiet possession of their wealth.
Captain Phipps and his men continued to fish up plate, bullion, and
dollars as plentifully as ever till their provisions grew short. Then,
as they could not feed upon gold and silver any more than old King
Midas could, they found it necessary to go in search of better
sustenance. Phipps resolved to return to England. He arrived there in
1687. and was received with great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and
other English lords who had fitted out the vessel. Well they might
rejoice, for they took by far the greater part of the treasure to
themselves.
The captain's share, however, was enough to make him comfortable for
the rest of his days. It also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his
wife by building a "fair brick house" in the Green Lane of Boston. The
Duke of Albemarle sent Mrs. Phipps a magnificent gold cup worth at
least five thousand dollars. Before Captain Phipps left London, King
James made him a knight, so that, instead of the obscure ship-carpenter
who had formerly dwelt among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed
him on his return as the rich and famous Sir William Phipps.
He was too active and adventurous a man to sit still in the quiet
enjoyment of his good fortune. In 1690 he went on a military expedition
against the French colonies in America, conquered the whole Province of
Acadia, and returned to Boston with a great deal of plunder. In the
same year Sir William took command of an expedition against Quebec, but
did not succeed in capturing the city. In 1692, King William III
appointed him governor of Massachusetts.
THE HUTCHINSON MOB [Footnote: From _Grandfather's Chair_.]
_By_ NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
On the evening of the 26th of August, 1765, a bonfire was kindled in
King Street. It flamed high upward, and threw a ruddy light over the
front of the Town-house, on which was displayed a carved representation
of the royal arms. The gilded vane of the cupola glittered in the
blaze. The kindling of this bonfire was the well-known signal for the
populace of Boston to assemble in the street.
Before the tar barrels of which the bonfire was made were half burned
out a great crowd had come together. They were chiefly laborers and
seafaring men, together with many young apprentices and all those idle
people about town who are ready for any kind of mischief. Doubtless
some schoolboys were among them.
While these rough figures stood round the blazing bonfire you might
hear them speaking bitter words against the high officers of the
province. Governor Bernard, [Footnote: It was Governor Francis Bernard
who did much to hasten on the Revolutionary War. He was very harsh in
his treatment of the colonists, and it was on his representation of
their secret traitorous designs that the British ordered troops
stationed in Boston. This aroused a violent opposition, which was not
quelled before war finally broke out.] Hutchinson, [Footnote: This
Thomas Hutchinson was the last royal governor of the Province of
Massachusetts Bay. He was born in Boston, and was a descendant of the
famous Anne Hutchinson. At the time of the incident described in this
selection, he was lieutenant-governor of the province, and as chief
justice, had issued the so-called Writs of Assistance, which brought
upon him the anger of the colonists. Under these Writs it was possible
for a constable, or other public officer, to enter any building and
take therefrom goods upon which the duty had not been paid. In the
hands of tyrannical officers, these Writs would entirely destroy the
privacy of any family. When the Stamp Act was passed, Hutchinson
accepted it as legal, though he had opposed it on principle. By this
action he brought upon himself the intense animosity of the colonists.]
Oliver, [Footnote: Andrew Oliver was, on the passage of the Stamp Act,
appointed distributer for Massachusetts. This displeased the people,
and less than two weeks before the mob attacked the Hutchinson house,
Oliver was hanged in effigy, and a new building, supposed to be
intended for his office, was burned to the ground. This did not allay
the excitement of the colonists, who followed Oliver and threatened him
so savagely that he finally promised not to receive the stamps. Later
the mob, hearing that he still intended to serve, took him to the
"Liberty Tree," and under threats of hanging, forced him to swear that
he had never intended to distribute the stamps. When Hutchinson became
governor in 1770, Oliver was given the lieutenant-governorship, in
which position he wrote letters that brought him again into antagonism
with the colonists, and the British government was asked to remove him
from office.] Storey, Hallowell, and other men whom King George
delighted to honor were reviled as traitors to the country. Now and
then, perhaps, an officer of the Crown passed along the street, wearing
the gold-laced hat, white wig, and embroidered waistcoat which were the
fashion of the day.
But when the people beheld him they set up a wild and angry howl, and
their faces had an evil aspect, which was made more terrible by the
flickering blaze of the bonfire.
"I should like to throw the traitor right into that blaze!" perhaps one
fierce rioter would say.
"Yes, and all his brethren, too!" another might reply; "and the
governor and old Tommy Hutchinson into the hottest of it!"
"And the Earl of Bute [Footnote: The Earl of Bute was a British
statesman who, as secretary of state, became most unpopular not only in
the colonies, but in England itself. He was an ancient supporter of
royal authority, and exacted the most unquestioning obedience from his
inferiors.] along with them!" muttered a third, "and burn the whole
pack of them under King George's nose! No matter if it singed him!"
Some such expressions as these, either shouted aloud or muttered under
the breath, were doubtless heard in King Street. The mob, meanwhile,
were growing fiercer and fiercer, and seemed ready even to set the town
on fire for the sake of burning the king's friends out of house and
home. And yet, angry as they were, they sometimes broke into a loud
roar of laughter, as if mischief and destruction were their sport.
But we must now leave the rioters for a time, and take a peep into the
lieutenant-governor's splendid mansion. It was a large brick house
decorated with Ionic pilasters, and stood in Garden Court Street near
the North Square.