Part 7 (2/2)

CHAPTER VI

BOSTON BLOCKADE

WHILE John and Abigail were writing their letters in Philadelphia and Braintree, Boston town was undergoing a winter of discontent indeed.

Ever since Bunker Hill and the burning of Charlestown, the British troops had occupied the town, while Was.h.i.+ngton and his army lay encamped in Cambridge and on Dorchester Heights, west of the city. In October, the British command was transferred from General Gage to General Howe, who proved a more energetic commander. He burned Falmouth (now Portland), and threatened many other places. After the burning of Charlestown, Franklin wrote:

”Britain must certainly be distracted. No tradesman out of Bedlam ever thought of increasing the number of his customers by knocking them on the head, or of enabling them to pay their debts by burning their houses. It has been with difficulty that we have carried another humble Pet.i.tion to the Crown, to give Britain one more chance of recovering the friends.h.i.+p of the colonies: which, however, she has not sense enough to embrace; and so she has lost them for ever.”

The rival armies watched each other closely, meantime pa.s.sing the time as best they might. Was.h.i.+ngton, with his newly levied troops, kept them busy enough, marching and counter-marching, drilling and practising; besides, the country was open to them on all sides, and they could come and go as occasion required. The British troops, however, found time hang heavy on their hands. Shut up in narrow quarters amid a bitterly hostile population, often short of provisions and ruled by an iron hand, they were having a forlorn time of it. One feels real compa.s.sion for the ancestor of ”Tommy Atkins”: he was probably a very good fellow at heart, as Tommy (to whom all honor!) is today. He had no personal quarrel with the people of Boston; he did not care whether they were bond or free, so he got his rations, his pint and his pipe. And here he was surrounded by black looks and scowling faces, and could not so much as answer a gibe or--possibly--prod an insulting urchin with his bayonet, without bringing the whole hornet's nest of patriots about his ears. On the other hand, if he were in any way remiss in his duties, he was flogged with a brutality worthy of the Dark Ages. A forlorn winter for Tommy, this of 1775-6. Small wonder that he was ready to lend his hand to any mischief that promised relief from the monotony of daily life.

Obeying orders, the soldiers tore down many fine old buildings for firewood, among them that of John Winthrop; cut down Liberty Tree,[15]

which yielded fourteen cords of fine wood; made havoc generally. The grenadiers were quartered in West Church; two regiments of infantry in Brattle Street Church, whose pillars saved it from sharing the fate of the Old South, which was, as we know, used as a riding school by the dragoons.

The British officers fared better than their men. They were quartered in the homes of absent patriots. General Clinton was in the Hanc.o.c.k House, Earl Percy in that of Gardner Greene, Burgoyne in the Bowdoin mansion; while Gage and Howe successively inhabited the stately Province House.

The patriots, those who could afford to do so, had mostly left. Those who remained were of the humbler cla.s.s, with a sprinkling of physicians, lawyers, and clergymen, who stood by their posts. Among the clergymen was one with whose name I have a pleasant a.s.sociation: the Reverend Mather Byles, pastor of Hollis Street Church. This gentleman was a merry, as well as a devout person; full of quips and cranks, and not always lacking in wanton wiles. John Adams quotes him as saying, when first the British troops occupied Boston, that ”our grievances would now be red-dressed!” But my own thought of Mr. Byles recalls a story often told by my mother, which she may have heard in childhood from her grandfather, the old Revolutionary Colonel. It tells how one night the Reverend Mather, returning home very late, pa.s.sed by the house of a man whom he greatly disliked. A sudden thought struck him; he went up the steps and began to beat and bang on the door and halloo at the top of his lungs. After some delay, the night-capped head of his neighbor was thrust out of the window, demanding what was to do at this time o'

night.

”Have you lost a penknife?” asked Mr. Byles.

”No! Have you found one?”

”No, but I feel as if I should any minute!”

_Exeunt_ both parties, one chuckling, the other swearing.

The Tories, rich, prosperous, and loyal to King George, were ready enough to help the officers in making merry. There were sleighing parties, riding parties, parties of every description: no doubt the Tory maidens found the winter a very gay one. Faneuil Hall was turned into a theatre, and General Burgoyne wrote plays for it. A performance of ”Zara” was a brilliant success. After another performance, a farce called ”Boston Blockade,” a ”Vaudevil” was to be sung by the characters, of which the following is a part:

Ye Critics, who wait for an End of the Scene, T' accept it with Praise or dismiss it with Spleen; Your Candor we ask and demand your Applause, If not for our Action, at least for our Cause.

'Tis our Aim by Amus.e.m.e.nt thus chearful and gay, To wile a few Hours of Winter away: While we rest on our arms, call the Arts to our Aid, And be merry in spite of the BOSTON BLOCKADE.

Ye tarbarrel'd Lawgivers, yankified Prigs, Who are Tyrants in Custom, yet call yourselves Whigs; In return for the Favors you've lavish'd on me, May I see you all hanged upon _Liberty Tree_.

Meantime take Example; decease from Attack; You're as weak under Arms as I'm weak in my Back, In War and in Love we alike are betrayed, And alike are the laughter of BOSTON BLOCKADE.

Come round then, ye Comrades of Honour and Truth, Experienc'd Age and high-spirited Youth; With Drum and with Fife make the Chorus more shrill.

And echo shall waft it to WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S Hill.

All brave BRITISH Hearts shall beat Time while we sing, Due Force to our Arms, and Long Life to the King.

To the Honour of both be our Banners display'd, And a glorious End to the BOSTON BLOCKADE.

As it turned out, the audience had not the pleasure of listening to these polished verses. The performance was in full swing; a comic actor held the stage, mimicking General Was.h.i.+ngton and holding him up to ridicule, when a sergeant rushed on the stage, crying, ”The Yankees are attacking the works on Bunker Hill!”

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