A PAPER READ TO THE BOSTONIAN SOCIETY, COUNCIL CHAMBER, OLD STATE HOUSE, MARCH 9, 1886, BY

JAMES MASCARENE HUBBARD.

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QS I was setting up a column of Psalters,' writes Judge Sewall in his Diary on Saturday, July 15th, 1710, "the 12th Column, about II m., I heard a Gun, and a while after, another. Mr. Mayhew and Joseph run up to the top of the House and saw two Flags hoysted at the Castle. Quickly after I went up, and saw the Flag hoysted at the Sconce, and two Guns fired; then presently the Drums beat and Alarm went through the Town." These signals meant simply that ships were below in the Bay which might prove to be a French fleet about to attack the town, "as there was no certainty of any fleet intended from England." The

batteries were accordingly manned, and the town regiment was speedily under arms and awaiting the coming of the enemy, which, Hutchinson says, for a time was actually believed to be the case.

As the ships drew nearer, to the great relief of the town's people they turned out to be a small English fleet, consisting of two frigates, a bomb-ketch and several transports, having on board Col. Francis Nicholson with other officers, and 500 marines for the projected expedition against Nova Scotia. The regiment immediately marched probably to Scarlett's wharf, the usual government landing-place, to serve, as the custom was in those days, as an escort for the newly-arrived British officers to the Town House. Meanwhile the "Pavement," for so the open space under the old building which preceded the present structure appears to have been called, was thronged with people, watching for the coming of the strangers and the military, discussing the news of the day and greeting every fresh arrival, and, it being Saturday afternoon, no doubt the boys were well represented.

A coach drives up, and Gov. Dudley, who has come from his house in Roxbury, alights and courteously greets the by-standers. Possibly he stops to exchange a few words with some of them, until Mr. Secretary Addington, who lives hard by,* can be summoned, and

* Just in the rear of the old Traveller Building, now occupied, 1906, by the Worthington Building.

the two gentlemen go up together to the Council Chamber.

Down Queen Street comes Judge Sewall, very likely still in uniform, for I take it the ex-Captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company would not be backward in doing his part in the town's defence, — notwithstanding his age and position, possibly talking eagerly but gravely with his neighbor* Col. Penn Townsend, who lives at the northern corner of Beacon and Tremont Streets.

Later, good Mr. Edward Broomfield leaves that 'shady grove" behind his house in Rawson's Lane, afterwards called by his name, where doubtless he has been praying for the success of Her Majesty's arms and the welfare of the Province. Not improbably there joins him the rich merchant, Mr. Peter Sergeant, from his neighboring brick mansion, afterward the Province House, and Major John Walley, who lives close to the Old South Church. These with others of the Council pass directly to their Chamber, together with other principal gentlemen of the town.

The fleet was long in reaching the anchorage ground, and night fell and Mr. Secretary had ordered the can

*There is considerable doubt as to whether Judge Sewall lived on Cotton Hill [Pemberton Square] or "on the easterly side of what is now Washington Street, near the corner of Summer Street." The editors of his "Letter-Book," recently published by the Massachusetts Historical Society, have adopted the latter view, though the evidence from the Letter-Book, which appears to have decided them, does not seem to me conclusive.

dles to be lighted in the Council Chamber before the beat of drums announced the approach of Col. Nicholson and his escort.

It is very difficult for me to realize the scene which met his view on entering the room; far more so to give you a picture of it. I am inclined to think that there was far more light and color than in a similar assembly of the present time. The scarlet and blue uniforms, the velvet cloaks and richly embroidered waistcoats of the gentlemen of those days, made a much richer and more beautiful picture than our sombre full-dress suits. The principal figure was, of course, Gov. Dudley, whose "comely person, noble aspect and graceful mien " well fitted him to preside on such an occasion. Near him sat Judge Sewall, his keen, observant eye noting all that took place, with his intimate friend Col. John Foster on his left, for so I would interpret that curious expression in his Diary at the time of the latter's death shortly after: "I have lost a good Left-hand man. The Lord save New England!"

Closely associated with them was John Dunton's "fine gentleman," Col. Penn Townsend. These, with those previously mentioned, the Commissary General Andrew Belcher, and the venerable Eliakim Hutchinson, are the only members out of the twenty-eight forming the Council, who are present. These names are unfamiliar to most in this generation, forgotten for those who lived, either earlier or later, in more stirring times. But I am

persuaded that they were men as deserving to be held in grateful remembrance as any who preceded or followed them. They were just as staunch defenders of their liberties as their children who fought the battles of the Revolution. Four of them, Winthrop, Addington, Foster and Sergeant,- for I include Col. Wait Winthrop whose military duties as Captain of the Castle, probably alone prevented his attendance this evening,were of the fifteen gentlemen who demanded the surrender of Sir Edmund Andros on April 18th, 1689, one of the boldest acts in the annals of this country. For you remember the success of the Revolution of 1688 was unknown here at that time, the bare fact of William of Orange's landing having only been whispered, as it were, from mouth to mouth a few days before. Col. Foster, though not native born, Gov. Hutchinson, his grandson, tells us, was 'among the most active" in this affair. Four more, Lynde, Townsend, Hutchinson and Belcher, for here again I include Col. Joseph Lynde, whose age and the evening hour probably kept him at his home in Charlestown, shared their responsibility and danger by becoming members of the "Council for the Safety of the People," appointed two days later.

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Of the townspeople present, not members of the Council, Sir Charles Hobby, colonel of the Boston regiment, was probably the most striking figure from his handsome person and brilliant uniform. He was a man of a very different stamp from those whom we have