Evelyn Leland was the only one of the party on the "Dolphin" who had
never seen Boston; but to all the young people entering the city from
the sea was a new experience, and as the vessel neared the harbour they
gazed about them with great interest, while the Captain pointed out and
named the forts and the islands as they came into view.
"Yonder is Boston Light," he said, "two miles east of Fort Warren,--on
George's Island, which I will point out presently; it is a revolving
light, ninety-two feet above the level of the sea. And yonder is Spit
or Bug Light; it is only thirty-five feet high, and stands upon iron
pillars fixed in the rock. They show a red fixed light there which can
be seen at the distance of seven miles.
"Then there is Long Island Light, named from the island on which it
stands. The tower is only twenty-two feet above the ground, but eighty
feet above the sea.
"Yonder," again pointing with his finger, "is Fort Independence (called
in Revolutionary times Castle William) just at the entrance of the main
channel; and opposite it is Fort Winthrop. And yonder is George's
Island with its fortification,--Fort Warren."
"And this was the harbour where the Boston Tea-party was held!"
remarked Evelyn, in a half-musing tone. "What an exciting time that
must have been! I think it was grand in the people to give up the tea
they so enjoyed drinking, rather than submit to 'taxation without
representation.'"
"Which all women possessed of landed property do to this day," returned
Rosie, mischievously.
Eva laughed. "Oh, well," she said, "you know American women can
influence the voters to whom they are related,--their brothers,
husbands, and sons."
"If they have any, and they happen to be particularly tractable,"
laughed Rosie. "But how about poor fatherless and brotherless single
women? The men may vote as heavy taxes upon their property as they
please, while they can't lift a finger to prevent it, or say a word as
to what is to be done with the money taken from their purses without
their consent."
"Why, Rosie, are you turning into a woman's rights woman?" queried Max,
laughing.
"I don't know, Maxie; those ideas just happened to suggest themselves,"
she answered. "I'll take time to think it all out one of these days,
though; and I'll not promise not to turn into an advocate of women's
right to have some say about the taxing of their own property. I see
no reason why a man's rights in that direction should be considered
superior to a woman's."
"No; nor I either," Max said. "And I'm as willing as possible that
American women should have all their rights; but I shouldn't like to
let ignorant women--foreign or coloured ones--vote."
"Yes, that's the trouble," laughed Rosie; "I shouldn't like that
either. But I can't see that it's any better to let foreign men who are
too ignorant to understand much or anything about our institutions,
have a vote. I must say it strikes me as exceedingly insulting to
educated, intelligent ladies, who are native Americans, to refuse a
vote to _them_, and at the same time give it to _such foreign-born
men_, or to male natives who know nothing, can't read or write, and
have no property at all."
"Coloured men, for instance?" queried Max.
"Yes, coloured or white; it's the education I'm concerned about, not
the colour. Mamma, do not you agree with me?"
"Yes, I do," Mrs. Travilla answered. "I have no desire to vote
myself; but I think only native-born citizens, or those who have been
twenty-one years in the country, should have a vote, and not even they
unless able to read and write, capable of understanding our form of
government, and possessed of some little property,--that last in order
that they may appreciate more fully the burdens of taxation, and be
less ready to make them heavier than need be."
"Papa," asked Gracie, "where abouts were the tea ships when the folks
went on board and threw the tea into the water?"
"They were moored at Griffin's Wharf," he replied; "I can point it out
to you directly."
"What is it, Papa, Gracie's talking about? A story?" queried little
Elsie. "Please, Papa, tell it to us."
"I'm afraid you would hardly understand, Papa's darling," the Captain
said, stroking the soft, shining, golden curls as he spoke, and smiling
down into the bright, eager little face.
"I think I should, Papa. Wasn't it something 'bout a tea-party?" she
asked coaxingly.
"Yes, Papa, please do tell the story; we'd all like to hear it over
again now when we're just at the place where it happened," added Gracie.
"Well, my darlings, to please you," he said; "also because I want you
to be thoroughly grounded in the history of your own country.
"You must remember that these States,--or rather the original thirteen,
there were only so many at that time,--were then called colonies, and
were ruled by England. The English Government claimed the right to
tax the colonies just as they pleased. That right the people of the
colonies denied.
"They were not allowed to send any members to Parliament to help decide
who in America should be taxed and how much; so they determined that
rather than pay a tax put upon the article without their knowledge and
consent, they would do without tea.
"Then the English Government tried to force it on them; and these ships
came into their harbour loaded with the tea, which they intended to
land.
"One of those tea-laden ships, called the 'Dartmouth,'--Captain Hall
in command,--came to anchor yonder, near the Castle, as it was then
called. It was on Sunday the 'Dartmouth' came in; and as you may
suppose, the sight of her caused a great excitement in Boston.
"Early on Monday morning a placard was posted all over the town. I
committed it to memory when a school-boy. It said:--
"'Friends! Brethren! Countrymen! That worst of plagues, the detested
tea shipped for this port by the East India Company, is now arrived
in the harbor; the Hour of Destruction, or manly opposition to the
Machinations of Tyranny, stares you in the face; every Friend to his
Country, to himself, and to Posterity, is now called upon to meet at
Faneuil Hall, at nine o'clock This Day (at which time the bells will
ring), to make united and successful resistance to this last, worst,
and most destructive measure of administration.'
"That was the handbill; its date was November 29, 1773."
"Was that the 'vite to the tea-party?" asked little Elsie.
"Not to what proved to be the principal one," he answered.
"In response to the call they met that day at Faneuil Hall, but the
excitement was so great and brought so many people together that they
adjourned to the Old South Meeting-house which was larger.
"At that meeting it was resolved that the tea should not be landed,
that no duty should be paid on it, and that it should be sent back in
the same vessel it had come in; also they notified the owner and the
commander of the vessel that to land and enter the tea was at their own
peril, ordered the ship to be moored at Griffin's Wharf, and appointed
a guard of twenty-five men to watch her.
"At the meeting a letter was received from the consignees offering to
store the tea till they could hear from England; but the people were
determined not to allow it to be landed, so rejected the offer with
scorn.
"Then the sheriff read a proclamation from the governor ordering them
to disperse; but it was received with hisses, and they went on with the
business that had called them together.
"They passed a resolution ordering the vessels of Captains Coffin and
Bruce, which were hourly expected to arrive with their loads of tea, to
be moored at Griffin's Wharf."
"Did they come, Papa? and did the men watch all the ships that had
tea?" asked Elsie, who was listening with a look of interest and
intelligence that seemed to say she understood a great deal, if not all
her father had been saying.
"Yes; and about two weeks afterward another meeting was held in the
Old South Church, when it was resolved that Mr. Roch must immediately
apply for a clearance for his ship and send her out to sea again. But
the governor had already taken measures to prevent him from doing that,
ordering Admiral Montague to fit out two armed vessels and station them
at the entrance to the harbour, and Colonel Leslie, who was in command
of the Castle, not to allow any vessel to pass out under the guns of
the fortress, unless she could show a permission signed by himself."
"I should think," remarked Max, "that Mr. Roch and Captain Hall must
have been quite puzzled to know how to act to suit all parties."
"What happened next, Papa?" asked Gracie.
"Two days later there was another meeting in the Old South,--the
largest meeting that had then ever been known in Boston; for the people
were greatly excited.
"Several persons made addresses, but Josiah Quincy was the principal
speaker. He advised the people to weigh and consider before they took
measures that would bring on a trying and terrible struggle such as had
never been seen in this country."
"Why, Papa," exclaimed Lulu, "I thought Mr. Quincy was one of the
patriots!"
"So he was, my child; but he wanted the people to look before they
leaped.
"When he had finished his speech the question was put, 'Will you abide
by your former resolutions with respect to not suffering the tea to be
landed?'"
"And what did they say?" asked Gracie.
"That they would; the whole vast assembly speaking as with one voice."
"I hope Mr. Roch was there to hear them," said Lulu.
"No," said her father. "The governor was at his country-house, a few
miles out of Boston, and Mr. Roch had been sent to him to ask a permit
for his vessel to leave the harbour.
"He returned late in the afternoon, before the meeting at the Old South
had broken up, and reported to them that the governor refused a permit
until a clearance should be shown him; and the collector refused that
until the tea should be landed."
"What a fuss about nothing!" exclaimed little Elsie, with a look of
disgust.
"Oh, no," her father said, stroking her hair as she leaned upon his
knee; "some day when my little girl is older and wiser, she will
understand that it was very far from being about nothing.
"The people were very much excited. It was beginning to grow dark in
the old church and somebody called for candles; but just then somebody
in the gallery showed himself disguised like a Mohawk Indian, raised
the Indian war-whoop, and was answered in the same fashion by some one
outside the building,--for the throng a good deal more than filled the
church; then another voice in the gallery shouted, 'Boston harbour a
teapot to-night! Hurrah for Griffin's Wharf!'
"At that there was an instant motion to adjourn, and the people crowded
into the streets.
"It was a clear, moonlight evening, still quite early, and the British
squadron not more than a mile away; British troops were near too, but
neither interfered with what was going on.
"It is probable that everything had been arranged beforehand; and
seeing several persons disguised as Indians going toward Griffin's
Wharf, the people hurried thither. Some fifteen or twenty were so
disguised, but about sixty boarded the vessels in the first place; and
it is said that as many as a hundred and forty were engaged in the
work before it was finished.
"A man named Lendall Pitts acted as leader; and under his direction the
'Dartmouth' was boarded first, the hatches were taken up, and her cargo
of one hundred and fourteen chests of tea brought on deck, where the
boxes were broken open and the tea was thrown into the water.
"Then the other two vessels were boarded and their cargoes of tea also
thrown into the harbour."
"And that's what is called the 'Boston Tea Party,'" remarked Max with
satisfaction. "I'd wish I'd been there to help, only that I'd rather be
here now."
"That's just the way I feel about it," said Walter.
"You may be thankful, my dear boys, that you live in these days,"
remarked Grandma Elsie, smiling kindly upon them. "War times are more
interesting to tell about, but far harder to live in. Our hearts may
well be filled with thankfulness to God for the success of our fathers
in securing the blessings of liberty for not themselves only, but for
us also. We assuredly have more to be thankful for than any other
nation, and ought therefore to be better and more earnest Christians,
doing all we possibly can to spread abroad through all the earth the
glad news of salvation by Christ, and to help the down-trodden and
oppressed to share with us the inestimable blessings of freedom,--life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as our Declaration of
Independence has it."
But the "Dolphin" was fast approaching the city, and there was so much
to look at and talk about, relating to the present, that for a time the
past was well-nigh forgotten, except when the Captain pointed out as
nearly as he could, the precise spot where the never-to-be-forgotten
"tea party" had been held.
When he had done so, Max broke out into a song to the tune of "Yankee
Doodle," the other young folks joining in with a will on the chorus.
"Once on a time old Johnny Bull flew in a raging fury,
And swore that Jonathan should have no trial, sir, by jury;
That no elections should be held across the briny waters;
And now said he, 'I'll tax the Tea of all his sons and daughters.'
Then down he sate in burly state, and blustered like a grandee,
And in derision made a tune called 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.'
Yankee doodle,--these are facts,--Yankee doodle dandy!
My son of wax, your tea I'll tax; you--Yankee doodle dandy!
"John sent the tea from o'er the sea, with heavy duties rated;
But whether hyson or bohea I never heard it stated.
Then Jonathan to pout began,--he laid a strong embargo,--
'I'll drink no Tea by Jove!' so he threw overboard the cargo.
Then Johnny sent a regiment, big words and looks to bandy,
Whose martial band, when near the land played 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.'
Yankee doodle,--keep it up,--Yankee doodle dandy!
I'll poison with a tax your cup; _you_--Yankee doodle dandy!
"A long war then they had, in which John was at last defeated;
And 'Yankee Doodle' was the march to which his troops retreated.
Cute Jonathan, to see them fly, could not restrain his laughter;
'That time,' said he, 'suits to a T. I'll sing it ever after.'
Old Johnny's face, to his disgrace, was flushed with beer and brandy,
E'en while he swore to sing no more this 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.'
Yankee doodle,--ho, ha, he,--Yankee doodle dandy!
We kept the tune, but not the tea; Yankee doodle dandy!
"I've told you now the origin of this most lively ditty,
Which Johnny Bull dislikes as 'dull and stupid'--what a pity!
With 'Hail Columbia' it is sung, in chorus full and hearty.
On land and main we breathe the strain John made for his 'tea party;'
No matter how we rhyme the words, the music speaks them handy,
And where's the fair can't sing the air of 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'?
Yankee doodle, firm and true,--Yankee doodle dandy!
Yankee doodle, doodle do, Yankee doodle dandy!"