"The Sabbath meeting shall begin at 8 A.M., and on the fourth day of the weeke begins at nine of the Clock."...

"That one brother extemporize in Welsh for an hour, and after the said Welsh brother there shall be a publick sermon to the world, after this breaking bread."...

"That such brethren or sisters as shall any way hereafter intend to change their calling or condition of life by marriage or otherwise, do propose their cases to the elders or ablest brethren of the church, to have council from before they make any engagements, and in all difficult cases, and before all marriages, the churches council be taken therein."

* * * * *



THE RENT VEIL.

By Henry B. Carrington.

"And the veil of the temple was rent in twain."

I.

The Great I AM,—that Presence, Infinite, Which wrought creation by the breath Of Sovereign Will,—and in His Image bright, Brought man to life, to dwell in Paradise,— Took gracious pity on his lost estate, When sin had marred that perfect image, And Earth could pay no ransom for the soul.

II.

Jehovah,—God, effulgence bright,—august,— In majesty supreme, from Heaven stooped down, And through His wondrous love, ineffable, Enshrined Himself within that sacred place, Which, once in each revolving year, The type of the Redeemer, promised, Might dare approach, with awe, with offerings For the sins of Israel's children.

III.

As but a day, four thousand years, when told, With Him, who was, and is to be,— Eternal—Three in One,—Omnipotent:— Such was the span of ripening promise, Until the hour matured, and Saving Grace, The full Redemption offered,—by gift Of Spotless purity,—His Only Son.

IV.

Within the "Holy Place," the High Priest bowed, While dread Shekinah lingered,—(ne'er again To yield to Jewish rite or sacrifice, The boon of pardoned guilt, for blood of goats Or bullocks, without blemish);—and bowed, While yet the echoes of his voice, profane, Still quivered in the midnight air,—floating Upward toward the Great White Throne,—crying, O,—crucify the spotless Son of Man, And let Barabbas, son of sin, go free.

V.

Where direst portents, solitude profound,— Place, awful with the bleaching types of death, Had published forth Golgotha's cruel name. The stately High Priest, from the "Holy Place" Approached, to consummate prophetic crime,— To fill the measure of Judea's sin,— And bring Messiah to a dying race.

VI.

"IT IS FINISHED."

VII.

O,—light of day, whose now averted face, As ne'er before, withholds thy cheer from man!— O,—quaking earth, whose bed of solid rock, Is shivered by some pang of awful ill!— O,—graves, once sealed o'er loved ones, laid aside, To answer only at Archangels' call!— What tragedy of creation's Master;— What spell upon creation's normal peace;— What overturn of laws immutable;— What contradictions in the mind Supreme; Have wrought this pregnant ruin,—earth throughout!

VIII.

O,—priest, whose ministrations, laid aside To bring fulfillment of the fearful curse Upon thy race, have now that curse assured,— Look back!—and see the altar, bared to view Of vulgar herd and phrenzied populace. "The veil in twain is rent,"—and never more Shall dread Shekinah show Himself to thee;— But where each humble soul, with sin oppressed, Lifts up the cry of penitential grief, A temple shall be found,—and deep within, Shall dwell that sacred Presence,—evermore.

* * * * *



THE FIRST SCHOOLMASTER OF BOSTON.

By Elizabeth Porter Gould.

When Agassiz requested to go down the ages with no other name than "Teacher," he not only appropriately crowned his own life-work, but stamped the vocation of teaching with a royalty which can never be gainsaid. By this act he dignified with lasting honor all those to whom the name "Teacher," in its truest meaning, can be applied.

In this work of teaching, one man stands out in the history of New England who should be better known to the present generation. He was a benefactor in the colonial days when education was striving to keep her lamp burning in the midst of the necessary practical work which engaged the attention of most of the people of that time. His name was Ezekiel Cheever. When a young man of twenty-three years, he came from London—where he was born January 25, 1614—to Boston, seven years after its settlement. The following spring he went to New Haven, where he soon married, and became actively engaged in founding the colony there. Among the men who went there the same year was a Mr. Wigglesworth, whose son, in later years, as the Reverend Michael Wigglesworth, gave an account of Mr. Cheever's success in the work of teaching, which he began soon after reaching the place. "I was sent to school to Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, who at that time taught school in his own house, and under him in a year or two I profited so much through y'e blessing of God, that I began to make Latin & to get forward apace."

Mr. Cheever received as a salary for two or three years twenty pounds; and in 1643, while receiving this salary, his name is sixth in the list of planters and their estates, his estate being valued only at twenty pounds. In the year following, his salary was raised to thirty pounds a year. This probably was an actual necessity, for his family now consisted, besides himself and wife, of a son Samuel, five years old, and a daughter Mary of four years. Ezekiel, born two years before, had died. This son, Samuel, it may be said in passing, was graduated at Harvard College in 1659, and was settled as a clergyman at Marblehead, Massachusetts, where he died at the age of eighty-five, having been universally esteemed during his long life.

Besides being the teacher of the new colony, Mr. Cheever entered into other parts of its work. He was one of the twelve men chosen as "fitt for the foundacon worke of the church." He was also chosen a member of the Court for the plantation, at its first session, and in 1646 he was one of the deputies to the General Court. It is supposed that during this time he wrote his valuable little book called The Accidence. It passed through seventeen editions before the Revolution. A copy of the eighteenth edition, printed in Boston in 1785, is now in the Boston Athenaeum. It is a quaint little book of seventy-two pages, with one cover gone, and is surely an object of interest to all loving students of Latin. A copy of the tenth edition is found in Harvard College, while it has been said that a copy of the seventh is in a private library in Hartford, Connecticut. The last edition was published in Boston in 1838. In a prospectus, containing commendations of the work from many eminent men of learning, the Honorable Josiah Quincy, LL.D., president of Harvard College, said of it: "A work which was used for more than a century in the schools of New England, as the first elementary book for learners of the Latin language; which held its place in some of the most eminent of those schools, nearly, if not quite, to the end of the last century; which has passed through at least twenty editions in this country; which was the subject of the successive labor and improvement of a man who spent seventy years in the business of instruction, and whose fame is second to that of no schoolmaster New England has ever produced, requires no additional testimony to its worth or its merits." A copy of this edition is now in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Dr. David W. Cheever, of Boston, a descendant of the schoolmaster, also has one in his possession.

There is another old book in the Boston Athenaeum, published in 1757, containing three short essays under the title of Scripture Prophecies Explained. The first one is "On the Restitution of All Things"; the second is "On St. John's First Resurrection"; and the third, "On the Personal Coming of Jesus Christ, as Commencing at the Beginning of the Millenium described in the Apocalypse." These were written by Mr. Cheever, but at what time of his life there seems to be some doubt. They indicate his religious zeal, which at this time in New Haven was put forth for the good of the church. Although he was never ordained to the ministry, yet he occasionally preached. In 1649, however, he dissented from the judgment of the church and elders in regard to some cases of discipline, and for some comments on their action, which seemed to them severe, they brought charges against him. Two of the principal ones were: "1. His unseemly gestures and carriage before the church, in the mixed assembly;" and "2. That when the church did agree to two charges (namely, of assumption and partiality), he did not give his vote either to the affirmative or the negative."

As showing some of the phases of a common humanity, the reading of the trial is interesting. Mr. Cheever, who was then thirty-five years old, was desired to answer these charges of unseemly gestures, which his accusers had brought down to a rather small point, such as holding down his head into the seat, "then laughing or smiling," and also "wrapping his handkerchief about his face, and then pulling it off again;" and still another, "that his carriage was offensively uncomely," three affirming "that he rather carried it as one acting a play, than as one in the presence of God in an ordinance."

In his answer to these, Mr. Cheever explained his actions as arising from violent headaches, which, coming upon him usually "on the Lord's day in the evening, and after church meeting," were mitigated by winding his handkerchief around his head 'as a fillet.' As to his smiling or laughing, "he knew not whether there was any more than a natural, ordinary cheerfulness of countenance seeming to smile, which whether it be sinful or avoidable by him, he knew not;" but he wished to humble himself for the "least appearance of evil, and occasion of offence, and to watch against it." As to his working with the church, he said: "I must act with the church, and (which is uncomfortable) I must either act with their light, or may expect to suffer, as I have done, and do at this day, for conscience' sake; but I had rather suffer anything from men than make a shipwreck of a good conscience or go against my present light, though erroneous, when discovered."

He then went on to say that, while he did not wholly free himself from blame as to his carriage, and as to his "want of wisdom and coolness in ordering and uttering his speeches," yet he could not be convinced as yet that he had been guilty of "Miriam's sin," or deserved the censure which the church had inflicted upon him; and he could not look upon it "as dispensed according to the rules of Christ." Then he closed his address with the following words, which will give some idea of his Christian spirit: "Yet I wait upon God for the discovery of truth in His own time, either to myself or church, that what is amiss may be repented of and reformed; that His blessing and presence may be among them and upon His holy ordinances rightly dispensed, to His glory and their present and everlasting comfort, which I heartily pray for, and am so bound, having received much good and comfort in that fellowship, though I am now deprived of it."

At about this time of his trial with the church he was afflicted by the death of his wife. Three more children had been born to them—Elizabeth, Sarah, and Hannah. Soon after this, in 1650,—and, it has been said, on account of his troubles,—he removed to Ipswich, Massachusetts, to become master of the grammar school there. His services as teacher in New Haven must have been valued, if one can judge by the amount of salary received, for, in the case of the teacher who followed him, the people were not willing "to pay as large a salary as they had done to Mr. Cheever," and so they gave him ten pounds a year.

After Mr. Cheever had been in Ipswich two years, Robert Payne, a philanthropic man, gave to the town a dwelling-house with two acres of land for the schoolmaster; he also gave a new schoolhouse for the school, of which this man was the appreciated teacher; for many neighboring towns sent scholars to him, and it was said that those who received "the Cheeverian education" were better fitted for college than any others.

In November of this same year he married Ellen Lathrop, sister of Captain Thomas Lathrop, of Beverly, who two years before had brought her from England to America with him, with the promise that he would be a father to her. While living in Ipswich they had four children, Abigail, Ezekiel, Nathaniel, and Thomas; two more, William and Susanna, were born later, in Charlestown. Their son Ezekiel must have lived to a good old age, at least seventy-seven years, for as late as 1731 his name appears in the annals of the village parish of Salem, where he became heir to Captain Lathrop's real estate; while their son Thomas, born in 1658, was graduated at Harvard College in 1677, was settled as a minister at Malden, Massachusetts, and later at Rumney Marsh (Chelsea), Massachusetts, where he died at a good old age.

After having thus lived in Ipswich eleven years, Mr. Cheever removed, in 1661, to Charlestown, Massachusetts, to become master of the school there at a salary of thirty pounds a year. The smallness of this salary astonishes and suggests much to the modern reader; but when he is informed that the worthy teacher was obliged during his teaching there to petition the selectmen that his "yeerly salarie be paid to him, as the counstables were much behind w'th him," the whole matter becomes pathetic. Mr. Cheever also asked that the schoolhouse, which was much out of order, be repaired. And in 1669 he is again before them asking for a "peece of ground or house plott whereon to build an house for his familie," which petition he left for the townsmen to consider. They afterward voted that the selectmen should carry out the request, but as Mr. Cheever removed in the following year to Boston, it is probable that his successor had the benefit of it.

When Mr. Cheever entered upon his work as head master of the Boston Latin School, in 1670, he was fifty-seven years old; and he remained master of this school until his death, thirty-seven years later. The schoolhouse was, at this time, in School Street (it was not so named by the town, however, until 1708) just behind King's Chapel, on a part of the burying-ground. It has been said that the building was of two stories to accommodate the teacher and his family. This seems probable when we read that Mr. Cheever was to have a salary of sixty pounds a year, and the "possession and use of y'e schoole house." But if he lived in the building at all, it was not very long, for he is later living in a house by himself; and in 1701 the selectmen voted that two men should provide a house for him while his house was being built. The agreement which the selectmen made with Captain John Barnet with reference to this house is given in such curious detail in the old records, and suggests so much, that it is well worth reading. It is as follows:—

"That the said Barnet shall erect a House on the Land where Mr. Ezekiel Cheever Lately dwelt, of forty foot Long Twenty foot wide and Twenty foot stud with four foot Rise in the Roof, to make a cellar floor under one half of S'd house and to build a Kitchen of Sixteen foot in Length and twelve foot in breadth with a Chamber therein, and to Lay the floors flush through out the maine house and to make three paire of Stayers in y'e main house and one paire in the Kitchen and to Inclose s'd house and to do and complete all carpenters worke and to find all timber boards clapboards nayles glass and Glaziers worke and Iron worke and to make one Cellar door and to finde one Lock for the Outer door of said House, and also to make the Casements for S'd house, and perform S'd worke and to finish S'd building by the first day of August next. In consideration whereof the Selectmen do agree that the S'd Capt. Barnet shall have the Old Timber boards Iron worke and glass of the Old house now Standing on S'd Land and to pay unto him the Sum of one hundred and thirty pounds money, that is to say forty pounds down in hand and the rest as the worke goes on."

Then follows the agreement for the "masons' worke" in all its details. Later on, in March, 1702, there is some discussion as to how far back from the street the house should be placed. But in June of that year the house is up, for the worthy dignities order that "Capt. John Barnard do provide a Raysing Dinner for the Raysing the Schoolmasters House at the Charge of the town not exceeding the Sum of Three pounds." This was done, for later they order the "noat for three pounds, expended by him for a dinner at Raysing the Schoolmasters House," be paid him.

After Mr. Cheever's house had received all this painstaking attention of the town, it was voted that the selectmen should see that a new schoolhouse be built for him in the place of the old one; this to be done with the advice of Mr. Cheever. The particulars of this work are given in as much detail, and are interesting to show the style of schoolhouse at that day. They are as follows, in the "Selectmen's Minutes, under July 24, 1704":—

"Agreed w'th M'r John Barnerd as followeth, he to build a new School House of forty foot Long Twenty five foot wide and Eleven foot Stud, with eight windows below and five in the Roofe, with wooden Casements to the eight Windows, to Lay the lower floor with Sleepers & double boards So far as needful, and the Chamber floor with Single boards, to board below the plate inside & inside and out, to Clapboard the Outside and Shingle the Roof, to make a place to hang the Bell in, to make a paire of Staires up to the Chamber, and from thence a Ladder to the bell, to make one door next the Street, and a petition Cross the house below, and to make three rows of benches for the boyes on each Side of the room, to find all Timber, boards, Clapboards shingles nayles hinges. In consideration whereof the s'd M'r John Barnerd is to be paid One hundred pounds, and to have the Timber, Boards, and Iron worke of the Old School House."

Some interesting reminiscences are given, by some of his pupils, of these school-days in Boston. The Reverend John Barnard, of Marblehead, who was born in Boston in 1681, speaks of his early days at the Latin School, in his Autobiography, which is now in the Massachusetts Historical Society. Among other things he says: "I remember once, in making a piece of Latin, my master found fault with the syntax of one word, which was not used by me heedlessly, but designedly, and therefore I told him there was a plain grammar rule for it. He angrily replied, there was no such rule. I took the grammar and showed the rule to him. Then he smilingly said, 'Thou art a brave boy; I had forgot it.' And no wonder: for he was then above eighty years old." President Stiles of Yale College, in his Diary, says that he had seen a man who said that he "well knew a famous grammar-school master, Mr. E. Cheever, of Boston, author of The Accidence; that he wore a long white beard, terminating in a point; that when he stroked his beard to the point, it was a sign for the boys to stand clear."

Judge Sewall, in his Diary, often refers to him. He speaks of a visit from him, at one time, when Mr. Cheever told him that he had entered his eighty-eighth year, and was the oldest man in town; and another time, when he says: "Master Chiever, his coming to me last Saturday January 31, on purpose to tell me he blessed God that I had stood up for the Truth, is more comfort to me than Mr. Borland's unhandsomeness is discomfort." He also speaks of him as being a bearer several times at funerals, where, at one, with others, he received a scarf and ring which were "given at the House after coming from the Grave." A peculiarity of the venerable schoolmaster is seen where Judge Sewall says: "Mr. Wadsworth appears at Lecture in his Perriwigg. Mr. Chiever is grieved at it." In 1708, the judge gives in this Diary some touching particulars as to the sickness and death of Mr. Cheever. They are valuable not only for themselves, but as preserving in a literary form the close friendship which existed between these two strong men of that day. Hence they are given here:—

"Aug. 12, 1708.—Mr. Chiever is abroad and hears Mr. Cotton Mather preach. This is the last of his going abroad. Was taken very sick, like to die with a Flux. Aug. 13.—I go to see him, went in with his son Thomas and Mr. Lewis. His Son spake to him and he knew him not; I spake to him and he bid me speak again; then he said, Now I know you, and speaking cheerily mentioned my name. I ask'd his Blessing for me and my family; He said I was Bless'd, and it could not be Reversed. Yet at my going away He pray'd for a Blessing for me.

"Aug. 19.—I visited Mr. Chiever again, just before Lecture; Thank'd him for his kindness to me and mine; desired his prayers for me, my family, Boston, Salem, the Province. He rec'd me with abundance of Affection, taking me by the hand several times. He said, The Afflictions of God's people, God by them did as a Goldsmith, knock, knock, knock; knock, knock, knock, to finish the plate; It was to perfect them not to punish them. I went and told Mr. Pemberton (the Pastor of Old South) who preached.

"Aug. 20.—I visited Mr. Chiever who was now grown much weaker, and his speech very low. He call'd Daughter! When his daughter Russel came, He ask'd if the family were composed; They aprehended He was uneasy because there had not been Prayer that morn; and solicited me to Pray; I was loth and advised them to send for Mr. Williams, as most natural, homogeneous; They declined it, and I went to Prayer. After, I told him, The last enemy was Death, and God hath made that a friend too; He put his hand out of the Bed, and held it up, to signify his Assent. Observing he suck'd a piece of an Orange, put it orderly into his mouth and chew'd it, and then took out the core. After dinner I carried a few of the best Figs I could get and a dish Marmalet. I spake not to him now.

"Aug. 21.—Mr. Edward Oakes tells me Mr. Chiever died this last night."

Then in a note he tells the chief facts in his life, which he closes with,—

"So that he has Laboured in that calling (teaching) skilfully, diligently, constantly, Religiously, Seventy years. A rare Instance of Piety, Health, Strength, Serviceableness. The Wellfare of the Province was much upon his spirit. He abominated Perriwiggs."

"Aug. 23, 1708.—Mr. Chiever was buried from the Schoolhouse. The Gov'r, Councillors, Ministers, Justices, Gentlemen there. Mr. Williams made a handsome Latin Oration in his Honour. Elder Bridgham, Copp, Jackson, Dyer, Griggs, Hubbard, &c., Bearers. After the Funeral, Elder Bridgham, Mr. Jackson, Hubbard, Dyer, Tim. Wadsworth, Edw. Procter, Griggs, and two more came to me and earnestly solicited me to speak to a place of Scripture, at the private Quarter Meeting in the room of Mr. Chiever."

Cotton Mather, who had been a pupil of his, preached a funeral sermon in honor of his loved teacher. It was printed in Boston in 1708, and later in 1774. A copy of it in the Athenaeum is well worth a perusal. Some of Mr. Cheever's Latin poems are attached to it. Cotton Mather precedes his sermon by An Historical Introduction, in which, after referring to his great privilege, he gives the main facts in the long life of the schoolmaster of nearly ninety-four years. In closing it, he says: "After he had been a Skilful, Painful, Faithful Schoolmaster for Seventy years; and had the Singular Favours of Heaven that tho' he had Usefully spent his Life among children, yet he was not become Twice a child but held his Abilities, with his usefulness, in an unusual Degree to the very last." Then follows the sermon, remarkable in its way as a eulogy. But the Essay in Rhyme in Memory of his "Venerable Master," which follows the sermon, is even more characteristic and remarkable. In it are some couplets which are unique and interesting.

"Do but name Cheever, and the Echo straight Upon that name. Good Latin will Repeat.

"And in our School, a Miracle is wrought: For the Dead Languages to Life are brought.

"Who serv'd the School, the Church, did not forget, But Thought and Prayed & often wept for it.

"How oft we saw him tread the Milky Way Which to the Glorious Throne of Mercy lay!

"Come from the Mount he shone with ancient Grace, Awful the Splendor of his Aged Face.

"He Liv'd and to vast age no Illness knew, Till Times Scythe waiting for him Rusty grew.

"He Liv'd and Wrought; His Labours were Immense, But ne'r Declined to Praeter-perfect Tense."

He closes this eulogy with an epitaph in Latin.

Mr. Cheever's will, found in the Suffolk probate office, was offered by his son Thomas and his daughter Susanna, August 26, 1708, a few days after his death. He wrote it two years previous, when he was ninety-one years old, a short time before his "dear wife," whom he mentions, died. In it his estate is appraised at L837:19:6. One handles reverently this old piece of yellow paper, perhaps ten by twelve inches in size, with red lines, on which is written in a clear handwriting the last will of this dear old man. He characteristically begins it thus:—

"In nomine Domini Amen, I Ezekiel Cheever of the Towne of Boston in the County of Suffolk in New England, Schoolmaster, living through great mercy in good health and understanding wonderfull in my age, do make and ordain this as my last Will & Testament as Followeth: I give up my soule to God my Father in Jesus Christ, my body to the earth to be buried in a decent manner according to my desires in hope of a Blessed part in y'e first resurrection & glorious kingdom of Christ on earth a thousand years."

He then gives all his household goods "& of my plate y'e two-ear'd Cup, my least tankard porringer a spoon," to his wife; "all my books saving what Ezekiel may need & what godly books my wife may desire," to his son Thomas; L10 to Mary Phillips; L20 to his grandchild, Ezekiel Russel; and L5 to the poor. The remainder of the estate he leaves to his wife and six children, Samuel, Mary, Elizabeth, Ezekiel, Thomas, and Susanna.

One handles still more reverently a little brown, stiff-covered book, kept in the safe in the Athenaeum, of about one hundred and twenty pages, yellow with age, on the first of which is the year "1631," and on the second, "Ezekiel Cheever, his booke," both in his own handwriting. Then come nearly fifty pages of finely-written Latin poems, composed and written by himself, probably in London; then, there are scattered over some of the remaining pages a few short-hand notes which have been deciphered as texts of Scripture. On the last page of this quaint little treasure—only three by four inches large—are written in English some verses, one of which can be clearly read as, "Oh, first seek the kingdom of God and his Righteousness, and all things else shall be added unto you."

Another MS. of Mr. Cheever's is in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. It is a book six by eight inches in size, of about four hundred pages, all well filled with Latin dissertations, with occasionally a mathematical figure drawn. One turns over the old leaves with affectionate interest, even if the matter written upon them is beyond his comprehension. It certainly is a pleasure to read on one of them the date May 18, 1664.

Verily, New England should treasure the memory of Ezekiel Cheever, the man who called himself "Schoolmaster," for she owes much to him.

* * * * *



THE POET OF THE BELLS.

By E.H. Goss.

Longfellow may well be called the Poet of the Bells; for who has so largely voiced their many uses as he, or interpreted the part they have taken in the world's history. That he was a great lover of bells and bell music is evinced by the many times he chose them as themes for his poems; nearly a dozen of which are about them, containing some of the sweetest of his thoughts; and allusions to them, like this from Evangeline,—

Anon from the belfry Softly the Angelus sounded,"—

are sprinkled all through his longer poems, as well as his prose. The Song of the Bell, beginning,—

"Bell! thou soundest merrily When the bridal party To the church doth hie!"

was among his earliest writings; and The Bells of San Blas was his last poem, having been written March 15, 1882, nine days only before he died:—

"What say the Bells of San Blas To the ships that southward pass From the harbor of Mazatlan?"

And this last stanza must contain the last words that came from his pen:—

"O Bells of San Blas, in vain Ye call back the Fast again! The Past is deaf to your prayer: Out of the shadows of night The world rolls into light; It is daybreak everywhere."

One of his latest sonnets is entitled Chimes.

"Sweet chimes! that in the loneliness of night Salute the passing hour, and in the dark And silent chambers of the household mark The movements of the myriad orbs of light!"

This was sung of the beautiful clock that

"Half-way up the stairs it stands"

in his mansion at Cambridge, by so many thought to be the one referred to in The Old Clock on the Stairs. But no; that one was in the "Gold House" at Pittsfield, and is now in disuse; while this one is a fine piece of mechanism, striking the coming hour on each half hour, and on the hour itself sweet carillons are played for several moments, so familiar to the poet that it is no wonder that to hear it he says,—

"Better than sleep it is to lie awake."

And who has not been entranced by the melody of his

"In the ancient town of Bruges In the quaint old Flemish city, As the evening shades descended, Low and loud and sweetly blended, Low at times and loud at times, And changing like a poet's rhymes, Rang the beautiful wild chimes From the belfry in the market Of the ancient town of Bruges."

In the prologue to The Golden Legend, we have the attempt of Lucifer and the Powers of the Air to tear down the cross from the spire of the Strasburg Cathedral, with the remonstrance of the bells interwoven:

"Laudo Deum verum! Funera plango! Plebem voco! Fulgura frango! Congrego clerum! Sabbata pango!

"Defunctus ploro! Excito lentos! Pestem fugo! Dissipo ventos! Festa decoro! Paco cruentos!"

"I praise the true God, call the people, convene the clergy; I mourn the dead, dispel the pestilence, and grace festivals; I mourn at the burial, abate the lightnings, announce the Sabbath; I arouse the indolent, dissipate the winds, and appease the avengeful."

Another rendering of the two last lines reads:—

"Men's death I tell, by doleful knell; Lightnings and thunder I break asunder; On Sabbath all to church I call; The sleepy head, I raise from bed; The winds so fierce I do disperse; Men's cruel rage, I do assuage."

And in the Legend itself, an historical account of mediaeval bell-ringing is given by Friar Cuthbert, as he preaches to a crowd from a pulpit in the open air, in front of the cathedral:—

"But hark! the bells are beginning to chime;... For the bells themselves are the best of preachers; Their brazen lips are learned teachers, From their pulpits of stone, in the upper air, Sounding aloft, without crack or flaw, Shriller than trumpets under the Law, Now a sermon and now a prayer."...

In the Tales of the Wayside Inn occurs the pretty legend of The Bell of Atri, "famous for all time"; and from his summer home in Nahant, from across the waters he listens to

"O curfew of the setting sun! O bells of Lynn! O requiem of the dying day! O bells of Lynn!"

In the Curfew he quaintly and beautifully reminds us of the old couvre-feu bell of the days of William the Conqueror, a custom still kept up in many of the towns and hamlets of England, and some of our own towns and cities; and until recently the nine-o'clock bell greeted the ears of Bostonians, year in and year out. And who does not remember the sweet carol of Christmas Bells?

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men!

* * * * *

"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: 'God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The wrong shall fail, The right prevail With peace on earth, good will to men!'"

Indeed, many are the sweet and musical strains that he has sung about the bells, and he often wished that "somebody would bring together all the best things that have been written upon them, both in prose and verse."

Southey calls bells "the poetry of the steeples"; and the poets of all ages have had more or less to say upon this subject. Quaint old George Herbert told us to

"Think when the bells do chime 'Tis Angel's music!"

It was a curious theory of Frater Johannes Drabicius, that the principal employment of the blessed in heaven will be the continual ringing of bells; and he occupied four hundred and twenty-five pages of a work printed at Mentz, in 1618, to prove the same.

Truly has it been said: "From youth to age the sound of the bell is sent forth through crowded streets, or floats with sweetest melody above the quiet fields. It gives a tongue to time, which would otherwise pass over our heads as silently as the clouds, and lends a warning to its perpetual flight. It is the voice of rejoicing at festivals, at christenings, at marriages, and of mourning at the departure of the soul. From every church-tower it summons the faithful of distant valleys to the house of God; and when life is ended they sleep within the bell's deep sound. Its tone, therefore, comes to be fraught with memorial associations, and we know what a throng of mental images of the past can be aroused by the music of a peal of bells.

'O, what a preacher is the time-worn tower, Reading great sermons with its iron tongues.'"

* * * * *



CHELSEA.

By William E. McClintock, C.E.

[City Engineer of Chelsea.]

Sheltered from the winds of the Atlantic by the outlying towns of Revere and Winthrop, and that section of the metropolis known as East Boston, Chelsea occupies a peninsula, once called Winnisimmet, fronting on the Mystic River and its two tributaries, the Island End and Chelsea Rivers. Its area of fourteen hundred acres presents an undulating surface, rising from the level of the salt marshes to four considerable elevations, known as Hospital Hill, Mount Bellingham, Powderhom Hill, and Mount Washington.



Originally it was included within the township of Boston, and was settled as early as 1630; and a few years later was connected with Boston by the Winnisimmet Ferry, whose charter, granted in 1639, makes it the oldest chartered ferry company in the United States.

In those early days the Winnisimmet Ferry connected the foot of Hanover Street, in Boston, with the old road leading to Salem and the eastward, which followed the course of Washington Avenue.

Samuel Maverick, of Noddle's Island, an early settler, was the first claimant of the land. Richard Bellingham, "the unbending, faithful old man, skilled from his youth in English law, perhaps the draughtsman of the charter [of the Massachusetts Colony], certainly familiar with it from its beginning, was chosen to succeed Endicott," as governor. About 1634, he came into possession of most of Winnisimmet, but his title was rather obscure; it was confirmed to him, however, by the town of Boston, in 1640. He is not known to have lived upon his estate. He divided the land into four farms, which he let to tenants,—subdivisions which remained substantially the same for two centuries. The government reservation is said to have remained in the possession of Samuel Maverick.



Governor Bellingham died in 1672, at the age of eighty, and, although a lawyer and a good man, left behind him a will which gave rise to litigation that continued for over a century. As this instrument affects every title in Chelsea, it becomes of public interest. He bequeathed the estate of Winnisimmet to trustees, to be devoted to the support of his widow, his son, and his two nieces, during their lives, after which it was to be used to build a meeting-house, support a minister, and educate a limited number of young men for the ministry.

The son, Dr. Samuel Bellingham, after the death of his father, contested the will in court, and had it set aside.



After his death the trustees named in the will brought a suit to carry into effect the directions of the old governor. One by one they dropped out of the contest, silenced by death, until at length the town authorities undertook to maintain their supposed rights. It was not until 1788, after the close of the Revolution, that the case was finally decided, and the town was defeated.

After over a century of outlying dependence, and forced attendance in all weathers at the churches in Boston, the good people of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, having demonstrated their willingness and ability to support a minister, petitioned for and obtained the privileges of a new parish and township, named Chelsea.[3] Rumney Marsh is now known as Revere, and Pullen Point as Winthrop. The new township also included a strip of land half a mile wide and four miles long, extending north-westerly through what is now Maiden and Melrose, well into the town of Wakefield, and at present forming a part of Saugus.



The old Town House, or meeting-house, built in 1710, and still standing, was at Rumney Marsh.

The earliest census of the town, on record, was taken in 1776, and indicated a population of four hundred and thirty-nine.

The Reverend Dr. Tuckerman was settled over the parish, which included the whole township, in 1801, and for a quarter of a century ministered to the people of an almost stationary community. During that time, only three new buildings were erected; and they were built to replace as many torn down.

In 1802, the Chelsea Bridge was built, to form a part of the turnpike (Broadway) leading from Charlestown to Salem. Before that time, the only way to reach Boston from Chelsea, with a loaded team, was through Malden, Medford, Cambridge, and Roxbury, over the Neck, requiring a whole day to make the journey.

As late as 1830, Winnisimmet was of no importance except as a market-garden and thoroughfare. Of the seven hundred and seventy-one inhabitants of Chelsea, but thirty lived within the present limits of the city. The original Bellingham subdivisions were known as the Cary, Carter, Shurtleff, and Williams Farms, and were owned and occupied by those families. Three years previously, in 1827, the general government had secured possession of the hospital reservation, which it still occupies. About 1831, the value of Winnisimmet as the site for a future city became apparent, and a land company was formed, which secured the Shurtleff and Williams Farms, and laid out a very attractive city—on paper.

The ferry accommodations at this date consisted of two sailboats of about forty tons each. During the following summer the steam ferry-boats, Boston and Chelsea, were put on the line, and increased the value of property in Chelsea. These boats were the first of the kind to navigate the waters of Boston Harbor.

In 1832, John Low built the first store, at the corner of Broadway and Everett Avenue, and was the pioneer merchant of the city. The newcomers, known to the older inhabitants as "roosters," settled principally in the neighborhood of the landing. So many came, that in 1840 there were in the town twenty-three hundred and ninety inhabitants. In 1832, the omnibus, "North Ender," commenced running from Chelsea Ferry landing to Boylston Market; the fare was twelve and one-half cents. The "Governor Brooks," the first 'bus in Boston, had been running about a week before. It was twenty years later when an omnibus line was established for the convenience of the village.



To town meetings at Rumney Marsh the settlers at the landing had to tramp to vote on questions affecting the town. Right bravely would they attend to their duties as citizens, to find their efforts of no avail on account of the sharp practices of their neighbors of the Marsh and Point, who would reverse their action at an adjourned meeting. At length, in overwhelming numbers, they assembled once upon a time, and voted a new Town House, near the site of the present Catholic church. As a consequence, North Chelsea was set off in 1846, and Chelsea shrank to its present boundaries. In 1850, notwithstanding the loss of so large an extent of territory, Chelsea numbered sixty-seven hundred and one inhabitants. Seven years later, in 1857, the town was granted a city charter; it was divided into four wards, and Colonel Francis B. Fay was inaugurated the first mayor.

From that time the growth of the city has been rapid. In 1860, there were 13,395 inhabitants; in 1870, 18,547; in 1880, 21,785; to-day there are probably 24,000. The Honorable Hosea Ilsley was the second mayor; he was succeeded by the Honorable Frank B. Fay, in 1861; by the Honorable Eustace C. Fitz, in 1864; by the Honorable Rufus S. Frost, in 1867; by the Honorable James B. Forsyth, M.D., in 1869; by the Honorable John W. Fletcher, in 1871; by the Honorable Charles H. Ferson, in 1873; by the Honorable Thomas Green, in 1876; by the Honorable Isaac Stebbins, in 1877; by the Honorable Andrew J. Bacon, in 1879; by the Honorable Samuel P. Tenney, in 1881; by the Honorable Thomas Strahan, the present mayor, in 1883.



In 1849, the railway connected Chelsea with Boston, and in 1857 the horse-cars commenced running.

During the Rebellion, Chelsea responded loyally for troops. In the Union army there were sixteen hundred and fifty-one soldiers from Chelsea. Of that number, forty-two were killed in battle; sixteen died of wounds; seventy-five died in hospitals; nine died in Rebel prisons; besides one hundred and four who were more or less seriously wounded. The city also furnished one hundred and thirty-seven recruits for the navy during the war. The city has commemorated those heroes who died for their country, by a very appropriate monument in Union Park.

The conservative character of the political fathers of the city may be judged by the fact that Samuel Bassett, who was first elected town clerk in 1849, has served the town and city continuously in that capacity to the present time. For the half-century before his election there had been only three incumbents of the office.



The efforts of the land company, who fostered the early growth of the city, were directed to induce people doing business in Boston to select homesteads in Chelsea; but manufacturing was gradually introduced, until to-day many important industries have become established, which have given the place a world-wide reputation. Chief among these are the works of the Magee Furnace Company. Their buildings occupy a lot of several acres, fronting on Chelsea River. Here the celebrated Magee stove, in all its various forms and patterns, is manufactured from the crude iron. The establishment consumes two thousand tons of coal annually, and converts four thousand tons of pig-iron into graceful and useful articles. John Magee, the organizer and president of the company, is the patentee of all the improvements. The works were established in Chelsea in 1864; they employ five hundred operatives, and produce thirty thousand stoves and furnaces yearly. These are shipped by car-load all through the Northern and Western States, to the Pacific slope, reaching Oregon without breaking bulk. Their goods are sold in England, Sweden, Turkey, Cape Colony, Australia, China, and the islands of the Pacific, although the home demand almost forbids their seeking a foreign market. The popularity of their work may be known from the fact that one hundred and fifty thousand stoves of one pattern have been sold. The iron entering into the manufacture of stoves must be of a peculiar fineness of texture. The best of ore of three or four qualities is mixed, frequently tested, and constantly watched during the manufacturing process.



The beauty of their stove castings has led to a new industry,—the fine-art castings,—in which the most marvelous results are produced. Professional artists and art critics are constantly employed in the establishment, and many thousand dollars are judiciously expended yearly, for the purpose of forming and perfecting new designs to meet the popular demand.



Another celebrated industry of Chelsea is the manufacture of the Low tiles, for household decoration. John G. Low, son of the pioneer merchant, is the artist who has created this class of goods, and he has succeeded in producing a tile of special artistic value. His work surpasses anything of the kind made in the world, and finds a market wherever works of art and beauty are appreciated.

There are several establishments in the city, for the manufacture of rubber goods of every variety, and many hundred operatives find employment therein.

The famous "Globe Works" are soon to be occupied by the extensive establishment of the Forbes Lithograph Company.

The Keramic Art Works of J. Robertson and Sons are noted throughout the land for the beauty of their products.

The pioneer manufacturers of the city are the firm of Bisbee, Endicott, and Company, who established a machine-shop in 1836, and a foundry in 1846, and are still in business.

Aside from these, Chelsea manufactures anchors, pilot-bread, mattresses, bluing, boxes, bricks, britannia ware, brooms, cardigan jackets, carriages, chairs, cigars, confectionery, enameled cloth, fire-brick, furniture, hose, lamp-black, lumber, oils, wall-paper, planes, pottery, roofing, salt, soap, spices, type, tinware, varnish, vaccine matter, vessels, yeast, and window-shades,—giving employment to a very large number of skilled artisans.

There are two well-managed banks in the city, two ably-conducted newspapers, one large and several small hotels, and an Academy of Music, which is one of the finest provincial theatres in New England, boasting of a fine auditorium and a well-appointed stage.

The Naval Hospital, which generally accommodates about a dozen patients, occupies eighty acres of the most desirable part of the city, the hill upon which it is built overlooking Mystic River.

The Marine Hospital, in the same neighborhood, which has usually from seventy-five to eighty patients from the ranks of our mercantile marine, occupies a lot of about ten acres.



Powderhorn Hill the summit of which is about two hundred feet above the level of the sea, commands a fine view of Boston Harbor, the ocean, and many miles of inland territory. Chelsea is spread out like a map at its base. It has been the dream of enthusiastic admirers of the varied scenery afforded from the top, to include it within the limits of a public park, forever set apart for the benefit of the present and coming generations. Half-way up the side of the hill stands the Soldiers' Home, where many scarred veterans of the Union army find a safe haven, cared for by those who appreciate their struggles in their country's cause. The city, although occupying narrow limits, has become a very attractive place for residence. The streets are broad, straight, and shaded by very many thrifty trees. The water-works, organized in 1867, supply good water; gas is furnished at reasonable rates, and the city has nearly completed a system of sewerage, which adds to the comfort and health of the people. The public buildings are commodious and ornamental. Churches of pleasing architecture, of many religious denominations, appropriate school buildings and good schools, spacious and elegant private mansions, a well-organized fire and police department, a public library, low death-rate, and good morals, serve to make the city of Chelsea a very desirable place for those seeking a quiet home in a law-abiding municipality.



All through the colonial period the civil affairs of the community were intimately connected with the interests of the church; and ecclesiastical history, when church and State were united, and the minister was the greatest man of the parish, becomes of importance.

As early as 1640, in the church of Boston, "a motion was made by such as have farms at Rumney Marsh, that our Brother Oliver may be sent to instruct our servants, and to be a help to them, because they cannot many times come hither, nor sometimes to Lynn, and sometimes no where at all." The piously disposed people of Boston evidently commiserated the destitute condition of their poor dependents, and were desirous of ministering to their spiritual wants.



For many years the inhabitants of this section received the benefit of irregular preaching from Brother Oliver and other kindly disposed ministers from neighboring parishes. The wishes of Governor Bellingham to provide for their wants had been frustrated, as before narrated. Prior to 1706, the people were nominally connected with some church in Charlestown or Boston. In that year, at the March meeting of the town of Boston, a committee was appointed to consider what they should think proper to lay before the town relating to petitions of sundry of the inhabitants of Rumney Marsh about the building of a meeting-house. Action was postponed, from year to year, until August 29, 1709, when it was voted to raise one hundred pounds, to be laid out "in building a meeting-house at Rumney Marsh." The raising of the frame was in July of the following year.

The Reverend Thomas Cheever, son of the famous schoolmaster, was chosen pastor October 17, 1715, and was dismissed December 21, 1748. At the formation of the church, the Reverend Cotton Mather, D.D., was moderator, and there were eight male members, including the pastor.

The Reverend Thomas Cheever was born in 1658; was graduated at Harvard College in 1677; was ordained and settled in Maiden, July 27, 1681; was dismissed in 1686, "on the advice of an ecclesiastical council"; removed to Rumney Marsh and lived in the Newgate House; taught school many years, and preached occasionally; died December 27, 1749, aged about ninety-two years.



Toward the close of his ministry, the Reverend William McClenachan was installed as Mr. Cheever's colleague, although considerable opposition was manifested, and several prominent members withdrew to other churches. The connection of the pastor with the church continued until December 25, 1754, when Mr. McClenachan left them and joined the Established Church of England. He was a man of remarkable eloquence, and soon after his resignation of the pastorate of the Chelsea parish, he went to England.



The Reverend Phillips Payson was settled as pastor, October 26, 1757. He was a noted scholar and teacher, and was a man of much influence in his day. He was an active patriot during the Revolution, led his parishioners in person, and held a commission from the Massachusetts authorities. He preached the Election Sermon in 1778, and died in office, January 11, 1801. He was born in Walpole, January 18, 1730, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1754.

The Reverend Joseph Tuckerman, D.D., was ordained and settled over the parish November 4, 1801, and maintained this relation for just one quarter of a century, preaching his farewell sermon November 4, 1826. He was born in Boston, January 18, 1778; was graduated at Harvard College in 1798; died in Havana, April 20, 1840.

The First Baptist Church, the first religious society at Ferry Village, was organized in 1836.

The Unitarian Church was organized in 1838.

The First Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1839. The meeting-house they first occupied was on Park Street; it has been recently sold to the Grand Army of the Republic. The edifice they now occupy is on Walnut Street.



The St. Luke's Episcopal Church and the First Congregational Church were organized in 1841.

The First Universalist Church was organized in 1842.

The Central Congregational Church was organized in 1843, under the name of Winnisimmet.

The St. Rose Catholic Church was organized in 1849.

The Mount Bellingham Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1853.

The Cary-avenue Baptist Church was organized in 1859.

The Third Congregational Church was organized in 1877.



The importance of education for the children was recognized at an early date by the settlers of Winnisimmet and Rumney Marsh. Brother Oliver may have given instruction; Thomas Cheever certainly did, and for his services received twenty pounds per annum from the town of Boston, as shown by the vote of January 24, 1709.

In 1833, the town of Chelsea was divided into three districts, known as the Ferry, Centre, and Point. In 1834, Point Shirley district was set off from the Point; and in 1838 the northern district was set off from the Centre. The school committee, first elected in 1797, made their first written report in 1839; their first printed report in 1841.

The first schoolhouse in Ferry district was built in 1833, near the corner of Chestnut Street and Washington Avenue.



In 1837, the Park-street schoolhouse was built, and the following year a grammar school was kept.

In 1839, a primary school was started at Prattville. From the committee's report one is led to infer "that a stump with a piece of board on top for a seat, having no back attached, affords no enviable resting-place."

In 1840, there were two primary schools in Ferry village, one occupying the site of the Pioneer newspaper office, the other near the corner of Shawmut Street and Central Avenue.

The question of starting a high school was agitated in 1840, but no action was taken until 1845. In 1850, a high school building was erected on Second and Walnut Streets.

In January, 1873, the present high school building, on Bellingham Street, was dedicated with appropriate exercises, Tracy P. Cheever delivering the address.

The tithingmen were the ancient conservators of the peace, and were chosen annually as late as 1834; after that date their duties devolved upon the constables. In 1847, a night-watch was first deemed necessary.

In 1854, the first steps were taken toward organizing a police force. During the year occurred the memorable Know-Nothing riot, which resulted in the pulling down of a cross.

The first city government established a police department, and appointed a city marshal and six assistants. As at present organized, there is a chief-of-police, two deputies, and fifteen patrol-men, whose duties are to keep watch over the city day and night, keep the peace, and protect property, and observe and report any defects in the public way which could by any chance result in injury to either man or beast.

In 1842, at the annual town-meeting the selectmen were authorized to erect twelve street-lamps. Their number has been increased from time to time until there are now over five hundred and fifty lamps, besides two large lanterns: one on the Square, the other in front of the Academy of Music.



A board of health was first elected in 1846. From 1850, to the organization of the city government, the selectmen acted as the board. From 1857 to 1878 the duties of the board were in the hands of the mayor and board of aldermen. Since 1878, a board has been annually elected. Their supervision and oversight have been of great advantage to the city.

In 1863, the Chelsea Library Association presented the city with about one thousand volumes, which became the nucleus of the Public Library. Eight thousand books have already been collected; they are soon to be gathered within an appropriate and spacious building generously donated to the city.

There is much of romance in the history of such an ancient settlement as Winnisimmet and Rumney Marsh, although most of the incidents worthy of note have long since passed into oblivion.

The Indian wars never affected directly the early settlers, for before hostilities commenced the frontier had been advanced some miles into the interior; but the brave sons of the pioneers were called upon for the defence of more exposed localities, and promptly responded.

"In military affairs Rumney Marsh, for many years, was associated with the neighboring towns in Essex and Middlesex, in an organization called the 'Three County Troop.'" The company appears to have been formed as early as May, 1659. Edward Hutchinson was confirmed as the first captain. Captain John Tuttle was in command of the company in 1673.

In the war of 1676, the Three County Troop sent ten men, "well fitted with long arms," to the rendezvous at Concord.

"In the year 1677, about April the 7th, six or seven men were slain by the Indians, near York, while they were at work two miles from the town, whereof one was the son of Lieutenant Smith of Winnisimmet, a hopeful young man.... Five Indians paddled their canoes down towards York, where they killed six of the English, and took one captive, May 19 following; and, May 23, four days after, one was killed at Wells, and one taken by them betwixt York and Wells; amongst whom was the eldest son of Lieutenant Smith, forementioned; his younger brother was slain in the same town not long before."

The company was disbanded in 1690. A company of sixty soldiers under command of Captain John Floyd, a citizen of Rumney Marsh, was sent as a garrison to protect the frontier at Portsmouth, about this date.



"While the regulars were on their retreat from Lexington, on the 19th of April, 1775, protected by reinforcements under command of Lord Percy, a detached party who were carrying stores and provisions were attacked at Metonomy by Rev. Phillips Payson, leading a party of his parishioners, whom he had hastily gathered on the alarm. One of the regulars was killed and some were taken prisoners, together with arms and stores, without loss to the attacking party."

Captain Samuel Sprague had command of a Chelsea company of twenty-eight men, which was mustered into the service April 19, 1775. At a later date Chelsea furnished the patriot army with a company of fifty-two men, under the same commander.



"On the 27th of May, 1775, as a party of the Massachusetts forces, together with a party of New Hampshire forces, In all about six hundred men, were attempting to bring off the stock upon Hog Island, and about thirty men upon Noddle's Island were doing the same, when above a hundred regulars landed upon the last-mentioned island and pursued our men till they got safely back to Hog Island."

A spirited engagement ensued, attended, however, with no serious loss to the American forces. The regulars were supported by an armed schooner which the enemy were obliged to abandon, having first set the vessel on fire.



General Putnam, Colonel Stark, and Dr. Joseph Warren, are said to have been present during the contest, either as actors or witnesses.

"During the siege of Boston, Chelsea formed the extreme left of the line of circumvallation; and on the south-eastern slope of Mount Washington stands the house of Robert Pratt, which occupies the site of an earlier house at which Washington lunched when inspecting the lines."

In closing this sketch, the writer wishes to give credit to the Honorable Mellen Chamberlain, an honored resident of Chelsea, for information relating to the early history of the town, which he has kindly furnished, and to the researches embodied in his valuable article, "Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, Pullen Point, and Chelsea, in the Provincial Period," printed in the second volume of the Memorial History of Boston, published by James R. Osgood and Company, in 1881.

It is not difficult to predict the future of Chelsea. Situated as it is on navigable waters, with an extensive waterfront, near to the metropolis of New England, and already the site of many important industries, prosperity awaits it. Time alone can tell whether, like its namesake in the Mother-Country, it becomes absorbed in the neighboring and growing city, or develops into a great manufacturing suburb, like Newark and Patterson.



[Footnote 3: Date of Act, January 10, 1739.

Chelsea, as every Englishman is aware, is the name of a suburb of London, where are situated the great national hospitals of Great Briton. It was in existence as a village as early as A.D. 785, but was long since absorbed by the expanding city.]

* * * * *



JOHN WISWALL, THE OBJURGATORY BOSTON BOY.

John Wiswall, a "young man with somewhat original objurgatory tendencies," was not of the meaner sort of families. His grandfather, John Wiswall, then some eighty-three years old, ever took an active interest in the church and social affairs, first in Dorchester, and afterward in Boston. Mr. Savage says that he was a brother of Thomas Wiswall, a public-spirited man of Cambridge, Dorchester, and Newton; but John Wiswall was ruling elder of the First Church, Boston, made so the third month, fourth day, 1669, the day John Oxenbridge was ordained pastor. He also was one of the town's committee to act with the selectmen, to receive the legacy of Captain Robert Keayne, in 1668. "Elder Wiswall died, August 15, 1687, aged eighty-six years."

Elder John Wiswall left one son—John, Jr. This John, Jr., was a man of life and zeal in the community. He is mentioned as "a well-known and wealthy citizen." Among his children, by his wife Hannah, was one John, born March 21, 1667, who became the "young man with somewhat original objurgatory tendencies," and in the autumn of 1684 was rising seventeen years of age. John Wiswall was a Boston boy, full of the animation which has ever characterized the youth of that town. If he had been entirely of the plastic sort, and represented not one of the leading families, he never would have been made an example of to the youth of the community. An example was needed. The new government felt that stringency was demanded. If data serve us well, would say that John Wiswall, "a mariner," died about 1700, leaving a widow, Mary, who afterward married a White. None of the Wiswall name of to-day are from this line, but the Wiswall blood is infused in the Emmons, the Fisher, the Cutler, and the Johnson families.

THE END